w - -^ FEB 13 )o!(j 1 .MSD2 JK» FEB 13 ]( Reviews of the Work of the Missouri Synod during Three Quarters of a Century. Edited by W. M. T. DAU. St. Louis, Mo. concordia publishing house. 1922. PREFACE. A publication of the kind that is herewith submitted to the Church — being a collection of essays by various authors on the same general theme, and having been written, moreover, by men who are personally related, in a most intimate manner, to the matter which they dis- cuss — is open to a twofold charge which, if true, would considerably reduce its value as an instrument of informa- tion and edification. On the one hand, the variety that is observable in the manner in which cognate subjects are here presented by different students of the same events and situations, might seem to involve the publication in contradictions, and thus defeat its very purpose of telling a true story in a straightforward manner. However, the careful reader will find that this danger has been avoided by the authors that have made contributions to this com- memorative volume. The specific subdivision of the gen- eral theme on which each author has written has, as a matter of course, fixed for him a distinct point of view and a peculiar objective. A mere allusion to some per- sonage or occurrence in one essay may be elaborated with greater detail in another. But the grand effect of the whole book will be one of general harmony in spite of apparent diversity and individuality. Variety in testi- mony does not defeat, but enrich, the testimony. On the other hand, the book may be said to lack ob- jectivity. This criticism might be met by raising the questions: What is objectivity? and: Is there any in- IV PREFACE. stance in human affairs of absolute objectivity? There are situations when the charge of bias and prejudice is the cheapest and shallowest charge that can be raised against an author. No autobiography, no report of an eye- and ear-witness, no account which children give of the character and activities of their parents, could escape the charge of unreliability, because of the narrator's self- interest in the subject of his tale. And yet, we love to hear a man tell an honest tale about himself, and to obtain first- hand information, we turn to persons who were directly connected with the events on which they are asked to speak. Men are liable to err; still we readily accept their statements as long as we are convinced that they are willing to tell the truth, and are making earnest efforts not to varnish their accounts. The only essential requirement for a publication of this kind is that the spirit of self-glorification, especially at the expense of others, should be ruled out from its pages. This has scrupulously been done by every con- tributor. Whatever there has been embodied in this book of a derogatory or of a eulogistic nature was plainly prompted by the facts which the author was handling, and by his duty of confessorship, to mark error whenever he meets with it, and to acknowledge truth and right wherever these appear. As a tribute of gratitude to the guiding and sustain- ing power of the sovereign grace that rules the Church of Christ, and as a witness to the claims which Evangelical Lutheran teaching in its pure, confessional form still has on the attention of all believers, this volume was conceived and executed. It tells of the work of fearless men, who were not afraid to profess what was in their day, and to a great extent still is, an unpopular type of religion. PREFACE. It tells of noble sacrifices, made in behalf of a great and good cause. It tells of a mission clearly perceived, per- sistently carried on, and signally blessed by God through three-quarters of a century. Not to tell the tale which these essays have attempted would have argued lack of recognition and stolid indifference to genuine merit, lack of proper self-respect under the grace that made M is- sourians what they are, and lack of thankfulness for the great blessings received by them. Special thanks are due to Prof . John H.C.Fritz, who read several manuscripts during the editor's absence in Europe; also to Mr. Theodore Lange, who loaned us four cuts for this publication. May the Lord bless the mission of these commemora- tive essays to all the readers as He has already blessed the writers, editors, and publishers who labored and coop- erated in the production of this volume, solely for the glory of their Lord and Master Jesus Christ and His matchless Gospel of righteousness and peace with God through His atoning life and death. W. H. T. Dau. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PACK The Saxon Immigrants of 1831). (Prof. Th. Buenger. ) 1 Dr. C. F. W. Walther. ( Rev. J. A. Friedrich. ) 21 "Der Lutheraner" from 1844 to 1847. (Rev. H. Birkner.) 41 F. C. D. Wyneken. ( Rev. J. W. Theiss. ) 52 Dr. William Sihler. ( Rev. W. Broecker. ) 65 The Loehe Foundations. (Prof. Th. Graebner.) 78 The Organization of the Missouri Synod. (Rev. H. Kowert. i !)4 Why Missouri Stood Alone. (Prof. Th. Engelder.) 110 The Missouri Synod and the Buffalo Synod. (Rev. A. Both. ) 124 The Doctrine of the Church and the Ministry. (Rev. D. H. Steffens. ) 140 Missouri and Iowa. (Prof. J. H. C. Fritz. ) 160 The Missouri Synod in the East and Southeast. (Rev. H. B. Hemmeter, D. D. ) 173 The Missouri Synod and Its Parochial School System. (1847—1922.) (Prof. E.A. W.Krauss, D. D.) 20S The Development of Higher Education in the Missouri Synod. (Dr. P. E. Kretzmann.) 220 College and Seminary Life in the Olden Days. (Dr. E. G. Sihler.) 247 The Missouri Synod and the Norwegians. (Dr. S. C.Ylvisaker. i 204 Preaching in the Missouri Synod. (Prof. G. Mezger. ) 277 Publication Activity of the Missouri Synod. (Mr. E. Seuel. | 289 The Jubilee in 1872. (Rev. M. Walker. ) 306 The Organization of the Synodical Conference. (Prof. A. W. Meyer. ) 321 The Opening Up of the Great Northwest. (Dr. F. Pfoten- hauer. ) 332 The March toward the Pacific Coast. (Rev. E. Eckhardt. ) .. 347 The Missouri Synod in the South and Southwest. (Rev. J. W. Behnken. ) 365 The Home Mission Work of Synod. (Rev. F. Weidmann. ) .. 377 The Evangelization of the Heathen. (Rev. R. Kretzschmar. ) . 391 The Predestinarian Controversy (Prof. J. T. Mueller.) 400 VIII TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE The English Work of the Missouri Synod. (Rev. W. Dall- mann. ) 422 The Young People in the Missouri Synod. (Rev. W. Maier.) 430 1839. Concordia. 1889. (Prof. Th. Graebner.) 440 The Charitable Activities of the Missouri Synod. (Rev. F. W. Herzberger. ) 446 Publicity Work in the Missouri Synod. (Rev. P. Lindemann.) 456 Our Transoceanic Connections. (Rev. A. Brunn. ) 466 Synodical Conventions and Pastoral Conferences in the Mis- souri Synod. (Rev. W. Czamanske. ) 481 The Pastors of the Missouri Synod. (Dr. C. C. Schmidt.) ... 491 Scenes from the Life and Work of our Teachers. (R. A. Mangelsdorf . ) 505 Congregational and Home Life in the Missouri Synod. (Prof. M. S. Sommer. ) 518 At the Milestone. (Prof. W. H. T. Dau. ) 530 •'.."..•-..".-••-.•'..' '. The Saxon Immigrants of 1839. Prof. Theo. Buenger, St. Paul, Minn. In the second quarter of the nineteenth century a flood of immigrants from the British Isles and Germany began to pour into the United States. Before the close of the century millions had settled in the States east of the Mississippi and the States of the Louisiana Purchase, of which St. Louis was the emporium and base from which immigration radiated. These settlements, together with the tidal wave of newcomers from Southern and Eastern Europe, who were swept to our hospitable shores in the first fifteen years of the twentieth century, mark the greatest migrations in the history of the world. The most remarkable characteristic of this rearrange- ment of world population is that the immigrants left their former habitations, moved, not by national or group impulses, but on the initiative and decision of the individual. Only in a few instances do Ave find a relatively small body of men organized for this purpose. One of the bands united for emigration by the same motives and purposes were the Saxon immigrants who came to Missouri during January and February of 1839, under the leadership of Pastor Martin Stephan. With two later ad- ditions they comprised a total of not quite 1,000 persons. These 1,000 immigrants must be considered the most im- portant group among the 68,069 new arrivals of that year, and their settlement one of very much consequence for our country. The church-body that was later formed by them, their doctrinal position, their congregational church govern- ment, their principles of Christian life and morality, their patriotism for conscience' sake, still exert an influence upon more than a million of people in the United States. EBENEZBK. 1 2 THE SAXON IMMIGRANTS OF 1839. This noble band came to America not to gain more of this world's goods than they were able to acquire in the land of their birth, but to seek freedom of conscience; they did not come as hunters of fortune, but because "they desired a better country, that is, a heavenly one." Many gave up advantages that they could not hope to find here and severed connections that were dear to their hearts. The majority Rev. Otto Herman Walther. emigrated in the conviction that, if they remained at home, they would lose something greater and more valuable than anything that fatherland, prosperity, and a happy family life could offer. Pure doctrine, the teachings of Scripture and, in con- formity with it, those of the Confessions of the Lutheran Church, was as little in favor in Germany at the beginning of the last century as it is now. Most leaders of thought and of the church government were rank infidels, or at least THE SAXON IMMIGRANTS OF 1839. 3 tolerated any outgrowth of rationalism, and slighted and vexed those who believed the Word of God literally. Their conception of the essentials of Christianity was expressed in the words: "You must endeavor to walk the path of virtue, then the Most High will reward you with a crown of honor." It is related that some ministers of the Gospel refused to use the name "Jesus," and only employed the designation Prof. C. F. W. Walther. From a photograph taken in 1857. "Nazarene." We know that some ministers in Prussia were imprisoned on account of their frank confession of the Lu- theran doctrine and insistence on church discipline. In Saxony matters were not much better. No orthodox pastor or candidate of theology could expect to receive an appoint- ment to one of the charges under the consistories of the king- dom or duchies. Only by the favor of some local patrons of parishes who were sincere Christians might they hope to enter the ministry. And then they were apt to be called to account 4 * THE SAXON IMMIGRANTS OF 1839. and fined by the civil magistrates because of the administra- tion of their sacred office according to the Word of God. At this time of low ebb of Christian life and teaching there were some few small centers, for example, in the valley of the Wupper in Prussia, in Hannover around Harms, and in Switzerland, where faithful and conscientious men kept alive the old faith. But no group exerted a greater influence upon the history of the Church than the true confessors in Saxony, especially those in the valley of the Mulde and in the duchy of Altenburg. At the close of the second decade of the last century we find Otto Hermann Walther, Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther, Theodor Julius Brohm, Ottomar Fuerbringer, and Johann Friedrich Bucnger studying theology at the Uni- versity of Leipzig. They loathed the rationalism and cyni- cism of some of their professors of renown as much as the riotous and frivolous student life. One man, however, Can- didate of Theology Kuehn, was their leader to Christ. At some previous time he had already shown another Leipzig student, Ernst Gerhard Wilhelm Keyl, what constitutes true religion. Count Detlev von Einsiedel had given Keyl an appointment to the large parish of Niederfrohna. Keyl's sermons and personal influence on his parishioners caused quite an awakening of spiritual life in his congregation and the entire neighborhood. Persons thirsting for tlfe pure waters of life came great distances to hear his Sunday ser- mons, or they corresponded with him. Our five Leipzig stu- dents also repeatedly made the pilgrimage of some thirty miles to Keyl's church. C. F. W. Walther says that he had never been so impressed by a preacher as he was by Keyl. Sometimes it seemed during the preaching as if the whole crowded church were flooded with tears. Count von Einsiedel made another appointment to the parish next to Keyl's, Lunzenau; first he entrusted this charge to Kuehn; after Kuehn's death, to Ernst Moritz Buerger, another friend of Keyl. Two other men living in the duchy of Altenburg must be mentioned: C. F. Gruber, in Reust, an intimate friend of THE SAXON [MMIGBANTS OF L839. Rev. Theodore Brohm, Sr. Rev. Ottomar Fuerbringer. Rev. J. F. Buenger. Rev. E. G. W. Keyl. 6 THE SAXON IMMIGRANTS OF 1839. Keyl since his university days, and Gotthold Heinrich Loeber, the oldest of our group. Through his wife (nee Zahn) Loeber came in close touch with the revival movement in Switzer- land under Anna Schlatter. He was in sympathy and kept in touch with Harms in Hannover, and with those in the valley of the Wupper. When he issued a book on the Augs- burg Confession for its tercentenary, the Kirchenzeitung in Berlin remarked : "A voice of life also from Altenburg, where otherwise spiritual death reigns supreme!" As he had been tutor for five years, he con- tinued to be interested in edu- cational endeavors after his appointment in 1824 to the Loeber manor in Eichenberg, of which his oldest brother, Gottwert Friedemann Loeber, a lawyer, was the patron. He invited Ottomar Fuerbringer, who was of the same mind with him in matters of faith, to be tutor of the boarding- school conducted in the par- sonage. Fuerbringer stayed in Loeber's house until they emigrated and also was with him some time in America. Educational interests brought also the younger Walther to Loeber. Attorney Loeber asked Walther to be tutor of his sons and nephews in Kahla (1834 — 1836). This was the beginning of an intimate friendship between Loeber and Walther. In 1836 Walther was called to Braeunsdorf, near Keyl's charge, by Count von Einsiedel, while his brother Otto Hermann was copastor with his father in Langenchursdorf. Brohm was in Dresden without a charge, and Buenger was tutoring in his home after the death of his father, who had been pastor at Etzdorf, near Rosswein. There was still another preacher of righteousness, who Loeber. THE SAXON IMMIGRANTS OF IS!',!!. 7 was more in the eyes of the public than the pastors named: Martin Stephan (1777 — 1847), pastor of the Bohemian con- gregation at St. John's in Dresden. "He indeed preached the Gospel, having experienced its power in his own soul." To him flocked those who desired comfort and advice. He was a man of exceptional talents, captivating address, and great psychological insight. He knew the truth, and in calm and deliberate sermons won the hearts of the educated and the uneducated by the perspicuity and directness of his pres- entation. With this man the Walthers, Keyl, Buerger, Gru- ber, Loeber, Buenger, Brohm, and Fuerbringer kept in con- tact through correspondence and conversation. But they did not follow him blindly, nor did they adopt his views rashly. We know that Keyl had quite an argument with Stephan on the doctrine regarding civil government, and that Walther, before opening a certain letter from Stephan, prayed to God to guard him against accepting false advice. They also knew of the many insinuations made against him. However, they saw that his doctrinal position was sound, that his spiritual advice had been proved true when the advice of others had failed, and that his judgment of the times, its conditions and tendencies, and of the state of the Church in Germany was beyond cavil. Accordingly, when Stephan suggested emigration to a land of freedom, he found these men willing to consider the prop- osition for their own persons and families, and to commend it also to those entrusted to their care. Other persons joined in the undertaking, such as the candidates of theology Wetzel, Kluegel, Geyer, Schieferdecker, Goenner, Wege, M. A., also Gempp, M. D., Vehse, LL. D., Marbach, LL. D., besides Fischer and Boehlau, well-to-do merchants, and many others. Soon there were over 700 people ready to emigrate for con- science' sake: 240 from Dresden, 31 from Leipzig, 109 from Keyl's parish, 84 from Buerger's, 108 from Loeber's, 48 from Gruber's, 16 from O. H. Walther's, and 19 from C. F. W. Walther's parish. Stephan had at one time thought of going to Australia. 