Rev. Dr. Kent Sigvart Knutson (1924-1973)

ARNESEN, KANTEN, KNUTSON

Posted By: Eileen Reed
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:06:42

Aug. 7, 1924 --- March 12, 1973

Knutson, head of ALC, dies

The Rev. Dr. Kent Sigvart Knutson, 48-year-old president of the American Lutheran Church (ALC), died Monday at North Memorial Hospital, Robbinsdale.

Dr. Knutson had been hospitalized since Oct. 23, 1972, with Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease, a bizarre, fatal disorder of the central nervous system.

The disease struck Dr. Knutson at the very peak of his career as a theologian and church leader.

In 1970 he was elected to lead a church with 2.5 million members, the third-largest Lutheran body and the ninth-largest Protestant denomination in the United States. The ALC, with headquarters in Minneapolis, is a mediating influence between the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Lutheran Church in America.

Dr. Knutson was a leading ecumenist, at a time when talks seeking unity and convergence of faiths have become a dominant concern. He had become, in fact, a key theologian in those talks. He did so by cutting through the forms to the essential unity of the church, providing the basis for reconciliation of divergent views, both in Lutheran and inter-Christian affairs.

Last fall, when unity talks among the three Lutheran bodies broke down, Dr. Knutson came up with a mediating plan that revived those conversations on a modified basis. Otherwise, the talks would have ended.

Dr. Knutson also was at the center of the convergence course of the Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches. Recent changes in Catholicism, he believed, show that it is "coming to grips with the Reformation and updating itself." And Lutherans, he maintained, are reaching out more and more to the mystical understanding of faith in the Roman Catholic tradition.

Dr. Knutson was stricken at the very time he was causing the denomination to move toward unity and, at an accelerating pace, into social controversies. In addition, he was responsible for a detailed restructuring of the ALC's national work program that was just getting underway when he became ill.

An Iowa farm boy who earned a bachelor of science degree in college, he had worked as a chemical engineer until theology got the upper hand in his life.

Dr. Knutson was born in Goldfield, Iowa, on Aug. 7, 1924. When he was 7 years old his father's tile factory became a victim of the Depression; the Knutsons, who came to America from Norway, took to the Iowa farmland. The youngster's chores were gathering eggs and helping milk the cows.

In 1947 he was graduated from Iowa State University with the bachelor of science degree and worked briefly as a chemical engineer.

In 1949 he went to Norway for a year of study at the University of Oslo and then entered the Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul and received his bachelor of divinity degree in 1951. He received his doctorate in philosophy from the Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1961.

Dr. Knutson met his future wife at a Lutheran Student Association retreat. They were married in 1951. She is the former Norma Arnesen of Brooklyn, N.Y. An academician in her own right, Mrs. Knutson, in the early years of their marriage, was dean of women at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D.

Dr. Knutson's first assignment was to serve as pastor of Our Saviour Lutheran Church on Staten Island from 1954 to 1958. He then joined the faculty of Luther Theological Seminary as an assistant professor of systematic theology, eventually becoming a full professor and head of the department. He also served as director of Luther Seminary's program of graduate studies and as assistant to the president.

In 1969 he became president of the Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa. He held that position until he was elected ALC president.

He was a prolific writer, with three theological volumes to his credit. From 1965 to 1968 he was editor of Dialog, an independent theological journal published in Minneapolis. From 1963 to 1970 he was editor of the Tower book series published by Augsburg Publishing House.

During the Fifth Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation in France in 1970, Dr. Knutson was a delegate and one of the principal lecturers. Last summer, while attending the central committee meeting of the World Council of Churches, he was appointed chairman of the message committee. After election as ALC president, the Knutsons moved to their home in Golden Valley. The couple had six children: Kirsten, 19; Kristofer, 17; Kent, 15; Kaia, 12; Kimberly, 11; and Karl, 8. Kimberly and Karl are natives of Korea and were adopted by the Knutsons several years ago.

Survivors also include his mother, Mrs. Gunner Knutson, Eagle Grove, Iowa; a brother, the Rev. Gerhard Knutson, Apple Valley; and two sisters, Mrs. Charles Kanten, Milan, Minn., and Mrs. Harold Knutson, Eagle Grove,

The Star Tribune --- Minneapolis, Minnesota
Tuesday, March 13, 1973
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2 services planned for Knutson

A public memorial service for the Rev. Dr. Kent S. Knutson, 48, president of the American Lutheran Church (ALC), who died yesterday, is planned for 4 p.m. Sunday at Central Lutheran Church, 333 E. Grant St.

