St. Andrew's Evangelical Lutheran

St. Andrew's Evangelical Lutheran Church served the German community on Buffalo's East Side for 125 years. Faced with declining membership the church closed in 1983. Since then it has been home to Deliverance Temple.

In the 1990 census, German Americans made up the largest ethnic group in the U.S. There are many reasons why Germans left their homeland, economic, political and religious freedom were important factors at different times. Religion played a larger role in the early 1800's, while politics played a more import role in the mid to late 1800's.

In 1839, for example, over 1,000 Old Lutherans emigrated to evade the forced unification of the Lutheran and Reformed churches in Prussia. They went primarily to Buffalo, Milwaukee and St. Louis.

St. Andrew's was formed in 1858, as an outgrowth of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. Originally a member of the Buffalo Synod the church later joined the Missouri Synod of Lutherans. I wonder if there is a connection between this Buffalo Lutheran community the Old Lutheran Immigrants?

For more information about German American History follow this link German American's an Ethnic Experience.

The red building on the left is the original St. Andrew's church, it was converted to a school with four classrooms in 1885 when the present church was built. The school closed in 1932.

Next to the school is the parsonage that was built in 1892.