Brief History

The groundwork for the Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church was laid when Thoughts of Faith sent a missionary, James Krikava, to Czechoslovakia in 1990.  In 1991 another missionary, Steven Sparley, arrived and St. Paul's Lutheran Church was established in Plzen, an industrial city in Western Bohemia.  Since that time 2 other congregations have been established. In 1992, a Christian elementary school (Martin Luther) was established in Plzen.  Currently, 200 students are enrolled in grades K through 9.  Pastor Matthew Luttman served as the Director of the Czech Mission from 1992 through 2005.  The current director is Pastor Mark Grubbs who began his work in the Czech Republic in 1997.  In 2005, the congregation established a Christian Information Center located in a small building in front of the parsonage.  The Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church was accepted into membership of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, a worldwide organization of confessional Lutheran churches in 2002.  In Fall 2006, the Czech Mission will celebrate its 15th anniversary.

Mission Statement

Mindful of our Lord's directive to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things He has commanded, the Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church exists to share the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ with the people of the Czech Republic.

Doctrine

The Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church is in doctrinal agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, as well as the other member churches of the CELC.  From Article 2 of our constitution:

Our Church accepts and confesses all the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments as the verbally inspired and errorless Word of God and submits to this Word as the only authority in all matters of faith and life. (2 Timothy 3:15-17)

The Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church accepts and confesses all the Symbolic books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church contained in the Book of Concord of 1580 as true statements of the teachings of the Bible.

The Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church accepts and confesses these Symbolical books without reservation, not in so far as, but because, they are a true presentation and explanation of the teachings of the Word of God and the teachings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. We confess:

1. the three Symbols of the faith: the Apostles’, the Nicene, and the Athanasian Creeds.
2. the six Lutheran Symbolical books: The Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther, The Large Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther, The Unaltered Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles, and the Formula of Concord.

All the teachings of the Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church shall be in agreement with the Bible and these Symbolical books.

All controversies which may arise in our Church shall be resolved in accordance with our Biblical and Confessional standards.

Church Body Statistics

Baptized Members:	164
Confirmed:	93

Congregations

St. Paul's - Plzen

The first congregation of the Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Paul's, was established in 1991 in the city of Plzen.  Plzen is a city of about 175,000 inhabitants in Western Bohemia.  The first services were held in 1992 in the wine cellar of the former Dominican monastery near the city center.  The congregation moved to Skvrnany, a western suburb of Plzen, in 1992.  Today the congregation meets in St. Paul's chapel at Martin Luther School.  The congregation has grown to 145 members.  Services are held at 10:00 am on Sunday mornings.  Bible classes and instruction classes are held at different times throughout the year.  The Rev. Mark Grubbs is the pastor of St. Paul's congregation.

Holy Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church - Horni Briza

Holy Cross congregation was begun in 2000 at the suggestion of one of the members of St. Paul's congregation, Mrs. Jarka Bouckova.  Mrs. Bouckova grew up in Horni Briza, a town about 13 kilometers north of Plzen.  Horni Briza has about 6,000 inhabitants and has no church.  The congregation meets in the local community center (pictured below) and is served by theological student, Martin Vrsecky.

Saint Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church – Tlucna

Saint Peter’s Congregation Church was established in 2001.  Services are held in the recently renovated chapel located in the heart of the village of Tlucna, ten miles West of Plzen.  Seminarian Petr Krakora conducts the worship services for the congregation.  In 2005, the first baptism in over 50 years look place in our chapel.

Contact Information

Pastor of St. Paul’s Church: Mark Grubbs
E-mail: revmarkgrubbs@hotmail.com or maryjoang@yahoo.com

Vicar Martin Vrsecky
E-mail: martin@sml.cz

Vicar Petr Krakora
E-mail: krakora@sml.cz

Mission Director: Pastor Mark Grubbs
Phone from US: 011-420-377-380-559

Website: http://www.luterani.cz

Martin Luther School website (Eng. and Czech): http://sweb.cz/sml-plzen/