Christian Cyclopedia

Henkelite Luths. (see General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States of America, The, 7) moved W from western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee before 1839 and settled esp. in SE Missouri On invitation from mems. of this group, a free conf. was held 1872 at Gravelton, Wayne Co., Missouri, in which mems. of the Ev. Luth. Tennessee Syn., Holston Syn., Mo. Syn., and Norw. Syn. took part. C. F. W. Walther* took the lead in guiding the Eng. group (3 pastors, including P. C. Henkel [see Henkels, The, 3]) toward immediate organization of The Eng. (Ev.) Luth. Conf. of Missouri; A. W. Meyer* joined 1885, C. F. W. Dallmann* 1886. On basis of an 1886 resolution the conf. applied to the 1887 Mo. Syn. conv. for admission as a dist. but was advised to organize an indep. syn.

A city miss. cong. was est. by C. F. W. Dallmann in Baltimore, Maryland, 1888. Similar ventures followed in St. Louis, Missouri; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Winfield, Kansas; Washington, D. C.; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; St. Paul, Minnesota; Cleveland, Ohio; Buffalo and NYC, New York In 1888 the conf. adopted a const. and a new name expressing broader vision: The Gen. Eng. (Ev.) Luth. Conf. of Missouri and Other States. The conf. joined the Ev. Luth. Synodical* Conf. of N Am. 1890. In 1891 the conf. changed name to The Eng. Ev. Luth. Syn. of Missouri and Other States.

The Lutheran Witness, begun 1882 under auspices of the Cleveland Dist. Conf. and ed. by C. A. Frank,* was presented to the syn. 1888. In 1893 the syn. received Concordia* Coll., Conover, North Carolina, and St. John's Coll., Winfield, Kansas (see Ministry, Education of, VIII B; the latter was given to the Mo. Syn. 1908. The Lutheran Guide (a child's paper for Sunday Schools), founded by 1891 syn. resolution and ed. by A. W. Meyer, began to appear 1893. In 1911 the syn. became the Eng. Dist. of the Mo. Syn. See also Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, The, V. 10.

Pres.: F. G. Kuegele* 1888–1899; C. F. W. Dallmann 1899–1901; A. W. Meyer 1901–05; H. P. Eckhardt* 1905–11.

H. P. Eckhardt, The English District (n. p., 1946).