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<> Remembering the Augustana Synod Legacy <>
<> Remembering the Augustana Synod Legacy <>
Gained with the break off of the North the beloved Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Synod congregations of 1,269 and members of 629,547 were joined to the
Lutheran Church in America (LCA) in 1962.
Lutheran Church in America (LCA) in 1962.
Their "Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Synod," 1860 - 1962
The events of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Synod were constantly affecting the spiritual and secular lives of Bethany Church members like Lydia, Emil, their families, and friends. The conferences of the Synod were key to the management of the congregations and in communicating the mission and vision of the Church.
Lindsborg's Bethany Lutheran Church would host six (6) of these Augustana Lutheran Synod Conferences: In 1875, the year in which the Church building (which was completed in 1874) would be dedicated with the founding pastor Olof Olsson presiding conducting a large choir for the ceremony; in 1881, the year when Bethany College was founded by second pastor Carl Aaron Swensson who would be presiding; in 1892, the year when the Augustana Women's Missionary Society was founded with Rev. Swensson presiding; and in 1904, 1919 and 1939, when Bethany Lutheran Church and Lindsborg were celebrating their foundings -- in their 35th year, in their 50th year and in their 70th year respectively with Dr. Rev. Alfred Bergin presiding at all three conferences.
This Synod, first called the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America, was established in 1860 by a group of eleven or so Swedish Lutheran pastors which included Erland Carlsson, Lars Paul Esbjörn, Tuve Hasselquist, Eric Norelius, and Jonas Swensson at the Jefferson Prairie Settlement near Clinton, Wisconsin. It would be eventually named the Augustana Lutheran Evangelical Church and later referred to by other names such as the Augustana Lutheran Synod, the Augustana Synod, the Augustana Lutheran Church, the Augustana Church, the Synod.
The Swedish American Smoky Valley descendant historian Mr. Thomas N. Holmquist in his 1994 Pioneer Cross, Swedish Settlements Along the Smoky Hill Bluffs, presents with a back story a very detailed account of how the Augustana Synod was formed in the Chapter, "By Faith Alone," in the subsection: The Rise of the Augustana Synod. Of the eleven informative paragraphs, here are four:
"Not only was a rift developing between the Swedes and Norwegians, but the Norwegians were showing great strain among themselves. The Swedes too were disagreeing over Synod affairs. Esbjörn was fully supported by Norelius. Hasselquist and Carlsson agreed with each other on most points but usually disagreed with Esbjörn and Norelius. The Synod of Northern Illinois began to unravel.
"Finally, a convention was called to deal with the problems of the growing rift in the Synod of Northern Illinois. The delegates convened at Jefferson Prairie, Wisconsin, on June 5, 1860. Twenty-six pastors and fifteen laymen were present for the meeting. The majority of the delegates were Swedish, as were the majority of the congregations in the Synod. All the prominent Lutheran pastors were in attendance, including Esbjörn, Norelius, Carlsson, Hasselquist, Andrén, and Jonas Swensson.
"In a move strongly supported by Esbjörn and Norelius, the Swedish delegates to the convention soon decided to withdraw from the Synod of Northern Illinois and form their own synod. Esbjörn still felt snubbed by the lack of support from the Norwegians for losing his professorship at Illinois State University. The delegates set to work, drew up a new constitution and prepared for the future under the umbrella of a new Augustana Synod. The Swedish delegates abandoned the school at Springfield to the Norwegians and established the new Augustana Seminary in Chicago.
"Pastor Esbjörn was awarded the Presidency of the Augustana Seminary and also the position of Professor of Theology. T. N. Hasselquist became the first President of the Augustana Synod while still retaining his pastorate at First Lutheran in Galesburg.
---
"As the 1850s ended, a significant population of Swedish born people were living in many communities of Illinois and the surrounding states. The Swedish Lutheran churches were growing and new ones were founded each year. Ten years earlier, when the Swedish population was small and its churches were few, Pastor Esbjörn had aligned the Swedish Lutheran churches with the Americanize Norwegians to give his fledging churches some stability. This predominantly Norwegian group was called the Synod of Northern Illinois. However, by 1860, the Swedish and Norwegian members of the Synod increasingly were disagreeing on matters of policy, doctrine and leadership.
"Eric Norelius, in Minnesota, questioned the validity and wisdom of having joined with the Norwegians in the first place. He was fermenting for an all Swedish Synod. Erland Carlsson and T. N. Hasselquist were much more at ease with the Americanization, the Norwegians, and any changes that needed to be made. They felt that compromise could re-establish harmonious relations with the Norwegian members of the Synod.
