The Norwegian Lutheran Church in the United States
Encyclopedia
The Norwegian Lutheran Church in the United States is a general term to describe the Lutheran church tradition developed within the United States by immigrants from Norway.
Background
Most Norwegian immigrantsNorwegian American
Norwegian Americans are Americans of Norwegian descent. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the later half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 million Norwegian Americans according to the most recent U.S. census, and...
to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, particularly in the migration wave between the 1860s and early 20th century, were members of the Church of Norway
Church of Norway
The Church of Norway is the state church of Norway, established after the Lutheran reformation in Denmark-Norway in 1536-1537 broke the ties to the Holy See. The church confesses the Lutheran Christian faith...
, an evangelical Lutheran church established by the Constitution of Norway
Constitution of Norway
The Constitution of Norway was first adopted on May 16, 1814 by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll , then signed and dated May 17...
. As they settled in their new homeland and forged their own communities, however, Norwegian-American Lutherans diverged from the state church in many ways, forming synods and conferences that ultimately contributed to the present Lutheran establishment in the United States.
Early foundations
The first organized emigrants from Norway to the United States were religious dissenters on the RestaurationRestauration (ship)
Restauration was a sloop built in 1801 in Hardanger, Norway. It became a symbol of Norwegian American immigration. Historical sources may contain several variations on the name of the sloop, including Restauration, Restoration, Restaurasjonen, and Restorasjon.-History:On what is considered the...
during 1825. It is widely considered that many of them had Quaker sympathies, but it is also clear that many were 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....
s, adherents of the lay preacher Hans Nielsen Hauge
Hans 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...
, who was a devout Lutheran but at odds with the established Norwegian State Church. Many of these emigrants subsequently relocated to the Fox River Settlement in LaSalle County, Illinois. By most accounts, the first minister at Fox River was a layman by the name of Ole Olsen Hetletvedt, a 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....
in leaning.
In 1839, Elling Eielsen
Elling Eielsen
Elling Eielsen was an American minister and Lutheran Church leader.-Background:Eielsen was born on the farm of Sunve in Voss, Norway and brought up in the religious tradition of Hans Nielsen Hauge...
, a lay preacher, 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. He made it his mission to return the growing Fox River Norwegian colony to the Lutheran fold. He organized a house of assembly and was ordained a Lutheran pastor in 1843, in the German-Luther tradition. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, known as the 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. Eislsen was resident pastor at Jefferson Prairie from 1846 to 1872.
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...
Lutheran Church was organized in 1844. Claus Lauritz Clausen
Claus Lauritz Clausen
Claus Lauritz Clausen was an American pioneer Lutheran minister, church leader, military chaplain and politician.-Biography:...
accepted a call during 1846 from Norwegian-settlers at Jefferson Prairie. Clausen relocated from the Muskego Settlement
Muskego Settlement
The Muskego Settlement was one of the first Norwegian American settlements in the United States. Situated near today's Muskego, Wisconsin, the Muskego Settlement covered areas within what is now the town of Norway, Wisconsin.-History:...
and made this the center for his activities among the settlements in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, remaining until 1853. Johannes Wilhelm Christian Dietrichson
Johannes Wilhelm Christian Dietrichson
Johannes Wilhelm Christian Dietrichson was a Norwegian Lutheran minister who played an important role in the initial establishment of the Lutheran Church in Wisconsin.-Personal life:...
organized Koshkonong, Luther Valley, and eight other congregations in the state of Wisconsin and served as pastor at Koshkonong from 1846 until 1850.
In February 1853, several Lutheran ministers including Claus Lauritz Clausen
Claus Lauritz Clausen
Claus Lauritz Clausen was an American pioneer Lutheran minister, church leader, military chaplain and politician.-Biography:...
, Hans Andreas Stub, A. C. Preus, Herman Amberg Preus
Herman Amberg Preus
Herman Amberg Preus was an American Lutheran clergyman and church leader. He was a key figure in organizing the Norwegian Synod.-Background:Herman Amberg Preus was born in Kristiansand, Norway...
