CID 100th Anniversary Events:

Anniversary Worship Service
October 14, 2007 • 5 p.m.
Trinity Lutheran Church
Preacher: Dr. Robert Kuhn, former CID and LCMS President

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Significant Dates in Lutheranism
by Rev. David J. Bueltmann, CID President
reprinted from The GatePost July/August 2007 Issue

Most Lutherans will recognize 1517 as the year that Luther nailed the Ninety-five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Many have traveled to Germany to see this church and the reconstructed doors which replaced the original doors. The reason for Luther’s work was to point people to the Word of God which states that salvation “is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” Up to that point the people had the idea they could earn salvation by what they did or even purchase forgiveness.

Another significant date in the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod is April 26, 1847 (330 years after the nailing of the 95 Theses). On this day the Synod was established with the name “Die Deutsche Evangelisch-Lutherische Synode von Missouri, Ohio un andern Staaten.” There are a number of interesting books telling the story of how the Lutherans from Saxony, Germany, started out for America in 1838 with five ships and arrived in New Orleans with four ships. You can also read about their struggles until they finally organized in 1847. It is also interesting to note that the Synod changed its name to The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod in 1947.

The organizing of the Synod into districts is interesting to follow. At the first convention of the Synod the territory was divided into six “conference districts,” 1) St. Louis, MO; 2) Chicago, IL; 3) Ft. Wayne, IN; 4) Monroe, MI; 5) Fairfield, OH; 6) New York, NY. In 1854 Synod was reorganized into four larger districts: 1) Eastern, 2) Central, 3) Northern, 4) Western (which included Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, and Louisiana). By 1887 the Western District became six districts, one of them being the Illinois District which came into being in 1874.

In 1907, 60 years after the Synod was first organized and 390 years after the Reformation, the Illinois District became three: 1) Southern, 2) Central and 3) Northern. It was on May 24, 1907, that this division was officially completed. Thus in 2007 (this year) we are celebrating 100 years that our Central Illinois District has existed. To commemorate this occasion and celebrate with thanksgiving the blessings given to us by our Lord, an anniversary committee has been established which is at work planning events. One of these events is a worship service scheduled for October 14, at 4:00 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bloomington. More details will be shared as they are available.

Our Centennial Celebration will remind us what God has done for us and continues to do for us in Christ Jesus. As we who are alive now realize, it is not always easy to remain faithful to the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions. This faith has been brought to us by the grace of God. We pray that we can pass that Word of God on to many generations to come. We pray that God will continue to bless our efforts in “Telling the Good News About Jesus”. Join us in celebrating and thank the Lord for His continued blessings.

(Much of the information for this article was gleaned from “His Story” written for the 75th Anniversary of our district by the Rev. Herbert C. Pragman.)