Carl Gustaf Lagergren 1889-1922

Longest Serving Dean 

Clearly, the seminary struggled for existence through the tenure of the first two deans. Funds were scarce, and low enrollments, particularly in the Stromsberg era, threatened to end the life of the school. Carl Gustaf Lagergren was the dean who put the seminary on solid footing in the 33 years of his leadership. When he became dean in 1889, the seminary had returned to its home as the Swedish department of the Baptist Union Theological Seminary. Only one new student had been registered in 1888 at Stromsberg. In the first year back in Chicago and Lagergren’s first year as dean, 12 new students were registered. In fact, enrollment was not a major problem at any time in Lagergren’s tenure. In 1892, the Baptist Union Theological Seminary merged into the newly formed University of Chicago. The university picked up fiscal responsibility for all the buildings and facilities and paid the salaries for the dean and one teacher. The Swedish Baptist Conference paid for an additional teacher. With enrollments steady and the strong financial assistance of the university, the Swedish seminary entered a period of stability and growth.

Carl Gustaf Lagergren was born in Jämtland, Sweden, in 1846. He majored in language and philosophy at the University of Uppsala. He became a Christian believer at the age of 16 and shortly afterward was called to be the pastor of the Swedish Baptist church at Uppsala, where he remained for 12 years. While in Uppsala, he edited Predikaren, a Baptist monthly magazine, and took further education at the University of Uppsala. When he moved to Sundsvall to pastor there, he edited The Sword and the Trowel. He was a vigorous temperance speaker and a fearless champion of religious freedom. He began a short-term Bible training school for lay preachers and evangelists in Sundsvall, which sent Christian witnesses all over northern Sweden.

Because of his reputation in Sweden, in 1889 Lagergren was called from the Sundsvall parish to come to the U.S. to head the Swedish seminary. He took up his teaching and administrative duties and also invested himself in further theological training at the Baptist Union Seminary, graduating in 1890 with a D.B. degree. With his academic training at an end, Lagergren took on the additional duties of pastor at the Englewood Church in Chicago from 1891 to 1893. He also was a prolific author, continuing to contribute papers and books as he had in Sweden. His primary investment for the rest of his career, however, was to lead the seminary, which he did until his retirement in 1922.

Lagergren was described by an early conference leader as “of a dogmatic temperament, in the good sense of that term, of scholarly habits, with invincible faith in the right and a fearless courage to attack what he considered wrong. Lagergren has exerted an influence upon the Swedish Baptist clergy in America, which has largely determined the sound development of the denomination” (Olson and Olson, p. 38).

For a time, Lagergren enjoyed the confidence and support of the leaders of the University of Chicago. But new leadership began to question the financial cost of the Swedish school, and proposed that the Swedish Baptists should take on the full cost of their program. At the same time, in 1905, the Swedish Conference opened Bethel Academy in St. Paul to train Swedish high school students. Many in the conference thought that the two schools should be merged. Lagergren argued for continuing the relationship with the University of Chicago, but when the conference voted in 1913 to bring the two schools together on a new campus in St. Paul, Lagergren agreed to move and serve as dean. In 1914, the seminary severed its ties with Chicago and opened its doors in St. Paul as Bethel Theological Seminary. G. Arvid Hagstrom, pastor of the First Swedish Baptist Church in St. Paul, was called to be the president of the combined schools.

With the move to St. Paul, the seminary upgraded its scholastic standards and required high school graduation as a condition of admission. The previous requirements—two years of high school training and two years of seminary training—continued for a few years to cover existing students. Other developments during Lagergren’s tenure included paying off the mortgage on the school in six years and changing the name, in 1920, to Bethel Institute, a move intended to unite the seminary and the academy.

There were numerous faculty changes during Lagergren’s long term of office. In 1895, Nels Morten and Eric Sandell, who had been teaching at the seminary when Lagergren’s leadership began, resigned to take on other ministries. Lagergren brought in Wilhelm Peterson and Olaf Hedeen to take their place. Sandell returned as a teacher in 1907 to replace Peterson, a position he held until his death in 1918. Olaf Hedeen stayed with the seminary until the move to St. Paul and then chose to remain behind to pastor the Englewood Church. After the move to St. Paul, David Gustafson joined the faculty for a few years before leaving for China as a missionary. Emanuel Schmid, who had been the president of the failed Swedish college in Seattle, Adelphia College, was added to the seminary faculty in 1919. Adolf Olson, who had been teaching in Bethel Academy, became a member of the seminary faculty in the same year to replace Eric Sandell.

In 1921, the seminary celebrated its 50th anniversary. Lagergren had served as dean for 33 of those 50 years. Due in large part to his leadership, the seminary had stabilized its finances, increased its academic standards, built a solid and respected faculty, and enjoyed a new campus that was fully paid for. At the 50th anniversary, Lagergren announced that it was time for him to step down to provide room for new leadership. J. Arvid Gordh, former principal of the Bethel Academy and pastor of the New York Swedish Baptist Church, took up Lagergren’s mantle.