Lutheran Free Church
Encyclopedia
The Lutheran Free Church (LFC) was a Lutheran denomination that existed in the United States
from 1897 to 1963 mainly in Minnesota
and North Dakota
. The history of the church predates its official start and a breakaway group of congregations continues to the present under the LFC legacy.
and Sven Oftedal
were two scholars from prominent Haugean
families in Norway who came to Augsburg Seminary in Minneapolis
, Minnesota
, to teach in the 1870s, bringing with them a genuinely radical view of Christian education, centered on Scripture and the simple doctrines of Christianity. The Haugean movement took its name from Norwegian lay evangelist Hans Nielsen Hauge
who spoke up against the Church establishment in Norway. Sverdrup and Oftedal had been concerned with hierarchy within the Christian church and as well as the study of the Bible
. They believed that, according to the New Testament
of the Holy Bible, the local congregation was the correct form of God's kingdom on earth.
Their vision was for a church that:
In 1890, the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America
was formed by three Lutheran church bodies that included the Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
. Augsburg was the school of the "Conference" and thus Sverdrup and Oftedal.
A dispute within the UNLC over which school Augsburg or St. Olaf
should be the college of the church body lead in 1893 to the creation of the Friends of Augsburg. By 1896, Sverdrup, Oftedal and others felt their beliefs of a "free church in a free land" were being compromised and broke away from the UNLC, forming the Lutheran Free Church in 1897.
The LFC's publishing house was the Messenger Press and its official English language
magazine was the Lutheran Messenger started in 1918. The church also had for most of its earlier history a Norwegian language
publication Folkebladet (the People's Paper).
In harmony with its emphasis on utilizing and developing the natural spiritual gifts of all the members of the Church the LFC, although they did not ordain women, gave a freer range to women within its church body to hold non-ordained ministries, offices and responsibilities in its organization than many of its contemporary Lutheran counterparts. In harmony with its evangelical emphasis the LFC strongly emphasized the importance of foreign missions (with missions fields in Madagascar and the Cameroons) and spent more of its financial resources on foreign missions and supported a larger number of foreign missionaries than many of its contemporary Lutheran church bodies of comparable size.
By the 1950s, however there was a growing movement by many Lutherans throughout the United States
to join their many small Lutheran bodies into larger body. The Lutheran Free Church joined the American Lutheran Church
on February 1, 1963 after three votes (1955, 1957 and 1961). The ALC in time also joined with other Lutheran churches and, in 1988, formed the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA). About 40 Lutheran Free Churches however did not join the ALC, instead forming the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations
(AFLC) in October 1962. Today the AFLC has more than 250 congregations.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from 1897 to 1963 mainly in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
and North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
. The history of the church predates its official start and a breakaway group of congregations continues to the present under the LFC legacy.
Background
Georg SverdrupGeorg Sverdrup (President of Augsburg Seminary)
Georg Sverdrup was a Norwegian-American Lutheran theologian and an educator.-Personal life:He was born in Balestrand, Norway to Karoline Metella Suur and Harald Ulrik Sverdrup, a member of the Norwegian Parliament, whose brother Johan Sverdrup was Prime Minister of Norway between 1884 and 1889.He...
and Sven Oftedal
Sven Oftedal
Sven Oftedal was a Norwegian American Lutheran minister who helped found the Lutheran Free Church.Oftedal was born in Stavanger, Norway and studied at the University of Oslo. He came to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1873 to serve as a professor of the New Testament at Augsburg Seminary, predecessor...
were two scholars from prominent 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....
families in Norway who came to Augsburg Seminary in Minneapolis
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...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, to teach in the 1870s, bringing with them a genuinely radical view of Christian education, centered on Scripture and the simple doctrines of Christianity. The Haugean movement took its name from Norwegian lay evangelist 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 spoke up against the Church establishment in Norway. Sverdrup and Oftedal had been concerned with hierarchy within the Christian church and as well as the study of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. They believed that, according to the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
of the Holy Bible, the local congregation was the correct form of God's kingdom on earth.
Their vision was for a church that:
- Promoted a "living" Christianity,
- Emphasized an evangelism that would result in changed lives,
- Enabled the church member to exercise their spiritual gifts.
In 1890, the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America
United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America
The 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...
was formed by three Lutheran church bodies that included the 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....
. Augsburg was the school of the "Conference" and thus Sverdrup and Oftedal.
A dispute within the UNLC over which school Augsburg or St. Olaf
St. Olaf College
St. 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,...
should be the college of the church body lead in 1893 to the creation of the Friends of Augsburg. By 1896, Sverdrup, Oftedal and others felt their beliefs of a "free church in a free land" were being compromised and broke away from the UNLC, forming the Lutheran Free Church in 1897.
The LFC's publishing house was the Messenger Press and its official English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
magazine was the Lutheran Messenger started in 1918. The church also had for most of its earlier history a Norwegian language
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
publication Folkebladet (the People's Paper).
