Controversy over the doctrine of election (or predestination) rocked the Norwegian Synod in the 1880s. A group called the "Anti-Missourian Brotherhood" split off from the Synod and formed its own seminary in Northfield, Minn. The Norwegian Synod then moved its seminary, LutherSeminary, to Robbinsdale, Minn., in 1888. The seminary was housed in the building depicted here which was destroyed by fire in 1895. After the fire, LutherSeminary temporarily met nearby at the Hotel Georgia.
Music was always an important part of church life among the Norwegian-American Lutherans. Pictured here is the 1905(?) Glee Club of LutherSeminary. Many of these men went on to hold positions of prominence in the church. Seated, left to right: Thaddaeus Franke Gullixson (1882-1969) served as president of Luther Theological Seminary, 1930-1954, and as president of the American Lutheran Conference, 1944-1955; Johan Carl Keyser Preus (1881- ); Nils Martin Ylvisaker (1882- ); Henry Ingrebritsen (1876- ); Axel Bergh (1873- ). Standing, left to right: Sigurd Christian Ylvisaker (1884-1959) served as president of Bethany College, Mankato, MN 1930-1950; Nils Stockfleth Magelssen (1880- ); Professor John Dahle (1853-1930) was an accomplished composer and arranger of hymns and choral music and served as one of the editors of the Lutheran Hymnary (1913), which was one of the first English-language hymnals used by Norwegian-American Lutherans; Hartwick Carinius Smeby (1879-1945); Sigurd Bernhard Hustvedt (1882- ); Back of photograph reads: LutherSeminary Glee Club, Norw. Synod R62A.
LutherSeminary moved to this facility on Hamline Avenue in St. Paul in 1899 and remained there until its 1917 merger with Red Wing Seminary and the United Church Seminary at the latter's campus in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul. This building is on the corner of Hamline Avenue and Capitol Avenue. Back of photograph reads: Rev. O.E. Brandt, LutherSeminary, Capitol & Hamline.
Though often stereotyped as the sternest of the Norwegian-American Lutherans, this photo shows a group of Norwegian Synod seminary students having fun with a good old-fashioned snowball fight at its seminary, LutherSeminary, on Hamline Avenue. Front of photograph reads: Snow-balling at Lut. Sem., 1906.
This is the main building of Luther Theological Seminary. It was later named Bockman Hall in honor of M.O. (Markus Olaus) Bockman, president of Luther Theological Seminary, 1917-1930. This one building contained dorms, classrooms, faculty offices, a chapel, and a gym. In 1917, three Norwegian Lutheran church bodies, the United Church, the Norwegian Synod, and Hauge's Synod united to form the Norwegian Lutheran Church. Old theological differences on the doctrine of election (predestination) were smoothed over in a document known as the ""Opgor"" (""Agreement""). The seminaries of the three church bodies, the United Church Seminary, LutherSeminary (Hamline Ave., St. Paul), and the Red Wing Seminary, were merged to form Luther Theological Seminary on the United Church Seminary campus on Como Avenue in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood in St. Paul.
In the late 1940s, this second major building was constructed on the Luther Theological Seminary campus to house a library and provide additional classroom and office space. It was later named Gullixson Hall in honor of T.F. (Thaddaeus Franke) Gullixson, president of Luther Theological Seminary, 1930-1954. Back of photograph reads: LTS, Gullixson Hall.
Wartburg Chapel, which was named after Wartburg Castle in Germany, was located in Bockman Hall on the campus of Luther Theological Seminary in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul. Note the carved reredos with painting behind the altar. This chapel was later converted to dormitory and office space when daily chapel services were held in Aasgaard Hall. Back of photograph reads: Interior of Bockman Hall (from small snapshots of Bockman Hall - photo).
From 1922-1940 Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary was located in Northeast Minneapolis in this building at 1018 19th Avenue North East. Following a split with Maywood Seminary in Chicago in 1920, Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary, with strong support from the Northwest Synod of the United Lutheran Church in America, moved with its student body of 34 and its faculty of four, first to Fargo, North Dakota, and by 1922 to Minneapolis. Front of photograph reads: Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary, 1018 19th Ave. N.E., Minneapolis, Minn. Back of photograph reads: Rev. P.H. Roth, 18 & Dupont Ave. NE, Minneapolis, Minn.
