Strangers to Sisters - Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Library: Essays

constitution, the reference to the Lutheran Confessions was crossed out and the words,
“pure, Bible Christianity” and “pure, Bible Word” were written above it. 5
Only in the subsequent years, after the arrival of confessionally-minded men like
John Bading, Adolph Hoenecke, and Philip Koehler in the Wisconsin Synod; C.J.
Albrecht and John Henry Sieker in the Minnesota Synod; Christopher Eberhardt and
Stephen Klingmann in the Michigan Synod; did these synods make their long, hard turn
toward a confessional Lutheran position. By the late 1860s, the Wisconsin Synod had cut
ties with the unionistic mission societies of Germany which had funded much of her early
work. Also, both Minnesota and Wisconsin had removed themselves from the General
Council for doctrinal reasons (Michigan would leave the General Council in the 1880s,
also for confessional reasons). By 1868, fellowship with the Missouri Synod was
established, and by 1872, the Wisconsin and Minnesota Synods were two of the
constituting members of the original Synodical Conference.
In the years leading up to the Wisconsin merger of 1917, the three synods had
been organized into a federation. Oddly enough, the federation had been the thrust of the
smaller Minnesota and the Michigan Synods, approaching the larger and geographically
central Wisconsin Synod about pooling their resources for worker training. The years of
federation allowed the synods to get to know each other. Once initial mistrust and
misgivings were settled, it became clear that duplicating efforts was not the best use of
resources. Thus the path for merger was set. With the exception of an argument over the
status of Michigan Lutheran Seminary, the merger went through smoothly, resulting in
what is today the third largest Lutheran church body in America.
5 John Braun. Together in Christ: A History of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (Milwaukee;
Northwestern Publishing House, 2000), 5.
7