There have been Christians in the region of Thuringia since the 6th century. Boniface especially played an important role during the 8th century in spreading the Christian faith. Thuringia is the country of Martin Luther. He went to school in Eisenach and studied in Erfurt, where he was also ordained as a priest. On the Wartburg near Eisenach he translated the New Testament into German. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia was created in 1921 when the churches of the eight Thuringian principalities united.

The church is led by a synod; the highest office is the ministry of the bishop. The Thuringian church has intensive contacts with the local Roman Catholic church as well as with the Methodist and Baptist churches in the region. There are also contacts with Orthodox churches. There are partnership links with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, the Church of Sweden and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, as well as with the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia.

Together with the Evangelical Church of the Province of Saxony the Thuringian church has formed the Federation of Evangelical Churches of Middle Germany.