3 THE SAXON IMMIGRANTS OF 1839. Later he "became convinced that it would not be prudent nor proper to 'place himself in the hands of Englishmen at their discretion, as so many inexperienced were doing." He con- ferred with Dr. Benjamin Kurz of Philadelphia, when the latter was on a visit in Europe, and later corresponded with him. At one time emigration to Michigan was spoken of, but a book of Duden about the great West had some influence in bringing about a decision for St. Louis as the center from which the final settlement was to be made. A good idea of the spirit of these emigrants and their de- liberate procedure can be gained from their Brief Sketch of Emigration Regulations: — "§ 1. Confession of Faith. "All the undersigned acknowledge with sincerity of heart the pure Lutheran faith as contained in the Word of God, the Old and New Testaments, and set forth and confessed in the symbolical books of the Lutheran Church. . . . "§ 2. Emigration — Its Cause, Purpose, and Intent. "After deliberate and mature counsel they can, humanly speaking, see no possibility of retaining in their present home this faith pure and undefiled, of confessing it, and trans- mitting it to their posterity. Hence they feel in duty bound to emigrate, and to look for a country where this Lutheran faith is not endangered, and where they can serve God un- disturbed in the way of grace revealed and ordained by Him, and where they can enjoy, without being interfered with, fully, without adulteration, the means of grace ordained by God for all men unto salvation, and can preserve them in their integrity and pureness for themselves and their chil- dren. . . . Such a country as they are looking for is the United States of North America; for there as nowhere else in the world perfect religious and civil liberty prevails, and strong and effective protection is given against foreign countries. THE SAXON [M MIGRANTS OH 1839. <) "§ 4. Place of Settlement. ''The place of settlement in the United States of North America should be selected in one of the Western States, namely, in Missouri, Illinois, or Indiana. "§ 5. Route. "The city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, situated in the center of these States and being their emporium, is the immediate goal of the voyage. . . . The port of embarka- tion in Europe should be Hamburg or Bremen, and of dis- embarkation, in the United States of North America, New Orleans. From there the trip should be made by river up the Mississippi to the first goal, St. Louis. "§ 11. Free Will in Joining. "The undersigned declare . . . that each one of them has had perfect freedom of decision either to go along or stay at home; that no one has put constraint on the other, but that one has enjoined upon the other as a duty to ponder this matter often and fully, and to consider carefully the diffi- culties that might arise; and that each and every one has made his decision in perfect free will and after due consid- eration, advisedly and without rashness. . . ." Although a special proviso was inserted in this document against communism, a common treasury was provided for, called Kredithasse. Moneys were paid into this treasury to help defray the transportation of the poor, to buy a tract of land, and to pay for the building of a church and school. But all contributions were made voluntarily, as loans. Deposits to the amount of 123,987 talers were made into this treasury. The records are still preserved. More than seven hundred persons came to St. Louis with this company. But they received two accessions. One was under the leadership of Maximilian Oertel. These, 95 in number, were from Prussia; they had landed in New York, and joined the Saxons in the spring of 1839, while C. F. Gruber, from Beust, and J. F. Buenger came in December with 141 stragglers from Altenburg. 10 THE SAXON IMMIGRANTS OF 1830. :M fe ■5 i i. i .2 ~ to rd ai ' n1 --hi ^ x^i^S ^ K^ ^ THE SAXON IMMIGRANTS 01 L839. 11 The following is a table of the five chartered ships which left Bremen, together with other information : — Name of Ship Leaders Departure from Bremen Arrival at New Orleans Arrival at St. Louis -ippi Steamer Coper- nicus E. M. Buerger Nov. 3, 1838 Dec. 31, 1838 Jan. 18, 1839 /.'<< n-.i Johann Georg E.G.W.Keyl C.F.W.Walther Nov. 3, 1838 •Tan. 5, 1839 Feb. 9, 1839 1 Republic G. H. Loeber 0. Fuerbringer Nov. 12, 1838 Jan. 12, 1839 Jan. 30, 1839 Knicker- bocker Olbers M. Stephan O.H.Walther T.Brohm,Vehse Marbach Nov. 18, 1838 Jan. 20, 1839 Feb. 19, 1839 Selma Amalia Two Candi- dates Wetzel A Teacher (50 passengers) Nov. 18, 1838 Lost at sea There are some letters of Loeber extant l) that have not been printed in our publications. I ought to cite them in full, but want of space prevents me from giving more than a few extracts. Describing the journey across the ocean, Loeber writes from New Orleans on January 15, 1839, to his brother and friends : — "So it is really a fact that we are parted by the great dis- tance of more than 1,500 [German] miles, and that by the grace of Almighty God we arrived not only alive, but happy and in good health. We sailed from Bremerhaven Novem- ber 12, and, after several weeks of shifting winds and a mod- erate storm, escaped from the dangers of the Channel more 1) See Mitteilungen des Verems fuer Geschichts- und Alt* tumskunde zu Kahla und Roda. Kahla 1912, pp. 125 — 191. 12 THE SAXON IMMIGRANTS OF 1839. quickly than we had expected. Having been carried past the English and the Portuguese coasts without seeing them, we were brought across the great sea as on the wings of an eagle. "It was remarkable that we had some twenty degrees of heat [80 F.] on and before the blessed Christmas Day, as we were passing the tropics just at that time. On the las't day of the year we sighted the first land, the mountains of San Domingo, and a few days later we saw the mountains, woods, and some houses of the larger and fertile Cuba. On Janu- ary C the son of the brickmaker Mueller of Planena died. He had taken a cold and had been ailing three weeks. We sank his body into the Gulf of Mexico, in joyful confidence that he had died in peace and that the sea would be commanded to return this dead body also. On January 11 a pilot (the first American we met) came aboard to guide us to the entrance of the Mississippi ; then the steamer Houdson" (thus spelled by Loeber) "caught up and towed us and four other large vessels up the Mississippi, arriving in New Orleans in 25 hours, January 12, 8 p. m. The immense array of vessels that are in port here, the large number of steamers that noisily puff to and fro, the colossal warehouses and number- less streets of this city, still more, the bustling crowds of black and white men that one sees, the abundance of various fruits that are offered for sale, — all this is a spectacle for the eye, but the heart must be filled with sadness and pain at sight of the misery of the unhappy slaves and the vulgar behavior of those visiting in this strange land. The un- healthy, waste, unoccupied neighborhood" (where the vessel was docked), "that was veiled in fog' and rain for two days, made us and our captain desire to start again soon; for this purpose the steamer Knickerbocker was finally engaged. It will carry us up the river to-morrow, if it is still free from ice, and bring us to St. Louis in ten to fourteen days." The steamer was chartered for 1,400 Spanish dollars. The inhabitants, especially the German element, of St. Louis, a frontier city of not quite 20,000, welcomed the Saxons. An effort was made to keep them all in St. Louis or its immediate vicinity. But the immigrants made the mis- THE SAXON [MMIGRANTS OF 1839. 13 take of not accepting a favorable offer of a scenic and fertile tract of land on the banks of the Mcramec, consisting of 15,000 acres. This belonged to the old French family of the Gratiots. The immigrants could have fixed their own terms as to payments, and would have had the good markel of St. Louis for their farm products within fifteen miles. In- stead of this 4,400 acres were bought for $10,000 in Perry Co., a hundred miles down the Mississippi. To this place most of the settlers moved in the spring. Some professional men, artisans, merchants, and laborers stayed in St. Louis with O. H. Walther as their pastor, and founded Trinity Congregation with 120 voting members. Within five years they owned their own church, with a seat- ing capacity of a thousand, and school. This congregation became the parent of many a Lutheran congregation in St. Louis. Those that went to Perry Co. were not spared the ex- perience of all new settlements: malaria, great disappoint- ments, poverty, and very hard pioneer work. They formed at first five congregations, some of which very soon united with each other. But in the very first year they passed through a fire of purging. As to the doctrine of the Church, its government and organization, they had been led wrong paths, and this caused anguish of mind and discussions of far-reaching consequence. After Stephan was no more with them, the jurists Vchse and Marbach and other leading men. before deserting the band of immigrants and returning to Saxony, had protested against the pastors, and in their at- tacks had gone to extremes. Nevertheless they had pointed out from Luther's writings and those of Lutheran theologians many important principles in their Protestationsschrift of Sep- tember 19, 1839, addressed to Loeber, Keyl, Buerger, and the Walther brothers (Cruber had not arrived yet). No issues in which right and wrong was to be decided, and that concerned the Word of God were left clouded and unsettled at this time. All offense given was confessed in a manly and sincere manner and deprecated in private conversation with the im- migrants and in published statements in the St. Louis papers. 14 THE SAXON IMMIGKANTS OF 1839. THE SAXON IMMIGRANTS OK L839. 15 At this time the younger Walther took the lead. In the confusion of ideas regarding the authority of the ministerial office, church government, and the validity of a call to the ministry, Walther laid down the right principles in a mem- orable debate with Dr. Marbach. They are the same prin- ciples we know from his later books, Kir die und Amt and Redite Gestalt, the principles in accordance with which the Missouri Synod was organized a few years later, and thou- sands of congregations were founded, — the principles that have put into practise the truths of the Bible as never before. Next to the preaching of the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ, these very teachings are one of the greatest benefits bestowed by this group of immigrants upon our country; they are the key to the understanding of the Missouri Synod's growth. The religious liberty of this country was the necessary pre- requisite of an undisturbed development of the Church along these lines. German critics missed the mark sadly when they offered warnings like the following of Pfarrer Wilhelm Loehe of Bavaria. He writes {Die hirdilidie Lage, etc.; Noerd- lingen, 1850, p. 104 f.) : "1 honor and love the dear brethren [of the Missouri Synod], but must admit that they often seem to emphasize, in a way fraught with danger, the prin- ciples of Luther in regard to the rights of the congregations, in that they not only publish words of Luther really not written for American conditions, but also their own ideas, which cannot foster the love of liberty in a Christian, but the American desire and hankering after license I must confess that on reading the minutes of their Synod, — de- liberations that pleased me in many ways, — I was often overcome with sadness by observing how much the influence of the congregations made itself felt. I fear that, basing his work on many an expression of Luther, a rogue may some day write a devilish tract: 'Luther a Democrat.' Likewise there is danger that many words and proceedings of the dear brethren in Missouri, Ohio, and Other States will give cause for suspicion that they are infected with the democratic spirit of America in regard to constitutional questions in the Church. Graubau may err in the other extreme, . . . but 1(3 THE SAXON IMMIGRANTS OF 1839. the error that natters the American citizen's love of liberty is of greater and more pernicious consequence." But we must return to the letters of one of the men them- selves. On September 10 Pastor Loeber2) writes: "Although, for our purification and cleansing, we have been led by God's hand through many afflictions, namely, sad experiences of tares in the congregation, diseases, deaths, and the loss of the Amalia, which is now established beyond doubt, I do repeat that we are not despairing of the good cause of the Lutheran Church, whose confessional standpoint has certainly been de- fended by Stephan, nor that the emigration was necessary and beneficial; and least of all of the wise, gracious, and remarkable guidance of our God. This does not hold true, I admit, of all members of our church ; for some have indeed separated themselves from us, some have become suspicious and stubborn, some plainly show that they were converted to Stephan more than to the living God, and therefore do not stand the test now. But thanks be to God, a large number are walking the way of life so much more steadily and with greater cheerfulness and fervor. . . . "We are now divided into five congregations, whose five clergymen form a joint ministry. The older Walther serves the congregation that remained in St. Louis, and is permitted 2) In Dr. Vchse's book, giving an account of this emigration, we find these words: "All who have known Loeber in Germany will agree with me that lie was one of the most excellent per- sonalities. In Altenbnrg, his fatherland, he enjoyed universal respect. All slander was quieted when one observed his official and his family life. In America he won the hearts of everybody, not only those of our company. His features and his figure wore very much like those of St. John in the famous painting of Duerer. His dignified carriage, his soft and lovely voice, his entirely un- assuming conduct charmed everybody. I cannot think of his ser- mons without grateful emotions. Never will I forget the one that he preached in the auditorium of Christ Church, St. Louis, on Second Easter Lay, from the text, 'Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?'" When Loeber read these words, lie wrote: "This doubtful praise given to me unduly must hurt other persons, and could not please me." THE SAXON [MMIGBANTS OF L839. 17 to have its services in the Episcopal church. TIm' younger Walther labors in the congregation at Dresden; the emi- grants from Berlin" (those that were led by Oertel), 'living one mile away, also belong- to Walther's congregation. In the territory of Dresden are several Bhacks which were built in the beginning of our settlement here. In one of these the three married ministers with their families ' are living in close quarters, but without being in each other's way. Wal- ther, together with Candidate Fuerbringer, lives with those from Berlin. Opposite our house many families live together in a much larger shack of flimsy build (called camp). In this camp we also have our common services and give the most necessary schooling, until our almost completed col- lege . . . and the church and school of each congregation are ready. "Several of my Altenburg people have built their homes in neighboring congregations, therefore they live at a con- siderable distance. Unaccustomed and unexpected problems and questions are to be solved that often are beyond my ability and strength. In our congregation men use their own judgment; they know fairly well what constitutes a proper evangelical sermon. Still time and place are not adapted to regular meditation. An important and very pleasant task for me was the instruction of sixteen adults of the Beformed con- fession. Being the senior of the clergy, I received them into the Lutheran Church by confirmation on Dom. XIV. p. Trim, in the presence of my colleagues and the congregation. This was a solemn act, the like of which the Lutheran Church has seen but rarely in the last centuries. Some Catholics were also among those received. . . . "Do not worry on our account because of Indians, wild beasts, and Mexican soldiers ; so far all these things did not come near us." From letters of his sister Christiana we glean bits of in- formation about living conditions during this first year in the settlement. She whites to her brother Gottwert Friede- mann : "It is remarkable how God always helps us. Besides the fine weather that we enjoy, the Americans have a larger EBENEZER. I 18 THE SAXON IMMIGRANTS OF 1839. crop this year than they have had since quite a while; they say so themselves, with amazement. This prompts these people, who are mostly excellent men, to be helpful to us, supporting us with victuals and in other ways. Loads of apples and sacks of flour they donate to our people, and you may stay with them as long as you choose to gather supplies for the winter. I myself did this twice so far, but in return for the favor shown me I knitted and sewed for them. They appreciate this and repay one generously. They also like to employ the men and the young people of the Germans, and even desire to marry them. But we ourselves have so many unmarried young men that not near enough girls are to be found in our congregations. ... "Oh, it is not hard at all to make a living here, if we only were fully settled first. I wish the sister of H. S. would get me one of those small spinning-machines, as they are not yet to be had here. Yarn is high, but cotton one can raise him- self. I also had given to me a complete instruction for the culture of silkworms and the fabrication of silk. I would like to do this, if I only had my own little house first. Mul- berry-trees are so plentiful that they are used for manufac- turing all kinds of woodenware. We ourselves have a churn- ing-tub [of mulberry wood] to take care of the milk of our two cows. Heinrich and Gotthilf have the two calves, and Martha,3) whose hair is bobbed, has a small dog. . . . We have thought with love and concern of all of your birthdays, and have celebrated especially yours, dear brother, in company with Kev. Walther, with a glass to your health. . . . Should other persons intend to emigrate, tell them that there is much good land in this neighborhood, and that twenty farmers who are living at one place a few miles from here will move to Illinois to join their church and to make room for our dear children." We read in these letters even of the Thanksgiving Day celebration for this year (1839). In a letter a few months later Loeber has to convey the sad news of the demise and funeral of this very Tante Chri- 3) The three children in the Loeber parsonage. THE SAXON IMMIGRANTS OF 1839. 