Abraham Vereide
Encyclopedia
Abraham Vereide was a Norwegian
-born Methodist clergyman and founder of Goodwill Industries
of Seattle. In 1935, Vereide founded the prayer breakfast movement in the United States. In 1942, Vereide established International Christian Leadership, incorporated as Fellowship Foundation, in Chicago as the U.S. headquarters for the prayer breakfast movement. He was the executive director of this organization until his death. In 1953, Vereide started the Presidential Prayer Breakfast, later called the National Prayer Breakfast
or the International Prayer Breakfast.
), Norway
on October 7, 1886. He was a sheep farmer in the Nordfjord
district before emigrating to the United States in 1905.
Vereide was ordained a Methodist clergyman in Butte, Montana
in 1906. He was educated at Northwestern University
, Norwegian Danish Theological Seminary and Garrett Theological Seminary
. Seattle Pacific College
conferred on him the honorary degree of L.L.D.
He was the pastor of the Norwegian Danish Methodist Luthern Episcopal Church at the corner of Stewart and Boren Streets in Seattle, Washington
.
In 1913, Vereide went to the Library of Congress
in Washington, D.C. to research spirituality in America's heritage. He was aided by a librarian, Dr. Diserud, who introduced him to Senator Knute Nelson
.
In 1916, Vereide founded Goodwill Industries
of Seattle, Portland and San Francisco, while his friend and fellow Methodist clergyman, Edgar J. Helms operated an immigrant ministry out of Morgan Methodist Chapel in Boston, serving New England, which would become the national headquarters of a coast-to-coast movement known as Goodwill Industries of America. The name was inspired by a 1915 Christmas homily that Vereide gave referencing Luke 2:14: "and on earth peace, good will toward men".
In 1918, Vereide founded Beulah Retreat Center and Farm on Vashon Island, Washington for the vocational training and occupational development of Seattle's unemployed, displaced immigrants, unwed mothers, unskilled men and homeless children.
In 1921, Abraham launched a Goodwill Store in Seattle, to sell surplus of refurbished furniture, household items and apparel.
In 1931, Vereide went to Boston to serve as associate general superintendent of Goodwill Industries
of America and to work with Edgar Helms. Vereide also served as pastor of The Church of All Nations, Boston and as the executive secretary for Goodwill Industries of New England.
In 1932, New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt
requested Vereide to speak at a conference concerning a social relief program for New York state. “He wanted me to take charge of a state program,” wrote Vereide, “and apply this principle of the Goodwill Industries in the expenditure of a fund of eighteen million dollars for the state. This I didn’t do, as the religious phases could not be included; but he also emphasized that what the state needed more than anything else was a spiritual upsurge." Early in his governorship, Roosevelt had called James Farrell
, president of the United States Steel Corporation, and arranged for Vereide to discuss the needs of the state, both spiritual and as related to unemployment and the potential assistance that Goodwill could bring.
The relationship with Roosevelt continued into his presidency, as Vereide served as both a social relief advisor and as a spiritual counselor. In 1942, Roosevelt's second cousin, Marian Johnson, began to gather their New York society friends for discussions on spiritual vitality and Christianity. Johnson also invited Samuel Shoemaker, whose teaching had led to the birth of the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous
and its profession of the need for a "higher power". Shoemaker introduced Vereide to the national readers of his New York magazine, The Calvary Evangel. In the October 1943 edition, Vereide wrote of the Congressional and Mayoral Prayer Groups:
After Franklin Roosevelt was nominated for president, Carl Vrooman, assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
under President Woodrow Wilson
, gave Vereide a special appointment. Vrooman had been tasked by Roosevelt with forming a super-cabinet as the advisory body for his administration on national policy. Vrooman had found that he and Vereide shared a mutual concern to save America from the political and economic breakdown that then existed. He asked Vereide to head the social service portfolio. Vereide invited him to address the Boston Prayer Breakfast Group and to share both economic and spiritual insights regarding America.
In 1935, Vereide founded City Chapel at City Centre Seattle as a place for the city's decision makers to gather for prayer.
In 1936, Vereide established Christian Businessmen's Committee which provided a daily luncheon gathering for leaders of the city's retail, trade and banking communities. His views on urban renewal were sought and implemented in San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and New York. His recurring theme was that the head, heart and hand of necessity had to be actively engaged and energized spiritually to bring moral and economic recovery and transformation to the prevalent decay in the nation's metropolitan areas. Abraham addressed the U.S. Congress
in 1936 and following that, launched a Governor's Prayer Breakfast in Richmond, Virginia
.
