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Bethany Lutheran Church hosted five Synod Conferences: 1881, 1892, 1904, 1919, and 1939.
Losing their foundational Swedish identity,
the beloved Augustana Lutheran Synod congregations of 1,269 and members of 629,547 were joined to the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) in 1962.
Losing their foundational Swedish identity,
the beloved Augustana Lutheran Synod congregations of 1,269 and members of 629,547 were joined to the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) in 1962.
Their Augustana Lutheran Synod, 1860 - 1962
The events of the Augustana Lutheran Synod were constantly affecting the spiritual and secular lives of Bethany Lutheran Church members like Lydia, Emil, their families, and friends. Lindsborg's Bethany Lutheran Church would host five of these Augustana Lutheran Synod Conferences in the years of 1881, 1892, 1904, 1919, and 1939.
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 would eventually be named the Augustana Lutheran Evangelical Church.
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 to the Protestant Reformation, that of the Augsburg Confession!
The Synod was made up of an assembly of Lutheran clergy from different parts of the country which would meet periodically at different appointed Lutheran churches to attend to the concerns, needs and business matters affecting its various church congregations. These meetings were called conferences. In these early years there was no headquarter location for the conferences to take place.
Among social concerns overseas in countries like Africa, China and India where its missionaries served, this growing Lutheran Synod was committed also to local social and educational concerns at home by supporting homes for the aged, hospitals, orphanages, 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" the Bethany Lutheran College as its "child," in 1884; and, the Bethany Home for the Aged established in 1907, it would also adopt in 1911 when the Home was fully ready for residents.
In 1910, celebrating its fiftieth (50) year anniversary, the Augustana Book Concern in Rock Island, Illinois, home to the Augustana College and Theological Seminary, published two books: "The Augustana Synod 1860 - 1910" and the "Minnen från Jubelfasten" translated "Memories from Jubilee."
In our day and age now, we can actually read The Augustana Synod 1860 - 1910 from our computers and 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.
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 would eventually be named the Augustana Lutheran Evangelical Church.
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 to the Protestant Reformation, that of the Augsburg Confession!
The Synod was made up of an assembly of Lutheran clergy from different parts of the country which would meet periodically at different appointed Lutheran churches to attend to the concerns, needs and business matters affecting its various church congregations. These meetings were called conferences. In these early years there was no headquarter location for the conferences to take place.
Among social concerns overseas in countries like Africa, China and India where its missionaries served, this growing Lutheran Synod was committed also to local social and educational concerns at home by supporting homes for the aged, hospitals, orphanages, 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" the Bethany Lutheran College as its "child," in 1884; and, the Bethany Home for the Aged established in 1907, it would also adopt in 1911 when the Home was fully ready for residents.
In 1910, celebrating its fiftieth (50) year anniversary, the Augustana Book Concern in Rock Island, Illinois, home to the Augustana College and Theological Seminary, published two books: "The Augustana Synod 1860 - 1910" and the "Minnen från Jubelfasten" translated "Memories from Jubilee."
In our day and age now, we can actually read The Augustana Synod 1860 - 1910 from our computers and 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."
and the rest on the cover translation is
Program Predikningar and Speeches at Augustana Colleges and Augustana-Synods
Fifty Years - The Jubilee
5 to 15 June 1910
(Those colleges included 10 21 19 ...
Program Predikningar and Speeches at Augustana Colleges and Augustana-Synods
Fifty Years - The Jubilee
5 to 15 June 1910
(Those colleges included 10 21 19 ...
This Swedish Lutheran pastoral life of those who served the Augustana Synod is listed below from its beginnings to its end when the Synod merged with other Lutheran synods forming the Lutheran Church in America and, therefore losing its pure Swedish identity forever.
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
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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
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- Jonas Swensson -
Augustana Synod Pioneer
- First Secretary and second President of the Synod -
Source: "Forget-Me-Not." 1902
He was the father of Dr. Rev. Carl Arron Swensson, Bethany College Founder and second President
He and his wife are buried in Andover, Illinois on the grounds of the Jenny Lind Chapel, the Mother Church of the Augustana Lutheran Synod
- The Jenny Lind Chapel -
He and his wife are buried in Andover, Illinois on the grounds of the Jenny Lind Chapel, the Mother Church of the Augustana Lutheran Synod
- The Jenny Lind Chapel -
Courtesy of the Jenny Lind Chapel Museum
* * *
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
**Sources: Deere's Resume and Leon Lungstrom's 1990 book, History of Natural Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas, page 147
**Sources: Deere's Resume and Leon Lungstrom's 1990 book, History of Natural Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas, page 147
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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, or obviously concluded it is not.
Copyright © 2019 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, or obviously concluded it is not.
Copyright © 2019 www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
