This is a listing of the major offices within the Lutheran churches, as well as significant individual Lutheran clergy.

Lists of Lutheran bishops and archbishops

North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church The North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church (german: link=no, Nordelbische Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche; NEK) was a Lutheran regional church in Northern Germany which emerged from a merger of four churches in 1977 and merged with two more churc ...

(1977–2008) * Bishops of Schleswig and Holstein, North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church (seat: Schleswig, 2008– to date) * Bishops, Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK) * Lutheran bishops of Skálholt * Lutheran Bishops of Turku and Archbishops of Turku and Finland * Lutheran Archbishops of Uppsala * Presidents, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod * Leading persons and state bishops, Evangelical State Church in Württemberg

Additional Lutheran leaders

Johan Arnd Aasgaard Johan Arnd Aasgaard (April 5, 1876 – January 13, 1966) was an American Lutheran church leader. Biography Johan Arnd Aasgaard was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota. He was educated at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota (class of 1901). He ...

(1876-1966) - President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church *

Erland Carlsson Erland Carlsson (August 24, 1822 – October 19, 1893) was a Swedish-American Lutheran minister. He was one of the founders and served as president of the Augustana Lutheran Synod. Background Erland Carlsson was born in the Suletorp farm vill ...

(1822-1893) - One of the founders and President of the

Augustana Synod 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 ...

Gottlieb Bender Christiansen Gottlieb Bender Christiansen (October 27, 1851 – September 27, 1929) was an American Lutheran Minister who served as President at Trinity Seminary in Blair, Nebraska and was the first president of the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Ch ...

(1851-1929) - Founding President of the

United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church The United Evangelical Lutheran Church (commonly known as the United Church) was one of the many denominations formed when Lutherans came to the United States from Europe. Originally known as the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Uni ...

Claus Lauritz Clausen Claus Lauritz Clausen (November 3, 1820 – February 20, 1892) was an American pioneer Lutheran minister, church leader, military chaplain and politician. Biography Claus Clausen was born at Borgnæs in Tranderup Parish, on the island of ...

(1820-1892) - President of the

Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America usually called the Conference was a Lutheran church body that existed in the United States from 1870 to 1890, when it merged into the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of Am ...

* Elling Eielsen (1804-1883) - Founder of The Eielsen Synod (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) * Lars Paul Esbjörn (1808-1870) - One of the founders of the

and Augustana College *

Tuve Hasselquist Tuve Nilsson Hasselquist (also spelled ''Tufve'' and ''Hasselqvist''; also known as T. N.; March 2, 1816 – February 4, 1891) was a Swedish American Lutheran minister and church leader. He was the second president of Augustana College, serving fr ...

(1816-1891) - Founding President of the

Ulrik Vilhelm Koren Ulrik Vilhelm Koren (December 22, 1826 – December 19, 1910) was a Norwegian-American author, theologian and church leader. A pioneer Lutheran minister, he played a significant role in the development of the spiritual and intellectual development ...

(1826-1910) - President of the Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America * Christoph Kähler - Presiding bishop of the Protestant Lutheran Church in Thuringia. :de:Christoph Kähler *

Margot Käßmann Margot Käßmann (; born 3 June 1958) is a Lutheran theologian, who was '' Landesbischöfin'' (bishop) of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover in Germany. On 28 October 2009, she was elected to lead the ''Evangelical Church in Germany'', a ...

(b. 1958) - Bishop for the Protestant Lutheran Church of Hanover. * Jaan Kiivit, Jr (1940-2005) Former archbishop of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Estonia The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC; Estonian: ''Eesti Evangeelne Luterlik Kirik'', abbreviated EELK) is a Lutheran church in Estonia. EELC is member of the Lutheran World Federation and belongs to the Community of Protestant Church ...

. *

Johan Kõpp Johan Kõpp (9 November 1874, Holdre, Kreis Fellin – 21 October 1970, Stockholm) was an Estonian bishop and head of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church 1939–1944. Biography Kõpp went to high school at the Hugo Treffner Gymnasium in ...

(1874-1970)- Estonian Lutheran bishop who fled to Sweden after the Soviet takeover. :et:Johan Kõpp *

Frederick Muhlenberg Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg (; January 1, 1750 – June 4, 1801) was an American minister and politician who was the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and the first Dean of the United States House of Represen ...

