Fredrik Axel Schiotz (15 June 1901 – 25 February 1989) was an American

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Church leader, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, President of the

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; german: Lutherischer Weltbund) is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish ...

and Presiding Bishop of The

American Lutheran Church The American Lutheran Church (TALC) was a Christian Protestant denomination in the United States and Canada that existed from 1960 to 1987. Its headquarters were in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Upon its formation in 1960, The ALC designated Augsburg ...

Biography

Fredrik Axel Schiotz was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Both his father, Jacob Schiotz, and his mother, Stina Akerholt, had been immigrants from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. He graduated from St. Olaf College in

Northfield, Minnesota Northfield is a city in Dakota and Rice counties in the State of Minnesota. It is mostly in Rice County, with a small portion in Dakota County. The population was 20,790 at the 2020 census. History Northfield was platted in 1856 by John W ...

(class of 1924) and earned a master's degree at

Luther Theological Seminary Luther Seminary is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is the largest seminary of the ELCA. It also accepts and educates students of 41 other denominations and traditions. It is accredited ...

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

. In 1954 Schiotz was elected president of the historically Norwegian-American Evangelical Lutheran Church. In 1960, the Evangelical Lutheran Church along with the

United Evangelical Lutheran Church The United Evangelical Lutheran Church (commonly known as the United Church) was one of the many denominations formed when Lutherans came to the United States from Europe. Originally known as the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Uni ...

and American Lutheran Church merged to form The American Lutheran Church. Schiotz was elected president of the new body and served as the church's president until the end of 1970. He was the president of the

from 1963 to 1970 and the central committee of

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

from 1961 to 1971.''Fredrik Schiotz, Lutheran Leader Dies'' (New York Times February 28, 1989

/ref> During the 450th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, Reformation, he stated that in the past, commemorations were viewed almost as a triumph, and that the Reformation should be celebrated as a thanksgiving to God, his truth and his renewed life. He welcomed the announcement of Pope Paul VI to celebrate the 1900th anniversary of the death of the

Apostle Peter An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

and Apostle Paul, and promised the participation and cooperation in the festivities.

Selected bibliography

*''One Man's Story'' (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Publishers. September 1981)

References

Other sources

* Nelson, Clifford E. and E. Clifford Nelson ''Lutherans in North America'' (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Publishers. 1980)

External links

JAO Preus, Fred Schiotz, Robert Marshall, Chicago Nov 17, 1969ELCA Archives
*https://web.archive.org/web/20141219085603/http://www.luthersem.edu/archives/collections/rg11/schiotz_fredrik.aspx?m=4507 1901 births 1989 deaths St. Olaf College alumni Presiding bishops 20th-century American Lutheran clergy Clergy from Chicago American people of Norwegian descent Luther Seminary alumni {{Lutheran-stub