Our History

A Brief History of University Lutheran Chapel

University Lutheran chapel has been active in campus ministry at the U of M for more than 75 years. It has served as an important outpost of Christianity in the midst of a secular university community, and has been an incubator in which the faith and Christian knowledge of countless college students has been nourished and matured. Many of ULC's alumni have gone on to be leaders in the church, both as pastors and laity. Over the past two decades, we have sent 20 men to study at our synod's seminaries, and have seen others go forth as missionaries, deaconesses, and teachers. God has blessed the ministry here richly, and we pray He will continue to do so for years and years to come.

Our mission of campus ministry at the University of Minnesota began on February 18th, 1925 when a college chapter of the Walther League was organized with 31 charter members. Rev. E.F. Witte served as the pastoral advisor. It was then estimated that some 150 synodical students were attending the U of M. Meeting on the next day, the District-appointed Committee on Student Work met at Trinity Lutheran Church, St. Paul, with the agenda calling for a full-time campus pastor and working out financial arrangements for erection of a chapel. Several synods and districts were represented, including the Missouri Synod District Mission Board, the Wisconsin Synod District Mission Board, the Norwegian Synod Mission Board, the English District of the LC-MS, and the Evangelical Lutheran Slovak Synod. The ministry was administered by the LC-MS on behalf of all of the contributing synods.

After several failed attempts to call a full-time campus pastor, Rev. Theophil Schroedel of Mt. Olive Lutheran Church agreed to take on the task on a part-time basis and shepherded this group during the early years as their first campus pastor. Bible studies were organized on campus and church attendance encouraged at local congregations. Eventually, in 1934, the group joined the newly formed Gamma Delta, the International Association for Lutheran Students. Gamma Delta became an important spiritual and social outlet for hundreds of students.

In 1940 Dr. Oswald C.J. Hoffmann, who would eventually become the speaker of The Lutheran Hour, served as part-time campus pastor while he was completing his doctorate at the University. Dr. Hoffmann began regular Sunday services at the Center for Continuation of Study at the U of M. Later that same year Pastor Rudolf Norden became the first full-time campus pastor. Pastor Norden served a thriving campus ministry for eleven years. Services were held every Sunday. Bible classes flourished, and outside speakers were often invited to address the many students who came. It was during this period that the ULC chapel and the parsonage were constructed.

Ground-breaking for the chapel took place on March 27, 1949. Delegates to the convention of the Minnesota District of the LC-MS took a recess from their sessions at Concordia College, St. Paul, to come to ULC for the laying of the cornerstone on August 16th, 1949. The chapel was dedicated in a series of three services on Quasimodogeniti Sunday, April 16, 1950.

In 1952, Pastor Lambert Mehl was called to be campus pastor, but was called away after two years to become President of St. Paul's College in Concordia, Missouri. Rev. Mehl was followed in 1954 by Pastor Reuben Beisel. Under Rev. Beisel's leadership, and at the suggestion of the Minnesota District, University Lutheran Chapel became a regular congregation of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Students were regularly active in worship and Bible study, and a second Sunday service was begun to handle the large number of people.

In 1959 Rev. Beisel was called to be President of St. John's College in Winfield, Kansas. Pastor Harry N. Huxhold was called in 1960 to be the new pastor of ULC. Rev. Huxhold began to hold daily Matins services at the Chapel and wrote the daily service book Bless We The Lord, published by Concordia Publishing House in 1963, which became the pattern for The Priesthood Prays, still in use at ULC today. After Easter of 1960 Holy Communion began to be offered every week. Attendance at church and fellowship activities began to wane in the early 1960's. It was at this time that Pastor Huxhold began moving the chapel services in the direction of Contemporary Worship.

In 1965, Pastor Benno Salewski was called to serve as campus pastor. Pastor Salewski introduced even more radically experimental worship services. Students became more involved with both the planning and conduct of the Sunday services as well. Eventually traditional liturgical services, which had continued to be one of the Sunday options, were dropped altogether.

Student attendance, rather than rebounding on account of the innovations, continued to decline. The issue, it seems, had little to do with worship style, but much to do with the anti-institutional mind set of the 60's. By the end of the decade the once vibrant Gamma Delta student group disbanded, and many of the regular student activities were curtailed.

In 1974, Rev. Roger Stehr was called to University Lutheran Chapel to fill the vacancy left by Pastor Salewski. Pastor Stehr continued in the directions begun under Pastors Huxhold and Salewski. The same year, the chapel student center underwent an almost $200,000 renovation that resulted in a very modern, 70's look, replete with the colors and textures of the decade. The chapel itself also underwent radical changes. Pews were torn out; the chancel was closed off; and the entire liturgical setting was reoriented. A wooden altar was placed at the side of the nave around which the congregants seated themselves in a fan-shaped configuration deemed more useful for the contemporary services.

Ties were also strengthened with the liberal-minded American Lutheran Church (now a part of the ELCA). In 1975, the ALC campus ministry moved its offices into ULC and began working cooperatively in campus outreach and student worship. These arrangement continued until the early 1980's when they were ended by our synod.

In 1983, the Rev. John T. Pless was called to be campus pastor and worked for 17 years to restore ULC to its confessional roots and to build up the campus ministry. The chapel can be said to have grown and matured under Pastor Pless's able leadership, and returned to fulfilling its original purpose of being a haven and a stabilizing influence in the lives of the students who attend.

Among the many accomplishments during this period are the founding of Lutheran Student Fellowship, which was begun by Pastor Pless and other campus ministers in 1988, with ULC hosting one of the charter chapters; the beginning of our annual preaching seminars and of our lay academy of theology; another renovation of the chapel and student center, restoring the chapel to its original orientation; the renewal of liturgical worship; and the growth of the congregation into a stable and committed Lutheran parish.

In 2000, Pastor Pless was called to be a professor of practical theology at Concordia Theological Seminary, and was replaced as campus pastor by Pastor David A. Kind who was called by ULC in 2001. Pastor Kind has worked to continue the work begun by Pastor Pless and to build upon it.

Since Pastor Kind's arrival, the student center has undergone significant improvements, including the addition of a game room and theater area in the undercroft, and renovation of the narthex, library and lounge areas. As part of this general effort to improve the facilities, significant work has also been done to the front landscaping of the property. We pray these improvements will help make ULC a much more inviting and useful place for students.

Today ULC continues to offer rich, sacramental, liturgical, worship; indepth catechesis and Bible study; exposure to expert, visiting theologians; an active Christian social venue; and much more. It also continues to look toward the future and is involved in the founding of an exciting new effort in confessionally Lutheran campus work: Christ On Campus, the campus ministry wing of Higher Things.

By God's grace, ULC continues to be both a flagship campus ministry and a steadfast, orthodox congregation, proclaiming the Gospel of Christ to the students at the University of Minnesota and to the community. May our Lord keep her faithful until the day of His return. Amen.