In March of 1922, St Peter suffered a devastating fire that caused them to lose everything. The organ and the pews were saved, but both sustained water damage. During the time of construction of the new church, the congregation met for worship services in the basement of Washinton Park Library and the Christian Day School was held in the basement of the Savannah Avenue Baptist Church. On September 3, 1922, the new building was dedicated! Sixteen years later, in 1938, the building was completely remodeled.

In the early years, the church operated a Christian Day School in the church basement. After the fire, no tuition was charged and attendance decreased. Due to the rise in congregational expense, the school was closed.

In 1958, St Peter secured a building lot approximately 3.5 acres at the intersection of St Joseph and Magnolia Avenues. In 1960, the current Carthage stone house was erected. The church that stands today, was dedicated on December 9, 1962. The building was 133 feet long and 49 feet wide including the buttresses. The highest point of the ceiling is 41 feet. The outside finish and sancturary wall are Kasota stone while the altar and sanctuary cross are of Carthage stone. The seating capacity is 300 with additional seating in the choir loft.

In 1979, an annex was added to the south side of the original structure, extending the center hall. Offices for the pastor and church secretary, along with larger restrooms designed to accommadate the handicapped, comprised the new portion of the building. This vacated what was the shared offices of the pastor and secretary. Now remodeled into a small meeting and fellowship room, which includes a small kitchenette where Sunday morning coffee, juice and donuts are served regularly.

In 1984, the church bell from the original building at 4th and Dolman, was placed on the front lawn with a large exterior sign.

Other small cosmetic changes have been made...stained glass windows in the sanctuary, concrete blocks covered with a texture finish, the downstairs kitchen was remodeled and Sunday School rooms were accomplished by dividing larger rooms in the basement and on the second floor. Currently an activity building which will include a gym, a kitchen, an office and a small meeting room is being erected.

Today, it is one of the largest Protestant denominations in the world with over ten million members in the United States.
The Augsburg Confession, a statement of faith written by Martin Luther, binds all Lutherans together worldwide. Lutherans look at the Scriptures as the final authority for belief and practice.

The Lutheran church derives its name from Martin Luther (1483-1546), an Augustinian monk whose posting of the 95 Theses on October 31, 1517, sparked the Reformation. The documents which present what Lutherans believe, teach and confess were assembled and published in 1580 in The Book of Concord. For more than 400 years, these documents have served as a normative statement of the Christian faith as Lutherans confess it. The confessional article of the constitution of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod states that "the Synod and every member of the Synod, accepts without reservation the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the written Word of God and the only rule and norm of faith and of practice," and all the writings in the Book of Concord as "a true and unadulterated statement and exposition of the Word of God" (LCMS Constitution II).

Significantly, the very first documents included in The Book of Concord are the three ancient ecumenical creeds compiled during the early, formative years of the Christian era -- the Apostles' Creed (ca. third century A.D.), the Nicene Creed (fourth century), and the Athanasian Creed (fifth and sixth centuries). In addition, the Book of Concord includes Luther's Small Catechism (1529) and the Augsburg Confession (1530), and five other 16th century statements, including Luther's Large Catechism and the Formula of Concord.

Luther and the other writers of these confessions did not want to be doctrinal innovators. They, together with their contemporary descendants, maintain that we believe and teach nothing more and nothing less than what the Scriptures themselves teach and what Christians through the ages have always believed.

We therefore consider ourselves to be catholic (small "c"), which means "universal." At the same time, we have always thought of ourselves as evangelical (in some countries, the Lutheran Church is still today referred to as simply the Evangelical Church), since the evangel -- the Gospel, the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the sins of the world -- is at the heart and core of everything we believe and teach. We Lutherans, therefore, can rightly be regarded as evangelical catholics. Standing firmly in the tradition of the trinitarian and Christological formulations of the 4th and 5th centuries, we believe that sinners are justified (declared right) with the Creator God by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), on the basis of Scripture alone (sola scriptura). These three great "Reformation solas" form a handy outline of what Missouri Synod Lutherans believe, teach,and confess.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic* Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.