(1750 - 1801) - Clergy, first Speaker of US House * Heinrich Melchior Muhlenberg (1711 - 1786) - Founder of the Lutheran church in America. *

Peter Muhlenberg John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg (October 1, 1746October 1, 1807) was an American clergyman, Continental Army soldier during the American Revolutionary War, and political figure in the newly independent United States. A Lutheran minister, he serve ...

(1746 - 1807) - Clergy, Revolutionary War soldier, US House, US Senate * Ishmael Noko (b. 1943)- General secretary of the

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; german: Lutherischer Weltbund) is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish ...

. * Eric Norelius (1833-1916)- One of the founders and President of the

* Kuno Pajula (1924-2012) - Former archbishop of the

. * Andres Põder (b. 1949) - The current archbishop of the

. * Hans Gerhard Stub (1849-1931) - First bishop of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church (United States) The Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC) was a Lutheran denomination that existed from 1917, when it was founded as the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America (NLCA), until 1960, when it joined two other church bodies to form the second American Luthe ...

* Jonas Swensson (1828-1873) - Former president of 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 ...

List of clergy

Academics

* Thomas R. Ahlersmeyer (b. 1954) - President of

Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Michigan Concordia University Ann Arbor (CUAA) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a campus of Concordia University Wisconsin, a private Lutheran university in Mequon, Wisconsin. Its campus sits on the banks of the Huron River, about ten minutes outside downt ...

* Kristian Anker (1848-1928) - President of the combined Trinity Seminary and

Dana College Dana College was a private college in Blair, Nebraska. Its rural 150-acre (607,000 m²) campus is approximately 26 miles (40 km) northwest of Omaha and overlooks a portion of the Missouri River Valley. The campus was planned to be purchase ...

Anton Marius Andersen Anton Marius Andersen (March 8, 1847 - October 23, 1941) was an American Lutheran minister and the founding President of Trinity Seminary at Dana College. Background A. M. Andersen was born in Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian s ...

(1847-1941) - Founding President of Trinity Seminary at

* Georg M. Grossmann (1823-1897) - Founder of

Wartburg College Wartburg College is a private Lutheran liberal arts college in Waverly, Iowa. It has an additional campus, Wartburg West, in Denver, Colorado. History Wartburg College was founded in 1852 in Saginaw, Michigan, by Georg M. Grossmann, a nativ ...

* Theodore Marcus Hansen (1886-1973) - President of

and Trinity Seminary * John N. Kildahl (1857-1920) - Lutheran church minister, author and educator, President of St. Olaf College * O. P. Kretzmann (1901-1975) - President 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 ...

, Lutheran pastor, author, and professor * Peter Laurentius Larsen - Founding president of Luther College. *

Knud Ejler Løgstrup Knud Ejler Løgstrup (2 September 1905 – 20 November 1981) was a Danish philosopher and theologian. His work, which combines elements of phenomenology, ethics and theology, has exerted considerable influence in postwar Nordic thought. More rec ...

- Danish philosopher and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

at Sandager- Holevad from 1936–1943. Professor at

University of Aarhus Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...

from 1943-1975 * Thorbjorn N. Mohn - Founding president of St. Olaf College * Bernt Julius Muus - Founder of St. Olaf College *

Robert Preus The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

- Lutheran pastor, professor, author, and seminary president * Stephan Ludwig Roth - Transylvanian educationist. * Jacob Tanner (1865-1964) - Norwegian American Lutheran educator and religious author * John Tietjen (1928-2004) - Noted for the

Seminex Seminex is the widely used abbreviation for Concordia Seminary in Exile (later Christ Seminary-Seminex), which existed from 1974 to 1987 after a schism in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). The seminary in exile was formed due to the ong ...

controversy. * Peter Sørensen Vig (1854-1929) - President of Trinity Seminary and the president of

Activists

* K. G. William Dahl (1883-1917) - Lutheran minister, author and social advocate. Founder of Bethphage Mission. * Robert Graetz (1928-2020) - Possibly the only white member of the

Montgomery Improvement Association The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was formed on December 5, 1955 by black ministers and community leaders in Montgomery, Alabama. Under the leadership of Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Edgar Nixon, the MIA was instrumental ...

