The Southern District is one of the 35 districts of the

Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran Christian denomination, denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheranism, Luth ...

(LCMS), and encompasses the states of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, as well as the western portion of the

Florida Panhandle The Florida Panhandle (also West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida; it is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long and wide, lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia (U. ...

; the rest of Florida is part of the Florida–Georgia District. The Southern District includes approximately 170 congregations and missions, subdivided into 15 circuits, as well as 14

preschools A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

, 17

elementary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

, and 1

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

membership in Southern District congregations is approximately 29,391. The Southern District was formed on February 8, 1882, out of the Western District; portions of the district were separated into the Texas District and the Florida–Georgia District in 1906 and 1948 respectively. In 1963, 54 black congregations that were part of the Synodical Conference's Mission Program were merged into the Southern District; 33 such congregations in central Alabama were consolidated into 10 congregations shortly thereafter. About 40 existing congregations are historically black congregations, and most of the black pastors and teachers in the LCMS originated in this area. District offices are located in

Slidell, Louisiana Slidell is a city on the northeast shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 28,781 at the 2020 census. It is part of the New Orleans− Metairie−Kenner metropolitan statistical area. Hist ...

. Delegates from each congregation meet in convention every three years to elect the district president, vice Presidents and other officers. In 2018, Rev. Eric Johnson was elected as district president.

Concordia College Alabama Concordia College Alabama was a Private historically black college associated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and located in Selma, Alabama. It was the only historically black college among the ten colleges and universities in the ...

in Selma, founded in 1922 as part of the mission program of the Synodical Conference, was a member of the LCMS

Concordia University System The Concordia University System (CUS) is an organization of seven colleges and universities and one satellite campus in the United States that are operated by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). All of the institutions are named "Concordi ...

and was located within the district until its closure in 2018.

Presidents

*Rev. Timotheus Stiemke, 1882–1988 *Rev. Gotthilf Heinrich Wilhelm Birkmann, 1888–1991 *Rev. Gottfried Johann Wegener, 1891–1927 *Rev. Martin W. H. Holls, 1927–1954 *Rev. Paul W. Streufert, 1954–1957 *Rev. Edgar W. Homrighausen, 1957–1969 *Rev. Lothar Kleinhans, 1969–1970 *Rev. John E. Ellermann, 1970–1978 *Rev. Richard H. Meyer, 1978–1988 *Rev. Orval D. Mueller, 1988–2003 *Rev. Kurtis D. Schultz, 2003–2018 *Rev. Eric C. Johnson, 2018–present

References

External links

Southern District web siteLCMS: Southern DistrictLCMS Congregation DirectoryErster Synodal-Bricht des Südlichen Distrikts der deutschen evang.-luth. Synode von Missouri Ohio u. a. Staaten Anno domini 1882-1895Berhandlunger der eslsten Jahresversammlung des Südlichen Distrikts der deutschen evang.-lutherischen Synode von Missouri, Ohio, und anderen Staaten (1897-1910)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southern District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod districts Protestantism in Alabama Protestantism in Florida Protestantism in Louisiana Protestantism in Mississippi Religious organizations established in 1882 Lutheran districts established in the 19th century Religion in the Southern United States Slidell, Louisiana