The following is a timeline of significant events in the history of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.
19th century 1838 Martin Stephan, several pastors, and 600 to 700 German Lutherans from Saxony embark on four ships in November to emigrate to the United States to establish a colony in which they can freely practice their religion. Stephan is declared to be the group's bishop during the voyage. 1839 January 19: The Saxons begin landing in St. Louis, Missouri. The Saxons purchase acreage in Perry County, Missouri, and Stephan and part of the group relocate to it. Stephan is accused of having sexual affairs with women of the colony and is deposed and exiled to the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. The loss of Stephan causes many to wonder if they are a legitimate church. The Altenburg debate between Carl Vehlse and C. F. W. Walther on these questions results in most members remaining and Walther eventually becoming the leader. December 9: Luther College/Altenburg Seminary holds its first classes in the "log cabin college" in Perry County. 1840 F. C. D. Wyneken's Distress of the German Lutherans in North America, advocating for missionaries to be sent, is published in Germany. 1841 Wilhelm Löhe, a parish pastor in Neuendettelsau, Bavaria, starts to solicit funds to train and send missionaries to the United States. 1842 August 5: Löhe sends the first two of what will eventually be 80 missionaries. These missionaries establish congregations in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. 1844 , with Walther as editor, is first published. 1845 Löhe sends colonists to Saginaw County, Michigan, to work to convert the Native Americans there. 1846 Löhe sends 11 theological students and an instructor to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to establish the German Theological Seminary, subsequently renamed to Concordia Theological Seminary. May: Planning meeting for a new Lutheran denomination is held in St. Louis. July: Second planning meeting is held in Fort Wayne. 1847 April 26 – May 6: Twelve pastors representing 14 congregations meet at German Evangelical Lutheran Church (First St. Paul's) in Chicago and form the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and Other States () with C. F. W. Walther as the first president. (Church Hymn Book for Evangelical Lutheran Congregations), is published by Walther's congregation, Trinity, in St. Louis. The synod assumed responsibility for publishing it in 1861. Löhe gives Concordia Theological Seminary to the synod despite differences on the doctrine of the ministry. December: The Altenburg Seminary relocates from Perry County to St. Louis. 1848 June 21 – July 1: Second synodical convention meets at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis. 1849 June 6–16: Third synodical convention meets at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne. 1850 October 2–12: Fourth synodical convention meets at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis and elects Friedrich Conrad Dietrich Wyneken as the second president of the LCMS. The synod assumes control of the seminary as it moves into newly built quarters on South Jefferson Avenue and begins treating Concordia College and Concordia Seminary as separate institutions. 1851 June 18–28: Fifth synodical convention meets at Trinity Lutheran Church in Milwaukee. 1852 June 23 – July 3: Sixth synodical convention meets at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne. 1853 June 1–11: Seventh synodical convention meets at Zion Lutheran Church in Cleveland, Ohio. Disagreements on the doctrines of church and ministry, as well the ownership of the teachers college his missionaries had established in Saginaw, Michigan, cause Löhe to break relations with the synod. 1854 June 21 – July 1: Eighth synodical convention meets at Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Louis and, due to rapid growth, splits the synod into four administrative district synods (Central, Eastern, Northern, and Western) and decides to hold synodical conventions every three years. 1855 January: The congregations and pastors of St. Stephen's (Walker Point), Trinity, and St. John's open a teachers seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. , with Walther as editor, is first published. 1857 October 14–24: Ninth synodical convention meets at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne. Altar and pulpit fellowship with the Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Norwegian Synod) is recognized. The synod assumes control of the Milwaukee teachers seminary and moves it to Fort Wayne. 1859 Disagreements about ordination and the office of the ministry cause the Buffalo Synod to excommunicate the Missouri Synod. 1860 October 10–20: Tenth synodical convention meets at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis. 1861 Concordia Theological Seminary relocates from Fort Wayne to share the campus of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis so that its students would not be subject to the draft for military service in Indiana. Concordia College relocates from St. Louis to Fort Wayne to use the facilities there. 1863 June 1–11: 11th synodical convention meets at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne. 1864 October 19–29: 12th synodical convention meets at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne and elects C. F. W. Walther as the third president of the LCMS. After being housed in several different locations in Fort Wayne, the teachers seminary relocates to Addison, Illinois, as the Addison Teachers Seminary. 1866 October 31 – November 10: 13th synodical convention meets at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis. Schism within the Buffalo Synod leads to a majority of its pastors (12) joining the Missouri Synod. 1868 Altar and pulpit fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio (Ohio Synod) is recognized. 1869 September 1–11: 14th synodical convention meets at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne. Concordia Publishing House is established in St. Louis. Altar and pulpit fellowship with the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Wisconsin (Wisconsin Synod) is recognized. 