ROCK ISLAND, IL (06/01/2010)(readMedia)-- Neil Friberg of Rock Island, Ill., will be one of two Augustana students to perform the play, "A Prairie Planting," commemorating the 150th anniversary of the formation of the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod. The free and public event will take place Saturday, June 5, 2010 at 3 p.m. at Jefferson Prairie Lutheran Church in Poplar Grove, Ill.
The short play gives a glimpse into the meeting that led to the signing of the synod's constitution. It includes the perspective of a college student conducting a practice run on a senior research project about ethnicity in 19th-century Protestantism while Lars Esbjorn, Augustana's first president, looks on to help her with the facts. Friberg, a sophomore general studies major, will perform the role of Esbjorn. Dorothy Williams, a sophomore general studies major from Melrose Park, Ill., will play the role of the college student.
The observation of the founding will include the play as well as a signing of the sesquicentennial compact by President Steven Bahls, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois; President Rob Oliver, Augustana College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and ELCA Director of Colleges and Universities Rev. Mark Wilhelm. The three will sign sesquicentennial compact at the same table used to sign the original constitution creating the Augustana Synod.
"One of our chief aims in planning for the observance of the Augustana sesquicentennial was to celebrate and teach the history of the college," said Steven Bahls, president of Augustana College in Rock Island. "As we've done so, we have gained a rich appreciation for the courage and vision of the founders of the school, and for the firm foundation that they left us. We are humbled by the opportunity to return to Jefferson Prairie 150 years later, to honor our founders and the hundreds of faculty and staff members over the years who advanced Augustana to become one of the nation's top liberal arts colleges."
The Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod was established in North America in 1860. A group of Swedish Lutheran pastors-Jonas Swensson, Lars Paul Esbjorn, Tuve Hasselquist, Eric Norelius and Erland Carlsson-developed the Augustana Synod during a meeting from June 5-8 at the Jefferson Prairie Settlement near Clinton, Wisconsin.
The synod consisted of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish members. The Norwegian and Danish left ten years later to form their own church bodies. In 1894 the name was changed to Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America and then again in 1948 to the name Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church. The synod is credited with founding seven liberal arts colleges, including Augustana College in Rock Island, and today is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Jefferson Prairie Lutheran Church is located about seven miles east of Interstate 90's Beloit exit.
About Augustana: Founded in 1860 and situated on a 115-acre campus near the Mississippi River, Augustana College is a private, liberal arts institution affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The college enrolls 2,500 students from diverse geographic, social, ethnic and religious backgrounds and offers more than 70 majors and related areas of study. Augustana employs 287 faculty and has a student-faculty ratio of 11:1. Augustana continues to do what it has always done: challenge and prepare students for lives of leadership and service in our complex, ever-changing world.
