The past contains a host of touchpoints that can instruct and enlighten our assessment of the present.

“I live in the now, and I’m heading to the future. The past doesn’t have that much to say to me.” Wow! Those were the student’s exact words. He had little time for the study of old stuff.

Is this just an isolated perspective, or does it represent the mindset of many? Sometimes I suspect the latter.

A sense of perspective

As we celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod this year, the value of historical study needs to be underscored. I would suggest that historical perspective may be exactly what our generation needs. So much media infiltrate our lives with the immediacy of events that we may lose a sense of perspective that echoes an essential phrase from Ecclesiastes 1:9: “There is nothing new under the sun.” The past contains a host of touchpoints that can instruct and enlighten our assessment of the present.

What happens if we ignore history’s lessons? Many like to quote the well-worn adage that those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it. While there is a kernel of truth in that statement, it asserts more than it is able to support. Trends and events are never exactly the same from era to era. History cannot, therefore, stand as a predictive lens for the future. But history can serve to indicate possible challenges that lie ahead. It is extremely useful to review the ebb and flow of Lutheran history in the United States. It is largely an account of immigrants from Europe who faced the testing of both a newfound freedom and the untamed frontier. A variety of synods were formed. Mission efforts were begun. Training schools were founded. Congregations and institutions grew and, under God’s grace, matured to cultivate their own histories.

The history of Lutheranism in the US and Canada—and of WELS—is not a seamless success story. We need to know about the controversies—to assess and study them. Then we will not be taken by surprise when something happens in the future. We will have the maturity of faith to stand on the truth of God’s unchanging Word and act accordingly. Those who live without a knowledge of the past inevitably become too enamored of their accomplishments and, regrettably, are often unprepared to deal with sudden testing.

A remembrance of blessings

At the same time, we need to review the blessings our Lord has showered on our synod. From a handful of Milwaukee-area congregations, our synod has, in just seven generations, grown to become a worldwide fellowship of confessional Lutheran churches. The Lutheran solas of Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, and Scripture alone have served to secure the foundation of our walk together. We serve a timeless God who redeemed our time and now rules all things in the interest of his kingdom. Jesus is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Our Christian witness is always old news applied to present circumstances.

The masthead motto of Forward in Christ is fitting: “May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us” (1 Kings 8:57). That passage comes from Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple. It is a plea to remember. That is exactly what history does: It recalls again and again that God continues to shower his grace on generation after generation.

May this verse be our continued prayer, especially as we celebrate WELS’ 175th anniversary.

Learn more about WELS history at welshistoricalinstitute.org.

Author: Paul Koelpin
Volume 112, Number 02
Issue: February 2025