19 stelchen, and in reply the German relatives write that they waive all claims to her property in America, and suggest that her house, which was used as a school by the Altenburg con- gregation, be donated to the congregation and called "Chri- stiannen-Schule" in her memory. This is the first bequest, or memorial foundation, that our church-body received. It was for a school, a parochial school. No settlement or colony comes to my mind where so much thought was given to the cause of education in the very beginning. Besides the college, and this care for common school education, there was regular instruction in each parish. In 1844 the Altenburg school had 53 children, the one in St. Louis 130 — 140, and the Frohna school, a few years later, 50. Other parts of this symposium will show the further de- velopment of this mustard-seed planted by God's hand in this land, and tell more about some of these men; but in closing I wish to point to one thing. In these days of so much talk about Americanization and so much pseudo-Americanism it is edifying to have the spirit of true Christian patriotism wafted into our souls by turning the pages of the history of this settlement. These Saxons certainly did not come over here to gather riches and then return to spend them in the old fatherland ; nor were they emissaries sent to colonize this country for Germany; they had only one thought, viz., to make this country their and their children's home, and to do their share in building up its material and spiritual pros- perity. With an open eye for all the advantages and the weaknesses of our land, they had an ardent love of liberty that must ever remain an example for imitation, and that has influenced the masses of immigrants coming after them in a degree not sufficiently appreciated by the student of American history. There are many addresses and sermons of Walther from the very first years that have given inspiration and furnished the material for many an oration for the last seventy years. From one of these, spoken on the Fourth of July, 1853, I add a few paragraphs to show the spirit of these builders of our Church and country : — 20 THE SAXON IMMIGRANTS OF 1839. "There are innumerable advantages and boons by virtue of which our fatherland surpasses all other countries, and that have been showered upon it especially since the memorable Declaration of Independence. I would be worse than blind if I could not see them. The country that we have chosen as our new home stands before our eyes and the eyes of an ad- miring world as the greatest miracle of the century — a tree grown high beyond comparison, laden with thousands of golden fruits of human industry, and at the same time cov- ered by uncounted developing blossoms that promise to bear without interruption new fruits of human endeavor. Under its protecting, wide-spreading branches ever-increasing mul- titudes from all tongues and nations are gathering, ... a con- flux of people from all tribes, that here exchange their talents and experiences. Thus the gifts and attainments of all nations are brought together here to make a nation happy." "Thrice blessed may this day be. On it the foundation of a state was laid in which freedom of religion and con- science has been made a principle of government. Blessed this land in which we enjoy this freedom ! As this country offers civil freedom to religion, so may religion bring to it heavenly blessings. Only let us make use of this freedom faithfully, for God will ask us to give strict account of this unutterably great gift. As citizens, however, of this country let us work zealously, fight bravely, and, if need be, shed our blood cheerfully, that this country may remain a free country, and that it may, above all, retain the golden crown of its freedom, namely, religious liberty, and thus be and remain a refuge for all that are exiled for religion's sake from all nations of the world. "May the Lord of nations, who until now so manifestly ruled over, and blessed, this nation, let His face henceforth graciously shine over our North American free States, con- found all attacks which the enemies of this Union of States may make upon its freedom, rear in this land, to His glory, a pious, free, and happy people, and always place as its leaders virtuous men of wisdom and of fearless and strong action. Hail to thee, America ! Hail ! Hail !" DR. C. F. W. WAI.i EEB. 21 Dr. C. F. W. Walther. Rky. Julius A. Friedbich, si. Charles, Mo. The Bible and the history of the Christian Church teach us that in every critical period through which the Church Las passed God has raised up godly, able, zealous men by Prof. C. F. W. Walther. From a photograph of the year 1870. whom He performed His gracious counsels of love and led His people through trials and persecutions to peace and spiritual comfort. When, in the first decades of the nine- teenth century, the faithful Lutherans in Germany were sorely oppressed by unionistic princes on account of their faith, they sought refuge in the United States, where they 22 DR. C. F. W. WALTHER. hoped to be free to worship God according to their faith and the dictates of their conscience. And the Lord of the Chnrch gave them the leaders whom they needed to find that peace and the spiritual liberty which they longed for. The names Wyneken, Loeber, Keyl, Brohm, Fuerbringer, Sihier, Crae- mer, Lochner, Selle, etc., will ever be written on the tablets of the history of the Missouri Synod. They were great men, men filled with holy zeal for the truth of God's holy Word, men ready to contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. But the one man who was first and foremost among them, the real leader and directing spirit in the organi- zation and establishment of the Missouri Synod, was Dr. Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther. To write the life of Walther is to write the history of the Missouri Synod; for "his life is so closely connected with that of the powerful Synod which he organized, and which was the expression of his own spirit, that even the details of his private biography belong to the history of the Church." From the earliest days of his youth we observe how God pre- pared him for the tremendous task which he was to perform in his life. Walther came from a family of Lutheran pastors. His great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were Lutheran ministers. He was born October 25, 1811, at Langenchurs- dorf, in the kingdom of Saxony, where his father, Gottlob Heinrich Wilhelm Walther, was pastor. His mother was Johanna Wilhelmina Walther, nee Zschenderlein. He was the eighth of twelve children. The discipline at his home was very rigorous, even legalistic. Walther received his first in- structions from his father and was later sent to the village school. After two years of schooling at the city school at Hohenstein, near Chemnitz, he entered the Gymnasium (col- lege) at Schneeberg in July, 1821, and graduated from this school September 23, 1829. Most of the teachers at Schnee- berg were rationalists, and Walther was very much influenced by them, although, as he tells us, he still retained the his- torical belief that the Bible is the Word of God. We may judge of the spiritual condition of Walther from the fact that Ml;. ('. I'. W. WALTHEE. 23 when eighteen years old he had never yet had a Bible or a Catechism of his own. Walther was a great lover of music, and it was his wish to make music the study of his life. His father was very much opposed to these plans of his son, and wished that he would take up the study of theology, promising him one thaler a week if he would do so. And he did, not on account of the munificent subsidy of a thaler a week, hut because God Parsonage at Langenchursdcrf, Saxony, where Dr. C. F. W. Walther was horn October 25, 1811. had changed the mind of the young man through the reading of the biography of Pastor J. F. Oberlin by G-. H. Schubert. He now was convinced "that the prospects which a theologian may have are the most beautiful ; for if he only will, he can create for himself a field of opportunity such as no other man, who chooses some other calling, may ever hope for." The history of his life's work shows that he was not mistaken. In October, 1829, he went to the University of Leipzig with his brother, Otto Hermann, and matriculated as a student of theology. 24 DR. C. F. W. WALTHEB. In those days rank rationalism reigned supreme at the University of Leipzig. Only very few of the professors still professed the Christian faith. But "by the grace of God, Walther was led into a small circle of Christian students who, under the leadership of an old candidate by the name of Kuehn, came together for the purpose of prayerfully study- ing the Word of God. As they did not take part in the wild carousals and drinking-bouts of their fellow-students, they were ridiculed, scorned, and decried as hypocrites, obscurants, pietists, fanatics. By diligent study of the Bible and ether books they gradually came to the conviction that the doctrines of the Lutheran Church are the only true ones. But they had as yet not come to a full knowledge and understanding of the fundamental truth of the Church of the Reformation, to wit, that of justification. They still held that, in order to come to a full and lasting assurance of his salvation, every sinner must needs pass through the awful terrors of the Law and the qualms of the fear of hell. In other words, they founded their hopes of salvation not so much on the grace of God and the merits of Christ as on a certain degree of con- trition and repentance to which they must have attained. This brought Walther into deep distress; terrible conflicts of soul resulted. Doubts and uncertainty concerning his salva- tion brought him to the verge of despair. He says: "Pray- ing, sighing, weeping, fasting, struggling, was of no avail; the peace of God had departed from my soul." He was res- cued from this awful torment by a pastoral letter from Rev. Martin Stephan, then pastor at Dresden, Saxony, to whom lie had written for advice. Stephan advised him to hasten to the saving arms of Jesus, and he would find healing under His wings. This Walther did, and the peace of God returned to his heart. While at the university, Walther was stricken with a serious lung trouble, probably incipient tuberculosis. He left the University for one semester (1831 — 32) and sought rest and medical treatment at home. During this enforced vacation he studied the works of Dr. Luther which he found in his father's library. Here he laid the foundation for his Du. C. f. w. waitiikk. 25 life-work, namely, the teaching and propagation of "God's Word and Luther's doctrine pure." His health having been restored, he returned to the university Easter, 1832, and finished his theological studies Easter, L833. In September, 1833, he passed his first examination, whereupon he was granted the license to preach. In 1834 he accepted a position as private tutor in the family of Attorney F. Loeber in ( iahla, Saxony. He served in this capacity till November, 1^.*;<'». In 1836 Walther passed his examination for the holy ministry and received a call to the pastorate in the congre- gation at Braeunsdorf in Altenburg, Saxony. He was or- dained and installed in this charge on the second Sunday in Advent, 1837. His faith and steadfastness were now put to a severe test in his first charge. The church of Saxony was a state church. Walther's superior was a godless, rationalistic superintendent, who despised and hated him on account of his firm Lutheran stand in doctrine and practise. To make matters worse, Walther had constantly to contend with his unbelieving village schoolmaster, who opposed him wherever he could, and stirred up enmity and strife against the pastor. Yes, even Walthei^s own father was much opposed to the out- spoken firmness of his son in regard to doctrine and practise, because he feared that, by so doing, he would hinder his ad- vancement in the Church. In short, things seemingly be- came unbearable for the young pastor at Braeunsdorf. But what should or could he do? In the early part of 1838 Pastor M. Stephan of Dresden, mentioned above, issued a call to all Lutherans who were suffering under the spiritual oppression of a godless church- government in Saxony to join him and a company of emi- grants who hoped to find a home and spiritual freedom in far-off America. After much deliberation and severe conflicts of soul Walther decided to follow the call. With a bleeding heart he resigned his pastorate in Braeunsdorf and delivered his farewell sermon on the sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, 1838, and joined Stephan's company of emigrants. He sailed from Bremerhaven on board the vessel Johann Georg Novem- ber 3, 1838, and arrived at New Orleans January 5, 1S39. 26 OR. C. F. W. WALTHER. He had been booked to sail on the ship Amalia, but when he arrived in Bremen, he was refused passage on that vessel and was forced to take the Johann Georg. The Amalia never reached port, and nothing was ever heard of her again. Truly, "God moves . in a mysterious way His wonders to perform." In February, 1839, the emigrants, under the leadership of Stephan, reached St. Louis, Mo. A small number of them remained in St. Louis ; the others moved to Perry County, Mo., and established a colony consisting of several congre- gations. Walther accepted the pastorate at Dresden and Johannisberg. The colonists had hardly erected their own log cabins when they resolved to establish a higher institu- tion of learning in order to provide pastors and teachers for the Church in their new fatherland. In the fall of 1839 they opened our first college in Dresden, the now historical log- cabin college, and Walther for a time served as instructor in this new school, which later on was to become the scene of his blessed activities on a much larger and grander scale. The colonists had left Germany in the hope of escaping spiritual oppression. But they soon came to realize that they had really but leaped from the frying-pan into the fire. Their leader Stephan, in whom they had placed implicit confidence, proved to be a deceiver, who endeavored to foist the yoke of spiritual tyranny upon their shoulders. In a few months he had practically squandered the funds in the common treasury of the colonists for his own household and personal comfort. But the greatest shock came to them when their would-be liberator was exposed as a libertine, who had become guilty of grievous sins against God's holy Sixth Commandment. Walther was assigned the task of calling him to account and, if possible, bringing him to repentance. When all endeavors proved to be in vain, Stephan was ousted from the leadership in the colony, and the flock was seemingly without a shepherd. Trying days now came upon the poor deluded flock. Both pastors and laymen were thrown into doubt and despair. "Are we still a Christian Church ? Have we indeed the power of the Keys? Are our calls to the ministry valid? Are our DR. C. F. W. WALTHEB. 