The Michigan District Mission Board Papers
Collection
Identifier: SD001
Scope and Contents
The collection is made up of materials created by and collected by various members of the Michigan District Mission Board, in particular from the files of former District Mission Board chairmen—Rev. Daniel Gieschen, Rev. Herbert Kuske and Rev. Frederick Adrian—and from laymember Louis Leitz. The collection reflects a very busy time in the history of the Michigan District, as new missions formed across the state of Michigan, as well as throughout Ohio, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. This collection also reflects the ongoing challenge of carrying out mission work with diminishing money resources, not only in the Michigan District, but in the WELS as a whole. Many of the items in this collection reflect the joys of churches forming out of small exploratory groups and growing into established congregations, as well as the sorrows of churches forced to close due to lack of money, lack of numbers or other unfortunate reasons. Many of the items in this collection reflect the methods, philosophies and materials used in the mission work of the Michigan District and the WELS at-large particularly during the boom years between the mid-1960s and the mid-1980s. These items reflect the success and failure of the methods, philosophies and materials that were used, but overall this collection reflects the grace of God as he spread the Gospel through the mission efforts of the many congregations under the auspices of the Michigan District Mission Board.
Dates
- Majority of material found within 1940 - 1995
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright restrictions may apply. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Biographical / Historical
Following the Allied victory in World War II, the United States underwent a boom in productivity and population. America had become a major world power and leader in the areas of manufacturing, technology and other industry. Young men, who had served as soldiers on the battlefields of Europe, Africa and the Pacific, came home and started families. Families grew as the first “Baby Boomers” came into this world, and moved where new jobs were being started across the country. With this increase in productivity and population, America soared economically.
All these factors played into a surge in opportunities for home mission work. Just as the United States boomed immediately after the war, similar trends showed themselves in the Wisconsin Synod. Increases in offerings, growth in numbers and a plethora of mission opportunities moved the Wisconsin Synod to increase its mission efforts during this time. One of the major players in these early efforts was the Wisconsin Synod’s Michigan District. In the half-century after World War II, both the General Board for Home Missions, and the Michigan District Mission Board in particular, were very busy as the Synod began to outgrow its Midwestern borders.
All was not necessarily bright and sunny in the years after World War II, however. The dark storm clouds of doctrinal controversy threatened to ruin the close fellowship between the Wisconsin Synod and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The tension increased between the two church bodies until 1961, when the Wisconsin Synod formally terminated fellowship ties with the Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod. This proved to be quite a challenge to the small Midwestern church body, since the LCMS had carried out much of the home mission work of the former Synodical Conference in the years prior to 1961. The Lord did not let this controversy ruin the Wisconsin Synod, or WELS as it soon became known, but used the years after the 1961 break with LC-MS to change the outlook in the WELS from a fortress mentality in the Midwest to an outlook of mission outreach under the slogan “Every State By ’78!”
Particularly from the early 1960s to the mid 1980s, the WELS pushed to expand mission outreach across the nation. The Michigan District was no different. During this time, the Michigan District helped to establish WELS congregations throughout the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, New England, the Mid-Atlantic and the South Atlantic. From the mission efforts carried out under the auspices of the Michigan District Mission Board at this time, two new districts of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod formed – the South Atlantic District in 1973, which encompasses much of what is known as the Deep South, including much of the Gulf Coast and reaching as far north as Tennessee and western North Carolina; and in 1983, the North Atlantic District, stretching from Charlotte, NC to northern Ontario and from the eastern Appalachians to the Atlantic. In the Michigan District itself, most of the congregations in what is today the Ohio Conference laid down roots at this time, as well as many churches in the present-day Southeastern Conference. It was a time of great growth both on the synodical and district levels.
During this time, pastors such as Daniel Gieschen, Herbert Kuske and Frederick Adrian served as chairmen of the Michigan District Mission Board and helped to guide the DMB as it fostered groups to form exploratory stations and then eventually mission congregations of their own. At the present, the Michigan District Mission Board continues to oversee the efforts of mission congregations in Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Extent
17 Box (Boxes #217-232) : 17 boxes containing 310 file folders
Language of Materials
English
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the TestR1 Repository
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