In 1942, Vereide founded Fellowship Foundation Inc. in Chicago as the headquarters for the growing prayer breakfast movement. In this same city, a young college student, Billy Graham
, was invited to speak to some of the prayer groups. Years later, Vereide invited him to the rostrum of the Presidential Prayer Breakfast, a role which Graham would carry out for 49 years.
Vereide returned to Washington, D.C., in 1942, to develop prayer cells among national leaders. Senator Frank Carlson
and Judge Boyd Leedom joined him in this pursuit. Conrad Hilton
, a fellow Norwegian, provided additional conference meeting spaces. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
conferred with Vereide. President Eisenhower
became a proponent of this effort and Edward L.R. Elson
, chaplain to the president and later chaplain to the U.S. Senate, encouraged the expansion of this ministry in government life. In 1943 Vereide established a legation on Embassy Row at Sheridan Circle, "Fellowship House", incorporated under the Fellowship Foundation as a center of prayer, study and international reconciliation.
In December, 1951, Vereide spoke at the "Conference on Americanism" held at Bob Jones University
in Greenville, South Carolina
. Speakers included the Council for National Policy
's John G. Talcott, noted Southern apologist John Temple Graves II, South Carolina Congressman Joseph Bryson, North Carolina Senator Clyde Hoey (Joseph McCarthy
's immediate predecessor), Freda Utley
, and Baron Von Blomberg. The conference's purpose was to "'resell the fundamental principles of Americanism to this generation.'" Attendance for the school's students was mandatory.
In 1952, Vereide's work spread internationally and was advocated by Princess Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
, the former Queen, who became honorary chairwoman of International Christian Leadership (ICL).
In 1953, Vereide established the Presidential Prayer Breakfast as a forum for members of all three branches of the U.S. government. The undertaking expanded to include governors of all fifty states, military officials, businessmen, clergy, ambassadors and later came to be called the National Prayer Breakfast
. It spread internationally to over 170 countries and has since been informally referred to as the International Prayer Breakfast.
In 1965, Vereide was nominated by Norwegian-American U.S. Senator Frank Carlson to receive the Nobel Peace Prize
for his global initiatives in humanitarian relief and international reconciliation. In 2001, a biography and a documentary movie, entitled: "Abraham Vereide" were introduced in the Norwegian Parliament by Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik
and a copy of the book was placed in the Norwegian Washington embassy by Ambassador Knut Vollebæk
.
Vereide died of a heart attack on May 16, 1969, the night following his return to Washington after giving the keynote address at the Louisiana Governor's Prayer Breakfast. He was 82 years old. His grave stone was inscribed "Abraham Vereide ~ Rejoicing with Jesus".
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
-born Methodist clergyman and founder of Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries International is a not-for-profit organization that provides job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have a disability, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges...
of Seattle. In 1935, Vereide founded the prayer breakfast movement in the United States. In 1942, Vereide established International Christian Leadership, incorporated as Fellowship Foundation, in Chicago as the U.S. headquarters for the prayer breakfast movement. He was the executive director of this organization until his death. In 1953, Vereide started the Presidential Prayer Breakfast, later called the National Prayer Breakfast
National Prayer Breakfast
The National Prayer Breakfast is a yearly event held in Washington, D.C., on the first Thursday of February each year. The founder of this event was Abraham Vereide...
or the International Prayer Breakfast.
Biography
Abraham Vereide was born in Vereide (in GloppenGloppen
Gloppen is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. Gloppen is generally subdivided into three areas: Hyen in the west, Gloppen in the center, and Breim in the east. Each of the areas have their own main service centres. ...
), Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
on October 7, 1886. He was a sheep farmer in the Nordfjord
Nordfjord
Nordfjord is a fjord and a traditional district in the northern part of Sogn og Fjordane county in Western Norway. The district comprises the municipalities of Selje, Vågsøy, Bremanger, Eid, Gloppen, Hornindal, and Stryn. Nordfjord covers an area of and is home to a population of approximately...
district before emigrating to the United States in 1905.
Vereide was ordained a Methodist clergyman in Butte, Montana
Butte, Montana
Butte is a city in Montana and the county seat of Silver Bow County, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. As of the 2010 census, Butte's population was 34,200...
in 1906. He was educated at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, Norwegian Danish Theological Seminary and Garrett Theological Seminary
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary is a graduate school of theology of the United Methodist Church located in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1853, Garrett-Evangelical is on the campus of Northwestern University and continues many associations with the university...
. Seattle Pacific College
Seattle Pacific University
Seattle Pacific University is a Christian university of the liberal arts, sciences and professions, located on the north slope of Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, Washington, USA. It was founded in 1891 by the Oregon and Washington Conference of the Free Methodist Church as the Seattle Seminary...
conferred on him the honorary degree of L.L.D.
