Elling Eielsen
Encyclopedia
Elling Eielsen was an American minister and Lutheran Church leader.
. After his own religious awakening at the age of 25, he moved to Bergen, where he apprenticed as a carpenter and blacksmith and also enlisted in the army. He acted as a spiritual leader among his fellow soldiers, and in 1832, he accepted his first mission as a lay preacher. He traveled for several years extensively throughout Norway
and also preached in Denmark
where he was arrested and briefly imprisoned.
. Eislsen was resident pastor at the Jefferson Prairie Settlement
from 1846 to 1872. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Eielsen Synod)
founded in 1846 at the Jefferson Prairie Settlement
, was to bear his name. He remained with the synod over the next 30 years and also continued as pastor-at-large for Norwegian-American communities in Wisconsin
, Minnesota
, South Dakota
, and Texas
.
Eielsen was a leader in the Haugean
pietistic state church reform movement which encouraged evangelism and vigorous lay leadership. His piety and reliance on lay leadership long remained a dominating influence for much of upper-Midwest Lutheranism
.
Background
Eielsen was born on the farm of Sunve in Voss, Norway and brought up in the religious tradition of Hans Nielsen HaugeHans Nielsen Hauge
Hans Nielsen Hauge was a noted revivalist Norwegian lay minister who spoke up against the Church establishment in Norway. Hauge is considered an influential personality in the industrialization of Norway...
. After his own religious awakening at the age of 25, he moved to Bergen, where he apprenticed as a carpenter and blacksmith and also enlisted in the army. He acted as a spiritual leader among his fellow soldiers, and in 1832, he accepted his first mission as a lay preacher. He traveled for several years extensively throughout Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and also preached in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
where he was arrested and briefly imprisoned.
Immigration
Eielsen immigrated to the United States during 1839 and in 1843, he was formally ordained as a Lutheran minister. Under Eielsen's leadership, a house of worship for Norwegian Lutherans was constructed at Fox River Lutheran Church near Norway, IllinoisNorway, Illinois
Norway, Illinois is an unincorporated community in Mission Township, LaSalle County, Illinois. The community was the site of an early Norwegian-American settlement.-History:...
. Eislsen was resident pastor at the Jefferson Prairie Settlement
Jefferson Prairie Settlement
Jefferson Prairie Settlement was a pioneer colony of Norwegian-Americans located near the village of Clinton, in Rock County, Wisconsin. This site and the nearby Rock Prairie settlement outside Orfordville, Wisconsin served as a center for both Norwegian immigration and developments within the...
from 1846 to 1872. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Eielsen Synod)
Eielsen Synod
The Eielsen Synod was a Lutheran church body. It was founded in 1846 at Jefferson Prairie Settlement, Wisconsin by a group of Haugean Lutherans led by Elling Eielsen.-Background:...
founded in 1846 at the Jefferson Prairie Settlement
Jefferson Prairie Settlement
Jefferson Prairie Settlement was a pioneer colony of Norwegian-Americans located near the village of Clinton, in Rock County, Wisconsin. This site and the nearby Rock Prairie settlement outside Orfordville, Wisconsin served as a center for both Norwegian immigration and developments within the...
, was to bear his name. He remained with the synod over the next 30 years and also continued as pastor-at-large for Norwegian-American communities in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
Eielsen was a leader in the Haugean
Haugean
Haugean was a pietistic state church reform movementintended to bring new life and vitality into a Norwegian State Church which had been often characterized by formalism and lethargy....
pietistic state church reform movement which encouraged evangelism and vigorous lay leadership. His piety and reliance on lay leadership long remained a dominating influence for much of upper-Midwest Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
.
Additional sources
- Gross, Ernie. This Day In Religion. (New York: Neal-Shuman Publishers, Inc, 1990) ISBN 1-55570-045-4.
- Halvorsen, Jens Braage, and Koht, HalvdanHalvdan KohtHalvdan Koht was a Norwegian historian and politician representing the Labour Party.As a politician he served as the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1935 to 1941. He was never elected as a member of the Parliament of Norway, but was a member of Bærum municipal council in 1917–1919 and...
: Norsk forfatterleksikon, 1814-1880. (Oslo. Den norske forlagsforening, 1888) http://books.google.com/books?id=3VQPAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA211&dq=elling+eielsen&as_brr=1. - Norlie, OlafOlaf M. NorlieOlaf Morgan Norlie , also referred to as O. M. Norlie, was a Lutheran minister, educator and scholar. He was a prolific author who is most remembered as the translator of the Simplified New Testament.-Background:...
Eielsen Was First; a Bibliography (Northfield, Minnesota, 1942) - Norlie, OlafOlaf M. NorlieOlaf Morgan Norlie , also referred to as O. M. Norlie, was a Lutheran minister, educator and scholar. He was a prolific author who is most remembered as the translator of the Simplified New Testament.-Background:...
Elling Eielsen, a Brief History, Written for the Elling Eielsen Centennial, 1839-1939 ( Joliet, IL: C.H. Peterson Co. 1940)http://www.foxriverlutheran.org/images/Elling%20Eielsen.pdf