Helge Høverstad was born on March 15, 1870, in Vang, Valdres, Norway, to Torger Anderson Høverstad and Gjertrude Helgesdatter Leine. One of five children, he immigrated to North America in 1892, arriving in Quebec before settling in Holden, Goodhue County, Minnesota, where relatives already lived. He studied at Hamar Seminary in Norway and later at the United Church Seminary in Minneapolis (now Augsburg University) and Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary. Høverstad served Lutheran congregations in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa and also contributed to church work through the Foreign Missions board and writing for St. Petri tidende.
