The Lutheran History Podcast

In this episode (TLHP 83) of The Lutheran History Podcast, we sit down with Dr. John Brenner to discuss his important study of Walther's Theses on Open Questions and the 1868 colloquy that led to the declaration of fellowship between the Missouri and Wisconsin Synods.

We return to the nineteenth-century debates that gave rise to these theses. Brenner explains why Walther was responding to the Iowa Synod's doctrine of "open questions," how the language of fundamental unity functioned in that debate, and why defining the term is essential before anyone can legitimately appeal to Walther today.

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Return to Wittenberg Conference

In this episode (TLHP 82), we are joined by Daniel G. Baker to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Luther's "German Mass." We discuss Baker's article, “The False Dichotomy of Formula Missae and Deutsche Messe.” Luther’s two major orders of service are often treated as representing competing liturgical traditions: the Formula Missae preserving the historic Latin Mass and the Deutsche Messe representing a distinctly German alternative. Baker challenges that interpretation, arguing that both are expressions of the same evangelical approach to worship, adapted to different linguistic and cultural settings. We discuss what Luther was actual...

Image: Ludwig Nietmann

This episode (TLHP 81) welcomes returning guest, Pastor Justin Dauck, to examine the complex and often overlooked figure of Ludwig Nietmann, a 19th-century Lutheran pastor whose life and ministry intersect with the early development of the Wisconsin Synod. Beginning with Nietmann’s background prior to his arrival in America, the conversation traces his path into the synod and situates his ministerial work within the broader context of immigrant Lutheranism on the American frontier. Dauck offers a concise overview of Nietmann’s pastoral career, highlighting both his activity and the controversies that came to define his...

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Podcast Meet and Greet October 8

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 als...

In this episode (TLHP 80), we explore the story behind The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) and the remarkable collaboration that brought it into existence. Drawing on Elisabeth J. Urtel’s recent dissertation, the conversation traces how the Missouri, Wisconsin, Norwegian, and Slovak synods of the Synodical Conference worked together to produce a shared English-language hymnal during a time of profound cultural change. The discussion examines how the shift from German and other immigrant languages to English shaped Lutheran identity in America, the theological and musical principles that guided the hymnal committee, and the challenges of translating and selecting hymns that would faithfully ca...

In this episode (TLHP 79), we talk with Dr. Ronald Rittgers about his book The Reformation of Suffering: Pastoral Theology and Lay Piety in Late Medieval and Early Modern Germany.  

Join us for a fascinating discussion of what was retained from the Late-Medieval focus on human suffering in the Reformation, and what was incompatible with the renewed focus on the biblical doctrine of salvation.

Finally, we discussed how our current age seeks to distance itself from questions and acknowledgment of suffering and its proper theological framework and pastoral applications. 

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Image: Mythic depiction of PETER MUHLENBERG AT WOODSTOCK, VIRGINIA

Note: the guest wishes to clarify that he meant a $10 bill, not $100, in reference to Hamilton.

In God on Three Sides, Jonathan M. Wilson explores how German Pietist communities experienced and interpreted the American Revolution, a war that forced believers to wrestle with loyalty, violence, and obedience to God in a time of political upheaval. Drawing on sermons, letters, and personal writings, Wilson shows how Pietists on all sides of the conflict—Patriot, Loyalist, and neutral—understood the war through a shared theological vocabulary of p...

Image: German and British officers with a chaplain in 1777. 

In God on Three Sides, Jonathan M. Wilson explores how German Pietist communities experienced and interpreted the American Revolution, a war that forced believers to wrestle with loyalty, violence, and obedience to God in a time of political upheaval. Drawing on sermons, letters, and personal writings, Wilson shows how Pietists on all sides of the conflict—Patriot, Loyalist, and neutral—understood the war through a shared theological vocabulary of providence, suffering, discipline, and faithful endurance.

Wilson treats Pietism broadly, using the term to describe a transatlantic devot...

In this episode (TLHP 76), we welcome back Dr. Tim Grundmeier from MLC to talk about his newly published book.

Lutheranism and American Culture examines the transformation of the nation’s third-largest Protestant denomination over the course of the nineteenth century. In the antebellum era, leading voices within the church believed that the best way to become American was by modifying certain historic doctrines deemed too Catholic and cooperating with Anglo-evangelicals in revivalism and social reform. However, by the mid-1870s, most Lutherans had rejected this view. Though they remained proudly American, most embraced a religious identity characterized by...

The most important WELS history resource might not sit on a shelf — it’s already in your browser.

In this episode (TLHP 75), we sit down with Professor Nathan Ericson, Library Director at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and Editor of the Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, to explore the quiet engine behind much of modern WELS scholarship: Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Digital Library. We discuss how thousands of digitized papers—from convention essays to rare historical documents—form an indispensable record of the synod’s past and a living resource for pastors, teachers, researchers, and congregational historians today. Ericson unpacks how these...

What was it like to witness Martin Luther’s wedding—and even his bridal chamber? In this episode (TLHP 74), we explore Justus Jonas’s vivid letter announcing Luther’s marriage to Katharina von Bora, complete with tears, friends, and ancient wedding customs that may shock modern ears. Along the way, we’ll uncover the surprising role of the best man, the significance of Luther’s marriage for Reformation theology, and why vocation and family life became so central to his legacy.

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In this episode (TLHP 73) of The Lutheran History Podcast, Dr. John M. Brenner joins to share insights from his recent article on Professor Siegbert W. Becker, a major voice in confessional Lutheran theology during the 20th century. Listeners will be introduced to Becker’s life, teaching, and legacy, and gain a better understanding of the challenges he faced—and the convictions he held—in a time of great theological unrest.

Becker’s story spans some of the most critical decades in American Lutheranism. Raised in the Missouri Synod and later serving in the Wisconsin Synod, he became known fo...