Legum Doctor
Legum Doctor is a doctorate-level academic degree in law, or an honorary doctorate, depending on the jurisdiction. The double L in the abbreviation refers to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both Canon Law and Civil Law, the double L indicating the plural, Doctor of both...
He was the pastor of the Norwegian Danish Methodist Luthern Episcopal Church at the corner of Stewart and Boren Streets in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
.
In 1913, Vereide went to the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
in Washington, D.C. to research spirituality in America's heritage. He was aided by a librarian, Dr. Diserud, who introduced him to Senator Knute Nelson
Knute Nelson
Knute Nelson was an Norwegian American politician. A Republican, he served in the Wisconsin Legislature and Minnesota Legislature, in the U.S. House of Representatives, as the 12th Governor of Minnesota, and as a U.S...
.
In 1916, Vereide founded Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries International is a not-for-profit organization that provides job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have a disability, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges...
of Seattle, Portland and San Francisco, while his friend and fellow Methodist clergyman, Edgar J. Helms operated an immigrant ministry out of Morgan Methodist Chapel in Boston, serving New England, which would become the national headquarters of a coast-to-coast movement known as Goodwill Industries of America. The name was inspired by a 1915 Christmas homily that Vereide gave referencing Luke 2:14: "and on earth peace, good will toward men".
In 1918, Vereide founded Beulah Retreat Center and Farm on Vashon Island, Washington for the vocational training and occupational development of Seattle's unemployed, displaced immigrants, unwed mothers, unskilled men and homeless children.
In 1921, Abraham launched a Goodwill Store in Seattle, to sell surplus of refurbished furniture, household items and apparel.
In 1931, Vereide went to Boston to serve as associate general superintendent of Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries International is a not-for-profit organization that provides job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have a disability, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges...
of America and to work with Edgar Helms. Vereide also served as pastor of The Church of All Nations, Boston and as the executive secretary for Goodwill Industries of New England.
In 1932, New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
requested Vereide to speak at a conference concerning a social relief program for New York state. “He wanted me to take charge of a state program,” wrote Vereide, “and apply this principle of the Goodwill Industries in the expenditure of a fund of eighteen million dollars for the state. This I didn’t do, as the religious phases could not be included; but he also emphasized that what the state needed more than anything else was a spiritual upsurge." Early in his governorship, Roosevelt had called James Farrell
James A. Farrell
James Augustine Farrell was president of US Steel from 1911 to 1932. A major business figure of his era, Farrell expanded US Steel by a factor of five during his Presidency, turning it into America's first billion-dollar company...
, president of the United States Steel Corporation, and arranged for Vereide to discuss the needs of the state, both spiritual and as related to unemployment and the potential assistance that Goodwill could bring.
The relationship with Roosevelt continued into his presidency, as Vereide served as both a social relief advisor and as a spiritual counselor. In 1942, Roosevelt's second cousin, Marian Johnson, began to gather their New York society friends for discussions on spiritual vitality and Christianity. Johnson also invited Samuel Shoemaker, whose teaching had led to the birth of the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
and its profession of the need for a "higher power". Shoemaker introduced Vereide to the national readers of his New York magazine, The Calvary Evangel. In the October 1943 edition, Vereide wrote of the Congressional and Mayoral Prayer Groups:
"This month we begin a series of studies on the subject of 'The Way'. We will seek to translate the truth we learn into character, conduct, and human relationships...a vital and continuous experience of Jesus Christ...and a revival of civic responsibility and cultivation of positive Christ-like leadership."
After Franklin Roosevelt was nominated for president, Carl Vrooman, assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
under President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
, gave Vereide a special appointment. Vrooman had been tasked by Roosevelt with forming a super-cabinet as the advisory body for his administration on national policy. Vrooman had found that he and Vereide shared a mutual concern to save America from the political and economic breakdown that then existed. He asked Vereide to head the social service portfolio. Vereide invited him to address the Boston Prayer Breakfast Group and to share both economic and spiritual insights regarding America.
In 1935, Vereide founded City Chapel at City Centre Seattle as a place for the city's decision makers to gather for prayer.
In 1936, Vereide established Christian Businessmen's Committee which provided a daily luncheon gathering for leaders of the city's retail, trade and banking communities. His views on urban renewal were sought and implemented in San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and New York. His recurring theme was that the head, heart and hand of necessity had to be actively engaged and energized spiritually to bring moral and economic recovery and transformation to the prevalent decay in the nation's metropolitan areas. Abraham addressed the U.S. Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
in 1936 and following that, launched a Governor's Prayer Breakfast in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
.
