Schaumburg-Lippe, a part of the old duchy of Schaumburg and since 1946 a county in Lower Saxony, some 35 miles west of the city of Hanover, contains one of Germany’s smallest autonomous territorial churches. In the period from the introduction of Christianity during the time of Charlemagne until the 16th century, Roman Catholicism was firmly established in this region. By 1559, the entire duchy had become Lutheran, and the sovereign was declared temporal head of the church. In the 18th century the church was influenced by a Lutheran orthodoxy mellowed by a pietism fostered by the followers of Zinzendorf.

Among the superintendents of this church, Johann Gottfried Herder, serving in Bückeburg from 1771-76, is the best known. Although the Enlightenment made its impact, a renewal of Lutheranism swept through the church during the 19th century. The structure of the church has episcopal and synodal elements, with the bishop presiding over the church council.

The church maintains specific relations with the Evangelical Church A.B. in Sibiu, Romania, and the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Southern Africa.