The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) is organized into 35 districts, 33 of which are defined along geographic lines. Each district has a president who oversees the congregations in his district, which are further subdivided into local circuits. The position of president is analogous to the role of bishop in many church bodies, but the LCMS supports a synodical polity, which combines congregationalist polity and episcopal polity, as opposed to an exclusively hierarchical governance.
Each district chooses its own president from among the pastors in the district at its triennial convention. In some districts the district president occupies a full-time position, while in others he continues to serve as pastor in a congregation.
The 35 district presidents plus the synod president form the Council of Presidents (COP), one of whose duties is to place graduates from the two LCMS seminaries as pastors in congregations that have requested such a candidate. If a congregation desires an experienced pastor to fill a vacancy, the district president may suggest a list of possible candidates (gleaned from interactions with the COP as well as other sources), but the district president does not assign pastors in this case; the congregation extends a "call" directly to the pastor.
From the time of its founding in 1847 until 1854, the LCMS held annual synod-wide conventions. However, given the growth in number of congregations and the large geographic area covered by the synod (Iowa to western New York and Minnesota to Louisiana), a new constitution was adopted in the latter year splitting the synod into four geographical districts (Eastern, Western, Northern, and Central) that would take over some of the responsibilities of the general synod. The original districts were further divided over the years to create the current 33 geographical districts.
The following is a chronological list of former and current districts of the LCMS. Former district names are in italics.
| District Name | Year Created | Parent District | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central | 1854 | Original district | Initially contained congregations in Indiana and Ohio. The district was divided into the Indiana and Ohio districts in 1962/1963. |
| 1854 | Original district | Initially contained congregations in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. Later the province of Ontario was added, but was then transferred to the Northern district in 1874. In 1906 the Atlantic district was split off. The district now includes only western New York state and most of Pennsylvania. | |
| Northern | 1854 | Original district | Initially contained congregations in Michigan and Wisconsin. The Northwestern district was split off in 1874/1875, at which time the province of Ontario was moved from the Eastern district to the redefined Northern district. The Canadian district was split off in 1878/1879. The district was renamed the Michigan district in 1881. |
| Western | 1854 | Original district | Initially contained congregations in Missouri, Illinois, and Louisiana, with other states added later as congregations were established. The Illinois district separated in 1874, the Iowa district in 1878/1879, the Nebraska and Southern districts in 1881/1882, and the Kansas district and the California and Oregon district in 1887. The district was divided into the Missouri and Mid-South districts in 1965/1966. |
| Illinois | 1874 | Western | Divided into the Northern Illinois, Central Illinois, and Southern Illinois districts in 1907/1908. |
| Northwestern | 1874/1875 | Northern | Initially contained congregations in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Split into the Wisconsin district and the Minnesota and Dakota district in 1881/1882. |
| Canada | 1878/1879 | Northern | Renamed the Ontario district in 1923. |
| Iowa | 1878/1879 | Western | Divided into the Eastern Iowa and Western Iowa districts in 1936. |
| 1881 | Northern | Renamed from the Northern district. It does not include the western half of the Upper Peninsula. | |
| Minnesota and Dakota | 1881/1882 | Northwestern | The South Dakota district was split out in 1905/1906, and the North Dakota and Montana district in 1910. The district was renamed the Minnesota district in 1912, and the Alberta and British Columbia and the Manitoba and Saskatchewan districts were split off in 1920. The district was divided into the Minnesota North and Minnesota South districts in 1962/1963. |
| 1881/1882 | Western | The district was divided into the Northern Nebraska and Southern Nebraska districts in 1922, but those districts merged in 1970 to reform the Nebraska district. | |
