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Title: The Lutherans of New York
Their Story and Their Problems
Author: George Wenner
Release Date: January 8, 2005 [EBook #14638]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LUTHERANS OF NEW YORK ***
Produced by Prof. Kurt A. Bodling, Ganser Library, Millersville
University, Millersville, PA, USA
[Transcriber's note: A very few German names appeared in the original
with umlauts. These have been transcribed as an "e". A few spelling
errors in the original are indicated with a "[sic]". The original uses
italics to indicate most of the German and Latin in the text, and all of
the authors' names in the bibliography. Italics are transcribed with the
underscore character at the beginning and end. Footnotes in the original
are transcribed here in a paragraph immediately below the paragraph to
which the footnote is connected. The appendix contains a table that is
102 characters wide.]
The Lutherans
of
New York
Their Story and Their Problems
BY
GEORGE U. WENNER, D.D., L.H.D.
Pastor of Christ Church
New York
THE PETERSFIELD PRESS
819 East Nineteenth Street
1918
Copyright, 1918
By GEORGE U. WENNER
TO
THE LUTHERANS OF NEW YORK
IN
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
_May you bring forth fruit and may your fruit remain_
Contents
Apology
Introduction
Their Story
In the Seventeenth Century--1648-1700
In the Eighteenth Century--1701-1750
In the Eighteenth Century--1751-1800
In the Nineteenth Century--1801-1838
In the Nineteenth Century--1839-1865
In the Nineteenth Century--1866-1900
In the Twentieth Century--1900-1918
Their Problems
The Problem of Synods
The Problem of Language
The Problem of Membership
The Problem of Religious Education
The Problem of Lapsed Lutherans
The Problem of Statistics
Epilogue
Appendix--The Churches; Deaconesses; Former Pastors; Sons of the
Churches; Institutions and Societies; Other Associations; Periodicals;
Book-stores; Bibliography; Index.
Illustrations
Frontispiece [Transcriber's note: a portrait of the author]
When New York Was Young
A Corner of Broad Street
New Amsterdam in 1640
In the Eighteenth Century
Trinity Church
Henry Melchior Muehlenberg
The Old Swamp Church
Frederick Muehlenberg
John Christopher Kunze
Kunze's Gravestone
Carl F. E. Stohlmann, D.D.
Pastor Wilhelm Heinrich Berkemeier
The Wartburg
G. F. Krotel, D.D., LL.D.
Augustus Charles Wedekind, D.D.
Pastor J. H. Sieker
Charles E. Weltner, D.D.
Apology
Lutherans are not foreigners in New York. Most of us it is true are new
comers. But with a single exception, that of the Dutch Reformed Church,
Lutherans were the first to plant the standard of the cross on Manhattan
Island.
The story of our church runs parallel with that of the city. Our
problems are bound up with those of New York. Our neighbors ought to be
better acquainted with us. We ought to be better acquainted with them.
We have common tasks, and it would be well if we knew more of each
other's ways and aims.
New York is a cosmopolitan city. It is the gateway through which the
nations are sending their children into the new world.
Lutherans are a cosmopolitan church. Our pastors minister to their
flocks in fifteen languages. No church has a greater obligation to "seek
the peace of the city" than the Lutherans of New York. No church has a
deeper interest in the problems that come to us with the growth and ever
changing conditions of the metropolis.
In their earlier history our churches had a checkered career. In recent
years they have made remarkable progress. In Greater New York we enroll
this year 160 churches. The Metropolitan District numbers 260
congregations holding the Lutheran confession. But the extraordinary
conditions of a rapidly expanding metropolis, with its nomadic
population, together with our special drawback of congregations divided
among various races and languages as well as conflicting schools of
theological definition, make our tasks heavy and confront us with
problems of grave difficulty.
On the background of a historical sketch a study of some of these
problems is attempted by the author. After spending what seemed but a
span of years in the pastorate on the East Side, he awoke one day to
find that half a century had been charged to his account. While it is a
distinction, there is no special merit in being the senior pastor of New
York. As Edward Judson once said to him: "All that you have had to do
was to outlive your contemporaries."
These fifty years have been eventful ones in the history of our church
in New York. All of this period the author "has seen and part of it he
was." But having also known, with four exceptions all the Lutheran
pastors of the preceding fifty years, he has come into an almost
personal touch with the events of a century of Lutheran history on this
island. He has breathed its spirit and sympathized with its aspirations.
This unique experience served as a pretext for putting into print some
reflections that seemed fitting at a time when our churches were
celebrating the quadricentennial of the Reformation and were inquiring
as to the place which they might take in the new century upon which they
were entering. The manuscript was begun during the celebration, but
parochial duties intervened and frequent interruptions delayed the
completion of the book.
Lutherans have their place in Church History. Our doctrinal principles
differ in certain respects from those of other churches. We believe that
these principles are an expression of historical, evangelical
Christianity, worthy of being promulgated, not in a spirit of arrogant
denominationalism, but in a spirit of toleration and catholicity. Yet
few in this city, outside of our own kith and kin, understand the
meaning of our system. We have made but little progress in commending it
to others or in extending our denominational lines.
We do not even hold the ground that belongs to us. The descendants of
the Lutherans of the first two centuries are not enrolled in our church
books. Although of late years we have increased a hundredfold (literally
a hundredfold within the memory of men still living), we are far from
caring effectively for our flocks. The number of lapsed Lutherans is
larger than that of the enrolled members of our churches. In the
language of our Palatine forefathers: _Doh is ebbes letz_.
While therefore recent progress affords ground for encouragement, it is
not a time for boastfulness. It is rather a time for self-examination,
for an inquiry into our preparedness for new tasks and impending
opportunities.
We are living in an imperial city. What we plan and what we do here in
New York projects itself far beyond the walls of our city. Nowhere are
the questions of the community more complicated and the needs of the
time more urgent than here. We should therefore ask ourselves whether
the disjointed sections of our church, arrayed during the
Quadricentennial as one, for the purposes of a spectacular celebration,
but each exalting some particularism of secondary value, adequately
represent the religious ideas which four centuries ago gave a new
impulse to the life of the world. If not, where does the trouble lie?
Is it a question of doctrine, of language, of organization or of spirit?
The emphasis we place upon doctrine has given us a reputation for
exclusiveness. The author believes that the spirit of Lutheranism is
that of catholicity. He holds that, in our relations with the people of
this city and with other churches we ought to emphasize the essential
and outstanding features of the Lutheran Church rather than the minute
distinctions which only the trained dogmatician can comprehend. He is in
sympathy with the well known plea of Rupertus Meldenius, an otherwise
unknown Lutheran theologian of the seventeenth century (about 1623), to
observe "in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things
charity."
Introduction
For the sake of non-Lutheran readers it may be well, in a sketch of the
story and problems of our churches, to present a short statement of
their principles and to indicate in what respect these differ from the
general attitude and beliefs of other churches. In doing so however the
author does not presume to encroach upon the field belonging to the
scholars of the church. He is not an expert theologian. What he has to
say upon this subject can only be taken as the opinion of a workaday
pastor who, in practical experience, has obtained an acquaintance with
the teachings of the church which it is his privilege to serve. For a
clearer understanding of disputed points the reader is referred to the
books of reference named in the Bibliography.
Many otherwise well-read people, while admitting that Lutherans are
Protestants, suspect that their system is still imbued with the leaven
of Romanism. In their classification of churches they are disposed to
place us among Ritualists, Sacerdotalists and Crypto-Romanists.
We do not expect to reverse at once the preference of most American
Protestants in favor of the Reformed system. But since we have had no
inconsiderable share in the shaping of modern history, we are confident
that our principles will in due time receive the consideration to which
any historical development is entitled. We would like to be understood,
or at least not to be misunderstood, by our fellow Christians.
But our chief desire is to inspire our own young people with an
intelligent devotion to the faith of their fathers and to persuade them
of its conformity with historical, believing Christianity.
What is Lutheranism? How does it differ from Catholicism? How does it
differ from other forms of Protestantism?
The origin of Lutheranism we are accustomed to assign to the sixteenth
century. We associate it with the nailing of the 95 theses to the church
door at Wittenberg, or with Luther's defence at the Diet of Worms, or
with the Confession of the Evangelicals at Augsburg in 1530.
These events were indeed dramatic indications of a great change, but
they were only the culmination of a process that had been going on for
ages. It was a re-formation of the ancient Catholic Church and a return
to the original principles of the Gospel.
"The Church had become an enormous labyrinthine structure which included
all sorts of heterogeneous matters, the Gospel and holy water, the
universal priesthood and the pope on his throne, the Redeemer and Saint
Anna, and called it religion. Over against this vast accumulation of the
ages, against which many times ineffective protest had been made, the
Lutheran Reformation insisted on reducing religion to its simplest
terms, faith and the word of God."*
*Harnack, Wesen des Christenthums.
The traditional conception of the Church with all its apparatus and
claims of authority it repudiated, and in the few and simple statements
of the seventh article of the Augustana, it set forth its doctrine of
the Church:
"Also they teach, that One holy Church is to continue forever. The
Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly
taught and the Sacraments rightly administered. And to the true unity of
the Church, it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel
and the administration of the Sacraments."
This was the Lutheran position as against Rome.
But properly to understand our history we must also take account of
another movement with which our churches had to contend at the same time
that they were making their protest against Rome. This was a more
radical form of Protestantism which found its expression among what are
known as the Reformed Churches. It had its home in Switzerland, and made
its way along the Rhine to Germany, France and Holland. Through John
Knox it came to Scotland, and subsequently superseded Lutheranism in
Holland and in England. It was from these countries that the earliest
colonists came to America, and thus American Christianity early received
the impress of the Reformed system. The few and scattered Lutheran
churches which were established here in the early history of our country
were brought into contact with a form of Protestantism at variance with
their own theological principles. The history of our Church in America
must be studied with this fact in mind, otherwise many of its
developments will not be understood.
It would lead too far to explain the historical and philosophical
differences between these two forms of Protestantism. A phrase first
used by Julius Stahl aptly describes the difference. The Lutheran
Reformation was the "Conservative Reformation." Its general principle
was to maintain the historical continuity of the Church, rejecting only
that which was contrary to the word of God. The irenic character of the
Augsburg Confession was owing to this principle. The Reformed Churches,
on the other hand, made a _tabula rasa_ of history, and, ignoring even
the legitimate contributions of the Christian centuries, professed to
return to apostolical simplicity, and to accept for their church-life
only that which was explicitly prescribed by the Holy Scriptures.
Thus the Lutherans retained the churches as they were, with their altars
and their pictures, the Liturgy and other products of art and of
history, provided they were not contrary to the word of God. The
Reformed, on the other hand, would have none of these things because
they were not prescribed in the Bible. They worshipped in churches with
bare walls, and dispensed with organs and music, in the interest of a
return to Scriptural simplicity.
There were other differences, but these indicate the general character
of the two movements.
History thus placed our Church between two fires, and the training she
received explains in part the polemical character for which she has been
distinguished. Sharp theological distinctions had to be made. The
emphasis which she was compelled to place upon distinctive doctrine as a
bond of fellowship accounts for the maintenance of standards which were
not required in the early history of our Church when the seventh article
of the Augustana was presented.
Those were famous battles which were fought in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries in defence of the Lutheran position. Our Church
had to contend with two vigorous foes in the statement of her doctrines,
Rome and Reform. The antinomian and synergistic controversies, Osiander,
Major and Flacius, the Philippists and the Crypto-Calvinists are names
that still remind us of the theological carnage of the sixteenth
century.
In the seventeenth century came the reign of the dogmaticians. The
eighteenth century was the age of Pietism and this was followed by
Rationalism. The scope of this Introduction does not require us to
explain the significance of these movements. Students of Church History
are familiar with them.
The revival of spiritual life at the beginning of the nineteenth century
brought with it also a revival of church consciousness and a restoration
of the confession of the church. Both in Europe and in America the
attempt has been made to secure the unity of the church on the basis of
subscription to the various Symbols included in the Book of Concord.
These Symbols, besides the Ecumenical Creeds and the Augsburg
Confession, are Melanchthon's Apology, that is Defence of the Augsburg
Confession, Luther's two Catechisms, the Smalcald Articles and the
Formula of Concord. The later Confessions supplement and explain the
statements of the Augsburg Confession. As such they are valuable
exponents of Lutheran teaching. Many of our churches in Europe as well
as in America require of their ministers subscription to these
Confessions. At the same time it is also true that many churches, whose
Lutheranism cannot be impugned, find in the Augsburg Confession an
adequate expression of their doctrinal position.
According to the Confessors of Augsburg: "For the true unity of the
church it is sufficient to agree concerning the doctrines of the
Gospel."
It would seem, therefore, to be in harmony with the spirit of
Lutheranism to make "the confession of the churches" rather than "the
Confessions of the Church" the bond of union. Underneath the Confessions
there are distinctive principles differentiating us from the sacerdotal
churches on the one hand and from the Reformed churches on the other
hand.
The soul of the Confessions is the confession, and this soul we may
recognize amid all the changes that take place in the course of time
and the progress of thought. It reveals itself in innumerable forms, in
sermons and in sacred song, and above all in the sanctified lives of
those who confess the faith.
In conversation with an eminent teacher in one of our most conservative
schools, the author not long ago requested a definition of Lutheranism
from the standpoint of the school which the Professor represented. Of
course, it was suggested, the acceptance of the Symbolical books must be
presumed, _sine qua non_.
The reply was: "The Symbolical Books are valuable, but their obligatory
acceptance is not essential: The same is true even of the Augsburg
Confession. Any one who accepts the teachings of Luther's Small
Catechism is a Lutheran. The heart of the Lutheran faith may be
expressed in the following words: "Man is a sinner who can be saved by
grace alone."
In view of this statement it would seem to be a legitimate inference
that even in the straitest sect of Lutherans in America the ultimate
doctrine of Lutheranism, reduced to a single word, is GRACE.
Churches, however, have their distinguishing marks. In the Lutheran
Church these are more difficult to find because of her catholic origin
and spirit. While forms and ceremonies are retained, they play only a
minor part in the expression of her churchliness. Bishops and
presbyters, robes and chasubles, liturgies and orders, "helps,
governments and divers kinds of tongues," in the providence of God all
of these things have been "set in the church." Lutherans in many lands
make use of them. An inexperienced observer, taking note only of
crucifixes and candles sometimes fails to distinguish between Lutherans
and Catholics. Yet none of these heirlooms of our ancient family belong
to the essential marks of the church. Their observance or non-observance
has nothing to do with the substance of Lutheranism.
Lutheranism aimed at reformation and not at revolution. Its initial
purpose was to bring back the Church to the common faith of Christendom.
Hence the Lutheran Confession is in its large outlines that of universal
Christendom. Nevertheless, it received a distinctive trend from the
problems of soteriology. The ancient Church had developed the doctrines
of God and of Christ. A beginning, too, had been made in the doctrines
of sin and grace and the way of salvation. But the development had been
hindered by hierarchical traditionalism and by the spirit of legalism.
These were the obstacles that stood in the way. The cry that went up to
God from the hearts of the people in the days of the Reformation was
"What must I do to be saved?" This cry found a voice in the experience
of Luther himself. This is what drove him into the monastery, and this
was the underlying quest of his life as a monk and as a teacher in the
university, through monasticism to get to heaven. It was only when he
had found Christ, and realized that his sins had been taken away through
the atoning work of the Son of God, that he found peace. It is His
person and work upon which the doctrine of our Church primarily rests.*
*"Luther, when he said that justification by faith was the article
of a standing or falling Church, stated the exact truth. He meant to
say, in the terms of the New Testament, especially of Paul, that God in
Christ is the sole and sufficient Saviour. He affirmed what was in him
no abstract doctrine, but the most concrete of all realities, Incarnated
in the person and passion of Jesus Christ, drawing from Him its eternal
and universal significance."--Fairbairn, "The Place of Christ in Modern
Theology," page 159.
In the words of the Small Catechism, Luther still teaches our children
this foundation doctrine of our Church:
"I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from
eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who
has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, secured and delivered me
from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil; not with
silver and gold, but with His holy and precious blood, and with His
innocent sufferings and death, in order that I might be His, live under
Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness,
innocence and blessedness."
But while we thus find in the Son of God and in His atoning work the
foundation of the faith of our Church, many obstacles had been placed in
the way of securing this redemption. Legalistic conditions made it
impossible for the sinner to know that his sins had been taken away. It
was here that the Lutheran Reformation pointed the way to a return to
the simplicity of the Gospel by its Scriptural definition of
justification. _Sola fide_, by faith alone, was the keynote of the
Reformation. Be sure that you bring back _sola_ was Luther's admonition
to his friends, who went to Augsburg while he himself remained at
Coburg.
Thus justification by faith became the material principle of
Protestantism and a second foundation stone of Lutheranism. It is true
that Calvin and the Reformed churches also accepted this principle, but
they did not begin with it. Their system was based on the idea of the
absoluteness of God. The Lutheran system emphasizes the love of God to
all men; the Reformed system emphasizes predestination; which, by
selecting some, excludes the others. As the theologians describe it,
Lutheranism is Christocentric, Reform is theocentric.*
*Calvin, like Luther, read theology through Augustine and without
his ecclesiology, but from an altogether opposite point of view. Luther
started with the anthropology and advanced from below upwards; Calvin
started with the theology and moved from above downwards. Hence his
determinative idea was not justification by faith, but God and His
sovereignty, or the sole and all-efficiency of His gracious will.-Ibid.,
page 162.
A third principle relates to the means of grace. Here we have less
difficulty in discerning the line of cleavage which separates us from
Rome on the one hand and from the rest of Protestantism on the other
hand.
The Lutheran Confession regards the word of God as the means of grace.
The Sacraments also are means of grace, not _ex opere operato_, but
because of the word. They are the visible word, or the individualized
Gospel. Hence, it is correct to say that the word, in the Lutheran
system, is the means of grace. This is doubtless news to many of our
brethren of other faiths, who think of us only as extreme
sacramentarians, and have looked upon us for centuries as
Crypto-Romanists. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was only
by an accident that the emphasis of polemical discussion in the
sixteenth century was laid upon the sacramental question, where it never
belonged.
In her doctrine of the means of grace, the Lutheran Church differs _toto
coelo_ from Rome. It is not the Church which, through its authority and
its institutions, makes the means of grace effective; but it is through
the means of grace that the Church is created and made both a product
and an instrument of the Holy Ghost.
On this doctrine our church differs not only in theory but also in
practice from many of our Protestant brethren. In some of their original
confessional statements the Reformed churches declared that the Spirit
of God required no means of grace, since He worked immediately and
directly. They claimed that the corporeal could not carry the spiritual,
and that the finite could not be made the bearer of the infinite. Over
against these hyperspiritual views our Church believes that through the
word and the sacraments the Holy Ghost effectively offers to the sinner
the gifts of salvation.
There are other marks of our Church, but these are its main
characteristics, and they suffice to indicate our general position in
relation to Christian thought.
If, now, we should be called upon to define in a single sentence the
distinctive features of Lutheranism, it might be done in these words of
an unknown writer:
"Lutheranism is that form of Protestant Christianity which makes Christ
the only foundation, faith the only condition, and the word of God the
only means of salvation."
THEIR STORY
In the Seventeenth Century
1648-1700
Under the administration of the Dutch West India Company the Reformed
Church was established in New Amsterdam in 1628. The policy of the
Company was to maintain the Reformed religion to the exclusion of all
other churches. But the cosmopolitan character of the future metropolis
was evident even in its earliest history. In 1643 the Jesuit missionary
Jogues reports that besides the Calvinists, Lutherans and Anabaptists
were to be found in the colony. In 1644 eighteen languages were spoken
by its inhabitants.
In 1648 the Lutheran community in the New Netherlands appealed to the
Consistory of Amsterdam for a minister, but nothing was done for them.
In 1653 the request was renewed. When the Reformed ministers heard of
it, they strenuously objected to the admission of a Lutheran minister;
they said this would open the door for all manner of sects and would
disturb the province in the enjoyment of its religion. Their attitude
was supported by Governor Stuyvesant, who indeed went to great lengths
in the enforcement of these views? [sic] Even the reading services,
which the Lutherans held among themselves in anticipation of the coming
of a minister, were forbidden, and fines and imprisonment were inflicted
upon those who disobeyed.
Candor compels us to admit that this was the spirit of the age. The
Thirty Years' War was going on at this time, and in a time of war
ruthless methods are the vogue.
In 1657, to the joy of the Lutherans and the consternation of the
Reformed, Joannes Ernestus Gutwasser (or Goetwater, as his name is often
printed) arrived from Amsterdam to minister to the waiting congregation.
But Governor Stuyvesant had no use for a Lutheran minister and Gutwasser
was ordered to return forthwith to the place from which he had come.
However, he succeeded in delaying his departure for nearly two years.
The congregation, unmindful of Stuyvesant's fulminations against all
who taught contrary to the Acts of the Synod of Dort, secured as their
minister in 1662 a student by the name of Abelius Zetskoorn, whom the
authorities soon transported to a charge on the Delaware, without the
violence, however, shown in the case of Gutwasser.
In 1664 the island was captured by the English and the Lutherans
succeeded in obtaining a charter with permission to call a minister and
conduct services in accordance with the teachings of the Augsburg
Confession. But prior to 1664 or even 1648 there were individual
Lutherans here, "their charter of salvation one Lord, one faith, one
birth." In spite of persecution, even to imprisonment, they sang "The
Lord's song in a strange land," and in simplicity of faith sowed the
seed from which future harvests were to spring.
[illustration: "When New York Was Young"]
The little trading station at the mouth of the North River now numbered
about 1,500 people. The church of "The Augustane Confession" was still
without a pastor. For a generation they had striven under great
difficulties to maintain their Lutheran faith. They were plain, simple
people, but they had refused to be cajoled or driven to a denial of
their convictions. Over against Stuyvesant, the most dominant
personality of the new world, they waited patiently for the time when
they might have their own pastor and might worship God according to the
dictates of their own consciences.
At last, in 1669, they obtained a minister in the person of Magister
Jacobus Fabritius who served the congregation in New York and also one
in Albany. The new pastor sorely tried the patience of a longsuffering
people. In church he manifested a dictatorial and irascible temper. At
home he was constantly quarreling with his wife. These eccentricities
interfered somewhat with his usefulness as a pastor. With increasing
difficulty he administered his office until 1671 when he accepted a call
to congregations on the Delaware. Here he seems to have repented of his
ways, for he left an honorable record as a devoted pastor, and the
historian is glad to forget the infelicities of his career on the North
River.
His successor was Bernhardus Arensius, who came with a letter of
recommendation from the Consistory of Amsterdam. He is described as "a
gentle personage and of a very agreeable behavior."
Those were troublous times in which he conducted his ministry. The war
between the Dutch and the English caused a repeated change of
government, but for twenty years he quietly and successfully carried on
his pastoral work in New York and in Albany. He died in 1691 and the
Lutheran flock was again without a shepherd. For the rest of the century
appeals to Amsterdam for a pastor were all in vain.
[illustrations: "A Corner of Broad Street" and "New Amsterdam in 1640"]
In the Eighteenth Century
1701-1750
At the beginning of the eighteenth century the population of Manhattan
Island had increased to 5,000 souls, chiefly Dutch and English. These
figures include about 800 negro slaves. The slave trade and piracy were
at this time perfectly legitimate lines of business.
For ten years the Lutherans had been without a minister. In 1701 they
invited Andrew Rudmann to become their pastor. He had been sent by the
Archbishop of Upsala as a missionary to the Swedish settlements on the
Delaware. Rudmann accepted the call, but after a severe illness, as the
climate did not agree with him, he returned to Pennsylvania, where in
1703 he ordained Justus Falckner to be his successor in New York.
Falckner was a graduate of Halle. It was a kind Providence that made him
pastor of the Lutherans in New York at this time. Events had happened
and were still happening in Europe that were destined to make history in
America.
Germany, paralyzed by the results of the Thirty Years' War, and
hopelessly divided into a multitude of political fragments, had become
the helpless prey of the spoiler. The valley of the Rhine was ravaged
from Heidelberg to the Black Forest. To this day, after more than two
centuries, the ruins may still be traced. Upon the accession of the
Catholic House of Neuburg to the throne of the Palatinate the
Protestants were subjected to intolerable persecution. Their churches
and schools were taken from them. Frequent raids were made upon the
helpless border lands by the armies of Louis the Fourteenth. In a time
of peace the Lutheran house of worship in Strassburg was wrested from
its owners and transformed into a Catholic cathedral.
This devastation of the Rhine Valley caused an extensive emigration by
way of London to New York. In the winter of 1708 Pastor Kocherthal
arrived with the first company of Palatine exiles. In succeeding years
many others followed, most of them settling on the upper Hudson and in
the Mohawk Valley, but some of them remaining in New York.
The inhuman treatment which they received during the voyage, followed by
hunger and disease, decimated their ranks. Of the 3,086 persons who set
sail from London only 2,227 reached New York. Here they were not
permitted to land, but were detained in tents on Governor's Island,
where 250 more died soon after their arrival.
One of the men thus detained was destined to take a prominent place in
the subsequent history of his countrymen, Johann Conrad Weiser. His
descendants down to our own day have been filling high places in the
history of their country as ministers, teachers, soldiers and statesmen.
His great-grandson was the Speaker of the first House of Representatives
of the United States. Another great-grandson, General Peter Muehlenberg,
was for a time an assistant minister in Zion Church at New Germantown,
N. J. He accepted a call to Woodstock, Virginia, where at the outbreak
of the Revolution he startled his congregation one Sunday by declaring
that the time to preach was past and the time to fight had come.
Throwing off his ministerial robe and standing before them in the
uniform of an American officer, he appealed to them to follow him in the
defence of the liberties of his country. He became a distinguished
officer in the army and subsequently rendered good service in the civil
administration of the new republic.
[illustration: "In the Eighteenth Century"]
A later descendant was Dr. William A. Muhlenberg, born in Philadelphia,
September 16th, 1796, the venerated founder of St. Luke's Hospital in
this city.*
*Dr. Muhlenberg was the rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church
of the Holy Communion. He was one of the best beloved ministers in New
York. He died in 1877. I visited him during his last illness in St.
