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Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works.

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And glorify your Father which is in heaven.

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The spirit of Luther is what founded the Lutheran Church.

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His stand of conscience made possible for many a closer and more direct worship of God.

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The Word of God is no sleepy wisdom. It demonstrates its power in everyone who believes.

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Lutheranism is a conviction that only in the true worship of God will people respond in grateful

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service to God and honest service to their fellow human beings.

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Early Lutheran life in America was simple and rugged. In the midst of daily concern for

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survival in a new land, there was little time for graceful amenities. There was time for work and

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He folded his arms in rest and prayer. There were good times,

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harvests and children to love, learning and growing. And there were bad times too. The

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constant threat of illness or disaster that would take one of the family away from the work that

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was ever present. There was no social welfare, no government funds and no insurance available.

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It was only to his neighbors that a man could turn in difficult times and often in church

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that the first collections were made to help a family in need.

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Yet the sense of giving was rewarding in many ways. First, when a church member saw

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human distress in any form, he was unable to turn away. The Lutheran sense of compassion made him

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his brother's keeper. Secondly, in good turn, he could expect help from his brothers when he

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needed a hand or many hands to smooth his life in emergencies. Yet there remained a need for

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an organized plan of self-help and protection against disaster. Each man hopes to walk in

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dignity, not to ask or beg help. Insurance was the basic idea, but at that time insurance

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through old established companies was too expensive for most people. To answer this need,

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many fraternal societies sprang up in the last half of the 19th century. Members paid small

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amounts to provide funds for the families of fellow members who died prematurely.

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But there was a problem for Lutherans. These societies had certain rules and rituals which

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conflicted with Lutheran beliefs. Why not provide low-cost family protection which did

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not conflict with the church? A way to let Lutheran people help themselves and help each other.

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The idea first occurred to a printer in Appleton, Wisconsin. His name was Albert

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Vakes. The year was 1899. Vakes took the idea to an influential man, Gottlieb D. Ziegler,

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the county school superintendent. Ziegler shared it with his friend, Bill Zilke,

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the assistant postmaster. These three gave thirteen dollars apiece and persuaded six

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others to do the same. It may not sound like much, but in 1899 a dollar was a dollar. Even

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for these gentlemen thirteen dollars was half a month's pay. They needed to find 500 others

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who were willing to chip in five dollars each. Frugal German farmers proved tough customers.

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Three years later they'd managed only 200 pledges to join. One crucial element was yet to be added.

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In 1902 John W. Groupie, a dairyman from nearby Greenville, challenged the group with a new idea.

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Instead of just insurance, why not a fraternal benefit society with a system of local branches

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to provide members with life insurance and social benefits.

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Now that was something practical farmers could see. Insurance that fit hand in glove for the

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church and the neighborly help in hard times the church had always been the center of.

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Eight Association for Lutherans quickly got 300 more pledges and a charter November 24th, 1902,

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the day before Thanksgiving. But only the most frugal management of funds would keep the

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going. For the first few years the Vakes kitchen table was the office and Vakes had to pay three

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dollars of the annual twelve dollar phone bill because his fellow directors thought he would

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probably use the phone for personal business. Vakes later remarked he thought this rather small

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since he charged nothing for the use of his lights in his home.

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In 1905 the association moved to the second floor of the commercial bank. The rent was eight dollars

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a month. A year and a half later the office expanded to two rooms and the purse strings

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were opened up enough to have the name painted on the window. There was a move in 1914 and another

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in 1923. This time to a five-story office building owned by the association. An adjacent building

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was added in 1952. In 1964 a new structure rose on the site of the original five-story home office.

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By the end of 1902, eight association for Lutherans numbered 607 members and 31 branches.

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Communities had branches where members met to pay premiums and plan branch activities.

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Over the years membership grew and so did AAL's impact on the communities it served.

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Caring for the elderly and the young, for the disaster stricken and the lost and lonely,

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meeting some of the unmet human needs the world is so filled with. This was and is AAL's purpose.

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Today there are nearly 5,000 branches, more than a million members. Insurance in force exceeds nine

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billion dollars. Fraternal and benevolent expenditures top 10 million dollars.

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Those dollars touched a lot of lives across the country.

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For an organization that started out on the Vakes kitchen table,

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eight association for Lutherans has come a long, long way.

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AAL's new home office is right where it began, Appleton, Wisconsin. It is modern but close to

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the land. A place for tomorrow with roots in the past. A new statement of the pioneer spirit of

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neighborly help. The chapel of the old building was dismantled, brought here piece by piece and

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reconstructed. This chapel is important to us. That's why we brought it with us. It will continue

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to be a source of strength and inspiration. In these days of rapid change we are constantly

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challenged by new situations. As Christians we feel it is our duty to be good stewards of God's

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gifts and the members funds to serve God and our fellow human beings as best we can. Part of that

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service is planning for the future. To take care of our own needs and to be in position to help

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others. That's what this new building is. A plan for the future. We've thought through our needs

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and we've tried to provide a setting in which eight association for Lutherans can do its work.

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Its work of enabling Lutherans and their families to aid themselves and others. Its work of living

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common concern for human work.

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Eight association for Lutherans was conceived in a spirit of doing, of self-help

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and of helping others. Founded on a compassionate concern for people. Demonstrated in practical

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terms in acts of service that convey Christian love.

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Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

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Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel

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but on a candlestick and it giveth lights unto all that are in the house.