Susan K. Hedahl Papers

Collection

Identifier: ULS-MS-019

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection documents the personal and professional life of the Rev. Dr. Susan K. Hedahl. The contents of Hedahl’s writings are mostly religious in purpose (sermons, Bible studies, lesson plans, journal features, and scholarship). A number of the religion-related papers include quotations and citations written in their respective original languages (not English). The collection also includes sabbatical reviews from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg which also contain lengthy lists of books read for pleasure during that time; correspondence; poetry; music performance reviews clipped from the University of Minnesota student paper; and journals. Two photos of Dr. Hedahl as a young woman and other memorabilia are also included. Most of the collection is made up of materials created in Minnesota, California, and Pennsylvania in accordance with Hedahl’s place of residence. The collection contains four travel journals noting trips to Russia; Germany; Egypt; the UK; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Maine, USA. Various items may exist from elsewhere in accordance with Hedahl’s travels.

This collection is not extensive, though its materials do span the years from her childhood through her death. The materials highlight Hedahl’s years as a higher education student at the University of Minnesota, Luther Seminary, St. John’s University, and Graduate Theological Union (Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary) and as a professor at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg.

The records are arranged into 3 series: professional, personal, and writings. The professional series is arranged in 2 sub-series based on her work as a professor and a minister. The personal series is arranged chronologically as best as can be determined by the processor. It has been arranged in 3 sub-series based on the dates of the materials. The writings series contains her published poems and articles. It has been arranged in 4 sub-series by writing type. Her writings that can be found elsewhere are cited in Related Materials. As Hedahl was a regular contributor to Emphasis from December 1990 through December 1993, a chart was used in place of a citation to aid the researcher.

Dates

Existence: 1946-10-08 - 2013-07-07

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research at the behest of creator-donor Reverend Dr. Susan K Hedahl.

Biographical / Historical

Reverend Dr. Susan K. Hedahl was born Susan Karen Mosvick on October 8, 1946 to Stanford and Marion Mosvick. She was born in Minot, North Dakota and raised in Willmar, Minnesota. Dr. Hedahl never married nor had children; she took the surname Hedahl after her mother’s family name while an undergraduate student. She was a gifted musician who played piano, violin, and guitar. She also was a lifelong poet who was first published as a child.

After graduating from the University of Minnesota with both a B.A. and B.S. in 1968, Hedahl taught English as a Second Language (ESL) at Makumira Theological Seminary in Tanzania from 1969-72. Hedahl was ordained in 1975 after studying at the Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, the sixth woman to be ordained in the American Lutheran Church. From 1976-82, Hedahl accepted two full-time calls to ministry. While she was in graduate school, Hedahl served as the interim pastor in nine of the Sierra Pacific Synod congregations. She received a Masters of Liturgical Studies at St. John’s School of Theology in Collegeville, Minnesota in 1982 after which she received a PhD from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkley, California in 1988. Dr. Hedahl was the first female with a PhD to be hired as a professor by the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (LTSG). She was brought on to the faculty as an associate professor in homiletics (preaching) in 1992. She was appointed to the position of Herman G. Stuempfle Chair of Proclamation of the Word in 2009 at its inception.

Dr. Hedahl was a social justice activist who traveled the world and had varying levels of proficiency in the languages Swahili, Arabic, German, Greek, Russian, and Latin. She took great interest in Islam and issues of the Middle East (particularly Palestine) and often spoke on those topics. Her writing was regularly featured in Lutheran and other religious publications. She also worked to sponsor the education of many international students. Dr. Hedahl retired earlier than intended on August 31, 2012 after receiving a brain cancer diagnosis that would require surgery and intensive treatment. She passed away on July 7, 2013.