Luke's Hospital. As I took my leave he threw his arms about me and
assured me that he had always been a Lutheran. He evidently conceived of
Lutheranism in broader terms than merely denominational distinctions.
Among the Palatine immigrants stranded on Governor's Island, unable to
follow their sturdier companions to the upper part of the Hudson Valley,
were widows, elderly men and 80 orphans. One of these orphans was Peter
Zenger, who was apprenticed to William Bradford, at that time the only
printer in the colony. When he grew up, he became the editor of The
Weekly Journal, which made its first appearance on November 5th, 1733.
Washington at this time was not yet two years old. Zenger was one of the
earliest champions of American liberty. His arrest and imprisonment, his
heroic defence and final acquittal, are among the milestones of American
history and are a contribution to the story of New York of which
Americans of German descent may well be proud.
It was a large parish to which Falckner ministered. There were no Home
Mission Boards in those days. The New York pastor had therefore to care
for many outlying stations. His diocese included Hackensack, Raritan,
Ramapo and Constable Hook in the south, and Albany, Loonenburg and West
Camp in the north. After the death of Kocherthal he visited regularly,
not only the Dutch congregations of Claverack, Coxackie and Kinderhook,
but also such German settlements as East Camp, Rhinebeck, and Schoharie.
New York itself was not neglected during these missionary journeys.
Readers (Vorleezers) conducted the service while he was away. Such
notices as "There will be no church today, the minister is out of town,"
did not appear on his bulletin board.
The care of a parish 150 miles in length left but little time for
literary work, but in order that his people might be informed on the
subject of their church's faith as distinguished from that of their
Calvinistic neighbors, he wrote a book on the essential doctrines of
the Lutheran confession. It was published by William Bradford, New York,
1708.
He also wrote a hymn: _"Auf, ihr Christen, Christi Glieder,"_ which
after two centuries holds a place in German hymnals, and the translation
is to be found in some of the best collections of the English language.
To this day, therefore, the churches of London and Berlin alike respond
to Falckner's rallying call: "Rise, ye children of salvation."
[illustration: "Trinity Church, Broadway and Rector Street, (Southwest
Corner)"]
He must have been a pious man and a winning personality. The entries in
the book recording baptisms and other ministerial acts abound in
accompanying prayers for the spiritual welfare of those to whom he had
ministered.
For twenty years he served the churches of New York and the Hudson
Valley. When and where he died we know not. Early in 1723 he was in New
York and in Hackensack. In September of the same year there is a record
of a baptism at Phillipsburg (near Yonkers). And then no more. "He was
not, for God took him."
Falckner's successor, Berkenmeyer, a native of Lueneburg, arrived in
1725. He brought with him books for a church library and also funds for
a new building, contributed by friends in Germany, Denmark, and London.
The "old cattle shed" on the southwest corner of Broadway and Rector
Street was torn down and a stone building erected which was dedicated in
1729 and named Trinity church.
The parish which Berkenmeyer inherited from Falckner, extending from New
York to Albany, and including many Dutch and German settlements on both
sides of the river, proved to be a larger field than he could cultivate.
He therefore sent to Germany for another minister, and resigning at New
York, took charge of the northern and more promising part of the field,
making his home at Loonenburg (Athens), on the Hudson. For nineteen
years he labored in this field. He died in 1751.
Berkenmeyer was a scholarly man, a faithful minister, and an impressive
personality. He belonged to a different school from that of his great
contemporary, Muehlenberg, and the rest of the Halle missionaries, and
his correspondence with them frequently savored of theological
controversy.
His successor in New York was Knoll, a native of Holstein, who spent
eighteen years of faithful work in Trinity church under trying
circumstances. He had to preach in Dutch to a congregation that had
become prevailingly German. There was a growing dissatisfaction among
the people. During the first half of the century Dutch influence
gradually declined and German grew stronger. The ministers were all of
them German, although they preached chiefly in Dutch, with occasional
ministrations in German. At last the Germans, feeling the need of ampler
service in their own language, took advantage in 1750 of the presence of
a peripatetic preacher and instituted the first "split" in the Lutheran
church of this city by organizing Christ Church. Knoll resigned soon
after and removed to Loonenburg, where he again became the successor of
Berkenmeyer.
[illustration: "Henry Melchior Muehlenberg (Otto Schweizer's Heroic
Stone Figure)"]
In the Eighteenth Century
1751-1800
The resignation of Knoll and the difficulties of the mother congregation
were the occasion of calling to New York the most distinguished minister
the American Church has ever had.
Henry Melchior Muehlenberg came to America from Halle in 1742 to
minister to the congregations in and near Philadelphia. The disordered
condition of the American churches opened a wide field for his
administrative ability, and for the rest of his life, in addition to his
pastoral activity, he accomplished a great task in the planting and
organization of churches. He is rightly called the Patriarch of the
Lutheran Church in America.
In response to an urgent appeal, Muehlenberg came over from Pennsylvania
in 1751 and assumed the pastorate of Trinity church. Although he spent
but a short time in 1751 and again in 1752 on the ground, he was for two
years pastor of the mother church. His was a fruitful ministry. He
succeeded to a considerable extent in reconciling the warring elements
in the congregation, not only by his gifts as a preacher and spiritual
leader, but also by his ability to preach in Dutch and in English as
well as in German.
The Episcopalians, who worshipped in the Trinity Church on the opposite
corner, complained of the stentorian tones in which he delivered his
sermons.
Upon Muehlenberg's recommendation, Mr. Weygand of Raritan, was chosen
pastor of Trinity Church in 1753. In the furtherance of his ministry,
Weygand performed some literary work. He prepared an English translation
of the Augsburg Confession, which was printed as a supplement to a
quarto volume of 414 pages published by one of the elders of his church,
entitled "The Articles of Faith of the Holy Evangelical Church According
to the Word of God and the Augsburg Confession. A Translation from the
Danish. New York, MDCCLIV."
The congregation continued to be Dutch, although Weygand preached also
in German and in English as occasion required. For the use of his
English congregations he published in 1756 a translation of German
hymns that had appeared in England under the title, "Psalmodia
Germanica."
From 1750 to the time of the American Revolution we had two Lutheran
churches in New York, the German Christ church, popularly known as "The
Old Swamp Church," on Frankfort Street, and the Dutch Trinity church on
Broadway and Rector Street.
In the Swamp church the first preacher, Ries, remained for a year. He
was followed in quick succession by Rapp, Wiessner, Schaeffer, Kurz,
Bager and Gerock. Only the last named served long enough to identify
himself with local history. He was followed by Frederick Muehlenberg,
a son of Henry Melchior, an ardent patriot, who had expressed himself so
freely in regard to English rule that when the British army marched into
New York in 1776 he found it expedient to retire as quickly as possible
to Pennsylvania. Here he labored in several congregations; as supply or
as pastor, until 1779, when the exigencies of the times compelled him to
take an active part in the political affairs of the country.
[illustration: "The Old Swamp Church"]
The partial reconciliation that had been brought about by Muehlenberg
between the Dutch and the German congregations was occasionally
disturbed by a pamphletary warfare conducted by their respective
pastors, Weygand and Gerock.
Weygand died in 1770. He was succeeded by Hausihl (or Houseal, as he
spelled his name in later years), a native of Heilbronn, who had served
congregations in Maryland and in eastern Pennsylvania. Tradition reports
that he was a brilliant preacher of distinguished appearance and of
courtly manners. He succeeded in maintaining a large congregation.
But a serious change was going on in the church in the matter of
language. In spite of the secession in 1750 other Germans kept coming
into the Broadway church to such an extent that they outnumbered the
Dutch eight to one, and finally the use of the Dutch language in the
Lutheran Church of New York came to an end. Houseal had the distinction
of conducting the obsequies at the preparatory service on Saturday,
November 30, 1771, and at the administration of the Lord's Supper on
the following day.
But the death of the Dutch language by no means put an end to the
language difficulties of our Lutheran ancestors. In the midst of the
original contestants a new set of combatants had sprung up in the
persons of the children of both parties. These spoke neither Dutch nor
German. They understood English only and demanded larger consideration
of their needs.
Events, however, were impending which soon gave the people something
else to think about and caused a postponement of actual hostilities for
another generation.
The church on Broadway was destroyed by fire in 1776, and was never
rebuilt. The congregation worshipped for a time in the Scotch
Presbyterian Church on Cedar Street.
The American Revolution broke out. On political questions our ancestors
differed almost as widely as do their successors on synodical questions.
Some of them were for George the Third, others were for George
Washington. In this respect, however, they were not unlike other
inhabitants of New York.
Frederick Muehlenberg, the pastor of the Swamp Church, was an ardent
patriot. At the beginning of the war, as we have seen, he fled to
Pennsylvania.
During the war the services were conducted by the chaplains of the
Hessian troops. The Hessians were good church-goers and also generous
contributors, so that the financial condition of the congregation at
this time was greatly improved.
Houseal, the pastor of Trinity Church, was a tory, and when in 1783 the
American troops marched into New York, he with a goodly number of his
adherents removed to Nova Scotia and founded a Lutheran church in
Halifax.
Both churches were now without pastors. Tribulation must have softened
the spirits of the two contending congregations, for when Dr. Johann
Christoph Kunze came to this city from Philadelphia in 1784, he became
pastor of the reunited congregations, worshipping in the Swamp Church.
[illustration: "Frederick Augustus Conrad Muehlenberg; Pastor of the Old
Swamp Church; subsequently member of the Continental Congress; Speaker
of the Assembly of Pennsylvania; President of the Convention which in
1787 ratified the Constitution of the United States; Speaker of the
first Congress of the United States of America."]
Before closing this chapter and taking up the account of Kunze's
pastorate, let us follow the steps of Frederick Muehlenberg, the former
pastor of the Swamp Church. We recall his unceremonious flight from New
York. We cannot blame him. The British had threatened to hang him if
they caught him.
We remember too that in Pennsylvania he was called upon to take an
active part in political affairs. He was a member of the Continental
Congress, also a member of the legislature of Pennsylvania and Speaker
of the Assembly. He was President of the Convention which ratified the
Constitution of the United States.
Thirteen years have passed since he left New York. It is A. D. 1789. New
York was just beginning to recover from the disastrous years of the
Revolution during which the British troops occupied the city. The
population had sunk from 20,000 to 10,000 in 1783, but by this time had
risen again to 30,000. The people were getting ready to celebrate the
greatest event in the history of the city, the inauguration of the first
President of the American Republic. Preparations were made to honor the
occasion with all possible ceremony. Great men had gathered from all
parts of the country. But to the older members of the Swamp Church there
was doubtless no one, not even Washington himself, who stood higher in
their esteem and affection than the representative from Pennsylvania,
the Reverend Frederick Muehlenberg. And when a few days later the
erstwhile German pastor of the Swamp Church was elected Speaker of the
first House of Representatives of the United States of America, none
knew better than they that it was only a fitting tribute to the
character and abilities of their former pastor.
Kunze's is one of the great names on the roll of our ministers. He was
a scholar, a teacher, a writer, and an administrator of distinction.
Trained in the best schools of Germany, when he arrived in America in
1770, he at once took high rank among his colleagues in Philadelphia.
Besides his work as a minister he filled the chair of Oriental and
German languages in the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1784 he accepted a call to New York. He did this partly in the hope
of establishing a Lutheran professorship in Columbia College. He
accepted a call to the chair of Oriental languages in Columbia. He was
also a regent of the university.
Kunze was not only an able man, he was also a man of deep piety, a
qualification not altogether undesirable in a shepherd of souls. His
writings indicate that in his preaching and catechization he strove not
to beat the air but to win souls to a personal experience of salvation.
While it is doubtful whether he would find admission to some of the most
orthodox synods of our own day; he was comparatively free from the
latitudinarian tendencies which had been brought over from Germany
during the last quarter of the century.
Along with General Steuben and other influential citizens he founded,
the German Society, an association which is still an important agency
in the charitable work of this city.
[illustration: "John Christopher Kunze"]
He was instrumental in 1785 in reorganizing the New York Ministerium.
This work was begun in 1775 by Frederick Muehlenberg, but had been given
up for a while, probably on account of the war.
As a writer he is credited in Dr. Morris' Bibliotheca Lutherana with
eight books of which he was the author or editor, from Hymns and Poems
to A History of the Lutheran Church and A New Method of Calculating the
Great Eclipse of 1806.
These and many other things must be set to his credit. For what he
accomplished he deserves a large place in the history of our Church in
this city. But with all his gifts he was unable to cope with the chief
problem which confronted our Church at the close of the eighteenth
century, that of the English language.
There had been a demand for English services ever since the middle of
the century. The descendants of the Dutch families had all become
English. The need of English had been met in part by the elder
Muehlenberg and his successors, Weygand and Hauseal, in Trinity Church,
doubtless also by Frederick Muehlenberg in the Swamp Church.
After the, Revolution (1784) the United Congregations certainly made
some provision for English although it was inadequate. In 1794 the
younger people petitioned for occasional services in a language which
they could understand. Dr. Kunze himself made some attempts to handle
the English, but his faulty pronunciation so amused the young people
that he gave it up. He appointed a young man by the name of Strebeck to
assist him in ministering to the English members of the congregation.
Strebeck at this time was a Methodist, although he had been confirmed
in a Lutheran Church in Baltimore. Under Kunze's influence he again
joined the Lutherans.
"A Hymn and Prayer Book for the use of such Lutheran Churches as use the
English language," published by Kunze in 1795, and another by Streback
[sic] in 1797, show that serious efforts were made to meet the wants of
the English-speaking members.
Finally, on June 25th, 1797, a separate congregation was organized
entitled The English Lutheran Church in the City of New York. (This was
the corporate name, although it was subsequently known as Zion Church.)
Strebeck was chosen pastor. Land was rented on Pearl Street opposite
City Hall Place and a frame church was built.
The incorporation of the church was reported to the Ministerium which
met at Rhinebeck. The following reply was given under date of September
1st, 1797:
"Upon reading a letter from New York signed by Henry Heiser, Lucas Van
Buskirk and L. Hartman, representing that they have erected an English
Lutheran Church, on account of the inability of their children to
understand the German language:
RESOLVED, That it is never the practice in an Evangelical Consistory to
sanction any kind of schism; that if the persons who signed the letter
wish to continue their children in the Lutheran Church connection in New
York, they earnestly recommend them the use of the German School, and in
case there is no probability of any success in this particular, they
herewith declare that they do not look upon persons who are not yet
communicants of a Lutheran Church as apostates in case they join an
English Episcopal Church.
RESOLVED, 2d, That on account of an intimate connection subsisting
between the English Episcopal Church and the Lutheran Church and the
identity of their doctrine and near alliance of their Church discipline,
this Consistory will never acknowledge a new erected Lutheran Church
merely English, in places where the members may partake of the Services
of the said Episcopal Church."
From the viewpoint of the ministers in 1797, Lutheranism seems to have
been a matter of language rather than of religion. It was something to
be retained among German-speaking people, but could not be effectively
transmitted except through the medium of the German language.
We have come to the last decade of the 18th century. In the political
world great men were finding themselves and mighty principles were
finding expression in the organization of what was destined to become
one of the great states of the world. Some of our own men were taking a
large part in the making of American history. In the church they were
content with a more restricted outlook. Our people, it is true, were of
humble origin, yet some of them had attained wealth and social standing.
The Van Buskirks, the Grims, the Beekmans, the Wilmerdings and the
Lorillards were men of affairs and influence in the growing town of
30,000 that had begun to extend northward as far as Canal Street and
even beyond. But we look in vain for any positive contribution to the
life of the embryo metropolis of the world.
Our church had lost its roots. The Rhinebeck Resolution indicates the
feeble appreciation of the distinctive confession to which she owed her
existence. The English hymn books and liturgies of this period are
equally destitute of any positive confessional character.
But after all, the church in New York only reflected in a small way the
conditions that existed on the other side of the Atlantic. In the
Fatherland the national life had been declining ever since the Thirty
Years' War. In 1806 Germany reached the nadir of her political life at
the battle of Jena. In the church this was the period of her Babylonian
Captivity. Alien currents of philosophical and theological thought had
devitalized the teaching of the Gospel. The old hymns had been replaced
by pious reflections on subjects of religion and morality. The Lutheran
Liturgy had disappeared leaf by leaf until little but the cover
remained. With such conditions in the homeland what could be expected of
an isolated church on Manhattan Island? Take it all in all, it is not
surprising that only two congregations survived. It is a wonder that
there were two.
In "Old New York" Dr. Francis presents a vivid picture of the social and
religious life of this period and from it we learn that the Lutherans
were not the only ones whose religion sat rather lightly upon them.
French infidelity had taken deep root in the community and Paine's Age
of Reason found enthusiastic admirers.
Fifty years ago I was browsing one afternoon over the books in the
library of Union Theological Seminary, at that time located in
University Place. I was all alone until Dr. Samuel Hanson Cox, the
father of Bishop Arthur Cleveland Coxe, came in. He was then in his
eighties, but vigorous in mind and body. We easily became acquainted and
I was an eager listener to the story of his early ministry in New York,
which fell about the time of which we are speaking. From him I got a
picture of life in New York closely corresponding with that which is
given in Dr. Francis' interesting story. There were leaders of the
church in those days who were not free from the vice of drunkenness.
Evangelical religion in all denominations had a severe conflict in
doctrine and in morals with the ultra liberal tendencies of the time.
A marked defect of our church life was the inadequate supply of men for
the ministry. For 140 years New York Lutherans had been dependent upon
Europe for their pastors. For 60 years more this dependence was destined
to continue.
Kunze had long been desirous of providing facilities for theological
education in this country. Under the bequest of John Christopher
Hartwig, he organized in 1797 a Theological Seminary. The theological
department was conducted in New York by himself, the collegiate
department in Albany and the preparatory department in Otsego County.
One of his students was Strebeck. Another, Van Buskirk, a promising
young man, died before he could enter the work. The Mayer brothers,
natives of New York, became eminent pastors of English Lutheran
churches, Philip in Albany and Frederick in Philadelphia. It was a
trying time in which Kunze lived, but he planted seed which still bears
fruit.
One event of the eighteenth century seems worthy of spcial [sic]
mention, even when seen through the vista of a hundred and fifty years,
although at the time it may have attracted little attention. Because of
the side light which it throws upon history we permit it to interrupt
for a moment the course of our story.
It harks back to the refugees from the Palatinate who emigrated to the
west coast of Ireland at the same time that their fellow countrymen
under Kocherthal came to New York. Their principal settlements were at
Court-Matrix, Ballingran and other places in County Limerick near the
banks of the river Shannon. As they had no minister and understood
little or no English, in the course of forty years they lost whatever
religion they had brought with them from Germany. It came to pass that
John Wesley visited these villages. He found the people "eminent for
drunkenness, cursing, swearing, and an utter neglect of religion."
(Wesley's Journal, II, p. 429.)
Wesley's sermons reminded them of the sermons they used to hear in their
far-off German home, and a remarkable revival occurred among them.
Subsequently numbers of them followed their countrymen of the preceding
generation to New York and some of them joined the Lutheran Church.
Among the names to be found on the records of our church are those of
Barbara Heck and Philip Embury.
Now some of our ministers, as far back as Falckner in the beginning of
the century, belonged to the Halle or Francke school of Lutheranism,
and the spirit of our church life at this time, as may be seen from the
letters of Muehlenberg in the "Hallesche Nachrichten," was not alien to
that which the Palatines had imbibed from John Wesley, himself a product
of the Pietistic movement of which Halle was the fountain head. One
would suppose that these Palatine immigrants from the west of Ireland
might have found a congenial home in the Lutheran Church and contributed
to the spiritual life of the congregation. But for some reason they did
not. They withdrew from us and helped to organize in 1766 the first
Methodist Society in America.
The Methodists of America number seven million communicants. Barbara
Heck, Philip Embury and other Palatine immigrants were our contribution
to their incipient church life in America.
In the Nineteenth Century
1801-1838
The history of our churches in the nineteenth century may be divided
into three periods. The first extends from 1801 to 1838.
At the beginning of the century there were two congregations, the
German-English Church on Frankfort Street and the English (Zion) on
Pearl Street.
In 1802 two hundred members of the German church who had not united with
Zion in 1797 asked for a separate English church. The request was
declined, but regular services in English were held in the afternoon
with promises of a new church as soon as possible.
In 1804 Strebeck, the pastor of Zion, joined the Episcopalians and
subsequently became rector of St. Stephen's Church. Here he was
followed in the course of years by a constant procession of his former
parishioners. It will be recalled that Zion had not been received into
connection with the Ministerium.
In 1805 Ralph Williston was chosen pastor. In 1810 he also became an
Episcopalian. Not long after, the entire congregation followed him into
the Episcopal fold. The resolution effecting the change read as follows:
"Whereas, many difficulties attend the upholding of the Lutheran
religion among us, and whereas, that inasmuch as the doctrine and
government of the Episcopal Church is so nearly allied to the Lutheran,
and also on account of the present embarrassment of the finances of this
church, therefore
"RESOLVED, That the English Lutheran Church with its present form of
worship and government be dissolved after Tuesday, the 13th day of March
next, and that this Church do from that day forward become a parish of
the Protestant Episcopal Church, and the present board of officers of
this church take every measure to carry this resolve into effect."*
*On West Fifty-seventh Street, a few steps from Carnegie Hall, the
visitor interested fn Lutheran antiquities may find the stately
Episcopal Church of Zion and St. Timothy. It has a membership of 1,300.
Its communion vessels still bear the inscription: ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH.
Kunze died in 1807. His successor, Frederick William Geissenhainer of
New Hanover, Pa., took charge in 1808 and remained till 1814 when the
state of his health compelled him to return to Pennsylvania.
He was succeeded by Frederick Christian Schaeffer of Harrisburg, a
gifted man who preached equally well in German and in English. On the
tercentenary of the Reformation in 1817 he preached a Reformation sermon
in St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Broadway, which attracted widespread
attention. A copy is preserved in the New York Public Library.
[illustration: "Fragment of Kunze's Gravestone discovered by the author
in 1907, in Greenwich Village, where some laborers were digging the
foundation for a new building. Kunze's ashed repose in the Lorillard
vault of the churchyard of St. Mark's in the Bowery, Tenth Street and
Second Avenue."]
After twenty years the promise of a separate English church was
fulfilled, when in 1822 a large and beautiful structure was erected in
Walker Street, just east of Broadway, and placed at the disposal of the
English portion of the congregation. It was called St. Matthew's Church.
Schaeffer was assigned to the pastorate and Geissenhainer was recalled
from Pennsylvania to take charge of the German part of the congregation.
New trouble soon developed. The English congregation demanded
representation in the Church Council. This the mother church declined to
concede, although it is claimed they had agreed to do so when the
English congregation was formed. The new congregation was unable to
maintain itself, and in 1826 the church was sold for a debt of $14,000,
and Pastor Schaeffer resigned. The Walker Street building was bought by
Daniel Birdsall who resold it to the mother church. The legal questions
at issue in the transaction were taken into court and decided in favor
of the mother church.
A son of the pastor, Frederick William Geissenhainer, Jr., was called
from Pennsylvania to minister in St. Matthew's Church in English, so
long as this could be done without detriment to the German congregation.
This continued for three years, by which time a deficit of $5,000 had
accumulated.
In the meantime the congregation of Frankfort Street had grown to such
an extent that it decided to sell the Old Swamp Church, and move into
the spacious building on Walker Street, where it also acquired the name
of the English congregation and was thereafter known as St. Matthew's
Church. The younger Geissenhainer continued to hold English services in
the afternoon until 1840. The senior Geissenhainer served the German
part of the congregation until his death in 1838.
After Pastor Schaeffer resigned in 1826 he collected the salvage of the
English enterprises and organized a new English church, St. James,
which he served until his death in 1831.
Among the major happenings in this period were the Burr-Hamilton duel,
the launching of Fulton's steamboat, the introduction of Croton water,
the opening of the Erie Canal, the writings of Washington Irving, and
the organization of the American Bible Society and the American Tract
Society.
Such things as social service, church extension or confessional
questions had not yet begun to disturb the churches. Our people had all
the time they wanted therefore for controversy on the undying question
of the relative importance of the English and German languages. This,
as we have seen, led to a lawsuit, the sale of a church and the
permanent rupture of a historic congregation. We lost one English
congregation, Zion, disbanded another, St. Matthew's, and sent away
enough English members besides to constitute St. Stephen's Episcopal
Church on Chrystie Street.
Such, in brief, is the story of the Lutherans of New York during the
first third of the nineteenth century. In the Fatherland great events
were taking place and history was making rapid strides. The war of
liberation was decided by the battle of Leipzig and the defeat of
Napoleon. But the hopes for social and political improvement were
disappointed by reactionary movements and economic distress. A new
emigration to "the land of unbounded possibilities" began. In 1821-22 it
amounted to 531, in 1834-35 it was 25,997. Among the immigrants were
many who in various capacities became empire builders in America. But in
all that related to the Lutheran church New York at this time took a
subordinate place. Philadelphia was the first city of the land. The
construction of railroads and the opening of the Erie Canal carried the
active and ambitious men far into the interior. The church life of New
York still flowed in sluggish currents. After 190 years, from 1648, when
the first appeal for a minister was sent to Amsterdam, to 1838, our
enrollment consisted of two congregations, the German-English church of
St. Matthew, and the English church of St. James.
In the Nineteenth Century
1839-1865
Immigration began to assume large proportions. It did not reach its
climax until the following period, but it was sufficiently large to
awaken attention. In 1839 21,028 immigrants arrived here from Germany;
in 1865, at the close of the Civil War, 83,424. Most of these were
bound for the interior, but many who had only stopped to rest a while
in New York decided to make this their home.
The East Side became a little Germany and even on the West Side Germans
began to appear in increasing numbers.
At the beginning of this period an event occurred, unnoticed at the
time, which proved to be the beginning of a great movement, "a cloud out
of the sea, as small as a man's hand." In 1839 a thousand exiles arrived
from Germany under the leadership of Pastor Grabau. Most of them went to
the interior, some to Buffalo, others, the wealthier members, to the
neighborhood of Milwaukee. Ten or a dozen families remained in New York
with a pastor named Maximilian Oertel. Their services were held in a
hall at the corner of Houston Street and Avenue A. Doubtless none of
their contemporaries ever dreamed that this insignificant congregation
was related to one of the larger movements of church history.
