SAVE THE DATE

FEBRUARY 27, 2021 AT THE LUTHERAN CENTER GLENDALE, CA

Rev. Nelson Wesley Trout (1921 - September 20, 1996) First African-American U.S. Lutheran Bishop

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America celebrated the life of Bishop Nelson Wesley Trout on September 20, 1996, as it mourned his passing.

The Rev. Dr. Trout was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1921. He attended and would graduate from Capital University and Trinity Lutheran Seminary, both in Columbus. He would later receive a Doctor of Divinity degree from Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa. Over the years, he pastored congregations in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Montgomery, Alabama, along with Community Lutheran, Los Angeles. California.

Dr. Trout left Montgomery in 1955, but not before he befriended The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Trinity Lutheran Church, Montgomery, was a small congregation with an attached private school funded as a mission by the World Lutheran Council. Trout was always an advocate of and a champion for quality education. Trout and King, while residing in Montgomery, were known to “kid” each other from time to time. Trout asked King how he got the name “Martin Luther?” King replied by asking Trout how he came to be Lutheran? Trout joked that “competition among Baptist preachers for placements was rough, and that the Lutherans were begging for Negroes” (to use the word common at the time). Trout served on the staff of the American Lutheran Church (ALC) in 1960, which would merge into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1987.

From 1960 to 1967, Dr. Trout was the ALC’s Associate Youth Director, a post he would leave to become Director of Urban Evangelism (1968-1970). Trout also served as Executive Director of Lutheran Social Services in Dayton, Ohio, then as professor and Director of Minority Ministry Studies at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, returning to his alma mater. He held that position until June 17, 1983, when the American Lutheran Church - South Pacific District elected him as their bishop during the district convention held at California Lutheran College, Thousand Oaks, California, making him the first African-American bishop in United States Lutheranism. Trout was 62 years old.

From 1983 to 1987, The Rev. Dr. Nelson Wesley Trout oversaw the South Pacific District, which in 1983 had 144,000 members in 310 congregations in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Hawaii, and some Texas counties. The three-way merger, which formed the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 1987, entailed the creation of 65 synods. Trout’s original territorial jurisdiction would later become parts of Rocky Mountain, Pacifica and Grand Canyon Synods as well as the Southwest California Synod.

Trout became the Bishop Emeritus of the new Southwest California Synod, as well as the Director for Mission Theology and Evangelism Training within the ELCA’s Division of Outreach, Chicago, Illinois. In 1991, his alma mater, Trinity Lutheran Seminary established the Nelson W. Trout Lectureship in Preaching, an annual event that “lifts the preaching skills” of many.

Trout died in Inglewood, California on September 20, 1996, survived by his wife, Jennie who would later die on February 22, 2013 and three adult children. He was 75 years old.

The aforementioned narrative is an excerpt from the work offered by:

Kenneth Randolph Taylor May 16, 2010 The Seventh Sunday of Easter

The Southwest California Synod led by the African Descent Lutheran Association, Los Angeles Chapter has seen fit to dedicate the Chapel at the Lutheran Center in Glendale in memory of The Rev. Dr. Nelson W. Trout and his life’s commitment to effective ministry and instruction of those who would come after him. May this Chapel serve as a beacon, illuminating what God had done in and through the life of this Bishop Emeritus!

A formal dedication ceremony and reception is scheduled for Black History Month, Saturday, February 27, 2021. An accompanying worship service will also be held at Community Lutheran Church on February 28, 2021. Mark your calendars! Be part of history!

bb Please send your donations to ADLA - Los Angeles Chapter with the caption Trout Chapel in the note section to:

552 E. Carson Street, Suite 104, PMB#116, Carson, CA 90745"

"Let's capture this history forever!" The overall goal is $8,000 ADLA