The Lutheran church is a direct result of the Protestant Reformation begun in 1517 by Martin Luther in Wittenberg, Germany.

In the mid-nineteenth century, after Lutherans in Germany had endured the effects of Pietism and Rationalism, an “Old Lutheran” movement emerged embracing anew the heritage of the Lutheran Reformation. Some of these Old Lutherans remained in Germany but others sought the freedom of the New World. Among them was a large group of emigrants, mainly from Saxony, who crossed the ocean on five ships to New Orleans and then travelled by steamboat to St. Louis, Missouri in 1838. This immigrant group eventually joined other like-minded German Lutheran pastors and congregations to form the Missouri Synod in 1847.

The Missouri Synod spread rapidly among the large number of German immigrants arriving in the United States and Canada in the mid-nineteenth century and by 1854, one of its pastors in New York had made contact with German settlers in present-day Fisherville and Rhineland, Ontario. Expansion of the Missouri Synod (LCMS) continued in Ontario and as German immigrants began pouring into Western Canada, which had become part of Canada in 1870, congregations were established in Winnipeg and other parts of the West. By 1894, Stony Plain near Edmonton, had become the base for expansion into Alberta and British Columbia. Although the church remained largely German-speaking for several decades, people of other nationalities soon joined leading the church to adopt English in its worship and life.

Ministry during World War II helped the Canadian church recognize its national identity and in 1988, most of the LCMS congregations in Canada left the synod to form an autonomous body called Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) remaining in church fellowship with the LCMS.

For more in-depth information about the history of Lutheran Church–Canada, you may wish to check out Missouri North, which traces the history of LCC from its beginnings in the mid-1800s down to the present day.

In the first half of Missouri North, noted Canadian Lutheran historian Norman J. Threinen charts the development of LCC from its origins until autonomy. The second half of the book sees LCC’s first three presidents, Edwin Lehman, Ralph Mayan, and Robert Bugbee, continue the story, recounting milestones in the history of Lutheran Church–Canada over the next three decades. David H. Somers provides an additional essay examining the unique story of LCC’s French-language ministry.