CHURCH AND LIFE: A BRIEF HISTORY
by Thorvald Hansen (updated in 2020)
Church and Life (originally named Kirke og Folk) was begun by the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1952 as an exclusively Danish publication in line with its original purpose which was to serve the Danish readership of the church. Until the 1930s, the official church paper had been Kirkelig Samler. When this was replaced by the English-language publication Lutheran Tidings, the Danish readers were served by a page called Kirkelig Samler in the Danish-language Dannevirke, a privately owned weekly that was unofficially related to the church. When this publication ceased in 1951, Danish news of the church was no longer available, and this was missed, particularly by older readers. It was to fill this vacuum that the new Danish publication was begun.
The first issues were distributed gratis to some 750 individuals who might be interested, but within a short time it became a subscription paper with some 1,000 subscribers. It was a 16-page paper issued twice monthly. When the Lutheran Church in America was born in 1963 and Lutheran Tidings ceased publication, some of the readers of that paper became subscribers to Church and Life. Today it has become an exclusively English-language publication of 12 to l6 pages (depending on the material available) and is issued ten times a year. The U.S. subscription price is $20 per year. Gifts and memorials help make up the shortfall. For its content, the publication depends upon the voluntary contributions of a significant number of writers. The December issue is at least twice the normal size for Christmas .
In 1983 the name was changed to Church and Life. This is not, nor was it intended to be, a translation of the Danish, but rather an indication that the church body out of which it grew was concerned also with this earthly life.
Throughout its long history the paper has had seven full time editors: Holger Strandskov, Paul Wikman, Michael Mikkelsen, Johannes Knudsen, Thorvald Hansen, and Joy Ibsen. The present editor, Bridget Lois Jensen, is the great-niece of the former editor Mikkelsen.
Currently the paper serves some 300 subscribers as a tie that binds them, not only to one another, but to the religious and social environment with which they have been familiar. This is not an exclusive group, nor are they guided by nostalgia, but one to which any and all who share similar values are more than welcome.
Reference: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
by Thorvald Hansen (updated in 2020)
Church and Life (originally named Kirke og Folk) was begun by the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1952 as an exclusively Danish publication in line with its original purpose which was to serve the Danish readership of the church. Until the 1930s, the official church paper had been Kirkelig Samler. When this was replaced by the English-language publication Lutheran Tidings, the Danish readers were served by a page called Kirkelig Samler in the Danish-language Dannevirke, a privately owned weekly that was unofficially related to the church. When this publication ceased in 1951, Danish news of the church was no longer available, and this was missed, particularly by older readers. It was to fill this vacuum that the new Danish publication was begun.
The first issues were distributed gratis to some 750 individuals who might be interested, but within a short time it became a subscription paper with some 1,000 subscribers. It was a 16-page paper issued twice monthly. When the Lutheran Church in America was born in 1963 and Lutheran Tidings ceased publication, some of the readers of that paper became subscribers to Church and Life. Today it has become an exclusively English-language publication of 12 to l6 pages (depending on the material available) and is issued ten times a year. The U.S. subscription price is $20 per year. Gifts and memorials help make up the shortfall. For its content, the publication depends upon the voluntary contributions of a significant number of writers. The December issue is at least twice the normal size for Christmas .
In 1983 the name was changed to Church and Life. This is not, nor was it intended to be, a translation of the Danish, but rather an indication that the church body out of which it grew was concerned also with this earthly life.
Throughout its long history the paper has had seven full time editors: Holger Strandskov, Paul Wikman, Michael Mikkelsen, Johannes Knudsen, Thorvald Hansen, and Joy Ibsen. The present editor, Bridget Lois Jensen, is the great-niece of the former editor Mikkelsen.
Currently the paper serves some 300 subscribers as a tie that binds them, not only to one another, but to the religious and social environment with which they have been familiar. This is not an exclusive group, nor are they guided by nostalgia, but one to which any and all who share similar values are more than welcome.
Reference: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
BOARD AND STAFF
Church and Life is published monthly (15th) by the Danish Interest Conference of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It is made possible only through the contributions of many talented writers; several artists; 300 or so loyal subscribers; generous gifts and memorials; our printer, Kettle River Grafix; the Board; and Staff.
Church and Life is published monthly (15th) by the Danish Interest Conference of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It is made possible only through the contributions of many talented writers; several artists; 300 or so loyal subscribers; generous gifts and memorials; our printer, Kettle River Grafix; the Board; and Staff.
Danish Interest Conference Board
President
Andrés Albertsen Wilmer, MN Secretary Sonja Knudsen Rock Island, IL Treasurer Lee Molgaard Ames, IA Ginny Blood Burnsville, MN Carol Christiansen West Des Moines, IA Marilyn Gift Des Moines, IA Erna C. Jensen Des Moines, IA Janet Jensen St. Peter, MN Rev. Hans Jorgensen St Paul, MN Alice Mikel W. St Paul, MN Dan Mikel W. St Paul, MN Dagmar Muthamia Long Beach, CA John Rasmussen Hicksville, NY |
Staff
Editor
Bridget Lois Jensen 1920 W. Clay Houston, TX 77019 713 - 417 - 2056 [email protected] Business Manager Wanda Clark 123 NW 7th St Grand Rapids, MN 55744-2639 218-326-6776 [email protected] |