, G. F. Dietrichson, Jacob Aall Ottesen, and R. D. Brandt organized the Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, commonly known as the Norwegian Synod. It was organized at Koshkonong and Luther Valley near the Jefferson Prairie Settlement. Among the first denominational leaders was Ulrik Vilhelm Koren. The Synod adopted the ritual of the Church of Norway.
Eielsen's Synod struck an uncompromising doctrinal line for many Norwegian immigrants. In 1848, Paul Andersen and Ole Andrewson broke out of Eielsen's Synod and started the first Norwegian and Scandinavian Church in Chicago, joining the Franckean Synod. The Frankean Synod was noted for its socially progressive views. They stayed in this synod for only three years before joining the Northern Illinois Synod. In 1860, the same group started yet another synod, the Scandinavian Augustana Synod over theological differences with English speaking Lutherans, who they believed were not faithful to Augsburg Confession
Augsburg Confession
The Augsburg Confession, also known as the "Augustana" from its Latin name, Confessio Augustana, is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Lutheran reformation...
.
In 1870, the Norwegian and Danish churches left the Scandinavian 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...
and form two new church bodies: Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America usually called the Conference was a Lutheran church body that existed in the United States from 1870 to 1890, when it merged into the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America....
and Norwegian Augustana Synod
Norwegian Augustana Synod
Norwegian Augustana Synod was a Lutheran church body in the United States from 1870 to 1890. The group's original name was the Norwegian-Danish Augustana Synod in America. The name was shorted in 1878.-Background:...
.
The Hauge Synod
Hauge Synod
The Hauge Synod, was the name of a Norwegian Lutheran church body in the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century.-Background:...
was formed in 1876 following a split with the Eielsen Synod. The Hauge Synod was named after Norwegian revivalist lay preacher Hans Nielsen Hauge. Red Wing Seminary
Red Wing Seminary
Red Wing Seminary was a Lutheran Church seminary located in Red Wing, Minnesota.-History:Red Wing Seminary was the educational center for the Hauge's Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Synod in America, commonly known as the Hauge Synod. The synod de-emphasizing formal worship and stressing personal...
, located in Red Wing, Minnesota
Red Wing, Minnesota
Red Wing is a city in Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States, on the Mississippi River. The population was 16,459 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Goodhue County....
, was the Hauge Synod educational center.
Norwegian Language Churches
Although many churches in America have their roots with Norwegian settlers, most have abandoned the Norwegian language in the primary service. Two churches in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
still use Norwegian as a primary liturgical
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
language. They are Den Norske Lutherske Minnekirke
Minnekirken
Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church , also known as Minnekirken, is a Lutheran church in Chicago, Illinois...
, built in 1912 in Chicago, Illinois, and Den Norske Lutherske Mindekirke in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, formed in 1922.
Norwegian Lutheran Church bodies in the US
- Eielsen SynodEielsen SynodThe 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:...
(1846-1997) - Norwegian Synod (1853-1917)
- Norwegian Augustana SynodNorwegian Augustana SynodNorwegian Augustana Synod was a Lutheran church body in the United States from 1870 to 1890. The group's original name was the Norwegian-Danish Augustana Synod in America. The name was shorted in 1878.-Background:...
(1870-1890) - Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of AmericaConference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of AmericaConference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America usually called the Conference was a Lutheran church body that existed in the United States from 1870 to 1890, when it merged into the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America....
(1870-1890) - Hauge SynodHauge SynodThe Hauge Synod, was the name of a Norwegian Lutheran church body in the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century.-Background:...
(1876-1917) - Anti-Missourian BrotherhoodAnti-Missourian BrotherhoodAnti-Missourian Brotherhood was the name of a group of Lutheran pastors and churches in the United States that left the Norwegian Synod. In 1872, the Norwegian Synod had been a co-founder of the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America, along with the Missouri, Wisconsin, and...
(1887-1890) - United Norwegian Lutheran Church of AmericaUnited Norwegian Lutheran Church of AmericaThe United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America was the result of the union formed in 1890 between the Norwegian Augustana Synod , the Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America , and the Anti-Missourian Brotherhood .In 1897, a group of churches left the UNLC and...
