| They were timed to coincide with the 400th Anniversary of the Reformation: "There
was never a debate among America's Lutherans whether or not to celebrate the
quadricentennial of the posting of the Ninety-five Theses in 1517. The only question was
how and on how large a scale. ... Lutherans across the land formed committees for local
celebrations, implicitly agreeing to forget, at least for a time, their internal squabbles
in order univocally to sing the praises of Luther and his doctrone. ... everywhere there
was enough joint Lutheran activity to make preparation for the 1917 observance a
turning-point for Lutherans in America." (E. Clifford Nelson, The Lutherans in North
America, 1975.) Cooperative work that bore fruit in and around the time of the
celebration: The Norwegian Lutheran Church of America united 90% of Norwegian Lutherans in
1917, later became the Evangelical Lutheran Church (1946). Its first president, H. G.
Stub, had great gifts of leadership. The National Lutheran Commission for Soldiers' and
Sailors' Welfare was founded in 1917 as an inter-Lutheran body to minister to Lutherans in
the armed services of World War I. It ended in 1922. Common Service Book and Hymnal was
published in 1917 by the churches which will unite to form the ULCA. National Lutheran
Council, an inter-Lutheran organization, was founded by eight churches in 1918. The
General Synod, General Council and United Synod of the South merged to form the United
Lutheran Church in America in 1918, reuniting three "Muhlenberg" strands, with
Frederick H. Knubel as its first president.
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