27 pastors really ministers of Christ, and are the Sacraments administered by them valid ?" — such were the questions de- bated among them. Some emphatically denied all this, de- claring that they w«ere nothing more than a mob (Rotte). It was through the instrumentality of Walther that God brought light and peace to the disturbed consciences of the sorely dis- tressed people. In April, 1841, a debate was held in Alten- burg, Perry County, Mo., in which Walther presented eight theses for the purpose of establishing from the Word of God and the writings of the theologians of the Lutheran Church the Scriptural doctrine of the Church and its powers and privileges. The principles laid down in these theses were later elaborated by Walther in his epoch-making books, The Voice of Our Church on the Question of Church and Office, The Correct Form of a Local Congregation Independent of the State, and The Evangelical Lutheran Church the True Visible Church on Earth. A close examination of the con- stitution which under Walther's leadership was worked out and adopted by Trinity Congregation in St. Louis will show that it is built up on the principles which Walther presented and successfully defended in that debate. A full practical application of those principles we find in the Constitution of the Missouri Synod, which is chiefly the work of Walther. But Walther was not to remain in the seclusion of Perry County. The Lord of the Church needed him for greater things and therefore called him out of the quiet retreat into that field where he was to serve the rest of his life — St. Louis, Mo. Walther's older brother, Pastor Otto Her- mann, who had served the congregation in St. Louis, died January 21, 1841. On February 8 the congregation called Walther as the successor to his brother. Walther was troubled with scruples whether he were not unworthy to serve in the ministry at all. But after prayerfully considering the call in all its bearings in the light of the Word of God and the principles which he had found and proved to be truth in the Altenburg debate, he cheerfully accepted the call, April 26, 1841, and delivered his inaugural sermon on the following- Sunday, Jubilate, 28 I>R. C. F. W. WALTHEB. Walthcr writes: "In the Saxon-Lutheran congregation it was the rule always to establish at once the office of teaching together with the office of preaching. Within a few days after the arrival of the first division of the company of emigrants in St. Louis a school was founded here. If no teacher could be appointed, it was a self-evident thing that the minister took over with his ministerial office the office of schoolmaster, and administered it according to his ability." When Walther entered upon the pastorate in St. Louis, he found his dear friend and former fellow-student at Leipzig, Candidate of Theology J. F. Buenger, in charge of the parish-school. The two friends worked together hand in hand, and the school soon proved to be one of the best means for missionary work, for many children of parents who were not members of the Lutheran Church attended the school and eventually became members of the congregation. To his dying day Walther was a staunch friend of, and worker for, the Christian day- school. With glowing words he would enthuse his students for the blessed work among the little lambs of Jesus. He declared with Luther that every pastor or student of theology ought to serve as teacher of the little ones at least for several years. But Walther's paths in St. Louis were not strewn with roses. The devil saw to it that trouble and distress were not wanting. Men with scparatistic tendencies made life a bur- den to him and to his people, accusing him of harboring hierarchical plans and denying the validity of the organiza- tion of his congregation. They demanded that the congrega- tion dissolve at once. But these men did not succeed in their evil plans. Walther and his flock were fortified and estab- lished more and more by the diligent study of the Word of God and the confessions of our Church. Up to 1842 the congregation had held its services in the basement of the Episcopal Christ Church. In January, 1842, it was resolved to buy a suitable plot of ground and to erect a church. The church was to be named "Trinity Church." It was dedicated December 4, 1842. As yet the congregation had not adopted a constitution. Past experiences had made DB. C F. \V. WALTHEB. 29 the members wary and extremely suspicious in all questions pertaining to forms of church-government, lesl they be en- snared again by the cunning devices of priestcraft and lose; the precious liberties and sacred rights which they had bu1 recently acquired by a long and bitter fight. The draft of a constitution for the congregation was discussed carefully and exhaustively in many meetings of the congregation. Every section was minutely examined in the lighl <»f the Word and the confessions of the Church before it was adopted. The constitution was finally adopted and signed by the members in the spring of 1843. In the counsels of God, Walther was chosen to become a teacher of many throughout the land. He was not to keep the truth which he had found in the Bible and the confessions of the Church for himself and his congregation only. Spir- itual darkness was resting heavily upon the people of America. Even those who bore the Lutheran name had become traitors to their Church and were joining the hosts of those who cry : "Away with all creeds! There is no place in the American church for such barriers. Let us rather practise charity and brotherly love." Yes, sad to say, the great majority of Lu- therans in those days were steeped in the rankest unionism. But how was the old and well-tried Lutheran doctrine to be made known among our people? God had his plans ready, and He chose Walther to execute them. For some time Walther had contemplated the publication of a Lutheran church-paper. After this plan had matured in his mind, he laid it before his congregation, and it found favor with his members and his brethren in the ministry. They offered him all assistance possible, some even promising to subscribe for several issues of the paper in order to make its publication possible. The first number of Der Lutheraher was issued September 1, 1844, and was hailed with joy by those Lu- therans throughout the land who still held fast to the pure doctrines of their Church. The voice of this faithful witness sounded familiar in their ears. Pastor Wyneken cried out : "Thank God, there are yet more Lutherans in America !" Under God this paper became the instrument through which 30 I)R- C. F. W. WALTHER. the faithful Lutherans in this country were brought together, so that they finally united into one body, called the Missouri Synod. From the very first Der Lutheraner proclaimed the pure Lutheran doctrine with a clarion voice. It did not sail under false colors. The flag at its masthead bears the bold inscription: "God's Word and Luther's doctrine pure Shall to eternity endure." One of Walther's chief purposes in pub- lishing this paper was to make known the pure, unadulterated doctrines of the Lutheran Church. His articles were filled with quotations from our confessions and the writings of the Lutheran fathers. Because of this he was ridiculed and much abused as one who placed the Lutheran confessions far above the Bible. He was charged with idolizing the fathers of the Church, with promoting a dead orthodoxy, with doing nothing but rehashing the antiquated opinions of men long dead and gone, with endeavoring to graft a withered branch of the church of Germany on the flourishing tree of American Lutheranism. The term "pure doctrine," reine Lehre, be- came a by-word in the mouth of the enemies of our Church. But Walther did not waver. His voice rang louder and louder throughout the land and could not be silenced by ridicule or scorn. Der Lutheraner was a veritable thorn in the flesh of the sectarians and such as were Lutherans in name only. But to those who were seeking the truth it became a guide to the rich treasures which the Lutheran Church has gathered from the depths of God's holy Word. The Lutheran pastors in various parts of our country who had become acquainted with Walther and the Saxon Lu- therans in Missouri through the Lutheraner began to cor- respond with Walther. All felt that a closer organic union was necessary in order to advance the cause of true Lu- theranism. Several conferences were held by them in 1845 and 1846. The question of organizing a truly Lutheran synod was discussed and a draft for a synodical constitution drawn up. Walther was the leading and directing spirit in these conferences. The principles presented and defended by him in the Altenburg debate were embodied in the instrument. It was resolved to meet at Chicago, 111., in the spring of 1847, DR. C. F. W. WALTHER. 31 with delegates from the congregations, to organize the con- templated synod. Accordingly on May 25, 1847, twenty-two pastors, two candidates of theology, and twelve lay delegates met in Pastor Selle's church at Chicago. Of course, Walther was there. His congregation, after considering the draft of the constitution in ten meetings, finally resolved to approve it and to join the synod, provided a section be added declar- ing Synod to be an advisory body only, and that the resolu- tions of Synod must have the approval of the individual con- gregations in order to become effective. In other words, Synod was to have no inherent legislative powers over the congregations. This section was made a part of the consti- tution. On May 26, 1847, the constitution was adopted and signed, and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States was ready to begin its blessed work under the leadership of Walther, who was chosen its first president. Pursuant to a request of Synod the college at Altenburg was placed under the fostering care of Synod by its owners, the congregations at Altenburg and St. Louis, and removed to St. Louis. In October, 1849, Walther was elected professor of theology in the institution, which was henceforth known as Concordia Seminary. Trinity Church was at first un- willing to give up her beloved pastor, but finally consented under the condition that he remain senior pastor of the con- gregation, preach several times in the course of the year, attend the meetings of the vestry and the congregation, and have the general supervision over the congregation. Walther began his lectures in January, 1850. For thirty- seven years he faithfully performed the solemn obligations which that highly responsible position carries with it. During that time he prepared hundreds of young men for the min- istry in the Lutheran Church. Filled with fervent love toward Christ and His holy Church, he endeavored to imbue his students with the same spirit. His eminent learning enabled him to declare unto them all the gracious counsels of God in clear and convincing words. By word and by example he taught them to practise self-denial and willingness to 32 Ml. C. F. W. WALTHER. suffer in the service of Christ and the Church. He led them to look upon the smallest, poorest congregation with reverent awe, because the Lord of the Church has chosen her to be His beloved, beautiful spouse and invested her with glorious robes and sovereign rights and powers. To her He has en- trusted the keys of the kingdom of heaven. The royal priesthood of all true believers made the most lowly and humble Christian a king in his eyes, to serve whom should be considered an honor, a blessed privilege by every pastor. And with what burning eloquence could he describe the beauties and glories of our beloved Lutheran Church! How he would delve deep into the rich treasures of her confessions and the writings of that man of God, Luther, and bring forth and hold up to the wondering eyes of his students the precious gems which encrust her royal diadem! But Walther was never greater than when he came to tell his students of the central doctrine of the Gospel, the free, forgiving, justifying grace of God in Christ Jesus. His lectures on this subject were veritable hymns of exultant joy and adoration, which needs must carry his students with him into the joys of the redeemed people of God. Walther's fervent prayer was, "May God give us a pious ministry !" and he used all his learning and the many other gifts which God had bestowed upon him to prepare such a ministry for our Church. His endeavors were visibly blessed of the Lord. Those who sat at his feet went out into the world and labored faithfully in the vine- yard of Christ. Walther lived to see the day when the little mustard-seed had grown to a large tree which spreads its branches far beyond the boundaries of our country. And although he has now been sleeping the sleep of the blessed for more than thirty-four years, yet his spirit is still active in our Synod, and men who were trained by him are now pre- paring others for the ministry and teaching them to fight the same good fight which Walther began many years ago. But Walther did not lose contact with his students after their graduation. At his suggestion Synod in 1855 began the publication of Lehre und Wehre, a theological monthly for pastors. It is the purpose of this magazine to proclaim the dr. c. Is. w. Wai/imkk. 33 pure Scriptural doctrines of the Lutheran Church, to defend them against all attacks, and to discuss such questions of the day as may agitate or disturb the Church. It has proved to be of inestimable value to our Synod, for in it our pastors found, so to speak, an opportunity to take a continuous post- graduate course in theology. In his many essays read before conferences and synodical conventions Walther invariably spoke on doctrinal subjects. There are very few, if any, doc- trines of our Church which Walther did not discuss on such occasions. In his voluminous correspondence Walther came into still closer and more intimate touch with his friends and former students. His classic letters are replete with words of advice, instruction, warning, admonition, encourage- ment. In short, Walther was a teacher of the Church in the most eminent sense of the word. His opponents have decried Walther as a man who loved controversy and strife. This is not true. Walther loved peace. His old friend and colleague Guenther calls him "ein redder Friedenstheolog/' a true theologian of peace. His greatest pleasure was quietly to build the walls of Zion and to plant the seed of the Word in the beautiful garden of the Church of God. But when Zion was attacked, when spiritual wolves threatened the flock, when wily foxes sought to ruin the vine- yard of Christ, then he would put on the whole armor of God, sound the trumpet of war, and go forth into the conflict with an unflinching heart. It was his painful duty to take the lead in three great doctrinal controversies, which at times threatened to shake the very foundations of our Synod, namely, the fight with the Buffalo Synod, the Iowa Synod, and the Ohio Synod. The reader will find a detailed history of these controversies on other pages in this volume. At this time we will only say that every one of them was forced upon Walther, and that they caused him more pain, sorrow, and distress than any other experiences in his long and eventful life, especially when it became his duty to contend against men who at one time were his students or intimate friends. And in these controversies he always sought the glory of God EBENBZER. 