Laestadians in Detroit held their first recorded meeting at the boarding house of Oscar Karinen on February 14, 1917. The Apostolic Lutheran Congregation of Detroit incorporated later that year. The charter members of the first congregation were Oscar Karinen, John Narhi, Isaac W. Laakso, Peter Wissi, Arthur Olson, Matt Kangas, Charles Person Pyyny, Rudolph Bekkala and August Niemi.

Grace Presbyterian Church at Thompson Avenue in Highland Park was purchased on November 16, 1921. In 1925 the congregation razed the wooden church and built a basement for a new church on the same site. Services were held there until 1940 when a sanctuary was built on top of the basement.
Rudolph Bekkala offered three acres of land on Halstead Road in Farmington for a church site in 1957. The congregation accepted the gift, and also puchased two additional acres. In 1963 construction on the new site began, and on January 26 1964, the first services in the new church were held. It became one of the largest Laestadian congregations in North America, with about 600 belivers (400 voting members). The first minister of the congregation was Jacob Halvari, followed by John Nelson, John Kilpela, Aaron Storm and Raymond Tulkki. The chairmen of the congregation up to 1972 were Karl Seiter sr, Rudolph Bekkala and Karl Seiter jr.

After a heresy in 1973, the new congregation was incorporated on December 17, 1973 and consisted of twenty members. The following board members were selected: Donald Lahti, David Hillstrom, Edwin Manninen, Melvin Wisuri and Peter Bekkala.

The Detroit Congregation purchased its own church from the Salvation Army, 290 Fairground, Plymouth, Michigan, in May 1982. For more than twenty years, the congregation fluctuated between 30 and 40 members. Today our congregation has grown to around 50 members. Currently Paul Honkala and Martin Pylvainen serve as speakers to the congregation.

The Laestadian Lutheran Church (LLC) was organized on June 9, 1973 under the name "Association of American Laestadian Congregations" (AALC). The association changed its name in 1994 in order to better convey its spiritual heritage and the nature of its organization.

The Laestadian Lutheran Church takes its name from Martin Luther and Lars Levi Laestadius. The name of the reformer Martin Luther and his teachings are well known around the world. The name of Laestadius is less familiar. Lars Levi Laestadius was a Lutheran pastor who served in northern Sweden from 1825 to 1861. In 1844, after nineteen years in the ministry, Laestadius was helped into living faith by a woman named Milla Clementsdotter, a member of a group known as "Readers." Following his conversion, Laestadius's sermons were instilled with a new power, the power of the Holy Spirit. A revival movement began and soon spread far beyond the borders of Swedish Lapland.

The movement first reached North America with Finnish immigrants in the 1860s. Congregations were first formally organized in Cokato, Minnesota in 1872 and Calumet, Michigan in 1873.

Today the Laestadian Lutheran Church has twenty-seven member congregations in the United States and Canada. The highest concentrations of members are in Minnesota, Washington, Arizona, Michigan, and Saskatchewan. The congregations are served by sixty-eight ministers, nearly all of them lay preachers.

The Laestadian movement in North America has suffered a number of schisms since 1890. The subjects of disagreement have primarily been the understanding of justification, God's congregation, and the sacraments. The last division occurred in 1973, and was the impetus for the establishment of the Laestadian Lutheran Church.

The teachings of Laestadianism are based on the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions. Centermost among these teachings is the sermon of Jesus' suffering, death, and victorious resurrection. The work of Jesus Christ continues in this world as the work of the Holy Spirit in Christ's congregation. Thus the Laestadian Lutheran Church teaches of God's kingdom and preaches repentance and the forgiveness of sins. We hold, in accord with the Lutheran Confessions, that the Bible is the highest guide and authority for Christian faith, doctrine, and life.

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