Bjug Harstad
| Bjug Harstad | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
December 17, 1848 Setesdal, Norway |
| Died | June 20, 1933 (aged 84) |
Bjug Harstad (December 17, 1848 – June 20, 1933) was a Lutheran pastor, founding president of Pacific Lutheran University, and first president of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
Bjug Aanondson was one of ten children born on the Harstad farm near Valle in Aust-Agder, Norway. In 1861 his family emigrated to the United States. Bjug was a student at Luther College from 1865 to 1871. He studied theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis from 1871 to 1874. It was his experiences there that became the model for the rest of his scholarly and religious life. After seminary, he traveled as a pastor to remote areas of Minnesota, where he built schools and churches.
Harstad married Guro Svensdatter Omlid in 1877. From 1877 to 1891 he was pastor in Mayville and missionary in the Red River Valley of North Dakota. He was the founder of seventeen congregations; president of the Minnesota District of the Norwegian Synod (1884-1892); and founder of three academies: Franklin School (1878), Gran Boarding School (1880), and the Bruflat Academy (1889), all in North Dakota.
The Lutheran Church sent Harstad to the Pacific Coast in 1889 to start a school. He visited Portland, Seattle, and Tacoma. It was decided that Brookdale, (now Parkland) in Pierce County, Washington, should be the Lutheran education center of the Northwest. Pacific Lutheran University Association was formed on December 11, 1890. Harstad was elected president of the association, and the Norwegian Synod formed a new Pacific District in June 1893. Harstad resigned his position as president of the Minnesota District, and acquired additional responsibilities by being elected president of the new Pacific District. He spent a considerable amount of time traveling to supervise the new far-reaching district and to raise money for the university.
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