Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America

The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (commonly known as the Suomi Synod) was a Lutheran church body which existed in the United States from 1890 until 1962.^[1]

History

The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (FELC) was organized at Calumet, Michigan in 1890. FELC was defined more by its Finnish ethnic origin than by any specific theological strain. In 1896, the church established Suomi College and Theological Seminary (now called Finlandia University) in Hancock, Michigan. It is the only private institution of higher learning in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the only remaining university in North America founded by Finnish immigrants.^[2]

FELC was one of the Lutheran church bodies that merged into the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) in 1962. At that time, FELC had 25,000 members in 79 congregations, and was the smallest of LCA's founding church bodies. The Lutheran Church in America was party to the merger that created the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1988.^[3]

Presidents

Suomi College was founded by The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America in 1896

• Juho K. Nikander (1890–1898)^[4]
• Kaarle Leonard Tolonen (1898–1902) ^[5]
• Juho K. Nikander (1902–1919)
• John Wargelin (1919–1919)
• Alvar Albert Rautalahti (1919–1922)
• Alfred Haapanen (1922–1950)
• John Wargelin (1950–1955)^[6]
• Raymond Waldemar Wargelin (1955–1962)^[7]

See also

• National Evangelical Lutheran Church
• Apostolic Lutheran Church of America

References

1. Marianne Wargelin. "Finnish Americans". Advameg, Inc. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
2. "Suomi College Finnish Heritage". Finlandia University. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
3. "Finnish Lutherans in America.". Concordia Publishing House. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
4. "Nikander, Juho Kustaa". Concordia Publishing House. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
5. Holmio, Armas Kustaa Ensio (2001) History of the Finns in Michigan (Wayne State University , page 188) ISBN 9780814329740
6. "Wargelin, John (1881 - 1970)". Biografiakeskus. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
7. "Wargelin, Raymond Waldemar, Papers". College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota. Retrieved April 15, 2016.

Other Sources

• Wolf, Edmund Jacob (1889) The Lutherans in America; a story of struggle, progress, influence and marvelous growth (New York: J.A. Hill)
• Bente, F. (1919) American Lutheranism Volume II (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House)
• Nichol, Todd W. (1986) All These Lutherans (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishers)

External links

• Haapanen, Alfred (1949) Our Church. Suomi Synod. The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (Hancock, Michigan: Finnish Lutheran Book Concern)