Church History

The Board of American Missions of the American Lutheran Church (ALC) called the Reverend Aaron Plueger to be founding Pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church. He came to Albuquerque in January 1962, and the Congregation was organized on June 16, 1962 with thirty-six charter families. These families numbered 139 baptized members and 74 confirmed members. Dr. Joseph Andrego, a charter member of the congregation, donated the property, which houses the church and the parking lot. The church ministered to the people in a rapidly growing section of northeast Albuquerque, now called the Northeast Heights. 

 

In 1987, as a result of the merger of the Lutheran Church in America (LCA), the Association of Lutheran churches (AELC) and the American Lutheran Church (ALC), Messiah Lutheran Church became a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The national offices of the ELCA are located in Chicago, IL, and the Presiding Bishop is the Reverend Bishop Mark Hanson. We are part of the Rocky Mountain Synod, which is headquartered in Denver, CO under the leadership and guidance of our Bishop, the Reverend Bishop Jim Gonia.

 

Today, Messiah Lutheran Church is blessed with approximately 100 families who seek to worship the Triune God and grow in faith through lives of daily discipleship. The Rev. Doug Mathison is the current supply pastor of the congregation.