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Saint Louis Lutheran City Mission (1898-1974)

 Organization

Dates

  • Existence: 1898 - 2019
  • Usage: 1967 - 2006

Biography

Summary from circa 1965.

Sixty years ago a number of Lutherans in Saint Louis became aware of emergency requests from hospitals for pastors to visit patients. Busy pastors were not always available when a sick or dying patient at some institution wanted a minister's services. Some pastors were not sure that it was their responsibility to visit the social "outcasts" - criminals in prison, the insane, and even the poor.

In 1898 a group of concerned laymen and pastors met to discuss the possibility of employing a pastor to serve as minister to persons in Saint Louis institutions. Eventually they called the Rev. Frederick Herzberger, Lutheran pastor in Arkansas, to come to our city and create a special ministry to sick, confined or deprived persons who could not reach the local churches. In 1899 Pastor Herzberger was installed as the first "City Missionary" of the Lutheran City Mission.

Eventually "City Missions" was renamed "The Lutheran Mission Association," indicating that an association of some 45 Lutheran congregations had supported the work of LMA financially and in other ways.

Two chapels in inner city locations were operated for many years, somewhat as "store-front" mission stations, and even as schools for Christian education.

In the fall of 1965 the LMA Board began an intensive self-study.

Found in 8 Collections and/or Records:

Emmaus Lutheran Church (Saint Louis, Missouri) Records

 Record Group
Identifier: Collection ID-1222
Scope and Contents The collection contains the congregational minutes. There are also three church record books that contain the following: Book 1 - Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths - all 1895-1921 Book 2 - Baptisms, Marriages, Confirmations all 1922-1960; Deaths 1927-1960 Book 3 - Baptisms, 1961-2016; Marriages, Confirmations, Deaths - all 1961-2015 A DVD with all of Emmaus' electronic church records is included as well. The digital records are also stored on the...
Dates: 1894 - 2016

Lutheran City Mission

 Series
Scope and Contents

See also the Archives and Manuscript Collection;

Dates: 1838 - 2020

Lutheran City Mission Association (Saint Louis, Missouri) Records

 Record Group
Identifier: Collection ID-1237
Scope and Contents

The collection contains "Mission News" and "City Mission" and other articles. It also has financial records, the constitution, correspondence, and a lecture on Luther.

Dates: 1898 - 1974

Lutheran City Mission. The City Missionary 1-4, 1900 - 1904

 Series
Scope and Contents

"The City Missionary" is bound with "Der Lutherische Kranken- und Waisenfreund," volume 16 (1901); volume 20:2-11 (1905); volume 24:3 (1909);

Dates: 1900 - 1904

Slides and Negatives from Lutheran City Missions

 Unprocessed Material
Identifier: OCT-2021-#14

Walter H. Ellwanger Files

 Collection
Identifier: Collection ID-0304
Scope and Contents

The collection contains files from Ellwanger's office, including bound editions of "The Missionary Lutheran", books, films, and slides. There are also photos and a deconstructed and photocopied scrapbook relating to the Saint Louis City Lutheran Mission.

Dates: 1931 - 1976