Evangelical Lutheran Church was founded in 1738. It is the oldest Lutheran congregation in Maryland and the oldest Christian church in western Maryland. After worshiping in two log churches, the parish built a stone church in the city of Frederick in 1760. In 1771, two bells were brought from England and have called members to worship until the present. John Adams, while serving as President of the United States, worshipped in this building. The Sunday Church School of the congregation began in 1812 and is one of the oldest in the United States. The present sanctuary was built in 1854 and shortly thereafter was used as a hospital after the battle of Antietam in September 1862. In 1985, the congregation was awarded the Guidepost Magazine "Church Award" recognizing one congregation in the United States for reaching out to the community in a new and creative ministry.
In 2002, ELC expanded to a second location in Urbana, MD. The Urbana mission was launched with a service of worship that year on October 22nd.
The congregation continues "to make history" today, endeavoring to be faithful to Christ’s ministry in the world.
As we enter a new millennium together, we look confidently to the future, and realize that the best is yet to come!
During the Civil War, the battle of Antietam represented one of the worst days of bloodshed ever on American soil. In the wake of the fierce fighting thousands were left wounded, dying, and in dire need of medical care.
It was at this time that the military officials took the keys of Evangelical Lutheran Church, Frederick, and converted God's House of worship on Church Street to a place of God's healing. Wooden planks were brought into the church and carefully laid over all of the pews to minimize the damage to the church interior due to its new use as a hospital.
At this time of emergent need, the ministry of the congregation was clearly focused on the suffering and dying. Although the parishioners of Evangelical were without a place to worship for three months they came to the church faithfully each day to pour out God's love through their care of Union and Confederate troops receiving treatment.
One wounded soldier who was helped at Evangelical was so grateful for the care of the congregation that following the war he gave a gift that has become a lasting legacy of love to the people of God at ELC. This man, John Hardt, gifted the church [in 1896] with 200 acres of land in Garrett County, Maryland and the congregation has owned the property since the time of the bequest. [The land was originally four fifty-acre military lots his family received as pay for military service after the Revolutionary War.]
For the most part, the land was strip mined with the sale of coal helping the church immensely, particularly during the years of the Great Depression.
Our twin spires on Church Street were 150 years old in 2004. It was a milestone birthday year for the sanctuary so we decided to recognize this by recreating the scene and feeling from those days during the Civil War when Evangelical Lutheran Church became a hospital for three months during the Battle of Antietam. On Saturday, October 8 and Sunday October 9, we went back in time to watch and to worship. Scattered throughout the sanctuary were voices and faces from the past. We encountered wounded soldiers lying in authentic Civil War hospital beds. We met and spoke with surgeons and nurses who explained what the care was like.
Pastors and parishioners from ELC who worked diligently to bring healing to the wounded and dying back in 1862 and 1863 explained to us this special chapter in the life of the sanctuary and our congregation.
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35 East Church Street Frederick, Maryland 21701 (301) 663-6361
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