Celebrating Black History Month: Nelson Trout, first African American Lutheran bishop

 

Nelson Wesley Trout, born in 1921 in Columbus, Ohio, graduated from Capital University and Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus.  He received his Doctor of Divinity from Warburg College in Waverly, Iowa.

He served at Trinity Lutheran Church in Montgomery, Alabama, and held several positions on the staff of the American Lutheran Church in Dayton, Ohio.  He returned to Trinity Lutheran Seminary as the professor and Director of Minority Ministry Studies.

In 1983, he was elected bishop of the ALC's South Pacific District, becoming the first African American bishop in US Lutheranism. After the 1987 merger which formed the ELCA, Dr. Trout became Bishop Emeritus of the new Southwest California Synod.  He also served as Director for Mission Theology and Evangelism Training for the ELCA.

Dr. Trout passed away in 1996.

Celebrating Black History Month: Jehu Jones, first black ordained Lutheran pastor

Jehu Jones, born September 4, 1786 in Charleston, South Carolina, is the first African American to be ordained a a Lutheran pastor.

After being involved in the Episcopal Church, he became a member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Charleston. His pastor Reverend John Bachman encouraged him to go to New York to be ordained by the New York Synod.  In 1832, he went to Liberia to help freed slaves transition.

After his return he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania ministry appointed him "to labor as a Missionary...among the colored people in Philadelphia..."

Jones founded St. Paul's Lutheran Church and on February 16, 1834, the congregation decided to build a church.  Jones laid the cornerstone later in 1834. 

He passed away in 1852.

Celebrating Black History Month - Rev. Earlean Miller, first African-American woman Lutheran pastor

In 1979, Earlean Miller became the first African-American woman to be ordained as a Lutheran pastor in North America. She was raised Baptist in Robbins, Illinois and supervised Sunday School at New Friendship Missionary Baptist Church.

After working as a secretary for 20 years for the Jewish Vocational Service and other organizations, she felt called to the Lutheran ministry. She received her Master's of Divinity degree from the Lutheran School of Theology at chicago and was ordained in 1979 in Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Gary, IL.

Rev. Miller was  invited  to preach at the International Black Lutherans in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, as the first African-American who was ordained.

She passed away in 2014 at 78 years old.