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Augustanas come together to celebrate Synod

(This story was written in celebration of Augustana's sesquicentennial in 2010.)

In what Augustana President Steve Bahls said likely was the first joint event in 140 years between Augustana College of Rock Island and Augustana College of Sioux Falls, the two schools came together Saturday, June 5, at Jefferson Prairie Lutheran Church near the Illinois-Wisconsin border to celebrate the 150th anniversary of their founding.

Just a few miles from the site of the founding, which took place on June 5, 1860, President Bahls and his counterpart, Rob Oliver, spoke to the few hundred in attendance about the history of their institutions and what the values of the colleges' founding fathers mean to students today. Along with the Rev. Mark Wilhelm of the ELCA, Presidents Bahls and Oliver signed a compact recognizing the significance of the anniversary.

Two Augustana of Rock Island students, Neil Friberg and Dorothy Williams, also presented a skit that was a telling of the experiences of Augustana's first President, Lars Paul Esbjörn.

From left: Augustana-Rock Island President Steve Bahls, Pastor Richard Priggie, Pastor Tom Groth, Rev. Mark Wilhelm of the ELCA and Rob Oliver, President of Augustana-Sioux Falls
From left: Augustana-Rock Island President Steve Bahls, Pastor Richard Priggie, Pastor Tom Groth, Rev. Mark Wilhelm of the ELCA and Rob Oliver, President of Augustana-Sioux Falls
Steve Bahls and Rob Oliver, Presidents of the two Augustana Colleges
Steve Bahls and Rob Oliver, Presidents of the two Augustana Colleges
From left: Augustana-Rock Island President Steve Bahls, Augustana student Neil Friberg, Rev. Mark Wilhelm of the ELCA and Rob Oliver, President of Augustana-Sioux Falls
From left: Augustana-Rock Island President Steve Bahls, Augustana student Neil Friberg, Rev. Mark Wilhelm of the ELCA and Rob Oliver, President of Augustana-Sioux Falls
From left: Augustana-Rock Island President Steve Bahls, Rev. Mark Wilhelm of the ELCA and Rob Oliver, President of Augustana-Sioux Falls
From left: Augustana-Rock Island President Steve Bahls, Rev. Mark Wilhelm of the ELCA and Rob Oliver, President of Augustana-Sioux Falls
Augustana of Sioux Falls President Rob Oliver, left, and Augustana of Rock Island President Steve Bahls look on as the Rev. Mark Wilhelm of the ELCA signs a compact in recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Augustana Synod.
Augustana of Sioux Falls President Rob Oliver, left, and Augustana of Rock Island President Steve Bahls look on as the Rev. Mark Wilhelm of the ELCA signs a compact in recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Augustana Synod.
From left: Augustana-Rock Island President Steve Bahls, Rev. Mark Wilhelm of the ELCA and Rob Oliver, President of Augustana-Sioux Falls
From left: Augustana-Rock Island President Steve Bahls, Rev. Mark Wilhelm of the ELCA and Rob Oliver, President of Augustana-Sioux Falls

A Sesquicentennial Compact

In thanksgiving for the leadership of Paul Nordland Andersen, Ole Tollefsen Andrewson, Lars Paul Esbjörn, Tuve Nilsson Hasselquist and the thirty-seven others who gathered at the Norwegian Lutheran Church at Jefferson Prairie and formed the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod on June 5, 1860, we, the undersigned, do hereby:

  • Give thanks for the vision, dedication and steadfastness of those who came before us, and especially our forebears in the leadership of Lutheran higher education in North America, of whose legacy we pledge ourselves to be good stewards;
  • Proclaim the mission of Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, to offer a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit and body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership and service in a diverse and changing world;
  • Proclaim the mission of Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to provide an education of enduring worth that challenges the intellect, fosters integrity and integrates faith with learning and service in a diverse world;
  • Confess with all the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America our belief that we are marked by the cross of Christ forever, and thereby claimed, gathered and sent for the sake of the world;
  • Affirm the essential role of higher education in equipping all persons for the vocation they receive from God to serve their neighbor, and
  • Recommit ourselves, severally and in partnership between these institutions and with all colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, to this good ministry.
  • In witness whereof, and in gratitude for the 150th anniversary of the formation of the Augustana Synod, we affix our names this Fifth of June, 2010, at Jefferson Prairie Lutheran Church.

Steven C. Bahls
President, Augustana College
Rock Island, Illinois

Robert C. Oliver
President, Augustana College
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

The Rev. Mark N. Wilhelm
Associate Director, Vocation and Education
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America