Christian Cyclopedia

(Illinois Syn.; Syn. of Illinois). a) 1846–67. The Syn. of the West* divided June 1846. One of the resultant syns. was the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Illinois, which held its 1st conv. in Hillsboro, Illinois, October 15, 1846. Joined Gen. Syn. 1848 (see General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States of America, The).

b) 1867–80. When the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Illinois decided to withdraw from the Gen. Syn. and join the Gen. Council (see General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in [North] America), it divided at Mount Pulaski, Illinois, August 1867. The minority formed the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Cen. Illinois* and remained with the Gen. Syn. The majority formed the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Illinois and Other [Adjacent] States (also known as Illinois Syn.) and joined the Gen. Council 1867. When the Gen. Council took no definite stand on the Four* Points, this Illinois Syn. left the Gen. Council 1871 and helped organize the Ev. Luth. Synodical* Conf. 1872. in May 1880 this Illinois Syn. merged with the Illinois Dist. of the Mo. Syn. and expressed the expectation that its pastors and congs. in Missouri would join the W Dist. of the Mo. Syn., adding that no pastor or cong. was under any obligation to do so. Membership at time of merger: 23 pastors, 26 congs., 6,004 communicants. See also Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, The, V 15.