S. W. Schmitthenner

Samuel William Schmitthenner (February 23, 1928 – May 17, 2015) was a Lutheran who served as the President of the Protestant Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church Society in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India from 1969 to 1981.

Samuel William Schmitthenner, AELC
The Reverend
Church	Lutheran
Diocese	Synods of East Godavari, West Godavari, East Guntur, West Guntur, Central Guntur
See	Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC)
In office	1969–1981
Predecessor	K. Devasahayam
Successor	K. Nathaniel
Previous posts	Pastor, Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church Society
Orders
Ordination	May 23, 1951[1] by Central Pennsylvania Synod, United Lutheran Church in America[1]
Personal details
Born	February 23, 1928[2] Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, India
Died	May 17, 2015[2] Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, United States

S. W. Schmitthenner initially served as a missionary to India from 1952 onwards.^[3]

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Studies

S. W. Schmitthenner studied at the Kodaikanal International School in Tamil Nadu and in 1944^[1] moved on to Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where he earned a graduate degree in 1948.^[1] He continued his studies and earned a Master of Divinity (M. Div.) degree from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg in 1951.^[1]

While serving as a Pastor of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church Society in Andhra Pradesh, India from 1952^[1] onwards, Schmitthenner returned twice to America to upgrade his academics. In 1958-1959^[1] he attended the Kennedy School of Missions at Hartford, Connecticut, and again in 1966^[1] he joined the University of Pennsylvania for studying Indian Sociology.

Contribution

Religious titles
Preceded by K. Devasahayam[4] 1965–1969	President Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church 1969–1981[4]	Succeeded by K. Nathaniel 1981–1989[4]
Honorary titles
Preceded by M. Elia Peter, MCI, 1975-1977	Chairperson, Board of Governors, Andhra Christian Theological College, Hyderabad 1977-1979	Succeeded by B. Victor Emmanuel, STBC, 1980-1982