Lutheran Free Church. 1897-1963.

The Lutheran Free Church emerged out of controversy in the United Church over the role of Augsburg Seminary and congregational autonomy. Led by Georg Sverdrup, a student of the Johnsonian revival in Norway, the Lutheran Free Church sought to organize a ‘free church of free congregations in a free land.’ The Lutheran Free Church traced its roots back to the Friends of Augsburg, a group headed by Sverdrup which formed to protect Augsburg College and Seminary from encroachment by the United Church. After legal wrangling involving the Minnesota Supreme Court, the Friends of Augsburg wrote governing documents and broke away  from the United Church to form the Lutheran Free Church in 1897. The Lutheran Free Church existed as a loose confederation of congregations, emphasizing the right for the congregation to make its own decisions. In 1970, the Lutheran Free Church took part in the merger which formed the American Lutheran Church.