3 34 DR- C. F. W. WALTHER. and the welfare of the Church, never his own honor or per- sonal benefit. Walther had occasion to visit his old fatherland twice while serving Synod. In 1851 — 52 he and Wyneken were delegated by Synod to visit Pastor Loehe in Bavaria in order, if possible, to adjust doctrinal differences which had arisen between him and our Synod. Sad to say, their efforts failed. Loehe soon afterwards came out openly as our enemy and instigated the organization of the Iowa Synod in opposition to the work of the Missouri Synod. In 1860 Walther again visited Europe. His health was rapidly failing, and a serious throat trouble developed. He was advised to seek recovery in Germany and Switzerland. The hopes and prayers of his friends were fulfilled, and upon his return Walther entered into his work with renewed vigor. The congregations which formed the Missouri Synod were exclusively German, and consequently their work was done chiefly in this language. Through its Home Mission Synod sought to gather Lutherans of German descent, who were scattered over the vast expanse of our country, and were with- out the means of grace, into Lutheran congregations. This work, which to this day stands at the head of our missionary enterprises, needed all the men and means which Synod was able to supply. Much as Walther encouraged this work, yet from the very beginning he realized the responsibility of our Church toward our English-speaking fellow-citizens, and he confessed with sorrow that these duties had been sorely neg- lected. He said on one occasion : "God has brought us into this country and without our merit has given us the pure doctrine also for the purpose that we should spread it in the language of our country. But, alas ! we did not do what we should have done, and I fear God will punish us for our negligence and take away from us Germans the great bless- ings which He bestowed upon us because we did not do in the English language what we should have done." Our Synod agreed with Walther regarding our duties towards our Eng: lish-speaking neighbors and towards our children, who in the future would most certainly adopt English as their mother- DR. C. F. W. WALTHEB. 35 tongue. As early as 1857 Synod laid down certain principles which should be observed when English congregations are organized out of German congregations. Walther with a clear vision saw that in the future a great part of our work must be done in English, and he was ready to assist in anything which might help to prepare for this work. Tn 1872 he attended a free conference of English-speaking Lutherans at Gravelton, Mo. The result of this conference was the organi- zation of the "English Lutheran Conference of Missouri" which was later on succeeded by the "English Lutheran Synod of Missouri," since 1911 the "English District of the Missouri Synod." Walther was married to Miss Emilie Buenger at Dresden, Perry Co., Mo., by his brother-in-law, Pastor Keyl, Septem- ber 21, 1841. Their union was blessed with six children, four sons and two daughters. Walther was very much attached to his children as may be seen from his letters. His home was a truly Lutheran Pfarrhaus, where the Word of God ruled, and Christian virtues were practised. Walther's hospitality was known far and wide. His beloved wife died in the con- fession of Jesus' holy name August 23, 1885. In one of his letters to his children he wrote : "My tears flowed freely, for words cannot express what I have lost with this my faithful helpmeet." Walther was a humble Christian who knew no pride or haughtiness, neither did he crave to be honored by men. In 1855 the faculty of the University at Goettingen, Germany, offered to confer upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, but he declined to accept it mainly on account of the doctrinal position of the faculty at Goettingen. When, however, the faculty of Capital University at Columbus, Ohio, by order of the Ohio Synod, at that time a member of the Synodical Con- ference, conferred the same honor on him, he accepted it re- luctantly, because he felt he owed it to the Church. In his deportment he was a polished gentleman with the refinement of a courtier, ein rechter Hofmann. When he was already ailing, we students sent a committee to him with the urgent request that he come to his lectures in his comfortable 36 DR. C. F. W. WALTHER. lounging-robe and slippers. He became very indignant and said : "Do you really believe that I would dare to appear be- fore my students that way ? Never !" and he came to his class as usual in his broadcloth frock coat, high collar with im- maculate white cravat, and high boots. Walther always showed the kindest sympathy with such as were in bodily or spiritual distress. Never will I forget the day when he helped me out of the depths of spiritual misery. Serious doubts concerning the divinity of Christ had arisen in my mind while I was his student. I was brought near the brink of despair. What should I do, re- main and play the hypocrite, or give up the study for the ministry ? After much hesitation I resolved to go to Walther and tell him about my miserable condition. With a trem- bling heart I ascended the stairway to his study. How would the great theologian, the staunch champion of Christ, re- ceive me? Would he listen to me at all, or would he turn me out in disgust as an unbeliver? When I entered his study, he received me very cordially and asked me what my troubles were. After patiently listening to my tale of woe, he grasped my hand and said: "My dear young friend, you seem to think that you alone are vexed with such doubts. You are mistaken. I have the very same experiences. Why, often when I am preaching in the pulpit, or lecturing before my classes, Satan whispers into my ears, 'How do you know this to be true V " And then he showed me that I was still a Christian, a believing child of God, because no unbeliever would be troubled with anxiety and fear on account of his unbelief. In conclusion he recommended certain books to me and promised that he would remember me in his prayers. That is an example how Walther practised Seelsorge, the cure of souls. During his long and busy life Walther might have amassed a great fortune had he been a lover of money. But he sought not after treasures upon earth, where moth and rust do cor- rupt. By his many writings he brought thousands of dollars into the treasury of our Synod, but never once did he accept one cent of remuneration for his books, pamphlets, and DR. ('. F. W. WALTHEB. 87 editorial work. In 1870 some friends had begun the erection of a beautiful residence which they intended to present to him. As soon as he heard of it, he flatly refused to accept it, and gave his reasons for so doing in the LutJieraner of March 15, 1870. Walther died a poor man. In his work Walther was scrupulous and painstaking almost to a fault. One would think that a man of his stu- pendous learning could write his sermons and essays with fluency and ease. But this was not so with Walther. He told us students: "You, my friends, may think that I am able to write my sermons, etc., without much study or effort. That is not the case. I can assure you that I must wrest every sermon from the Lord with fervent prayer and hard work. The children of my pen are all born in great travail." It was my privilege to serve as Walther's private secretary — amanuensis he called me — for one year, and thus I had ample opportunity to observe him in his work. I have seen manu- scripts from Walther's hand where words or phrases were stricken out four and five times and replaced by other ex- pressions. He weighed every word carefully in order to bring out correctly the thought which he desired to express. Like all great men of God, Walther was a man of prayer. In the privacy of his study, in the pulpit, the lecture-room, in congregational and vestry meetings, in conferences and synodical conventions he pleaded the cause of Christ and His Church in eloquent prayer before the throne of grace. "Prayer, study, and temptation make the theologian." No wonder Walther came to be such a great theologian. No wonder his work was so gloriously crowned with success. Jesus says : "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son," John 14, 13. Walther clung to this promise of Christ, and his trust was gloriously rewarded. Though already faint and ill, Walther nevertheless read a paper before the convention of the Western District of our Synod October 13—19, 1886, at St. Louis. He had begun the treatise thirteen years ago and finished it at this meeting. It was the last time he appeared on the floor of our Synod. The 38 DR- C. F. W. WALTHER. time for rest was close at hand. Synod urged him to suspend his lectures for a time, but Walther must needs labor in the vineyard of his Master as long as his strength would permit. He continued in his work until he broke down completely. A great celebration in honor of his fiftieth anniversary in the ministry had been planned for January 16, 1887. But Wal- ther's illness made it impossible to execute the plan. Grad- ually his strength gave way, and his thoughts were turned toward his heavenly home. Sweet and comforting Scripture- passages and hymn-verses sustained him in the days when "other helpers fail and comforts flee." The valiant servant of the Lord, who had fought many a battle under the stand- ard of the Cross, was now ready to follow the last summons of his Master. On May 6, 1887, it seemed as though Walther's last hour had come. Pastor Stoeckhardt, his confessor, asked him whether he were ready cheerfully to die, trusting in the grace of Jesus Christ which he had preached during his life. He answered with a loud and distinct voice, "Yes." And in this confession he fell asleep in Jesus' name, Saturday, May 7, 1887, 5.30 p. m. On Friday, May 13, his mortal remains were conveyed to the Seminary, which was draped in black. In the evening of May 14 an English memorial service was held in the chapel of the Seminary. From Sunday afternoon till Tuesday noon the body lay in state in Walther's beloved Trinity Church. The final funeral services were held in Trinity Church, Tuesday, May 17. A vast concourse of pro- fessors, pastors, students, representatives of other synods and institutions of learning, not to speak of the thousands of lay- men, were assembled to honor the memory of this great churchman. Rev. H. C. Schwan, General President of the Missouri Synod, preached on Ps. 90, Prof. Craemer, President of Concordia College, Springfield, 111., on 2 Kings 2, 12, Rev. Otto Hanser, pastor of Trinity Church, spoke on Dan. 12, 2. 3 at the grave. On the way to Trinity Cemetery, where Walther was laid to rest at the side of his dear wife, the funeral cortege passed Concordia Seminary, the scene of Wal- ther's most important activities, and stopped for a few seconds. And as the procession moved on again, the bell in DR. C. P. W. WALTHEB. 39 the Seminary tower tolled a last farewell to him whose name will ever be connected with the history of Concordia Sem- inary and the Missouri Synod — Dr. Carl Ferdinand Willi elm W dither. In conclusion a few words of personal reminiscence. On April 20, 1887, I had passed my theological examination in order to follow a call of the Mission Board to Chattanooga, Tenn. I wished to have Walther' s signature on my diploma, if possible. Professor F. Pieper, who issued the diploma, did not believe that my wish could be fulfilled since Walther had not written a word for many months and was now apparently at the point of death. But nevertheless I resolved to try. My request for permission to call on the Doctor was kindly granted by his son, the Rev. F. Walther, who attended his father. On the afternoon of April 21 I was ushered into the sick-room. Never will I forget the scene which met my eye. There lay the man who but a few months ago spoke to us with fiery eloquence concerning the mysteries of God, with- ered and emaciated, barely able to raise his hand. When I stepped to the bedside, Walther raised his hand slightly and said: "Gott gruesse Sie!" ("God greet you!") I told him that I was to enter the holy ministry and had now come to take leave of him. Rev. Walther then asked him whether he could sign my diploma, and he answered, "Yes." Pastor Walther raised him up in bed and put his arm around him while I, kneeling before the bed, held the diploma up to him on a writing-folio. But when he was given the pen, Walther had evidently forgotten what he was expected to do, so Rev. Walther, pointing to the diploma, said : "You must write your name here under the word Lehrerkollegium." But instead of writing his name, he wrote an abbreviation of the words Lehrerkollegium and then an illegible word which Prof. Guen- ther thought might mean Christum. I had almost given up hopes of securing the signature, when Rev. Walther said: "Papa, you must write your name, C. F. W. Walther." Exert- ing all his strength, Walther now wrote out his name, looked at the signature for a few moments, and then sank back on 40 DR. C. F. W. WALTHER. ^af? £crr <^Ct^hU±4- c^^^*^^^t-«v^»^e<^t-tv^ i?rzJLa6r?j£; gebiirtig wn c^€>t^nA^n^f^r>u y cfoyM^ fcit A. tfyfcr&J^ ig££ \\$ eZO: t£fir££, 18(^- in bcin bieftgcn (ioncorbia - Seminar bev bcutfeben e»angclifcb » lufbcrifcben Stmobc von SNifibuvi, Dbio u. a. St. bem Stu^ium bcr Ibcotogic mit .rebigtamt* al* f*-]fi~ ^x5(tmiS(|onciicn ton 6. >>. Jit . 28 a t t b c r. Saftrg. 1. @t. 2tui<$, 9Ko./ ten 7. September 1844. 9fo. 1. t funf unr (ttan^ia In jmmcr fur 61 IcntJ tcrtauft. 2Jorbtmtrtungcn fiber Urfacbf, ^lvfrf unb Snljatt be» SJtntttS. Dit bfutfebc "Sceblferung be* SBtiiCnS DwSfmfc rita wirt orTentar.mit jtbtm 2agt rjrijer. OTii btrfclben witbfl din j'ugteid) tic frjcni>jcti, voelcbe (id) ju bem Oilaulvn bclcnnen, ben finfi Suiber ten 2cutfd>cn gcyrcbigt bar. GS grben jebod) bier bie ©licber friner onbern firebliebtn ©tmtinfd)aft fo MrtMift bn, alS bit b(r roangt: |ifd):Iiitbfrifd)cn. So fid if>rrr dud) birr fein mtgen, bit (id) nod) Iwbf ranrr nenntn , fo frtvn fit bod) fo jtrgrcut unb (inb ton alien ?)?ittcln mrifi fo ganj tntMbgt. bog fit on »icbn Di ilium im Etantt finb, in fintn ©tintinbtBtrbanb ju trtttn unb finrn <))febiger ibrce" SjctcnntniffeS ju bcgellcn, bcr ibntri bitnt. Die beutfd)en Su tberaner finb. babrr bier in nid)t gcringer SBerfu ttung, ben Glaubeu ibrer 5$ate r ju etrlafjcn ; cnt trtbtr nad)£ird)e, Gottef-bieng u. bergl. gar nid)t$ |u fragtn, obfr in nnbtrtn (jicr btgcbtnbtn Gc-- meinfd)aftrn SJefriebigung ibrtr • rrligibfen S3c= bfirfniffe ju fud)tn. Unfrrt tbeucrn Glauben*-- triibrr in biefem Sbeile unfrrfS neucn QJaterlan; be* btbijrftn barum allcrbingS ber Grmuntcrung, itixtm GWnjben rrtu ju bltibtn ; fit btbi'irfen ber QBarnung net btn Gefabrcn beS 5lbfaIIs, btrtn fo eitle iljntn bier broben ; fit beblirfen "Bafft n, fid) fitgen bitjrnigcn ju wrlbfibigcn, bit ti ibnrn firritig mart)en, bag btr Gtaubt btr rtd)tt ft i, btn (it eon 5ugtnb nuf fiuS ibrem Cattd)iSrftu6 gcltrnt babtn ; fit btbirfen btn Sroft, bog bit fiird)t, ju ter fit fid) btftnntn, nod) nid)t tfergbrounben fti, tag fit baber ftintSrocgo' Urfacbe baben, bti irgtnb «intr anbtrn ©cineinfd)aft 3ugud)t ju fud)tn". Diefe* fltiuitj son eitttn tinffunbtnt Stbftrf; eif), unb bitlltbffKugung, biig flid)t fti, unftrn bitfigtil SRitbiirgtrn barubcr SRtdjtru (djafi nbjuttgen, roa8 in unftrtr flird)t gtglaubt unb gclftjrt, unb nad) rotlcfjon Grunbfiljtn batjtt ton unS gtrjanbtll rotrbt : bitg Ijat btn Unttritid); rtttn bewogtn, in SBttbinbung mir mtljrtrtn fti-- ntr 51mtf-- unb ©taubtnCbrubtr in Siiffouri unb SUinoiS, tin SSIatt unltr obigtm £itcl tjtrauSju.- gtbtn. S>a(Jf!bf foil ntljmlicl) baju bit ntn : 1. mitbtr ftbrt, btn ed)il;tn unb btr ©cfd)id)tt btr luHKtifd)tn $ird)t btfanni ju mad>fn; 2. btn SScmcit; bafiir ju [itftrn, baji bitft Aird)t nid;t in btr Ktilit btr d)rifilid)fn <£tfttn fit()f, unb nid)t tint neut fonbtrn bit attt waljrt Sird)t 3tfu Gljriffi auf Grbcn fti, bag fie b.iljtr nod) feint i* wfgcJniiSgcftovbtnfei, ja, nid)t auSgerben fonnt, nad) Ciljrifii SBfiiicignng : „i£icf)e, id) bin bci tud) aU< iiigt biiS an ber SBelt Gnbt ." Unftr SSlart foil femer S. baju bientn, ju Jtigtn, wit tin SDlYnfdj ale"- tin waljrcr tutijtrantr rtd)t glauben, d)riftlid) Itben, gtbulbig Itiben unb ftlig flcrbcn limnt ; unb tnblid) 4. bit im ed;n;angt gtfjtnbtn falfcfjen, tftrfii[)rerifd)tn Jeljrtn ju tntbtcftn, ju wibtrlcgtn unb baeor ju rearncn, unb irffonber; licit bicicnigcn ju tntlarutn, bit fid) falfd)Iiri) In iljtrifd) ntnntn, unttr bitfem 9?aintn Srrgtauiwn, Unglaubtn unb ©d)roarintrti ntrbrtittn unb firr bit ubtlgcn <3orurthci[t gtgtn unftrt ^ird;t in btn ©litbtrn nnbtrtr ^arttitn triwcftn. 55itntid)t nid)t retnigt, wtnn fit bitfcS Itftn, nxrbtn unS tntitcber bitjallifl'tit obrvrcd)tn, ba$ 3ifl, ba8 roir unS felbg gtgeeft I)aben, ju errci; d)tn ; obtr gt rotrbtn fiird)ttn, bag unftr SSlart btn ©trfl btr Unbulbfamleit otljmtn, unb fomit Jpag rtn rotrbt. 2luf baS trgt SJtbtnfen babtn roir nur bitfeS ju cuitroorttn : 2Bir trftnnen fttbft ge= wig Icbcnbigcr, nIS irgtnb jcinanb, mic oitl unS nbgtljr, ben Struf be* .f;crau*gebcr« cinrS d)rig= lidjen ^titungeblalttS in feintm gregtn Umfanot ju trfi'itltn ; roir wigtn nbtr, bag tl- in gbttlidjtn Singtn nidjt auf grogt Ottlt Ijrfamfcit unb Sertbfc famftit anfommt, ftintn Sr'ibtrn r.iiljlic!) ju ftin, fonbtrn auf rtd)tt lebtnbigt' (Jrtcnntnig btr felig= maci)tnbfn2BaI)r!)titunb auf tin tinfad)Crptugni r-on btrftlbtn. UtbrigtnJ fjabtn roir bit 91bgd)t, in bitfetti Slattc bit gcigrtid)gtn Serjrtr unftrtr ^ird)t, infonbtrljtit Sulljcrn, frlbg rtbtn ju IagVn, unb roir mcintn, bag fd)on otlein bitft mit btm Slattt bargtbotcnen ©aben bafftlbt fo gt^alltoB mad)tn roerbtn, bag gd) btr Stftr baS'Unfrigt niggtn* alt! tint gtvingt ^ugabt gtfalltn lagtn fann. 5EaSbaS-jrotitt Srbtnfen betrifft, fo reirb ti grroig balb gtfjobtn trtrbtn, roenn Stftr nur tinigt SSIAtttr mit Wufmtrffamffit unb oI)nt Sorurtbfi! rotrbtn gtpruft babtn. 