Lefferts Loetscher

Lefferts Augustine Loetscher (1904–1981) was an American church historian.

Loetscher was born in Dubuque, Iowa,[1] the son of Frederick W. Loetscher Sr., who was also a church historian, and the older brother of Frederick W. Loetscher Jr., an ornithologist.[2] The Loetschers were descended from Swiss immigrants.[3]

Loetscher studied at the Lawrenceville School, Princeton University, and Princeton Theological Seminary before serving as a Presbyterian minister in Pennsylvania. He obtained a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and returned to the seminary in 1941 to teach, staying there until his retirement in 1974.[1]

Loetscher specialized in American Presbyterian church history and wrote The Broadening Church (1954) on this topic. Along with Robert T. Handy and H. Shelton Smith, he also produced the two-volume American Christianity (1963).

As his father did before him, Loetscher served as the President of the American Society of Church History in 1962.

References

  1. ^ a b Moorhead, James H. (2012). Princeton Seminary in American Religion and Culture. Eerdmans. p. 455. Retrieved 27 February 2026.
  2. ^ "Dr F. W. Loetscher, 91, Father of Centre Professor, Dies". The Advocate-Messenger. 3 August 1966. p. 3. Retrieved 27 February 2026.
  3. ^ Piper, Otto A.; Jurji, Edward J. (1966). "Frederick W. Loetscher" (PDF). The Princeton Seminary Bulletin. LX (1): 65. Retrieved 27 February 2026.
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