The Northwestern Lutheran: Its Inception and Inaugural Year

Abstract

Tim Westendorf’s historical essay, The Northwestern Lutheran: Its Inception and Inaugural Year (2000), explores the origins of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod’s English-language periodical, The Northwestern Lutheran, launched in 1914. The study situates its creation within the cultural and linguistic transition of early 20th-century German-American Lutheranism. As English increasingly supplanted German among younger generations, synod leaders recognized the urgent need for an English publication to preserve confessional identity and counter secular influences. Official action at the 1913 Appleton and Green Bay conventions authorized the new magazine, which debuted under the editorial leadership of Pastors John Jenny, Fred Graeber, John Brenner, and Hans Kollar Moussa. Westendorf profiles these editors, noting their commitment to doctrinal fidelity and mission outreach. The inaugural year’s issues featured hymns, devotional and doctrinal essays, polemical articles, and commentary on contemporary concerns such as unionism, lodges, and Christian education. Special issues highlighted synodical schools and Reformation heritage. The essay underscores the magazine’s role in bridging linguistic divides while maintaining theological integrity, a strategy providentially timed before World War I accelerated anti-German sentiment. Westendorf concludes that The Northwestern Lutheran exemplified adaptive methods without doctrinal compromise, ensuring continuity of Lutheran confession amid cultural change—a legacy that endures in its modern successor.