Lars Paul Esbjörn
Encyclopedia
Lars Paul Esbjörn was a Swedish-American Lutheran clergyman, academic and church leader. Esbjörn was a founder of Augustana College
Augustana College (Illinois)
Augustana College is a private liberal arts college located in Rock Island, Illinois, United States. The college enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Covering of hilly, wooded land, Augustana is adjacent to the Mississippi River...

 and of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church
Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church
The Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church was a Lutheran church body in the United States that was one of the churches that merged into the Lutheran Church in America in 1962...

.

Background

Esbjörn was born in Delsbo
Delsbo
Delsbo is a locality in Hudiksvall Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden, with 2,189 inhabitants in 2005. It is situated some 25 kilometers west of Hudiksvall, in the vicinity of the two lakes of Dellen...

 and schooled in Hudiksvall
Hudiksvall
Hudiksvall is a city and the seat of Hudiksvall Municipality, in Hälsingland, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 14,850 inhabitants in 2005. Hudiksvall is also known as Glada Hudik , a term that originated in the 19th century as word spread of its friendly hospitality and its lively social life...

, both in Hälsingland
Hälsingland
' is a historical province or landskap in central Sweden. It borders to Gästrikland, Dalarna, Härjedalen, Medelpad and to the Gulf of Bothnia...

, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. He was educated in Gävle
Gävle
Gävle is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 71,033 inhabitants in 12/31 2010. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland , having received its charter in 1446 from Christopher of Bavaria.-History:It is believed that the name Gävle...

 and studied theology at Uppsala University
Uppsala University
Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...

. He was ordained at Uppsala Cathedral
Uppsala Cathedral
Uppsala Cathedral is a cathedral located centrally in the city of Uppsala, Sweden. It dates back to the late 13th century and at a height of 118.7 m is the tallest church building in Scandinavia. Originally built under Roman Catholicism and used for coronations of the Swedish monarch, since the...

, became assistant pastor at Östervåla, Heby Municipality
Heby Municipality
Heby Municipality is a municipality in Uppsala County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Heby.The first municipality with the name Heby was created in 1952, during the first of the two nation-wide municipal reforms in Sweden, through the amalgamation of three original units...

 in Uppsala County
Uppsala County
Uppsala County is a county or län on the eastern coast of Sweden. It borders the counties of Stockholm, Södermanland, Västmanland, Gävleborg, and the Baltic Sea.- Province :For History, Geography and Culture see: Uppland...

 then pastor in the Swedish factory town of Oslättfors.

Ministry

Esbjörn and a group of 146 Swedish immigrants sailed from Gävle to New York in 1849. Only Pastor Esbjörn and handful of his faithful followers arrived in Andover, Illinois. Together they built Jenny Lind Chapel, which became the "mother church" of the Swedish Lutheran community. The church was built with funding provided mainly by Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...

, while she was at that time on a concert tour in the eastern United States.

Esbjörn would be Andover’s pastor from 1850 to 1856. Esbjörn followed some of the immigrants to Moline, Illinois during 1850 were he organized First Lutheran Church. Esbjörn divided his time between Andover and Moline.

For a decade, Esbjörn struggled to minister to the Swedish Lutheran community within the Synod of Northern Illinois. Esbjörn was a Professor of Theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 at Illinois State Normal University
Illinois State University
Illinois State University , founded in 1857, is the oldest public university in Illinois; it is located in the town of Normal. ISU is considered a "national university" that grants a variety of doctoral degrees and strongly emphasizes research; it is also recognized as one of the top ten largest...

 in Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...

 from 1858 to 1860. After serving two years as Scandinavian professor at this German-dominated Synod school, where he disagreed with the doctrinal looseness of many of the faculty, Esbjörn resigned and moved to Chicago where he and other Scandinavian church leaders felt that it was time to form their own synod. They organized the independent Augustana Synod
Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church
The Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church was a Lutheran church body in the United States that was one of the churches that merged into the Lutheran Church in America in 1962...

 of the Lutheran church in 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...

 in 1860. He was also fundamental in the beginnings of Augustana College
Augustana College (Illinois)
Augustana College is a private liberal arts college located in Rock Island, Illinois, United States. The college enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Covering of hilly, wooded land, Augustana is adjacent to the Mississippi River...

. The college and seminary started in Chicago during 1860, moved to Paxton, Illinois
Paxton, Illinois
Paxton is a city in Ford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,473 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Ford County.-History:...

 in 1863, and finally to Rock Island
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...

, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 in 1875.

Esbjörn returned to Sweden where he died on July 2, 1870 and was buried in the cemetery of the Lutheran Church in Östervåla
Östervåla
Östervåla is a locality situated in Heby Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 1,570 inhabitants in 2005.- References :...

. On June 13, 1948, after remodeling, Jenny Lind Chapel was dedicated as a shrine of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church
Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church
The Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church was a Lutheran church body in the United States that was one of the churches that merged into the Lutheran Church in America in 1962...

. In 1975, Jenny Lind Chapel was declared to be a national historic site.

Additional Resources

  • Blanck, Dag The Creation of an Ethnic Identity: Being Swedish American in the Augustana Synod, 1860-1917 (Southern Illinois University Press. 2006)
  • Granquist, Mark and Erling, Maria The Augustana Story: Shaping Lutheran Identity in North America (Augsburg Fortress Publishers. Minneapolis, MN. 2008)

External links

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