Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church. Immanuel Deaconess Motherhouse and Training School.

See also AUG 42 Administrative History.

At the 1920 meeting of the Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America held in Jamestown, New York, it was decided that the Immanuel Deaconess Institute (IDI) needed a newspaper to publicize the deaconess cause and inform church members and others of the IDI's work, as well as the work of the deaconesses in other workstations. The rationale for starting a newspaper included that the practice of having a publication to promote diaconate work was something that was widely practiced in other deaconess institutions. Some examples mentioned included the papers of the Philadelphia Motherhouse of Deaconesses, the Lutheran Deaconess Motherhouse, Baltimore, Maryland, and the Deaconess Institute in Stockholm.

The paper was to include news of the work happening in Omaha, as well as other stations where deaconesses were deployed. Not only would the newspaper promote the work of the Immanuel deaconesses, it would also serve as a principal form of communication to the deaconesses about what was happening in their community. In addition to news, there were also articles about the diaconate in general and reports on the growth and reach of other Lutheran motherhouses in the United States. It also published financial reports of the institute, as well as the annual report to the synod from the IDI's board of directors.

In April 1921, the first issue of the quarterly Diakoniss-Baneret appeared. It was principally a Swedish-language publication with only one or two articles written in English. Its editorial staff comprised the Rev. Emil G. Chinlund and the Rev. F.A. Linder. It was published in Omaha, Nebraska by the IDI and yearly subscriptions were available for fifty cents. Soon after its premiere, the Diakoniss-Baneret included a greater number of articles written in English, until January 1924 when the number of articles written in English exceeded the number written in Swedish and the title of the publication changed to The Deaconess Banner. Even though the IDI formally separated itself from the Augustana deaconess community in 1965, it continued to publish The Deaconess Banner, although the focus of the publication shifted towards the work of the medical center campus and its affiliated institutions. In 1971, Immanuel, Inc. changed the name of the publication to Immanuel Medical Center Banner and in 1973 shortened the name to Banner. It also incurred several style changed throughout its existence. These changes included those to the magazine's layout, increase in page size, and a switch to color photographs and graphics.

Throughout its life, the publishing frequency changed several times. After beginning as a quarterly publication, the serial increased its issues to six per volume. It remained at five or six issues per volume until 1966 when it reverted to four issues per volume. In years after that, it published some six-issue volumes, but by 1987 it was publishing four-issue volumes. It was still being published in 1992, but the name had reverted to Immanuel Banner. According to the Immanuel Medical Center library, Banner ceased publication sometime between 1990 and 1996.