Abraham Vereide (October 7, 1886 – May 16, 1969) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

-born American

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

minister and founder of International Christian Leadership (ICL) group.

Early life

Abraham was born in the Vereide home in

Gloppen Gloppen is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. Gloppen is generally subdivided into three areas: Hyen in the west, Gloppen in the center, and Breim in the east. Each of the ...

in the

Nordfjord Nordfjord ( en, Northern fjord—in contrast to Sunnfjord) is a traditional district of Norway. Geography The region is located in the northern part of Vestland county in Western Norway. It centers on the Nordfjorden and it comprises the muni ...

district of Norway on October 7, 1886 to Anders and Helene Vereide. He was the youngest and has four older sisters. Helene died when Abraham was eight years old.

Career

In 1905 Vereide received a ticket to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

from a neighbor who was unable to use it. He traveled to

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

and found menial work. Vereide became an itinerant minister at the age of 20, covering an area of . Later, he studied at a seminary in

Evanston, Indiana Evanston is an unincorporated community in Huff Township, Spencer County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. History A post office was established at Evanston in 1891, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1989. Geography Evanston i ...

. He married Mattie Hansen in 1910. Vereide was first assigned to

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the ...

by the Methodist church. He was later assigned to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

and

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in 1916. During these years, he and Mattie had one daughter, Alicia, and three sons, Warren, Milton, and Abraham. The family moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1931. On personal invitation from then-Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, he attended a conference regarding the social relief program for

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In 1935, Vereide founded the prayer breakfast movement in the United States, which served as the basis for the yearly

National Prayer Breakfast The National Prayer Breakfast is a yearly event held in Washington, D.C., usually on the first Thursday in February. The founder of this event was Abraham Vereide. The event—which is actually a series of meetings, luncheons, and dinners—has ...

. In 1944, International Christian Leadership began in Washington, D.C. Vereide was the executive director of this organization until his death in 1969. He was part of a peace conference in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 1953, Vereide and the fellowship started the Presidential Prayer Breakfast, later called the National Prayer Breakfast or the International Prayer Breakfast. He was editor for "The Christian Citizen" together with Capt. Leonard Larsen.

Personal life

Around 1905, at a tent meeting that came to town, he found fellowship and met his future wife, Mattie Hansen, the daughter of a Danish pastor. Vereide died in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ce ...

on May 16, 1969.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vereide, Abraham 1886 births 1969 deaths People from Gloppen American Methodists Norwegian emigrants to the United States