In this episode (TLHP 72) of The Lutheran History Podcast, we talk with Dr. Timothy D. Grundmeier about his recent article, “Pennsylvania’s ‘Youthful Daughter’: Reexamining the Early History of the Wisconsin Synod,” featured in the Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly (Spring 2025). While many are familiar with the Wisconsin Synod’s early ties to German mission societies and eventual fellowship with the Missouri Synod, Dr. Grundmeier highlights an often underappreciated chapter in WELS history: its formative partnership with the Pennsylvania Synod. Drawing on rich archival sources, he paints a fuller picture of how eastern Lutherans supported and shaped the growing church in the Midwest...

In this special episode (TLHP 71), guest host Tim Grundmeier interviews historian and author Benjamin T. Phelps about his recent Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly article on Dr. Henry A. Koch—a pastor, professor, and editor who left a profound mark on confessional Lutheranism in both Germany and America. Phelps shares personal insights drawn from years of research, including access to Koch’s letters, diary, and unpublished materials preserved by his family. Together, they trace Koch’s theological formation in Wauwatosa, his academic work in Leipzig, his resistance to Nazi ideology, and his return to America without a call during the Great Depres...

This is a special episode (TLHP 70) of a presentation I prepared for the Society of German American Studies symposium in April in Milwaukee.

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The year 2025 marks the 175th anniversary of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Originally established in the Milwaukee area as the Die erste deutsch. evang.-luth. Synode von Wisconsin, this German immigrant ecclesiastical organization, immediately needed printed materials in its native language that would serve the needs of its people in a new geographic and social setting.  The Wisconsin Synod primarily sought to preserve and transmit conservative confessional Lutheranism in the first s...

In this WELS 175th episode (TLHP 69), we talk with Joel Otto, the anniversary committee chairman, about the pictorial history book Christ Through Us, which he co-authored with John Braun.

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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...

In this WELS 175th episode (TLHP 68), we talk with Joel Otto, the anniversary committee chairman, about what WELS worship has looked like in the past and how it has changed.

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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...

image: Adolph Hoenecke from the host's family photo collection.

In this WELS 175th episode (TLHP 67), we talk with Prof. James Danell who teaches German at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN, about Adolph Hoenecke, who taught for many decades at the Wisconsin Synod's Seminary.  Prof. Danell speaks in this episode about his significant influence on the spirit and theology of the Wisconsin Synod.

Not only does Danell teach the German language, but his advanced classes read through German Lutheran materials from the Reformation through the 19th and 20th century American Lutheran theologians.  His students, th...

This is part of a longer conversation I had with Prof. James Danell about the imperative need for scholars who know German to do Lutheran history.

You can support the Confessional Language Scholarship at MLC to encourage this endeavor here.

Episode TLHP 66.

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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 ha...

This is a cross-over episode (TLHP 65) with The Shepherd's Study Podcast, where I was a guest of Jared Natsis and Phil Moldenhauer.  We talked about the content and merits of the book Brand Luther which came out shortly before the Reformation 500th anniversary.

The Shepherd’s Study podcast is produced by Grow in Grace to help pastors grow in the art and practice of pastoral ministry. Each episode features Lutheran pastors discussing a book that is salient to their work.

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers’ own and do not represent the views...

In this episode (TLHP 64), we talk with Peter Prange about the third volume in his series, Wielding the Sword of the Spirit, in which he gets into the details and nuances of the Election Controversy that rocked the Synodical Conference.

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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 pr...

In this WELS 175th episode (TLHP 63), Tim Grundmeier and I talk about who Johannes Muehlhaeuser was, Christmas trees, and the founding of the Wisconsin Synod.

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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 awa...

Image: JP Koehler at Wauwatosa Seminary, candid photo taken by a student.


While going through some old boxes in my grandfather's basement, I stumbled upon something truly remarkable: my great-grandfather’s diary. He was a student at the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary from 1910 to 1912 and had the unique opportunity to learn from the famous Wauwatosa theologians of that era. As you can imagine, this diary could be a treasure trove of insights into the life of a seminary student over a century ago.

But here’s the thing—the handwriting is challenging to decipher. It’s very d...

Link to the service and hymns: https://trinitylutheransd.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Reformation-Hymn-Festival-2024.pdf

The first evangelical hymnal—which in retrospect we can also call the first Lutheran hymnal—rolled off the presses around the middle of January 1524. But interestingly, it did not roll off the presses in Wittenberg, even though the title page gave that impression, or even at Luther’s instigation. It was printed by Jobst Gutknecht in Nuremberg, well over 200 miles to the south of Wittenberg, and apparently on his own initiative. Gutknecht compiled four hymns that had been individually published in Wittenberg on broadsheets in 152...

Timothy Plichta is a WELS homeschooled high school student living in Germantown, WI. He loves Lutheran history in general and is especially enthralled with anything related to the CELC.

Episode TLHP 61.

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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 hi...

This episode is a fuller version of my presentation given at the 2024 Lutheran Historical Conference in Baltimore. Link to the full video of this episode.

One church historian observed that “ It would require pages and pages to report Wyneken's work during his pastorate [in Baltimore].”  
This episode (TLHP 60) will examine one specific topic- how Wyneken contested for a genuine Lutheran identity and practice in the following arenas in Baltimore:

Image: Johannes Bugenhagen

During the Reformation Martin Luther restored many Christian teachings to its proper biblical understanding. One of the men who worked with Luther in communicating those teachings was Johannes Bugenhagen. This episode explores one specific way Bugenhagen communicated the doctrine of the Two Kingdoms in The Christian Order of the Honorable City of Braunschweig. His answer to the question is especially evident in the section of this Kirchenordnung that deals with relief for the poor.

Episode TLHP 59.

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