The Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America was established in 1860. The organizing meeting was held at the
Jefferson Prairie Settlement, near
Clinton, Wisconsin on June 5–8. A group of Swedish Lutheran pastors including
Jonas Swensson,
Lars Paul Esbjörn,
Tuve Hasselquist,
Eric Norelius, and
Erland Carlsson pioneered development of the Augustana Synod.
Augustana is a shortened version of
Confessio Augustana, the Latin name of one of Lutheranism's defining documents, the
Augsburg Confession, presented in 1530 in the German city of
Augsburg. Along with the Swedish members of the church were
Norwegian and
Danish members who left the church in 1870 to form the
Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and the
Norwegian Augustana Synod. Also in 1870, the synod was renamed the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America. In 1894 the name was changed to
Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America. In 1948, the name Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church was adopted. In 1922, the synod was given equal standing in Sweden with the Swedish synods.'''' Originally somewhat conservative, the church gradually turned more liberal after
historical criticism was introduced at its seminary. The Augustana Theological Seminary was located on the campus of
Augustana College in
Rock Island, Illinois. It was later merged into the
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago upon the formation of the
Lutheran Church in America in 1962. Augustana Church was the direct parent of several liberal arts colleges in the United States:
Augustana College in
Rock Island, Illinois;
Gustavus Adolphus College in
St. Peter, Minnesota;
Bethany College in
Lindsborg, Kansas;
California Lutheran University in
Thousand Oaks, California;
Midland University in
Fremont, Nebraska; and the defunct
Upsala College in
East Orange, New Jersey. Augustana and Gustavus Adolphus consistently rank among the top 100 liberal arts colleges in the U.S., and the other institutions are recognized as strong regional colleges. While the Augustana Church had only 600,000 members when the Lutheran Church in America was formed, its influence on its successor bodies has been significant as they incorporated many of Augustana's emphases on mission, ecumenism, and social service.
Herbert W. Chilstrom, the first presiding bishop of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, was a graduate of the Augustana Theological Seminary and was ordained to Augustana's ministry in 1958. Included among the Augustana-founded congregations is Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in
Minneapolis,
Minnesota, the largest Lutheran congregation in the world with over 13,000 members. ==Presidents==