Paul Nelson
Prepared by Thomas H. Schattauer
Paul R. Nelson, a native of Fargo, North Dakota, was a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and had served since 1987 on its churchwide staff, first as Director of the Study of Ministry and most recently as Director for Worship.
Paul was a passionate and persuasive voice for a rich contemporary liturgical practice, from his Notre Dame dissertation on the new American Lutheran ordination rite to his careful preparation of the foundation for the next generation of worship resources in the ELCA.
He was a regular presence at our Academy meetings, an active participant in the Post-Reformation Historical Research Seminar and a friend to many. After a long struggle with leukemia, he succumbed to a debilitating infection of the nervous system and died at home in Chicago, at age forty-nine, on October 28, 2000; he is survived by his wife, Mary Ann Urbashich.