The Early Years

While it was in 1817 that Father Gabriel Richard and the Rev. John Montieth founded the University of Michigan, so it was exactly one hundred years later that Rev. and Mrs. Ernest C. Stellhorn arrived at Zion Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor and began sponsoring a number of open house gatherings and well-attended parties for U-M Lutheran students. There had been no recognized Lutheran student group or campus ministry at the U-M prior to this time, and when classes began in September of 1917 these first informal and loosely-organized social gatherings marked the advent of Lutheran campus ministry. No definite program or activities were sponsored for or by the students as a group. In fact, the Stellhorns’ main objective was not so much to organize a campus ministry as it was to encourage Lutheran students to faithfully attend worship services at the local Lutheran churches.

Soon, however, a number of regular and active Lutheran students at the U-M formed an informal club whose main activity was Sunday evening fellowship meetings in the Zion parish hall. These gatherings were to continue for over thirty years with the assistance of the women of Zion and Trinity Lutheran churches who provided the weekly suppers. Through this activity many students were able to meet together and also to form close contacts with the local parishioners. The Rev. Lloyd Wallick of Trinity Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor soon became interested in the work of the Stellhorns and in the activities of this club, and he provided some early leadership and direction for the group.