Luther Theological Seminary Professor Emeritus Gustav Marius Bruce, holding the Bible, and Luther Theological Seminary President Thaddaeus Franke Gullixson, with hands on the shovel, are praying at the 1946 groundbreaking ceremony for the new library and classroom building. This building was later named for T.F. Gullixson. Gullixson's background was in the Norwegian Synod and Bruce's was in Hauge's Synod of the Lutheran church. Professor Emeritus Bruce was also a former Second Vice President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Note attached to photograph reads: Dr. T. F. Gullixson and Dr. G. M. Bruce (holding the Bible) at ground breaking ceremonies for the new library-classroom building at Lutherseminary. Dr. Bruce is a former professor at Lutherseminary and former second vice president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
In the years following World War II, great numbers of men enrolled in Luther Theological Seminary seeking to become pastors in the Lutheran Church. This panoramic photograph includes both students and faculty with most of the seminary faculty seated in the center of the front row. The group was posed in front of the new library and classroom building that was in the midst of construction. This building was later named Gullixson Hall in honor of T.F. (Thaddaeus Franke) Gullixson, president of Luther Theological Seminary, 1930-1954.
This composite photograph shows the faculty and student body of Augsburg Seminary during one of the years in the 1880s. Note the fluted ""ruff"" collar that was typical for clergymen to wear in the Dano-Norwegian Lutheran church tradition.
This document is an Augsburg Seminary diploma that was presented in the 1880s. The diploma includes an engraving of the seminary's original Main Building which was destroyed by fire sometime before 1900. Diploma reads: Augsburg Seminary; Minneapolis, Minn. ... 188 ; Eksamens-Testimonium fra Augsburg Seminariums theologiske Fakultet; Hr. Kand. theol. ... har underkastet sig Eksamen ved Augsburg Seminarium og kan vi efter denne Pröve give ham vor Anbefaling som ... til det kirkelige Loere- og Praedike-Embede. Translation of diploma: Augsburg Seminary; Minneapolis, Minn. ... 188 ; The Certificate of the Exam from Augsburg Seminary's theological faculty; Mr. Candidate of Theology ... has undergone the exam at Augsburg Seminary and after this test we can give him a recommendation as [qualified, highly qualified, exceptional] to the churchly office of teaching and preaching.
This was one of the buildings on the campus of Red Wing Seminary. The educational mission at Red Wing Seminary eventually encompassed a nine-year program: a two-year academy, a fou- year college department, and a three year seminary. With the 1917 merger of the Hauge Synod into the Norwegian Lutheran Church, the seminary department was merged into Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul. The college department was merged into St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and St. Olaf's academy was merged into Red Wing. The academy struggled into the 1920s and the buildings, like this one, were used for other educational purposes into the 1930s when hard economic times forced the closing of the campus. Back of photograph reads: Red Wing Seminary, Red Wing, Minnesota.
This photograph shows three of the buildings on the Red Wing Seminary campus that sat on top of a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Front of photograph reads: Campus, Red Wing Seminary, Red Wing, Minn.
Shown here are the six members of the Red Wing Seminary class of 1898 and their two professors. Top left: Professors Hans Hanson Bergsland (1858-1907) and Martin Gustav Hanson (1859-1915). Top right: Johan Johannesen Dahle (1867-1950) and Ole Jakobsen Malkewick (1865-1932). Bottom row: Mons Olson Wee (1871-1942), H. O. Myhre (d. 1927), John J. Skarpness (1867-1954), and Daniel Tjaeranson Borgen (1871- ). Note that some of these men were over 30 years old, indicating that ""second career pastors"" is not wholly a modern phenomenon. Front of photograph reads: Red Wing Seminary, 1898, Kom Jesus Kristus ihu.
This panoramic photograph shows a view of the buildings comprising the Hauge Synod's Red Wing Seminary campus as it appeared in 1907. In the 18th century, rationalism swept the churches of Europe and Norway to the detriment of a heart-felt spiritual life. In 1796, a Norwegian farmer named Hans Nielsen Hauge (1771-1824) experienced a conversion and began traveling throughout the Norwegian countryside preaching and holding revival meetings. At this time, such activity by a layman was prohibited and Hauge was persecuted and jailed by the government at the urging of the state church. But Hauge's pure and simple Gospel could not be quelled and many of his followers migrated to America. One such person was Elling Eielsen (1804-1883) who came to America in 1839 and preached among the Norwegian settlements of northern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin. Like-minded pastors and congregations joined with him to form a synod in 1846. Eielsen had a contentious personality and eschewed any formal organization. His followers repeatedly broke and regrouped, a majority finally forming the Hauge Synod in 1876 without Eielsen. In 1879, the Hauge Synod opened a seminary at Red Wing, Minnesota, on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. Front of photograph reads: Red Wing Seminary, copyright 1907 by Edward H. Lidberg.
This is a photograph of a residence hall of Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary. The seminary continued to acquire property as it grew, but by the late 1950s it was clear that another expansion would be necessary. The seminary's ""parent church,"" the United Lutheran Church in America, continued to increase in membership. Eventually Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary's expansion came on the campus of LutherSeminary in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood in St. Paul. In 1955, LutherSeminary purchased the site of the Breck School, an Episcopalian preparatory school, that stood near LutherSeminary. The invitation for Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary to move to this site came several years later, with the actual move happening in 1967. Back of photograph reads: NLTS residence #2404.
