Concordia Lutheran Church (1899)

Lutheran congregation (LCMS) of the east side · organized 6 August 1899 · 4245 Lake Avenue · active, November 2026

Founding: Concordia began as St. Paul's Eastern District, planted so that the east side's children would not have to walk downtown to St. Paul's school at Barr and Madison. On 6 August 1899 the voters' assembly of St. Paul's granted the district permission to organize as an independent congregation; it adopted the name Concordia the following month and called the Rev. August Lange, who had served the district since 1896 — the Sentinel's 1904 photograph captions him at Concordia still. At its organization the congregation numbered 727 souls. In June 1900 it resolved to join the Missouri Synod.

Building line: Three churches on three grounds. The first, a combined church and school at Fletcher and Alliger Streets built for $9,000, was dedicated on 29 April 1900 and outgrown in three and a half years. The second, on South Anthony Boulevard — cornerstone 21 June 1904, dedicated 14 August 1904, seating more than 1,100, built for $30,700 — served until the final service of 30 August 1970, when the property was given to the Indiana District's Mission Board for the establishment of Shepherd of the City congregation. The congregation had bought its Lake Avenue ground for $58,000 and dedicated its school there on 22 January 1961, worshipping in the gymnasium while the old church stood. The present church, designed by Humbrecht, Sherbondy, and Associates — its plan depicting the life of Christ from Bethlehem to a bell tower figured as the three crosses of Calvary — was begun 6 May 1973, first used 16 June 1974, and dedicated 22 September 1974, at a cost of about $600,000; the three bells of the 1904 church were moved into its tower to carry the continuity of the place.

Present state: Active at 4245 Lake Avenue. At its golden anniversary, 21 May 1950, the congregation counted 2,285 souls and stood among the largest in the Missouri Synod.

Sources:

1. Ackmann and Frincke, "Historically Speaking: Concordia Evangelical Lutheran Church — First 100 Years" (congregation's published history, concordiachurch.org), read first-hand.
2. Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana, church list: "Concordia Lutheran Church, Wayne Township, 1899, active."
3. Fort Wayne Sentinel, 15 October 1904 (Rev. August Lange, pastor).