Strangers to Sisters - Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Library: Essays

Yet, the Norwegian Synod suffered heavily from the Election Controversy of the
late 19 th century. The 1880s saw the loss of a full third of their membership as well as a
distancing from fellow confessional Lutherans in the Synodical Conference. Soon after
the faithful founding fathers (Herman Amberg Preus, Jakob Aal Ottesen, and Ulrik
Vilhelm Koren) had been gathered to their Lord, the bulk of the Norwegian Synod was
led into an un-Lutheran, un-Scriptural union with the United Church. Only a brave few
resisted the tide of “Opjgor” and would gathered at Lime Creek, Iowa in 1918 to form the
body now known as the ELS.
There was a somber pallor cast in the lobby of the Aberdeen Hotel that day in
June 1917. Their beloved Norwegian Synod was no more. Its death knell had been met
by most Norwegian Lutherans with fanfare, parades and raucous applause. The Madison
Settlement, having been ratified, had opened the gates of that great citadel of confessional
Lutheranism to the enemy. Now there was but one Norwegian Lutheran Church. But as
visibly impressive as she now was, she was infected with the cancer of false doctrine. As
that cancer metastasized, she would be rendered unrecognizable to her founders.
Now but a handful of faithful Lutheran pastors and parishes remained, resistant to
the merger because of the false doctrine it endorsed. They were without college or
seminary. They were without money or organization. But though hard-pressed, they were
not crushed. Though perplexed, they were not in despair. Though persecuted, they were
not abandoned. Though struck down, they were not destroyed. 3 The Lord of the Church
was with them, and they knew it. One of those present at that meeting would later
reminisce,
3 Paraphrase of II Corinthians 4:8-9.
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