The ELS has always had a commitment to Lutheran elementary education. It has been questioned if our present synod would ever have been organized if it had not been for the support of those who had been educated in Christian day schools. We may properly say that we owe our present existence as a Biblical-teaching synod in large…

The Evangelical Lutheran Synod and Bethany Lutheran College are intimately united. The college gives a visibility and identity to the synod. In turn, the synod gives moorings to the college and elects both the Board of Regents and Board of Trustees for the college. Since 1928, most conventions of the synod have been conducted on the college campus.

The Bethany Lutheran College Choir was established in 1929, two years after the synod took over the operation of the school. In early years, concerts concluded with “The Benediction” by P. Lutkin. Since the 1940s, concerts have concluded with a time-honored tradition of singing the hymn “On My Heart Imprint Thine Image” written by T.…

Bethany Lutheran College became a co-educational junior college in 1927 when it was purchased by the ELS. At that time a high school department also was established which shared both the faculty and the dormitories. The high school was discontinued in 1969. Today, Bethany Lutheran College offers twenty-four majors, twenty-four minors, and eight pre-professional programs…

A notable remark was made at the time the ELS purchased Bethany Lutheran College: “Once we have discovered that the school is a necessity, we will discover we can afford it. We can do a lot of things that we think are absolutely necessary once they have become a matter of life or death to…

In 1927, the ELS voted to take over the ownership and operation of Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minnesota. The school was established in 1911 as Bethany Ladies’ College and became available for purchase the previous year. An association was formed first to acquire the college. The price was $90,000, and carried with it an…

Following 1918, the reorganized synod was small. Yet this did not dampen the spirit of its members. It was said, “A small body such as our synod still enjoys certain privileges and advantages … We are, as it were, one family and still of the first generation; and though it is readily granted that large…

The following announcement appeared in the April­ 1, 1918, issue of the church paper Luthersk Tidende: “Pastors and members of congregations who desire to continue in the old doctrine and practice of the Norwegian Synod will, God willing, hold their annual meeting in the Lime Creek congregation, Pastor H. Ingebritson’s charge, June 14 and following…

Immediately after its reorganization in 1918, the ELS found its fellowship with the congregations and synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference. The former Norwegian Synod had helped to organize the conference in 1872. The ELS continued in the Synodical Conference until 1963 when it withdrew because of doctrinal concerns. The conference was dissolved four…

In 1917, the merger of three Norwegian Lutheran synods was the “greatest church demonstration ever held by Norwegian Lutherans anywhere in the world.” During the days before, a small minority had gathered at the Aberdeen Hotel in St. Paul, Minnesota. The following Sunday, the minority who would eventually reorganize as the ELS worshipped with Fairview…