Homeless and with only $25 of his own he set out to prepare for the Lutheran ministry by enrolling at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Toward the close of the first year, Ernie was appointed gospel team manager by the board of religious activities. During his senior year he was elected to serve as chairman of the board of religious activities. He believed wholeheartedly in his denomination and what it stood for. When his college days came to a close, he applied for entrance at Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul and was accepted.

Ernie was the 4th generation of his family to attend Springdale Lutheran Church in Dane County, Wisconsin. The congregation was organized in 1852 by Norwegian immigrants and the church was built in 1861.

"An Earnest Appeal"

At age 21, Ernie's parents were deceased. He was homeless with only $25. The generous citizens of Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin created "An Earnest Appeal to Friends of Ernest Rockstad" fundraiser to help him attend St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. 

The appeal read,"When a young man has the talents and possibilities that Ernest Rockstad has, and has no parents to help, we friends ought to do something together. Ernest has work at college, as much as any student, but he needs more than that. One other congregation has helped. Contribute as much as you can to this worthy cause."

Ernie's first mode of transportation.

Ernie studying while in college.

St. Olaf graduation, 1938.

Ernie had a friendly visit with the seminary president in his office and told him of his plans. The most difficult experience came in an encounter with the church history professor who subjected him to a tongue-lashing, falsly accusing Ernie of thinking he was the only saved man in the seminary and all the other men were lost. It was with mixed feelings of heartache and relief that Ernie quietly made his departure from the seminary the next day. He returned to northern Minnesota, where the Lord graciously continued to open doors for evangelistic meetings, and Ernie had the joy of seeing people brought to Christ through the preaching of the Word. His departure from the Lutheran denomination was now complete albeit through much personal pain and anguish because his connections to the Lutheran church were so dear to him personally. But he determined: "I cannot but go where God wants me, regardless of the cost." On May 17, 1940, during an interval between preaching engagements, Ernie was buried in the baptismal waters at Thief River Falls in obedience to the command of Christ and on confession of faith in Him, bearing witness to his union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.

"Clergyman" Ernest Rockstad’s Great Northern Railway ticket April 26, 1940.

Newlyweds Ernie and Ilene Rockstad, 1942. St. Louis Park, Minnesota

After leaving the seminary, time was spent preaching in evangelistic services in various places, including Minnesota, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and New York. Then a number of years were spent serving as a pastor. In his first pastorate in Brainerd, Minnesota, Ernie met the girl who became his wife, Miss Ilene Dixon, to whom he was first attracted by her beautiful singing. He told the Lord, "If it is Thy will, I'd like to have that girl for my wife." They married in November 1941.

While attending the Minnesota Fundamentalists Conference in Minneapolis one afternoon, he heard Dr. Walter L. Wilson talk about the presence of the Holy Spirit and that a surrender to Him was necessary. That evening on his knees alone in his room, he presented his body as a living sacrifice to the Holy Spirit. Within a few days he led three souls to a saving knowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. It was clear to him that he had done little else than observe while the Spirit of God did His work in their hearts, realizing Ernie’s deepest desire to be an instrument through which God could work in winning souls. During a short break at the Fundamentalists conference he had also met V.L. Peterson, who after nineteen years as a Lutheran pastor left that denomination based on years of careful Bible study and the conviction that infant baptism and the doctrine of baptismal regeneration are not Scriptural.

Prompted by the Lord, Ernie contacted Mr. Peterson who in turn invited him to preach for pre-Easter meetings at the First Baptist Church of Three River Falls Minnesota. The Lord graciously worked in those meetings and on the second night four people were saved. The people of the church became so excited that they pleaded with Ernie to continue on the next week as well which resulted in the salvation of more people. The meetings continued for a third week and would have extended longer but Ernie was committed to begin services at Lancaster, Minnesota where he also saw the blessing of the Lord and the salvation of sinners. It was six weeks before he returned to the seminary, and he had preached almost forty times and seen a number of people come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. A definite conviction that his Lutheran connections must be severed was now in his heart and he informed his best friend at the seminary of his decision. Word spread and many fellow students expressed concern and sorrow at the news. One even urged him, "The seminary and our church need you perhaps more than you need them, Ernie."

While serving as a pastor in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, Ernie attended the Bethel Theological Seminary in St. Paul where he graduated with honors and received the degree of bachelor of divinity. During the St. Louis Park pastorate the Lord began to make real to Ernie the truth of his union with Christ as it is taught in Romans six and other portions of the New Testament. He learned to reckon himself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus and experienced a new constancy of victory and joy in the Lord. During this time he also began to learn something of the working of demonic powers in human lives and the deliverance which can be found through Christ. Directed of the Lord, Ernie entered into an independent Bible conference and evangelistic ministry. No invitation was ever sought, but the Lord graciously opened doors and kept him busy ministering in union meetings, Bible conferences and Bible camps, and in churches of various denominations.