Though he probably remained a Catholic throughout his life, Frederick III of Saxony (aka “Frederick the Wise”) played an important role in the birth of Lutheranism though his protection of Martin Luther. Born January 17, 1463, Frederick succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony in 1486. As an Elector, he held one of seven voted to determine the Holy Roman …

Born in Hersbruck and raised primarily in Nuremburg, Nikolaus Selnecker showed considerable talent as an organist at an early age. He studied under Melanchthon at Wittenburg from 1549 to 1558. Today, we remember Selnecker primarily as a prolific hymnist, having written over a hundred hymns. However, he also wrote many lectures on Biblical texts and played a key role in …

The Lutheran Calendar of Saints remembers Hans Nielsen Hauge on March 29th. Hauge was a Norwegian layman who fundamentally changed the Church of Norway. A farmer, Hauge experienced a religious revelation while working in his field. He accepted a mission spread the Word of God, beginning a Pietist revival in Norway, even though at the time the law in Norway …

Born Philipp Schwartzerdt, in 1497 into a well connected family, Philip Melanchthon studied Latin and Greek at the Latin school at Pforzheim.  His great-uncle, Johann Reuchlin suggested that he follow a humanist custom and change his last name to the Greek equivalent Melanchthon, both meaning “black earth.”  In 1518, Melanchthon accepted a professor of Greek position at the University of …

Born in Alabama in 1937, Will Herzfeld grew up in the Jim Crow South.  He attended Lutheran parochial schools throughout his childhood before attending Immanuel Lutheran College in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he earned an Associate of Arts degree.  In 1961, Herzfeld earned a Masters of Divinity from Immanuel Lutheran Seminary.  Ordained by the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, Herzfeld …

David Koontz, the first black president of a Lutheran Synod in North America, began life in 1846 as a slave in North Carolina.  Freed following the Civil War, Koontz studied under Rev. W. A. Julian who ordained Koontz in 1880 in Mount Pleasant, NC.  Koontz served his church in Mount Pleasant and also helped found Grace Lutheran Church in Concord, …

Born in St. Kitts in 1875, Emma Francis was the daughter of a Moravian minister.  After the death of her mother, she felt a call to missionary work.  Francis moved to Germany to study at Bible House.  When she finished her missionary education, Bible House’s board considered placing her as a missionary in Sudan, but decided that she would not …

Daniel Alexander Payne was the first African American to attend a Lutheran seminary.  Born to free African Americans in Charleston, SC in 1811, Payne wished to provide education to the enslaved.  Slave codes enacted following slave revolts made it illegal to teach slaves, so Payne moved north to Pennsylvania.  In 1835, Payne accepted a scholarship specifically intended for an African …