512 



LUTHERANS. 



them, in Minneapolis, and attended to the trans- 

 action of necessary business, after which they 

 severally adopted the constitution prepared for 

 the United Synod. A committee of two from 

 each synod met in order to ascertain how far the 

 proposed condition of union had been carried 

 out by the several synods, and were surprised to 

 find that the conditions had been more than 

 complied with. On Friday, June 13, the Nor- 

 wegian-Danish Conference met in Trinity Nor- 

 wegian Church and took a final vote in favor of 

 union. Meanwhile the other two bodies marched 

 to Trinity Church. The Anti-Missouri Brother- 

 hood arrived first, followed closely by the Au- 

 gustana Synod. They were received by the con- 

 ference standing, while a hymn was being sung, 

 which was taken up by the* new arrivals as they 

 entered. This being ended, the majestic notes 

 of the " Te Deum " burst from a thousand throats, 

 a fitting song of praise at the successful realiza- 

 tion of the long-desired union of brethren. The 

 Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed were re- 

 peated, and the immense congregation, which ex- 

 tended into the street, was dismissed with the 

 benediction. The Rev. M. Falk Gjertsen was an- 

 nounced as marshal to conduct the vast congre- 

 gation to the more spacious Swedish Augustana 

 Church. More than 2,000 men were in line, and 

 the spacious church was taxed to the utmost. 

 The grand old battle hymn of Luther, " A Mighty 

 Fortress is our God," was sung, after which the 

 Rev. Rasmussen offered a deeply affecting prayer 

 which stirred the hearts of the vast audience. 

 After the singing of another stanza, Prof. S. 

 Oftedahl, of Minneapolis, was elected temporary 

 chairman, and the Rev. Kildahl, of Chicago, 

 secretary. It was moved to adopt the constitu- 

 tion already adopted by the several bodies, as a 

 whole, by a rising vote, which was done unani- 

 mously. Thus the United Norwegian Lutheran 

 Church in America was organized. The United 

 Synod, as now constituted, numbers 250 minis- 

 ters, 850 congregations, and about 100,000 com- 

 municant members. The old Norwegian Synod 

 and Hauge's Synod still stand aloof. 



The officers of the United Synod are: The 

 Rev. Gustavus Hoyme, Eau Claire, Wis., presi- 

 dent ; the Rev. Lars M. Bjoern, Zumbrota, Minn., 

 vice-president ; the Rev. John N. Kildahl, Chi- 

 cago, 111., secretary ; and the Hon. Lars Swens- 

 son, Minneapolis, Minn., treasurer. The new 

 body at once set to work to transact important 

 business. Among the first matters that claimed 

 attention were the proselyting efforts of various 

 denominations among the Scandinavians. The 

 following protest was adopted : 



Whereas, It has for many years been customary for 

 several of the larger denominations to send mission- 

 aries and grant funds for the establishment and main- 

 tenance of missions among the Scandinavians in 

 Europe and in this country ; and whereas the Scan- 

 dinavian people are, by this proceeding on the part 

 of such denominations, placed before the Church and 

 the world on the same footing as Jews, Mohamme- 

 dans, heathen, and apostates; and whereas, the re- 

 ligious press of said denominations has been used for 

 traducing and calumniating the Lutheran Church, its 

 doctrine and Christian life, special reference being 

 had to articles by the agent among the Scandinavians 

 of the Congregational Church, M. W. Montgomery, in 

 the "Pioneer'' and the " Independent" ; and where- 

 as, in view of the conditions obtaining among our 

 people and concerning which we deem ourselves to 



have the fullest information, we must resent the plac- 

 ing of our people before the Church of God and the 

 world in such light as unjust and in direct opposition 

 to that Christian courtesy which we have a right to 

 expect ; and whereas, the real religious condition of 

 our people, as compared with other people, is such 

 that we have all reasons to be thankful to God, who 

 in his mercy has richly blessed the preaching of his 

 word and the administration of his holy sacraments 

 among us ; and whereas, the Lutheran Church, 

 through God's gracej has found herself fully able to 

 administer to the religious needs of the people, rais- 

 ing us to one of the foremqst nations of the Christian 

 world in devotion to Christian truth and institutions, 

 and in faithfulness in Christian work ; and whereas, 

 the denominational proselytism of past years among 

 the Scandinavians in Europe and in this country has 

 already proved itself a dire cause of contention and 

 strife and a promoter of religious indifference, laxity, 

 and even infidelity, and a continuance of this great 

 evil must necessarily aggravate this condition of 

 things : Therefore, be it 



Resolved, That we, the United Norwegian Lutheran 

 Church, do hereby most earnestly protest against 

 this proselyting among our people as unjust, unchris- 

 tian, pernicious in its effects upon the Church of God. 

 and an insult to our Church and our nationality, and 

 do most earnestly request the denominations con- 

 cerned to desist therefrom. 



Perhaps the most important business trans- 

 acted had reference to the institutions of learn- 

 ing for the synod. The three theological semi- 

 naries Augsburg Seminary at Minneapolis, 

 Augustana at Beloit, and Luthersk Presterskole 

 at Northfield were united and located at Minne- 

 apolis, and the three theological faculties were 

 combined. This makes a strong seminary, with 

 a faculty of five professors. The institution has 

 an endowment of more than $125,000 to begin 

 with, and more is promised. It was also deter- 

 mined to make -St. Olaf College, at Northfield, 

 Minn., the general synodical college, with the 

 understanding that the collegiate department of 

 Augsburg Seminary be continued for one year, 

 and that the seminary at Beloit, Iowa, be turned 

 into an orphans' home. 



In order to care properly for all parts of the 

 synodical territory, the synod was divided into 

 nineteen districts, and a " visitator " was elected 

 for each district, whose duty it is to visit every 

 congregation at least once in three years and re- 

 port from time to time to the president of synod. 

 The work of missions also received careful atten- 

 tion ; $10,000 were appropriared for home mis- 

 sions and a superintendent of missions was 

 elected, who shall reside in Minneapolis and 

 oversee the entire work of home missions, which 

 covers nearly every State and Territory in the 

 Northwest. 'The meeting of the synod was con- 

 cluded with a grand jubilee, on June 18, in the 

 Coliseum, where addresses were delivered, in 

 Norwegian and English, to an audience of more 

 than 5,000. 



The following is a statistical summary of the 

 Lutherans in 1890: 



