Augustana Lutheran Church LCMS
Moscow, ID
History
Augustana Lutheran Church started as a hymn sing in a living room in 2014. A group of about 20 Lutherans started gathering for traditional hymns and prayer, thanks to Augustana’s future pianist. The small but dedicated group went on to start a mission church in Moscow, by God’s grace.
In 2015, Messiah Lutheran Church in Seattle, Washington (300 miles away) along with Pastor Lassman and Pastor Mankin took a chance on the Moscow Lutherans and agreed to help plant a mission church and the Seventh Day Adventists agreed to use of their facility on Sundays. The Moscow Lutherans gathered to watch a live stream of Messiah’s service.
Pastor Musegades of Trinity Lutheran Church in Grangeville agreed to serve the Messiah’s Moscow Mission once a month for about a year.
Messiah’s Moscow Mission Church’s first pastoral call failed, but God was faithful. In 2016, Pastor Jonathon Krenz accepted a call to the Mission Church in Moscow. Pastor Douglas Taylor became an Associate Pastor five years later.
In 2017, Pastor Krenz taught the first confirmation class in a member family’s dining room. As of 2024, three additional cohorts of children have been confirmed.
In 2018, Augustana became its own congregation and a member of the Northwest District of the LCMS, still renting by the hour, still chasing the dream of sharing the Gospel and Confessional Lutheranism on the Palouse.
In 2023, with thanksgiving for many years of partnership, Augustana bid farewell to the Seventh Day Adventists, and moved to All Souls Christian Church, where we continue to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the Palouse, while renting by the hour. We continue to pray for Augustana’s first permanent home.