[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Ten Mile history cover” src=”https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/420\/2014\/07\/Ten-Mile.-history-cover.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” animation=”off” sticky=”off” \/][et_pb_image admin_label=”Christiana History cover” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” animation=”off” sticky=”off” src=”https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/420\/2014\/07\/Christiania.-150-history.jpg” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left”]<\/p>\n
A fundamental principle of the Lutheran Free Church (1897-1963) was the conviction that \u2018free and living congregations\u2019 are the \u2018right form of the Kingdom of God on earth.\u201d<\/i> \u00a0Other Lutherans have granted greater authority to regional and national church bodies. \u00a0This project\u2019s focus on congregations is informed more by historical method than by theology.<\/strong><\/p>\n R. Stephen Warner\u2019s New Wine in Old Wineskins: Evangelicals and Liberals in a Small-Town Church <\/i>(1990) demonstrated well that close attention to local congregations provides valuable insights about their larger communities and cultural context.<\/strong> \u00a0Since then other scholars in congregational studies have produced useful historical cases, for example American Congregations: Portraits of Twelve Religious Communities <\/i>(1998) edited by James W. Lewis and James P. Wind.<\/p>\n The congregations featured in this project were chosen, in part, for their potential to illustrate characteristics of Norwegian-American Lutheran groups. \u00a0Of course four, brief examples cannot do this completely. \u00a0More cases would need to be treated more fully to present the richness and internal variety of this stream of American Lutheranism.<\/p>\n In addition to general studies, we have relied upon congregational histories prepared for landmark anniversaries. The audience for such works is usually members — past and present — of the congregation. \u00a0These present a wealth of local information in words and images; \u00a0the most\u00a0successful\u00a0examples place that story in a larger context.<\/strong><\/p>\n The resources available to a congregational historian are vastly expanded by judicious use of digital materials. \u00a0In addition we recommend James P. Wind\u2019s Places of Worship: Exploring Their History<\/i> (2013) and the ELCA, Region III archive\u2019s guide to congregational archives and history,\u00a0Memory Work<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_divider admin_label=”Divider” color=”#9b0101″ show_divider=”on” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"