This record group documents the activities of the first Lutheran archives in America, which coincided with the creation of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania (MoP), up through the formation of the Lutheran Church in America (LCA). Included are various books and manuscripts concerned with the Lutheran synodical structures in America and their subsidiary boards/committees/organizations, congregational records, personal papers for prominent Lutheran figures, and printed materials.  

This record group is the foundation of the Lutheran Archives Center’s holdings. It began alongside the founding of the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and Adjacent States in 1748. Items were added throughout the archives’ history until 1988, when the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was formed. This record group is also informally referred to as the Ministerium of Pennsylvania (MoP) Collection.

Collection 1: Pre-1918 Synodical Structures

This collection contains the constitutions, minutes, financial records, correspondence and other miscellaneous materials concerning the first three Lutheran synodical structures in America. They are organized chronologically and have been given stricter start and end dates than what might be true in reality.

• Series 1: Ministerium of Pennsylvania (1748–1853)

• Series 2: General Synod (1854–1918)

• Series 3: General Council (1867–1918)

Click this Link to View the Collection 1 Finding Aid

Collection 2: Congregations

This collection contains all of the congregational records that were deposited during the time period from the Ministerium of Pennsylvania through to the Lutheran Church in America. It contains various types of items, notably parish registers, directories, and programs. As a note, if you cannot find the congregational record you are looking for in this collection, please check the other congregational records located within LACAP outside of the Lutheranism in America Record Group.

• Series 1: Pennsylvania Congregations

• Series 2: New York Congregations

• Series 3: New Jersey Congregations

• Series 4: National Congregations

• Series 5: International Congregations

Click this Link to View the Collection 2 Finding Aid

Collection 3: Lutheran Figures in America

This collection contains the personal papers, such as journals, personal registers, and notes, of prominent American Lutheran pastors, synodical members, and seminary staff. 

• Series 1: Muhlenberg Family

• Series 2: Other Lutheran Figures in America

Click this Link to View the Collection 3 Finding Aid

Collection 4: Post-1918 Synodical Structures

This collection contains the constitutions, minutes, financial records, correspondence and other miscellaneous materials concerning later Lutheran synodical structures in America. They are organized chronologically and have been given stricter start and end dates than what might be true in reality.

• Series 1: United Lutheran Church in America (1919–1962)

• Series 2: Lutheran Church in America: (1963–1988)

• Series 3: Central Pennsylvania Synod

• Series 4: Eastern Pennsylvania Synod (1962–1968)

• Series 5: Northeast Pennsylvania Synod (1968–Present)

• Series 6: Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod (1968–Present)

Click this Link to View the Collection 4 Finding Aid

Collection 5: Boards, Committees, Conferences, Missions, Etc.

Click this Link to View the Collection 5 Finding Aid

Collection 6: Miscellaneous Materials

Click this Link to View the Collection 6 Finding Aid

Collection 2: Congregations

Series 1: Pennsylvania Congregations

Finding Aid for St. John’s (English) Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, Pa Collection, 1806-2001 (#1979.001.02PA.Phila054-Phila)

Finding Aid for St. Michael's Lutheran Church (Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa) Collection, 1836–1976 (#1979.001.02PA.Phila062)

Collection 3: Lutheran Figures

Series 1: Muhlenberg Family

Finding Aid for John William Richards Papers (1803–1854) Papers, 1821-1872 (#1979.001.03Muh.009)

Finding Aid for Muhlenberg Family Papers, 1730–1958 (#1979.001.03Muh.999)

While the collection is rehoused, you may view the old collections database by  CLICKING HERE or see below.