A family and congregational service will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday at Calvary Lutheran Church, 7520 Golden Valley Rd., Golden Valley, where the Knutson family belongs. Burial will be in Goldfield, Iowa, the Knutson birthplace.

The body will lie in state beginning at 5 p.m. today and continuing through tomorrow night at Werness Brothers mortuary, 3500 W. 50th St.

ALC national offices will be closed Thursday in tribute to Knutson, the Rev. Dr. David W. Preus, acting ALC president, announced.

Preus, in a statement, said the ALC "is deeply saddened by the death of President Kent Knutson. Our love and prayers are with his wife and family.

"President Knutson had urged the church to live confidently in the grace of God and to be zealous in mission. The ALC has responded to this summons and will continue to do so."

Preus said Knutson's work as a leader of Christian students, as parish pastor, as theological professor and seminary president, as ecumenical leader and as president of the American Lutheran Church" will stand for years to come . . ."

Knutson died at North Memorial Hospital, Robbinsdale, the victim of Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease, which affected the nervous system and made it impossible for him to speak or communicate.

He was hospitalized at Rochester, Minn., Oct. 23 and transferred to North Memorial in January so that he might be nearer his wife and six children. He had become ill on a trip around the world last summer. Knutson was elected the ALC's second president in 1970 after serving as president of Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, and professor at Luther Seminary, St. Paul.

A Kent S. Knutson Memorial Fund has been established. Contributions may be sent to the fund, care of the ALC, 422 S. 5th St.

The Minneapolis Star --- Minneapolis, Minnesota
Tuesday, March 13, 1973
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Dr. Kent Knutson, head of ALC, dies

The Rev. Dr. Kent Sigvart Knutson, 48-year-old president of the American Lutheran Church (ALC), died Monday at North Memorial Hospital, Robbinsdale, Minn. He was a son of Mrs. Gunner Knutson of the Rotary Ann Home.

Dr. Knutson had been hospitalized since Oct. 23, 1972, with Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease, a bizarre, fatal disorder of the central nervous system.

The disease struck Dr. Knutson at the very peak of his career as a theologian and church leader.

In 1970 he was elected to lead a church with 2.5 million members, the third-largest Lutheran body and the ninth-largest Protestant denomination in the United States. The ALC, with headquarters in Minneapolis, is a mediating influence between the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Lutheran Church in America.

GOLDFIELD BIRTH

Dr. Knutson was born in Goldfield Aug. 7, 1924 and was graduated from Goldfield High School in 1941. He attended Iowa State University, Ames, graduating with a degree in chemical engineering. He then served for two years with the United States Navy in the Philippines and worked for one year for Standard Oil Co. in Whiting, Ind.

In 1949 he went to Norway for a year of study at the University of Oslo and then entered the Luther Technological Seminary in St. Paul and received his bachelor of divinity degree in 1951. He received his doctorate in philosophy from the Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1961.

Dr. Knutson's first assignment was to serve as pastor of Our Saviour Lutheran Church on Staten Island from 1954 to 1958. He then joined the faculty of Luther Theological Seminary as an assistant professor of systematic theology, eventually becoming a full professor and bead of the department. He also served as director of Luther Seminary's program of graduate studies and as assistant to the president.

In 1969 he became president of the Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, la. He held that position until he was elected ALC president.

In the summer of 1972 he went on a World Tour visiting many countries, and their churches. It was soon after that he became ill and hospitalized, five months ago.

He is survived by his wife and six children: Kirsten, 19; Kristofer, 17; Kent, 15; Kala, 12; Kimberly, 11; and Karl, 8. Kimberly and Karl are natives of Korea and were adopted by the Knutsons several years ago.

Survivors also include his; mother, Mrs. Gunner Knutson, Eagle Grove; a brother, the Rev. Gerhard Knutson, Minneapolis; and two sisters, Mrs. Charles Kanten, Milan, Minn., and Mrs. Harold Knutson, Eagle Grove.

