Red Wing Seminary - History

History

Red Wing Seminary was the educational center for the Hauge's Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Synod in America, commonly known as the Hauge Synod. The synod de-emphasizing formal worship and stressing personal faith in the Haugean tradition. The Hauge Synod opened the seminary in 1879. Red Wing Seminary was in operation until 1917. Notable alumni included Bernt B. Haugan, Nils Nilsen Ronning, August Herman Andresen, and Knute Hill.

In 1917, when the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America was formed by merger of the Hauge Synod, the Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, commonly called the Norwegian Synod, and the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, the combined church had three seminaries in operation. Each of the three churches operated a seminary: the Norwegian Synod operated Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the United Norwegian Lutheran Church operated the United Church Seminary in Saint Paul and the Hauge Synod operated the Red Wing Seminary. Luther Theological Seminary was formed through the merger of these three institutions.

Following the merger in 1917, the Red Wing facility initially continued as an academy and junior college of the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America. The academy, which operated into the 1920s with the facilities used for other educational purposes, closed in the 1930s.