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{{Multiple issues|
{{Notability|Biography|date=April 2023}}
{{Primary sources|date=April 2023}}
}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2015}}

{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = President
| name = Samuel William Schmitthenner, [[Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church|AELC]]
| title = The Reverend
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| church = [[Lutheran]]
| archdiocese =
| diocese = [[Synods]] of [[East Godavari]], [[West Godavari]], East [[Guntur]], West [[Guntur]], Central [[Guntur]]
| see = [[Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church]] (AELC)
| term = 1969–1981
| predecessor = [[K. Devasahayam]]
| successor = [[K. Nathaniel]]

| ordination = May 23, 1951<ref name="General">Report of the Secretary, Lower Susquehanna Synod, 2015, p.22. [www.lss-elca.org/Redesign/wp.../Complete-Report-of-the-Secretary.pdf]</ref>
| ordained_by = Central Pennsylvania Synod, [[United Lutheran Church in America]]<ref name="General"/>
| consecration =
| consecrated_by =
| rank =

| birth_date = February 23, 1928<ref name="Gettysburg">[http://www.gettysburgtimes.com/obituaries/article_8d9e4750-ec24-5793-897b-8b337e79d391.html Gettysburg Times, Samuel William Schmitthenner, May 22, 2015]</ref>
| birth_place = [[Rajahmundry]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[India]]
| death_date = May 17, 2015<ref name="Gettysburg"/>
| death_place = [[Gettysburg, Pennsylvania]], [[United States]]
| previous_post = Pastor, [[Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church]] Society
}}
'''Samuel William Schmitthenner''' (February{{nbsp}}23, 1928{{snd}}May{{nbsp}}17, 2015) was a [[Lutheran]] pastor who served as the President of the [[Protestant]] [[Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church]] Society in [[Guntur district]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[India]] from 1969 to 1981.<ref name=ULS>{{cite web |url= https://ulsem.libraryhost.com/repositories/4/resources/5 |title= Rev. Samuel William Schmitthenner Collection - Collection Identifier: ULS-MS-042 |author= |date= |website= United Lutheran Seminary |publisher= |access-date= November 20, 2025 |quote=}}</ref>

==Early life==
His parents, Marian and August Schmitthenner missionaries were in Rajahmundry, India.<ref name=L>{{cite web |url= https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/publicopiniononline/name/samuel-schmitthenner-obituary?id=13601079 |title= Samuel Schmitthenner Obituary |author= |date= 22 May 2015 |website= Legacy.com |publisher= |access-date= November 20, 2025 |quote=}}</ref>

{{Portal|Christianity}}

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

Gettysburg College honored him with an honorary D.D. in 1977; in 2013, the Kodaikanal International School awarded him the Margaret Eddy Award in honor of his service to the school.<ref name=L />

==Career==

S. W. Schmitthenner initially served as a missionary to India from 1952 onwards.<ref>[http://cupola.gettysburg.edu/hiddenpapers/7/ Amanda Caligiuri, Hidden in Plain Sight: Plaque in the Chapel, Gettysburg, 2006, p.5.]</ref> He worked as a pastor of the [[Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church]] Society in [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[India]].<ref name=L /> During his time in India, Schmitthenner returned twice to [[United States|America]] to upgrade his academics. In 1958-1959<ref name="General"/> he attended the Kennedy School of Missions at [[Hartford]], [[Connecticut]], and again in 1966<ref name="General"/> he joined the [[University of Pennsylvania]] for studying Indian Sociology.

He returned to the US in 1982 and was the pastor of Faith United Lutheran Parish in Claysburg, Pennsylvania, from that time until 1991.<ref name=ULS />

==Family life==
In 1950, he married his school sweetheart, Ruth Gosselink; Ruth died in 1996 and a year later, he married Barbara Kolumban.<ref name=L />

==Contribution==
{{S-start}}
{{s-rel}}
{{Succession box| before=[[K. Devasahayam]]<ref name="Kolluri">Kolluri Luther Richardson, ''Towards Self-Reliance : A historical survey of the programmes and efforts of Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church from 1927 to 1969'', Published by Christopher and Kanakaiah, Vijayawada, 2003, p.78.</ref> 1965–1969| title=President [[Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church]]
| after=[[K. Nathaniel]] 1981–1989<ref name="Kolluri"/>| years=1969–1981<ref name="Kolluri"/>}}
{{s-hon}}
{{Succession box| before=M. Elia Peter, [[Methodist Church in India|MCI]], 1975-1977| title=Chairperson, Board of Governors, [[Andhra Christian Theological College]], [[Hyderabad]]
| after=B. Victor Emmanuel, [[Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches|STBC]], 1980-1982| years=1977-1979}}
{{S-end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal
| author=Kolluri Luther Richardson
| title=''Towards Self-Reliance : A historical survey of the programmes and efforts of Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church from 1927–1969'', Published by Christopher and Kanakaiah, Vijayawada
| year=2003
| volume=
| issue=
| url =
}}
* {{cite book
| author=Michael Bergunder
| title=Die südindische Pfingstbewegung im 20. Jahrhundert: eine historische und systematische Untersuchung
| year=1999
| volume= of Studien zur interkulturellen Geschichte des Christentums
| series=113| isbn=978-3-631-33771-4| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=Wo3YAAAAMAAJ
}}
* {{cite journal
| author=R. Joseph and B. Suneel Bhanu
| title=Bibliography of Original Christian Writings in India in Telugu
| year=1993
| volume=
| issue=
| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=3YPgAAAAMAAJ&q=Bibliography+of+Original+Christian+Writings+in+India+in+Telugu
}}
* {{cite journal
| author=Martin Senftleben
| title=''Influences of Hinduism on Christianity in Andhra Pradesh.'' Unpublished PhD thesis, Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupati
| year=1992
| volume=I
| issue=
| url=http://www.drmartinus.de/bio/de/thesis1.pdf
| archive-date=December 9, 2008
| access-date=July 19, 2015
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209131403/http://www.drmartinus.de/bio/de/thesis1.pdf
| url-status=dead
}}
* {{cite journal
| author=Martin Senftleben
| author-mask=______________
| title=''Influences of Hinduism on Christianity in Andhra Pradesh.'' Unpublished PhD thesis, Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupati
| year=1992
| volume=II
| issue=
| url=http://www.drmartinus.de/bio/de/thesis2.pdf
| archive-date=December 9, 2008
| access-date=July 19, 2015
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209131418/http://www.drmartinus.de/bio/de/thesis2.pdf
| url-status=dead
}}
* {{cite journal
| author=M. Victor Paul
| title=Parish Renewal in Reflections on Theology Today – Papers presented by the ACTC faculty during the academic year 1988–1989 on Theology and Mission and Ministry of the Church
| year=1990
| volume=
| issue=
| url =
}}
* {{cite journal
|author = B. C. Paul
|title = The Emergence of a Church in South India: A Study of the Growth and Development of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church: 1905–1927. Unpublished Th. D. thesis submitted to the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
|year = 1984
|volume =
|issue =
|url = http://archive.elca.org/archives/dgm/India.html
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110712112221/http://archive.elca.org/archives/dgm/India.html
|archive-date = July 12, 2011
|df = mdy-all
}}

{{Protestant missions to India |state=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitthenner, Samuel William}}
[[Category:Indian Lutherans]]
[[Category:Translators of the Bible into Telugu]]
[[Category:Christian clergy from Andhra Pradesh]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian translators]]
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2015 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Lutherans]]

S. W. Schmitthenner - Revision history

YourPritam7: Creating New Info