Swedish Roots
See also the ELCA archive site pages for Augustana and Gustavus Adolphus.
Augustana Lutheran Church of Hyde Park began in the spring of 1902 when the Rev. Dr. L G Abrahamson conducted informal afternoon services in a rented hall on 55th Street between Kimbark and Kenwood Avenues. The nascent congregation included Swedish immigrants working as domestic servants in the homes of wealthy Hyde Parkers.
Abrahamson's work was continued by the Rev. A F Bergstrom, who, in the Fall of 1902, organized a Sunday School for the group. The following year, the formation of a congregation was undertaken, and on April 9, 1903, Augustana was organized with thirty adults and fourteen children. A month later, on May 15, 1903, the Ladies Aid, later known as the Dorcas Society, was organized as the first auxiliary of the parish. By the end of the year the membership had grown to 88 adults and 27 children. A membership fee was collected, $6.00 for men and $4.00 for women. The congregation held services in the homes of members.
In June 1903 the newly organized congregation was served by a theological student. Two years later, in 1905 that student was ordained on a call to Augustana, and the Rev. V H Hegstrom became the first pastor of the church. Under his leadership, the congregation grew in numbers as well as maturity. Soon after his arrival, a choir was organized, a young people's society was established, and a lot for a future building was purchased on the corner of 54th Street and Kimbark Avenue.
At the annual congregational meeting in January 1906, the congregation decided to build a church. On July 29, 1906 the cornerstone for the building was laid. By November 18, 1906, services could be held in the newly completed basement. Two years later, the entire structure was finished at a total cost of $22,214.22. The building was dedicated on December 12, 1908.
Several other additions to church property were made under Pastor Hegstrom's leadership. In 1912 a parsonage was purchased at 5400 Kimbark. In 1913 the house adjacent to the church was bought and used as a residence for working women. The same year, the congregation provided a Moeller pipe organ for the church.
On December 10 1916 Pastor Hegstrom left Augustana to assume a new task as pastor of First Lutheran Church, St. Peter, Minnesota. His successor was the Rev. Andrew C Rylander, who was installed on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1917. The ministry of Pastor Rylander saw the addition of many new families to the congregation. Under his capable and active leadership, the church ministered to the community in which it was located. At this time, the Sunday evening service was conducted in Swedish, as was the first Sunday morning service each month, while English was used at the remaining morning services. Due to enlarged needs, the "family church" concept did much to cement and strengthen the congregation during the onslaught of the Depression. Pastor Rylander, however, died on September 29, 1938, and the congregation was left without a shepherd for the next two years. (There was an interim or vice pastor, the Rev. C A Peterson.)
The Rev. Dr G. Everett Arden became the next pastor of Augustana on April 21, 1940. In that same year English became the sole language of the Sunday service, and the words Svenska Ev. Lutherska Kyrka were sanded off the sign in front of the church. Although Dr Arden's ministry covered the period of World War II, with his guidance Augustana became a comparatively large, active congregation, capably ministering to the neighborhood. Dr Arden's ministry at Augustana ended when he accepted a call from Augustana Seminary, Rock Island, Illinois to join its faculty. On Sunday, October 14, 1945, he departed from Augustana, leaving a congregation that had doubled its membership in five years.
Times of Transition
On October 21, 1945 Augustana's fourth resident pastor preached his first sermon at Augustana. Pastor Rudolph Jonson's ministry covered a period of eleven years, during which the city of Chicago grew in complexity, and the composition of Hyde Park changed. Pastor Jonson guided the congregation positively and nurtured it patiently while Augustana strove to adjust its ministry to the changing neighborhood. After reaching a peak in 1949, Augustana's membership slowly declined over the next 15 years.
Pastor Jonson left Augustana in 1956 to serve First Lutheran Church, Cambridge, Illinois. The congregation then asked the Rev. W. Douglas Larson, a pastor of the United Lutheran Church in America, to serve as interim pastor. He accepted, and devoted himself to the task of re-establishing the congregation, shepherding Augustana until it caught a vision of its future and dedicated itself to assuming the responsibilities implied in the vision. At this time the first African-Americans were welcomed into the congregation. Pastor Larson left Augustana on November 16, 1958 to accept a call to Atonement Lutheran Church, Chicago.
