"Why Augustana Academy Closed,"

A View by Ronald Ginther, Class of 1960, With a Letter from Clint Asbenson, Class of 1960

East Side of Old Main, Augustana Academy, photographed by Mrs. Bernice Stadem Schaefer (AA alum), Aunt of Ronald Ginther, while attending his graduation, June 1960

A SCHOOL ON WHEELS--LEGACY OF THE FRONTIER AND PRAYING SAINTS CLOSED IN THE 1970s, AND FOR MANY YEARS WE WHO WERE PRIVILEGED TO ATTEND THE ACADEMY WONDERED WHY?--BUT THE ANSWER IS MORE SIMPLE THAN WE SUPPOSED--IT LAY CHIEFLY IN THE SPIRITUAL CAUSES, NOT THE LIMITED, MERE PHYSICAL OR FINANCIAL EXPLANATIONS WE WERE GIVEN AND WHICH THE HALF-BLIND HUMAN MIND, GUIDED ONLY BY NATURAL SIGHT, CAN SUPPLY.

Let us review the history of this notable Christian endeavor called Augustana Academy.
Augustana College and Augustana Academy formerly existed as one institution. The school dates its existence from the year 1860 when it was established in a church at Chicago, Illinois, with a name that reflected the frontier vision of its founders. It was moved successively with the tide of mostly Scandinavian pioneer settlers to Paxton, Illinois, Marshall, Wisconsin, Beliot, Iowa, and finally [but not finally, if prophecy concerning AA is yet to be fulfilled, and prayers for AA yet to be fulfilled] to Canton, South Dakota. It began with a need for spiritual training, and it ended when that spiritual training had lost its focus and no longer was directed by the Holy Spirit, our quintessential Fount of inspiration and blessing.

TWO SISTER CENTERS OF LEARNING CREATED

In 1917, the College department of Augustana was moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Canton, however, deeply regretted the loss of the school and its testimony of Christian education in their midst. The high school department, therefore, was reinstituted in Canton, where it remained and was operated under various managements until, in 1932, the Augustana Academy Association was formed. This Association continued to manage the Academy at Canton [until the closing in the 1970's]. For many years it had been the sole parochial high school in the branch of the Lutheran Church to which it was affiliated, and it closed as the last of its kind. A unique institution with an outstanding touring choir, outstanding scholarship, and outstanding graduates was lost to the Church, the Canton and South Dakota regions, and to the nation at large. Could this have been God's will? Now it would appear that such a school is more needed today than it was previously. It is perfectly clear that the tremendous role it played in educating generations of young Christian men and women should never have been allowed to fall by the wayside.

"The objective of this college [or Christian school] is a liberal and thorough Christian education of men and women. In the attainment of this objective the college is mindful of responsibility to the individual student, to its supporting church, and to society.

"This college aims to serve the individual student by providing an integrated program of spiritual, mental, and physical development: to serve the Evangelical Lutheran Church by helping to supply consecrated and enlightened leadership, both ordained and lay, in every field of Christian service; to serve society by fostering Christian ideals of patriotism and world citizenship.

"In carrying out its objective the college aims to help the student to:

"Grow in grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ; appreciate the place of the Bible in education and in life; establish habits of conduct based on Christian ethical principles; cultivate the virtues requisite to Christian stewardship; be loyal to the highest ideals of achievement.

"Take an active part in the building of the Church; respond to the call for men and women to devote full time to the service; worship regularly; increase in knowledge of all that honors the Christian message.

"Arrive at a mature comprehension and application of evangelical Lutheran doctrine and a tolerant understanding of the various denominations within the Christian Church."

The above is a statement of the Christian objectives of one of our colleges. It expresses the Christian aims of all our schools. They present the reason why our church people gladly support our schools with large gifts and sums of money [and faithful prayer support]."-- But it does not speak of the role, the essential role, of the Holy Spirit. That was a main lack in this statement of purpose. For a good reason, that lack contributed directly to the decline and eventual failure and closing of Augustana Academy in the 1970s, for without the leading of the Holy Spirit, in the immortal words of Robert Burns, the "best laid plans o' man gang aft agley."--R.G.

