Home
<> Celebrating the Augustana Synod Legacy <>
<> Celebrating the Augustana Synod Legacy <>
"... Augustana Lutheran Church has embodied and represented the essentials of the Swedish tradition of the Lutheran Church in the religious life of America."
-- Augustana Heritage: A History of the Augustana Lutheran Church, by Dr. G. Everett Arden, 1963
The 2000 - 2016 "Augustana Heritage Association"
(AHA)
(AHA)
One-hundred-and-two (102) years after its 1860 founding, the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church would merge with the American Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC), the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church (Suomi Synod) and the United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA) to form the Lutheran Church in America (LCA), thus, in 1962, from that point on it lost its cherished Swedish identity.
Leaving the Canadian Section of the LCA in 1986, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada would form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC). Two years later, in 1988, the remaining portion of the LCA merged with the American Lutheran Church (ALC) and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), that we have today.
It is always difficult to give up someone or some association that has been so dear to one's heart over a lifetime. So it was in the latter respect with a group of Swedish American Lutherans with the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Synod (Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church) in 1962 who established in the year 2000 the Augustana Heritage Association for the purpose of looking back, remembering, and honoring the heritage of that Lutheran church body and ensuring that important information of its legacy be preserved securely in the archives found at the Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Fortunately as well, since the Association's ending in 2016, a website was established by the College, augustanaheritage.augustana.edu, for the information to be shared with the world for posterity and perpetuity.
In 2000, as its founder and first president, Rev. Reuben T. Swanson wrote that the mission of the Augustana Heritage Association was to " 'define, promote and perpetuate the heritage and legacy of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church' and to assist in identifying and remembering the values and commitments of that church body."
Leaving the Canadian Section of the LCA in 1986, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada would form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC). Two years later, in 1988, the remaining portion of the LCA merged with the American Lutheran Church (ALC) and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), that we have today.
It is always difficult to give up someone or some association that has been so dear to one's heart over a lifetime. So it was in the latter respect with a group of Swedish American Lutherans with the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Synod (Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church) in 1962 who established in the year 2000 the Augustana Heritage Association for the purpose of looking back, remembering, and honoring the heritage of that Lutheran church body and ensuring that important information of its legacy be preserved securely in the archives found at the Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Fortunately as well, since the Association's ending in 2016, a website was established by the College, augustanaheritage.augustana.edu, for the information to be shared with the world for posterity and perpetuity.
In 2000, as its founder and first president, Rev. Reuben T. Swanson wrote that the mission of the Augustana Heritage Association was to " 'define, promote and perpetuate the heritage and legacy of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church' and to assist in identifying and remembering the values and commitments of that church body."
- Augustana Lutheran College -
First 'Swedish' Lutheran college founded in 1860 by the Augustana Lutheran Synod
Home of the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center
First 'Swedish' Lutheran college founded in 1860 by the Augustana Lutheran Synod
Home of the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center
Courtesy of Augustana College
After its 1860 founding, the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod founded Augustana College which also included a theological seminary, thus it was named the Augustana College and Theological Seminary. The Seminary separated from the College in 1947 becoming an independent body when Conrad Bergendoff was President and it relocated in the 1960s to Chicago. It would merge with other Lutheran seminaries to form the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC), today's established headquarters for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
After its 1860 founding, the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod founded Augustana College which also included a theological seminary, thus it was named the Augustana College and Theological Seminary. The Seminary separated from the College in 1947 becoming an independent body when Conrad Bergendoff was President and it relocated in the 1960s to Chicago. It would merge with other Lutheran seminaries to form the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC), today's established headquarters for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
- Writing on coin: Augustana College and Theological Seminary, Rock Island, Ill. 1893 -
Coin belonging to Emil O. Deere
From Dr. G. Everett Arden, a long-time professor of Church History and Liturgics at the Augustana Seminary when it was located in Rock Island, Illinois, we read in his 1963 book, Augustana Heritage: A History of the Augustana Lutheran Church:
"The Augustana Lutheran Church has embodied and represented the essentials of the Swedish tradition of the Lutheran Church in the religious life of America. The roots of Augustana are deeply imbedded in the soil of Sweden, and though there may be some arguments about whether or not Augustana may properly be called a 'daughter' of the Church of Sweden, there can be no argument or doubt as to the vital relationship between the two and the significant contributions which a Swedish heritage has made to Augustana and, through it, to America..." *
"The Augustana Lutheran Church has embodied and represented the essentials of the Swedish tradition of the Lutheran Church in the religious life of America. The roots of Augustana are deeply imbedded in the soil of Sweden, and though there may be some arguments about whether or not Augustana may properly be called a 'daughter' of the Church of Sweden, there can be no argument or doubt as to the vital relationship between the two and the significant contributions which a Swedish heritage has made to Augustana and, through it, to America..." *
- Writing on coin: "Augustana University Association" -
Coin belonging to Emil O. Deere
For more information on the Augustana Heritage Association and its history on the Augustana Synod, go HERE.
Information sources: Bethany in Kansas, the history of a college by Dr. Emory W. Lindquist; Augustana Heritage Association website; Wikipedia: Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church; Augustana College
For Their Augustana's Bethany Home, 1907, go HERE.
For Their Augustana's Bethany Home, 1907, go HERE.
FOUNDERS OF THE AUGUSTANA LUTHERAN SYNOD
" A group of Swedish Lutheran pastors including
Jonas Swensson, Lars Paul Esbjörn, Tuve Hasselquist, Eric Norelius, and Erland Carlsson
pioneered development of the Augustana Synod." -- Source: Wikipedia
" A group of Swedish Lutheran pastors including
Jonas Swensson, Lars Paul Esbjörn, Tuve Hasselquist, Eric Norelius, and Erland Carlsson
pioneered development of the Augustana Synod." -- Source: Wikipedia
Courtesy of the Augustana Heritage Association
* * *
"Let Us Celebrate Them"
* * *
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.
"Let Us Celebrate Them"
* * *
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.
