Elling Eielsen (September 19, 1804 – January 10, 1883) was a Norwegian-American minister and

Lutheran Church Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

leader. He was the first Norwegian Lutheran minister in the United States.

Background

Eielsen was born and raised on the farm of Sundve (''Sundve på Vossestrand'') in Voss, Norway. The son of Eiel Ingebrigtsen Sundve and Anna Ellingsdatter Sundsvaal, he was brought up in the Lutheran religious tradition of Hans Nielsen Hauge. After his own religious awakening at the age of 25, he moved to

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, where he apprenticed as a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

and

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

and also enlisted in the army. He acted as a spiritual leader among his fellow soldiers, and in 1832, he accepted his first mission as a lay preacher. He traveled for several years extensively throughout

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and also preached in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

where he was arrested and briefly imprisoned.

Immigration

Eielsen immigrated to the United States in 1839. In 1843, he was formally ordained as a Lutheran minister by Francis Arnold Hoffmann, a German Lutheran pastor. Under Eielsen's leadership, a house of worship for Norwegian-American Lutherans was constructed a
Fox River Lutheran Church
near Norway, Illinois. Eislsen was resident pastor at the Jefferson Prairie Settlement from 1846 to 1872. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Eielsen Synod) founded in 1846 at the Jefferson Prairie Settlement, was to bear his name. He remained with the synod over the next 30 years and also continued as pastor-at-large for Norwegian-American communities in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

, and Texas. In 1873, he was living in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

where he died in 1883. Eielsen was a leader in the Haugean pietistic Lutheran church reform movement which encouraged evangelism and vigorous lay leadership. His piety and reliance on lay leadership long remained a dominating influence for much of upper-Midwest

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

.Lutherans to celebrate founding of first church at Bergen.'' (Janesville, Wisconsin Gazette. September 27, 1924)
/ref>

References

Additional sources

*Gross, Ernie (1990) ''This Day In Religion.'' (New York: Neal-Shuman Publishers, Inc.) * Halvorsen, Jens Braage, and Koht, Halvdan (1888) ''Norsk forfatterleksikon, 1814-1880''. (Oslo. Den norske forlagsforenin

* Olaf M. Norlie, Norlie, Olaf (1940) ''Elling Eielsen, a Brief History, Written for the Elling Eielsen Centennial, 1839-1939'' ( Joliet, IL: C.H. Peterson Co.

* Ingrid Semmingsen, Semmingsen, Ingrid and Haugen, Einar (1978) ''Norway to America: A History of the Migration'' (University of Minnesota Press) *Stoeffler, F. Ernest. ed. (1976) ''Continental Pietism and Early American Christianity'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans)

External links

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – ELCA Family History: 1846Norwegian-American Historical Association. The Promise of AmericaWisconsin Historic Society. Eielsen, EllingFox River Lutheran Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eielsen, Elling 1804 births 1883 deaths Lutheranism in Illinois Religious leaders from Wisconsin 19th-century American Lutheran clergy Norwegian emigrants to the United States People from Voss