Connecting links were two men whose names I have never seen associated
with the story of the Lutherans of New York. One of them was Dr.
Benjamin Kurtz of Hagerstown, the other was Frederick William III, King
of Prussia. The king had imposed the Union upon the churches of Prussia
and imprisoned the pastors who refused to conform. This was the king's
part in the movement. Dr. Kurtz had visited Berlin in 1826 in the
interest of his educational schemes and in one of his addresses he
implanted the microbe of America in the mind of a man who subsequently
became a leader of one band of these pilgrims to the promised land. This
was Dr. Kurtz's share in the work. Both Kurtz and the king were
unconscious instruments in the hands of Providence.
Dr. Kurtz was for a large part of the nineteenth century a distinguished
leader in the General Synod. He contributed to the establishment of the
Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and he was the founder of the
Missionary Institute, now the Susquehanna University, at Selinsgrove. He
died in 1865. His grave is in the campus of the University of which he
was the founder.
But who were these immigrants and how did they come to be exiles? This
is another story; but it has to be told, because in the providence of
God it is connected with the history of the Lutherans in New York.
In the early years of the nineteenth century there occurred a remarkable
religious awakening in Germany. This awakening had much to do with a
revival of Lutheranism. It had been greatly strengthened at least by the
publication of the Ninety-five Theses of Claus Harms in 1817, on the
occasion of the tercentenary of the Reformation, and it in turn
stimulated the Lutheran consciousness of multitudes who had been carried
away by the rationalistic movement of the eighteenth century. The
publication of the royal Liturgy in 1822 and the forcible measures of
the king in ordering a union of the Lutheran and Reformed churches of
the kingdom called forth the staunch opposition of the Lutherans. This
ended in a widespread agitation which sent multitudes of families to a
land where one of the chief fruits of the Lutheran Reformation, that of
religious liberty, could be enjoyed.
The notable thing about the entrance of a few of these people into our
New York life was that it injected new ideas into the stagnant mentality
of the period. That the men who brought them were brusque and exclusive,
was of small account. When Stohlmann, who had recently been called to
St. Matthew's Church, visited Pastor Oertel in his attic room, his
Lutheranism, with a sly allusion perhaps to the stairs, was promptly
challenged by the remark: "You climbed up some other way."
Nor did it matter that on some points the new comers themselves were not
agreed? The Prussians, later known as "Buffalonians," led by Grabau, had
a hierarchical theory of the ministerial office. The Saxons, later known
as "Missourians," led by Walther, had the congregational theory of
church government. For a score of years a titanic conflict was waged
between these two parties. It ended in a decisive victory for
"Missouri." Today "Buffalo" numbers 49 congregations, "Missouri" 3,689.
The Houston Street party in 1839 held hierarchical views. Subsequently
they adopted the congregational theory of the church and established in
1843 the first "Missouri" congregation in New York under Pastor Brohm.
After several removals the congregation settled at Ninth Street and
Avenue B, where it still maintains its place of worship.
The chief field of the "Missourians," as their name indicates, is in the
West. And yet in Greater New York they number 51 churches and many more
in the suburbs. They maintain numerous missions among special classes.
At Bronxville they have a college. They alone of all Lutherans make a
serious effort to conduct parochial schools. More than any other
variety of Lutherans do they educate their promising young men for the
ministry.
But, as has already been intimated, the chief significance of their
entrance into New York history is that thenceforth Lutherans had to give
an account of their Lutheranism. Whether you agreed with them or not,
you had to take sides and give a reason for the hope that was in you.
They brought about that "contiguity of conflicting opinions" which is a
condition of all progress.
Ten years later a different class of German immigrants came to our city.
The Revolution of 1848 had resulted unsuccessfully for the friends of
political freedom, and many were compelled to take refuge in America.
Some were professional men of ability and high standing, whose
contribution to the intellectual life of our city was considerable.
Others were only half educated, young men who had not completed their
studies in the University, but, intoxicated with the new ideas, had
thrown themselves with the enthusiasm of youth into the conflict for
freedom. Here they were like men without a country, aliens from the
Fatherland, and in America incapable of comprehending a state without a
church and a church without a state.
Few of these found their way into the Lutheran churches of New York.
They were the intellectuals of the German community and had outgrown the
religion of their countrymen who still adhered to the old faith.
Our churches received but little support from this large and influential
class. Many of them had long since renounced allegiance to Jesus, and in
the free air of America looked upon churches as anachronisms and
hearthstones of superstition. Their influence upon the common people and
upon the social life of the German community was hostile to that of
Christianity. The churches had to get along without them, or rather, in
spite of them. There were notable exceptions. But as a rule the
"Achtundvierziger" did not go to church.
Still, in spite of their unchurchly views, most of them were unable to
shake off wholly the forms of their ancestral religion. There were too
many remnants (_superstites_) of the old faith binding them to ancient
customs. Independent ministers with no synodical relations, with or
without certificate of ordination, or the endorsement of organized
congregations, unmindful of the _nisi vocatus_ clause in the Augsburg
Confession, helped to maintain the forms of an inherited Christianity by
performing such ministerial acts as were required by the people. At one
time these free lances were quite numerous. At present no
representatives survive in New York.
But there was another class of immigrants that came to us from the
Fatherland. They, too, sought to escape from political and economical
conditions that had rested like an incubus upon a divided country for
centuries. But they brought with them a spirit of Christian aspiration
and the ripe fruit of a traditional Christian culture which became a
priceless contribution to our own church life. They were men and women
from all corners of Germany, who had come under the inspiration of the
religious awakening to which reference has already been made. They
became leading workers in our congregations and Christian enterprises.
We, whose privilege it was to minister to them, knew well that we were
only reaping where others far away and long ago had sown.
The inability of the Lutheran Church to supply an adequate ministry for
this vast immigrant population left the way open also for other
Protestant churches to do mission work among the lapsed members of our
communion.
A number of churches were established where services in the beginning
were held in the German or Scandinavian languages. Through Sunday
Schools and other agencies many Lutheran children were gathered into
their congregations where they and their children are now useful and
honored members of the church. A goodly number of eminent ministers in
various non-Lutheran Protestant churches of this city are the children
or grandchildren of Lutheran parents.
[illustration: "Carl F. E. Stohlmann, D.D."]
With this general outlook over the period, let us take up the thread of
our story.
On the death of the elder Geissenhainer in 1838, Karl Stohlmann, a
native of Schaumburg Lippe, was called from Erie, Pennsylvania, to be
his successor. For thirty years the pastor of the Walker Street Church
was an important figure among the Lutherans of this city. The scope of
this book will not permit an adequate account of his labors. He died on
Sunday morning, May 3d, 1868, just as his congregation was entering a
larger house of worship at the corner of Broome and Elizabeth Streets.
Dr. Geissenhainer, Jr., retired from the English work of St. Matthew's
Church in 1840 and organized a German congregation, St. Paul's, on the
west side, which he served as pastor until his death in 1879 in the 82d
year of his age.
On the East Side, Trinity was organized in 1843, St. Mark's in 1847, St.
Peter's in 1862, Immanuel, in Yorkville, in 1863, and St. John's in
Harlem in 1864. On the West Side St. Luke's was established in 1850, St.
John's in 1855 and St. Paul's in Harlem in 1864. The first Swedish
congregation, Gustavus Adolphus, was organized in 1865.
Within the present limits of Brooklyn six German and one English
churches were established during this period. On the territory of each
of the other boroughs, Bronx, Queens and Richmond, two German churches
came into being.
After the Revolution of 1848 in Germany, immigration to America
increased by leaps and bounds, and within the time under review New York
was referred to as the fourth German city in the world. But the Germans,
as we have seen, did not all go to church. The existing churches, it is
true, were well filled, but a large proportion of the population, torn
from the stable environment of their homeland life, and transplanted
into the new conditions of a crowded city, failed to respond to the
claims of their ancestral religion.
In our church polity there was no adequate provision for the needs of
such an immense and ever expanding population. Now and then a
broadminded pastor would encourage the planting of a church in some
needy field, but too often the establishment of a new mission was looked
upon as an encroachment on the parochial rights of the older
congregation. At this point in the congregational polity of our church
the absence of a directing mind and a unifying force was sorely felt.
The condition of immigrants at the port of New York was for many years a
public scandal. In 1847 the State of New York appointed Commissioners of
Immigration. Under the Act of March 3, 1891, the Commissioner was
appointed by the Federal Government.
Before this was done, the helpless immigrants were the prey of countless
vampires, chiefly in the form of "runners," agents of boarding houses
and transportation companies. These pirates of the land exacted a heavy
toll from all foreigners who ventured to enter our city by way of the
steerage.
[illustration: "Pastor Wilhelm H. Berkemeier"]
In 1864 Robert Neumann, who had been a co-laborer with Gutzlaff, a
pioneer missionary in China, established an Immigrant Mission at Castle
Garden and succeeded in awakening an interest in this cause.
A few years later, in the subsequent period, the churches took up the
question of providing for the needs of the immigrants.
The Deutsches Emigrantenhaus was incorporated in 1871. Pastor Wilhelm
Heinrich Berkemeier became the first housefather. His unflagging zeal
gave strong support to a much-needed work of love. His venerable
personality was a benediction to his contemporaries.
In the course of the years eight Lutheran Immigrant Houses and Seamen's
Missions have been established at this port and are doing effective
Christian work.
Toward the close of this period, in 1864, a seed was planted on the
Wartburg near Mount Vernon which has grown to be a great tree.
Peter Moller, a wealthy layman, had met with a great sorrow in the death
of his son. He was planning to expend a large sum for a monument in
memory of this son, when Dr. Passavant, an eminent worker in behalf of
invalids and orphans, called upon him, perhaps with the hope of
obtaining a contribution for some of his numerous charities. To him Mr.
Moller confided his purpose. It did not take long to outline the plan of
a nobler memorial than the proposed shaft in Greenwood. With $30,000 a
hundred acres of land were bought and a house of mercy was established
which for fifty years has been a blessing not only to the orphans who
have been sheltered and trained there, but also to the churches of New
York that have been privileged to contribute to its support.
Its first housefather was George Carl Holls, one of the brethren of
Wichern's Rauhe Haus near Hamburg. In 1886 he was succeeded by Pastor
Gottlieb Conrad Berkemeier, who with the help of his wife, Susette
Kraeling, has brought the institution to a position of great prosperity
and usefulness.
[illustration: "The Wartburg at Mount Vernon"]
In the Nineteenth Century
1866-1900
Three factors combined to make this period eventful in our history:
confessionalism, immigration and the transportation facilities that led
to a Greater New York.
At the close of the Civil War we had 24 Lutheran churches on the
territory now included in Greater New York. Two of these were English
and the rest were German. At the close of the century the record stood:
Yiddish, 1; English, 17; Scandinavian, 19; German and German-English,
60.
The tide of confessionalism which had been rising in Europe for half a
century touched America in the forties and reached a high water mark
during the period under review. The question of subscription to the
symbols of the Book of Concord became the chief subject of discussion
among our theologians.
In 1866 a number of pastors and churches, under the leadership of Pastor
Steimle, severed their connection with the Ministerium for confessional
reasons. They formed a new synod which adopted all the Confessions and
took a firm stand in opposition to membership in secret societies.
The "Steimle" Synod, as it was usually called, disbanded in 1872, its
members going, some to the Missouri Synod, others to the Ministerium.
Their organ, the Lutherisches Kirchenblatt, was merged with the
Lutherischer Herold.
Pastor Steimle died in 1880. He was a devout man, a rugged personality,
beloved by his people and esteemed by his colleagues. His congregation
in Brooklyn, now served by the pastors Kraeling, father and son, is one
of the strong churches of the city.
One of the early members of the congregation, whose support meant much
for his pastor, was Jacob Goedel. He subsequently returned to Germany
and spent his latter years in the city of Koeln on the Rhine.
In 1888 I spent a memorable week in Koeln. The history of the city
antedates the Christian era. Its cathedral is a fane of wonderful
beauty. In the Reformation Koeln joined the Lutheran forces and for
eighty years two of its archbishops were Lutheran pastors. The
"Consultation" of Archbishop Hermann is one of the liturgies of the
Lutheran Church. It played a prominent part in the construction of the
Anglican Book of Common Prayer. Owing to political jealousies among the
Protestants, the fortunes of war restored the city and the cathedral to
the Catholics. Until recent times Protestantism was an almost negligible
force in Koeln. At the time of my visit the Protestant Churches were
very efficient in all kinds of religious and social work and had an
influence in the City Council out of all proportion to their numbers.
Inquiring into the reason of this change I was told that it was largely
owing to the labors of a man by the name of Jacob Goedel who had come to
them from America and had introduced American methods of church work
into Koeln.
[illustration: "Gottlob Frederick Krotel, D.D., LL.D."]
In 1867 another synodical split took place. The New York Ministerium
separated from the General Synod on confessional grounds and took part
in the organization of the General Council. Thereupon most of the
English-speaking members, occupying a milder confessional basis, left
the Ministerium, formed the Synod of New York and united with the
General Synod.*
*The author's connection with the work in New York began about this
time. After graduation at Yale College in 1865, he found employment in a
New York library, and soon after matriculated as a student in Union
Theological Seminary. The needs of Protestant Germans on the East Side
attracted him into mission work which resulted in the formation of a
congregation of which he took pastoral charge upon his ordination by the
Synod of New York, October 19th, 1868.
The lines of three synodical bodies, General Council. [sic] General
Synod and Synodical Conference, that is "Missouri," were now distinctly
drawn and for the rest of the century the relations of Lutheran
ministers and churches were sharply defined. Ministers were kept busy
in explaining the differences, but it is to be feared that some of the
laymen did not always understand.
In 1868 members of St. James Church, who sympathized with the attitude
of the General Council in favor of a stricter confessional basis,
organized a new English congregation, Holy Trinity, of which Dr. Krotel
became the first pastor. Dr. Wedekind was called to St. James. Both men,
pastors of English congregations, had come from Germany in their early
youth, were educated in American schools and were thoroughly acquainted
with American institutions. For a generation these two men, each in his
own sphere, on opposite sides of a high synodical fence, contributed
much to the growth and progress of the churches in this city.
Immigration from Lutheran lands continued to increase and reached its
high water mark in this period.
Prior to 1867 there were few Swedes in New York. In 1870 they numbered
less than 3,000. The immigrants were chiefly farmers who settled in the
West. In 1883 large numbers began to come from the cities of Sweden and
these settled in the cities of the East. In 1900 the census credited
New York with 29,000 Swedes. In 1910, including the children, there were
57,464, of which 56,766 were Protestants.
The first Swedish Lutheran church was organized in 1865 by Pastor
Andreen who had been sent here for this purpose by the Augustana Synod.
Among the first trustees was Captain John Ericsson, the inventor of
the Monitor. Its first pastor was Axel Waetter, a cultured minister of
the Swedish National Church.
At present there are fourteen Swedish Lutheran churches in New York
reporting a membership of 8,626 souls.
An Immigrant House in Manhattan, a Home for the Aged and an Orphans'
Home in Brooklyn, and Upsala College in Kenilworth, N. J., represent
the institutional work of the Swedish Lutherans.
To Pastor Lauritz Larsen I am indebted for the following sketch of our
Norwegian churches:
"The Norwegians have always been a sea-faring people and a people
looking for fields of labor all over the World. The real immigration
begins about 1849, but there were Scandinavians on Manhattan Island in
the Sixteenth Century. The Bronx is named after a Danish farmer, Jonas
Bronck.
"I believe that the first Norwegian Lutheran Church in New York was
organized by Lauritz Larsen, then Norwegian Professor in Theology at
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, who stopped here for a while on his way
to and from Norway in the early sixties. The first resident pastor was
Ole Juul, who came to New York in 1866 and labored here until 1876,
when he was succeeded by Pastor Everson, who was actively engaged as
pastor in New York and Brooklyn from 1873, until 1917, when failing
health compelled him to retire.
"At present, the Norwegian Lutheran churches of Greater New York are
carrying on an active and aggressive work. Their total membership is not
as large as it might be. Partly because the Norwegians coming here from
the State Church do not at once realize the importance or necessity of
becoming members of local congregations, but have the idea that as long
as they attend services, have their children baptized and confirmed, and
so forth, they are members of the church. The report of the membership
of the churches is therefore, hardly a correct indication of the number
of people reached or even the strength of the Norwegian Lutherans in the
Metropolis.
"The language question is one of great difficulty. Many of our people
live, as it were, with one foot in Norway and one in America; and are
thinking of returning to the old country at some time or other. There is
also a constant influx of new people from Norway which makes it
imperative to have Norwegian services constantly. On the other hand, the
young people are rapidly Americanized and prefer to use the language of
the country, which necessitates English work, and where this demand is
made, the young people are, generally speaking, quite loyal to their
church, but it is no easy matter to satisfy both elements and to keep
the old and the young together in the same church.
"The Norwegians have been very active in Inner Mission and Social
Service work. As witness: the organization of the Norwegian Lutheran
Deaconesses' Home and Hospital about thirty years ago. This institution
has now grown to be the largest Norwegian charitable institution in the
country and has a splendidly equipped modern hospital and an excellent
Sisters' Home, which together represent a value of $500,000. It is not
owned by a church, but is owned and controlled by a corporation of
Norwegian Lutherans.
"The churches have directly been engaged in Inner Mission work for a
number of years, and now have three city missionaries constantly at
work. The institutions conducted by this branch of the service are the
Bethesda Rescue Mission at Woodhull St., Brooklyn, the Day Nursery at
46th St., Brooklyn, and an extensive industrial plant also in Brooklyn.
Besides the Inner Mission has purchased land on Staten Island and
erected a cottage there for a summer colony for poor children. The
Norwegians of New York have also built a modern Children's Home at
Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. Although this is not owned by the church, but
by a corporation of Norwegians, its constitution provides that the
religious instruction should be based upon Luther's Small Catechism. The
Home is now taking care of sixty children, and is in charge of a
Deaconess from the local mother house mentioned above. A new Inner
Mission Agency was started two years ago when the late C. M. Eger
bequeathed a large sum of money for the establishment of the Old
People's Home in connection with Our Saviour's Lutheran Church. At
present it is located in his former home, 112 Pulaski Street, and will,
no doubt, be of great importance for our church work in the future."
The statistics of the Scandinavian churches are presented in part in
the following table. The figures of the first and second lines are
taken from the United States Census of 1910. They include the children
where one or both parents are of foreign descent. Those of the third
line are obtained by deducting 10 per cent. from the number of
Protestants, in the second line. The number of "souls," fourth line, is
the aggregate number of baptized persons, old or young, connected with
or related to the respective congregations.
Swedes Norwegians Danes Finns Total
1. Population 53,464 34,733 13,197 10,304 116,698
2. Protestants 56,766 33,344 11,996 10,304 112,410
3. Lutherans 51,090 30,010 10,797 9,274 101,171
4. Souls 8,365 10,433 950 2,540 22,288
5. Communicants 3,829 2,152 422 840 7,643
6. No. of Churches 13 12 3 3 31
Prior to 1871 Germans were a negligible quantity in the political
history of Europe. Divided into a multitude of tribes, with divergent
interests, for centuries they had no political standing and were the
football of the nations around them. From Louis XIV to the Corsican
invader, except during the reign of Frederick the Great, their history
was one of political incohesion and economic poverty.
Even in New York they were looked upon as aliens in the city which they
had helped to found and where in three centuries their sons had stood in
the forefront of the battle for freedom. The names of Jacob Leisler, of
the seventeenth century, Peter Zenger of the eighteenth century, Franz
Lieber and Karl Schurz of the nineteenth century are indelibly inscribed
among the champions of freedom in America. Yet fifty years ago "Dutch"
in New York had almost the same evaluation that "Sheeny" and "Dago" have
today.
In 1871 the divergent fragments of the German people, after many futile
experiments in their history, at last attained national unity. The
Germans of New York celebrated the event with a procession which made a
deep impression upon the city. From that day forward they were no longer
held below par in popular estimation. This became manifest in the
success of their efforts in the field of social and religious work.
Thirty German churches were added to the roll before the close of the
century.
The completion of the Elevated Lines in 1879 and the Brooklyn Bridge in
1883 changed the course of history for our Lutheran congregations. For
decades the ever-increasing hosts of immigrants had been interned in
unwholesome tenements on a narrow island. Now ways of escape were found.
Wide thoroughfares led in every direction. The churches in Brooklyn and
Bronx grew rapidly in numbers and in strength.
It was hard for those of us who still held the fort on Manhattan Island
to see the congregations we had gathered with painstaking effort
scattering in every direction, especially to lose the children and the
grandchildren of our faithful families. But when we saw them in the
comfortable homes and open spaces of the suburbs, who could wish them to
return to the hopeless atmosphere of the tenements? From this time
forward the churches of the surrounding boroughs grew rapidly, largely
at the expense, however, of the churches of Manhattan.
From 1881 to the close of the century Bronx added nine churches,
Richmond five, Brooklyn and Queens thirty-two to the roll. Manhattan, it
is true, also added eleven churches, but they were all above
Forty-second Street, most of them far uptown.
The tenth of November, 1883, was a red letter day in our calendar. It
was the quadricentennial of Luther's birthday. The preparations for the
celebration met with a hearty response in the city. The large dailies
gave much space to the occasion. Dr. Seiss delivered a memorable address
in Steinway Hall. Under the auspices of the Evangelical Alliance a
distinguished company gathered in the Academy of Music and heard William
Taylor and Phillips Brooks deliver orations of majestic eloquence.
The celebration gave a marked impulse to our church work. Our
congregations increased in numbers and in influence. Its chief value was
in its efeet [sic] upon the young people. Hitherto they hardly
comprehended the significance of their church. Its services were
conducted in a language which they understood with difficulty. As they
grew up and established new homes in the suburbs where there were few
churches of their faith, they easily drifted out of their communion. A
great change came over them at this time. They began to take an active
interest in church questions and in church extension. As they followed
the inevitable trend to the suburbs they connected themselves with
churches of their faith or organized new ones and became active workers
in them. The remarkable increase of congregations in the entire
Metropolitan District was to a large extent owing to the impulse derived
from the quadricentennial of 1883.
When Lutherans of various churches and synods were thus brought together
there was one thing that puzzled them. They could not understand why
there should be so many kinds of Lutherans and why they should have so
little to do with one another. This feeling soon found expression in the
organization of societies of men interested in the larger mission of the
Church.
In 1883 the Martin Luther Society was organized by such laymen as Arnold
J. D. Wedemeyer, Jacob F. Miller, John H. Tietjen, Jacob A.
Geissenhainer, George P. Ockerhausen, Charles A. Schieren, John H.
Boschen and others, originally for the purpose of preparing a suitable
celebration of the Luther Quadricentennial. In this effort they were
successful. In addition to their local work in the interest of the
celebration they secured the erection of a bronze statue of Luther in
Washington.
But the chief reason for the organization of the Society was indicated
in a letter sent to the pastors and church councils of the Lutheran
churches of New York and vicinity which read in part as follows:
"In view of the efforts made all around us to bring about a closer and
more harmonious relation between the various Protestant denominations,
the Martin Luther Society of the City of New York respectfully begs you
to consider whether the time has not come to make an effort to bring
about, if not a union, at least a better understanding and more
fraternal intercourse between the Lutherans themselves. We all deplore
the divisions that separate us; we believe that the reasons for these
divisions are more imaginary than real, and we are persuaded that a free
and frank interchange of opinions will materially help to remove
whatever obstacles may be in the way.
"We surely recognize the fact that our Lutheran Church does not command
that influence or maintain that position in this city and vicinity which
its history, purity of doctrine and conservative policy entitles it to;
and we may be sure that just so long as our divisions continue, loss of
membership and prestige, increasing weakness, and final disaster, will
be our lot.
"Brethren, in unity is strength. Earnestly desiring to do what we can to
bring it about, we ask the pastors of our Church and their church
officers to take this important matter into consideration, and to take
steps to participate in a meeting in this behalf which the Martin Luther
Society proposes to hold on Tuesday evening, January 22d, 1889, in the
hall of the Academy of Medicine, No. 12 West 31st Street, in this city."
The annual banquet of the Martin Luther Society was an important
function. Distinguished speakers lifted high the banner of Lutheranism,
and good fellowship began to be cultivated among the representatives of
churches and synods hitherto unacquainted with each other. Nearly all of
its members have passed on and the Society is only a memory among a few
survivors of those who shared its genial hospitality and recall the
kindly fellowship of its meetings. The Martin Luther Society blazed the
trail for the wider path on which we are walking today, and it deserves
to be held in honored remembrance.
A few years later, in 1888, the younger men caught the inspiration and
established The Luther League. The organization soon extended to other
parts of the State and subsequently to the entire country. It has
splendidly attained its objective, that of rallying and training the
young people in the support and service of the church. Its official
organ, The Luther League Review, is published in this city under the
editorship of the Hon. Edward F. Eilert. Eleven hundred members are
enrolled in the local Leagues of New York City.
The first practical attempt of the ministers to get together was in the
organization of "Koinonia." This took place in the home of the writer in
1896. The society meets once a month for the purpose of discussing the
papers which each member in his turn is required to read. Representing
as it does Lutherans of all kinds, species and varieties, it serves as a
clearing house for the theological output of the members. It has been
helpful in removing some of the misunderstandings that are liable to
arise among men of positive convictions.
On the third Sunday in Advent, 1898, Sister Emma Steen, of Richmond,
Indiana, the first Lutheran deaconess to engage in parish work in New
York, was installed in Christ Church. She had received her preparation
for this ministry in the motherhouse at Kaiserswerth on the Rhine, and
was one of the first six sisters to enter the motherhouse of the General
Synod in Baltimore. After four years of faithful service she was
succeeded by Sister Regena Bowe who has now for fifteen years by her
devoted work illustrated the value of the female diaconate in the work
of our churches in New York. Deaconeses are now laboring in seven of
our churches. They are needed in a hundred congregations.