(1890-1917) - Lutheran Free ChurchLutheran Free ChurchThe Lutheran Free Church was a Lutheran denomination that existed in the United States from 1897 to 1963 mainly in Minnesota and North Dakota...
(1897-1963) - Church of the Lutheran Brethren of AmericaChurch of the Lutheran Brethren of AmericaThe Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America is a Lutheran denomination of Christians rooted in a spiritual awakening at the turn of the 20th century. A spiritual revival swept through a large part of the Midwestern United States in the 1890s. Lutherans who were influenced by this fervor...
(1900-present) - The Evangelical Lutheran ChurchEvangelical Lutheran Church (United States)The Evangelical Lutheran Church or ELC was formed in 1917 as the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America .-Background:The Norwegian Lutheran Church of America was formed by merger of the Hauge Synod , the Norwegian Synod , and the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America...
(1917-1960) - Evangelical Lutheran SynodEvangelical Lutheran SynodThe Evangelical Lutheran Synod or ELS is a US-based Protestant Christian denomination based in Mankato, Minnesota, USA. It describes itself as a conservative, Confessional Lutheran body.-Membership:...
(1918-present) - Association of Free Lutheran CongregationsAssociation of Free Lutheran CongregationsAssociation of Free Lutheran Congregations is the fifth largest Lutheran church body in the United States. The AFLC includes congregations in 27 different states, as well as four Canadian provinces. The AFLC is not an incorporated synod, but a free association. Each local congregation is a separate...
(1962-present)
Norwegian Lutheran colleges in the US
- Augsburg CollegeAugsburg CollegeAugsburg College is a selective liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Augsburg was named for the Augsburg Confession, the document of Lutheran belief. The school was founded in 1869 in Marshall, Wisconsin as Augsburg Seminary and moved...
Minneapolis, Minnesota - Augustana CollegeAugustana College (South Dakota)Augustana College is a private, liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States. The campus makes the school the largest private university in South Dakota...
Sioux Falls, South Dakota - Bethany Lutheran CollegeBethany Lutheran CollegeBethany Lutheran College is a private residential liberal arts college founded in 1927. BLC is a Christian coeducational college operated by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod...
Mankato, Minnesota - Concordia College Moorhead, Minnesota
- Luther CollegeLuther College (Iowa)Luther College is a four-year, residential liberal arts institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, located in Decorah, Iowa, USA...
Decorah, Iowa - Pacific Lutheran UniversityPacific Lutheran UniversityPacific Lutheran University is located in Parkland, a suburb of Tacoma, Washington. In September 2009, PLU had a student population of 3,582 and approximately 280 full-time faculty...
Parkland, Washington - St. Olaf CollegeSt. Olaf CollegeSt. Olaf College is a coeducational, residential, four-year, private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American immigrant pastors and farmers, led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after Olaf II of Norway,...
Northfield, Minnesota - Waldorf CollegeWaldorf CollegeWaldorf College, located in Forest City, Iowa, is a four-year liberal arts, for-profit college.Founded in 1903, the college was affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America until 2009, when, due to financial problems, the college was sold to for-profit Mayes Education, owner of...
Forest City, Iowa
Other Reading
- Fevold, Eugene L. The Norwegian Immigrant and His Church (Norwegian American Historic Association. Volume 23: Page 3) http://www.naha.stolaf.edu/pubs/nas/volume23/vol23_1.html
- Koren, Ulrik Vilhelm Why Is There No Church Unity Among Norwegian Lutherans In America? (Printed in Kirkentidende in 1905, and in Koren’s Samlede Skrifter, pp. 454-498 – translation by C. U. Faye) http://www.blts.edu/essays/korenUV/No%20Church%20Unity.pdf
- Teigen, Erling T. The Legacy of Jakob Aall Ottesen and The Enduring Legacy of Preus, Koren, and Ottesen (The Legacy of the Norwegian Synod Commemorating its 150th Anniversary presented at Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato, MN, October 30-31, 2003) http://www.blts.edu/essays/teigenET/Legacy%20of%20Jakob%20Aall%20Ottesen.pdf
- Nelson, E. Clifford, and Fevold, Eugene L. The Lutheran Church among Norwegian-Americans: a history of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1960)