The Saxon Lutherans arrived in America in the late 1830s and soon began networking with other Lutherans throughout the midwest. In 1847, "The German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and Other States" was founded in Chicago, IL. Eventually the name was shortened to "The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod" (LCMS).
Today, the LCMS is composed of 5,900 congregations, totaling 1.8 million members. As a member congregation of the LCMS, St. Matthew continues to share the same Christ-centered, Gospel-based message that was proclaimed in the time of the Saxon immigration in the 1800s, the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s, and in the early church.