The revival of this office is due to the genius and zeal of Pastor
Fliedner who established the first motherhouse at Kaiserswerth on the
Rhine in 1833. In America there are eight motherhouses with an
enrollment of 378 sisters.*
*In 1885 the author was appointed chairman of a committee of the
General Synod to report on the practicability of establishing the office
of deaconess in the parish work of our American churches. In pursuit of
information he visited the principal Deaconess Houses of Europe. His
reports were published in the Minutes of the Synod from 1887 to 1897 and
contributed to the introduction of the office into the Synod's scheme of
church work.
The years under review, the closing period of the nineteenth century,
were years of stress and storm in our synodical relations. But the
questions that divided us did not stop the practical work of the synods.
Under the stimulus of a generous rivalry some things were accomplished
and foundations were laid for still larger work in the new century.
In the Twentieth Century
1900-1918
Our churches entered the twentieth century with hope and cheer. With an
enrollment of 94 congregations in the greater city and an advance patrol
of many more in the Metropolitan District, it had become an army of
respectable size among the forces striving for the Christian uplift of
our city.
What a contrast between this picture and that of our church at the
beginning of the nineteenth century! Then two moribund congregations
were feebly holding the fort. One of these soon surrendered, "on account
of the present embarrassment of finances." Now a compact army had
already been assembled, while new races and languages were beginning to
reinforce our ranks. Even the English contingent, which had so long
maintained an unequal fight, was securely entrenched in four boroughs
with seventeen congregations on its roll.
At this writing, in May, 1918, we number in Greater New York 160
churches with an enrollment of sixty thousand communicant members. At
the close of the nineteenth century, in 1898, we had 90 churches with
43,691 communicants. The rate of increase in twenty years was 35 per
cent., not very large but sufficiently so to awaken favorable comment
from Dr. Laidlaw, an expert observer of church conditions in this city.
In 1904, in an article in "Federation," on "Oldest New York," he wrote
as follows:
"There are now over fifty Christian bodies in this city, and "Oldest
New York's" history shows the fatuity of expecting that the
heterogeneous population of the present city will all worship in the
same way within the lifetime of its youngest religious worker. Man's
thoughts have not been God's thoughts, nor man's ways God's ways, in the
mingling of races and religions on this island. The Lutheranism that so
sorely struggled for a foothold in the early days is now the second
Protestant communion in numbers, and its recent increment throughout
Greater New York, contributed to by German, Scandinavian, Finnish and
many English Lutheran churches, has exceeded that of any other
Protestant body."
The causes which contributed to our progress in the latter part of the
nineteenth century were still effective. The consolidation of Greater
New York, bringing together into one metropolis the scattered boroughs,
marked the advent of a Greater Lutheran Church in New York. The bridges
and the subways, the telephone and the Catskill Aqueduct, public works
of unprecedented magnitude, were among the material foundations of the
new growth of our churches.
We were beginning to reap in the second and third generations the fruits
of the vast immigration of the nineteenth century.
A new era began for the use of the English language. There had been a
demand for English services as early as 1750, but in the eighteenth and
the greater part of the nineteenth centuries it had not been met. Fifty
years ago, with its two churches, and even twenty-five years ago with
four churches, English was a forlorn hope. The advance began in the last
decade of the 19th century when twelve English churches were organized.
In 1900 there were seventeeen English churches on the roll. Since then
32 have been added, five in Bronx, fifteen in Brooklyn, eleven in
Queens, one in Richmond. Besides these forty-nine churches in which the
English language is used exclusively, almost all of the so-called
foreign churches use English to a greater or less extent as the needs of
the people may require.
But there was a deeper reason for the growth of our church. Ever since
the Luther Centennial of 1883 the young people of our churches had begun
to understand not only the denominational significance of their church
but also something of its inner characteristics and life. In various
groups, in Manhattan, Bronx and Brooklyn, they got together and
organized English congregations in which an intelligent Lutheran
consciousness prevailed.
The Home Mission and Church Exension Boards of the General Synod
recognized the importance of the moment in the metropolis of America and
gave their effective aid. In Brooklyn and Queens the work received large
support from Charles A. Schieren and the Missionary Society with which
he co-operated. Sixteen churches were established through the aid of
this Society. Schieren was a native of Germany but he early saw the
importance of reaching the people in the language which they could best
understand. As a citizen he was public spirited and progressive. From
1894 to 1895 he was mayor of Brooklyn.
The pastors of these incipient congregations were men of vision who had
been attracted to the work in New York by its difficulty and its
opportunity. They came from different seminaries and synodical
associations and they had to minister to congregations in which all
varieties of the older churches were represented. But they soon learned
to cooperate with one another in measures looking to the larger
interests of the entire field. Team work became possible. A stimulus was
given to the work such as had never before been felt in the Lutheran
churches of New York.
A Ministers' Association, to which all Lutheran pastors of the
Metropolitan District, are eligible, was organized in 1904. Its monthly
meetings brought about a mutual understanding and fostered a fraternal
spirit that have been of great value in the promotion of the general
work of the church.
The synod of New York and New England, composed of the English churches
of the New York Ministerium was organized in 1902. It found its special
mission in planting and rearing English missions in the new sections of
the greater city. It has added nine English churches to the roll.
The Synod of New York, a merger of the New York and New Jersey, the
Hartwick and the Franckean synods also devoted itself to the special
task of caring for the English speaking young people. Under its auspices
thirteen new churches have been organized. To the indefatigable labors
of its Superintendent of Missions, Dr. Carl Zinssmeister, much credit is
due for the success of the work.
The Synod of Missouri, although largely a German body, rivals the other
synods in its fostering care of the English work. At least thirteen
English congregations in this city have been organized by "Missouri"
since the beginning of this century.
The relation of the various boroughs to the growth of the church may be
seen from the following figures in which the number of communicants in
1918 is compared with that of 1898.
Boroughs 1898 1918 Increase
Manhattan 21,611 15,928 5,683*
Bronx 2,048 5,932 3,884
Brooklyn 17,405 28,270 10,865
Queens 1,671 7,139 5,468
Richmond 956 1,948 992
43,691 59,217 15,526
*Decrease
The starred figures for Manhattan call attention to the change of
population that has taken place in New York, particularly as it affects
Manhattan. While the total increase of population in New York from 1910
to 1915 was 667,928 there was a decrease in Manhattan of 193,795.
This decrease in numbers, and still more the substitution of Catholic
and Jewish peoples to an unprecedented extent for those of Protestant
antecedents, produced a marked change in the membership of Protestant
churches. The decline in Protestant membership in Manhattan from 1900 to
1910, according to Dr. Laidlaw, amounted to 74,012.
It is not surprising therefore that the Lutheran churches were called
upon to bear their share of the loss. As we have seen, it amounted in
two decades to 5,623 [sic]. Most of this deficit, 4,042, is chargeable
to the churches south of Fourteenth Street, where Protestants of all
denominations fail to hold their own. The balance, 1,837, came from
other churches south of Forty-second Street.
Three churches were added during the past twenty years, Our Saviour
(English) in 1898, Holy Trinity (Slovak) in 1904 and a mission of the
Missouri Synod in 1916 in the Spuyten Duyvil neighborhood, the most
northern point thus far occupied by us on Manhattan.
For three churches gained there is an offset of four churches lost:
Bethlehem in East Sixty-fifth Street, Christ Church in West Fiftieth
Street, Immanuel in East Eighty-third Street and the Danish church in
Yorkville. The Danish church removed to Bronx while the others effected
mergers with sister congregations.
The present indications are that we have come to a standstill on
Manhattan Island and that it is no longer a question of how many
churches we shall build, but how many we shall lose.
Our assets at present may be described as follows: We have thirty
congregations, twenty-six of them owning their houses of worship. The
net value of their property, deducting debts, is $3,160,000. The average
value of each church is $100,000. Besides the thirty organized
congregations there are seven missions in which services are maintained
in the following languages: Finnish, Lettish, Esthonian, Polish, Italian
and Yiddish.
The number of communicants is 15,978. The number of pupils in the Sunday
Schools is 7,245. The number of children in eight parochial schools is
669. The number attending instruction in religion on weekdays, including
catechumens, is 1,580.
But although our churches in Manhattan are declining in numbers while
those of the other boroughs are growing, Manhattan still holds the key
to the city. For generations it will be the community in which the most
serious problems of church and society will have to be studied and
solved. Manhattan has strategical value not merely for Greater New York
but for every city in the land where similar problems must be solved.
If our churches run away from such a field, we shall never gain a
victory else where. If we win here, we shall be entitled to a place in
the legion of honor.
Four higher schools connected with the churches of New York have
endeared themselves to the hearts of their friends and are giving
promise of growing usefulness.
Concordia College originated in St. Matthew's Academy, in 1881. After
years of struggle and sacrifice it was moved to Bronxville in 1908,
where it occupies a valuable property. It has 110 students.
Wagner College was called into being in 1883 in Rochester. It belongs to
the New York Ministerium. Numerous pastors in this city are alumni of
Wagner College. In 1916 it was decided to move the college to New York.
A splendid property of 38 acres was purchased on Grymes Hill near
Stapleton, Staten Island, and in the Fall of 1918 it will take up its
work within the precincts of Greater New York.
Upsala College began as an academy in Brooklyn in 1893. It belongs to
the Swedish Augustana Synod. It was moved to Kenilworth, N. J., in 1898,
and became a college in 1904. Within ten years it has contributed more
than forty pastors, missionaries and teachers to the work of the church.
Hartwick Seminary is on the headwaters of the Susquehanna in Otsego
County. It is a product of the eighteenth century and not of the
twentieth. But since Johann Christopher Kunze, pastor of the Old Swamp
Church, was one of its founders, and since it still contributes pastors
to the work of the churches in New York, in spite of its distance from
the city it must not be overlooked in our mention of the schools of New
York.
Under the auspices of the Inner Mission Society Pastor Buermeyer has
developed a much-needed work among our brothers and sisters who in their
old age or by reason of sickness, loneliness or poverty are not reached
by the ordinary ministrations of the congregation. It is known its the
City Mission and it will doubtless receive the continued support of all
who read carefully the 25th chapter of St. Matthew.
The Hospice for Young Men is another form of Inner Mission work in which
a good beginning has been made.
The Lutheran Society was organized in 1914. "Its object is to promote
the general interests of the Lutheran Church by encouraging a friendly
intercourse among its members." At this writing, in 1918, it numbers
over four hundred members. By bringing together in friendly intercourse
active churchmen of otherwise widely separately congregations and synods
it has contributed materially to a better understanding of the aims and
the tasks of our entire communion.
Under its auspices the quadricentennial anniversary of the Reformation
was celebrated in this city in a manner worthy of the occasion. The
executive secretary of the committee, Pastor O. H. Pannkoke, reports as
follows on the general results of the celebration:
"Two facts are of considerable interest, such as to class them as worthy
of recording as a permanent accomplishment. In the first place we have
had the cooperation in this undertaking of every Lutheran synod
represented in New York, and I believe we have succeeded in carrying
through the undertaking without violating the confidence placed in us by
any section of the Lutheran Church.
"In the second place, our Committee has injected into the general
Reformation influence the question of the wider influence of the
Reformation. Practically every section of the country has taken up the
discussion of the religious influence of the Reformation, also of the
influence of the Reformation on every side of life."
On the roll of Former Pastors, in the Appendix, are recorded the names
of men who laid the foundations of the present congregations. Their
labors and their sacrifices entitle them to a place in a book of
remembrance. Some names are missing. We tried hard to obtain them. For
these lacunae we offer our apologies to the historians of the next
centennial. In 1918 we were still struggling with the problem of
statistics.
Nowhere are ministers forgotten so soon as here in New York. The
congregations themselves are rapidly engulphed in the ceaseless tides
of humanity that sweep over the island. Now and then some beloved
pastor is remembered by some faithful friends, but in a few years the
very names of the men who built the churches are forgotten. Like the
knights of old:
"Their swords are rust,
Their steeds are dust.
Their souls are with the saints we trust."
Before ending the story of which a faint outline has here been given, we
recall with affection and reverence some of the men whose outstanding
personality has not yet faded from our memory. Their labors prepared the
ground for the harvests which a younger generation is now permitted to
reap.
Stohlmann was the connecting link with the earlier periods. He was an
able preacher, a warm hearted pastor and a conscientious man.
Geissenhainer, the pastor of St. Paul's, which he organized in 1841
after having been an assistant of his father in St. Matthew's since
1826, was another connecting link with the past.
Held of St. John's was a pupil of Claus Harms. His eloquent sermons
attracted great congregations to Christopher Street.
After fourteen fruitful years in St. James' Church, Wedekind was called
to Christopher Street in November, 1878, to succeed Pastor Held. Here he
labored for twelve years, edifying the church and inspiring St. John's
to bcome one of our most efficient congregations. Under his direction at
least four young men of the congregation were led into the ministry. He
died April 8, 1897.
[illustration: "Augustus Charles Wedekind, D.D."]
Under a quiet exterior Krotel concealed a forceful personality. He was a
born leader and took a large part in the development of the General
Council. As editor of the Lutherischer Herold for three years and of The
Lutheran for many years his writings had a wide influence. From 1868 to
1895 he was pastor of Holy Trinity Church. In 1896, in the 71st year of
his age, he accepted a call to the newly organized Church of the Advent,
which he served until his death on May 17th, 1907. Under the pen name of
Insulanus he delighted the readers of The Lutheran for forty years with
his reflections on men and things in New York. Among his published works
are a Life of Melanchthon, Meditations on the Beatitudes and
Explanations of Luther's Catechism.
Julius Ehrhardt was an unassuming, lovable and scholarly Suabian. He
laid the foundations of St. Paul's in Harlem, when the little wooden
church stood among the truck gardens. He died in 1899.
Moldenke was a descendant of Salzburg exiles who settled in East Prussia
in 1731. He came to us from Wisconsin, organized Zion Church which was
subsequently merged with St. Peter's after he had accepted a call to
succeed Hennicke in that church. He was an able preacher and a scholarly
writer. Under his leadership St. Peter's became a strong congregation.
In 1872 he contributed a series of articles on _Die Lutheraner des
Ostens_ to Der Pilger of Reading. A reprint of these articles in book
form would be a valuable contribution to the story of the Lutherans of
New York and a fitting memorial of a minister of mark and influence.
Johann Heinrich Sieker was born in Schweinfurth, Bavaria, October 23d,
1839. He received his theological education at Gettysburg. His early
ministry was in connection with the Wisconsin Synod. In 1876, when
Ruperti resigned at St. Matthew's, Sieker was called from St. Paul,
Minnesota, to become his successor. For 28 years he was the pastor of
St. Matthew's and a leading minister of the Missouri Synod. In
synodical matters he was an uncompromising defender of the faith as he
understood it. He left the record of a singularly devoted and successful
ministry. At least thirty young men were led into the ministry under his
influence. Roesner's "Ehrendenkmal," a sketch of his life and character,
ought to be read by every Lutheran minister in this city. He died in
1904.
John Jacob Young was a native of the Rhenish Palatinate, born at
Langenkandel, September 13th, 1846. He came to America in his boyhood.
He served in the Union army during the Civil War. When the war was over
he studied for the ministry at Gettysburg. He served a number of
congregations in Maryland and Indiana till 1893, when he was called to
the pastorate of St. John's in Christopher Street. Here for 21 years he
faithfully followed his calling as a shepherd of souls.
Charles Armand Miller came to us from the South. He was born in
Sheperdstown, West Virginia, March 7, 1864. He was educated at Roanoke
College and after his ordination he was for a time pastor of the College
Church. He succeeded Dr. Krotel in Holy Trinity Church in 1896 and gave
twelve years of devoted and successful service to this congregation. His
subsequent fields of labor were in Charleston, South Carolina, and in
Philadelphia. He was a scholarly writer, an able preacher, a sympathetic
pastor and a loyal friend. Among his published writings were The Perfect
Prayer, The Sacramental Feast, The Way to the Cross and a volume of
poems entitled Ad Astra.
[illustration: "Pastor J. H. Sieker"]
He died in the prime of his life, September 9th, 1917. Who that knew him
will ever forget the genial spirit of Charles Armand Miller?
It would be a congenial task to give a fuller account of these men and
of Ruperti, Vorberg, Raegener, Hennicke, Waetter, Foehlinger, Koenig,
Halfmann, Frey, Weissel, Beyer and others whose names and lives a few of
the older preachers will recall. Perhaps some who read this book will
accept the suggestion and write accounts of these pioneer workmen. What
a Ministers' Association they would have formed if we could have gotten
them together into a conference to discuss the terms of agreement. But
that was impossible thirty years ago.
A singularly interesting career came to a close just as I was concluding
these memorial paragraphs. Dr. Charles E. Weltner died in Brunswick,
Georgia, December 22d, 1917.
He was born in Wilhelmshoehe, January 28th, 1860, where his father
commanded a company of soldiers in the royal castle. In his early youth
he was sent to New York to meet a relative whom he never found. One
Sunday morning, homeless and friendless, he accosted me after service at
the door of the church. I offered him employment in my office and for
several years he was an efficient helper in the educational and mission
work of my parish. Although he was already suffering from defective
eyesight, which not long afterward resulted in total blindness, he
expressed an ardent desire to enter the ministry. Under the
circumstances this seemed to be impossible, but his earnest pleas
overcame every objection. In 1884 he entered Hartwick Seminary where he
was graduated with honor in 1888. Unable himself to read the text books,
his friends read them for him. Especially helpful to him in his studies
were Professor Hiller and his wife, the daughter of the sainted Dr.
George B. Miller.
Upon the completion of his course in 1888 he was ordained to the Gospel
ministry and for the next four years rendered faithful service as the
assistant of his pastor in Christ Church. Few that heard him would have
suspected his blindness. His remarkable memory enabled him in conducting
the Service to use the Bible and the Liturgy as though he could see. In
the library he could go to the shelves and place his hands upon the
books that he needed. His reader then supplied him with the material
needed for study.
In 1893 he took temporary charge of St. John's Church in Christopher
Street.
In the Fall of 1893 he accepted a call to St. Matthew's Church in
Augusta, Georgia. His retirement in 1896 to take charge of a mission
among the cotton mill operatives of Columbia, S. C., was deeply
regretted not only by his congregation but by the entire city.
Thus far his ministry, however useful it had been, was only a
preparation for the remarkable work he was called upon to do in South
Carolina and adjoining states. The mountain whites who had been drawn
into the cotton mill work of the South were illiterate and but ill
prepared for their new conditions.
[illustration: "Charles E. Weltner, D.D."]
With the help of his devoted wife, a night school was established.
Additional schools became necessary. The Columbia Board of Education
became interested and supplied the teachers while the mill company
provided for the equipment. Mrs. Weltner helped the girls by creating an
interest in good housekeeping and in beautifying the homes and their
surroundings.
The movement extended to other parts of the state and into adjoining
states, and Dr. Weltner was called upon to explain and direct it. The
blind man had seen a vision. The homeless youth of New York's East Side
became the prophet of a new era who turned many to righteousness. His
eyes now see the King in His beauty.
THEIR PROBLEMS
The Problem of Synods
A synod is an assembly of delegates organized for the purpose of
administering the affairs of the churches they represent.
Fourteen synods are represented in Greater New York. Some are based on
differences of doctrine. A volume published in 1893, entitled
"Distinctive Doctrines and Usages" (See Bibliography), treats of these
differences. Others are due to differences of language and race.
In some countries a hyperchurchly trend of the national or state church
is responsible for dissenting movements which, left to themselves,
finally take the form of separatistic churches. Although these movements
temporarily persist in America there is no permanent need for them in
our atmosphere of freedom. Our church has room for many men of many
minds so long as the essentials of belief are held and respected.
Finns are represented in three synods, Scandinavians in four. These
nations therefore account for one-half of our fourteen synods. The
history of the Missouri Synod is one of struggle, sacrifice and
remarkable growth. For seventy-five years other Lutherans have sought
fellowship with them, but they decline to hold fellowship with churches
that are not in full accord with their doctrinal position.
Each of these divisions has some historical reason for its existence
which cannot be ignored or lightly pushed aside. For various reasons
each synod emphasizes some phase of church life which in its opinion
warrants a separate organization. Perhaps some of the progress of the
last half century may be credited to a wholesome rivalry between these
various schools of Lutheranism.
On the other hand these synodical divisions among churches holding the
same substance of doctrine, even when they do not provoke downright
hostility, are an effective bar to the fraternal alliance so greatly
needed in our polyglot communion. Our neighbors, too, of other
Denominations, when they try to understand our meticulous divisions, are
not unnaturally disposed to look upon us as a conglomerate of sectarian
religionists rather than as a Church or even as a distinct Denomination.
In lists of denominational activities our churches figure as G. C.
Lutherans, G. S. Lutherans, Missouri Lutherans, etc., while all of us
are frequently called upon to explain whether we belong to the
Evangelical branch of the Lutherans or not.
Absorbed as we are in the local interests of our individual
congregations and in the questions that divide us among ourselves, we
seldom have an opportunity to give expression to outstanding principles
of our church in such a way as to impress the public mind with a sense
of their importance.
The question therefore continually recurs, why should these divisions be
perpetuated among brethren who are agreed on the essentials of Lutheran
teaching even though they may not have completely assimilated each
other's minute definitions of theological dogmas. Laymen, more
interested in practical results, find it hard to understand why there
should be so many different kinds of Lutherans. Even ministers,
accustomed as they are to sharp distinctions, sometimes deplore these
divisions and wonder when they can be healed. They long for the time
when the adherents of the Augsburg Confession may unite in one great
body, "beautiful as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army
with banners."
Alluring as such a prospect may seem, it is not of highest importance in
a communion which from the beginning emphasized the right of private
judgment and acquired for the world the right to think for itself in
matters of conscience and religion. The Church of the Reformation
derives its strength from unity rather than from union. Theoretically at
least, it is a communion, a fellowship of believers. Its earliest
designation was not "The Lutheran Church," but "Churches of the Augsburg
Confession."
It is consonant therefore with our historic principles to respect the
gifts and calling of the existing divisions in our churches without
insisting upon an artificial union which could contribute little to the
true unity of the church. There are "many members, yet but one body....
There are differences of administrations, but the same Lord." In our
mutual relations therefore it behooves us to recognize the rights of the
individual.
This, however, need not prevent our working and praying for union. If it
be possible, as much as lieth in us (unless this involves synergistic
heresy), let us cultivate tolerance and live peaceably with all men,
especially with all Lutherans.
We have in this city a great field in which there is work for us all. In
friendly co-operation, rather than in hostile competition, we may escape
some of the perils of our past history and perform with credit the tasks
with which at present we seem to be struggling in vain.
The Metropolitan District includes the urban communities within ten
miles of the boundary line of Greater New York. This territory of a
hundred and fifty square miles now holds a population of over seven
millions of people. Our churches in Greater New York minister to a
baptized membership of 141,642 souls. If we include in our estimates of
parochial responsibility, not merely enrolled members, but the entire
Lutheran population of the District, Russians, Poles, Slovaks,
Bohemians, Hungarians, Letts, Esthonians, Lithuanians, Dutch, Germans,
Swedes, Norwegians, Finns and Danes, to say nothing of the multitudes of
American birth from the Hudson and Mohawk valleys, from Pennsylvania,
Virginia, Ohio and the West, the number of people claiming to be
Lutherans amounts to more than five hundred thousand souls.
To minister as we should to such a constituency, we need co-operation in
place of competition. The work of cultivating effectively such a field
can never be done by churches so hopelessly divided as ours.
Other churches, Protestant and Catholic, with a centralized
ecclesiastical organization, are able to work together as one body and
make plans for their work covering the entire Metropolitan District. We,
with our strong individualism, cannot vie with them. In our polity we
are extreme congregationalists and must pay for our freedom.
But there is much that our churches have in common. Our flocks are not
alienated from each other as much as are the shepherds. The formation of
local groups throughout the greater city, co-operating in common causes,
or at least refraining from a polemical policy, would pave the way for a
better understanding of our mutual needs and opportunities for service.
Three things, at least, might be done without compromising the faith or
violating the spirit of our church life:
1. We might meet for the purpose of forming each other's acquaintance
and for the discussion of practical questions. Perhaps none of us is
quite so heretical as the synodical divergence would lead a layman to
suppose.
2. We might meet for the discussion of vital questions of religion and
morals. It is one thing to read about these things in books. It is quite
another thing to listen to a spoken presentation warm with the sympathy
of a living experience.
3. We might recognize each other's spheres of influence and federate our
forces in meeting the needs of our vast community.
In the meantime we are slowly learning that the aspirations and
convictions that unite us are greater than the things that separate us.
The clearer comprehension of the principles we hold and of the work we
have to do, and the sense of our responsibility as one of the larger
communions of the metropolis, compel us more and more to emphasize not
the unessential details of our theological system but rather the larger
truths and principles for which we stand and which we hold in common.
A hundred years ago, on the tercentenary of the Reformation, after a
period of political humiliation and economic distress in the Fatherland,
the Ninety-five Theses of Claus Harms sounded a call for a Lutheran
awakening throughout the world. The result of that revival is felt in
the churches to this day.
The quadricentenary of the Reformation was celebrated amid the
convulsions of a World War. Is it too much to hope that after this war
also the ground may be prepared for a spiritual sowing and reaping when
the unnecessary dissensions of sectarian controversy will give place to
fraternal co-operation in the service of a common Lord and in the
promotion of a common faith?*
*Since the foregoing paragraphs were written an unexpected change
in the outlook has taken place. Steps were taken a year ago toward
bringing together three of the general bodies of the Church in America.
Should this hope be realized, it will bring into closer union a majority
of the churches of Greater New York.
On May 7th, 1918, at a meeting of nearly one hundred Lutheran
pastors, members of nearly all of the synods represented on this
territory, there was organized a "Conference of the Lutheran pastors of
the Metropolitan District for the discussion of all questions of
doctrine and practice to the end of effecting unity." This, too, is a
harbinger of an approaching era of reconstruction and peace.
The Problem of Language
It was a Lutheran demand in the sixteenth century to preach the Gospel
in the vernacular. It would be un-Lutheran in the twentieth century to
conduct public worship in a language which the people do not understand.