1872 April 26 – May 7: 15th synodical convention meets at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis. July 10–16: The Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America is formed with the Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Norwegian, Ohio, and Wisconsin synods agreeing to be in full altar and pulpit fellowship. A free conference at Gravelton, Missouri, of representatives of the Missouri, Tennessee, Holston, and Norwegian synods leads to the formation of the English Evangelical Lutheran Conference of Missouri. The synod has 543 congregations and 415 pastors. 1874 October 14–23: 16th synodical convention meets at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne. The Northwestern District is separated from the Northern District. 1875 The Illinois District is separated from the Western District. Concordia Theological Seminary moves from St. Louis to the former campus of Illinois State University in Springfield, Illinois. 1877 Mission work among Black people in the U.S. is begun by the Synodical Conference with J. F. Doeschler as the first missionary. 1878 May 15–25: 17th synodical conference meets as Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis and elects Heinrich Christian Schwan as the fourth president of the LCMS. Iowa District is separated from the Western District, and the Canada District from the Northern District. Members of the Tennessee Synod establish Concordia College in Conover, North Carolina, as a high school and add college courses in 1881. 1880 May: The Illinois Synod merges into the LCMS Illinois District. Concordia Publishing House begins publishing the 22-volume (Dr. Martin Luther's Complete Writings) in German. Known as the "St. Louis Edition", the final volume is issued in 1910. 1881 May 11–21: 18th synodical convention meets at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne. The Ohio Synod withdraws from the Synodical Conference and from fellowship with the LCMS as a result of the Predestinarian Controversy. September: The Illinois, the Wisconsin, and the Minnesota and Dakota districts open Concordia College in Milwaukee to give pre-seminary training to prospective pastors. The Lutheran Church of St. Matthew in Manhattan, New York, establishes Concordia Progymnasium as a feeder school for Concordia Seminary. 1882 May 21: Pastor Charles Frank of Zanesville, Ohio, with the financial support of the Cleveland (Ohio) District Pastoral Conference, publishes the first issue of The Lutheran Witness. The Minnesota and Dakota District and the Wisconsin District are separated from the Northern District (which is then renamed as the Michigan District), and the Nebraska District and the Southern District are separated from the Western District. 1883 The Norwegian Synod withdraws from the Synodical Conference as the Predestinarian Controversy threatens to split it internally. St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Concordia, Missouri, opens St. Paul's College, initially as a high school. 1884 May 7–17: 19th synodical convention meets in the Concordia Seminary Aula in St. Louis. 1886 The Evangelical Lutheran Concordia Synod of Pennsylvania and Other States, which had split from the Ohio Synod in the aftermath of the Predestinarian Controversy and joined the Synodical Conference in 1882, merges into the LCMS. 1887 May 4–14: 20th synodical convention meets at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne. The Kansas District and the California and Oregon District are separated from the Western District. Concordia College in Milwaukee is transferred from the founding districts to the synod itself. 1888 The English Evangelical Lutheran Conference of Missouri is reorganized as an independent body, the English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri and Other States (English Synod). The English Synod assumes responsibility for publishing The Lutheran Witness. 1889 The English Synod publishes the Evangelical Lutheran Hymn Book that had been compiled by August Crull of Concordia College in Fort Wayne, Indiana. 1890 June 25 – July 3: 21st synodical convention meets at Trinity Lutheran Church in Milwaukee. The English Synod joins the Synodical Conference. 1892 The English Synod takes control of Concordia College in Conover. 1893 February: Concordia Progymnasium purchases land in Unionville, New York, for a new campus. April 25 – May 6: 22nd synodical convention meets at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in St. Louis. May 23: The Walther League is organized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Buffalo, New York, for young people in the Synodical Conference. September: St. John's College opens in Winfield, Kansas. Consisting of a high school academy and a junior college, it is operated by the English Synod. 1894 June 2: The LCMS files incorporation papers as the result of financial embezzlement at Concordia Publishing House. November 18: The Evangelical Lutheran School Teachers Seminary () is dedicated in Seward, Nebraska, becoming the synod's second such school. 1896 April 29 – May 9: 23rd synodical convention meets at St. Paul's Lutheran Church and Immanuel Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne. St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Concordia, Missouri, gives St. John's College to the synod. Mission work begins in England, organized as the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England in 1954. 1897 The synod has 1,564 congregations, 1,986 pastors, and 687,334 members. 1899 April 26 – May 6: 24th synodical convention meets at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in St. Louis and elects Franz August Otto Pieper as the fifth president of the LCMS. The California and Oregon District is split into the California and Nevada District and the Oregon and Washington District.
20th century
1900 Missionary work among German-speaking immigrants in Brazil begins. 1902 June 4–14: 25th synodical convention meets at Trinity Lutheran Church in Milwaukee. September 2–4: Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Synod is organized; it establishes altar and pulpit fellowship with the LCMS in 1903. A church extension fund for the synod is started. 1903