"The most significant problem in the Synod centered around Esbjörn and Illinois State University. Esbjörn was teaching the theology classes from the Swedish Lutheran point of view. The foreign language stressed was Swedish and not Norwegian. Not surprisingly, the Norwegians showed little interest in the school and even less financial support for the professorship of Lars Esbjörn. Indignant, Esbjörn resigned his professorship at Illinois State which underscored the rapidly growing tensions between Swedes and Norwegians.
"Not only was a rift developing between the Swedes and Norwegians, but the Norwegians were showing great strain among themselves. The Swedes too were disagreeing over Synod affairs. Esbjörn was fully supported by Norelius. Hasselquist and Carlsson agreed with each other on most points but usually disagreed with Esbjörn and Norelius. The Synod of Northern Illinois began to unravel.
"Finally, a convention was called to deal with the problems of the growing rift in the Synod of Northern Illinois. The delegates convened at Jefferson Prairie, Wisconsin, on June 5, 1860. Twenty-six pastors and fifteen laymen were present for the meeting. The majority of the delegates were Swedish, as were the majority of the congregations in the Synod. All the prominent Lutheran pastors were in attendance, including Esbjörn, Norelius, Carlsson, Hasselquist, Andrén, and Jonas Swensson.
"In a move strongly supported by Esbjörn and Norelius, the Swedish delegates to the convention soon decided to withdraw from the Synod of Northern Illinois and form their own synod. Esbjörn still felt snubbed by the lack of support from the Norwegians for losing his professorship at Illinois State University. The delegates set to work, drew up a new constitution and prepared for the future under the umbrella of a new Augustana Synod. The Swedish delegates abandoned the school at Springfield to the Norwegians and established the new Augustana Seminary in Chicago.
"Pastor Esbjörn was awarded the Presidency of the Augustana Seminary and also the position of Professor of Theology. T. N. Hasselquist became the first President of the Augustana Synod while still retaining his pastorate at First Lutheran in Galesburg.
Mr. H goes on to say====
"Esbjörn assisted ??? by his friend Erland Carlsson in Chicago. Through the first formative years these eminently able men provided great strength and leadership assuring the success of this new synod and the Swedish Lutheran Church in the United States.
"By the year 1862, Pastor Lars Esbjörn had lost his position of preeminent leadership in the Augustana Synod, and younger, stronger men were taking over the yokes of responsibility and leadership. His time had passed. The years of toil and hardship had taken its toll, but one final blow still remain..... For these reasons, Esbjörn decided to take a leave of his work here in America and return to his native land.....
"The Lutheran Church and the first Swedish immigrants took root and grew in the new world largely as a result of the great courage, and dominant faith, hard work, and pioneering spirit of this great man. All those Americans whose heritage is Swedish, remain forever in his [Lars Esbjörn's] debt.
"The Augustana Synod met to choose new leaders to succeed the retiring Lars Esbjörn. The Synod chose Erland Carlsson to be the new synod president. T. N. Hasselquist was chosen as a temporary President of the Augustana Seminary until a new theologian could be found in Sweden to take the position. Hasselquist remained in that "temporary position" until his death in 1891.
"When called to serve as seminary president, Hasselquist resigned from his position at First Lutheran in Galesburg. This church was one of the most prominent in the Synod. The pastor chosen to occupy this pulpit would also inherit great prestige and power. Many applied for this coveted position, but instead of choosing one of the senior pastors of great reputation, First Lutheran chose one of the most promising of the young pastors serving in the synod. The name of the successful candidate was A. W. Dahlsten."
(Note that the "Augustana" name was chosen at that first meeting of the Synod. It is Latin. It translates to Augsburg, a city in Germany, and birthplace of a most important Lutheran document for the Protestant Reformation, that of the Augsburg Confession! The Catholic German monk Martin Luther is considered the founder of Lutheranism following his famous posting of the 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Church door on October 31, 1517. The "Theses" was against the practices of indulgences by the Catholic Church.)
The Synod was made up of an assembly of Swedish Lutheran clergy, pastors of churches from different parts of the country, which would meet periodically at appointed churches to attend to the concerns, needs, business and Christian matters affecting its various church congregations. These meetings were called conferences. In these early years, there was no official headquarter location for the conferences to take place.
Among ministering to social concerns overseas in Africa, China and India where its missionaries served, this growing Swedish American Lutheran Synod was first, and originally, committed to local social and educational service at home which found it supporting hospitals, orphanages, homes for the aged, and educational institutions.
Nine years after its founding, the Synod accepted Lindsborg's Bethany Lutheran Church as a member into its body in 1869. In 1884, it would "adopt" Lindsborg's Bethany Lutheran College as its "child."* Lindsborg's Bethany Home for the Aged established in 1907, the Synod would also adopt in 1911, the time in which the Home was accepting residents.
