366 



LUTHERANS. 



and Southwest for missionaries, in order that 

 congregations may be organized among the scat- 

 tered Lutherans. A plan was referred to the 

 Board of Missions to place a traveling mission- 

 ary in Mississippi. The general body signified 

 its willingness and readiness to cooperate with 

 the Northern bodies in the effort to develop the 

 immense territory bordering on the Gulf, into 

 which thousands of Lutherans are pouring from 

 all sections of the country. The most encouraging 

 feature of the convention was the announcement 

 of the success in the effort to raise $30,000 toward 

 the endowment of the theological seminary at 

 Mount Pleasant, S. C., thus enabling the institu- 

 tion to secure the service of an additional profess- 

 or. The Sunday-school question received careful 

 attention, and the work was referred to a perma- 

 nent committee. One of the unique features of 

 the convention was the attendance of a group of 

 Eskimo Lutherans who superintended an exhibit 

 at the Charleston Exposition. The next conven- 

 tion of this body will be held in Newmarket, Va., 

 in 1004. 



The Norwegians in the United States are or- 

 ganized into 4 separate and independent syn- 

 ods, numbering altogether 921 ministers, 2,701 

 congregations, and 277,826 members. Of these, 

 the United Norwegian Church is the most active 

 and progressive. The thirteenth annual conven- 

 tion of this synod was held in Minneapolis, Minn., 

 June 18-26, 1902. The convention was attended 

 by more than 700 clerical and lay delegates. The 

 recent death of the Rev. Gjermund Hoyme, 

 president of the United Church, whose familiar 

 figure had been so prominent at every previous 

 meeting, caused a spirit of deep sadness to per- 

 vade the gathering. The following officers were 

 elected: The Rev. T. H. Dahl, Stoughton, Wis., 



S resident; the Rev. Nils J. Ellestad, Norway, 

 linn., vice-president; the Rev. Jens C. Roseland, 

 Austin, Minn., secretary; and Hon. Lars Swenson, 

 Minneapolis, Minn., treasurer. President Dahl, 

 who was acting president during the Rev. Mr. 

 Hoyme's sickness, presented a very interesting 

 and encouraging report, especially of the English 

 work. He called attention to the fact that those 

 ministers who are without parishes would more 

 readily receive calls if they could use the English 

 language. He emphasized the necessity for more 

 English-speaking graduates from the theological 

 seminary, and recommended the election of an 

 additional English Professor of Theology. He de- 

 clared that the English question has become one 

 of life or death among the Norwegians in Amer- 

 ica. This convention of the United Church 

 marked the culmination of a great and success- 

 ful effort to erect buildings for its theological 

 seminary at St. Paul, Minn., and for its college 

 at Northfield, Minn. During the two years pre- 

 ceding this convention the United Church col- 

 lected and paid $176,311.26 for these two insti- 

 tutions. On June 15, 1901, the large new college 

 building at Northfield was dedicated, and on 

 June 22, 1902, the new building for the theolog- 

 ical seminary was dedicated free of debt. It is 

 in St. Anthony Park, St. Paul, and cost more 

 than $80,000. The building has accommodations 

 for 100 students, with lecture-rooms, chapel, fire- 

 proof library, hospital rooms, dining-room, and 

 kitchen. The building with its site of 9 wooded 

 acres is worth $100,000. The individual contribu- 

 tions toward this object were in many instances 

 exceedingly small, but they came from all parts 

 of the territory of the synod. A beautiful library 

 building was erected at Northfield at an expense 

 of $13,000, the gift of Mr. Halle Steensland, Nor- 

 wegian-Swedish consul at Madison, Wis., and 



chairman of the United Church Board of Trustees. 

 The synod also took steps at this convention to- 

 ward the erection of a chapel at the college at 

 Northfield as a memorial to the late president 

 Hoyme, which is to cost $20,000. Steps were 

 also taken toward gaining control of all the acad- 

 emies now connected with the synod, and arran- 

 ging their courses of study with reference to the 

 synodical college at Northfield. 



Icelanders. The Icelandic Evangelical Luther- 

 an Synod of North America held its eighteenth 

 annual convention in the Icelandic Lutheran 

 Church at Gardar, N. Dak., June 21-26, 1902. 

 Gardar is a small settlement 7 miles north of 

 Edinburg, and is thus described by the Rev. Al- 

 fred Bergin, representative of the General Coun- 

 cil to this convention : " The settlement consists 

 of people who call Iceland their native home. In 

 the township of Gardar nearly every one hails 

 from the little island in the Arctic Ocean. Every 

 one belongs to the Lutheran Church of Gardar, 

 of which the Rev. Frederick J. Bergman is pastor. 

 Two stores, several residences, a town hall, a 

 schoolhouse, and near it a beautiful church, 

 make the center of this Icelandic settlement. 

 The country round is very beautiful, lying among 

 the groves and along the bubbling brooks on the 

 slopes of the so-called Pembina mountains, among 

 which the thrifty sons of the vikings have built 

 themselves excellent and inviting homes." The 

 synod consists of 8 ministers and 34 congrega- 

 tions, of which 16 are in North Dakota and Min- 

 nesota and 18 in Canada; the communicant mem- 

 bership is 3,726, whose church property is valued 

 at $40,975. The synod supports excellent Sunday- 

 schools, an active Luther League, and Prof. Fred- 

 erick J. Bergman as teacher in Wesley College, 

 at Winnijoy. The synod has no institution of 

 learning of its own; but it has a well-edited 

 church paper, a Sunday-school paper, and polit- 

 ical and literary journals. The whole number of 

 Icelanders in North America does not much ex- 

 ceed 15,000. The officers of the synod are: The 

 Rev. Jon Bjarnason, Winnipeg, Manitoba, presi- 

 dent; the Rev. Frederick J. Bergman, Gardar, 

 N. Dak., vice-president; the Rev. Bjorn B. Jonson, 

 Minneota, Minn., secretary; and Mr. Jon A. 

 Blondahl, treasurer. The great need of the synod 

 is a larger number of ministers, and mission work 

 is carried on with great zeal. The next conven- 

 tion will be held at Argyle, Minn., in June, 1903. 



German Iowa Synod, The largest and most 

 active of the independent synods is the German 

 Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Iowa, organized 

 in 1854, consisting of 451 ministers, 824 congre- 

 gations, and 74,058 members, w r ith a population 

 of 150.000. The sum of $352,341.51 was raised 

 in 1902 for church, missions, education, and other 

 purposes. The synod has a very efficient the- 

 ological seminary at Dubuque, Iowa, a college 

 at Clinton, Iowa, a teachers' seminary at Waver- 

 ly, and two orphanages, also in Iowa. The synod 

 is divided into 7 districts, covering all the terri- 

 tory from North Dakota to Texas, and from 

 Ohio to Washington. These district synods meet 

 annually, while the Iowa Synod proper, as a dele- 

 gate body, convenes triennially. The last con- 

 vention was held at Dixon, 111., Aug. 19-26, 1902. 

 The following are its officers: The Rev. John 

 Deindorfer, D. D., Waverly, Iowa, president; the 

 Rev. Fr. Richter, D. D., Clinton, Iowa, vice-pres- 

 ident; the Rev. Emil H. Caselmann, Charles City, 

 Iowa, secretary; and Prof. August Engelbrecht, 

 Waverly, Iowa, treasurer. Besides the sessions 

 at which much business was transacted, pertain- 

 ing to missions and education, a large portion of 

 the time was devoted to doctrinal discussion. 



