About
Our Faith
“Ev.” in the church’s name stands for “Evangelical,” that is, Gospel-centered, centered on the good news of Jesus Christ. Lutherans are the original “evangelicals.” Our congregation is not evangelical protestant, nor evangelical Reformed, nor part of the “Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.” Yet every Lutheran congregation which treasures the Gospel can proudly bear the title ”Evangelical.”
“U.A.C.” in the church’s name stands for ”Unaltered Augsburg Confession.” The Augsburg Confession has been the foundational statement of faith for Lutherans since 1530. After Luther’s death (1546) and again in the 19th cent., some members of the Lutheran Church wanted to alter the Augsburg Confession to make it more agreeable to the spirit of the age. Congregations such as Emmaus proudly identified themselves as “U.A.C.” to show that their faith was the original faith of the Reformation, which itself was a return to the faith of the apostles and of the early Church. To read the Augsburg Confession, click here.
Our History
Emmaus Lutheran Church, which was an offshoot of Trinity Lutheran Church, was established as the “Jefferson Avenue Mission” in 1889, first serving schoolchildren in the Fox Park and McKinley Heights neighborhoods. Although worship services also began that year, the congregation was not founded until 1894. A small two-story building was erected there, with the lower floor used as a school and the upper one as a chapel. A tornado in 1896 unroofed the church and demolished an addition.
The rebuilt structure was used until the present church was dedicated in 1902 at Jefferson Avenue and Armand Place. A large school and parish building at 2617 Shenandoah Avenue was completed in 1926. It contains rooms for an eight grade school and an auditorium-gymnasium seating 1000 people. Soon after the dedication of this structure, the church was mysteriously damaged by fire and services were held in the school auditorium during reconstruction. The church established a cemetery called “Pilgrim’s Rest” on Lemay Ferry Road in 1929. By 1934, the church membership had become one of the largest in the city. Since 1891 the church had been under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Richard Kretschmar, a co-founder of KFUO radio in St. Louis.
Emmaus Lutheran School closed in 1974. However, Emmaus congregation still maintains a vibrant outreach to the community, actively sharing the Gospel and worshiping God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Word
and Sacrament.
Today
Emmaus is an active community member and participant in the Fox Park Neighborhood Association, which holds its monthly meetings in the Emmaus Lutheran School Building (at 7:00 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of
every month, except August and December).
We are a liturgical (traditional) worshiping congregation of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. For information about our beliefs please check out www.bookofconcord.com. View our congregation’s constitution here. See other Emmaus documents here.
Our mission statement
Enabled by His Spirit, Emmaus Lutheran Church proclaims God’s love and grace in Jesus Christ to all people through excellent liturgical worship, bold community outreach, and dedicated, caring service to our neighbor. (Adopted by voters’ assembly, 4/30/08)
Contact Us
Emmaus Ev. Lutheran Church, 2241 S. Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, 63104
Mailing address
Emmaus Ev. Lutheran Church, 2617 Shenandoah Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, 63104
Telephone
(314) 776-1274
emmausstl@gmail.com