2. First German Lutheran Congregation of New Orleans (1840)
Originally: German Orthodox Evangelical Congregation of New Orleans and Lafayette
Formerly: First German Lutheran Congregation of New Orleans
Presently: St. Paul Lutheran ChurchAbout the records:
1. The earliest original records, 1840-1844, are held in the Louisiana Research Collection of the Tulane University Library. These records are identified as being the records of the “German Lutheran Church (1838-1844), Manuscripts Collection 119.”
These records were transcribed and translated by Ms. Erin Greenwald and Mr. Dietmar Felber in August 2000, and are made available courtesy of Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana.
The transcribed records online are:
German Lutheran Church, Baptism Records, 1840-1844
German Lutheran Church, Death Records, 1839-1844
These records were published in the October 2002 (Vol. XLI, No. 164) and January 2003 (Vol. XLII, No. 165) issues of New Orleans Genesis.2. The later original records from 1844 to 1947, including baptism, marriage, death, and confirmation records, are housed at the Concordia Historical Institute in St. Louis, Missouri. Records since 1947 are held by the church.
The 1844 to 1947 records, most of which are indexed, have been digitized and are available here:
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~neworleans/religions/st_paul_records/
Copies of the original records (1844-1947) are available on three rolls of microfilm. Information on their availability can be found here.Information about the history of the church can be found in the following:
(1) Articles in New Orleans Genesis (vol 17, no 65, p 114; vol 17, no 66, p 219)
(2) Histories of the church published on various anniversaries:
50th Kurzgefaßte Geschichte der deutschen Evangelisch-Lutherischen St. Paulus Gemeinde U. A. C. zu New Orleans, La. (1890)
[A Brief History of the German Evangelical-Lutheran St. Paul Congregation U. A. C. of New Orleans, La.]
75th Souvenir of the Diamond Jubilee of the Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul’s Congregation, New Orleans, La.(1915)
80th Directory of the St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (1920)
90th Souvenir Booklet of the 90th Anniversary of Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul's Church and School (1930)
100th 100 Years with St. Paul’s, 1840-1940 (1940)
135th Founded on the Firm Foundation (1975)
150th Port & Burgundy: a pictorial history published in commemoration of the sesquicentennial of Saint Paul Lutheran Church (1990)
Copies of some of the above histories can be found at the New Orleans Public Library and at the libraries of Tulane University and the University of New Orleans.The present church building was constructed in 1889, and is a contributing structure in the Faubourg Marigny Historic District, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Other names of this church:
German Orthodox Evangelical Congregation of New Orleans and Lafayette (1842)
German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of New Orleans [Schneider faction] (1843)
German Evangelical Orthodox Church in New Orleans [reunited] (1845)
First German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of New Orleans (1858)
German Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul’s Congregation (1872)
Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul’s Congregation, U. A. C., of New Orleans, Louisiana (1885)
St. Paul Lutheran Church (1960)Clergy who served the church up to 1893:
Christian Sans (1840-1843); Christian Rudolph Korndörffer (1843-1844); J. E. Schneider (1843-1844); Christian Schrenk (1845-1848); Johann Jakob Bühler (1848-1856); Christian Gottlieb Mödinger (1855-1890); Gottfried J. B. Wegener (1887-1946).Current affiliation:
St. Paul Lutheran Church is today affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.Current address:
St. Paul Lutheran Church
2624 Burgundy Street
New Orleans LA 70117Website: https://stpaulmarigny.org/
Note: In 1888, the English-speaking members of what is today’s St. Paul Lutheran Church formed their own church, which they called First English Lutheran Church. This church still exists today. Some of their earliest records have been indexed in L'Heritage, the publication of the St. Bernard Genealogical Society. They include:
Births/Baptisms (1888–1925)
HER 11.41:62 (+ 11.42:117 through 13.50:96)
Marriages – Marriage Book I
HER 11.41:67 (+ 11.42:121, 11.43:206, 12.46:101)
Deaths – Burials, Book I
HER 13.49:19 (+ 13.50:101)Information about the history of First English Lutheran Church can be found in the following:
History of the church published on its 100th anniversary
A Centennial of Grace, Remember, Rejoice (1888-1988)