In 1910, the Augustana Synod, celebrating its fiftieth (50) year anniversary, compiled a book titled "The Augustana Synod 1860 - 1910," and in 1911 it compiled another book titled "Minnen från Jubelfasten" loosely translated "Memories from Jubilee." These were both published by the Augustana Book Concern in Rock Island, Illinois, home to Augustana College and Theological Seminary located on the shores of the Mississippi River and just west of neighboring Moline, Illinois.
In our day and age now, we can actually read The Augustana Synod 1860 - 1910 from our computers and even have it read to us. Below is the "digital" book for you to review. It is fascinating to just browse a bit. Just click on it to begin.
Lindsborg's Bethany Lutheran Church would host six (6) of these Augustana Lutheran Synod Conferences: In 1875, the year in which the Church building (which was completed in 1874) would be dedicated with the founding pastor Olof Olsson presiding conducting a large choir for the ceremony; in 1881, the year when Bethany College was founded by second pastor Carl Aaron Swensson who would be presiding; in 1892, the year when the Augustana Women's Missionary Society was founded with Rev. Swensson presiding; and in 1904, 1919 and 1939, when Bethany Lutheran Church and Lindsborg were celebrating their foundings -- in their 35th year, in their 50th year and in their 70th year respectively with Dr. Rev. Alfred Bergin presiding at all three conferences.
This Synod, first called the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America, was established in 1860 by a group of eleven or so Swedish Lutheran pastors which included Erland Carlsson, Lars Paul Esbjörn, Tuve Hasselquist, Eric Norelius, and Jonas Swensson at the Jefferson Prairie Settlement near Clinton, Wisconsin. It would be eventually named the Augustana Lutheran Evangelical Church and later referred to by other names such as the Augustana Lutheran Synod, the Augustana Synod, the Augustana Lutheran Church, the Augustana Church, the Synod.
The Swedish American Smoky Valley descendant historian Mr. Thomas N. Holmquist in his 1994 Pioneer Cross, Swedish Settlements Along the Smoky Hill Bluffs, presents with a back story a very detailed account of how the Augustana Synod was formed in the Chapter, "By Faith Alone," in the subsection: The Rise of the Augustana Synod. Of the eleven informative paragraphs, here are four:
"Not only was a rift developing between the Swedes and Norwegians, but the Norwegians were showing great strain among themselves. The Swedes too were disagreeing over Synod affairs. Esbjörn was fully supported by Norelius. Hasselquist and Carlsson agreed with each other on most points but usually disagreed with Esbjörn and Norelius. The Synod of Northern Illinois began to unravel.
"Finally, a convention was called to deal with the problems of the growing rift in the Synod of Northern Illinois. The delegates convened at Jefferson Prairie, Wisconsin, on June 5, 1860. Twenty-six pastors and fifteen laymen were present for the meeting. The majority of the delegates were Swedish, as were the majority of the congregations in the Synod. All the prominent Lutheran pastors were in attendance, including Esbjörn, Norelius, Carlsson, Hasselquist, Andrén, and Jonas Swensson.
"In a move strongly supported by Esbjörn and Norelius, the Swedish delegates to the convention soon decided to withdraw from the Synod of Northern Illinois and form their own synod. Esbjörn still felt snubbed by the lack of support from the Norwegians for losing his professorship at Illinois State University. The delegates set to work, drew up a new constitution and prepared for the future under the umbrella of a new Augustana Synod. The Swedish delegates abandoned the school at Springfield to the Norwegians and established the new Augustana Seminary in Chicago.
"Pastor Esbjörn was awarded the Presidency of the Augustana Seminary and also the position of Professor of Theology. T. N. Hasselquist became the first President of the Augustana Synod while still retaining his pastorate at First Lutheran in Galesburg.
---
"As the 1850s ended, a significant population of Swedish born people were living in many communities of Illinois and the surrounding states. The Swedish Lutheran churches were growing and new ones were founded each year. Ten years earlier, when the Swedish population was small and its churches were few, Pastor Esbjörn had aligned the Swedish Lutheran churches with the Americanize Norwegians to give his fledging churches some stability. This predominantly Norwegian group was called the Synod of Northern Illinois. However, by 1860, the Swedish and Norwegian members of the Synod increasingly were disagreeing on matters of policy, doctrine and leadership.
"Eric Norelius, in Minnesota, questioned the validity and wisdom of having joined with the Norwegians in the first place. He was fermenting for an all Swedish Synod. Erland Carlsson and T. N. Hasselquist were much more at ease with the Americanization, the Norwegians, and any changes that needed to be made. They felt that compromise could re-establish harmonious relations with the Norwegian members of the Synod.
