Louis John Sieck (March 11, 1884 – October 14, 1952) was a Lutheran minister. He was the president of

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

from 1943 to 1952.

Early life and education

Sieck was born in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

, on March 11, 1884. His father, Henry Sieck, was a Lutheran minister and president of St. John's College in

Winfield, Kansas Winfield is a city and county seat of Cowley County, Kansas, United States. It is situated along the Walnut River in South Central Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 11,777. It is home to Southwestern College. Hi ...

, from 1893 to 1895. Sieck attended Walther College in St. Louis; St. John's College in Winfield, Kansas; Concordia College in Milwaukee; and Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. He was ordained in 1904. In 1939, he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Concordia Seminary.

Career

Ministry

Sieck's first call was to Emmanuel Lutheran Church in

Hamburg, Minnesota Hamburg is a city in Carver County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 513 at the 2010 census. History A post office has been in operation in Hamburg since 1881. The city was named after Hamburg, in Germany. Geography According to t ...

. He came to Zion Lutheran Church in St. Louis as assistant pastor in 1905, becoming pastor in 1914 following the death of pastor Charles F. Obermeyer, his father-in-law. He was involved with several Lutheran organizations, including the St. Louis Lutheran Publicity Organization and ''

The Lutheran Witness Concordia Publishing House (CPH), founded in 1869, is the official publishing arm of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Headquartered in St Louis, Missouri, at 3558 S. Jefferson Avenue, CPH publishes the synod's official monthly magaz ...

''. Sieck served as president of the board of directors of KFUO, a radio station owned by the LCMS, from 1926 to 1943. At the 1933 annual Lutheran convention at Concordia Seminary, he spoke of the need for the church to preach and teach rather than focus on the secular.

Concordia Seminary

Sieck served on the Board of Control of Concordia Seminary from 1939 to 1943. In 1943, Sieck left Zion Lutheran Church to become the president of Concordia Seminary following the end of Ludwig E. Fuerbringer's tenure. During his ten years as president, enrollment reached a record high of 840 students and several new buildings were built. He taught pastoral theology. Sieck and fellow Lutheran minister Alfred Doerffler were reportedly briefly involved in the events now known as

exorcism of Roland Doe In the late 1940s, in the United States, priests of the Roman Catholic Church performed a series of exorcisms on an anonymous boy, documented under the pseudonym "Roland Doe" or "Robbie Mannheim". The 14-year-old boy was the alleged victim of de ...

in 1949. At the time of his death, Sieck was chairman of the National Advisory Emergency Planning Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Conference. He was also vice-president of the

State Historical Society of Missouri The State Historical Society of Missouri, a private membership and state funded organization, is a comprehensive research facility located in Columbia, Missouri, specializing in the preservation and study of Missouri's cultural heritage. Establ ...

and served on the board of

Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana. It is a Lutheran university with about 3,000 students from over 50 countries on a campus of . Originally named Valparaiso Male and Female College, Valparaiso Universit ...

Personal life

Sieck married Ottilie Obermeyer, the daughter of Charles F. Obermeyer. They had two sons, Lewis and Charles.

Death

Sieck died of an internal hemorrhage on October 14, 1952, at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. He was buried at New Bethlehem Cemetery in

St. Louis County, Missouri St. Louis County is located in the eastern-central portion of Missouri. It is bounded by the City of St. Louis and the Mississippi River to the east, the Missouri River to the north, and the Meramec River to the south. At the 2020 census, th ...

. Concordia Seminary's Graduate Hall, built in 1951, was renamed Sieck Hall in his honor.

Selected works

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References

External links

Louis. J. Sieck
on

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Louis J. Sieck
on Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Cyclopedia
Papers
at

Concordia Historical Institute 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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sieck, Louis J. 1884 births 1952 deaths 20th-century American Lutheran clergy People from Erie, Pennsylvania Seminary presidents Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod people Concordia Seminary alumni