By The Rt. Rev. Keith L. Ackerman, ‘74, SSC, DD

Being brought up at the corner of Evans Avenue and Jenny Lind Street in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, often gave me pause as I realized that these two names were also expressions of my own ethnic heritage: Welsh and Swedish. The question growing up was “which heritage predominates?” Food-wise, the Swedish won out (except for the dreaded Luttefisk), and church-wise the Welsh won out. Yet,  ironically, my Swedish grandparents, although raised in the State Church in Sweden, wound up having their funerals in our local Episcopal Church where my Welsh mother and Swedish father were members. My Anglican heritage was quite clear on my Welsh side, but what about the Swedish side?  Interestingly, both of my ethnicities come from “the State Church,” and at times I would chuckle as the Welsh and English would say, “We’re not Anglican - we’re C of E.” 

And my Swedish relatives would say, “We weren’t Lutheran - we’re Swedish Church.” So when the Welsh moved to the United States, they eventually figured out that “their church” was called something other than Anglican/C of E, and the Swedes who were simply looking for a church figured out that some Lutheran Churches (Augustana) spoke Swedish!

You can well imagine my shock in 1970 to “discover” Gustaf Elias Marius Unonius (1810-1902) at Nashotah House and to discover that a Swede was the first graduate of Nashotah House. Although of Swedish ancestry, he was born in Finland and, like so many of my relatives, had to see his name in print using various spellings. (My grandfather Axel Fritheof Akerman became “Fred Ackerman,” for example.) 

And due to the “new” nineteenth-century law regarding surnames (no more Johnssons and Svendotters), many Swedes had to pick their family name, and as we often see in other countries, Latin endings were at times used. So . . . pick one: Gustaf, Gustav, Gustavus! His family tended to stick tenaciously to their new family name and its spelling.

Born in 1810 in Finland (you may recall that Russia claimed Finland at that time, although the Swedish language was spoken there), Gustaf and his family moved to Sweden (“real” Swedish language!), where he graduated in 1833 from Uppsala University with a degree in law. In 1841 he settled in Waukesha County, helped to establish a Swedish settlement, and paved the way for a significant Scandinavian immigration. Then, enter James Lloyd Breck (1818-1876).  

James Lloyd Breck was eager to found “The Mission,” and Unonius found that his High Church Lutheran tradition (Scandinavians were not impressed with Low Church German Lutherans) was much more aligned with the vision expressed by Breck. The rest, as they say, is history.  

Gustaf was ordained by none other than Bishop Jackson Kemper, the first missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States, and served both in the Swedish settlement and in Milwaukee and even, for good measure, established a Swedish Episcopal Church in Chicago, even though most of the locals had no idea who St. Ansgarius (Anskar) was.  

I was surprised to discover later that in the “Biretta Belt” more Swedish churches would be founded, so that when I became the eighth Bishop of Quincy, I became aware of two Swedish churches that were eventually “received” by the Bishop of Quincy as full members of the diocese. The remarkable irony is that many of the Swedes were waiting for a bishop to be sent from Sweden and eventually they quit waiting. With their commitment to apostolic succession, the Swedish “Lutherans” were none too thrilled with the Lutherans who felt they didn’t really need a bishop. 

But imagine returning to Sweden in 1858, having been ordained a priest in Christ’s one, holy, catholic and apostolic church, serving in the Episcopal Church. Gustaf simply began to function as a priest there in recognition of his catholic orders. While in Sweden, he wrote some of his most remarkable books. Written in Swedish, several have been translated into English.

About ten years ago, I was invited by a group in Sweden to “return home” (as they said in their letter of invitation) to speak at a Pilgrimage - the annual Heliga Birgitta event held at the remains of her monastery/convent in Vadstena. While there, I was able to speak about their national hero, Fr. Gustaf Unonius, the first graduate of Nashotah House.  

There is a monument to him in Sweden, and whenever people come to the Nashotah House campus, they can see, strategically located near the Red Chapel where he prayed and the Blue House where he was taught, our own joy in having helped to inform and form a man who is the “Proto-son of the House!”

The Rt. Rev. Keith L. Ackerman is currently the bishop vicar of the Diocese of Quincy of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and assisting bishop of Fort Worth. In July 2020, Bishop Ackerman was appointed as interim bishop of the Diocese of the Southwest by the Most Rev. Foley Beach, Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church in North America. Bishop Ackerman lives in Keller, Texas. He works part-time as a therapist, assists the bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth (ACNA), and serves as vicar of St. Timothy's Church in Fort Worth. Before becoming a bishop, Bishop Ackerman served as a curate at the Church of the Transfiguration in Freeport, Long Island, New York (1974–76); then as rector of St. Mary's Church in Charleroi, Pennsylvania (1976-1989); and then as rector of St. Mark's Church in Arlington, Texas (1989 - 1994). A graduate of Nashotah House, Bishop Ackerman served for many years on Nashotah House’s board and now as Honorary Trustee.

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Do you have a Nashotah House memory you’d like to share, favorite chapel “prank,” a description of what life was like, or a word of advice on raising kids at the House and/or ringing Michael the Bell? We would love to have your “sketches” of Nashotah House from back in the day— whether that day was last week, last year, or years ago. We are currently collecting these among alumni, spouses, students, and friends of Nashotah House, and would love to include yours. 

Nashotah “Sketches” may be emailed to chapter@nashotah.edu subject line: Nashotah Sketches. Feel free to write a brief “biography” of yourself, as well as any pictures you’d like to share with the community. We look forward to sharing!