This week in Christian history: Quaker founder dies, Lutheran Synod president ordained

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, January 09, 2022

First Lutheran Synod president ordained – Jan. 15, 1837

Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther (1811-1887), a German-born American pastor who became the first president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. | Wikimedia Commons

This week marks the anniversary of when Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther, a German-born pastor who was the first president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, was ordained.

Educated at the University of Leipzig, Walther was ordained nearly two years before he immigrated to the United States, where he also served as president of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.

“For forty-six years Walther was the pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Saint Louis. He also taught at and was president of Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis, from 1850 until his death,” explains the Concordia Historical Institute.

“He served as the president of the Synod from its founding in 1847 to 1850. In 1864 he was again elected president and served until 1878.”