We began as a small German speaking country Church in 1892 – the horse and buggy were very much in vogue and Manchester Avenue was just a dirt road.
As the church grew, it outgrew its first building and in 1954 we dedicated our current building to the glory of God.
The school building still serves the community, and the church continues to praise God for all His blessings.
We continue to proclaim the mission emphasis with which Concordia began in the words of Isaiah 56:7 – “… mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.”
Today, our mission states: “To be united in Word and Sacrament through regular worship of the Triune God and the study of His Word, we at Concordia Lutheran Church, Maplewood, Missouri are called to reach out in love and service to this community with the message of free grace, love and salvation found only in Christ Jesus.”
From an historic plate:
Concordia Church had its beginning in 1889, when a group of Lutherans met for the purpose of considering the possibility of conducting services in a section known as Benton, in the western part of St. Louis. The meeting and also the first services were held in a hall at Manchester and Prather Avenues.
in 1890, the hall on the second floor of a building on the southwest corner of Forest and Bruno Avenues was rented for church purposes. It was there that the Christian Day School had its beginning in 1891.
In the latter half of the nineties the congregation purchased its own property and erected a modest frame building at 7255 Southwest Avenue, Maplewood. This remained the home of the congregation until the present church was built and dedicated at the corner of Sarah Street and Marshall Avenue on October 4, 1914.
Concordia, one of the largest Lutheran Churches in St. Louis County, is conducting three services each Sunday morning to accommodate its 1,018 communicant members and 1,578 souls and is looking forward to the time that a new and larger house of worship will be built to the glory of God on the present site.
(Contact the church for an historic plate)
From the Historic Walking Tour of Maplewood:
Concordia Lutheran Church was founded in 1892 at 7255 Southwest Avenue. A brick church was erected on the present site in 1914 but was replaced in 1953 by the present building. The architects, Froese, Maack and Becker, specialized in Lutheran churches and institutions, usually rooted in North German architecture. Here their design, probably influenced by junior partner Rex Becker, is unusually bold – note the pattern parabolic arches. The symbols around the door represent the twelve apostles, many referring to stories of their martyrdoms.