In harmony with its emphasis on utilizing and developing the natural spiritual gifts of all the members of the Church the LFC, although they did not ordain women, gave a freer range to women within its church body to hold non-ordained ministries, offices and responsibilities in its organization than many of its contemporary Lutheran counterparts. In harmony with its evangelical emphasis the LFC strongly emphasized the importance of foreign missions (with missions fields in Madagascar and the Cameroons) and spent more of its financial resources on foreign missions and supported a larger number of foreign missionaries than many of its contemporary Lutheran church bodies of comparable size.
By the 1950s, however there was a growing movement by many Lutherans throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to join their many small Lutheran bodies into larger body. The Lutheran Free Church joined the American Lutheran Church
American Lutheran Church
The American Lutheran Church was a Christian Protestant denomination in the United States that existed from 1960 to 1987. Its headquarters was in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Upon its formation in 1960, the ALC designated Augsburg Publishing House , also located in Minneapolis, as the church publisher...
on February 1, 1963 after three votes (1955, 1957 and 1961). The ALC in time also joined with other Lutheran churches and, in 1988, formed the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
(ELCA). About 40 Lutheran Free Churches however did not join the ALC, instead forming the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations
Association of Free Lutheran Congregations
Association 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...
(AFLC) in October 1962. Today the AFLC has more than 250 congregations.
Presidents of the LFC
| Name | Term |
|---|---|
| Elias P. Harbo | 1897–1899 |
| Endre E. Gynild | 1899–1901 |
| Elias P. Harbo | 1901–1903 |
| Christopher K. Ytrehus | 1903–1905 |
| Endre E. Gynild | 1905–1907 |
| Elias P. Harbo | 1907–1909 |
| Endre E. Gynild | 1909–1910 |
| Paul Winter | 1910–1912 |
| Endre E. Gynild | 1912–1914 |
| Johan Mattson | 1914–1916 |
| Endre E. Gynild | 1916–1918 |
| Johan Mattson | 1918–1920 |
| Olai H. Sletten | 1920–1923 |
| Endre E. Gynild | 1923–1928 |
| Hans J. Urdahl | 1928–1930 |
| Thorvald O. Burntvedt | 1930–1958 |
| John Stensvaag | 1958–1963 |
Annual Conferences
- 1897 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1898 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1899 Dalton, Minnesota
- 1900 Montevideo, Minnesota
- 1901 Willmar, Minnesota
- 1902 Audubon, Minnesota
- 1903 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1904 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1905 Willmar, Minnesota
- 1906 Battle Lake, Minnesota
- 1907 Fargo, North Dakota
- 1908 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1909 Montevideo, Minnesota
- 1910 Valley City, North Dakota
- 1911 Willmar, Minnesota
- 1912 Thief River Falls, Minnesota
- 1913 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1914 Brainerd, Minnesota
- 1915 Marinette, Wisconsin
- 1916 Willmar, Minnesota
- 1917 Fargo, North Dakota
- 1918 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1919 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1920 Thief River Falls, Minnesota
- 1921 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1922 Fargo, North Dakota
- 1923 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1924 Northfield, Minnesota
- 1925 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1926 Willmar, Minnesota
- 1927 Fargo, North Dakota
- 1928 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1929 Thief River Falls, Minnesota
- 1930 Fergus Falls, Minnesota
- 1931 Fargo, North Dakota
- 1932 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1933 Willmar, Minnesota
- 1934 Duluth, Minnesota
- 1935 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1936 Fargo, North Dakota
- 1937 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1938 Thief River Falls, Minnesota
- 1939 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1940 La Crosse, Wisconsin
- 1941 Morris, Minnesota
- 1942 Fargo, North Dakota
- 1943 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1944 Willmar, Minnesota
- 1945 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1946 Fargo, North Dakota
- 1947 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1948 Willmar, Minnesota
- 1949 Morris, Minnesota
- 1950 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1951 Seattle, Washington
- 1952 Fargo, North Dakota
- 1953 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1954 Thief River Falls, Minnesota
- 1955 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1956 Fargo, North Dakota
- 1957 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1958 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1959 Minot, North Dakota
- 1960 Fargo, North Dakota
- 1961 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1962 Minneapolis, Minnesota
Other sources
- Clarence J. Carlsen, The Years of Our Church (Minneapolis, MN: The Lutheran Free Church Publishing Company, 1942) http://www.aflc.org/pdf's/yearsofourchurch.pdf
- Eugene L. Fevold, The Lutheran Free Church: A Fellowship of American Lutheran Congregations 1897-1963 (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1969)
- Aarflot, Andreas Hans Nielsen Hauge, his life and message (Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, MN. 1979)
- Hamre, James S. Georg Sverdrup: Educator, Theologian, Churchman (Northfield, MN: Norwegian-American Historical Association. 1986)
- Loiell Dyrud, The Quest for Freedom: The Lutheran Free Church to The Association of Free Lutheran Congregations (Minneapolis, MN: Ambassador Publications, 2000)