John William Behnken (March 19, 1884 – February 23, 1968) was the sixth president of the

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The LC ...

(LCMS) from 1935 to 1962. He previously served as president of the Synod's Texas District from 1926 to 1929. Behnken was born on March 19, 1884, in

Cypress, Texas Cypress is an unincorporated community in Harris County, Texas, United States, located completely inside the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City of Houston. The Cypress area is located along U.S. Highway 290 (Northwest Freeway) is twenty-fo ...

, the eldest child of the Rev. George William Behnken and Helen née Wunderlich. George Behnken was a native of Hanover, Germany, immigrating to the United States in 1874. He died when John Behnken was three years old. Following George's death, Helen and her three children moved in with her widowed mother for five years, when she remarried. John Behnken attended

Concordia Seminary Concordia Seminary is a Lutheran seminary in Clayton, Missouri. The institution's primary mission is to train pastors, deaconesses, missionaries, chaplains, and church leaders for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Founded in 1839, t ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, from 1903 to 1906, and was ordained on August 12, 1906, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Fedor,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. He then worked as a missionary in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, and in 1908 became pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in that city, serving until 1935. In 1909, he married Gertrude Geisler, who died in 1910. In 1914, he married Hilda Grassmuck, who remained his wife until her death in 1954. Behnken served as president of the Texas District of the LCMS from 1926 to 1929. He then served a second vice-president of the LCMS from 1929 to 1932 and as first vice-president from 1932 to 1935. He was elected president of the LCMS at its 1935 synodical convention, and was reelected multiple times, serving until 1962, at which time he was named honorary president. During his presidency he worked to establish the

Lutheran Council in the United States of America The Lutheran Council in the United States of America was an ecumenical organization of American Lutherans that existed from 1967 to 1988. Succeeding the National Lutheran Council, it was founded by four Lutheran church bodies: the Lutheran Churc ...

. Behnken died on February 23, 1968, in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now ...

. Among the books he authored are ''God Is Our Refuge and Strength'' (1942) and his autobiography, ''This I Recall'' (1964).

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