This year marks the 150th anniversary of Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansing. It is the oldest congregation in Lansing of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, but not the oldest Lutheran church in Lansing or the surrounding area. The deep roots of Lutheranism in the Lansing area go back to early German immigrants who settled the land of the Grand River basin in the 1840’s and 50’s. Today all three major branches of the Lutheran Church are represented in Lansing, running food banks, community assistance programs, Lutheran schools, early childhood centers, campus ministries and international student outreach. This article will look at the early roots of Lutheran churches in the greater Lansing area and how they got established.
From Detroit and Ann Arbor, early German immigrants moved west and settled near Lansing, Westphalia, and Ionia. In 1853, a handful of German Lutherans from the Ann Arbor area began worshipping regularly in Lansing in people’s homes, only 6 years after Lansing became the capital of Michigan. They wanted to practice their faith according to the beliefs and customs of the Lutheran Church as they had them in the old country. They asked their former pastor from Ann Arbor, Rev. Fredrick Schmid (1807-1883) to serve them. He traveled to Lansing every few weeks to conduct services and administer the sacraments. Fredrick Schmid is a significant figure in Michigan history. He was the first pioneer Lutheran pastor in Michigan, arriving in 1833 to serve Lutheran settlers near Ann Arbor. From there he ministered to German Lutherans in Detroit, Saginaw, Monroe, and dozens of little towns and started over 20 churches. His remarkable and tireless ministry laid a solid foundation for the Lutheran church in Michigan, including Lansing.
In 1855 the Lutherans in Lansing organized themselves as Emmanuel First Evangelical Lutheran Church, now called Emmanuel Lutheran Church and School, located on N. Capitol Ave. They called a full time pastor, Christian Volz (1826 – 1883) who was a trainee of Pastor Schmid. He served only a short time and took a call to Buffalo, NY. Rev. Adam Buerkle (1825-1896) was then installed in 1857 and the church built a wood framed church near the present site in what was called “old Lansing” or “north Lansing.” Both pastors Volz and Buerkle served Lutherans scattered to the west of Lansing in Westphalia Township (who later formed St. Paul, Fowler in 1878) and Woodland (Zion Lutheran was organized 1856). In 1866, Emmanuel called Rev. John Her (1821-1905), of Bear Branch Junction, IN, to Lansing. The congregation’s growth was indicated by the building of a parsonage in 1867 and the establishment of a school in 1868. This school is today Emmanuel Lutheran School, although the congregation did not operate the school from 1927 to 1983.
In 1869, other Lutheran congregations were formed to the northwest of Lansing. St. Peter Lutheran Church and School was founded that year in Riley, and St. John’s Lutheran Church was founded in St. John’s. That year also brought trouble to the congregation in Lansing. Several sources indicate that Rev. John Her was accused of being heavy handed, abusing church discipline, and even acting improperly against the 6th commandment. The conflict erupted and the congregation asked the church body that they were affiliated with, the Ohio Synod, to investigate. The turmoil in the church had two major effects. First, they severed their ties to the Ohio Synod and joined the Michigan Synod, which today is the Michigan District of the Wisconsin Synod. Second, Rev. Her was removed from office and about fourteen families rallied around him and left Emmanuel on August 18, 1869. They worshipped in homes for a time and soon Rev. Her took a call to a congregation out east.
The families that had separated from Emmanuel were interested in forming a new congregation that was strong in doctrine and Lutheran practice, and appealed to the Missouri Synod for assistance. They met in homes and in the old city high school for a time, and reached out to Rev. H. Ramelow (b.1844) of Ionia. He was a seminary graduate who served a number of scattered Lutherans who lived the area in their homes. The Lutherans in Ionia and in Lansing called Rev. Ramelow simultaneously, and he was ordained and installed as pastor to both groups on August 20, 1871, by the LCMS pastor in Grand Rapids. Three weeks later, on September 10, 1871, with Rev. Ramelow presiding, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church was formally organized. By the following year, Rev. Ramelow moved to Lansing as that was his only established congregation. A frame church was constructed and dedicated on January 7, 1872. School textbooks were purchased in April so that school could start in the fall. In June of that year, Trinity joined the Missouri Synod at their Milwaukee convention. That December, Rev. Ramelow took a call to Prairetown, IL, and was succeeded by Rev. J.M.M. Moll of Fraser, MI, who was installed February 2, 1873, by Pastor Georgii of St. Peter in Riley. That year the congregation also constructed a parsonage.
The two Lutheran congregations in Lansing were now firmly established and continued to grow. Although a German Lutheran Church was founded in nearby Grand Ledge in 1872, called Immanuel Lutheran, it was the Wisconsin Synod and Missouri Synod churches that had the deeper roots in Lansing. As the city of Lansing grew, the churches multiplied. Emmanuel First served as the ‘mother church’ for other church plants of the Wisconsin Synod, including Zion Lutheran Church on Pennsylvania Ave, which was founded as an English mission congregation in 1920, and later the suburban congregation in Delta Township, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran, in 1975.
Trinity served as the ‘mother church’ for LCMS church plants in Lansing, including two daughter congregations in 1956 – Ascension Lutheran in East Lansing and Our Savior Lutheran Church and School on Lansing’s south side, which moved out to Delta Township in 2008. Christ Lutheran Church on Pennsylvania was founded in 1930’s as an English mission congregation, and today is part of St. Luke Lutheran Church, Haslett (which itself is a church plant of Ascension Lutheran). Martin Luther Chapel was started in East Lansing in 1954, and in 1964 both Good Shepherd Lutheran in Delta Township and St. Matthew Lutheran Church and School in Holt were organized. Messiah Lutheran in Holt was organized in 1978 by Our Savior and an influx of families from St. Matthew.
A Scandinavian Lutheran Church was organized in 1917, the 400th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, which paved the way for the third group of Lutherans in Lansing. The Scandinavian Lutheran Church changed its name in 1940 to Grace Lutheran Church. Redeemer Lutheran was founded as an English Lutheran Church in downtown Lansing in 1922, which had to relocate with the construction of I-496 to Lansing’s south side in 1962. Bethlehem Lutheran started in 1924 on Mt. Hope near Cedar Street. University Lutheran started in 1942 as a student association which eventually met in a movie theater before building a church and student center on Harrison Road near MSU campus. Suburban expansion saw the formation of St. Stephen Lutheran on north Waverly, Faith Lutheran in Okemos, and Calvary Lutheran in Delta Township, all in 1956. Calvary closed in 2021. St. Paul Lutheran was organized in East Lansing in 1965.
In 1900, there were only two Lutheran churches in Lansing – Emmanuel First and Trinity, and the country churches of Immanuel, Grand Ledge, St. John, St. John’s, and St. Peter, Riley. A century later, in the year 2000, there were 21 Lutheran churches in the greater Lansing area, each striving to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The stories of each congregation reveal the successes and struggles of church life, all under grace, and the faith-filled individuals who tirelessly served God by building up the Kingdom of the Lord. Collectively, the histories of these churches serve as inspiration and lessons for continuing the work of congregation ministries today. May God preserve His word and sacraments among us as He did for our forefathers, and may we continue to live under His amazing grace and to share His unconditional love with the greater Lansing area and beyond.