. * Sumowood Harris - Liberian peace activist. * Bernt B. Haugan (1862-1931) - American minister, politician, and temperance leader. * Judith Hird (b. 1946) - first woman to become a Lutheran pastor. * William A. Passavant - Lutheran minister noted for bringing the Lutheran Deaconess movement to the United States. * Roland Weisselberg (1933-2006) - Critic of the former

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

who later committed

Self-immolation The term self-immolation broadly refers to acts of altruistic suicide, otherwise the giving up of one's body in an act of sacrifice. However, it most often refers specifically to autocremation, the act of sacrificing oneself by setting oneself ...

as a protest against the spread of Islam.

Explorers and colonizers

Gotthard Fritzsche Gotthard Daniel Fritzsche (20 July 1797 – 26 October 1863)The gravestone has birthdate as 20 June 1797, not July ("''Geboren'' 20. Juni 1797"). was a Prussian-Australian pastor who became instrumental in furthering that religion in South Aust ...

- A founding figure for Australia's Lutherans. * Rasmus Jensen - One of the earliest Lutheran chaplains to go the "New World." * August Kavel - A founding figure for Australia's Lutherans. * Martin Stephan - Settled with a colony of Saxons, later excommunicated. * Reorus Torkillus - First Lutheran clergyman to settle in

New Sweden New Sweden ( sv, Nya Sverige) was a Swedish colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now the United States from 1638 to 1655, established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great military power. New Sweden f ...

Missionaries

* Johan Campanius - Assigned to

, Missionary to the Lenape. *

Hans Egede Hans Poulsen Egede (31 January 1686 – 5 November 1758) was a Dano-Norwegian Lutheran missionary who launched mission efforts to Greenland, which led him to be styled the Apostle of Greenland. He established a successful mission among the Inui ...

- "Apostle of Greenland." *

Onesimos Nesib Onesimos Nesib ( Oromo: Onesimoos Nasiib; Amharic: ኦነሲሞስ ነሲብ; c 1856 – 21 June 1931) was a native Oromo scholar who converted to Lutheran Christianity and translated the Christian Bible into Oromo. His parents named him Hika ...

- Convert from Ethiopia who translated the Bible into Oromo and did missionary work in Africa. *

Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg (10 July 1682 – 23 February 1719) was a member of the Lutheran clergy and the first Pietist missionary to India. Early life Ziegenbalg was born in Pulsnitz, Saxony, on 10 July 1682 in a devout Christian family. His f ...

- Possibly the first Protestant missionary in India. * Martti Rautanen (1845-1926) - First Christian missionary in

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the parts ...

in Namibia. * Alexander Durham Hail (1844-1923) - Possibly the first Protestant missionary in

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 944,320 () and has a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture ...

, Japan. * John Baxter Hail (1846-1928) - Possibly the first Protestant missionary in

, Japan.

Politicians

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005), known as Joh Bjelke-Petersen, was a conservative Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, during ...

- Former Premier of Queensland. *

Kjell Magne Bondevik Kjell Magne Bondevik (; born 3 September 1947) is a Norwegian Lutheran minister and politician. As leader of the Christian Democratic Party, he served as the 33rd prime minister of Norway from 1997 to 2000, and from 2001 to 2005, making him, af ...

(b. 1947) - Former Prime Minister of Norway. * Francis Hoffmann (1822-1903) - Once Lieutenant Governor of Illinois and also wrote under a pen-name. * John Herman Koch (1864-1929) - Former Wisconsin State Assemblyman. * Antti Johannes Rantamaa (1904-1987) - Finnish chaplain who served in the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

Theologians

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the secular world have ...

- A founding member of the

Confessing Church The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German ...

who was executed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. *

Otto von Gerlach Karl Friedrich Otto von Gerlach (12 April 1801 – 24 October 1849) was a German theologian and pastor from Berlin. He was the youngest of five children of Carl Friedrich Leopold von Gerlach (1757–1813), first Lord Mayor of Berlin, and ...

- Nineteenth-century German. *

N. F. S. Grundtvig Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig (; 8 September 1783 – 2 September 1872), most often referred to as N. F. S. Grundtvig, was a Danish pastor, author, poet, philosopher, historian, teacher and politician. He was one of the most influential pe ...