When Pastor Keith Pearson came to Augustana on February 15, 1959 the city had slated Hyde Park for urban renewal and the church building was scheduled for demolition. The congregation wrestled with the issues of survival and came to the decision to remain in Hyde Park no matter what the cost. The congregation then sued the city for fair compensation. Litigation proceedings were long. Confident of a satisfactory outcome, Pastor Pearson left at the end of 1962 to pursue graduate studies in Arizona.
Pastor Philip Anderson, associate chaplain at Augustana Hospital, agreed to serve Augustana part time beginning in 1963. The jury decided to award the congregation $128,000 as fair compensation on June 28, 1963. On the following morning, the church was totally destroyed by fire. Because the property had not as yet been transferred to the city, the congregation received fire insurance compensation as well as the urban renewal money, and thus had a good start toward a new building program.
The University of Chicago allowed the homeless congregation to worship at Bond Chapel, and the YMCA made possible the continuation of the Sunday School at its building on 53rd Street. The congregation then had the task of rebuilding, and so purchased lots on 55th Street between University and Woodlawn; a 65 member building committee was formed. The Rev. Philip Anderson was called to a full time ministry at Augustana on April 12, 1964. Mr. Edward Dart was selected as the architect of the new building on June 14, 1964. A full time secretary was hired and, through a grant from the Lutheran Student Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, Eileen Hansen was added to the staff as both parish worker and Campus Ministry Associate. The congregation hired the Lutheran Laymen's Movement in 1965, and conducted a fund raising effort for two years. During that time $36,000 was pledged toward the new church. In June 1966, Eileen Hansen left to work in a church program in Africa, being replaced in August by Jean Horn who assumed duties of Campus Ministry Associate.
The decision to go ahead with the building was made in January, 1967. A renewed fund raising effort obtained two year pledges totaling $32,000. These were in hand by March 1967, and construction began. While construction was in progress, the Lutheran School of Theology completed its building and was dedicated on October 22, 1967. The new church was dedicated on May 26, 1968 with the Rev. Dr. Robert Marshall as Illinois Synod Representative and preacher. When costs were tabulated, the building and land costs totaled $410,000. To this was added the cost of a Holtkamp organ dedicated the following Christmas. (Some have said that the building was designed with a deliberately dysfunctional kitchen, so that there would be no more "big Swedish dinners"!) Jean Horn Swanson resigned in May, 1968 and was replaced as campus associate by Paul D Petersen, who served until 1970.
On November 10, 1968, Augustana Lutheran Church merged with Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church, until then located at 7426 S. Drexel. The new congregation was named Augustana Lutheran Church of Hyde Park. For a while the membership soared to 400 and the congregation acquired the Gustavus Adolphus church building and parsonage which were put up for sale to reduce the indebtedness. The merger also blended the long history of both congregations' participation, with national recognition, in the events of the Lutheran Athletic Association.
The merged congregation continued the Campus Associate program, reached out to faculty and students at the Lutheran School of Theology and the University of Chicago, continued to serve the Hyde Park community and strove to maintain contact with members who had moved to the suburbs. Program grants were made available to Augustana by the Board of American Missions and the Lutheran Student Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago. Pastor Anderson resigned in the summer of 1970 to become director of the chaplaincy program of Augustana Hospital in Chicago. Campus associates in the period 1970 - 1974 included Karen Pedersen, Donna Schaper and Bonnie Eggers.
The Rev. Arthur C Bryant began his ministry on February 1, 1971. Ecumenical outreach made Augustana available for liturgies of the Jesuit School of Theology in Chicago and Catholic Theological Union. In December 1973 the Rev Richard Jurgensen was employed by the Lutheran Student Foundation to serve the Lutheran community at the University of Chicago. Pastor Bryant was removed effective July 9, 1974. Joseph Sittler, Professor Emeritus of the University of Chicago Divinity School and Augustana member, agreed to assume duties as interim pastor.
