The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod v. Concordia University Texas
Case Snapshot
After a hard experience in Europe, shaped by State coercion and religious prosecution, the founders of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod came to the United States in the early 1800s seeking the liberty to run their own church, free from government interference. And for 130 years, the Church has exercised its beliefs and religious mission, through a structure that maintains a distinction between sacred and secular affairs. This fell under attack in 2025 when a breakaway university that had been founded by the Church, haled the Church’s spiritual body into court, demanding that the Church sacrifice its beliefs and structure as the price for returning the university to the fold.
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Case Summary
A kingdom “not of this world”
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod believes that its Church is fundamentally “not of this world,” and must be protected from control by the State. These beliefs, shaped by the tradition’s historical suffering of persecution and state co-option, have caused the Church 130 years ago to create a civil corporation—the LCMS—to represent the Church before civil courts and to manage the Church’s property, contracts, and legal affairs. But the Church’s ecclesiastical body—known as the Synod—exercises the Church’s spiritual authority and governs the Church’s religious beliefs. This distinction between spiritual and secular authorities is a key religious belief underpinning the Church’s organization and governance. This structure allows the Church to stay focused on its religious mission while LCMS supports that mission, among other places, in court.
A university for the faithful
In 1926, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod established Concordia University Texas to help train pastors, teachers, and other church workers to serve in Lutheran congregations. LCMS paid for the land, buildings, furniture, and the books in the library. From the start, Concordia was not just another college; it was an extension of the Church’s religious mission.
Concordia’s attempt to separate from the Church
Yet almost a century after it was founded by the Church, Concordia’s Board of Regents voted in November 2022—without Church approval—to cut LCMS out of the picture. It rewrote the school’s charter and bylaws to eliminate LCMS’s oversight and claimed the school was no longer bound by Church authority. The board asserted exclusive control over who sits on the board, what theology is taught, and how Concordia defines its relationship to the Church.
When the Church learned of these events, it immediately requested that Concordia return to the Church’s fold, but Concordia refused. The Church’s highest authority reviewed Concordia’s actions and ruled them invalid as a matter of Church law. But again, Concordia refused to comply. Left with no other recourse, LCMS filed a lawsuit in federal court to preserve the Church’s role and protect the school’s mission.
The law protects the Church’s right to organize itself
Even though LCMS has always handled the Church’s legal affairs—including its relationship with Concordia—a federal court said it couldn’t bring the case in court. The court claimed that only the Church’s spiritual body, the Synod, had the right to sue. But the Synod is a purely spiritual body. It doesn’t own property, have bank accounts, sign contracts, or go to court. That’s LCMS’s role—and it has been for 130 years.
This arrangement isn’t just practical—it reflects the Church’s belief in a clear distinction between spiritual leadership and civil authority. LCMS handles legal affairs; the Synod leads on doctrine and spiritual matters. To force the Synod to serve LCMS’s role would violate the Church’s beliefs that God’s kingdom isn’t subject to state control and create chaotic uncertainty about the ability of churches in general to select a form of association before the state to order their civil affairs in support of a spiritual mission and fellowship. On April 28, 2025, Becket appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to ensure that churches—not courts—get the final say in how they’re organized.
Importance to Religious Liberty:
- Religious Communities: Churches and religious organizations have a right to live, teach, and govern in accordance with the tenets of their faith. When the government unjustly interferes in internal church affairs, the separation of church and state is threatened. The First Amendment ensures a church’s right to self-definition and free association.