CID Archives

Central Illinois District Archives

The Central Illinois District has maintained archives in one form or another since the District was created in 1907. The archives are presently housed on the District office grounds. They are open to anyone with a serious interest in historical research. 

The CID archives contain files on all congregations – active, closed or removed, those having joined another Lutheran Synod or simply going independent. There are also records of special projects or activities such as the Inner City Board of Directors and pan-Lutheran activity such as the Lutheran Council-USA. Other records include minutes of the CID Board of Directors, District and Synod Convention Proceedings, files on all CID Presidents, materials related to Christian education – in short, a wide variety of records that show how the CID has responded to the Great Commission and how we have made God-pleasing use of all the assets which our gracious God has given us to administer. The archives include over 500 pages of materials translated from German.

The current Archivist, the Rev. Ralph Woehrmann (a member of Trinity,Taylorville), has served in this capacity since October, 2008. Along with an Archival Board, he has overseen the creation and administration of several projects over the years, perhaps the most significant of which were an updating of CID history and the translation of a book on the first 50 years of Concordia Theological Seminary, from 1846 to 1896. This book is due to be published by the Ft. Wayne Seminary as part of its 175th anniversary activities in 2020-2021.

The Archivist requests the honor of an invitation to your congregation, or perhaps its Ladies, Men's, or Youth groups. He can present on subjects mentioned above, plus publicly available information from the archives that concerns your congregation. A presentation by him might help to prepare you for some celebration or for mission opportunities. He will note the District’s appreciation for your involvement in maintaining a collection whose dollar value cannot be overestimated. While he claims no superiority in knowledge of the District, even though having been physically-present in it off-and-on since 1970 and consistently since 1980, he can show what is in the archives and what value it has for the Kingdom in general and CID in particular. 

Since the Archivist is no longer rostered by Synod, he cannot preach except with permission of the District President, but he could offer a special Bible Class on Sunday or some other time during the week. A monetary gift to compensate for mileage from Taylorville would be appreciated to cover travel expense. 

You can reach Archivist Ralph Woehrmann through the CID office. Or you may contact him directly via e-mail at ralphwoehrmann@gmail.com, or by telephoning (217) 494 4369.