To learn more about this collection please see the finding aid link found above, and/or visit the College and Lutheran Church Archives to use these primary sources.
Bernhardson, Drell Earl. Sermon Collection of Rev. Drell Bernhardson, 1942-2002. LCA Collection 192. 2 Record Center Cartons and 1 oversize Hollinger box.
ABSTRACT:
The Sermon Collection of Rev. Drell Bernhardson contains sermons composed for the regular liturgical season and special events during Bernhardson’s career in the Lutheran ministry and as a guest preacher in retirement. Also included is a certificate commemorating 25 years of service and correspondence with another clergyman.
Drell Bernhardson was born 4 April 1919 in Comstock, Minnesota to Elvin and Florence Bernhardson. He enrolled at Moorhead State University for two years and later graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead after taking a break to return to farming during the Great Depression. Bernhardson married Adeline E. Dekko on 18 June 1944 and later had three sons, Mark, John, and Paul. He attended Augustana Seminary in Rock Island, Illinois and was ordained in 1945. Over the span of his career Bernhardson served at Swaborg Lutheran near Hooper, Nebraska, First Lutheran in Grove City, Minnesota, Messiah Lutheran in Fargo, North Dakota, Thabor Lutheran in Wausau, Nebraska, and St Mark’s Lutheran Church in Pender, Nebraska. Drell and Adeline Bernhardson established scholarships at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, Moorhead’s Concordia College, Minnesota, and Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, Nebraska. In 1999, the couple also established the Endowed Chair in Lutheran Studies at Gustavus Adolphus College, the first of its kind. Bernhardson received an Honorary Doctorate from Gustavus in 2008. He died on 13 January 2013.
Information obtained from an obituary posted on the Wright Funeral Home website (http://www.wrightfuneral.com/obituary/Drell-E.-Bernhardson/Eden-Prairie-MN/1162885) on 19 February 2014.
The collection is divided into the major seasons of the liturgical year, including Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, Advent, Christmas, and miscellaneous.
ORGANIZATIONAL NOTE:
Sermons begin with Advent and are arranged by the liturgical cycle, with sermons for additional events inserted throughout and at the end of the collection.
