Welcome to messiah!

To all who carry a burden of sin and need a Savior; to all who wish to rejoice and give thanks; to all who are strangers and need a Church home; to all who are lonely and long for companionship; to all who worship the Lord, our Creator; to all who hunger for the Word; to all who are weary and need rest, the people of Messiah, in the Spirit and Name of Jesus, say WELCOME!


If you are a visitor, we ask you to please introduce yourself to our pastors (don't worry, they're friendly!) and please sign our Guest Register in the narthex and visitor card in the pew.


Our church is handicap accessible and so are our main bathrooms.


If you would like us to pray for you (or with you), please see the Prayer Request button in the navigation menu.

MESSIAH'S story

Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church began as a Mission of the Atlantic District of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS). The first service was held on December 22nd, 1957 with 58 people in attendance. Services were held at the VFW Hall in East Setauket for the first eight years of Messiah's congregational life. In 1962, the church purchased property on Pond Path in East Setauket, New York, and construction of the church building began in 1965. The first service held in the building was on Palm Sunday, April 3, 1966, and the church was dedicated on June 19, 1966.


The Rev. Henry Koepchen served as founding pastor and remained as Pastor until his retirement in September 1996.  The Rev. Alfred Hofler has served as Pastoral Assistant from 1977 to 2018.  The Rev. Charles Bell served as pastor at Messiah from March 16, 1997, until his retirement in 2018.  Following Rev. Bell and Hofler's retirements, the Rev. Stephen Unger served Messiah as vacancy pastor from 2018-2020 (he stayed on in assistant role until late 2023).  On August 16, 2020, the Rev. Nils Niemeier was ordained and installed as Messiah's newest pastor.

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who we are

Our Statement of Purpose:

 

Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church exists in order to lead people to faith in Christ Jesus and Fellowship in His family, to celebrate His presence in worship and the study of His Word, and to use all their God-given Time, Talents, and Treasures according to His Will in the ministry of His church and mission to the world.


 

Our Doctrinal and Confessional Foundation at Messiah:

 

Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church is a congregation of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.

 

As a member congregation of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church holds all the Canonical books of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired Word of God and the sole rule of faith and life.

Messiah likewise accepts all the Symbolical Books of the Lutheran Church contained in the Book of Concord in the year 1580, viz., the Ecumenical Creeds: the Apostolic, the Nicene and Athanasian; the unaltered Augsburg Confession of 1530; the Apology of the Augsburg Confession; the Catechisms of Luther; the Smalcald Articles and the Formula of Concord, as a correct and sound exposition of Christian doctrine, taken from and in full accord with the Holy Scriptures.