1979-1993 President Carl Mischke

Carl Herbert Mischke

was a “son of the soil” from South Dakota and served the Lord faithfully as the ninth president of WELS. Pastor Mischke was born on October 27, 1922, in Hazel, South Dakota. On July 6, 1947, he was united in marriage with Gladys Lindloff, at Elkton, South Dakota. Their union was blessed with three sons and one daughter. He graduated from prep school department in New Ulm, Minnesota, in 1940, and from Northwestern College, Watertown, Wisconsin, in 1944.

Upon his graduation from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 1947, he was assigned to serve as assistant pastor at First Lutheran Church in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Then, from 1949-1954, he served the dual parish at St. Peter, Goodhue and St. John, Minneola Township, Minnesota. From 1954-1979 he served at St. John’s, Juneau, Wisconsin, and from 1964 to 1979 was the president of the Western Wisconsin District. He was elected synod second vice president in 1967 and then first vice president in 1969. When WELS President O. J. Naumann died suddenly in 1979, Mischke stepped into the position of synod president according to his duty as the first vice president. The synod convention later that year elected him president, an office he held until his retirement in 1993.

The years of Mischke’s presidency saw a flurry of activity within our synod and actions that impact us still today. The main areas of synodical change and activity came in strengthening local congregations, home and world missions, and worker training. For example, his first synod convention as president dealt with 140 resolutions for the delegates to consider! In 1979, the WELS approved the new NIV translation as suitable for publications. In 1981, a new edition of Luther’s Small Catechism was adopted. In 1983, a new hymnal project was approved, and a project director was called, culminating in the 1993 Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal.

There were also financial challenges due to the high inflation of the 1970s and early 1980s and major opportunities for expansion as America’s population boomed and spread out. In response, President Mischke helped oversee the first synod-wide offering appeal that would be shared equally between ministerial education needs and mission needs, called the “Reaching Out” offering. It was a resounding success. By the end of the offering in 1985 over $23 million had been given to the Lord’s work, far exceeding the $10 million goal. In 1989-1991 the “Lift High the Cross” offering sought to raise $16 million for missions and on-going synodical expenses. Financial stability and increased stewardship awareness allowed new missions to be planted. For example, in the 1979-1981 biennium WELS started 18 new missions and between 1981-1983 WELS planted 24 new missions. When a WELS congregation was established in Portland, Maine, in 1984, WELS was officially present in all 50 states. The ambitious motto of “Every State by ‘78” was missed by only a few years. WELS world mission efforts also expanded into Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Russia, and Bulgaria during the Mischke years.

Some of the biggest changes involved the ministerial education system. The 1979 synod convention voted to close Northwestern Lutheran Academy in Mobridge, South Dakota. At the same time, Martin Luther Academy in New Ulm, Minnesota, was moved to the newly purchased campus in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and named Martin Luther Prep School. By the late 1980s questions were raised about the wisdom and the synod’s ability to maintain three prep schools, two colleges, and one seminary. In 1993—President’s Mischke’s last convention as president—the synod convention voted to amalgamate two of the prep schools and also amalgamate the two colleges. This remains the current arrangement in WELS ministerial education with Luther Preparatory School in Watertown and Martin Luther College in New Ulm (as well as Michigan Lutheran Seminary in Saginaw, Michigan).

The years of his presidency saw many changes, challenges, and blessings. Yet, what President Mischke wrote in 1980 still resonates: “I submit that our highest priority must always be faithfulness to the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions. That will not change this year, or next year, or the next decade, or as long as God permits the world to stand and us to be part of it. We must never lose sight of the fact that under God, it is faithfulness to the Word of God that has made the Wisconsin Synod what it is today.” President Mischke lived out his retirement in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and was called home to his eternal rest on August 23, 2013, at the age of 90.