The Reverend Doctor Kenneth C. Senft Papers

Kenneth received a Bachelor of Arts from Gettysburg College in 1946, during which time he was also Chairperson of the United Student Christian Council, a member of the World Christian Youth Conference, and a student delegate to the opening of the Lutheran World Federation in Helsinki. He received a Bachelor of Divinity from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg in 1952, and a Doctor of Divinity from Gettysburg College in 1973. In middle of his seminary studies, immediately following World War II, he took a leave to serve as the director of resettlement of displaced persons, under the Lutheran World Federation, Service to Refugees. This became a lifetime commitment to furthering the care of, and service to, refugees and immigration from all parts of the world. When Kenneth returned to Gettysburg to complete his studies, he also served as Pastor of Keller Memorial Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C. His first call was a Mission Developer, and then Pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Redwood City, California, from 1952-1963. From 1963-1964, he served as Secretary of Church Vocations, Board of College Education and Church Vocations for the Lutheran Church in America. Kenneth returned to Berkeley, California, serving Lutheran Church of the Cross from 1964-1967. He then served Trinity Lutheran Church in Pasadena from 1967-1970. He served as Assistant Executive Secretary for the Board of American Missions in Chicago from 1970-1972. In 1972, The Lutheran Church in America reorganized, and Kenneth became the Executive Director of the Division for Mission in North America, based in Manhattan until the formation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1988. Post retirement, Kenneth was President of the Mission Resource Institute. Kenneth also served on the Board of the Council of Churches of California, the Governing Board of the National Council of Churches, as well as numerous other boards, and was an active participant in ecumenical dialogues. In 1949, Kenneth married Josephine Haugen in Berchtesgaden, Germany. She had come to Germany from St. Olaf College, to teach English in German Schools, through LWF, then serving in their Services to Refugees Program.