This lesson is written so plainly in the history of our churches in
America that "he may run that readeth." The Swedish churches on the
Delaware, planted by Gustavus Adolphus for the very purpose of
propagating the faith in America, were all of them lost to the Lutheran
church because the persistent use of the Swedish language, and the
inability of the pastors to preach in English, proved an insuperable
obstacle to the bringing up of the children in the Lutheran communion.
When the New York Ministerium at its meeting in Rhinebeck, September
1st, 1797, resolved that it would "never acknowledge a newly-erected
Lutheran Church merely English in places where the members may partake
of the services of the Episcopal Church, it halted for a century the
growth of the Lutheran Church in New York. [Tr. note: no close quotation
marks in original.]
The same experience greets us in London. There the Lutheran Church was
established in 1669, only five years later than in New York. For more
than two centuries it had the recognition of royalty. As late as the
Victorian era Prince Albert, the Queen and the royal family, in their
personal relations, were connected with the Lutheran Church. To this day
Queen Alexandra is a communicant in the Lutheran church. There exist
therefore no social barriers to its growth. Yet not a single English
Lutheran church is to be found in London.
With one exception the dozen Lutheran churches of other tongues
recognize no responsibility to propagate the faith of the Augsburg
Confession in the language of the city in which they live. The exception
is that of the German "Missouri" congregation. Here English as well as
German is used in the services. Here alone it would seem that "religion
is the chief concern."
The language problem confronted us early in our local history. In the
first hundred years three languages, Dutch, German and English,
contended for the mastery. In their pastoral work some ministers used
all three.
Dutch was the first to surrender. The children of Dutch families adopted
the language of their English conquerors, and when immigration from
Holland ceased, the use of Dutch in worship became obsolete. The last
use of Dutch at a Lutheran service was at the communion on the First
Sunday in Advent in 1771. It had maintained itself for 114 years.
After the use of Dutch in worship had ceased, German and English came
into collision. It was a fight to a finish. When it was over there was
little left for which to contend. When Pastor Kunze died, in 1807, the
congregation had declined almost to the point of extinction. Many of the
English-speaking families had left us and we thus lost some of our
leading members, people whose ancestors had for five generations
belonged to our communion. The Germans remained, but during the lull in
the tide of immigration the use of German declined to such an extent as
to imperil the existence even of the German congregation. When Kunze's
successor arrived he had difficulty in finding members of the church who
could speak German. Even in the German congregation English had become
the language of every-day life.
German thrives in German soil. Elsewhere it is an exotic not easily
cultivated. From their earliest history Germans have had the
_Wanderlust_ and have sought for new homes as it pleased them. But
wherever they go they amalgamate with their surroundings.
The Franks settled in Gaul, but, excepting its German name, the language
retains but few indications of the German ancestry of a large part of
the French people.
The Goths settled in Spain. Physical traits, blue eyes and blonde
complexion, persist in some districts, but their descendants speak
Spanish.
The Longobards crossed the Alps and settled in Italy where their
children speak Italian, although Lombardy is just across the mountains,
not far from the early home of their immigrant ancestors.
A notable exception to this tendency of the Germans to amalgamate with
other nations was when the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain. The island had
been deserted by the Romans, and the Germans refused for centuries to
ally themselves with the British inhabitants. They retained their own
language and customs with but a slight admixture of alien elements.* To
this day after twelve centuries they prefer to call themselves
Anglo-Saxons rather than British. (_Nomen a potiori fit._)
*"Philologically, English, considered with reference to its
original form, Anglo-Saxon, and to the grammatical features which it
retains of Anglo-Saxon origin, is the most conspicuous member of the
Low German group of the Teutonic family, the other Low German languages
being Old Saxon, Old Friesic, Old Low German, and other extinct forms,
and the modern Dutch, Flemish, Friesic, and Low German (Platt Deutsch).
These, with High German, constitute the 'West Germanic' branch, as
Gothic and the Scandinavian tongues constitute the 'East Germanic'
branch, of the Teutonic family. (Century Dictionary under the word
'English.')"
In the ninth and eleventh centuries the island was invaded by other
Germanic tribes, directly by way of the North Sea or indirectly by the
Channel from Normandy, and so the language was developed still further
along English, that is Germanic lines. (According to the Century
Dictionary the historical pronunciation of the word is eng'-glish and
not ing'glish).
Low Germans, (Nether Saxons or Platt Deutsch) who have settled in New
York in such large numbers, enjoy a distinct advantage over other
nationalities. In the vernacular of America they discover simply another
dialect of their native tongue. Hence they acquire the new dialect with
little difficulty. The simpler words and expressions of the common
people are almost the same as those which they used on the shores of the
North Sea and the Baltic. For example: _Wo is min Vader?_ Where is my
father? _He is in the Hus._ He is in the house. English and German
sailors from opposite shores of the North Sea, using the simpler words
of their respective languages, have no trouble in making themselves
understood when they meet.
The High Germans learn English more slowly, but they, too, find many
points of contact, not only in the words but also in the grammatical
construction of the language.
In the United States the descendants of Germans number seventeen
millions. They have made no inconsiderable contributions to the sum
total of American civilization. For philological reasons, as we have
seen, no people are more ready than the Germans to adopt English for
every-day use. None amalgamate more easily with the political and social
life of the country of their choice. In normal times we do not think of
them as foreigners.
English has the right of way. Its composite character makes it the
language for every-day use. Thirty-five languages are spoken in this
city, but the assimilative power of English absorbs them all. The Public
School is the effective agent in the process. This is the melting pot
for all diversities of speech. Children dislike to be looked upon as
different from their companions, and so it rarely happens that the
language of the parents is spoken by the second generation of immigrant
families. Their elders, even when their "speech bewrayeth" them, make
strenuous efforts to use the language of their neighbors.
Seeing, then, that Anglicization is inevitable, why should we not cut
the Gordian knot, and conduct our ministry wholly in the English
language? This would greatly simplify our tasks, besides removing from
us the stigma of foreignism.
We are often advised to do so, especially by our monoglot brethren.
There are those who go so far as to say that the use of any language
other than the English impairs the Americanism of the user.
Some of the languages at present used in our church services may be of
negligible importance. The Slovak, Magyar and Finnish for example, as
well as the Lettish, Esthonian and Lithuanian of the Baltic Provinces,
will never have more than a restricted use in this city. The
Scandinavians and those whose vernacular is the Low German easily
substitute English for their mother tongue. Scandinavian is kindred to
English, while Low German is the very group of which, philologically
speaking, English is the most conspicuous member. Upon these tongues it
will not be necessary to do summary execution.
It is a different matter, however, when we come to High German, or,
properly speaking, New High German, the language of German literature
since the sixteenth century, of which Luther, through his version of the
Bible, may be called the creator. He at least gave it universal
currency. This is a language which we could not lose if we would, and
would not if we could.
Scholars are compelled to learn it because it is the indispensable
medium for scientific and philosophical study. Formerly Latin was this
medium, today it is German.
Lovers of literature learn it because it is the language of Goethe and
Schiller, the particular stars of a galaxy that for the modern world at
least outshines the productions of the ancient classics. Lutherans
enshrine it in their inmost souls because it is the receptacle of
treasures of meditation and devotion with which their forms of worship
have been enriched for four hundred years. To ignore Angelus Silesius,
Paul Gerhardt, Albert Knapp, Philip Spitta and their glorious compeers,
would be to silence a choir that sang the praises of the Lord "in notes
almost divine."
We need the literature in which the ideas of our church have for
centuries been expressed. Language is the medium of ideas. The thirty
denominations that constitute the bulk of Protestantism in this country
derive the spirit of their church life for the most part from
non-Lutheran sources through the medium of English literature. This is
as it should be. But when Lutherans no longer understand the language of
their fathers or the literature in which the ideas of their confession
have found their fullest expression, they lose an indispensable
condition of intellectual and spiritual growth. They can never
understand as they should the spirit of the church to which they belong.
They are doomed sooner or later to share the fate of the Lutherans of
New York of the eighteenth century.
When we have forgotten our German we shall be out of touch with the
Lutherans who come to us from the Fatherland. For the time being the
World War has put an end to German immigration, but this will not last
forever. Some time certainly immigration will be resumed, and as in
former periods will be an unfailing source of supply for the Lutheran
churches of New York.
In the nineteenth century the "Americanized" Lutherans did not
understand the Germans who came over in such overwhelming numbers, and
were unprepared to shepherd them in Lutheran folds. The work had to be
done by immigrant pastors who, on their part, did not understand the
American life well enough to accomplish the best results. For the sake
of the Lutherans who come to us from foreign lands we cannot afford to
lose touch with the historical languages of their churches.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the use of German had sunk
almost to zero. The minutes of the German Society had to be written in
English because no one was sufficiently versed in German to write them
in this language. There was nothing to interfere with the supremacy of
English. Yet the English Lutheran church was unable to "propagate the
faith of the fathers in the language of the children." Down to the
beginning of the twentieth century, the English churches were dependent
for their growth upon accessions from the German and Scandinavian
churches. They were unable to retain even the families they had
inherited from their Dutch and German ancestors. We search in vain for
descendants of the New York Lutherans of the eighteenth century in any
of our churches.
Not until a new contribution of immigrants from Lutheran lands had been
made to America did our church begin to rise to a position of influence.
When in the second quarter of the nineteenth century the first
self-sustaining English Lutheran church was established, the
Ockershausens and other children of immigrants were the strong pillars
of its support. From that day to the present time not a single English
Lutheran church has been established and maintained in this city where
the Schierens, the Mollers and scores of others, immigrants or the
children of immigrants, were not the chief supporters of the work.
Without their effective aid the English Lutherans of the nineteenth
century would have been swallowed up by "the denominations that are
around us" as were their predecessors of the eighteenth century.
Some of our Anglo-American neighbors are concerned about our political
welfare. They advise us to drop the German in order that we may become
"Americanized."
Many of us are the children of Germans who tilled the soil of America
before there was a United States of America.
The Germans of the Mohawk Valley won at Oriskany, according to
Washington, the first battle of importance in the American Revolution.*
[Tr. note: original has no footnote to go with this asterisk]
The Germans of Pennsylvania, long a neutral colony on account of its
large English population, obtained the right of suffrage in May, 1776,
and turned the scale in favor of liberty. Through their vote
Pennsylvania was brought by a narrow margin into line with Virginia and
Massachusetts which would otherwise have remained separated and unable
to make effective resistance against the armies of King George.
The Germans of Virginia followed their Lutheran pastor, Peter
Muehlenberg, and made memorable the loyalty of American Lutherans.
Steuben, the drillmaster of the Revolution, transformed the untrained
and helpless troops of Washington into an effective force capable of
meeting the seasoned soldiers of Cornwallis and Burgoyne.
Our German ancestors were peasants, unable to write history, but they
helped to make history. Without their timely aid there would not have
been a United States of America. Their children do not need to be
"Americanized." Nor have later immigrants from Germany and Scandinavia,
at any period of our history, shown less loyalty to American ideals.
We may concede the hegemony of English in the political and intellectual
life of America, but in a great country like America there is room for
others also. It is a narrow view of our civilization to make "American"
synonymous with English. America is not the dumping ground of the
nations. It is a land where the best ideals of all nations may be
reproduced and find room for expansion and growth.
The German and Scandinavian churches of New York are not ignorant of the
importance of the English language in the maintenance of their church
work. (See table of Churches in the Appendix.) With scarcely an
exception they make all possible use of English in their services. This
they are compelled to do in order to reach their children. In this way,
and by making generous contributions of their members to the English
churches, they are doing their full share in the general work of church
extension in the English language.
They send their sons into the ministry to an extent that has not been
approached by our English churches. (See Appendix under Sons of the
Church.) Nearly all of these are bi-lingual in their ministerial work
and many of them serve exclusively English churches. There is a proverb
about killing the goose that lays the golden egg, which we would do well
to bear in mind.
Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, founded by Dr. Walther and the Germans
of Missouri, numbers 344 students. Candidates for graduation must be
able to minister in at least two languages. In a polyglot church such as
ours this would seem to be a policy worthy of imitation.
The fifteen languages in which we minister to our people confer upon us
an honorable distinction. Each one represents an individuality which
cannot be ignored, some spiritual gift which is worth exercising and
preserving. By keeping in touch with this many-sided life we enrich our
own lives, obtain broader conceptions of the church's mission, and fit
ourselves for more effective service in this most cosmopolitan city of
the world. Instead of trying to exterminate these languages, let us
cultivate a closer acquaintance with them and let us pray for that
pentecostal spirit which will enable us to say "we do hear them speak in
our tongues the wonderful works of God."
The Problem of Membership
Three classes of members are recognized in our churches: 1, Those who
have been baptized. 2, Those who have been confirmed-that is, those who
after the prescribed course of instruction and examination have been
admitted to the communion. 3, Communicants-that is, those who are in
active fellowship with the church in the use of the word and the
sacrament.*
*The temporal affairs of the congregation as a civic corporation
are regulated by the State and the qualifications of a voting member are
defined in the laws of the State. This chapter deals only with the
question of membership in the church as a spiritual body. In general
the State readily acquiesces in the polity of the various churches so
long as it does not interfere with the civic rights of the individual.
There is a fourth class of which no note is taken in our church records.
It is the class of lapsed Lutherans-that is, of those who have been
admitted to full communion but who have slipped away and are no longer
in active connection with the church.
Of these we shall speak in a separate chapter.
It is sometimes charged that the Lutheran communion does not hold clear
views of the church. On the one hand her confessions abound in
definitions of the church as a spiritual kingdom, as a fellowship of
believers. On the other hand her practice frequently reminds our brother
Protestants of the Catholics, and they are disposed to look upon us as
Romanists, _minorum gentium_. "Like a will-of-the-wisp," says Delitzsch,
"the idea of the church eludes us. It seems impossible to find the safe
middle ground between a false externalism on the one hand and a false
internalism on the other hand."
The Lutheran position can only be understood when we recall the
situation that confronted the Reformers in the sixteenth century. They
had first of all to interpret the teachings of Scripture over against
Rome, and hence in their earlier confessions they emphasized the points
on which they differed from the Pope.
According to Romish doctrine a man became a member of the church, not
by an _interna virtus,_ but solely through an external profession of
faith and an external use of the sacraments. The church is as visible
and perceptible an organization as is "the kingdom of France or the
republic of Venice." The church is an institution rather than a
communion.
For thirteen centuries, from Cyprian to Bellarmin, this doctrine held
almost undisputed sway.
The Reformers demonstrated the significance of faith, and showed the
untenableness of Rome's conception of the church as a mere institution.
Thomasius calls this a central epoch in the history of the world. But at
the same time the Reformers had to take a stand against the
hyperspiritual positions of the fanatics, as well as the teachings of
the Zwinglians who denied the efficacy of the means of grace. The
confessions, therefore, as well as the subsequent writings of
Melanchthon and the dogmaticians, and the entire history and development
of the Lutheran churches must be read in the light of this two-fold
antagonism.
The system which the Reformers controverted must have had features
acceptable to the natural man or it would not have prevailed for so
many centuries. Hence it is not surprising when Romanism creeps back
into nominally Protestant churches. It behooves us, therefore, to be on
our guard and to purge out the old leaven. And the opposite tendency
which undervalues the visible church, must also be corrected by a
Scriptural doctrine of the ordinances.
The practice of our churches is a resultant mainly of three forces:
1. Doctrine, defined in the Confessions, modified by Melanchthon's
later writings and by the dogmaticians of the 17th century, considerably
influenced also by Spener and the Pietists, while not a little has come
to us from the Rationalistic period.
2. Tradition, from the civil and social arrangements of the national
churches from which we are descended, inherited through generations of
our predecessors in this country. We follow in the old ruts, and "the
way we have always been doing" puts an end to controversy.
3. Environment. Consciously or unconsciously we are influenced by the
practice of neighboring denominations.
The object of this chapter is to ascertain the historic principles of
the Lutheran Church in regard to church membership, to test their
validity by Scriptures and to apply them to present conditions.
The Church is primarily the communion of saints. Thus in the Small
Catechism: "even as He (the Holy Ghost) ... sanctifies the whole
Christian Church on earth." In the Large Catechism the same thought,
that the Church is the product of the Holy Ghost, is expressed in ample
terms. Rome's doctrine of the Church, as essentially an external
organism, was answered in the 7th Article of the Augustana with the
statement that the Church is the "congregation of saints," and this
Article was the object of special attack in the Confutation. In the
Apologia the Church is the congregation of those who confess one Gospel,
have a knowledge of Christ and a Holy Spirit who renews, sanctifies and
governs their hearts (Mueller 153, 8). In the Smalcald Articles: "Thank
God, a child of seven years knows what the Church is, namely the holy
believers and the lambs who hear their Shepherd's voice." The Formula of
Concord has no special article on the Church, but touches the question
incidentally and confirms the statements of the other symbols. (See
Rohnert, Dogmatik, p. 505.)
These teachings are in harmony with New Testament doctrine. Jesus said:
"Upon this rock will I build my church," the congregation of God's
children, the spiritual house which in the years to come "I will build."
This Church was founded through the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on
Pentecost. When the Epistles were written Ecclesia had become the
established term. In Acts 2, 42, we find that Koinonia was one of the
essential characteristics of the Church. John uses the same term in his
first letter. This is the very truth repeated in the 7th Article of the
Augustana. Paul, in his letter to Titus, refers to Christians as those
who have believed in God; Romans 8, "God's elect;" also in Colossians 3,
1, "elect of God;" I. Peter 2, "holy nation, peculiar people;" I. Cor.
1, "Sanctified in Christ Jesus," etc., etc. They form a "spiritual
house," I. Peter, 2; "God's building," I. Cor, 3; "body of Christ" in
process of edification, Eph. 4. This body of Christ is an organic unity
in which the Holy Ghost dwells as in a temple, I. Cor., 3 ; and of which
Christ is the head, Eph. 1, 22. The Church is the "bride of Christ," II.
Cor, 11, 2; destined to be "holy and without blemish," Eph., 5, 27.
The Romish doctrine of the Church began with Cyprian in the third
century. When the Puritans of that day, the Montanists, Novatians and
Donatists unduly emphasized the ideal character of the Church, there was
justification for the answer of Cyprian, emphasizing its empiric
character, its actual condition. When after thirteen centuries of abuse
of this position a Reformation occurred, it was to be expected that the
Reformers would first of all emphasize the ideal, the inner character of
the Church.
But while this movement, which Julius Stahl felicitously termed the
Conservative Reformation, was going on, there was also a radical
Reformation which repudiated the idea of a visible church. The
Romanists, in their confutation of the Augustana, called attention to
this view, and wrongfully charged the Lutherans with holding it. In
controverting this position, the Romanists very properly quoted the
parable of the tares and the parable of the net with all kinds of
fishes. The Apologia replied by showing that the 8th Article of the
Augustana had repudiated this position, and that bad men and hypocrites
were not excluded _ab externa societate_.
Thus the Romanists regard the Church as essentially visible, the
Reformed, as essentially invisible, while Lutherans hold that she is
both. The invisible Church is contained within the visible just as the
soul is contained within the body. The Church is not merely a
congregation of believers, but also an institution for the promotion of
the Kingdom of God.
In their controversy with Rome Lutherans held that the Church did not
exist merely in participation of external rites, but chiefly in the
possession of the inward life, the heavenly gifts. As yet the kingdom of
Christ is not revealed, and the visible Church is a _corpus mixtum_.
Thus the Apologia distinguishes clearly between the _ecclesia proprie et
large dicta_ (church in the proper and church in the wider sense of the
term).
Nevertheless this Kingdom of Christ has a visible existence. "We are not
dreaming of a Platonic commonwealth," says the Apologia, "for it has
external marks, the preaching of the pure Gospel and the administration
of the sacraments." And this Church is the "pillar and ground of the
truth," for she is built upon the true foundation, Christ, and upon this
foundation Christians are built up.
Subsequently, in his Loci, Melanchthon developed still further the idea
of the Church as an _institutum_. This may have been because of the
fanatics, or it may have been because of his entire disposition as a
teacher and pedagogue. Followed as he was in support of his views by the
dogmaticians, the Lutheran Church acquired that distinctive character
which has marked her history as an educating and training force. This
position is still further explained from the fact that the Lutherans,
unlike the Reformed, were placed in charge of nations and peoples, and
had to be responsible for their Christian guidance and training. As a
national church, her relations to the people were different from those
of the Reformed, who, on the continent, existed mainly in smaller
communities and congregations where it was comparatively easy to enforce
church discipline.
In this relation the Church is not only the product, but also the organ
of the Holy Ghost. It is her duty to nourish the life of its members
(_parturit et alit_), and to spread the blessings of the Church to
others. According to the Large Catechism, she is the spiritual mother
of the faithful. Her pedagogic duty is pointed out. (See Rohnert,
Dogmatik, pp. 508 and 487.)
This visible character of the Church is recognized in the New Testament
in the various commands and promises given to her: the power of the
keys, the duty to confess before men, to serve one another in love, of
united intercession, of contending against the kingdom of darkness. In
the Epistles the presence of sinful men is everywhere recognized,
nevertheless the members of the Church are termed "the called" of Jesus
Christ.
Lutheranism of the 16th century stood between two opposite errors, Rome
on the one hand with its exaggerated ideas of the Church as an
institution, and Reform on the other hand with its one-sided notions of
the invisible church. The Lutheran Church took the _via media_,
declaring that the Church, _proprie_, was spiritual, but that it was
also an institution. The question for us is whether we Lutherans of the
twentieth century have remained on the _via media_ or whether we have
not slipped too far to the right or to the left.
To find the answer one would naturally consult our church formulas and
constitutions. According to Dr. Walther's "Pastorale," the candidate for
admission to a "Missouri" church must be a truly converted and
regenerated Christian. The General Council requires that the candidate
shall have been admitted to the Lord's Supper and shall accept the
constitution. The Synod of New York requires that candidates be
confirmed, accept the Augsburg Confession, lead a Christian life, obey
the constitution and any other regulations that may hereafter be
adopted.
From this it seems that "Missouri" is the only body that emphasizes the
_interna virtus_. The others place the emphasis upon conformity with
certain outward forms and requirements.
But we cannot always judge from the printed constitution. To bring the
information up to date, and to ascertain the actual usage of the
churches, the author obtained from forty pastors of this city an account
of their practice. Some of their replies will be embodied in this
chapter.
Theoretically we enter the church through baptism. Practically, for most
Lutherans, confirmation is the door of admission.
This rite is a comparatively new measure among us. Prior to the
eighteenth century it had only a limited use in the Lutheran Church, and
it has attained an inordinately prominent place. Spener was among the
first to recognize its practical value, and its beautiful ritual made a
strong appeal to the popular imagination. It is one of the ancient
ceremonies to which we do not object if it is properly used.
Now tell us, you who make so much of confirmation and so little of
catechization, seeing that you are content with six months of the
latter, in adopting a rite which Spener and the Pietists introduced into
the church, have you also adopted the principles which governed Spener
and the Pietists in the practice of confirmation? Their object in
catechization and confirmation was conversion. "A stranger visited my
class one day," says Spener. "The next day he called to see me and
expressed his great pleasure with my instruction. 'But,' said he, 'this
instruction is for the head. The question is how to bring the head to
the heart.' And these words he repeated three times. I will not deny
that they made such an impression upon me that for the rest of my days
I shall not forget them."
We are not advocating extravagant ideas of conversion, or requiring a
religious experience from children of fourteen years which in the nature
of the case they cannot have. But have we a right in this crisis in the
history of the child to overlook that infinitely important experience
which our dogmaticians termed _regressus ad baptismum?_ Said Professor
Kaftan, in an address to a Ministers' Conference: "The word conversion
is the appropriate term for expressing the way in which a man becomes a
Christian and a believer. Most Christians can tell you something about
how it happened that they sought a new aim and chose another path in
life. Even among those who have had a peaceful and gradual development,
there came a time when they reached a conscious and decisive resolution
to belong no more to the world but to God. _"Man wird nicht von selbst
ein Christ, man muss sich bekehren um ein Christ zu werden."_ We do not
repudiate the doctrine of baptismal regeneration as it is held in the
Lutheran Church. On this point we are in accord with our Confessions.
But before we adopt without reservation the idea that baptized children
are regenerate, we must revise our practice in the matter of baptizing
infants. So long as we practice the _Winkeltaufe_ and baptize
indiscriminately the children of people who give us no guarantee that
the children will be brought up in the Christian faith, so long as the
Church fails to recognize her obligation to these baptized children and
does not take them under her nourishing care from the time when they
emerge from the family and enter into the larger life of the street and
the school, we have no right to place such an emphasis upon baptismal
regeneration. It is to be feared that the Lutheran doctrine of baptismal
grace has in many minds been supplanted by a mechanical, thaumaturgiel
conception which differs from the Roman doctrine only in being far more
dangerous. Rome at least enforces the claims of tthe [sic] Church
recognized in baptism. We baptize them and let them run. We corral a few
of them for a few months just before confirmation and then let them run
again. So does not Rome." [tr. note: original has no close quotation mark
for Kaftan quotation]
Dr. Cremer, of Greifswald, an able defender of the Lutheran faith, in
his reply to Dr. Lepsius on the subject of Baptismal Regeneration, says:
"It is sad indeed that in the use of the sacraments there is generally
more of superstition than of faith. This must be openly confessed, for
only then can conditions be improved when faults are recognized and made
known. . . . We may continue to baptize chiildren [sic] of
_Gewohnheitschristen_ (formal Christians), but it is a question whether
we ought to continue to baptize the children of those who have given up
the faith and among whom there is no guarantee of a Christian training.
This means also a reformation in our confirmation practice. Does
confirmation mean a family party, or mark the time to leave school, or
has it something to do with baptism? These are rocks of offense which
must be cleared out of the way if the Church is to be restored to
health."
Among the questions proposed to the pastors were the following:
1. Do you have a personal interview with each candidate prior to
confirmation with the view of ascertaining his fitness for the act?
2. Do you at that interview inquire as to the candidate's repentance,
faith, conversion, new life?
3. Is the confirmation of the candidate dependent upon the satisfactory
result of this examination?