25ir gi felbg tint gtraumt 3tit Don manefctrlt i 3rrtb&intrn gtfangtn gt»tffn, unb«olt bat mir uni gtljabt unb una mit groger Sangmutl) auf btn 2Beg btr 2BaI)tI)tit gcleittt ; btfftn tingebenf rotr.- ben baljer and) roir gegen unfert irrmben 9(ld)gtn ©cbulb btroeifen unb un4 M(i funblid)tn 9tid?» Kni unb 55trbammcni burd) ©cttrt5 Onabt tnt.- baittn. 28ir rocrtcn nid^ forooljl bit irrtnbt IVr: fon, aid tielmebr il)ren 5"tl)um angmftn. 5Bir rotrbtn un« aud) nid)t a!S fold)t gtbt rbtn, bit a[= [tin rtin lutljerifd) fcin unb bit aBalubeit allein begljtn roolltn, fonbtrn nur 3tugnig gtbtn, bag ©on aud) an un8 ©rogt 8 gttljan unb unS jur lt= btnbigtn Crftnntnig btr «UtinftIiginad)tnbtn 1H5abr!)fitgfbrad)rr>,«. &. SouiS, 3Ro., iintllugug 1844. ff. 5- 2B. iBJaltlicr, <))agor btr btujfd)en tu. lutb. ©tintinbt ungtliu btrltr 9lug?burgifd)tr Sonfrfgon Ijitr. 3tugnifft Surf,tr»: 2CtId)t6 btr Jp a uptn rti fet btr d)ng!id)tn Mitt fti. 3n ftincr f;errlid)cn 9lu81tgung bt* Sritft* on bit Galattr fdjrt ibt berfclbe : „5n mtintm ^trjtn btrrfrbt niltin unb foil aud) berrfd)en bitftr tinigt 9lrtiftl, nebmlid) btr ©taubt an mcintn litbtn Jjtrrn Cijriguin, n.'eld;er alltr trttinn gtig[id)tn unb gbltlid)tn ©cbanfen, fo id) immcrbar 2ag unb 91ad)t Ijabcn mag, bcr tinigt 9Infang, (rocldjc frcilid) uicl geringcr unb locmgcr fmb. benn wir fclbg) fonbern bag roir burd) frtmbt a^iilft, ntbmlid), bag voir burd) ben eingeborneii Sobn 0ortc8, 3cfum Gljrigum, (on ©unben, lob unb Icufcl crlbfrt \\nb jum cuigen ?cbtn jt: bracbt ftin." Facsimile of First Page of "Lutheraner," Vol. I, No. 1. paper to those already existing, or the merits of the new paper itself, but simply to round out this very meager state- ment of the origin of Der Lutheraner, it may here be added that its publication was the result of much and very serious thought given to the subject by Pastor Walther and his co- laborers. Its publication was not only sanctioned by the "der lutiieraner" from 1844 to 1847. 43 congregation which Pastor Walther served at that time, but was decided upon by a direct and formal vote. It may also be mentioned that the pastors referred to in the introductory article were from among the so-called Saxon pastors — Walther himself being one of them — who had come to America in 1839 under the leadership of Bischof Stephan, had passed through the dark days and distressful events that culminated in the deposition of the erstwhile profoundly re- vered and highly respected leader, and were now mostly settled as pastors of congregations formed by the colonists of 1839. Modest as was the appearance of the newcomer in the field of Lutheran journalism, there nevertheless was some- thing about Der Lutiieraner that differentiated it from other Lutheran church-papers of that day; something that at once attracted attention and called forth comment, favorable or otherwise. But what must have struck the reader as the most distinctive feature was the authoritative and decided tone in which it spoke on matters Lutheran, the firm stand it took in defense of pure Lutheranism, and the intrepid courage with which it proposed to attack error wherever found, whether with the sects or among the pseudo-Lutherans. In the article already quoted from, the editor summarizes under four heads what he plans the mission of Der Lu- tiieraner to be. He purposes through the columns of his paper to make the readers familiar with the doctrines, the treasures, and the history of the Lutheran Church. Further- more, he will furnish proof that the Lutheran Church is indeed the ancient true Church of Christ on earth, not merely one of the Christian sects. Again, Der Lutiieraner is to be of service to its readers by teaching them how a true Lutheran, though a sinner, may be a firm believer, live a truly Christian life, bravely bear up under the cross, and, departing this life, enter into the glories of heaven. And finally, the editor holds it to be his duty, which he will not shirk, to expose false doctrines and ungodly practises, paying particular attention to those Lutherans, wrongly so called, who in the guise and garb of Lutheran teachers preach and disseminate 44 "der lutheraner" from 1844 to 1847. error, unbelief, and sectarianism, to the prejudice and shame of pure and Scriptural Lutheranism. From this it will be seen that from the very first Der Lutheraner purposed to take a firm stand, and to speak in no uncertain and wavering tones. Moreover, it will be noted that the editor laid out for himself a program of wide range, and assumed a task of such magnitude as only the importance and necessity of the cause he intended to cham- pion could have induced him to undertake. For he was firmly convinced that in lifting up his voice in behalf of true Lutheranism he was standing squarely on Scriptural ground, even as he was prompted by his desire to serve the Church which he loved and to which his allegiance was pledged. Having announced its program, Der Lutheraner forth- with sets about carrying it out. The very first article, follow- ing the introductory remarks of the editor, is of a doctrinal nature, treating of the chief doctrine of the Christian re- ligion. It is followed by a historical essay on the name Lutheran. A short story of an incident that happened during the Council of Nice, proving that the Christian religion is not built on man's wisdom, but rests on the power of God, and a quotation from Luther concerning his trench- ant style of writing complete the first number of Der Lutheraner. This first number of Der Lutheraner may serve as a sample of those that follow. As we scan its files, we find it true to its initial promise. There is doctrine and history; it brings cheer, comfort, and strength to the Christian heart. When necessary, it also enters the field of polemics, and is not afraid to speak its mind boldly when circumstances demand clear and incisive statements. Because of the latter fact it has been held against Walther and his coworkers of those early days on the staff of Der Lutheraner that they were of a fighting disposition and loved a fight for its own sake. This is a grievous mistake. Most assuredly, they had not come to America for the purpose of becoming involved in controversy, but had sought the wilds of the West that "der lutiieraner" from 1844 to 1847. 45 they might build their house in quiet and contentment, far removed from the strife and contentions of others. But they stood up for their convictions, and yielded to none who would rob them of the treasures of their Church. As well call him who declines to be robbed of the family jewels a fighter as call Walther and his colleagues brawlers and trouble-makers for defending their Lutheran patrimony and telling others to be on their guard against ecclesiastical highwaymen. This leads up to the question: "Were the times in which Dei- Lutiieraner first appeared such as to demand a defender of pure and unadulterated Lutheranism, one who would lift up his voice in warning against falling away from the faith of the fathers?" They were indeed! The history of the Lutheran Church in our own country will bear out the state- ment that true Lutheranism at the time of which we write was about at its lowest ebb in America. True, the Lutheran name had not disappeared from the list of Protestant de- nominations, but the Church named for Luther no longer stood for the faith of its founder, nor for the Lutheranism of the earliest settlers who had brought Luther's doctrine to our shores. Generally speaking, Lutheranism had become a colorless, spineless formalism in which the Lutheran Confessions were chiefly known for the contempt in which they were held and with which they were treated by those who had pledged themselves to uphold, and to be guided by them, both in teaching and practise. There were indeed some notable ex- ceptions, but they simply served to prove the rule. And these strictures apply not only to individuals, but also to entire church-bodies. Witness the Lutheran General Synod, nom- inally a Lutheran organization, sailing under Lutheran colors, yet openly and defiantly proclaiming its apostasy from the Lutheran principles in an instrument purporting to represent its confessional basis, signed by five of its most prominent and representative men and sent to Germany, 1845, for the purpose of enlightening the Germans on what American Lutheranism stood for. Other Lutheran synods. 46 "DER lutheraner" from 1844 to 1847. more or less closely allied -with the General Synod, or even wholly independent, were perhaps not so violently outspoken in their un-Lutheran "Lutheranism." But all were to a degree tainted with unionistic tendencies which cannot stand before the bar of the Lutheran Confessions. Little wonder, then, that the sects made heavy inroads into the ranks of the Lutheran Church, gathering into their nets many thousands of Lutherans who, coming to this country and finding the salt of the mother-church to have lost its savor, fell an easy prey to the sects displaying great religious zeal and fervor, or became indifferent regarding denomina- tional distinctions and joined the so-called United or Evan- gelical Church whose principal aim is to obliterate doctrinal differences, and to establish in their place something which is neither Lutheran, nor Calvinistic, least of all Scriptural. The little band of confessional Lutherans on the western bank of the Mississippi River, not even bound together in any formal organization, was at that time hardly known in the East, where the nominally Lutheran synods had their field of operation. In the providence of God it so happened that, about the time we write of, Germany experienced something of a re- ligious awakening. Real Lutheranism again began to assert itself, and when Pastor F. Wyneken, that grand man, fitly called the Father of Lutheran missions in America, who had come to America in 1838 to minister to the widely scattered brethren of the household of faith, and with his own eyes had seen the deplorable state of affairs in the American Lutheran Church, revisited Germany in 1841, and there made his ringing appeal for aid in carrying on mission-work in America (Die Not der deutschen Lutheraner in Amerika), his Macedonian call fell upon ears ready to hear, and found willing hearts and open hands. Getting into touch with Pf arrer Loehe in Neuendettelsau, who was conducting a small religious institute at that place, Wyneken succeeded in winning him over to the cause he was pleading, and shortly after, 1842, A. Ernst and G. Burger, the first-fruits of Wyneken's labor of love in Germany in behalf of his "DEB LUTHERANEB" IKOM 1SH TO 1847. 47 American brethren, set sail for America to work in "the field white already to harvest." Ernst's first charge here was in Marysville, O. Within a year after Ernst's arrival another man, filled with the same desire that had prompted Ernst's coming, set foot on American soil. This was Dr. W. Sihler, a man highly educated, of sterling qualities, and great executive ability. So impressed was Pfarrer Loehe with the profound learning of Sihler, who had visited him before leaving Europe — Sihler was not one of the Neuendettelsau students — that he entertained hopes of seeing him called to a professorship in the University of the Ohio Synod at Columbus, O., whither Sihler intended going on his arrival in America. God willed it otherwise. Sihler did indeed go to Columbus, but there received and accepted a call to a congregation in Pomeroy, O., where he preached his inaugural sermon on January 1, 1844. He at once became a firm friend of Pastor Ernst, and both shortly after joined the Ohio Synod. Other men, mostly under direction of Pfarrer Loehe, were sent from Germany, and settled in Michigan: Hattstaedt, Craemer, Lochner, and others, whose names in the course of time have become household words in the Missouri Synod. Feeling the necessity of affiliating with some church-body, they joined the Michigan Synod. All of these men, and others of a like mind, were staunch Lutherans, standing firmly on the confessions of their Church. Coming to America and entering into synodical connection with men of their own faith, they naturally were led to believe that they had allied themselves with brethren equally zealous in upholding the Lutheran standard. They were doomed to sore disappointment. What must have been their sorrow to see the Lutheran Confessions trodden under foot, Lutheran doctrine openly flouted, and the official organs of their respective synods anything but confessional? It is, however, but fair to these men to say that, becoming aware of the existing conditions within their own synods, they were not slow to lift up their voice in protest. These protests bringing no improvement of conditions, they subse- 48 "DER lutheraner" from 1844 to 1847. quently severed their connection with the bodies with which they had become affiliated. But this is anticipating events. To get back to Der Lutheraner. As will be noted, it made its appearance about the time when the influx into our country of men of the type already mentioned set in and began to make itself felt in the synods of Ohio and Michigan. Not that Der Lutheraner was published by any prearrange- ment with these men, for there was none. It is quite certain that they had little, if any, knowledge of Walther, and of things happening in Missouri. And we have it on the strength of a statement by Pastor Walther himself (Vol. 44, p. 177) that at the time of the publication of Der Lutheraner his acquaintance and connection with pastors outside of the little circle in which he moved was very limited; and further- more, that he sent out but two copies outside of this circle, his only purpose in publishing the paper being to get out and circulate a few issues in sufficient quantity, so as "to bear unmistakable and public testimony of what the Lutheran Church and Lutheran doctrine are." How Der Lutheraner at that early stage in its life found its way into wider and more distant fields must remain a matter of pure conjecture. It is sufficient for our purpose to know that it did. And it brought joy and relief to many sore hearts and troubled consciences. Here was a publication genuinely Lutheran to the core, giving evidence that right here in America there were men not ashamed to stand by their Confessions and to uphold and battle for them. Here was a paper setting before its readers a table richly laden with choice and wholesome Lutheran food. The great Scrip- tural truths were exhaustively treated, and it was shown that the Lutheran Confessions stood four-square on them. In defense of the sacred truths of the Bible Der Lutheraner lifted up its voice, and when duty required reproval of error, it shrank not from the task. Pseudo-Lutheranism and the shallowness of sectarian views and argument found little favor with Der Lutheraner. People began "to sit up and take notice." Coming from "deb lutheraner" iko\i isii to L847. ID the West, a clarion call went forth which began to arouse the sleepers, even as it brought joy to those already awake to the seriousness of the situation. For once the old adage, Ex oriente lux, seemed to be reversed. Dr. Sihler in his autobiography narrates how his heart leaped with joy when the first number of Der Lutheraner got into his hands. And having read it, he was not slow in recommending it and spreading it among his parishioners. "Thank God, there are more Lutherans in America!" cried out Pastor Wyneken, then pastor at Fort Wayne, Lad., on receiving the first number of Der Lutheraner. Pastor Ernst, having seen the paper, writes to Pfarrer Loehe : "No doubt, great things may be expected from Pastor Walther." Saupert and Schuster also wrote very approvingly of the new period- ical. No doubt, a like feeling prevailed with the Neuen- dettelsau men in Michigan. It would be unfair to assume that this feeling of joy was confined alone to these men from abroad. There were others in the different synods whose hearts were equally gladdened, men who sincerely deplored the sad state of affairs in their synods, but who either were too faint-hearted to lift up their voice in protest, or whose voice did not carry sufficient weight to stem the tide and bring about a change in existing con- ditions. As an instance in point Pastor F. Schmidt, of Pittsburgh, Pa., himself an editor of a Lutheran periodical (Luth. Kirchenzeitung) , may be cited, who, having received a copy of Pastor Walther's paper and meeting one of his parishioners, exclaimed: "We imagine that ice are Lutheran ; here" (pointing to Der Lutheraner on the table before him), "these people are real Lutherans, of whom one may learn what Lutheranism is." The leaven indeed began to work. Seeing that their position was untenable, and that they could not conscien- tiously hold membership where Lutheran principles did not govern, men began to sever their former connections. Thus Sihler, Ernst, Selle, Saupert, and others left the Ohio Synod in 1845; Wyneken withdrew from the General Synod in the EBENEZER. 