Image: Carl and Gottlieb Damler.  These brothers immigrated to Manitowoc County, WI from the principality of Lippe-Detmold in the early 1850s.  Although confirmed Reformed, they worshiped first in a union congregation, but then joined the Lutheran church under the leadership of Pastor Koehler.  Carl is the host's g-g-g-grandfather.

Our returning guest, Pastor Peter Prange, provides a detailed account of the formation and confessional maturation of the Wisconsin Synod, which finally led to its complete break with the German Union mission societies that had given it so much missionary and monetary support and its recognition by the Missouri Synod as an orthodox church preceding the formation of the Synodical Conference.

Many thanks to my wonderful supporters!

Support the show

Podcast Meet and Greet October 8

• Confessional Languages Scholarship
• The Wauwatosa Diary (book)
• YouTube
• Website
•  email: [email protected]

About the Host:

Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

Image: Right wing of the Altar Triptych in St. Peter und Paul, Weimar by Cranach - Lutheran princes of the House of Wettin in worship

Worship of the triune God has always stood at the center of the Christian life. That was certainly the case during the sixteenth-century Reformation as well. Yet amid tremendous social and theological upheaval, the church had to renew its understanding of what it means to worship God.

In this episode, Reformed Reformation scholar Karin Maag takes us inside the worshiping life of the church during this era. Drawing from sources across theological traditions, she explores several aspects of the church's worship, including what it was like to attend church, reforms in preaching, the function of prayer, how Christians experienced the sacraments, and the roles of both visual art and music in worship.

Many thanks to my wonderful supporters!

Support the show

Podcast Meet and Greet October 8

• Confessional Languages Scholarship
• The Wauwatosa Diary (book)
• YouTube
• Website
•  email: [email protected]

About the Host:

Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

Image: The Account of How Two Men of the Augustinian Order Were Martyred in Brussels in Brabant for the Sake of the Gospel (Erfurt, 1523)

Five hundred years ago, on July 1, 1523, two observant Augustinian monks from Antwerp, Hendrik Voes and Jan van den Esschen, were degraded, condemned, and burned at the stake by Roman Catholic authorities in the Grand Plaza of Brussels, today an UNESCO World Heritage Site. These monks were adherents of Luther’s Reformation doctrine, making them the first Lutheran Christian martyrs and, as Martin Luther himself noted, perhaps the first Christian martyrs ever in the Low Countries.

For this episode, we welcome back Pastor Nathaniel Biebert for his mini-series, "Details Less OftenTold," where he examines fascinating hidden details of the Reformation 500 years later.

Many thanks to my wonderful supporters!

Support the show

Podcast Meet and Greet October 8

• Confessional Languages Scholarship
• The Wauwatosa Diary (book)
• YouTube
• Website
•  email: [email protected]

About the Host:

Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

Image:Johann Gerhard
In this episode, our guest Rev. Caauwe gives a detailed overview of various forms of Lutheran devotional piety developed in the 16th and 17th centuries as well as a discussion on how that devotional heritage has been transferred through the generations.

Many thanks to my wonderful supporters!

Support the show

Podcast Meet and Greet October 8

• Confessional Languages Scholarship
• The Wauwatosa Diary (book)
• YouTube
• Website
•  email: [email protected]

About the Host:

Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

(Image: Synodical Conference founders from Lutherans in All Lands, 1896)
Dr. C.F.W. Walther worked tirelessly to realize his dream of a Lutheran Zion in North America that would combine and coordinate ministry efforts of faithful Lutherans in the United States and Canada to proclaim the gospel primarily in German, English, and Norwegian. He took center stage in the history of the doctrine and practice of church fellowship among those Lutherans who organized the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America in 1872. With the Spirit's help, six confessional Lutheran church bodies in the American Midwest would forge a gospel ministry partnership that could and would have a profound impact on American and world Lutheranism for decades. But how did it happen? Had these synods discovered the Holy Grail of complete doctrinal agreement? No, they hadn't. Nor did they expect to find it. Instead, the Synodical Conference was founded on fundamental unity, an important fact that has been too often overlooked by subsequent generations of Lutheran church historians and church leaders. But what did these Lutheran fathers mean by fundamental unity? This volume deals with and answers that question and many more.

Get the book

Many thanks to my wonderful supporters!

Support the show

Podcast Meet and Greet October 8

• Confessional Languages Scholarship
• The Wauwatosa Diary (book)
• YouTube
• Website
•  email: [email protected]

About the Host:

Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

Listen to this tribute to Alaska's Lutheran history as I prepare to say goodbye to the wonderful 49th state with deep and unique Lutheran roots!

Many thanks to my wonderful supporters!

Support the show

Podcast Meet and Greet October 8

• Confessional Languages Scholarship
• The Wauwatosa Diary (book)
• YouTube
• Website
•  email: [email protected]

About the Host:

Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

"For Midwestern Lutheran synods, the 20th century was especially dramatic and even traumatic. ..In his article, Dr. Braun describes some of the tensions within two predominantly Midwestern Lutheran bodies, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), as these Lutherans struggled to adapt to change without sacrificing eternal truths and treasured traditions. "  [Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly 79, 3 (Fall), 180-194] Dr. Mark Braun is a former professor of theology at Wisconsin Lutheran College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  He is most known for his Tale of Two Synods.

Many thanks to my wonderful supporters!

Support the show

Podcast Meet and Greet October 8

• Confessional Languages Scholarship
• The Wauwatosa Diary (book)
• YouTube
• Website
•  email: [email protected]

About the Host:

Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

Image: Reinhold L. Pieper (1850-1920)

Isaac Johnson graduated from Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, MI with a degree in Latin in 2011 and attended Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN. During his time at seminary he spent two years studying at the Lutheran theological seminary (Evangelisch-Lutherische Hochschule) in Oberursel, Germany. He was ordained in 2016 and was called to serve Risen Christ Lutheran Church in Davenport, Iowa. He now serves New Hope Lutheran Church, a mission congregation in Charles City, Iowa. Isaac has a strong interest in homiletics and the German language and is currently engaged in translating Reinhold Pieper's Homiletics textbook (Evangelish-Lutherische Homiletik)

Many thanks to my wonderful supporters!

Support the show

Podcast Meet and Greet October 8

• Confessional Languages Scholarship
• The Wauwatosa Diary (book)
• YouTube
• Website
•  email: [email protected]

About the Host:

Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

Image: Three generations of Franks and Kerlers in Greenfield 1889.

"I prefer America," one German Lutheran immigrant wrote. Letters of German Lutheran immigrants in 19th century America give under-analyzed perspectives of lay members and their views of church establishment and denominational selection.

Many thanks to my wonderful supporters!

Support the show

Podcast Meet and Greet October 8

• Confessional Languages Scholarship
• The Wauwatosa Diary (book)
• YouTube
• Website
•  email: [email protected]

About the Host:

Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

Image: Regina, Veronica and Frank Kerler
"I prefer America," one German Lutheran immigrant wrote. Letters of German Lutheran immigrants in 19th century America give under-analyzed perspectives of lay members and their views of church establishment and denominational selection.

Many thanks to my wonderful supporters!

Support the show

Podcast Meet and Greet October 8

• Confessional Languages Scholarship
• The Wauwatosa Diary (book)
• YouTube
• Website
•  email: [email protected]

About the Host:

Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.