Among the answers were the following: "Not, individually." "No, except
before the congregation." "Not formally so." "For at least six months."
"Only with certain ones," etc., etc.
A goodly number of pastors speak to the candidates _"unter vier Augen,"_
but they are the exceptions. The ordinary practice knows nothing of such
a course. The public examination is little more than an exhibition.
In other words, we have strayed over to the Roman side of the road. The
difference between us and the Roman priest being this: he will see them
again at the confessional, but those whom we confirm in this superficial
way, many of them, we shall never see again. Or, if perchance we should
see some of them, it will be at long range, the same as when we first
admitted them to confirmation. Imagine a doctor curing his patients in
this way, getting them together in a room and prescribing for their
diseases from what he sees of them in a crowd. The care of souls cannot
be performed in bulk, it is the care of _a_ soul.
Besides what a privilege the pastor loses, the opportunity of a
lifeline, not only to explain to an inquiring heart the mysteries of our
faith in the light of his personal need, but also to put himself in such
a relation to the individual that he may become a beloved _Beichvater_.
But alas, we have to a great extent lost the confessional. Instead of it
we have a hybrid combination of Lutheran doctrine and Reformed practice,
and we distribute our absolution _ore rotundo_ over mixed congregations
on Sunday mornings and at the Preparatory Service. But the real
confession we seldom hear and a valid absolution therefore we cannot
pronounce. The Keys have indeed been committed to us, but we seem to
have lost them, for the door of the sheepfold hangs very loose in our
churches and the sheep run in and out pretty much as they please.
But while some of our churches are thus leaning toward Rome, there is
need of caution also against the opposite error. A false and exaggerated
spirituality will lead to standards of holiness which are not warranted
by the New Testament. Of these Luther himself somewhere said, "May the
God of mercy preserve me from belonging to a congregation of holy
people. I desire to belong to a church of poor sinners who constantly
need forgiveness and the help of a good physician."*
*Methods of receiving candidates into active membership vary. Some
synods, as we have seen, make no distinction whatever in their
statistical reports between occasional communicants and actual members
of the congregation. Admission to membership should take place by vote
of the congregation or at least of the Church Council. There should
likewise be some rite of initiation. In the case of adults who come from
other congregations it need not and should not be a confirmation
service, but it should at least be a public introduction of the
candidate into the fellowship of the congregation with which he desires
to become identified. (Matthew 10, 32).
Rome's position was a protest against Montanism. Without question there
is a great truth in Cyprian's position as developed by Rome, and the
Reformers, particularly Melanchthon, guarded it. How often do we hear in
our day the declaration: "I do not need to go to church. I can be just
as good a Christian without." This position Lutheranism rebukes by
making preaching and the sacraments the pillars on which the church
rests. Thus is conserved what was best in the institutional theory of
the ancient church, so that in spite of her many defects both as a
national church and in her transplanted condition, the Lutheran church
will remain an important factor in the development of Protestant
Christianity.
When our Reformed neighbors charge us with Romanism, it is either
because they do not understand our theory and have overlooked the
historical development, or because they judge of us by the Romish
practice of our own ministers who have thoughtlessly slipped over too
far toward the institutional theory. In the present condition of
religious flux we have a mission not only in the field of doctrine, but
also in practical theology, on the question of the Church. For we are
still standing between two antagonists. Catholics on the one hand
attract the masses by the definiteness of their external organization.
Over against them we emphasize the essentially spiritual nature of the
Church. There are Protestants on the other hand who, while placing the
emphasis on the inner life, ignore the importance of the ordinances.
They maintain public worship, it is true, but do so in combination with
secular entertainment or by appealing to the intellectual or esthetic
needs of the community. Others, more spiritually minded, base their
hopes on the evangelist and the revival. But when the evangelist has
taken his leave, and the people have to listen to the same voice they
have heard so long before, having been thoroughly indoctrinated with the
idea that it is not the Church that makes a man a Christian, that
sacraments and ordinances are merely human devices, is it any wonder
that many of them ignore the church altogether?
It is here that the Lutheran Church, with her catholic spirit and her
evangelical doctrine, has a message for our times. Her doctrine of
baptism, of Christian instruction as its corrollary, of repentance,
faith, and the new life, of the Lord's Supper, of church attendance, of
the sanctification of the Lord's Day, and a practical application of
these doctrines to the life in the care of souls, establishes a standard
of membership that ought to make our churches sources of spiritual
power.
The Problem of Religious Education
Historically and doctrinally the Lutheran Church is committed to
week-day instruction in religion. Historically, because in establishing
the public school her chief purpose was to provide instruction in
religion; doctrinally, because from her point of view life is a unit and
cannot be divided into secular and spiritual compartments.
American Christians are confronted with two apparently contradictory
propositions. One is that there can be no true education without
religion. The other is that we must have a public school, open to all
children without regard to creed.
When our country was young, and Protestantism was the prevailing type of
religion, these two ideas dwelt peacefully together. The founders of the
Republic had no theory of education from which religion was divorced.
But the influx of millions of people of other faiths compels us to
revise our methods and to test them by our principles, the principles of
a free Church within a free State. Roman Catholics and Jews object to
our traditions and charge us with inconsistency. If temporarily we
withstand their objections, we feel that a great victory has been won
for religion when a psalm is read and the Lord's Prayer said at the
opening of the daily session of school. We still have "religion" in the
publie school.
But the problem remains. On the one hand, those who doubt the propriety
of introducing any religious instruction, however attenuated, into the
public school, are not satisfied with the compromise. There are judicial
decisions which place even the reading of the Bible under the head of
sectarian instruction.
On the other hand, those who believe that religion has a supreme place
in the education of a child, and that provision should therefore be made
for it in its school life, realize the inadequacy of the present
methods.
As Herbert Spencer says: "To prepare us for complete living is the
function which education has to discharge." Character rather than
acquirement is the chief aim of education. Hence we cannot ignore the
place of religion in education without doing violence to the ultimate
purpose of education.
The importance of the question is admitted on all sides. But it remains
a complex and difficult problem. Thus far, with all our talent for
practical measures, we have not succeeded in reaching a solution.
In New York, in common with other churches, we have the Sunday School.
We do not undervalue its influence and cannot dispense with its aid. But
does the Sunday School meet the requirement of an adequate system of
religious instruction? It is an institution that has endeared itself to
the hearts of millions. Originally intended for the waifs of an English
manufacturing town, it has become among English-speaking people an
important agency of religion. Apart from the instruction which it gives,
we could not dispense with it as a field for the cultivation of lay
activity, and a practical demonstration of the priesthood of all
believers. Nevertheless its best friends concede its limitations. From a
pedagogical standpoint, no one thinks of comparing it with the secular
school. With but half an hour a week for instruction, even the best of
teachers could not expect important results. Its chief value lies in the
personal influence of the teacher. But instruction in religion involves
more than this.
Nor does the Sunday School reach all the children. Attendance is
voluntary, and hence there is no guarantee that all the children of
school age will obtain any instruction, to say nothing of graded and
systematic instruction, taking account of the entire school life, and
holding in mind the ultimate object of instruction, the preparation of
children for full membership in the church. But this is one of the first
duties of the churches, to look after all their children with this end
in view.
As a supplement and an aid the Sunday School has untold possibilities of
usefulness. But all its merits and advantages cannot close our eyes to
the fact that it does not and cannot meet the chief requirement of the
Christian school, the systematic preparation of all the children for the
duties of church membership. In this work the church cannot shirk her
responsibility. Her very existence depends upon it.
Recognizing this obligation some of our churches maintain the Parochial
School. Thirty churches out of one hundred and fifty are making a heroic
effort to be loyal to their ideals. The total number of pupils is 1,612.
In other words, out of 42,106 children in attendance at Sunday School
only 4 per cent. get instruction in religion through the Parochial
School. So far as numbers show it would seem to be a failure. But one
cannot always judge from the outward appearance. Eight of these
parochial-school churches report fifty of their sons in the ministry.*
*Some of the pastors failed to send me reports on this point, but I
have been credibly informed that within twelve years, ten of these
churches sent sixty of their sons into the ministry.
In view of such a result who would dare to say anything in disparagement
of the Parochial School? Perhaps its friends may some time see their way
clear to secure greater efficiency by establishing three or four schools
in place of the thirty, and thus relieve the individual congregations of
a serious tax upon their resources.
Some of our churches have Saturday schools and classes in religion on
other week days. The total number of pupils reported in these classes,
including the members of confirmation classes, is 5,711. Add to these
the 1,612 pupils of the parochial schools, some of whom have already
been counted in the confirmation classes, and we have at most 7,323
children obtaining instruction in religion on week days, 17 per cent. of
the number of those in attendance at Sunday School.
So far as may be learned therefore from such statistics as are
available, it follows that 83 per cent. of our children receive no
public instruction in religion except such as is given in the Sunday
School and in the confirmation class.
Our churches do not take kindly to the so-called evangelistic methods of
reaching unchurched masses, claiming that our methods, in particular the
catechization of the young, are more effective. In view of the figures
presented above, it is open to question whether our churches practice
catechization in the historical sense of the word. It is a question
whether our method of imparting instruction in the catechism for a few
months preliminary to confirmation does justice to the spirit and
principles of the Lutheran Church? Many of our pastors sigh under the
yoke of a custom which promises so much and yields so little.
To postpone the catechization of more than 80 per cent. of the children
until they are twelve or thirteen years of age, and to complete the
course of preparation for communicant membership within six months,
contributes but little to the upbuilding of strong and healthy Lutheran
churches. An examination of our church rolls shows that such a system is
a large contributor to the class of lapsed Lutherans. We get the
children too late and we lose them too early.
This is "an hard saying" and may offend many. But among all the problems
we are considering there is none to equal it in importance. Can we find
a solution?
Wherever the churches are prepared to utilize the time in giving
adequate instruction in religion, the curriculum of the public school
should be modified to meet this need. Competent authorities see no
objection to this, and there is a very large movement which seeks to
further this idea.*
*At the meeting of the Inter-Church Conference In Carnegie Hall,
New York, in November, 1905, at which twentynine Protestant Churches of
America were represented the author presented a paper on Week-day
Religious Instruction. Its main propositlon was favorably received, and
the following resolution was adopted by the Conference:
"Resolved, that in the need of more systematic education in
religion, we recommend for the favorable consideration of the Public
School authorities of the country the proposal to allow the children to
absent themselves without detriment from the public schools on Wednesday
or on some other afternoon of the school week for the purpose of
attending religious instruction in their own churches; and we urge upon
the churches the advisability of availing themselves of the opportunity
so granted to give such instruction in addition to that given on Sunday.
"The further consideration of the subject was referred to the
Executive Committee. By direction of this Committee a report on Week-day
Instruction in Religion was presented at the First Meeting of the
Federal Council of the Churches of Christ In America, held in
Philadelphia in 1905. After an earnest discussion, resolutions were
adopted indicating the importance which the representatives of the
churches of America attached to the general question.
At the Second Meeting of the Federal Council, held in Chicago in
December, 1912, the Special Committee of the Federal Council presented a
report recognizing the difficulties confronting an adequate solution of
the question and providing for a more thorough investigation and
discussion of the entire subject."
In his report for 1909 (Vol. I, page 5), the United States
Commissioner of Education, Dr. Elmer Ellsworth Brown, refers to this
subject in the following words:
"Those who would maintain that the moral life has other rootings
than that in religion, would, for the most part, admit that it is deeply
rooted in religion, and that for many of our people its strongest
motives are to be found in their religious convictions; that many, in
fact, would regard it as insufficiently grounded and nourished without
such religious convictions. The teaching of religious systems is no
longer under serious consideration as far as our public schools are
concerned. Historical and social influences have drawn a definite line
in this country between the public schools and the churches, leaving the
rights and responsibilities of religious instruction to the latter. It
would be futile, even if it were desirable, to attempt to revise this
decision of the American people. There has been, however, within the
past two or three years, a widespread discussion of the proposal that
arrangements be made between the educational authorities and
ecclesiastical organizations, under which pupils should be excused from
the schools for one half-day in the week-Wednesday afternoon has been
uggested-in order that they may in that time receive religious and moral
instruction in their several churches. This proposal has been set forth
in detail in a volume entitled "Religious Education and the Public
School," and has been under consideration by a representative committee
during, the past two or three years."
An interdenominational committee, consisting of Evangelical Protestants
only, was organized in 1914 for the purposing of securing week-day
instruction in religion for the children of New York. A similar
committee consisting of representatives of all churches, Protestant,
Catholic and Jewish, was organized in 1915 which is giving effective
study to the same question. The Lutheran Minister's Association is
represented on both these committees.
The Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, representing
thirty denominations and a communicant membership of eighteen millions,
through its Commission on Christian Education is making a large
contribution to the study of the problem.
The Protestant Episcopal Church in its General Convention and the
Methodist Episcopal Church in its General Conference have made provision
through appropriate committees for the study and promotion of the
subject of week-day instruction in religion.
The Jewish Community (Kehillah) is doing work far exceeding anything
that Christians have done in the way of religious education. It has
established 181 schools of religion, for children in attendance at the
public schools, in which 40,000 children are enrolled. In other forms
instruction in religion is given to 25,000 children. Thus out of 275,000
Jewish children in the public schools 23.5 per cent. receive week-day
instruction in religion. Energetic efforts are made to reach the
remaining 210,000. The pupils have from one to four periods each week,
after school hours, each period lasting from one to two hours. The total
sum annually expended by the Jews for week-day instruction in religion
is approximately $1,400,000.
From "The Jewish Communal Register of New York City, 1917-1918, [tr.
note: no close quote for title in original] we quote as follows:
"In the typical week day school, the number of hours of instruction
given to each child varies from 6 1/2 hours in the lowest grade to 9
1/2 hours in the seventh or highest grade. . . . The total teaching
staff consists of 615 teachers, of whom about 23 per cent. are women.
The salary of teachers ranges from $300 to $1,200 per year. The average
salary is $780 annually for 22 hours' work during the week."
The Jews ask for no concession of time from the public school. They seem
to have physical and intellectual vigor enabling them to utilize, for
the study of religion, hours which Christian children require for rest
and recreation.
Lutherans hold that it is the function of the church to provide
instruction in religion for its children. What are the Lutherans of New
York doing to maintain this thesis? Over 40,000 children of enrolled
Lutheran families obtain no instruction in religion except that which is
given in the Sunday School and in the belated and abbreviated hours of
catechetical instruction.
A movement is now going on in this city and throughout the United States
aiming at a restoration of religious education to the functions of the
church. For the sake of our children ought we not heartily to cooperate
with a movement which so truly represents the principles for which we
stand? It will require a considerable addition to the teaching force of
our churches. It will mean an expensive reconstruction of our
schoolrooms. It will cost money. But it will be worth while.
The Problem of Lapsed Lutherans
There are four hundred thousand lapsed Lutherans in New York, nearly
three times as many as enrolled members of the churches.
A lapsed Lutheran is one who was once a member, but for some reason has
slipped the cable that connected him with the church. He still claims to
be a Lutheran but he is not enrolled as a member of a particular
congregation.
Most lapsed Lutherans are of foreign origin. From figures compiled by
Dr. Laidlaw (see "Federation," Vol. 6, No. 4), we obtain the number of
Protestants of foreign origin, enumerated according to the country of
birth of parents, one parent or both. The number of Lutherans we obtain
by subtracting from the "Protestants" the estimated number of
non-Lutherans. Thus:
Protestants Lutherans
Norway .......... 33,344 - 10% = 30,010
Sweden .......... 56,766 - 10% = 51,090
Denmark ......... 11,996 - 10% = 10,797
Finland ......... 10,304 - 10% = 9,274
Germany .........486,252 - 20% = 389,002
Austria-Hungary . 27,680 - 80% = 5,535
Russia* ......... 15,000 - 20% = 12,000
507,708
*Many of the Lutherans who have come to us of late years from
Russia, Austro-Hungary and other countries of South Eastern Europe, are
the descendants of German Lutherans who in the eighteenth century
accepted the invitation of Katharine the Second and Marie Theresia to
settle in their dominions. Others are members of various races from the
Baltic Provlnces.
That is, the estimated number of Lutherans of foreign origin, counting
only the chief countries from which they emigrate to America, is
507,708.
But we also have Lutherans here who are not of foreign origin. Lutherans
have lived in New York from the beginning of its history. Its first
houses were built by Heinrich Christiansen, who certainly had a Lutheran
name. The Lutherans of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it is
true, left no descendants to be enrolled in our church books. These are
to be found in goodly numbers in the Protestant Episcopal and other
churches where they occupy the seats of the mighty. It is too late to
get them back.
But in the nineteenth century we collected new congregations. There are
many Lutherans whose grandparents at least were born in New York.
Besides, there has been a large influx from the Hudson and Mohawk
valleys, from Pennsylvania, Ohio, the South and the West. A moderate
estimate of these immigrants from the country and of those who under the
grandfather clause claim to be unhyphenated Americans, members or
non-members of our churches, is 40,000.
Add to these the Lutherans of foreign origin and we have in round
numbers a Lutheran population of more than 547,000 souls.
Turning now to the statistical tables in the Appendix we find that the
number of souls reported in our churches is 140,957. Subtract these from
the total Lutheran population and we have a deficit of over 400,000
souls, lapsed Lutherans, the subject of the present chapter. _Quod erat
demonstrandum_. While this is a large number, it is a moderate estimate.
An addition of 20 per cent. would not be excessive.
How shall we account for this deficit?
Of the Americans a large number are the children of our New York
churches, the product of our superficial catechetical system. No study
of the subject is complete that does not take account of this serious
defect. No cure will be effective until we have learned to take better
care of our children.
Native Americans from the country, members of Lutheran churches in their
former homes, have no excuse if they do not find a Lutheran church when
they come to New York. In years gone by English churches were scarce,
but now they are to be found in every part of the city. In part at
least, the home pastors are responsible. When their people remove to New
York they ought to be supplied with letters, and the New York pastors
should be notified. In fifty years I have not received twenty-five
letters from my country brethren asking me to look after their wandering
sheep.
For the foreign Lutherans who have failed to comnect with the church,
three reasons may be given: 1. Ignorance. Not ignorance in general, but
ignorance in regard to church conditions in America. They come from
National churches where their relation to the church does not require
much personal initiative. They belong to the church by virtue of their
baptism and confirmation. Their contributions to its maintenance are
included in the general tax levy.
Arrived in New York where Church and State are separate, a long time may
pass before any one cares for the soul of the immigrant. Our pastors are
busy with their routine work and seldom look after the new comers,
unless the new comers look after them. The latter soon become reconciled
to a situation which accords with the inclinations of the natural man.
Ignorance of American church conditions accounts for the slipping away
of many of our foreign brethren from the fellowship of the church.
2. Indifference. Many foreigners who come here are merely indifferent to
the claims of religion. Others are distinctly hostile toward the church.
Most of the Socialistic movements of continental Europe, because of the
close association of Church and State, fail to discriminate between
their respective ideas. Thy condemn the former for the sins of the
latter.
3. Infidelity. A materialistic philosophy has undermined the Christian
conception of life and the world, and multitudes of those who were
nominally connected with the church have long since repudiated the
teachings of Christianity.
It is a tremendous problem that confronts us, the evangelization of four
hundred thousand Lutherans. If for no other reason, because of its
magnitude and because of its appeal to our denominational
responsibility, it is a problem worth solving. But it is a challenge to
our Christianity and it should stimulate us to an intense study of its
possible solution.
Ministers can contribute much toward its solution. It is true our hands
are full and more than full with the ordinary care of our flocks. But
our office constantly brings us into association with this large outer
fringe of our congregations at times when their hearts are responsive to
anything that we may have to say. We meet them at weddings and at
funerals. We baptize their children and we bury their dead. Once in a
while some of them even come to church. In spite of all their wanderings
and intellectual idiosyncrasies they still claim to be Christians. And
whatever their own attitude toward Christianity may be, there are few
who do not desire to have their children brought up in the Christian
faith. We have before us an open door.
The churches can do more than they are doing now to win these lapsed
Lutherans. Some people are kept out of church through no fault of their
own. For example, the rented pew system, still in vogue in some
congregations, is an effective means of barring out visitors. Few care
to force themselves into the precincts of a private club even if it
bears the name of a church.
A pecuniary method of effecting friendly relations is not without its
merits. In this city of frequent removals there are many families who
have lost all connection with the congregation to which they claim to
belong. An opportunity to contribute to the church of their new
neighborhood might be for them a secondary means of grace. They become
as it were proselytes of the gate. Having taken the first step, many may
again enter into full communion with the church.
A Lutheran church, however, does not forget the warning of the prophet:
"They have healed the hurt of my daughter slightly." The evangelization
of this great army of lapsed Lutherans is not to be accomplished by such
a simple expedient as taking up a collection. What most of them need is
a return to the faith. Somebody must guide them.
For this no societies or new ecclesiastical machinery will be required.
The force to do this work is already enlisted in the communicant
membership of our one hundred and fifty organized congregations. We have
approximately 60,000 communicants. These are our under-shepherds whose
business it is to aid the pastor in searching for "the lost sheep of the
house of Israel." Shall we not have a concerted effort on the part of
all the churches?
We may certainly win back again into our communion many of whom the Good
Shepherd was speaking when He said: "them also I must bring and they
shall hear my voice, and they shall become one flock, one shepherd."
To accomplish such a task, however, an orderly system must be adopted.
When our Lord fed the five thousand, He first commanded them to sit down
by companies. "And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties."
These 400,000 souls may first of all be grouped in families. Let us say
90,000 families. These are scattered all over the greater city, most of
them in close proximity to some one of our 150 churches. To each church
may be given an average assignment of 600 families.
The average number of communicants in each of our churches is nearly
400. Some churches have less, others more. To an average company of 400
communicants is committed the task of evangelizing 600 families, not
aliens or strangers, but members of our own household of faith, people
who in many eases will heartily welcome the invitation. Some of these
400 potential evangelists will beg to be excused. Let us make a
selective draft of 300 to do the work. The task required of each member
of this army is to visit two families.
Whatever else may be said of such a computation it certainly does not
present an insuperable task. It can be done in one year, in one month,
in one week, in one day.
Without presuming to insist upon a particular method of solving this
problem, is it not incumbent upon the Lutheran churches of New York to
face it with the determination to accomplish an extraordinary work if
need be in an extraordinary manner? "The kingdom of heaven suffereth
violence and the violent take it by force."
Seventy years ago a great company of Christian men met in the old Luther
town of Wittenberg to consider the needs of the Fatherland. It was the
year of the Revolution. It was a time of political confusion and of
desperate spiritual need. It was then that Wichern, in an address of
impassioned eloquence, pointed the way toward the mobilization of all
Christians in a campaign of spiritual service.
He was directed to prepare the program. It appeared in 1849 under the
title "Die Innere Mission."
It was a clarion call to personal service and it met with an immediate
and remarkable response. The movement marked an epoch in the history of
the church.
Because the Inner Mission lends itself in a peculiar way to works of
charity it is often regarded as synonymous with the care of the helpless
and afflicted. In this use of the term we lose sight of the larger
meaning and scope of the work which has made it one of the great
religious forces of the nineteenth century. It should therefore be more
accurately described as that movement of the nineteenth century which,
recognizing the alienation of multitudes within the church from the
Christian faith and life appeals [sic] to all disciples of Christ by
all means to carry the Gospel to men of all classes who have strayed
away and to gather them into the communion and confession of the church.
It is a mission within the church and hence bears the name of Inner
Mission.
Such a call comes to us at a time when we are confronted with a problem
which almost staggers the imagination and when we are offered an
opportunity such as no other Protestant church enjoys.
The Problem of Statistics
The word statistics, according to the Century Dictionary, refers not
merely to a collection of numbers, but it comprehends also "all those
topics of inquiry which interest the statesman." The dignity thus given
to the subject is enhanced by a secondary definition which calls it "the
science of human society, so far as deduced from enumerations."
No branch of human activity can be studied in our day without the use of
statistics. Statesmen and sociologists make a careful study of figures
before they attempt to formulate laws or policies.
For church statistics we are chiefly dependent upon the tables of the
Synodical Minutes. The original source of our information is the
pastor's report of his particular congregation. Unfortunately the value
of these tables is greatly impaired by the absence of a common standard
of membership.
The New York Ministerium has no column for "communicant" members. There
is a column for "contributing" members, but these do not necessarily
mean communicants. Among the records of Ministerial Acts, such as
marriages and funerals, there is also a column for "Kommuniziert." But
even if the Holy Communion were to be classed among Ministerial Acts, it
sometimes happens that others besides members partake of the communion.
The term "Kommuniziert" therefore does not convey definite information
on the subject of communicant membership. For example, a congregation
with 160 "contributing members" reports 770 "Kommuniziert." It is hardly
conceivable that out of 770 communicant members only 160 are
contributing members and that 610 communicants are non-contributors.
Otherwise there would seem to be room for improvement in another
direction besides statistics.
The New York Ministerium also has no column for "souls," that is, for
all baptized persons, including children, connected with the
congregation. There are also many blanks, and many figures that look
like "round numbers." For thirty years I have tried in vain to
comprehend its statistics. _Hinc illae lacrymae_.
The Missouri Synod has three membership rubrics: souls, communicant
members, voting members. When however, a congregation of 900
communicants reports only 80 voting members, one wonders whether some of
the 820 non-voters ought not be admitted to the right of suffrage. The
congregational system favors democracy. It should be remembered also
that the laws of the State define the right to vote at a church
election.
The Synod of New York has three membership rubrics: Communicants,
Confirmed, Baptized. The first includes all members who actually commune
within a year. The second adds to the communicants all others who are
entitled to commune even if they neglect the privilege. The third adds
to the preceding class baptized children and all other baptized persons
in any way related to the congregation, provided they have not been
formally excommunicated.
The Swedish Augustana Synod has three rubrics: Communicants, Children,
Total. "Communicants" may or may not be enrolled members of the
congregation. This classification therefore is neither comprehensive nor
exhaustive and may account in part, for the discrepancy between the
number of Lutheran Swedes in New York and the number enrolled in the
Swedish Lutheran Churches.
