Paul Gerhardt was born 400 years ago. He was a pastor, a confessor, and the writer of more than 130 hymns. The Lutheran Sentinel celebrates this anniversary with a series of articles about Paul Gerhardt’s hymns and life with the intention that the reader will grow in his appreciation of Lutheran hymns, become better acquainted with Gerhardt’s hymns, and have a better understanding of why his hymns have comforted many Christians through the story of Gerhardt’s life.

This year marks another important anniversary in our synod. Ninety years ago in 1917, Lutherans around the world were preparing to celebrate the 400^th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. The leaders of the Old Norwegian Synod saw this celebration as an opportunity to remove the barriers that had separated Norwegians Lutherans in America for over sixty years. Most of the pastors and congregations of the old synod supported the proposed merger with other Norwegian synods, even though those other synods still taught the false doctrine which had separated them years earlier. Meanwhile, the continued carnage on the plains of France during World War I demonstrated that the Twentieth century was not a new era of human progress toward a perfect society.

A strong minority of pastors and congregations had opposed the merger of the Norwegian synods because they knew it was a false compromise over the long-fought battle concerning the doctrine of God’s election of members of the human race to eternal salvation. However, the leading seminary professors of this minority assured the people that they could join the merger and keep their own doctrine pure. So they also supported the merger, which was accomplished at their June 1917 convention in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

During those days in June, a remnant of the opposition minority met in the Hotel Aberdeen in St. Paul to plan for their spiritual future. They were determined to hold on to their confession no matter how small their numbers were. They elected temporary officers: Pastor Bjug Harstad, Parkland, Washington, president; Pastor John A. Moldstad I, Chicago, Illinois, vice-president; Pastor C. N. Peterson, Minneapolis, Minnesota, secretary; and Pastor O. T. Lee, Northwood, Iowa, treasurer. They also decided to publish an eight-page magazine twice a month for a subscription of one dollar a year. The first issue of the Luthersk Tidende appeared on July 16, 1917. The July 16th issue marks the beginning of the Lutheran Sentinel ninety years ago.

Those pastors and congregations who stayed out of the merger were determined to start fresh. Consider that this group had been betrayed by their church leaders and seminary professors, refused a voice on the floor of the synod convention, and publicly slandered in the newspapers and by the people of their towns. When they re-organized, these men therefore changed the way synod business was conducted. No longer did the clergy and professors dominate the synod conventions, because the professors and teachers were not given a vote. Each congregation could send two laymen along with its pastor as delegates. This meant that lay people had more than an equal voice in synodical business. The synod president was not fulltime, and it was agreed that he serve only two terms so that the presidency not take too much power to itself, as had happened in the old synod.

You can imagine the character required to stand against the majority, to be called traitors to their Norwegian heritage, to be labeled rebels and separatists. The re-organized little synod contained strong personalities with strong opinions; but they could work together in unity because they trusted that each of them held to the true teachings of God’s word and was committed to proclaiming the pure Gospel.

Meanwhile, the merged church body became even larger through additional compromising mergers. Its descendants now belong to a synod where the leading theologians are allowed to teach that the Bible is a human book, that Jesus’ death is not the only way to heaven, that Jesus never rose bodily from the tomb, and that social issues are more important than pure doctrine.

1917 marked an important step in the beginning of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Each member of our synod should bless God for all that He has done to help it remain a confessional voice in the nation and in the world, and he should thank God for the many ways He has helped the synod grow in its opportunities to proclaim the gospel.

The story of the synod’s work is characterized by several important resolutions, bold steps of faith in God’s promises. One of those bold steps was the purchase of Bethany Lutheran College in 1927. Even through the great Depression, God’s grace moved His people to teach, send students, and support the college. It is amazing to see how God has blessed Bethany Lutheran College today as a four-year Liberal Arts college with over 500 students.

Another bold step was made in 1968 when God led our synod to begin mission work in the nation of Peru. God has blessed our work in Peru through the existence of many strong congregations in Lima, in the mountains, and in the Amazon jungle. Three Lutheran elementary schools are training children to know the pure Gospel and many national pastors have taken over the work of proclaiming God’s Word to their own people. Because of this outreach work, God has blessed the ELS with further mission work in Chile and Korea, and with mission contacts in eastern Europe and India. The synod has seen similar growth in its home mission program.

As we thank God for these blessings, we also need to have a vision for the future of our synod just as courageous as purchasing Bethany Lutheran College or starting mission work in Peru. Our synod has embarked on such a bold endeavor by establishing the Lutheran Schools in America, which has the goal of starting two new Lutheran elementary schools each year for the next fifty years. Much prayer, effort, and blessings from God will be needed if this goal is to be reached. It means that we inform ourselves about the spiritual benefits of Lutheran classical education and support our existing Christian Day schools and their teachers.

A ninetieth anniversary is not the time to rest. The world’s culture, which is changing so rapidly, needs to hear the unchanging Gospel. It is time to make use of all the opportunities that the Lord will direct our way. Now is not the time to let our zeal for mission work wane and our spiritual growth decline. Now is the time to prepare our hearts to serve the Lord through a never-ending study of God’s Word and the Book of Concord so that we can know the truth, believe it, and proclaim it. Continue to trust that Jesus is the Head of His Church and ask Him to sustain the proclamation of the Gospel.

Theodore Gullixson is pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Madison, Wisconsin.