- Danish

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

and author of

hymns A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

* Oswald Hoffmann - Clergyman and speaker on The Lutheran Hour. *

Ernst Käsemann Ernst Käsemann (12 July 1906 – 17 February 1998) was a German Lutheran theologian and professor of New Testament in Mainz (1946–1951), Göttingen (1951–1959) and Tübingen (1959–1971). Study and work Käsemann was born in Bochum. He ob ...

- New Testament studies, also active against Nazism. *

Johann Konrad Wilhelm Löhe Johann Konrad Wilhelm Löhe (21 February 1808 – 2 January 1872) (often rendered 'Loehe') was a pastor of the Lutheran Church, Confesional Lutheran writer, and is often regarded as being a founder of the deaconess movement in Lutheranism and a fou ...

- Celebrated by ELCA and LCMS. *

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

- German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk, with whose teachings Lutheranism is associated. *

Martin Niemöller Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller (; 14 January 18926 March 1984) was a German theologian and Lutheran pastor. He is best known for his opposition to the Nazi regime during the late 1930s and for his widely quoted 1946 poem " First they ca ...

- Former

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

captain who became a theologian and, after initial enthusiasm, turned against Nazism. * Jacob Aall Ottesen -

Norwegian American Norwegian Americans ( nb, Norskamerikanere, nn, Norskamerikanarar) are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the ...

minister, theologian and church leader * Gunnar Rosendal (1897-1988) - Swedish theologian of High Church Lutheranism.

Writers

Caspar Aquila Caspar Aquila (sometimes Kaspar or Gaspar Aquila; 7 August 148812 November 1560), born Johann Kaspar Adler, was a German Lutheran theologian and reformer. Biography He was born at Augsburg, and educated there, at Ulm (1502), in Italy (he met Era ...

- Tract writer. *

Johann Ernst Glück Johann Ernst Glück ( lv, Johans Ernsts Gliks; 10 November 1652 – 5 May 1705) was a German translator and Lutheran theologian active in Livonia, which is now in Latvia. Glück was born in Wettin as the son of a pastor. After attending the Lati ...

(1652-1705) - Translated the Bible into Latvian. *

Paul Henkel Paul Henkel (December 15, 1754 – November 27, 1825) was a native of North Carolina who became an itinerant evangelist for the Lutheran Church in the eastern United States. He was born in Rowan County, North Carolina, in 1754. His family moved ...

(1854-1825) - Tract writer. *

Ludwig Gotthard Kosegarten Ludwig Gotthard Kosegarten (1 February 1758 – 26 October 1818), also known as Ludwig Theobul or Ludwig Theoboul, was a German poet and Lutheranism, Lutheran preacher. Kosegarten was born in Grevesmühlen, in the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwe ...

(1858-1818) - German poet. *

Eduard Mörike Eduard Friedrich Mörike (8 September 18044 June 1875) was a German Lutheran pastor who was also a Romantic poet and writer of novellas and novels. Many of his poems were set to music and became established folk songs, while others were used by ...

(1804-1875) - German Romantic poet. * Olaf M. Norlie (1876-1962) - Lutheran minister, educator scholar and author * Kristian Ostergaard (1855-1931) -

Danish-American Danish Americans ( da, Dansk-amerikanere) are Americans who have ancestral roots originated fully or partially from Denmark. There are approximately 1,300,000 Americans of Danish origin or descent. History The first Dane known to have arri ...

Lutheran pastor, educator and author *

Nancy Raabe Nancy Elizabeth Miller Raabe (born 1954) is an American clergy member, author, and composer. She is the pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Hatfield, Pennsylvania. Early life and education Raabe was born in 1954. She graduated from Pomona Colleg ...

(1954-) - Pastor, author, composer. President, Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. *

Johann Adolf Schlegel Johann Adolf Schlegel (17 September 1721 – 16 September 1793) was a German poet and clergyman. Biography Schlegel was born in Meißen, Saxony, and was the brother of Johann Elias Schlegel. After finishing his studies in Leipzig, he be ...

(1721-1793) - Poet who wrote "Spiritual Songs" and fathered two poets.Schlegel's American Families of German Ancestry in the United States
/ref>

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lutheran clergy Lists of Protestants

Clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...