4 50 "der lutheraner" from 1844 to 1847. same year, and the Michigan pastors, Hattstaedt, Craemer, Lochner, Trantmann, in the year following. It was Der Lutheraner that brought these men into closer relation with the Saxon pastors in Missouri. The columns of Der Lutheraner were opened to them to voice their con- victions and state their positions. A like privilege was ac- corded to others whose eyes had been opened to the truth. (See Pastor J. G. Kunz's appeal to the younger brethren affiliated with the General Synod, Vol. 2, p. 77.) Thus we have between 1844 and 1846 individuals and little groups of confessional Lutherans, some in Missouri and in Illinois, others in Ohio and in Indiana, and some in Michigan, all standing firmly on the common basis of the Lutheran Confessions, all of one mind, but without any organic tie to bind them together into one organization. Whether or not this knowledge of spiritual kinship among these various and widely scattered groups, as it had come to light through the instrumentality of Der Lutheraner, gave Walther the idea or caused him to form the plan of a closer organic union, cannot be determined with any degree of assurance. For a certainty, he was not averse to such a union on the basis of the Confessions. We take this from a reprint in Der Lutheraner (Vol. 2, p. 29) of a lengthy article, which had appeared in the Luth. Kirchenzeitung , on the governing principles for the formation of orthodox (rechtglaeubig) synods of the Lutheran Church in this country. In a foot- note he gives it as his opinion that "he feels in duty bound to lay before his readers this very important article as also meant for them," adding: "May it help to further also an outward union of the true (Lutheran) (again rechtglaeubig) churches of this country." How much Walther had this "getting together" at heart, after once the thought had taken a strong hold on him, we gain from an appeal in Vol. 2, p. 43. He had reviewed, and commented on, the withdrawal from the Ohio Synod of the pastors aforementioned, and then he continues: "Let us, who do not hypocritically call ourselves Lutherans, but are and desire to remain such in deed and truth, mutually gather "der lutheraner" from 1844 to 1847. 51 about the standard of the old, unalterable doctrine of our Church; let us mutually pray that God would send succor, mutually confess the truth, mutually battle, with the sword of the Spirit, against all perversion of the truth, and mutu- ally bear all the reproach with which the Lord is wont to mark His servants!" His stirring words were not spoken to the winds and in vain. They reached the hearts of many and incited men to action. Ere long Pastor Walther's desires were realized far beyond his hopes and expectations. At his invitation, early in the spring of 1846, Sihler, Ernst, and Lochner arrived at St. Louis to meet in conference the Saxon pastors Walther, Loeber, Keyl, Fuerbringer, Gruber, and S chief erdecker. Here men met who had become acquainted through their writings, and knew they were one in the faith, although they had never met face to face before. The principal topic of discussion was the forming of an organic body of such Lutherans as firmly stood upon, and adhered to, the Lutheran Confessions. And the result of their deliberations was a preliminary draft of a synodical constitution. A second meeting followed in July of the same year. It was held at Fort Wayne, Ind. The first draft of the consti- tution was revised and perfected, and signed by sixteen pas- tors, six other pastors and four teachers, unable to be present, sending in their assent. (Vol. 3, p. 2.) In the first number of volume 3, Der Lutheraner publishes the proposed constitution, elucidating several paragraphs in the following number. From this time on matters relating to the coming of the first meeting, when the new organization was to take form, developed rapidly. As is known, the meeting took place at Chicago, April, 1847, where the Missouri Synod came into being. In the interim, i. e., between the time of the conference at Fort Wayne in 1846 and the meeting at Chicago in 1847, Der Lutheraner continued in the even tenor of its way, bringing to its readers instruction in the pure doctrine; ac- quainting them with the progress made in the cause of the 52 F. C. D. WYNEKEN. Kingdom (for instance, the establishment of a theological school at Fort Wayne through the efforts of Pfarrer Loehe) ; keeping open its columns to those who for conscience' sake found it necessary to defend themselves against the slanders and slurs cast upon them for bearing witness to the truth; and finally bringing the first report of the proceedings of the first synod held under the name of The German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States. Der Lutheraner was made the official organ of the new church- body. Reviewing the first three volumes of Der Lutheraner, it can be said that the first volume establishes the basic prin- ciple on which true and pure Lutheranism must be built up. The second volume shows that the good seed sown is begin- ning to spring up, promising a harvest. The third volume sees those brought together through the instrumentality of Der Lutheraner united, ready to carry on the work of the Lord on a purely Scriptural basis. In the gracious providence of God Der Lutheraner was not only casually instrumental, but one of the most integral factors in bringing into life the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States as we have it to-day. F. C. D. Wyneken. Rev. J. W. Tiieiss, Los Angeles, Cal. No history of the Lutheran Church in America would be complete without a mention of Frederick Conrad Dietrich Wyneken, the father of home mission work in the Missouri Synod, and no description of the founding, growth, and development of our Synod would be complete if it left out the life, labors, and influence of this missionary pioneer and second president of the Missouri Synod. A review of his life, of the conditions in the Lutheran Church at the beginning of his career, of his methods, his character, and his influence will act as an inspiration to all missionaries of the present day and as an incentive to F. C. D. WYNEKEN. 53 Christians in general to live and labor with single-minded- ness for Christ Jesus. Any one who is tempted to grow weary in the performance of the duties of a Lutheran minister, or to be dissatisfied with the present-day status of religious life will do well to refresh his soul by a study of the self-denying labors of F. C. D. Wyneken as recorded by his biographers : Dr. Sihler, Dir. Lindemann, and Dr. Krauss. The data of Wyneken's life are briefly these: Born in 1810 in Verden, in the former kingdom of Hannover, he studied at Goettingen and Halle and emigrated to Amer- ica in 1838, landing at Balti- more and after a few months going onward to Fort Wayne, Ind., via Havre de Grace and Pittsburgh. His first letter from Indiana is dated Octo- ber 1, 1838, and was printed in part in Yol. I of the Luth. Kirchenzeitung. At once he went out to explore the coun- try in behalf of Lutheran missions, communicating his findings to the Mission Board of the Pennsylvania Synod. In 1841 he married Sophie Buuck of Adams Co., Ind., and soon after returned to Germany in order to persuade Lutherans to send missionaries to America. He reembarked for America and continued his strenuous labors in Indiana till 1845, when he was called to the pastorate at Balti- more, lid. In the same year he attended a meeting of pastors at Cleveland, 0., who had assembled in order to found a truly Lutheran synod. In 1848 he attended the second session of the Missouri Synod and joined this body. He was called as pastor of Trinity Congregation in St. Louis in 1850, and was chosen President of the Missouri Synod, succeeding Dr. C. F. W. Walther. In 1851 he revisited Germany with Dr. Walther, Rev. F. C. D. Wyneken. 54 F- C. D. WYNEKEN. in order to adjust various matters with Loehe and other European theologians. After his return his congregation gave him an assistant, and he moved to Adams Co., Ind. The fourteen years from 1850 to 1864 he spent in visiting congregations, presiding at synodical conventions, writing for the Lutheraner, and attending to the multifarious duties of a synodical president. In 1864 he was called as minister to Cleveland, O., resigning shortly after from the synodical presidency. In 1866 he was given an assistant by his Cleve- land congregation, and once more he paid a visit to Germany. In the same year, on account of advanced age and asthma, he resigned his pastorate and became assistant to his son, Eev. Henry Wyneken, in his own congregation at Cleveland. In 1875 he went to California on account of ill health, and in the following year he died at San Francisco, in the home of his son-in-law, Kev. Buehler. These are briefly the most important data of Wyneken's life : Forty-one years in the Lutheran ministry ; seven spent in the most intense labors of a missionary among the pioneers in the wilderness of Indiana; fourteen in performing the trying duties of a synodical president, traveling, visiting, writing, preaching, moderating, presiding at sessions; and the other twenty in serving three congregations: at Balti- more, St. Louis, and Cleveland. No meager recounting of these data, however, will give an insight into the obstacles which Wyneken had to overcome and the privations which he had to endure, especially during his missionary days. The spiritual conditions that Wyneken found when he took up his labors in America were appalling. • They can best be understood when we read Wyneken's own account in which he describes in a masterly way conditions as he found them. Like a true artist he adds a line to the picture by every sentence, till a complete, living portrait of his times rises before our eyes. Concerning conditions in the cities he writes : "You will find thousands of our people who, either forced by bodily want, or lured on by prospects of carnal liberty and outward comfort which the Prince of Darkness held out to them, F. C. D. WYNEKKN. 55 have hero made their homes. Numbers of those who already in the old country had sunken into the mire of profligacy here indulge with all the greater wantonness their beastly inclinations, having no reverence whatever for sacred things and knowing no restraints of even the merest outward de- cency. Horror and dismay fills me even now, while writing these lines, when I remember the shamelessness wherewith vice, not hidden in the darkness of night, but in the broadest daylight, struts about in the streets of a seaport, and how I there found the grossest indecency and the most disgusting dens of vice conducted by Germans. Others, rejoicing to have cast off the fetters of the Church as well as of the State, do indeed live in outward decency, yet without the Church, without hope, alas! even without any desires for anything higher. The ever-changing and yet so monotonous daily routine satisfies them and becomes the tomb of all holy longings after a perfect rest and the bliss of heaven. The children follow in the footsteps of their parents, some grow up without any education whatever, while others learn in the public schools only those things which enable them to get along in this life. The majority are carried along in the current of greed, which in America has reached its greatest depth and most sweeping force, and probably here delivers the greatest number of victims into the sea of perdition. "But God be praised, not all forsake their God and the faith of their fathers thus; their souls do crave food, con- gregations are formed, churches are built, and schools are erected. But probably in all larger cities the number of German orthodox ministers is inadequate for the size of the German population. The ministers have enough, yea, more than enough to do with those who voluntarily commit themselves to their spiritual care. But who goes forth to the dens of infamy, into the busy factories, where carnal minds are laboring merely for the bread of this present life? Who calls the countless sinners who do not at all concern them- selves about church and divine worship? Behold, here we need missionaries who are burning with zeal for the Lord and neither dread the pitying scoffs of the worldly-wise nor the 56 F- c- D- WYNEKEN. diabolical laughter of abject indecency, but force their way into their houses and into their hearts to win them for Christ. But these missionaries are wanting." The spiritual destitution of the German pioneers in the forests and upon the prairies Wyneken describes as follows: "Either singly or in small groups our brethren go into the forest with their women and children. In many cases they have no neighbors for miles around, and even if they have such near by, the dense forest so separates them that they live in ignorance of each other. Come now, reader, and enter the settlements and log-huts of your brethren ! Behold, husband, wife, and children must work hard to fell the giant trees, to clear the virgin forest, to plow, to sow, and to plant, for their pittance of money runs low or is already gone. Bread must be procured; but this can be gotten only from the ground which they till. Behold, also in their log-huts a strange sight meets German eyes; there almost everything is wanting that you would consider absolutely necessary in the line of furniture; everything is primitive, and there is no thought of comfort ; shoes and clothing wear out, and the winter is at hand! Small wonder then that everybody works in order to support this body and life. No difference is made between Sunday and week-day, especially since no church-bell calls them to the house of God, and no neighbor in his Sunday outfit arrives to call for his friend. It is not to be wondered at that the pioneer's tired limbs seek their couch without prayer, and that dire need drives them to leave it and return to work without prayer; even the prayer at mealtime has long since been banished by inveterate in- fidelity or recent trouble. Alas, Bible and hymnal also in many cases have been left in the old country, as the people, owing to rationalism, had lost the taste for them. No preacher arrives to rouse them from their carnal thoughts and pursuits, and the sweet voice of the Gospel has not been heard for a long time. Thus one month passes after another ; material conditions improve, want is relieved, the fields flourish, the log-huts have disappeared and made room for statelier homes, you see better clothing and more cheerful F. C. I). Wy.NKKKN. 