This collections consists of the records that were maintained in or eventually came to the Northwest District office from two groups: mission starts that did not become viable and congregations that withdrew from The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, either because they disbanded or because they joined another Lutheran church body. The list is not complete, because in some cases no records survived or the records were transferred to another congregation. The records include correspondence with the Northwest District office, reports to the District, minutes, financial records, records of the closing, histories, property records, membership records. Some of the folders have only one or two items. The records of some congregations also contain references to surrounding congregations with which relationships had been established.