ELS Ottesen Museum

06/02/2026

Prof. Christopher U. Faye was born June 2, 1886 to Christopher and Marie (nee Hoel) Faye in Entumeni, Zulu. He attended St. John’s College, Sussex, England (1901-04); Luther College (1906-09); Luther Seminary (1909-12); Minnesota University (1922-24); Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO (1924-25); and Illinois University Library School (1926-?).

Faye served as a professor at Bethany Lutheran College (1952-1962) and as co-editor of the “Lutheran Sentinel” (1924-1925).

In 1925, Faye married Alice Josephine (nee Jenson). Alice died in 1986.

06/01/2026

Rev. Martin Galstad died June 1, 1999, in Haines City, Florida.

Galstad served at Parkland Lutheran, Tacoma, Washington (1935-1940); and Somber Lutheran, Northwood, Iowa (1940-1945). He then taught at Bethany Lutheran College and Seminary (1945-1954), Dr. Martin Luther College (1954-1959); and Immanuel Lutheran College (1961-1964). He helped to found Immanuel Lutheran, Winter Haven, Florida, where he served 1964-1976.

Galstad and his wife Eunice (nee Abernethy) had three children: Gudrun, Eunice Marie, and John. Eunice died in 2005.

06/01/2026

Rev. Jakob Aal Ottesen was born in Fet, Nedre Romerike, Kristiania, Norway, on June 1, 1825, to provost Otto Christian and Didrikke (nee Aal) Ottesen. He studied at the Drammens Latin School from 1838 - 1844, and Kristiania University from 1844 - 1849 (A.B., A.M., C.T.). He taught at the Nissens and Heltbergs Latin School in Kristiania from 1849 - 1852.

Ottesen was ordained in 1852 and emigrated to the United States where he served at Valders, Wisconsin, from 1852 - 1860, Koshkonong, Wisconsin, from 1860 - 1891, and Decorah, Iowa, from 1894 - 1896.

Ottesen was one of the six pastors who founded the Norwegian Synod in 1853 and served as it’s Secretary in 1857 and from 1861 - 1863. He was on the church council from 1873 - 1884 and again from 1887 - 1902. He served as associate editor of the “Maanedstidende” from 1859- 1868. He authored “Uddrag af Synodens historie” (“Extracts From Synod History”) in 1881 and 1893. He translated M. Günthers “Symbolik” (“Symbolics”) in 1896. In 1877 he was called to the theological faculty of Luther Seminary and president of the eastern district but refused. In 1903 he was named a Knight of The Order of St. Olav.

Ottesen married Cathinka Tank Døderlein in 1852. She died in 1899. They were blessed with six children: Hannah Cathinka (1853-1854), Didrikke Aal (1855-1879), Otto Christian (1858-1917), Hannah Cathinka (1860-1931), Christian Døderlein (1863-1867), and Herman Amberg Preus (1866-1867). Cathinka died in 1899.

05/30/2026

Rev. Gustav Fredrik Dietrichson died May 30,1886, in Toten, Norway.

From 1842 through 185, he taught at the school for commoners in Stavanger. In 1851, he was ordained and emigrated to the United States where he was the pastor at Luther Valley, Wisconsin, from 1851 - 1859. He was one of the six pastors who founded the Norwegian Synod in 1853 and was on the church council from 1853 - 1859.

In 1859, Dietrichson returned to Norway, where he served as the called chaplain (?) at Hetland, Stavanger, and served there until 1862.

Dietrichson served as parish pastor in Evje, Torridal, from 1862 - 1864, provost at Robygdelaget from 1864 - 1870, parish pastor in Øier, S. Gudbrandsdalen in 1870 and 1871, provost in S. Gudbrandsdalen from 1871 - 1877, parish pastor in W. Toten in 1877, and pastor in Toten from 1877 - 1883.

05/29/2026

Holy Cross Lutheran Church and School, Madison, Wisconsin, celebrates 100 years this year!

05/29/2026

On May 29, 1943, the ELS Ottesen Museum opened on the Bethany Lutheran College Campus. The original collection was donated by Hannah Ottesen the daughter of Rev. J. A. Ottesen, one of the founders of the Norwegian Synod. The Museum moved to its current location on Browns Court in 2003.

05/29/2026

May 29, 1919: The second meeting of Norwegian Synod of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church took place in Albert Lea, Minnesota (through June 4). The constitution of the new church body was completed and adopted, and officers were elected for a two-year period. The Synod consisted of congregations and pastors who declined to participate in the merger that formed the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America in 1917. Today this Synod is known as the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS).

05/29/2026

Jacob Ellingson Thoen died May 29, 1947 in Mankato, Minnesota.

Thoen served as pastor in Hemingford, Nebraska 1895-1897 and Wells, Minnseota 1897-1903. He served as president and teacher of religion at Luther Academy, Albert Lea, Minnesota 1903-1914. For a while he farmed near Griebrok, Minnesota before serving in Oklee, Minnesota (1920-1923) and Amherst Junction, Wisconsin (1923-1930). From 1930-1937 he served as the editor of the Lutheran Sentinel and Lutheran Tidende.

In June of 1918, Thoen was one of the thirteen pastors who met at Lime Creek, Iowa, to form the Norwegian Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Thoen married Caia Christiane Wulfsberg in 1895. They were blessed with nine children: Einar, Rudolph, Erling, Norman, Olaf, Doris, Constance, Esther, and Ruth. Caia died in 1948.

05/28/2026

May 28, 2017: Mario Gálvez was ordained as the first national pastor of the ELS mission in Chile.

05/25/2026