"The most significant problem in the Synod centered around Esbjörn and Illinois State University. Esbjörn was teaching the theology classes from the Swedish Lutheran point of view. The foreign language stressed was Swedish and not Norwegian. Not surprisingly, the Norwegians showed little interest in the school and even less financial support for the professorship of Lars Esbjörn. Indignant, Esbjörn resigned his professorship at Illinois State which underscored the rapidly growing tensions between Swedes and Norwegians.
"Not only was a rift developing between the Swedes and Norwegians, but the Norwegians were showing great strain among themselves. The Swedes too were disagreeing over Synod affairs. Esbjörn was fully supported by Norelius. Hasselquist and Carlsson agreed with each other on most points but usually disagreed with Esbjörn and Norelius. The Synod of Northern Illinois began to unravel.
"Finally, a convention was called to deal with the problems of the growing rift in the Synod of Northern Illinois. The delegates convened at Jefferson Prairie, Wisconsin, on June 5, 1860. Twenty-six pastors and fifteen laymen were present for the meeting. The majority of the delegates were Swedish, as were the majority of the congregations in the Synod. All the prominent Lutheran pastors were in attendance, including Esbjörn, Norelius, Carlsson, Hasselquist, Andrén, and Jonas Swensson.
"In a move strongly supported by Esbjörn and Norelius, the Swedish delegates to the convention soon decided to withdraw from the Synod of Northern Illinois and form their own synod. Esbjörn still felt snubbed by the lack of support from the Norwegians for losing his professorship at Illinois State University. The delegates set to work, drew up a new constitution and prepared for the future under the umbrella of a new Augustana Synod. The Swedish delegates abandoned the school at Springfield to the Norwegians and established the new Augustana Seminary in Chicago.
"Pastor Esbjörn was awarded the Presidency of the Augustana Seminary and also the position of Professor of Theology. T. N. Hasselquist became the first President of the Augustana Synod while still retaining his pastorate at First Lutheran in Galesburg.
Mr. H goes on to say====
"Esbjörn assisted ??? by his friend Erland Carlsson in Chicago. Through the first formative years these eminently able men provided great strength and leadership assuring the success of this new synod and the Swedish Lutheran Church in the United States.
"By the year 1862, Pastor Lars Esbjörn had lost his position of preeminent leadership in the Augustana Synod, and younger, stronger men were taking over the yokes of responsibility and leadership. His time had passed. The years of toil and hardship had taken its toll, but one final blow still remain..... For these reasons, Esbjörn decided to take a leave of his work here in America and return to his native land.....
"The Lutheran Church and the first Swedish immigrants took root and grew in the new world largely as a result of the great courage, and dominant faith, hard work, and pioneering spirit of this great man. All those Americans whose heritage is Swedish, remain forever in his [Lars Esbjörn's] debt.
"The Augustana Synod met to choose new leaders to succeed the retiring Lars Esbjörn. The Synod chose Erland Carlsson to be the new synod president. T. N. Hasselquist was chosen as a temporary President of the Augustana Seminary until a new theologian could be found in Sweden to take the position. Hasselquist remained in that "temporary position" until his death in 1891.
"When called to serve as seminary president, Hasselquist resigned from his position at First Lutheran in Galesburg. This church was one of the most prominent in the Synod. The pastor chosen to occupy this pulpit would also inherit great prestige and power. Many applied for this coveted position, but instead of choosing one of the senior pastors of great reputation, First Lutheran chose one of the most promising of the young pastors serving in the synod. The name of the successful candidate was A. W. Dahlsten."
(Note that the "Augustana" name was chosen at that first meeting of the Synod. It is Latin. It translates to Augsburg, a city in Germany, and birthplace of a most important Lutheran document for the Protestant Reformation, that of the Augsburg Confession! The Catholic German monk Martin Luther is considered the founder of Lutheranism following his famous posting of the 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Church door on October 31, 1517. The "Theses" was against the practices of indulgences by the Catholic Church.)
The Synod was made up of an assembly of Swedish Lutheran clergy, pastors of churches from different parts of the country, which would meet periodically at appointed churches to attend to the concerns, needs, business and Christian matters affecting its various church congregations. These meetings were called conferences. In these early years, there was no official headquarter location for the conferences to take place.
Among ministering to social concerns overseas in Africa, China and India where its missionaries served, this growing Swedish American Lutheran Synod was first, and originally, committed to local social and educational service at home which found it supporting hospitals, orphanages, homes for the aged, and educational institutions.
