The American Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC) was one of the many denominations formed when

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

immigrated to America. Originally known as the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (DELCA), the predominantly

Danish-American Danish Americans ( da, Dansk-amerikanere) are Americans who have ancestral roots originated fully or partially from Denmark. There are approximately 1,300,000 Americans of Danish origin or descent. History The first Dane known to have arri ...

church was informally known as "the Danish Church." In 1872 Grundtvigian pastors and lay people from Denmark formed a Church Mission Society. The Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was started in 1874 and formally organized as a synod in

Neenah, Wisconsin Neenah () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, in the north central United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River, approximately forty miles (60 km) southwest of Green ...

, in 1878. The church's official founder was Adam Dan, the grandfather of American historian

Henry Steele Commager Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998) was an American historian. As one of the most active and prolific liberal intellectuals of his time, with 40 books and 700 essays and reviews, he helped define modern liberalism in the United States. In the 19 ...

. A constitution was accepted in 1879, and the present name was adopted in 1954. The AELC established Grand View College and Seminary in 1896. In 1962 the AELC joined the

Lutheran Church in America The Lutheran Church in America (LCA) was an American and Canadian Lutheran church body that existed from 1962 to 1987. It was headquartered in New York City and its publishing house was Fortress Press. The LCA's immigrant heritage came mostly fr ...

. In 1961, just before the merger, the AELC had 84 pastors, 76 congregations, and 23,808 members.

Presidents

*J. A. Heiberg 1874–1879 *A. S. Nielsen 1879-1883 *T. Helveg 1883–1885 *A. S. Nielsen 1885–1887 *J. Pedersen 1887–1888 *A. L. J. Söholm 1888–1891 *A. S. Nielsen 1891–1893 *O. L. Kirkeberg 1893-1893 *A. S. Nielsen 1893–1894 *K. C. Bodholdt 1894–1895 *P. Kjölhede 1895–1903 *K. C. Bodholdt 1903–1911 *N. P. Gravengaard 1911–1918 *K. C. Bodholdt 1918–1922 *S. D. Rodholm 1922–1926 *H. Jörgensen 1926–1936 *Alfred Jensen 1936–1960 *A. Ejnar Farstrup 1960–1962

References

*Todd W. Nichol ''All These Lutherans'' (Minneapolis: Augburg Publishing House, 1986)

External links

*Wolf, Edmund Jacob
The Lutherans in America; a story of struggle, progress, influence and marvelous growth.
New York: J.A. Hill. 1889.
ELCA predecessor church bodies
Danish-American history Evangelical Lutheran Church in America predecessor churches Religious organizations established in 1878 Lutheran denominations established in the 19th century Lutheranism in the United States Lutheran denominations in North America {{Lutheran-stub

Presidents

See also

References

External links