Pictured here is the United Church Seminary's first building at the corner of Franklin Avenue and 26th Avenuein Minneapolis. The United Norwegian Lutheran Church was formed in 1890 by a merger of the Anti-Missourian Brotherhood, the Norwegian Augustana Synod, and the Conference for the Norwegian-Danish Lutheran Church in America, commonly known as ""the Conference."" The Conference brought its Augsburg Seminary to the merger and it was to become the seminary of the new church body. The formerly independent St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn, was made a college of the new church. But Augsburg was a nine-year school (two years preparatory, four years college, and three years seminary) and a controversy soon developed over the future of Augsburg's four-year college vis-a-vis St. Olaf. Augsburg was incorporated with an independent board of trustees which when presented with an ultimatum refused to turn control of the seminary over to the United Church while the college question was unsettled. The United Church formed a new seminary in 1893. After a bitter court battle, the supporters of Augsburg formed a new denomination in 1897, the Lutheran Free Church, with Augsburg as its college and seminary. Front of photograph reads: U.C. Seminary 1893-1901. Back of photograph reads: M.E. Waldeland, donor, son Olaf Waldeland.
This photograph depicts two men shoveling snow at the main building of Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary, 1018 19th Avenue North East, Minneapolis. This was the seminary's location from 1922-1940. Back of photograph reads: Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary, 1018-19th Ave. NE 1929.
In this group photograph, dated June 4th, 1939, Muskego Church provides the backdrop for the attendees at the closing session of the Southern Minnesota District Convention of the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America. In 1844, Norwegian settlers at the Muskego Settlement in southeastern Wisconsin dedicated one of the first Norwegian American Lutheran church buildings. The building was moved to the United Church Seminary campus in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul in 1904. In 1917, United Church Seminary became Luther Theological Seminary. Front of photograph reads: Closing session, So. Minn. Dist. Conv.-N.L.C.A., Muskego Church, Saint Paul, Minn., June 4th 1939.
Two presidents of Luther Theological Seminary, Alvin N. Rogness (1954-1974) on the left and T.F. (Thaddaeus Franke) Gullixson (1930-1954) are observing Fredrik A. Schiotz plant a seedling on the campus of Luther Theological Seminary in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul. Fredrik A. Schiotz was the president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church from 1954 to 1960. Back of photograph reads: Education, College & Sem, Luther Sem., St. Paul, Minn.
A common practice among church bodies and seminaries is to have an annual conference or ""convocation"" for the clergy for the purpose of fellowship, edification, and continuing education. Shown here is one such convocation on the campus of the United Church Seminary in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul in 1910. A caption indicates that room rent was 50 cents and board cost $3. Attendees were required to bring their own bedclothes and towels. It is interesting to note a number of women and children front and center on the photograph. Since the clergy was all male at this time, they are presumably the family of attendees or faculty. Front of photograph reads: Convocation at the United Lutheran Seminary Aug. 31-Sept. 7, 1910. Back of photograph reads: Ministers Conference at LutherSeminary August 1910?, Convocation lecture topics: Pastor & the young people - Dr. C.M. Wesnig, Organized Young Peoples Work - Dr. C.M. Wesnig, Luther League Topic - Dr. C.M. Wesnig, Bible Hours - Pastor Peder Tangjerd, Intro to Pastoral Theology - Pastor Halvard Roalkram, New Testament Study - Dr. M.O. Bockman, Our Madagascar Mission - Prof. O.M. Stolee, Absolution & Lord's Supper - Pastor N.B. Thvedt, Psychotherapeutics - Pastor Thore Eggen, The Church Situation in Norway - Pastor Solendahl.
Music was always an important part of life for Norwegian American Lutherans. This postcard shows the members of Red Wing Seminary's Choral Union. Back of photograph reads: Postcard, Choral Union, 1909-1910
Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary sponsored these occasional days (""Skip Days"") as times when classes would not be held and students, faculty, and staff could enjoy relaxing times together.
From 1879-1917, Red Wing Seminary was the center for the Hauge Synod, that group of Norwegian American Lutherans that followed the principles of Norwegian lay preacher Hans Nielsen Hauge (1771-1824). Their emphasis was on a heart-felt sense of sin and grace reflected in a regenerate life-style. This photograph shows an unidentified group of men, women, and children in front of a Red Wing Seminary building. The relatively few women and children, however, implies that it was a gathering of students and/or clergy, rather than a convention. Assuming there is clergy in this group, note the complete lack of any clerical vestments, which were generally not approved of by Haugeaners. Back of photograph reads: Red Wing Seminary, Red Wing, Minnesota. Via LTS, Dr. Svendsbye's office, from Bethel Lutheran Church, Lead, S.D., Pastor Emil D. Greiner.