Blair Church
| United Evangelical Lutheran Church | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | United Church |
| Classification | Lutheran |
| Region | United States |
| Origin | 1896 Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Merger of | Danish Evangelical Lutheran Association in America and Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America |
| Merged into | American Lutheran Church (1960) |
| Congregations | 164 (1959) |
| Members | 66,623 (1959) |
| Ministers | 197 (1959) |
| Other name(s) | United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church (1896–1946) |
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 United Church merged with other Lutheran groups to form the American Lutheran Church in 1960.
The Danish Evangelical Lutheran Association in America (or Blair Church) was formed in 1884 by a group of Danish members who left the Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Many of Blair Church pastors were supportive of the Inner Mission. The Blair Church was based in Blair, Nebraska.
The Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America (or North Church) was formed in 1894 when seminary president Kristian Anker and professor Peter Sørensen Vig, along with a number of pastor and congregations, left the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America over theological differences. These two churches merged in 1896 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to form the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church (in addition to being known as the United Church, this new church continued to be referred to as the "Blair Church").
The United Church quickly formed a system of education, centered in Blair, Nebraska. The center-piece was Trinity Seminary, an institution designed for the training of pastors. Trinity was supported by the Dana School. The Dana School was originally intended to provide future pastors with a pre-seminary education, and others in the community with a secondary education. The school eventually became a two-year college, and then a four-year college, now known as Dana College.
In 1946, as the second and third generation of Danes in America started to merge into the American culture, the word "Danish" was dropped from the official name of the church. In 1960, the United Church merged with churches that were ethnically German and Norwegian to form the American Lutheran Church. In 1959, just before its merger into the ALC, the United Church had 197 pastors, 164 congregations, and 66,623 members.
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