| 1881/1882 | Western | Initially contained congregations in Texas, Louisiana, and adjoining states. The Texas district was split out in 1905/1906, and the Florida-Georgia district in 1947/1948. It now consists of the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. | |
| Wisconsin | 1881/1882 | Northwestern | The district was divided into the North Wisconsin and South Wisconsin districts in 1916. |
| 1887 | Western | Initially contained congregations in Kansas and Colorado. The Colorado district was split off in 1920/1921, leaving the states of Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. The Oklahoma district was split off in 1923/1924 | |
| California and Oregon | 1887 | Western | The district divided into the California and Nevada and the Oregon and Washington districts in 1899. |
| California and Nevada | 1899 | California and Oregon | The Southern California district was split from the district in 1929/1930. The district was renamed the California-Nevada-Hawaii district in 1977. |
| Oregon and Washington | 1899 | California and Oregon | The district was renamed the Northwest district in 1948. |
| Brazil | 1904 | Initially contained congregations in the country of Brazil. Congregations in Argentina were added in 1905. The Argentina district was split off in 1926/1927. The Brazil district became the independent Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (Igreja Evangelica Luterana do Brasil) on January 1, 1980. | |
| 1905/1906 | Minnesota and Dakota | ||
| 1905/1906 | Southern | The state of Texas except for El Paso county. | |
| 1906 | Eastern | Initially included the part of the state of New York east of a boundary running between Rome and Utica, along with all of New England and New Jersey. The latter were split off into the New England and New Jersey districts, respectively, in 1971/1972, leaving the eastern half of New York state, i.e., New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, and the Capital District. | |
| 1907/1908 | Illinois | ||
| 1907/1908 | Illinois | ||
| 1907/1908 | Illinois | ||
| North Dakota and Montana | 1910 | Minnesota and Dakota | The district was divided into the North Dakota and the Montana districts in 1944/1945. |
| 1911 | English Synod | Originally the district contained the congregations of the English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri and Other States, which merged into the LCMS in 1911. | |
| Minnesota | 1912 | Minnesota and Dakota | Renamed. The Alberta and British Columbia and the Manitoba and Saskatchewan districts were split of in 1920. |
| 1916 | Wisconsin | ||
| 1916 | Wisconsin | ||
| Colorado | 1920/1921 | Kansas | Initially included congregations in the states of Colorado and Utah. Congregations in Page, Arizona, Venango, Nebraska, and El Paso County, Texas were added later. New Mexico congregations of the Texas and other districts were added in 1941/1942. Renamed to the Rocky Mountain district in 1983. |
| Alberta and British Columbia | 1920 | Minnesota | The district was one of three that were released from the LCMS in 1988 to form the Lutheran Church-Canada. |
| Manitoba and Saskatchewan | 1920 | Minnesota | The district was one of three that were released from the LCMS in 1988 to form the Lutheran Church-Canada. |
| Northern Nebraska | 1922 | Nebraska | The Wyoming district was split off and the Northern Nebraska district merged with the Southern Nebraska district in 1970 to form a new Nebraska district. |
| Southern Nebraska | 1922 | Nebraska | The district merged with the Northern Nebraska district in 1970 to form a new Nebraska district. |
| Ontario | 1923 | Canada | Renamed. The district was one of three that were released from the LCMS in 1988 to form the Lutheran Church-Canada. |
| 1923/1924 | Kansas | ||
| Argentina | 1926/1927 | Brazil | The Argentina district became the independent Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina (Iglesia Evangelica Luterana Argentina) on August 1, 1986. |
| Southern California | 1929/1930 | California and Nevada | Renamed to the Pacific Southwest district in 1989. |
| 1936 | Iowa | ||
| 1936 | Iowa | ||
| 1938/1939 | Eastern, English | Initially included congregations in the states of South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, part of Georgia, along with Washington, D.C., and York and Adams counties in Pennsylvania. | |
| 1944/1945 | North Dakota and Montana | Besides the state of Montana, includes one congregation each in Idaho and North Dakota. | |
| 1944/1945 | North Dakota and Montana | Consists of the state of North Dakota (except for one congregation |