In 1942, Vereide founded Fellowship Foundation Inc. in Chicago as the headquarters for the growing prayer breakfast movement. In this same city, a young college student, Billy Graham
Billy Graham
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...
, was invited to speak to some of the prayer groups. Years later, Vereide invited him to the rostrum of the Presidential Prayer Breakfast, a role which Graham would carry out for 49 years.
Vereide returned to Washington, D.C., in 1942, to develop prayer cells among national leaders. Senator Frank Carlson
Frank Carlson
Frank Carlson was an American politician who served as the 30th Governor of Kansas and United States Representative and United States Senator from Kansas.-Biography:...
and Judge Boyd Leedom joined him in this pursuit. Conrad Hilton
Conrad Hilton
Conrad Nicholson Hilton was an American businessman and investor. He is well known for being the founder of the Hilton Hotels chain.-Early life:Hilton was born in San Antonio, New Mexico...
, a fellow Norwegian, provided additional conference meeting spaces. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
conferred with Vereide. President Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
became a proponent of this effort and Edward L.R. Elson
Edward L.R. Elson
The Reverend Edward Lee Roy Elson was a Presbyterian minister andChaplain of the United States Senate.-Life:Edward Lee Roy Elson, the oldest of nine children, was born in...
, chaplain to the president and later chaplain to the U.S. Senate, encouraged the expansion of this ministry in government life. In 1943 Vereide established a legation on Embassy Row at Sheridan Circle, "Fellowship House", incorporated under the Fellowship Foundation as a center of prayer, study and international reconciliation.
In December, 1951, Vereide spoke at the "Conference on Americanism" held at Bob Jones University
Bob Jones University
Bob Jones University is a private, for-profit, non-denominational Protestant university in Greenville, South Carolina.The university was founded in 1927 by Bob Jones, Sr. , an evangelist and contemporary of Billy Sunday...
in Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
. Speakers included the Council for National Policy
Council for National Policy
The Council for National Policy , is an umbrella organization and networking group for social conservative activists in the United States...
's John G. Talcott, noted Southern apologist John Temple Graves II, South Carolina Congressman Joseph Bryson, North Carolina Senator Clyde Hoey (Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
's immediate predecessor), Freda Utley
Freda Utley
Winifred Utley, commonly known as Freda Utley, was an English scholar, political activist and best-selling author. After visiting the Soviet Union in 1927 as a trade union activist, she joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1928...
, and Baron Von Blomberg. The conference's purpose was to "'resell the fundamental principles of Americanism to this generation.'" Attendance for the school's students was mandatory.
In 1952, Vereide's work spread internationally and was advocated by Princess Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Wilhelmina was Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948. She ruled the Netherlands for fifty-eight years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World War I and World War II, the economic crisis of 1933, and the decline of the Netherlands as a major colonial...
, the former Queen, who became honorary chairwoman of International Christian Leadership (ICL).
In 1953, Vereide established the Presidential Prayer Breakfast as a forum for members of all three branches of the U.S. government. The undertaking expanded to include governors of all fifty states, military officials, businessmen, clergy, ambassadors and later came to be called the National Prayer Breakfast
National Prayer Breakfast
The National Prayer Breakfast is a yearly event held in Washington, D.C., on the first Thursday of February each year. The founder of this event was Abraham Vereide...
. It spread internationally to over 170 countries and has since been informally referred to as the International Prayer Breakfast.
In 1965, Vereide was nominated by Norwegian-American U.S. Senator Frank Carlson to receive the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
for his global initiatives in humanitarian relief and international reconciliation. In 2001, a biography and a documentary movie, entitled: "Abraham Vereide" were introduced in the Norwegian Parliament by Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik
Kjell Magne Bondevik
Kjell Magne Bondevik is a Norwegian Lutheran minister and politician . He served as Prime Minister of Norway from 1997 to 2000, and from 2001 to 2005, making him Norway's longest serving non-Labour Party Prime Minister since World War II...
and a copy of the book was placed in the Norwegian Washington embassy by Ambassador Knut Vollebæk
Knut Vollebæk
Knut Vollebæk is a Norwegian diplomat and centrist politician . He is educated from the Norwegian School of Economics and the University of California, Santa Barbara....
.
Vereide died of a heart attack on May 16, 1969, the night following his return to Washington after giving the keynote address at the Louisiana Governor's Prayer Breakfast. He was 82 years old. His grave stone was inscribed "Abraham Vereide ~ Rejoicing with Jesus".