This portrayal of Christian education is taken from the program bulletin at the commemoration of the loudspeaker, microphone and public address system, and Old Main tower carrilons donated by Alfred and Bessie Stadem of Bryant, SD, in memory of their son, an Augustana Academy graduate who died in a fatal plane crash, January 9, 1947

I asked for information from a classmate, Clint Asbenson, and he graciously forwarded a letter to me, so that I can now share an excerpt with all of you who have a love for Augustana Academy that the many passing years cannot take away (you are those who were fundamentally changed and transformed by A.A., not those who just "attended" for whatever reason they could think of).

"Now to a totally different item. I just received letter from a 1960 classmate of mine named Ronnie Ginther of Puyallup, Washington. Mom told me later that she remembered that one time I came home from the Academy and told her about Ronnie Ginther and something about the Holy Spirit. It wasn't until the 1970s that sis Jewel, Mom Beulah, myself and more in our family were born-again and baptized in the Holy Spirit. Like 800,000 other Lutherans we left the church that clung to ritual instead of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ daily abiding in Him.
"Ronnie asked if the closure of Augustana Academy was caused by the refusal of the Administration to teach the students about the Holy Spirit. One time while talking with brother Wes he told me that when the students had asked, the Administration said, "You take that Holy Spirit stuff off campus!" So the Holy Spirit and His blessing and finances left and the Academy closed the next year. He said they tried to blame it on all kinds of things. If any ministry is right with the Lord He supplies all the money to keep it going.
"Ronnie was saved at a revival at A.A. I knew he was different. His eyes were full of the Light of the Lord. Later I saw that in a former Lutheran who prayed for me at a Retreat Center near Palm Springs. The Lord led me to that place where I could identify with their background. Pastor Bruce Sonnenberg prayed with me as I repented and was radically transformed in front of him. What a privilege it was to attend Augie with kids from the U.S. and in many other countries.
"When we were back in South Dakota I had to go over to Augie and walk around the place and look at that beautiful building of rose quartzite from Sioux Falls. It was made to stand. On one Augie Reunion day at Augustana College I saw the house where Ole Rolvaag wrote his books and how he had come from a remote island of Norway and attended A.A. My aunt Viola taught my mom Beulah Scott at the Academy. My uncles also attended. We moved from 30 miles northwest of Mitchell to attend. Yes, the liberals moved it off the WORD of GOD and taught modern social ethic instead of the Bible. He [Ronnie Ginther] told of some praying women who prayed fervently for Augie..."

CONCLUSION:

The devout, humble, faithful praying women that had A.A. on their hearts day and night have all gone on to their reward in heaven, but their precious prayers--they may still be waiting for God's answer. Could it be that those prayers require some bending of the knees and praying on our part, for the burden of prayer to be lifted?
Have we cared enough for the Dream and Vision of A.A. to pray for God's "closure," which may not be a closure at all in the sense we saw it when the Academy's doors were shut and the students sent home?
Without our joining our prayers now with theirs, we cannot take the torch of Christian education handed to us, and it will eventually go out. The Holy Spirit will only wait so long, and He will pass it to others, somewhere else, who will be faithful to pick it up and carry it on.
My prayer is that God will be merciful to us, as He was merciful to the errant, neglectful, selfish people of God in the time of Haggai the Prophet, and bend down once again to us with the bright, burning Torch of the Holy Spirit, igniting our spirits anew to follow the Lord as Abraham and our forefathers once followed Him, whithersoever He leadeth. I pray that the Vision and Dream of A.A. bequeathed to us will not die out in our hands--a TRAGEDY, A WASTE, AN EGREGRIOUS NEGLECT OF GODLY HERITAGE, LEGACY AND OPPORTUNITY I do not want to bear responsibility for while there is grace is mercy to effect a real change.

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