Concordia Historical Institute QuarterlyConcordia Historical Institute Quarterlya journal for the history of Lutheranism in America
Early in their respective histories in America, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (Norwegian Synod) worked side by side in close fellowship. Ulrik Vilhelm Koren, a conservative Lutheran, worked closely with such leaders of the Missouri Synod as C. F. W. Walther. In this article Dr. James S. Hamre describes aspects of this life together and provides a summary of the life and ministry of Ulrik Koren, truly a giant among Lutherans of the 19th century.
Dr. Hamre has academic degrees from Augsburg College, Minneapolis; Luther Theological Seminary, Saint Paul; the University of Chicago Divinity School and the University of Iowa School of Religion. Now retired, he served on the faculty of Waldorf College, Forest City, Iowa, for 33 years. An occasional contributor to the Quarterly, he has written a biography of Georg Sverdrup, a history of Waldorf College, a history of Trinity Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, and about 20 journal articles.
After a quarter century of astounding growth, many Christian church bodies during the past 40 years have experienced a slow decline. Some observers have been led to speak and write of a post-Christian America. One major body, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, has shared in that erosion of membership.
In this article Meyer focuses on the decline of Missouri Synod churches in Chicago, a city that has always enjoyed a significant Lutheran constituency, to analyse reasons for the attrition of members. To some extent his findings and conclusions probably apply as well to other urban areas and to churches of other denominations.
Meyer and his wife, Eunice, are not strangers to members of the Institute. For many years Meyer has served on the Board of Governors of the Institute. Both have been active members and very supportive of the Institute and its programs. In his retirement as an attorney, Meyer has given considerable time to historical research and has contributed several articles to this journal.
Book Review
George Fry and Joel R. Kurz, eds. Lively Stone: The Autobiography of Bertholdl von Schenk. Delhi, New York: American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, 2006.
Editor: Dale E. Griffin
Managing Editor: Martin Noland
Associate Editors: Ronald R. Feuerhahn, George J. Gude,
Marvin Huggins, Cameron A. MacKenzie
Editorial Assistant: Patrice Russo
Book Review Editor: Cameron A. MacKenzie
Editorial Committee: George Gude, Jerzy Hauptmann, Lawrence Rast Jr.,
William Schumacher
Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly is published quarterly. Subscription without membership in the Institute is available for $28 per year. Single copies are $7.50 for any issue published during the past three years, and $3.00 for issues published prior to that time by Concordia Historical Institute, 804 Seminary Place, St. Louis, MO 63105-3014. Shipping and handling is extra for past copies. |
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