Zion Lutheran Church
                       Cleveland, Ohio

 
  Cleveland, Ohio was an area of tremendous growth and industry in 
 the early 1840's. It was a newly incorporated city with a population of 
 7,500 and Ohio had only been a state for 40 years as many immigrants 
 continually arrived. The new pioneers included many Germans and 
 others in search of religious freedom and who met and were part of an 
 early church .  The growth of Lutheranism was rapid. Public record  
 shows that Lutheranism grew three times as quickly as the general 
 population.  This early growth is suggestive that the people were very 
 aware of their evangelistic duties.  Early minutes indicate that hardly a 
 week passed by that 3 or 4 families did not visit or join the 
 congregation.
 
 This was a church that many had thought to be Lutheran, but soon 
 became evident to teach rationalistic doctrine and unionistic practice. 
 Thus, 45 communicants split off and Zion Lutheran Church was 
 established on April 14, 1843. They immediately wrote and 
 established a constitution which clearly stated that its pastors must be 
 faithful to the Lutheran confessions and preach only the true and pure 
 Word of God. The first pastor to be called was Rev. David Schuh who 
 lived quite far and was not able to preach each Sunday. Their place of 
 meeting was the Concert Hall. The first communion service was held 
 on Pentecost of 1843. During this first service, 37 of the 45 members 
 communed, and a marriage and a baptism took place. There were 7 
 confirmands in the first class of 1844. The next pastor was Rev. 
 August Schmidt, who served from 1845-1851. While Pastor Schmidt 
 was serving, the Concert Hall also became the meeting place of great 
 historical significance as it was here that several members of the Ohio 
 Synod met to discuss the increasing laxity of the synod and the 
 possibility of forming a new synod. Subsequent meetings were held in 
 Ft. Wayne and eventually the most famous meeting was held in 
 Chicago in April 1847. Also while Schmidt was pastor of Zion, the 
 congregation was able to build its first church which, though very 
 simple, was a source of great joy to the faithful members.
 
 The next pastor to be called was Rev. Henry C. Schwan. He had been 
 recommended to Zion by Dr. W. Sihler of Ft. Wayne, who had known 
 him in Germany. It is interesting to note that Pastor Schwan's salary 
 was $250 per year plus free housing and that Zion now numbered 375 
 communicant members. The first Christmas of this year made Zion a 
 place in national history when Rev. Schwan introduced the first 
 lighted Christmas tree to be used in a church worship service. Zion, 
 also known as the Mother Church to the Cleveland area, began to give 
 birth to various new congregations. A group that Pastor Schwan served 
 in 1852 later reorganized as St. John's in Euclid. In 1853, Zion 
 organized a Christian School and called Rev. J.C.W. Lindemann to 
 both teach in the school and to conduct worship services for a group of 
 Zion members in western Cleveland. This group soon reorganized as 
 Trinity Lutheran Church and called Pastor Lindemann. At least seven 
 new congregations formed in these early years. Zion continued to grow 
 inwardly and outwardly and joined the Missouri Synod in 1852. The 
 very next year, they invited and hosted the 1853 convention in 
 Cleveland.
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     This text was converted to ascii format for Project Wittenberg
     by Debbie Harris and is in the public domain by permission 
     of Rev. Manfred K. Rembold. You may freely distribute, copy or
     print this text. Please direct any comments or suggestions to: 
                      Rev. Robert E. Smith of the 
           Walther Library at Concordia Theological Seminary.
                                       
                       E-mail: bob_smith@ctsfw.edu
                                       
       Surface Mail: 6600 N. Clinton St., Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 USA
          Phone: (219) 452-2148             Fax: (219) 452-2126
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