None of the synodical reports take note of "families." Pastors seldom
speak of their membership in terms of families. In the book of Jeremiah
(31, 1) we are told: "At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the
God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people." The
captions of the five parts of Luther's Small Catechism proceed upon the
assumption of the family as a unit. It is true we are living in an age
of disrupted families, but it would seem that some recognition of the
family should be made in the statistical tables of the Christian Church,
especially when in the families with which we have to do, most of the
individuals are baptized members of the church and have not been
formally excommunicated. Until, therefore, we agree upon a common
standard, our figures will be the despair of the statisticians. A
reformation must come. Without it, we shall not be able to formulate
needed policies of church extension.
In view of the complicated character of our membership it will not be an
easy task to reconstruct our statistical methods. But it is evident that
our missionary and evangelistic work will be greatly furthered when we
have exact information in regard to our parochial material. Our figures
should include every soul, man, woman and child, in any way related to
our congregations, classified in such a way as to show clearly in what
relation they stand to the church. A church that does not count its
members as carefully as a bank counts its dollars is in danger of
bankruptcy.
Church bookkeeping ought to be taught in the Theological Seminary. But
if the pastor himself is not a good bookkeeper, almost every
congregation has young men or young women who are experts in this art,
who could render good service to the church by keeping its membership
rolls.
Complete records are especially necessary in our great city with its
constant removals and changes of population. The individual is like the
proverbial needle in the haystack, unless we adopt a method of
accounting not only for each family but for each individual down to the
latest-born child.*
*In order that I may not be as one that beateth the air, I venture
to suggest a method of laying the foundation of records that has been
helpful in my own work. I send to each family a "Family Register" blank
with spaces for the name, birthday and place of birth of each member of
the family. The information thus obtained is transferred to a card
catalogue in which the additional relation of each individual to the
church and its work is noted. In this way, or by means of a loose-leaf
record book, available and up-to-date information can easily be kept.
When important records, such as synodical minutes, are printed, several
copies at least should be printed on durable paper and deposited in
public libraries where they may be consulted by the historian. Ordinary
paper is perishable. Within a few years it will crumble to dust. The
records might as well be written on sand so far as their value for
future historians is concerned.
Congregational histories, pamphlets or bound volumes, jubilee volumes
and similar contributions to local church history should be sent to the
publlic libraries of the city and of the denominational schools.
In search of recent information the author consulted the card index of
the New York Public Library. He found only nine cards relating to
Lutheran churches. And yet we wonder why our church is not better known
in this city.
EPILOGUE
One seldom finds an epilogue in a book nowadays. Its purpose in the
drama was to explain to the audience the meaning of the play. It does
not speak well for a writer if the people miss the point of his essay.
But it is just like a preacher to say something "in conclusion" to
secure, if possible, the hesitating assent of some hearer.
We have reached the 20th century. We are looking back upon 270 years of
history on Manhattun Island. What we have done and what we have left
undone is recorded in the stereotyped pages of an unchanging past. Our
successes and our failures are the chapters from which we may learn
lessons for the future. The gates of that future are open to us now.
Where Arensius and Falckner ministered to a feeble flock under
inconceivable difficulties, there is built the greatest, certainly the
largest, city of the world. From all the races and tongues of the earth
men are gathering here to solve the problems of their lives. From
Lutheran lands fifty myriads have already come and are living within our
walls. Consciously or otherwise they appeal to us, their brethren in the
faith, for that religious fellowship for which every man sometimes
longs. If we do not respond, who shall interpret for them the religious
life and questions of the new world?
From these Lutheran lands, from Scandinavia to the Balkan peninsula,
from the Rhine to the Ural Mountains, other myriads will come in the
long years that will follow the war. New history is sure to be written
for Europe and America. What shall be our contribution to its unwritten
pages?
In solving the problems that confront us we shall at the same time help
to solve the problems of our city and of our country. The simple faith
and the catholic principles of our church should secure far us a wide
field of useful and effective service.
APPENDIX
Abbreviations
Synods - Min., Ministerium of New York; Mo., Missouri; N. Y., New York;
N. E., New York and New England; Aug., Swedish Augustana; Nor.,
Norwegian; Fin., National Church of Finland; Pa., Pennsylvania; O.,Ohio;
D., Danish; Suo., Suomi (Finnish); U.D., United Danish; Ap., Apostolic
(Finnish); NN., National Church of Norway.
Languages - G., German; E., English; S., Swedish; N., Norwegian; F.,
Finnish; D., Danish; Sl., Slovak, Bohemian and Magyar; Let., Lettish;
Est., Esthonian; Pol., Polish; Y,, Yiddish; It., Italian; Lith.,
Lithuanian.
Heads of Statistical Columns - Lang., Language; Date, Date of
Organization; Syn., Synodical connection of congregation or pastor;
Comm., Number of communicants; Souls, Number of baptized persons related
to the congregation; Syn., Synodical connection of pastor or
congregation; P. S., Pupils in Parochial School; S. S., Pupils in Sunday
School; W. S., Pupils receiving instruction in religion on weekdays [tr.
note: in the table, this column is headed "R.H."]; Prop., Net value of
real estate in terms of a thousand dollars.
Signs - * Missions; ( ) Estimated number; -- No report or nothing to
report.
The Lutheran Churches of New York
Manhattan
Name and Location Pastor Lang. Org. Syn. Comm. Souls P.S. S.S. R.H. Prop.
1. St. Matthew, 421 W. 145th....... 0. Sieker ........ G. E. 1669 Mo. 500 1,122 126 365 40 (100)
2. St. James, 904 Madison Av....... J. B. Remensnyder. E. 1827 N. Y. 205 (331) ... 80 12 380
3. St. Paul, 313 W. 22nd........... L. Koenig......... G. 1841 Min. 300 (375) ... 75 40 140
4. Trinity, 139 Av. B.............. O. Graesser....... G. 1843 Mo. 525 674 33 41 34 75
5. St. Mark, 327 Sixth St.......... G. C. F. Haas..... G. 1847 Min. 200 (500) ... 55 55 70
6. St. Luke, 233 W. 42nd........... W. Koepchen....... G. E. 1850 Mo. 1,012 (2,000) ... 350 172 340
7. St. John, 81 Christopher........ F. E. Oberlander.. G. E. 1855 N. Y. 350 1,000 ... 333 39 85
8. St. Peter, 54th at Lex. Av...... A. B. Moldenke.... G. E. 1862 Min. 911 3,000 92 556 47 250
9. Immanuel, 88th at Lex. Av....... W. F. Schoenfeld.. G. E. 1863 Mo. 1,500 6,000 85 500 6l 178
10. St. John, 219 E. 119th.......... H. C. Steup....... G. E. 1864 Mo. 750 1,500 115 254 41 40
11. St. Paul, 147 W. 123rd.......... F. H. Bosch....... G. E. 1864 Min. 1,000 1,500 75 500 130 120
12. Gustavus Adolphus, 151 E. 22nd.. M. Stolpe......... S. E. 1865 Aug. 1,015 2,000 ... 250 37 172
13. Holy Trinity, 1 W. 65th......... C. J. Smith....... E. 1868 N. E. 450 (800) ... 150 12 275
14. Christ, 400 E. 19th............. G. U. Wenner...... G. E. 1868 N. Y. 250 817 ... 152 100 65
15. Epiphany, 72 E. 128th........... M. L. Canup....... E. 1880 N. E. 400 700 ... 190 24 39
16. Grace, 123 W. 71st.............. J. A. Weyl........ G. E. 1886 Min. 803 1,000 ... 260 54 80
17. Trinity, 164 W. 100th........... E. Brennecke...... G. E. 1888 Min. 785 2,500 ... 422 112 85
18. Zion, 341 E. 84th............... W. Popcke......... G. E. 1892 N. Y. 1,250 4,807 ... 1,120 124 112
19. Harlem, 32 W. 126th............. A. F. Borgendahl.. S. E. 1894 Aug. 233 336 ... 125 21 10
20. Washington Heights, W. 153rd.... C. B. Rabbow...... G. E. 1895 Min. 700 1,100 55 250 30 75
21. Redeemer, 422 W. 44th........... F. C. G. Schumm... E. 1895 Mo. 260 400 ... 120 22 (20)
22. Our Saviour, 237 E. 123rd....... J. C. Gram........ N. E. 1896 Nor. 210 300 ... 62 5 35
23. Atonement, Edgecombe at 140th... F. H. Knubel...... E. 1896 N. Y. 410 3,500 ... 544 250 125
24. Advent, Broadway at 93rd........ A. Steimle........ E. 1897 N. E. 503 962 88 163 22 218
25. Our Saviour, Audubon at 179th... A. S. Hardy....... E. 1898 N. Y. 106 554 ... 194 24 26
26. Finnish, 72 E.128th............. K. Maekinen....... F. 1903 Fin. 450 2,000 ... 40 25 ...
27. Holy Trinity, 334 E. 20th....... L. A. Engler...... Sl. 1904 - 700 1,000 ... ... 40 45
28. Esthonian, 217 E. 119th......... C. Klemmer........ Est. 1904 Mo. 50 200 ... ... ... ...
29. Polish, 233 W. 42nd............. S. Nicolaiski..... Pol. 1907 Mo. 100 300 ... ... ... ...
30. Messiah, 10th Av. at 207th...... F. W. Hassenflug.. E. G. 1916 Mo. ... 120 ... 65 7 ...
31. Lettish,* 327 Sixth St.......... P. E. Steik....... Let. .... Pa. ... ... ... ... ... ...
32. Italian,* ...................... A. Bongarzone..... It. .... Mo. 10 27 ... 9 ... ...
33. Yiddish,* 250 E. 101st.......... N. Friedmann...... Y. .... Mo. ... ... ... ... ... ...
34. Deaf,* 233 W. 42nd.............. A. Boll........... E. G. .... Mo. 40 60 ... 20 ... ...
Totals..... 15,978 41,485 669 7,245 1,580 3,160
Bronx
Name and Location Pastor Lang. Org. Syn. Comm. Souls P.S. S.S. R.H. Prop.
1. St. John, 1343 Fulton Av........ T. O. Posselt. ... G. E. 1860 Min. 758 1,800 50 523 69 70
2. St. Matthew, 376 E. 156th....... W. T. Junge....... G. 1862 Min. (200) (500) 46 730 67 37
3. St. Paul, 796 E. 156th.......... G. H. Tappert..... G. E. 1882 Min. 550 2,100 ... 503 103 45
4. St. Peter, 439 E. 140th......... 0. C. Mees........ E. G. 1893 0. 625 1,100 ... 412 64 75
5. St. Stephen, 1001 Union Av...... P. Roesener....... G. 1893 Mo. 280 670 70 200 (20) 42
6. St. Peter, 739 E. 219th......... F. Noeldeke....... G. 1894 Min. 200 400 ... 165 35 10
7. Immanuel, 1410 Vyse Av.......... I. Tharaldsen..... N. 1895 Nor. 50 100 ... 50 (5) 6
8. Bethany, 582 Teasdale Pl........ J. Gruver......... E. 1896 N. Y. 284 612 ... 240 (24) 14
9. St. Luke, 1724 Adams............ W. Rohde.......... G. E. 1898 Min. 346 560 ... 140 32 5
10. St. Paul, LaFontaine at 178th... K. Kretzmann...... E. G. 1898 Mo. 375 811 ... 312 68 20
11. Holy Trinity, 881 E. 167th...... F. Lindemann...... E. 1899 Mo. 197 400 ... 143 (15) 17
12. Emmanuel, Brown Pl. at 137th.... P. M. Young....... E. 1901 N. Y. 205 400 ... 301 27 26
13. Trinity, 1179 Hoe Av............ A. C. Kildegaard.. D. 1901 Dan. 125 250 ... 35 10 15
14. Grace, 239 E. 199th............. A. Koerber........ E. 1904 Mo. 320 550 ... 280 22 25
15. Heiland, 187th & Valentine Av... H. von Hollen..... G. 1905 - 160 250 ... 60 30 ...
16. Concordia, Oak Terrace.......... H. Pottberg....... G. E. 1906 Mo. 260 500 ... 230 45 10
17. Messiah, Brook Av. at 144th..... J. Johnson........ S. 1906 Aug. 155 230 ... 150 (15) 17
18. St. Thomas, Topping at 175th.... A. J. Traver...... E. 1908 N. Y. 200 350 8 250 25 15
19. Holy Comforter, 1060 Woodycrest. J. H. Dudde....... E. 1912 N. Y. 120 500 ... 175 15 5
20. St. Mark, Martha at 242nd....... O. H. Trinklein .. E. 1913 Mo. 104 300 ... 125 5 15
21. St. John, Oak Terrace........... J. Gullans........ S. E. 1913 Aug. 170 251 ... 83 6 2
22. Trinity, 1519 Castle Hill Av.... Paul G. Sander.... E. G. 1913 Mo. 70 225 ... 108 10 3
23. Fordham, 2430 Walton Av......... F. H. Meyer....... E. G. 1915 0. 178 382 ... 145 20 10
Totals..... 5,932 13,241 174 5,360 732 484
Brooklyn
Name and Location Pastor Lang. Org. Syn. Comm. Souls P.S. S.S. R.H. Prop.
1. Evangelical, Schermerhorn St.... J. W. Loch........ G. E. 1841 Min. 1,000 2,500 ... 500 80 200
2. S. John, Maujer St.............. A. Beyer.......... G. E. 1844 Mo. 900 2,500 119 400 64 80
3. St. John, New Jersey Av......... C. J. Lucas....... G. E. 1847 Min. 700 1,005 ... 500 56 80
4. St. Paul, Rodney St............. H. C. Wasmund..... G. E. 1853 Min. 1,000 1,500 ... 665 25 150
5. Zion, Henry St.................. E. G. Kraeling.... G. E. 1855 Min. 1,200 2,000 75 250 75 100
6. St. Matthew, Sixth Av. at 3rd .. G. B. Young....... E. 1859 N. Y. 250 1,200 ... 300 25 66
7. St. Matthew, 197 N. 5th......... G. Sommer......... G. E. 1864 N. Y. 600 700 26 158 50 25
8. St. Peter, Bedford Av........... J. J. Heischmann.. G. E. 1864 Min. 2,200 (4,000) 20 1,391 110 100
and J. G. Blaesi
9. Our Saviour, 632 Henry St....... C. S. Everson..... N. 1866 Nor. 305 650 ... 351 18 35
and S. Turmo
10. St. John, Milton St............. F. W. Oswald...... G. E. 1867 Min. 1,200 2,500 ... 475 51 75
11. St. John, 283 Prospect Av....... F. B. Clausen..... G. E. 1868 Min. 1,000 3,000 45 800 (80) 50
12. St. Mark, Bushwick Av........... S. Frey & P. Woy.. G. E. 1868 Mo. 1,200 2,500 125 550 67 140
13. St. Luke, Washington n. De Kalb. W. A. Snyder...... G. E. 1869 Min. 700 1,000 ... 330 30 125
14. St. Paul, Henry n. Third Pl..... J. Huppenbauer.... G. 1872 Min. 400 800 ... 175 (20) 30
15. Bethlehem, 3rd Av. & Pacific ... F. Jacobson ...... S. 1874 Aug. 883 1,496 42 600 (60) 121
16. Immanuel, 179 S. 9th............ J. Holthusen...... G. E. 1875 Mo. 860 1,900 50 210 80 80
17. Wartburg, Georgia n. Fulton..... O. Hanser......... G. E. 1875 Mo. 80 80 ... ... ... 5
18. Our Saviour, 193 Ninth ......... R. Andersen ...... D. 1878 D. 200 (300) ... 40 (5) 18
19. Seamen's,* 111 Pioneer ......... J. Ekeland........ Nor. 1879 N. N. ... ... ... ... ... 30
20. St. Matthew, Canarsie........... T. A. Petersen.... G. E. 1880 Mo. 180 315 ... 80 30 16
21. Emmanuel, 417 Seventh........... E. Roth........... G. E. 1884 Min. 750 1,000 ... 500 40 61
22. Trinity, 249 Degraw............. G. F. Schmidt..... G. E. 1886 Mo. 385 729 ... 257 24 28
23. St. Paul, Knickerbocker Av...... J. P. Riedel...... G. E. 1887 Mo. 650 2,000 ... 450 60 (40)
24. Finnish, 529 Clinton............ K. Maekinen....... F. 1887 Fin. 240 240 ... ... ... 25
25. Zion, Bedford Av................ P. F. Jubelt...... G. 1887 Min. 300 500 ... 200 ... 30
26. Bethlehem, Marion............... W. Kandelhart .... G. E. 1888 Min. 700 (1,200) 60 400 60 28
27. St. James, 4th Av. n. 54th...... H. C. A. Meyer.... G. E. 1889 Min. 650 2,000 ... 500 75 50
28. St. Paul, 392 McDonough......... J. Eastlund....... S. 1889 Aug. 346 442 ... 182 (18) 36
29. St. John, 84th at 16th Av....... L. Happ........... G. 1890 Min. (400) (500) ... 375 (38) 40
30. Trinity, 4th Av. at 46th........ S. O. Sigmond..... N. 1890 Nor. 400 5,000 ... 1,000 100 50
31. Finnish, 752 44th............... S. Ilmonen........ F. E. 1890 Suo. 150 300 ... 135 135 16
32. Immanuel, 521 Leonard .......... J. E. Nelson ..... S. E. 1894 Aug. 175 350 35 105 105 16
33. Scandinavian, 150 Russell....... E. Risty.......... E. N. 1894 Nor. 112 175 ... 70 15 6
34. Redeemer, Lenox Road............ S. G. Weiskotten.. E. 1894 N. E. 400 600 ... 225 (23) 70
35. Christ, 1084 Lafayette Av....... C. B. Schuchard... E. 1895 N. E. 550 1,000 ... 425 45 25
36. Salem, 128 Prospect Av.......... J. J. Kildsig..... D. 1896 U. D. 97 400 26 85 20 10
37. St. Peter, 94 Hale Av........... A. Brunn.......... E. G. 1897 Mo. 503 973 ... 378 39 19
38. Zion, 1068 59th................. J. D. Danielson... S. 1897 Aug. 150 400 ... 160 16 10
39. Calvary, 788 Herkimer........... 0. L. Yerger ..... E. 1898 N. Y. 97 235 ... 200 (20) 15
40. Reformation, Barbey n. Arl'tn... J. C. Fisher...... E. 1898 N. E. 500 1,000 ... 450 (40) 30
41. St. Stephen, Newkirk Av......... L. D. Gable ...... E. 1898 N. E. 503 3,800 ... 975 41 35
42. Messiah, 129 Russell ........... J. H. Worth ...... E. 1899 N. E. 438 900 ... 563 40 25
43. Our Saviour, 21 Covert ......... A. R. G. Hanser... E. 1901 Mo. 450 900 ... 360 74 20
44. Incarnation, 4th Av. at 54th.... H. S. Miller ..... E. 1901 N. E. 275 400 ... 290 26 20
45. Grace, Bushwick Av.............. C. F. Intemann.... E. 1902 N. E. 425 525 ... 325 20 45
46. Bethesda, 22 Woodhull........... J. C. Herre....... N. E. 1902 Nor. 120 300 ... 93 (10) 40
47. Bethlehem, 51st & 6th Av........ F. W. Schuermann.. G. E. 1903 Mo. 180 330 ... 160 22 7
48. Salem, 414 46th................. J. A. Anderson ... S. E. 1904 Aug. 320 2,500 ... 500 36 15
49. St. Andrew, St. Nicholas Av..... .................. E. 1906 N. E. 374 1,000 ... 867 60 10
50. Good Shepherd, 4th Av. at 75th.. C. D. Trexler..... E. 1906 N. E. 525 1,200 ... 700 36 30
51. St. Paul, Coney Island.......... J. F. W. Kitzmeyer E. G. 1907 N. Y. 242 850 ... 248 (25) 18
52. St. John, 145 Skillman Av....... G. Matzat......... Lith. 1907 Mo. 73 103 17 17 (5) 5
53. Ascension, 13th Av. & 51st...... C. P. Jensen...... E. 1907 N. E. 61 100 ... 105 7 7
54. Epiphany, 831 Sterling Pl....... W. H. Stutts...... E. 1908 N. Y. 150 388 ... 201 24 21
55. Zion, 4th Av. at 63rd........... L. Larsen......... N. E. 1908 Nor. 400 3,000 ... 650 75 15
56. St. Mark, 26 E. 5th............. W. Hudaff......... E. G. 1908 Min. 150 250 ... 125 (13) 6
57. Advent, Av. P. & E. 12th........ A. F. Walz........ E. G. 1909 N. Y. 143 400 ... 230 12 10
58. Good Shepherd, 315 Fenimore..... G. Hagemann....... E. 1909 Mo. 100 300 ... 133 12 4
59. Saron, East New York............ J. Eastlund ...... S. 1909 Aug. 30 55 ... 32 (5) 6
60. Bethany, 12th Av. at 60th....... C. O. Pedersen.... N. E. 1912 Nor. 150 275 ... 125 125 8
61. Redeemer, 991 Eastern Pky....... E. J. Flanders.... E. 1912 N. Y. 80 200 ... 150 12 20
62. Mediator, Bay Pky. at 68th...... H. Wacker......... E. 1912 N. E. 65 160 ... 130 7 7
63. St. John, 44th n. 8th Av........ J. Gullans........ S. 1913 Aug. 200 298 ... 110 8 3
64. St. Philip, 287 Magenta......... A. Wuerstlin...... E. 1913 N. Y. 40 175 ... 130 8 4
65. Mission to Deaf,* 177 S. 9th.... A. Boll........... E. G. 1913 Mo. ... ... ... ... ... ...
66. Trinity,* Coney Island.......... G. Koenig......... ... 1913 Mo. ... ... ... ... ... ...
67. Immanuel,* 1524 Bergen.......... W. O. Hill........ ... 1913 Mo. ... ... ... ... ... ...
68. Holy Trinity, Jefferson Av...... C. H. Dort........ E. 1914 N. Y. 90 297 ... 163 15 ...
69. Trinity,* Erie Basin............ G. Koenig......... ... 1915 Mo. ... ... ... ... ... ...
70. Finnish, 844 42nd............... E. Aho............ F. .... Ap. ... ... ... ... ... ...
Totals..... 27,997 67,696 670 21,254 2,517 2,532
Queens
Name and Location Pastor Lang. Org. Syn. Comm. Souls P.S. S.S. R.H. Prop.
1. St. John, College Point......... A. Halfmann....... G. 1857 Mo. 360 500 ... 400 ... 40
2. Trinity, Middle Village ........ D. W. Peterson.... G. E. 1863 Min. 600 1,000 11 700 62 68
3. St. James, Winfield............. F. E. Tilly....... G. 1867 Mo. 310 729 10 385 ... 25
4. Christ, Woodhaven............... H. E. Meyer....... G. 1880 Min. 350 1,000 ... 400 20 30
5. Emanuel, Corona ................ E. G. Holls....... G. 1887 Mo. 250 500 ... 200 ... 3
6. Trinity, Long Island City....... C. Merkel......... E. G. 1890 Mo. 500 1,000 ... 550 105 40
7. Salem, Long Island City ........ H. L. Wilson...... S. 1893 Aug. 89 134 11 50 ... 6
8. St. John, Flushing ............. G. Kaestner....... G. 1893 Mo. 171 250 ... 70 10 10
9. Immanuel, Whitestone............ H. C. Wolk........ E. G. 1895 Mo. 180 375 ... 108 20 15
10. Christ, Woodside................ H. Bunke.......... G. 1896 Mo. 144 450 ... 90 18 ...
11. Trinity, Maspeth................ W. H. Pretzsch.... G. 1899 Min. 500 1,000 ... 500 35 10
12. Emmaus, Ridgewood............... T. S. Frey........ G. E. 1900 Mo. 582 1,104 ... 305 30 7
13. St. Paul, Richmond Hill......... P. B. Frey........ G. 1902 Mo. 325 650 30 235 ... 12
14. St. John. Richmond Hill......... A. L. Benner ..... E. 1903 N. E. 390 1,000 ... 465 40 26
15. St. Luke, Woodhaven............. E. R. Jaxheimer... E. 1908 N. E. 350 1,200 ... 550 103 18
16. Holy Trinity, Hollis............ A. L. Dillenbeck.. E. 1908 N. Y. 85 150 ... 96 6 6
17. St. Mark, Jamaica .............. W. C. Nolte....... G. E. 1909 N. Y. 156 272 ... 197 19 8
18. Redeemer, Glendale.............. T. O. Kuehn....... G. E. 1909 Mo. 260 600 ... 300 37 9
19. Covenant, 2402 Catalpa ......... G. U. Preuss...... E. 1909 N. E. 400 1,179 ... 679 48 ...
20. St. John, E. Williamsburg....... 0. Graesser, Jr... G. E. 1910 Mo. 50 130 ... 60 3 1
21. Good Shepherd, S. Ozone Park.... C. H. Thomsen..... E. 1911 N. Y. 85 568 ... 224 9 10
22. Christ, Rosedale................ G. L. Kieffer..... E. 1913 N. Y. 47 200 ... 41 21 10
23. St. Paul, Richmond Hill......... C. G. Toebke...... E. 1914 N. E. 100 250 ... 185 15 1
24. Chapel,* Bayside................ F. J. Muehlhaeuser E. 1915 Mo. 25 80 ... 55 4 ...
25. Chapel,* Port Washington........ F. J. Muehlhaeuser E. 1915 Mo. ... 35 ... ... ... ...
26. St. Andrew,* Glen Morris........ .................. E. 1915 N. Y. 15 30 ... 40 ... 15
27. Mission,* Elmhurst.............. E. G. Holls....... G. .... Mo. ... ... ... ... ... ...
28. Grace,* Queens.................. C. Romoser........ E. .... Mo. ... ... ... ... ... ...
29. Gustavus Adolphus, Rich. Hill... .................. S. .... Aug. 10 29 ... 12 ... ...
Totals..... 6,634 14,415 62 6,897 635 370
Richmond
Name and Location Pastor Lang. Org. Syn. Comm. Souls P.S. S.S. R.H. Prop.