Nine years after its founding, the Synod accepted Lindsborg's Bethany Lutheran Church as a member into its body in 1869. In 1884, it would "adopt" Lindsborg's Bethany Lutheran College as its "child."* Lindsborg's Bethany Home for the Aged established in 1907, the Synod would also adopt in 1911, the time in which the Home was accepting residents.
In 1910, the Augustana Synod, celebrating its fiftieth (50) year anniversary, compiled a book titled "The Augustana Synod 1860 - 1910," and in 1911 it compiled another book titled "Minnen från Jubelfasten" loosely translated "Memories from Jubilee." These were both published by the Augustana Book Concern in Rock Island, Illinois, home to Augustana College and Theological Seminary located on the shores of the Mississippi River and just west of neighboring Moline, Illinois.
In our day and age now, we can actually read The Augustana Synod 1860 - 1910 from our computers and even have it read to us. Below is the "digital" book for you to review. It is fascinating to just browse a bit. Just click on it to begin.
Source: Internet Archive, San Francisco, California
* * *
This is the 1911 book belonging to my great grandparents Ernst and Selma Sohlberg. The title reads: "Minnen från Jubelfesten" loosely translated "Memories from Jubilee"
This is the 1911 book belonging to my great grandparents Ernst and Selma Sohlberg. The title reads: "Minnen från Jubelfesten" loosely translated "Memories from Jubilee"
and the rest on the cover translation is
"Program, Sermons and Speeches at Augustana Colleges and Augustana-Synods"
"Fifty Years - The Jubilee"
"5 to 15 June 1910"
"Program, Sermons and Speeches at Augustana Colleges and Augustana-Synods"
"Fifty Years - The Jubilee"
"5 to 15 June 1910"
Listed below are the Swedish Lutheran pastors who served the Augustana Synod from its beginnings in 1860 to its end in 1962 when the Augustana Synod merged with other Lutheran synods to form the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) at which time it lost its Swedish identity forevermore!
The Augustana Synod Swedish Lutheran Pastors
Tuve Hasselquist 1860–1870
Jonas Swensson 1870–1873
Eric Norelius 1874–1881
Erland Carlsson 1881–1888
Sven Peter August Lindahl 1888–1891
P. J. Svärd 1891–1899
Eric Norelius 1899–1911
L. A. Johnston 1911–1918
Gustaf Albert Brandelle 1918–1935
Petrus Olaf Bersell 1935–1951
Oscar A. Benson 1951–1959
Malvin H. Lundeen 1959–1962
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jonas Swensson 1870–1873
Eric Norelius 1874–1881
Erland Carlsson 1881–1888
Sven Peter August Lindahl 1888–1891
P. J. Svärd 1891–1899
Eric Norelius 1899–1911
L. A. Johnston 1911–1918
Gustaf Albert Brandelle 1918–1935
Petrus Olaf Bersell 1935–1951
Oscar A. Benson 1951–1959
Malvin H. Lundeen 1959–1962
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Jonas Swensson -
Augustana Synod Pioneer
- First Secretary and second President of the Synod -
Source: "Forget-Me-Not." 1902
He was the father of Rev. Dr. Carl Arron Swensson, Bethany College Founder and second President.
Rev. Dr. Jonas Swensson and his wife are buried in Andover, Illinois on the grounds of the Jenny Lind Chapel,
Mother Church of the Augustana Lutheran Synod.
- The Jenny Lind Chapel -
Rev. Dr. Jonas Swensson and his wife are buried in Andover, Illinois on the grounds of the Jenny Lind Chapel,
Mother Church of the Augustana Lutheran Synod.
- The Jenny Lind Chapel -
Courtesy of the Jenny Lind Chapel Museum
To learn more about the Augustana Synod, go HERE to The Augustana Heritage Association, 2000 - 2016.
For a concise detailed description on the founding of the Augustana Women's Missionary Society, go HERE.
For a concise detailed description on the founding of the Augustana Women's Missionary Society, go HERE.
* * *
World War I American Red Cross members of the Augustana Lutheran Church
World War I American Red Cross members of the Augustana Lutheran Church
My great grandmother Selma Sohlberg is in this photograph. See the X for her location.
*Source: Emory Lindquist 1975 book, Bethany in Kansas, the history of a college, page 11
Other sources: Wikipedia: Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church; Augustana College; Augustana Heritage Association website
Other sources: Wikipedia: Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church; Augustana College; Augustana Heritage Association website
* * *
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © since October 8, 2015 to Current Year
as indicated on main menu sections of
www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © since October 8, 2015 to Current Year
as indicated on main menu sections of
www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