SERVICES

Funeral services will be at 4 p.m. Thursday in Calvary Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, and burial will be Friday at the family plot at Lake Lutheran Cemetery, west of Goldfield.

A memorial service by the American Lutheran Church will be at 4 p.m. Sunday at Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis and this will be the official Lutheran Church memorial.

Eagle Grove Eagle --- Eagle Grove, Iowa
Thursday, March 15, 1973
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Knutson memorial rites to be 'life celebration'

The memorial service tomorrow for the Rev. Dr. Kent S. Knutson, president of the American Lutheran Church (ALC), who died Monday, will be "a celebration of life," it was announced by the Rev. Dr. David W. Preus, ALC acting president.

"We intend to celebrate the power of Christ's resurrection, to thank God for Kent, to gather supportively around his family, and to sing our praise for God whose victory over death and the devil is shared with Kent and all of us," Preus said.

The memorial service will be at 4 p.m. at Central Lutheran Church, 333 E. Grant St., with Preus preaching.

Cardinal Jan Willebrands, president of the Vatican's Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity and a friend of Knutson's, has asked Bishop William Baum, recently appointed archbishop of Washington, D.C., to represent him at tomorrow's service.

Preus has asked all the 4,823 ALC congregations in the country to "include an appropriate memorial" in their services tomorrow.

Meanwhile, an outpouring of tributes to Knutson has been received by his family and by his colleagues in the ALC national offices. Many tributes emphasized his accomplishments during his two-year tenure as ALC president.

"We will miss his affable counsel, his unpretentious vision, his clarity of faith in Jesus Christ," said the Rev. Dr. Robert J. Marshall, New York, president of the Lutheran Church in America (LCA).

"We have every reason to believe that his death came, humanly speaking, too early," cabled the Rev. Dr. Mikko Juva, Helsinki, Finland, president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). "Yet remembering this, we are still obliged in the midst of our grief to offer thanks to God, who had bestowed on him such great gifts."

The Rev. Dr. Carl H. Mau Jr., New York, general secretary of the U.S.A. National Committee of thee LWF, said Knutson had "proved himself to be a communicator who could transcend the boundaries of language, tradition or culture," His death is "a great loss for international Lutheranism," he added.

Similar words came from the Rev. Dr. J.A.O. Preus, St. Louis, president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. "The whole Lutheran world will mourn his death and our church, which so recently established fellowship with the American Lutheran Church, joins in this bereavement."

The Rev. Dr. Andre Appel, Geneva, Switzerland, LWF general secretary, said Knutson "was a man whose Christian dedication and outstanding leadership ability was strikingly apparent even at such a young age." Knutson was 48.

Knutson was a man particularly suited for his time, declared the Rev. Dr. C. Thomas Spitz, New York, general secretary of the Lutheran Council in the U.S.A. "His mere two years as president and bishop of the ALC will long be remembered for their vision, their excitement and their profound theological grounding."

Archbishop Coadjutor Leo C. Byrne sent a message from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis expressing "deep sympathy" to the ALC "on the occasion of the untimely death of its distinguished leader."

Knutson "was recognized the world over as a scholar and churchman," the archbishop wrote. "Particularly was he esteemed as a profound student and leader of ecumenism and his contribution to that field was notable."

Byrne, who also sent a personal note expressing "deep sorrow" to Mrs. Knutson, said Auxiliary Bishop Raymond A. Lucker will represent the archdiocese at tomorrow's service.

Rabbi Marc II. Tanenbaum, New York, director of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee, hailed Knutson as "a friend, a respected scholar and as an active collaborator with us in the cause of the promotion of friendship and understanding between the Lutheran and Jewish communities here and abroad. His pioneering leadership in the field of interreligious leadership will be sorely missed."

The Minneapolis Star --- Minneapolis, Minnesota
Saturday, March 17, 1973
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[Transcriber’s Note: Funeral services will be at 4 p.m. Thursday in Calvary Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, and burial will be Friday at the family plot at Lake Lutheran Cemetery, west of Goldfield. Lake View Cemetery is also known as Lake Lutheran Church Cemetery, Lake Church Cemetery. The Lake Lutheran Church and cemetery is located in Humboldt County, Iowa. The Find a Grave Memorial for Rev. Dr. Kent Sigvart Knutson is in the Lake View Cemetery, Humboldt County, Iowa.]