Our Synod

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The roots of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod run deep, tracing back to 1847 when Saxon and other German immigrants established a new church body in America, seeking the freedom to practice and follow confessional Lutheranism.

Initial members, which included 12 pastors representing 14 congregations from Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan, New York and Ohio, signed the church body’s constitution on April 26, 1847, at First Saint Paul Lutheran Church in Chicago, Ill.

Originally named The German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and Other States, the name was shortened to The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in 1947 on the occasion of our 100^th anniversary.

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Our District

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The Pacific Southwest District is comprised of 310 congregations and 200 Lutheran Schools in Southern California, Arizona, and Southern Nevada. It is one of 35 Districts within the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. With an office on the campus of Concordia University in Irvine, CA, the District Staff seeks to “effectively resource congregations and schools to fulfill the Great Commission.”

The congregations of the Pacific Southwest District are called by God and placed in their community to bring the saving news of Jesus Christ through Word and Sacrament Ministry as well as through Christian Education in Lutheran Schools (Preschools, Elementary and High Schools, as well as Lutheran Universities).

Within the District, 70 of the 310 congregations have at least one worship service in a non-English language. God is giving us the privilege of reaching across languages and culture with the Good News of Jesus and his love.

Following the teaching of I Peter 2:9-10, The Pacific Southwest District is a gathering of men and women, professional church workers and lay leaders, in an exciting mission field where God has placed us to serve: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people but now you are the people of God, once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”