Extent

1.68 Linear Feet (4 boxes) : Includes two compact discs

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Bibliography

Hedahl, Susan K. Cross Talk: Preaching Redemption Here and Now, by Sally A. Brown. Interpretation 63 (October 2009): 436. accessed March 18, 2016. Short Book Reviews and Notes.
------. Edited by David B. Howell. Sermon Reviews. Lectionary Homiletics II, no. 6 (May 1991): 6–7, 14–15, 24, 30–31.
------. Edited by David B. Howell. Preaching the Lesson. Lectionary Homiletics XIV, no. 5 (August 2003): 5, 13–14, 20–21, 28, 36–37.
------. Edited by David B. Howell. Preaching the Lesson. Lectionary Homiletics XVI, no. 5 (August 2005): 15–16, 25–26, 33–34, 42–43.
------. Edited by George H. O. Madsen. Mentor: Celebrating Our Teachers. Lutheran Partners 1, no. 4 (November 1985): 31.
------. Listening Ministry: Rethinking Pastoral Leadership. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2001.
------. Places of the Promise. Lima, OH: CSS Publishing Company, 1990.
------. Preaching the Wedding Sermon. St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2000.
------. Proclamation Six, Series A: Interpreting the Lessons of the Church Year - Epiphany. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1995.
------. Proclamation Six, Series A: Interpreting the Lessons of the Church Year - Epiphany. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1995.
------. Proclamation and Celebration: Preaching on Christmas, Easter, and Other Festivals. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2012.
------. ‘Discussing Sermon Texts: New Breathing Spaces’. Teaching Tactics. Teaching Theology and Religion 14, no. 1 (January 2011): 22.
------. ‘Pastoral Reflections’. Edited by Ralph W. Klein. Preaching Helps. Currents in Theology and Mission 14, no. 6 (December 1987): 463–78.
------. ‘Preaching the Christian Story among Other Faith Stories : A Case Study of a Course’. Chap. 3 in Teaching Our Story: Narrative Leadership and Pastoral Formation, edited by Larry A. Golemon, 47–66. United States: Alban Institute, 2009.
------. ‘Proclaiming Stewardship: Guide for Sermons and Temple Talks’. Faith in Action 39, no. 3 (1995): 20–22.
------. ‘Sermon: John 8:31-38’. Luther, Faith, and Human Sexuality. Lutheran Theological Seminary Bulletin 73, no. 1 (October 28, 1993): 47–49.
------. ‘Sermonic Aim and Lutheran Evangelism: A Case Study in Historical Homiletics’. Currents in Theology and Mission 16, no. 6 (December 1989): 443–47.
------. ‘The Future Pulpit: Long-Range Proclamation Planning’. The Clergy Journal LXXXIV, no. 7 (May 2008): 8–10.
------. ‘The Model Preacher: Ethos and the Early American Pulpit’. Dialog: A Journal of Theology 29, no. 3 (1990): 183–88.
------. ‘The Women in the Windows’. Seminary Ridge Review 9, no. 1 (Autumn 2006): 42–48.
------. ‘Variety of Visions’. The Lutheran Standard 25, no. 6 (March 15, 1985): 15–17.
------. ‘We Must Walk Carefully in Our Uses of Nuclear Energy, Balancing the Benefits and Burdens.’ The Lutheran Standard 25, no. 6 (March 15, 1985): 12.
------. Who Do You Say That I Am?: 21st Century Preaching. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2003.
Hedahl, Susan K. and Richard P. Carlson. Preaching 1 Corinthians 13. St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2001.
Hedahl, Susan K., John S. McClure, Frederick A. Neidner, and Foster R. McCurley, Jr. New Proclamation, Year C, 2003-2004: Advent through Holy Week. Edited by Harold W. Rast. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2003.
Hedahl, Susan Karen. ‘Rhetoric and Proclamation: A Relational Paradigm’. Chap. 12 in To Teach, To Delight, and To Move: Theological Education in a Post-Christian World, edited by David S. Cunningham, 267–80. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2004.
------. ‘The Emerging Presence of the Qur’an in American Broadcast Media: 1998-2008’. Dialog: A Journal of Theology 48, no. 3 (September 2009): 222–30.
Hedahl, Susan. ‘Heard Any Good Sermons?’. Edited by David L. Miller. Perspective. The Lutheran 17, no. 7 (July 2004): 32–35.
------. ‘Law-Gospel Preaching: A Classroom Perspective’. Dialog: A Journal of Theology 39, no. 3 (March 2000): 200–205.
Trout, Gwenn. ‘Conversation with Dr. Susan K. Hedahl, Associate Professor of Homiletics’. A Student’s Perspective. Seminary Views: News from the Hill Winter 1997: 2.
Illustration Writer, Emphasis: A Preaching Journal for the Parish Pastor Vol 20, no. 7 thru 23, no. 4 (1990-1993).

Processing Information

The great majority of the collection was donated by its creator prior to her death. It arrived in two boxes with no discernible order. A small number of items relating to Dr. Hedahl’s life and career were found loose in the Seminary Archives and have been integrated. The arrangement is entirely that of the processor, Emily Holland. Newspaper clippings have been photocopied and arranged in the collection in place of the originals per the archivist.