English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of the Northwest (Northwest Synod) was formed in September 1891 as a synod within the

General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America The General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America, or, in brief, the General Council was a conservative Lutheran church body, formed as a reaction against the new "Americanized Lutheranism" of Samuel Simon Schmucker and the E ...

. Congregations within the synod used English as their primary language to connect with younger generations of English-speakers.Trabert, George Henry. ''English Lutheranism in the Northwest''. Philadelphia: General Council Publication House, 1914. The Northwest Synod covered a geographical territory from

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, although few Lutherans lived between Minnesota and Washington. On September 25, 1901 the Northwest Synod split to create the Pacific Synod on the Pacific coast. The Northwest Synod was divided into three conferences: Central Conference, Western Conference, and Wisconsin Conference.Flesner, Dorris A., ed. 70th Anniversary Review: The English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of the Northwest 1891-1961. n.p. 1960. The Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary (also known as the Chicago Lutheran Divinity School) was founded in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, in 1920 and was moved a year later to Fargo, North Dakota, and the following year, to Minneapolis, Minnesota.“History of Luther Seminary.” Luther Seminary. http://www.luthersem.edu/about/history.aspx?m=3381 (accessed on 15 April 2014). It merged with Luther Theological Seminary to form Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary in 1982 and was renamed

Luther Seminary Luther Seminary is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is the largest seminary of the ELCA. It also accepts and educates students of 41 other denominations and traditions. It is accredited ...

in July 1994. The

General Council General council may refer to: In education: * General Council (Scottish university), an advisory body to each of the ancient universities of Scotland * General Council of the University of St Andrews, the corporate body of all graduates and senio ...

later merged with the

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church of ...

and the

United Synod of the South The United Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the South, or simply United Synod of the South, was a historical Lutheran denomination in the southeastern United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1863, during th ...

to form the United Lutheran Church in 1918. When the United Lutheran Church merged with the

Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church The Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church (previously the Augustana Lutheran Synod and also Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America and Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America) was a Lutheran church ...

, the

American Evangelical Lutheran Church The American Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC) was one of the many denominations formed when Lutherans immigrated to America. Originally known as the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (DELCA), the predominantly Danish-American chur ...

, and the

Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (commonly known as the Suomi Synod, ) was a Lutheran church body which existed in the United States from 1890 until 1962. History The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (FELC) was ...

to form the

Lutheran Church in America The Lutheran Church in America (LCA) was an American and Canadian Lutheran church body that existed from 1962 to 1987. It was headquartered in New York City and its publishing house was Fortress Press. The LCA's immigrant heritage came mostly fr ...

in 1963, the Northwest Synod was dissolved.

Presidents

The Northwest Synod had a total of ten presidents: *1891-1893 - George Henry Gerberding *1894-1901 - William K. Frick *1901-1903 - George H. Trabert *1904-1905 - Alex J. D. Haupt *1905-1911 - Albert J. Reichert *1911-1916 - A. F. Elmquist *1917-1927 - George Keller Rubrecht *1927-1948 - R. H. Gerberding *1949-1959 - Paul E. Bishop *1959-1962 - George L. Lundquist

External links

Th
Records of the English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of the Northwest
are available for research use a
Gustavus Adolphus College and Lutheran Church Archives

References

{{reflist History of Christianity in the United States Evangelical Lutheran Church in America predecessor churches Lutheran denominations in North America Lutheran denominations established in the 19th century