Chronology of the ELS

ELS Chronology
A Timeline History of the Norwegian Synod (1853) and Evangelical Lutheran Synod (1918)

1825: Beginning of the Norwegian Migration to America. The sloop Restauration sailed from Stavanger, bringing 52 Norwegian Quakers to America.

1844: J.W.C. Dietrichson arrived in Muskego and preached under the oaks of Koshkonong, September 1-2 and organizes the congregation October 13.

1845: The first Norwegian church building was inaugurated March 12 in Muskego.

1851: Kirkelig Maanedstidende (Church Monthly) was launched two years before the official founding of the Synod.

1853: The Synod for the Norwegian-Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (the Norwegian Synod) was organized at Koshkonong and Luther Valley near Madison Wisconsin. The Synod adopted the ritual of the Church of Norway. Three leaders of the Synod were Herman Amberg Preus, Jakob Aal Ottesen, and Ulrik Vilhelm Koren.

1857: The Synod sends students to Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis, Missouri, and establishes a professorship there.

1861: Luther College, founded first near La Crosse, Wisconsin; relocated to Decorah, Iowa, the next year.

1872: The Norwegian Synod participates in the formation of the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America along with the Missouri, Wisconsin, and Ohio Synods.

1876: Luther Seminary, the Synod’s own theological seminary, is founded in Madison, Wisconsin, later moved to St. Paul.

1880s: Controversy concerning conversion and election begins. Eventually 1/3 of the congregations left the Synod over this question.

1890: Congregations that left the Norwegian Synod to form the “Anti-Missourian Brotherhood” joined with the Augustana Synod and the Norwegian-Danish Conference to form the United Norwegian Lutheran Church (Den Forenede Kirke).

1905: Norway gains independence from Sweden, prompting nationalism at home and in the immigrant community in America.

1912: The Madison Settlement (Opgjør), agreed upon by representatives of the Hauge Synod, the United Church, and the Norwegian Synod, endorses doctrinal compromise over the objections of a minority who want to remain faithful to the theology of the Old Synod.

1916: The Austin Agreement finalizes compromise as the solution of the majority and basis for Norwegian Lutheran merger. Both synergistic and monergistic teaching are to be tolerated side by side in the new merger body.

1917: On June 9, the United Church, the Hauge Synod, and the Norwegian Synod merged to become the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, based on a doctrinal compromise. The “minority,” who chose not to go along with the merger, organizes at the Aberdeen Hotel in St. Paul, Minnesota. Pastor Bjug Harstad is elected president until formal organization can take place.

1918: The Norwegian Synod of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church (later called the ELS) reorganizes at Lime Creek, Iowa “to continue in the old doctrine and practice of the Norwegian Synod.”

1927: Bethany Lutheran College is purchased by the little Norwegian Synod and opens as a co-ed junior college and high school.

1946: Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary is established on the campus of Bethany Lutheran College, with Norman A. Madson as its first dean. The first graduate is Robert D. Preus.

1955: The Synod suspends fellowship with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

1957: The Norwegian Synod of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church adopts the name Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

1963: The ELS leaves the Synodical Conference.

1968: Latin American mission work begins in Peru.

1980s: Thoughts of Faith begins mission work in Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Latvia.

1993: ELS participates in the formation of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, a worldwide fellowship of Lutheran synods.

1997: Dedication of the new Seminary and Synod office building.

2001: Bethany Lutheran College has its first class of B.A. graduates.

2002: 75th Anniversary of Bethany Lutheran College.

2003: 150th Anniversary of the Norwegian Synod.