1. St. John, Port Richmond......... John C. Borth..... G. E. 1852 Mo. 400 700 ... 175 35 32
2. Evangelical, Stapleton.......... Frederic Sutter... G. E. 1856 Min. 750 2,000 ... 560 (56) 95
3. Zion, Port Richmond............. R. O. Sigmond..... N. 1893 Nor. 160 280 ... 200 (20) 12
4. Our Saviour, Port Richmond...... S. R. Christensen. N. 1893 Nor. 175 283 ... 100 30 5
5. St. Paul, West New Brighton..... Wm. Euchler....... G. E. 1899 Min. 116 (200) 21 70 (7) 17
6. Wasa, Port Richmond............. L. F. Nordstrom... S. 1905 Aug. 75 (120) ... 41 (5) 7
7. German, Tompkinsville........... A. Krause......... G. 1907 Min. 90 (150) 16 50 (5) ...
8. Scandinavian, New Brighton ..... J. C. Hougum...... N. 1908 Nor. 70 (150) ... 45 (9) 7
9. Immanuel, New Springville....... H. A Meyer........ G. E. 1911 Min. 58 (100) ... 36 75 6
10. St. Matthew, Dongan Hills....... Hugo H. Burgdorf.. E. G. 1915 Mo. 54 (137) ... 73 5 1
Totals..... 1,948 4,120 37 1,350 247 182
Recapitulation
Boroughs Comm. Souls P.S. S.S. R.H. Prop.
Manhattan......15,978 41,485 669 7,245 1,580 3,160
Bronx...........5,932 13,241 174 5,360 732 484
Brooklyn.......27,997 67,696 670 21,254 2,517 2,532
Queens .........6,334 14,415 62 6,897 635 370
Richmond....... 1,948 4,120 37 1,350 247 182
Total..........58,494 140,597 1,612 42,106 5,711 6,728
Deaconesses
Manhattan
Christ Church: Sister Regena Bowe, Sister Maude Hafner.
Atonement: Sister Jennie Christ.
St. Paul, Harlem: Sister Rose Dittrich.
St. John, Christopher Street: Sister Louise Moeller.
Brooklyn
St. Matthew: Sister Clara Smyre.
Zion, Norwegian: Sister Marie Olsen.
Trinity, Norwegian: Sister Ingeborg Neff.
Former Pastors [tr. note: the numbers in this section correlate to the
numbers of the congregations in the statistical section, but are not
consecutive in the original]
Manhattan
1. St. Matthew: (Since 1807) F. W. Geissenhainer, Sr., F. C. Schaeffer,
C. F. E. Stohlmann, George Vorberg, Justus Ruperti, J. H. Sieker,
Martin Walker, Otto Ungemach.
2. St. James: F. C. Schaeffer, W. D. Strobel, Charles Martin, J. L.
Schock, A. C. Wedekind, S. A. Ort.
3. St. Paul: F. W. Geissenhainer, Jr., C. Hennicke.
4. Trinity: Theodor Brohm, F. W. Foehlinger, F. Koenig.
5. St. Mark: A. H. M. Held, H. Raegener.
6. St. Luke: Wm. Drees, Wm. Buettner, Wm. Busse.
7. St. John: A. H. M. Held, A. C. Wedekind, J. J. Young.
8. St. Peter: C. Hennicke, E. F. Moldenke.
9. Immanuel: J. C. Renz, L. Halfmann.
10. St. John: F. T. Koerner, L. A. C. Detzer, H. W. Diederich, W. F.
Seeger.
11. St. Paul: Julius Ehrhart, G. H. Tappert, J. A. W. Haas.
12. Gustavus Adolphus: Axel Waetter, Johann Princell, Emil Lindberg.
13. Holy Trinity: G. F. Krotel, C. Armand Miller.
14. Epiphany: D. H. Geissinger, F. F. Buermeyer, J. W. Knapp, F. C.
Clausen.
15. Grace: J. Miller, J. Gruepp, J. A. W. Haas.
16. Trinity: C. R. Tappert.
17. Zion: H. Hebler.
18. Washington Heights: E. A. Tappert.
19. Our Saviour: C. Hovde, P. A. Dietrichson, J. G. Nilson, K. Kvamme.
20. Redeemer: W. F. Schoenfeld, W. Dallmann.
21. Advent: G. F. Krotel, W. M. Horn.
22. Our Saviour: W. H. Feldmann.
23. Finnish: M. Kiyi, J. Haakana.
24. Esthonian: H. Rebane.
25. Polish: C. Mikulski, F. Sattelmeier.
Bronx
4. St. Peter: H. Richter, H. A. Steininger.
6. St. Peter: H. Reumann, O. Rappolt.
8. Bethany: J. F. W. Kitzmeyer, W. Freas.
9. St. Luke: W. Eickmann.
10. St. Paul: J. Heck, G. Bohm, O. H. Restin, W. Proehl.
12. Emmanuel: A. A. King, F. Christ.
13. Trinity: A. V. Andersen.
14. Grace: J. Schiller.
18. St. Thomas: F. J. Baum.
19. Holy Comforter: H. F. Muller.
22. Trinity: O. H. Trinklein.
Brooklyn
1. Evangelical: F. T. Winkelmann, Ludwig Mueller, Hermann Garlichs,
Johannes Bank, Carl F. Haussmann, Theo. H. Dresel.
4. St. Paul: E. H. Buehre, E. J. Schlueter, August Schmidt, A. Schubert,
H. Hennicke, F. T. Koerner, H. D. Wrage, George F. Behringer, H. B.
Strodach, Hugo W. Hoffmann.
5. Zion: F. W. T. Steimle, Chr. Hennicke.
6. St. Matthew: William Hull, Edward J. Koons, Isaac K. Funk, A. S.
Hartman, J. Ilgen Burrell, M. W. Hamma, J. C. Zimmerman, J. A.
Singmaster, T. T. Everett, W. E. Main, A. H. Studebaker.
7. St. Matthaeus: A. Schubert, H. Helfer, G. H. Vosseler.
9. St. Peter: A. Schubert, Philip Zapf, Robert C. Beer, Carl Goehling.
10. St. John: O. E. Kaselitz, Theo. Heischmann.
12. St. Mark: J. F. Flath, G. A. Schmidt, A. E. Frey, J. Frey.
13. St. Luke: J. H. Baden, Wm. Ludwig, C. B. Schuchard.
14. St. Paul: Robert Neumann.
16. Immanuel: F. T. Koerner.
17. Wartburg Chapel: F. W. Richmann, C. A. Graeber, C. H. Loeber, B.
Herbst.
19. Norwegian Seamen's Mission: O. Asperheim, A. Mortensen, C. B.
Hansteen, Kristen K. Saarheim, Jakob K. Bo, Tycho Castberg.
20. St. Matthew: Kuefer, Comby, Steinhauer, Wagner, Graepp, Abele, Frey,
Wuerstlin, Geist, Fritz.
22. Trinity: George Koenig, John Holthusen, Paul Lindemann.
23. St. Paul: H. C. Luehr, Theo. Gross.
25. Bethlehem: Theodor Heischmann.
26. Zion: E. Kraeling, J. Kirsch.
27. St. James: C. F. Dies.
30. Trinity: M. H. Hegge, J. Tanner, P. R. Syrdal, O. E. Eide.
31. Finnish: N. Korhonen.
32. Immanuel: G. Nelsenius, J. O. Cornell.
33. Scandinavian: M. C. Tufts, A. Dietrichson, J. J. Nilson, K. Kvamme,
G. J. Breivik, T. K. Thorvilden, Doeving, Risty.
35. Christ: H. S. Knabenschuh.
36. Salem: L. H. Kjaer, T. Beck, N. H. Nyrop.
37. St. Peter: Emil Isler, R. Herbst, V. Geist.
38. Zion: J. G. Danielson, J. C. Westlund, G. Anderson.
39. Calvary: H. E. Clare, W. H. Hetrick, E. T. Hoshour, E. J. Flanders,
G. Blessin.
40. Reformation: H. P. Miller.
42. Messiah: S. G. Trexler, E. A. Trabert.
43. Our Saviour: J. H. C. Fritz.
44. Incarnation: W. H. Steinbicker, G. J. Miller.
47. Bethlehem: P. Lindemann, A. Halfmann, W. Arndt.
48. Salem: J. G. Danielson, G. Nelsenius.
53. Ascension: J. H. Strenge, E. W. Schaefer, W. H. Steinbicker, E. F.
Stuckert, C. P. Jensen.
55. Zion: J. Ellertsen.
57. Advent: E. E. Hoshour, H. M. Schroeder.
58. Good Shepherd: R. Baehre.
52. Mediator: M. E. Walz.
54. St. Philip: Carl Zinssmeister.
Queens
2. Middle Village: Schnurrer, F. W. Ernst, T. Koerner, G. A. W. Quern.
4. Woodhaven: H. S. Kuever, W. P. Krope, Th. Heischmann, P. Kabis, G. A.
Baetz.
5. Corona: J. H. Berkemeier, E. Brennecke, A. E. Schmitthenner, E.
Zwinger, F. Ruge, H. Eyme, C. Boehner, F. G. Wyneken.
6. Long Island City: W. Schoenfeld, Ad. Sieker.
8. Flushing: A. E. Schmitthenner, R. J. W. Mekler, J, Rathke.
9. Whitestone: F. Kroencke, G. Thomas, H. F. Bunke, W. Koenig, Theo.
Kuhn.
10. Woodside: A. H. Winter, M. T. Holls.
11. Maspeth : August Wuerstlin.
12. Ridgewood : Wm. Pretzsch, P. B. Frey, Arthur Brunn.
16. Woodhaven : E. J. Keuhling.
18. Jamaica: Wm. Popcke, Max Hering.
19. Glendale : John Baur.
17. Hollis: H. M. Schroeder, Carl Yettru, Stephen Traver.
21. South Ozone Park: P. J. Alberthus, J. B. Lau.
20. Catalpa Avenue: G. C. Loos, E. Trafford, J. H. Stelljes.
22. Maspeth: A. H. Meili.
24. Rosedale: W. A. Sadtler.
25. Dunton : Wm. Steinbicker.
Richmond
1. Port Richmond: F. Boehling, H. Roell, C. Hennicke, H. Goehling, M.
Tirmenstein, J. E. Gottlieb, E. F. T. Frincke, J. P. Schoener, H.
Schroeder.
2. Stapleton: C. Hennicke, C. Goehling, R. C. Beer, E. Hering, A.
Kuehne, A. Krause.
3. Port Richmond: H. E. Rue, J. Tolefsen, O. Silseth, O. E. Eide, V. E.
Boe.
Sons of the Churches
Who Have Entered the Lutheran Ministry [tr. note: the numbers in this
section correlate to the numbers of the congregations in the statistical
section, but are not consecutive in the original]
Manhattan
1. St. Matthew: Otto Sieker, Adolf Sieker, Henry Sieker, Christian
Boehning, F. W. Oswald, John Timm, Theophilus Krug, Frederick Sacks,
John Albohm, H. S. Knabenschuh, Wegner, Wm. Schmidt, Ed. Fischer, Wm.
Fischer, R. Heintze.
2. St. James: Edmund Belfour, D.D.
4. Trinity: H. Birkner, F. Koenig, G. Koenig, F. T. Koerner, A.
Kirchhoefer, H. Koenig, H. Voltz, E. Nauss, O. Graesser, C. Hassold, A.
Poppe.
5. St. Mark: J. Schultz, H. C. Meyer, E. Meyer.
6. St. Luke: J. Timm, W. Krumwiede.
7. St. John: E. E. Neudewitz, F. H. Knubel, W. H. Feldmann, J. H. Meyer,
P. M. Young.
8. St. Peter: H. Kuever, A. Stuckert, F. Hoffman, C. E. Moldenke, A. B.
Moldenke.
9. Immanuel: A. Menkens, F. Loose, J. Loose, H. C. Steinhoff, H.
Pottberg, H. Zoller, J. Biehusen, H. Beckmann, E. Beckmann, P. Heckel,
A. Halfmann, J. C. Boschen, P. Woy, H. Hamann.
10. St. John: A. G. Steup, B. Weinlader, G. C. Kaestner, H. F. Bunke, M.
L. Steup, F. J. Boehling, H. Wehrenberg, P. G. Steup, R. B. Steup, H.
Tietjen.
11. St. Paul: H. D. Wacker.
14. Christ: C. E. Weltner, D.D., J. H. Dudde.
21. Redeemer: R. C. Ressmeyer, W. Becker.
22. Our Saviour: H. Gudmundsen, O. Brevik.
Bronx
10. St. Paul: H. W. Siebern.
Brooklyn
3. St. John: O. Werner.
4. St. Paul: J. Koop, H. B. Krusa.
5. Zion: Goedel, A. Steimle, D.D., C. Intemann, O. Mikkelson, E.
Kraeling, Ph.D., H. Kropp.
6. St. Matthew: J. Arnold.
7. St. Matthew: F. Bastel.
8. St. Peter: C. B. Rabbow, F. H. Bosch, F. A. Ravendam, B. Mehrtens.
10. St. John: J. H. Stelljes.
13. St. Luke: E. W. Hammer.
15. Bethlehem: F. N. Swanberg, N. Ebb, A. Ebb, O. Ebb, B. J. Hattin, P.
Froeberg, O. N. Olsen, O. Eckhardt.
19. Seamans: O. Amdalsrud, S. Folkestad, J. Skagen, N. Nielsen.
22. Trinity: H. Hamann, P. Seidler, G. C. Koenig.
23. St. Paul: G. Steinert, W. C. Schrader.
27. St. James; H. A. Meyer, G. J. Schorling.
30. Trinity: J. J. Tadum, A. Nilsen, S. O. Sande, C. Munson, M. Brekke,
N. Fedde.
34. Redeemer: C. Toebke.
35. Christ: C. H. Dort.
40. Reformation: P. Rudh.
Queens
2. Trinity: A. E. Schmitthenner, F. Sutter.
6. Trinity: H. H. Koppelmann, Wm. Knoke, G. Hageman.
11. Trinity: L. Hause.
12. Emmaus: C. Werberig.
Richmond
2. Evangelical: P. E. Weber.
3. Zion: S. Saude, J. Frohlen, O. Alfsen, A. Stansland.
Institutions and Societies
Colleges
Concordia, 1881, Bronxville. Faculty: Professors Heintze,
Heinrichsmeyer, Feth, Stein, Schwoy and Romoser.
Wagner Memorial, 1883, Grymes Hill, Stapleton, Staten Island. Director:
Rev. A. H. Holthusen.
Upsala, 1893, Kenilworth, N. J. Director: Rev. Peter Froeberg, B.D.
Orphans' Homes
Wartburg Farm School, 1864, Mount Vernon.
Bethlehem, 1886, Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island.
Children's Home, 1915, Brooklyn, 45 Third Place.
Homes for the Aged
Wartburg, 1875, Brooklyn, 2598 Fulton Avenue.
Maria Louise Memorial, 1898, Mount Vernon.
Marien-Heim, 1898, Brooklyn, 18th Avenue at 64th Street.
Old People's Home (Norwegian), 112 Pulaski Street.
Swedish Augustana, 1907, Brooklyn, 1680 Sixtieth Street.
Deaconess Motherhouse
Norwegian, 1880, Brooklyn, Fourth Ave. at 46th Street.
Hospitals and Relief Work
Norwegian, 1880, Brooklyn, Fourth Ave. at 46th Street.
Lutheran, 1881, Brooklyn, East New York Ave. at Junius St.
Lutheran of Manhattan, 1911, Convent Ave. at 144th Street.
Lutheran Hospital Association: Twenty congregations of the Missouri
Synod are represented in this Association.
Inner Mission Society, 2040 Fifth Avenue. Missionary: Rev. Ferdinand F.
Buermeyer, D.D.
Inner Mission and Rescue Work, 56 Pine Street, Manhattan. Rev. V. A. M.
Mortensen.
Association for the Relief of Indigent Germans on Blackwell's Island.
German Home for Recreation of Women and Children, 1895, Brooklyn, Harway
Avenue, Gravesend Beach.
Immigrant and Seamen's Missions
Norwegian, 1867, Manhattan, 45 Whitehall St. Pastor Petersen.
Emigrant House, 1869, Manhattan, 147 West Twenty-third Street. Pastor
Haas.
Danish Mission, 1878, Brooklyn, 197 Ninth Street. Pastor Anderson.
Norwegian Seamen, 1879, Brooklyn, 115 Pioneer St. Pastor Ekeland.
Finnish Mission, 1887, Brooklyn, 197 Ninth Street. Pastor Maekinen.
Seamen's Mission, 1907, Hoboken, 64 Hudson Street. Pastor Brueckner.
Swedish Immigrant Home, 1895, Manhattan, 5 Water Street. Pastor
Helander.
Immigrant Society, Inc., 1869, Manhattan, 234 East 62d Street. Pastor
Restin.
Other Associations
Lutheran Education Society of New York. For the promotion of higher
education within the Atlantic and Eastern Districts of the Evangelical
Lutheran Synod of Missouri. Pastor Karl Kretzmann, Secretary.
Manhattan Sunday School Institute, 1908. 15 schools. Enrollment, 495
teachers.
English Lutheran Missionary Society of Brooklyn, 1898. Reports
establishment of 16 churches in Brooklyn and Long Island.
Luther League of New York City. Enrollment, 1,100 members.
American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, 234 East 62d Street.
Lutheran Bureau, Inc., A National Medium for Information and Service.
The Bureau grew out of the celebration of the Reformation
Quadricentennial. Its lines of activity embrace a lecture bureau, a news
service and an information service.
In the last it offers information on the best methods of doing church
work, culling the best experience in the field of service and placing it
at the disposal of anyone desiring it.
In the lecture bureau and the news service it is stimulating Lutherans
to study the problems of the hour and it is creating opportunities for
them to be heard.
The office is located in the Bank of the Metropolis Building, Union
Square, New York. President, George D. Boschen; Treasurer, Theodore H.
Lamprecht; Executive Secretary, O. H. Pannkoke.
National Lutheran Commission for Soldiers' and Sailors' Welfare, 437
Fifth Avenue, New York. Chairman, Rev. Frederick H. Knubel, D.D.
Periodicals
Der Lutherische Herold, founded in 1852, by Henry Ludwig.
Der Sonntagsgast, founded 1872. Editor: Pastor Wenner.
The New York Lutheran, founded 1903. Editor: Pastor Brunn.
Der Deutsche Lutheraner, founded 1909. Continuation of Der Lutherische
Herold. Editor: Pastor Berkemeier.
The Luther League Review. Editor, E. F. Eilert.
The American Lutheran. Editor: Pastor Lindemann.
Inner Missions. Inner Mission Society.
Bookstores
Lutheran Publication Society, 150 Nassau Street.
Ernst Kaufmann, 22 North William Street.
Augustana Book Concern, 132 Nassau Street.
Bibliography *
*_Many of the books to which reference is here made may be found in
the Public Library of New York. Others are obtainable in college and
seminary libraries_.
_Morris_, Bibliotheca Lutherana.
_Jacobs and Haas_, Lutheran Cyclopedia.
Distinctive Doctrines and Usages of the Lutheran Church.
_Neve_, Die wichtigsten Unterscheidungsmerkmale der lutherischen Synoden
Amerikas.
_Richard_, Confessional History of the Lutheran Church.
_Schmauk_ and _Benze_, The Confessional Principle and the Confessions of
the Lutheran Church.
_Kolde_, Historische Einleitung in die Symbolische Buecher.
_Krauth_, The Conservative Reformation.
_Stahl_, Die lutherische Kirche und die Union.
Book of Concord. In German and Latin: _Mueller_. In English: _Jacobs_.
_Walther_, Amerikanisch-Lutherische Pastoral Theologie.
_Rohnert_, Dogmatik.
_Gerberding_, The Way of Salvation.
_Remensnyder_, The Lutheran Manual.
Ecclesiastical Records State of New York.
(Hallesche) Nachrichten.
Colonial Documents of New York.
Brodhead, History of New Netherland.
O'Callaghan, Documentary History of the State of New York.
Memorial Volume of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of Hartwick Seminard,
[sic] held August 21, 1866. Albany, 1867.
_Lamb_, History of the City of New York.
_Booth_, History of the City of New York.
_Greenleaf_, History of the Churches of New York.
_Graebner_, Geschichte der Lutherischen Kirche in America.
_Haeberle_, Auswanderung der Pfaelzer im 18. Jahrhundert.
Kaiserslautern, 1909.
_Eichhorn_, In der neuen Heimath.
_Kapp_, Geschichte der Deutschen im Staate New York.
_Gotwald_, The Teutonic Factor in American History. (Lutheran Church
Review, 1902.)
_Graebner_, Half a Century of Sound Lutheranism in America.
_Nicum_, Geschichte des New York Ministeriums.
_Lenker_, Lutherans in All Lands.
_Jacobs_, A History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United
States.
_Schmucker, B. M._, The Lutheran Church in New York during the First
Century of its History. (Lutheran Church Review, 1884-1885.)
_Francis_, Old New York.
_Disosway_, Earliest Churches of New York.
_Sachse_: Justus Falckner.
_Mann_: H. M. Muehlenberg.
_Roesener_: Johann Heinrich Sieker.
_Sprague_: Annals of the American Lutheran Pulpit.
_Bendixen_: Bilder aus der letzten religioesen Erweckung in
Deutschland. Leipzig, 1897.
_Schaefer_: Wilhelm Loehe. (Also other lives of Loehe).
_Baur_: Geschichts-und Lebensbilder aus der Erneuerung des
religioesen Lebins in den deutschen Befreiungskriegen.
_Stevenson_: Praying and Working.
(_Rocholl_): Einsame Wege.
_Wichern_, Die innere Mission.
_Ohl_, The Inner Mission.
_Kretzmann_, Oldest Lutheran Church in America.
(_Clarkson_), Church of Zion and St. Timothy.
(_Young_), St. John's Church in Christopher Street.
_Kraeling_, Unser Zion (Brooklyn), 1905.
(_Merkel_), Dreieinigkeits-Gemeinde, Long Island City.
_Kandelhart_, Bethlehems-Gemeinde, Brooklyn, 1913.
_Beyer_, St. Johannes-Gemeinde, Brooklyn, 1894.
_Borth_, St. Johannes-Gemeinde, Port Richmond, 1902.
Jubilee of the Church of St. James, 1877.
Geschichte der Kirche zu St. Markus, 1897. (Manh.)
Zum Fuenfzigjaehrigem Jubilaeum der St. Lukas Gemeinde, 1900. (Manh.)
Zum Goldenen Jubilaeum. (St. Peter's Church, Manhattan), 1912.
Geschichtliche Skizze zum Goldenen Jubilaeum der Immanuelskirche zu
Yorkville, 1913.
_Steup_, Geschichtliche Skizze der St. Johannes-Gemeinde zu Harlem, New
York, 1889.
(_Peterson_), Zum Goldenen Jubilaeum, Dreieinigkeits-Gemeinde, Middle
Village, 1913.
Statistisches Jahrbuch. (Missouri Synod).
Lutheran Church Year Book.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac.
Federation. New York Federation of Churches.
Charities Directory. Charity Organization Society.
Index
"Achtundvierziger" .....35
Arensius ...............39
Athens .................99
Baptismal Regeneration..101
Berkemeier, G. C........40
Berkemeier, W. H........39
Berkenmeyer.............9
Book of Concord.........XI, 41
Brohm, Pastor...........34
"Buffalonians"..........33
Catechization ..........109
Concordia College.......61
Confirmation............98
Cox, Dr. S. H...........20
Church Bookkeeping......124
Church Defined..........94
Deaconesses.............52
Dutch Language..........80
Ehrhardt, Julius........65
Embury, Philip..........22
English Language........83
Episcopalians...........25
Ericsson, Captain John..44
Fabritius...............3
Falckner................5
Francis, Dr.............20
Geissenhainer, Sr.......26
Geissenhainer, Jr.......27, 64
German Language.........81
Goedel, Jacob...........42
Grabau, Pastor..........31
Gutwasser...............3
Hartwick Seminary.......62
Hartwig.................21
Hausihl.................13
Heck, Barbara...........22
Held, A. H. M...........64
Hessians................14
High German.............84
Holls, G. C.............40
Hospice.................62
Inner Mission...........120
Inner Mission Society...62
Jewish Schools..........111
Jogues..................1
Justification by Faith..XIV, XV
Knoll...................10
Kocherthal..............6
Koinonia................51
Krotel..................65
Kunze...................16
Kurtz, Dr. B............32
Laidlaw.................56
London..................79
Loonenburg..............9
Louis the Fourteenth....6
Lutheran Society........62
Lutheranism.............VIII
Luther League...........51
Manhattan...............61
Martin Luther Society...50
Mayer, P. and F.........21
Means of Grace..........XVI
Meldenius, Rupertus.....IV
Methodists..............23
Metropolitan District...76
Merger..................78
Miller, C. Armand.......66
Ministers' Association..58
"Missourians"...........33
Moldenke................65
Moller, Peter...........39
Muehlenberg, F..........12
Muehlenberg, H. M.......11
Muehlenberg, P..........6
Muhlenberg, W. A........7
Neumann, R..............38
Norwegians..............45
Oertel, Maximilian......31
Old Swamp Church........12
Palatines...............6
Parochial School........107
Passavant...............39
Pennsylvania Dutch......87
Person of Christ........XIV
Platt Deutsch...........82
Prussia, King of........32
Psalmodia Germanica.....12
Public Library..........125
Russian Lutherans.......114
Rhinebeck...............18
Rudmann, A..............5
Scandinavians...........47
Schaeffer, F. C.........26
Schieren, Chas. A.......57
Sieker, J. H............65
Steimle Synod...........41
St. Stephen's Church....25
St. James' Church.......27
St. Matthew's Church....26
Stohlmann...............37, 64
Strebeck................18
Sunday School...........106
Swedes..................41
Trinity Church..........9
Upsala College..........61
Vorleezers..............8
Wagner College..........61
Week-Day Instruction....110
Wedekind................64
Weiser..................6
Weltner.................67
Wesley, John............23
Weygand.................12
Williston...............25
Winkeltaufe.............100
Young, J. J.............66
Zenger, Peter...........7
Zion Church.............18
Printed by
MANGER, HUGHES & MANGER
New York
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