Stabilization
During this interim, the congregation conducted a self-examination and discussion of its mission. A call was issued to the Rev. Larry J Hofer of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who began pastoral duties on August 1, 1975. Pastor Hofer brought his considerable interests and expertise into play to develop the worship life of the congregation. The church took part in experimental liturgies which were part of the process leading to the formation of the Lutheran Book of Worship. Pastor Hofer brought a spirit of continuity to the congregation, along with his own eirenic vision of the Church. This made possible a sustained period of growth both in membership and financial strength. He resigned in May 1981 in order to accept a call in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
The Rev. Dr. N Leroy Norquist, a member of the parish and Professor of New Testament at LSTC, was appointed vice-pastor for the interim. During this period it became evident to the congregation that he was their preferred candidate for pastor. He was called on November 22, 1981 and began to serve Augustana full time on January 1, 1982. The main emphasis during Pastor Norquist's six years of ministry was the worship life of the congregation. However this was also a time of outreach -- Augustana sponsored several refugee families, mainly from Cambodia, and integrated them into the life of the parish. A school for emotionally disturbed children used the church facilities weekdays; Augustana became a shelter for the homeless for two winter seasons and there was increased support for and cooperation with the food pantry in the neighborhood.
In the fall of 1983 Augustana took a significant step to provide pastoral ministry to students at the University of Chicago and other Hyde Park schools. The Rev. William R Strehlow was called as associate pastor with primary responsibility for campus ministry, beginning his work in October and being installed on January 15, 1984. Pastor Strehlow resigned effective November 15, 1987. Pastor Philip Krey was appointed in December, 1987 as Interim Campus Pastor, to serve out the remainder of the school year.
Pastor Norquist retired on December 31, 1987. The Rev. F Leonard Peterson, Pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church (94th and Oakley, Chicago), was appointed vice-pastor for the interim.
The Rev. Lawrence R Hamilton was called on April 17, 1988, and began to serve Augustana as Pastor on June 15, 1988. In June 1989 Augustana launched the "Reach Out and Read" (ROAR) family literacy program as a new outreach to the community. Through the ROAR program, Augustana devoted its facilities, volunteers and monetary gifts to helping parents and children learn to read together.
Pastor Hamilton also served as Campus Pastor during the 1988-89 academic year, with the goal of unifying the congregation's ministry to campus and community. In May of 1989, following a six-month self-study process, this unified model was affirmed, and the decision was made to call a Campus Ministry Lay Associate to work in partnership with Pastor Hamilton. Karen Meier served as Campus Ministry Lay Associate during the 1989-90 academic year. She afterward became a Resident Director at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.
Then, on September 16, 1990, the staff was again expanded to include two ordained ministers when the Rev. Ann Hicks was called as Associate Pastor for Campus Ministry for a two-year term at half-time.
The complementary gifts of the two pastors and capable lay leadership led Augustana into a time of renewed ministry, quality worship, solid teaching and new efforts at being inclusive as a congregation. Pastor Hamilton resigned effective September 5, 1993, in order to reclaim his Jewish identity and begin law school, while Pastor Hicks completed her second term as campus pastor in June of 1994 and went on to serve the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd on Chicago's Northwest side as senior pastor.
The Rev. Michael Schultz Rothermel, Dean of the Community at the Lutheran School of Theology, shepherded the congregation as its Interim Pastor from September 6, 1993, until November 1994. On September 25, 1994, the Rev. Robert S Klonowski was called as senior pastor. Highlights of Pastor Klonowski's ministry included a renewed emphasis on stewardship, engagement of the community in ISAIAH, and an exciting and successful renewal of the Vacation Church Schools of the 1960s which drew children from both the congregation and the community.
Campus ministry was carried on by lay campus ministry associates Jennifer DeWeerth and Sara Lineberger for the years following Pastor Hicks' departure. In 1996 Augustana again had a Campus Pastor, when the Rev. Nancy Goede was called and ordained to the position.
Effective May 1, 1998 Pastor Klonowski accepted a call to the Metropolitan Chicago Synod office. Pastor Karen Knutson then became the interim pastor. During the interim the congregation engaged in yet another self study.
Pastor John M Gorder began his ministry on June 1 1999 when he was called as Augustana's twelfth pastor. In the following year, Augustana began a long range planning process in regard to the enhancement of its building and grounds, leading to the Congregation's decision to build a new $1.7 million addition covering half of the garden area. The new space was dedicated on February 6, 2005.
Campus Ministry continued to flourish under Pastor Goede's leadership, as four Peer Ministers were added to Augustana's staff. The Campus ministry group engaged in several service projects, including spring break Habitat for Humanity projects in various parts of the United States. In May 2003 Pastor Goede was called to Mt Zion Lutheran Church in Oak Lawn.