The Architect of the Merger

In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the EFCA, we are highlighting significant events throughout Free Church history that led to the 1950s merger.

Arnold T. Olson was a significant influence in the merger. Born to a Norwegian family in Minneapolis in 1910, he graduated from the (Norwegian) Free Church Academy and Bible Institute in 1930 and was called to pastor Bethany EFC in Houston, Minnesota. By 1933, he was called as pastor of Salem EFC in Staten Island, New York where he served until 1948, except for two years in chaplaincy in the U.S. Army during World War II. He had been elected President of the Norwegian Free Church with his briefcase as their only office. 

Uniquely prepared by his Norwegian heritage, he was called in 1948 to serve First Free Church of Minneapolis (a Swedish Free Church). This brought him in contact with many Swedish Free Church leaders at their headquarters.  

Fully aware of the unsuccessful initiatives to merge the two Scandinavian denominations, he soon found himself as Chairman of the Unity Committee. Various issues had to be resolved—each association sent their missionaries under different agencies; the differing confessions of faith; and two different publications. (“Evangelical Beacon” for the Swedish and “Evangelist” for the Norwegian/Danish). Olson and the Unity Committee worked carefully through these issues, developing a plan for merger. 

Over those two years leading to 1950, while pastoring First Free, he traveled to meetings and shared the plan with churches, districts and committees. When presented to the 1949 meetings of the two denominations, the votes affirmed the move forward. 

Next, the plan went to all the churches for their decisions. All but two were in favor and those two changed their votes before the final conference in 1950.  

A historian in 1959, writing about the Diamond Jubilee of the EFCA, said of Olson: “A leading spirit in the merger plans and an administrator - par excellence, he became the logical chairman of the joint Committee of Unity and as such performed a magnificent job in helping to prepare the Merger Plan that was adopted by the 1949 conference of the two bodies.”