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The roots of the Missouri Synod began in the nineteenth century in the Kingdom of Saxony in Germany. Two Lutheran ministers, Martin Stephan and C.F.W. Walther, and many of their followers found themselves increasingly at odds with the rationalism of the state-sponsored Lutheranism in Saxony. In order to freely practice what they saw as pure Lutheranism, Stephan and Walther and 750 other Saxon Lutherans left for the United States in November 1838.
The ship arrived January 5, 1839 in New Orleans, and most of the immigrants (including Walther) settled in the area of Saint Louis in MissouriMissouri named after the Missouri Siouan Indian tribe meaning "canoe", is a Midwestern state of the United States with Jefferson City as its capital. The state's nickname is the State the U. Post Office abbreviation for Missouri is MO and the state public. Stephan was initially the bishopA bishop is an ordained person who holds a specific position of authority in any of a number of Christian churches. Bishops in the New Testament The bishop's role is typically called the " episcopacy", because the word "bishop" is derived ultimately from of the new settlement, but he soon became embroiled in charges of corruption and sexual misconduct with members of the congregation, and was expelled from the settlement, leaving Walther as the senior clergyman. To this day the Missouri Synod is not governed by bishops. Other congregations would eventually join with this core community.
During this period there was considerable debate within the settlement over the proper role of the church in the New World: whether it was a new church, or remained within the German Lutheran hierarchy. Walther's view that they could consider themselves a new church prevailed. On April 26April 26 is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (117th in leap years). There are 249 days remaining. Events 1478 The Pazzi attack Lorenzo de' Medici and kill his brother Giuliano during High Mass in the Florence Cathedral. 1607 English col, 1847Events January 4 Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government. January 13 The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican-American War in California. January 16 John C. Fremont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory., twelve pastors representing 15 German Lutheran congregations met in Chicago and founded a new church body, "The German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and Other States." Walther became the fledgling denomination's first president.
In its early days the synod was conservative on a number of issues. Following Walther's lead, the church strongly opposed humanismHumanism is a neologism that defines a socio-political doctrine (" -ism") whose bounds exceed those of locally developed cultures, to include all of humanity and all issues common to human beings. Because doctrines of cultural distinction and exclusivity and religious syncretismSyncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate, even opposing, beliefs and to meld practices of various schools of thought. It is especially associated with the attempt to merge and analogize several originally discrete traditions, especially in the the. It also supported the institution of slaverySlavery is involuntary servitude, enforced by violence or other, clear forms of coercion. It is sometimes regarded as an expectation associated with other relationships, such as marriage and/or other family relations, military service, or debt relationshi, based on a literal reading of 1 Corinthians and other epistles of Paul
The new synod grew quickly during the nineteenth century, reaching 685,000 members by 1897. Until the United States' involvement in the First World War, the synod remained overwhelmingly German in its makeup and its language. The anti-German sentiment caused by that war prompted the church body to "Americanize" its image, and over the next half-century the synod's membership doubled.
In 1947, the church body shortened its name to the present one, the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.