Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, commonly called the Norwegian Synod, was founded in 1853. It included churches in Illinois , Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

In February 1853, several Lutheran ministers including Claus Lauritz Clausen, Hans Andreas Stub, Adolph Carl Preus, Herman Amberg Preus, G. F. Dietrichson, Jacob Aall Ottesen, and R. D. Brandt organized the Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, commonly known as the Norwegian Synod. It was organized at Koshkonong and Luther Valley near the Jefferson Prairie Settlement outside Madison, Wisconsin. Among the first denominational leaders was Ulrik Vilhelm Koren. The Synod adopted the ritual of the Church of Norway. In 1868 the name was changed to the Synod for the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

In the early years Norwegian Synod seminary students were sent to Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. Luther College was founded near La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1861, and relocated to Decorah, Iowa the next year. Peter Laurentius Larsen served as President of Luther College from 1861 until he resigned from the presidency in 1902.

In 1876 the denomination established Luther Seminary in Madison, Wisconsin, (later moved to St. Paul). Desiring unity and cooperation with fellow Lutherans, in 1872 the Norwegian Synod was a co-founder of the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America, along with the Missouri, Wisconsin, and Ohio Synods. However, the Norwegian Synod soon experienced internal division over questions concerning predestination and conversion, and during the 1880s about a third of its congregations left. These dissenting "Anti-Missourian Brotherhood" congregations joined in 1890 with the Norwegian Augustana Synod and the Norwegian-Danish Conference to form the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America (Norwegian:Den Forenede Kirke).

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