57 faces. But look at their souls — for years they have not been fed with the Word of Life, no Table of the Lord has been spread for them. They have grown used to their spiritual death and can now get along quite well without their Lord, as their farm provides everything which they need in order to enjoy their daily existence. To be sure, in the beginning, when father or mother looked out with forlorn faces upon the forest from their log-hut, and hunger or death peered into their cabin, or when a little child had been born, or when the heart for a moment by the grace of God had become still and with the longing for home also the memories of the beautiful divine services of their childhood and therewith the longing for heaven softly came into their soul — then perhaps a sigh was heaved: 'Ah, if we but had a church, a minister, a school! What shall become of our children?' But you know quite well how soon temporal affairs stifle such emotions, especially when people do not hear the Word of God. So the longing which at first was kindled dies away by the art of Satan and the inclination of our own flesh and blood. A person gets accustomed to living without church, divine service, and school; the external life fascinates more and more, one is ever more absorbed by temporal affairs, and finally finds it convenient to be no longer disturbed or re- proved by the truth. The old sins and self-reproaches are forgotten, the quiet, monotonous, and yet so busy life in the forest does not offer so many occasions for the outbursts of sin and thus covers up the old deep-seated evil of the heart, yea, a person may finally imagine himself righteous and in good standing with his God and may thus perhaps calmly die. "Picture to yourself thousands of families scattered over these extended tracts of land: The parents die without hearing the Word of God, no one arouses and admonishes, no one comforts them. Now, behold, young and old are lying on their deathbeds, their soul perhaps does not as much as give a thought to preparation for the solemn Judgment; but a servant of the Lord would be able to direct the lost one to the holy God, who outside of Christ is a consuming fire, but in Christ a reconciled Father; he might, by the 58 ff. c b. wyneken. grace of God and the power of the Word, lead the heart to repentance and faith, and the dying soul would be saved. Or suppose finally that, behind the curtains of their death- bed, the serious step into eternity and the near Judgment has roused their souls, and they would like to be reconciled to their God, even now, now at their last moment; but, behold, the fountains of their memory are stopped up, the old consoling Bible-passages will no longer come forth, and no servant of the Lord is present to comfort them effectually with the Word of God concerning the grace in Christ Jesus. The poor soul stares into solemn eternity, the shudders of death dim the vision of the spirit, so that it cannot behold the reconciled God and the Mediator, the merciful High Priest in the Holy of Holies. Oh, what a blessing the ambassador of peace would now be with the effective absolu- tion for the penitent soul and with the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, that might stablish the doubting, wavering soul and direct its vision to that Body which was given for sinners and that Blood which was shed for the remission of our sins. How many thousands go forth unpre- pared and uncomforted into eternity!" These are the conditions which Wyneken in his day saw in our country, and how deeply they moved him is evident. What, then, did he do to remedy these horrible conditions? How did his love of Christ and his lost brethren express itself ? He went forth to rescue the sinners, and he deprived himself of comfort and rest. Riding or leading his horse, he threaded the wilderness through rain-storms and morasses to seek and save lost sinners. He roused them from their spiritual lethargy, pleaded with them, and bore the scoffing of the infidel, dauntlessly preaching, teaching, warning, ad- monishing, comforting year in and year out. At the same time he sternly resisted the encroachments of Catholics and sectarians, especially the Methodists, who endeavored by every means to turn Lutherans from the faith of their fathers. As a true shepherd he, on the one hand,* called lost sheep to the fold and, on the other, defended the flock against the wolves. F. C. D. WYNEKEN. 59 Seeing that the task was too great for one man, however zealously he might labor, he lifted up a clarion voice for help, for assistance in the much-needed, noble work of rescue. He sent letter after letter to procure help from his synod and made his voice heard in Europe, where help could be procured. When he took his first trip to the fatherland in 1842, he lectured on spiritual conditions in America from city to city, and published the above-quoted pamphlet with telling effect, his efforts resulting in societies formed abroad for missionary work in America and in men crossing the ocean to take up the work. It should also be stated that his interviews with noted Lutheran churchmen in Europe and lectures to various societies about the need of sending missionaries to America had the effect that the souls of thousands of Lutherans in the old country were stirred to pray for Lutherans in America and to raise funds for sending men. Besides this a maga- zine was founded which in its pages constantly reported about spiritual conditions in America and kept alive the enthu- siasm for mission-work which Wyneken had kindled. It should be mentioned in this connection that, while the prospects for obtaining help from Europe brightened, Wyneken personally instructed two men for the ministry, Jaebker and C. Frinke, the very first Lutheran students at Fort Wayne, Indiana, where later by the labors of Dr. Sihler and the influence of Loehe a seminary was erected. While Wyneken was loudly calling for help and was successful in obtaining it, he personally did by no means slacken in his eagerness, but labored on under what to us would appear most discouraging conditions. Living in a log- hut of 16X10 feet, where bunches of moss were stuffed be- tween the logs to keep out the rain and a few panes of glass stuck between the timbers admitted the light, where logs served in lieu of table and chair, Wyneken studied and wrote. There he taught his confirmation classes in Adams Co. In fact, he preached and instructed wherever he could find shelter in a house or a cabin and at any time when people were willing to hear the Word of Life. 60 F. C. D. WYNEKEN. As he expected no comforts in his living, but looked only to necessities, so also was he very plain in his dress. A slouch hat, an old coat, and a pair of yellow trousers of so-called English leather were good enough for the dirt roads and forest trails over which he traveled, and his well- worn, not to say shabby, black suit was reserved for minis- terial acts. He made nothing of fatigue and gave no thought to danger when he crossed morasses and streams by day and night. He was not hard to please as to food, but gratefully subsisted on whatever the pioneers set before him. No one ever accused Wyneken of greed. He never thought of money, it seems, except to give it to people whom he considered poorer than himself, yea, he gave to them his very articles of clothing. When he preached, he held the attention of his hearers by his earnest and lucid sermons, and when he con- versed with the pioneers, his friendliness and his genial manners won their hearts, especially as he often adapted himself to them by using the Low German dialect, and would enter on those things which concerned them and filled their lives. He truly became, as St. Paul says, all things to all men. Children instinctively loved him, for they felt that he was their friend. Towards young people "Wyneken was friendly and cheerful, but he would risk even the loss of their friendship rather than not admonish them when he was called upon to keep them from the downward path and to resist their follies. When he endeavored to win sinners for Christ, he spoke to them most earnestly and persuasively, often literally "buttonholing" sinners by taking hold of the lapel of their coat or running his finger through their buttonholes. Men whom he had won by his pleading used to say to Wyneken in after days : "Do you remember, pastor, how you buttonholed me on that occasion?" But he could be very stern with the hypocrite, and like a flash he could answer the scoffer and rout him before he knew it. There was something intensely human about Wyneken which will forever endear him to us. Rev. Haesbaert of Baltimore in 1839 wrote these mem- orable words about Wyneken: "Wyneken is a hero of the 1'. 0. I). WYNEKEN. 61 faith of that type for which a person, as a rule, looks in ancient times, long gone by. Oh, how his example Bhames many of us who live in peace and comfort, having abundance of all things, and who arc not ready to make the least sacrifice for the Lord and His poor brethren!" — As Wyneken had been the alert missionary, fiery and energetic, so was he afterward the patient, faithful pastor of his congregations and their champion against various errors which beset them. By conversation, preaching, and writing he manfully resisted the aggressions of Methodists and papists, yea, he testified against laxity in doctrine and prac- tise in his own Pennsylvania Synod. He raised his voice against sin in every form, because he was convinced of its satanic source and its destructive power. He testified, on the other hand, for his Savior, because he had tasted the sweetness of His mercy. He met with resistance in his congregations at Fort Wayne and later in Baltimore, and some of his sincere friends were so little informed about true Lutheranism that they accused Wyneken of Romish tendencies. He pointed these men to our Lutheran Confessions and induced them seriously to study these writings. Here is a sample of the earnestness of conviction with which Wyneken proclaimed the truth: "What I believe, teach, and confess about the Christian Church is the faith of the Lutheran Church, and is, without any subterfuge, clearly and distinctly expressed in our symbolical writings, to which I give assent with heart and mouth, and which by the grace of God in my weakness I am willing to uphold and defend to my last breath against all factions and assaults of the devil." And we must bear in mind that when Wyneken thus manfully and unequivocally declared for Christ and our Lutheran Confessions, he was not yet aware that the same continent held a band of Lutherans who were hoisting the standard of true Lutheranism, to wit: Walther and the Saxons. It was a genuine glad surprise to Wyneken when a copy of the Lutheraner, which since September 7, 1844. had 62 F- c- D- WYNEKEN. been edited by C. F. W. Walther, fell into his hands. After hastily scanning its contents, he joyfully exclaimed: "God be praised, there are more Lutherans in America!" When the newly organized Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States held its second session in 1848, Wyneken, who was then pastor at Baltimore, was present and became a member. His congregation likewise joined the Synod. His heart was full of joy over the assembly of Lutherans which he met at St. Louis, and he repeatedly said that he rejoiced to have lived to see this day. He was greatly strengthened in his faith and now waged war all the more manfully against the Reformed sectarians, pseudo-Lutherans, and the lodges. He showed what a danger the latter constitutes for Church and State, "being," as one of his biographers writes, "as far as we know, the first pastor in America who publicly withstood secret orders and condemned their works of darkness." Let us pause for a moment to see what special troubles beset him at Baltimore, and with what pastoral wisdom he met them. Wyneken was obliged first of all to take a firm stand against his own congregation in regard to the administration of the Lord's Supper, which had heretofore been given alike to Reformed and Lutherans according to the custom of each church. On the very first Sunday after his installation at Baltimore, the Lord's Supper was to be celebrated. The sexton had made the preparations, and Wyneken was alarmed when he approached the altar during the confession. There he beheld wine in a large earthen pitcher and bread and wafers side by side. What was he to do ? He at once called the elders to the vestry and told them the congregation was not Lutheran, he had been deceived by the call they had given him, and he could not administer the Sacrament. The good people were alarmed, telling him that they had never known they were anything else than truly Lutheran; he should merely act as a Lutheran pastor according to his best knowledge. After the sermon Wyneken asked the congre- gation to remain, and now he explained to them that he had not found their congregation a Lutheran one, but a so-called f. c. i). wyneken. 63 union congregation; for this reason it might be better to dismiss him at once, for if he remained, strife and discord would be stirred up in such a mixed body. The congregation, however, would not hear of his leaving them, but insisted upon his staying. "Very well," declared Wyneken, "then I will bring the Lutheran and the Heidel- berg catechism with me into the pulpit next Sunday and will read and explain both, so that each for himself can be convinced on which side the entire truth of the divine Word is to be found." He did as he had announced, and bitter feuds resulted over the doctrine in many families. Eighty Reformed left his church on one Sunday and founded a German Reformed church, looking for a long time upon Wyneken as their enemy. Another trouble which he had to meet during his Balti- more pastorate was a feud between himself and the members of the pseudo-Lutheran body, the General Synod, to which Wyneken as yet belonged and against whose un-Lutheran ways he began to testify. A member of this body, stationed at Baltimore, used every means to brand Wyneken as a Cath- olic and a Jesuit, and Wyneken was obliged to clear his Lutheran name in the Lutheraner. He succeeded in this and by his clear testimony for Lutheran doctrine and practise strengthened many, while his very adversaries had to admit that Wyneken was a manly, pure, and honest character. Still another trouble which Wyneken had to face at Baltimore was the lodge evil. Wyneken's testimony against secret societies was clear and persistent, and his warning was not given in vain, but opened the eyes of many to the anti- christian tendencies of the lodges. His protest was well understood by the various orders in Baltimore and drew slander and mockery down upon him. However, smilingly he bore the enmity of the Redmen and others, knowing full well that Christ was with him in the fight. All these troubles naturally had the effect of bringing him closer to Lutherans who wanted the whole Lutheran truth and nothing but the truth. The Saxon brethren in St. Louis, the Franconians of Michigan, Dr. Sihler, and 64 P. C. D. WYNEKEN. others who had just left the Ohio Synod became his close friends. After Wyneken had been called to the St. Louis pastorate, he was in 1850 elected President of the Missouri Synod, and the field for his activity and influence was greatly enlarged while his labors, if possible, were multiplied. It was then customary for the president of Synod personally to visit the congregations, and he visited as many as sixty in one year. It is needless to say how many troubles in congregations had to be settled and how many matters were adjusted during these visits, how seriously his faith, his patience, his wisdom and resourcefulness, yea, his physical strength was put to the test. The fourteen years of his presidency, his increasing age and bodily infirmities told upon him, and when these fourteen years were over and he assumed his last pastorate at Cleve- land, Ohio, he was an old man, a patriarch in the Church. In younger years he had suffered from throat trouble which had driven him once upon a time to seek medical aid in Germany. Now asthma was his trouble, which frequently attacked him. But neither age nor infirmities kept him from serving the Lord with all faithfulness at Cleveland. As his strength was waning, a minister was called to be his assis- tant. Later on his own son was made pastor of the congre- gation, and Wyneken acted as his assistant. In 1875 he resigned altogether and went to California, to his son-in-law, Rev. J. M. Buehler, to regain his health and strength, if it pleased the Lord. But his days were numbered, and on May 4, 1876, he breathed his last in San Francisco, California, deeply mourned by his faithful .wife and children and the entire Synod. — At the beginning of his career Wyneken was not clear in his mind on every point of Lutheran doctrine or Lutheran practise, but as years went on and the truth took more and more hold on his very soul and conscience, he declared him- self bound by the Word of God. He was a spirited writer, writing when his heart was brimful of the matter in hand and never writing just for the sake of composition. He was DR. WILLIAM Sllll IK. 65 not a man of dreams and theories, but a man of action, burning, eager, fearless, even to recklessness, firm, heroic, quick-witted, flashing, and resourceful. At the same time he was patient with the weak and erring. He was genial and winning in his manner, unassuming and wonderfully self- denying in his life. He was the very man of the hour, whom the mission-field in America needed and who by the grace of God was given to our Lutheran Church in her distress. His memory will never die as long as a member of our Synod remains true to the faith of our fathers, or a history of the Missouri Synod records the struggles of the infancy of our Church in our beloved country. Dr. William Sihler. Rev. W. Broecker, Pittsburgh, Pa. In a retrospect, after seventy-five years, upon the forma- tive period of Synod, we readily recognize in all the guiding" and governing hand of God. Simultaneously, however, there rise before our vision the men that were God's instruments in the laying of the foundation and the building of Synod. A deep sense of appreciation and gratitude for what they were and for what they have accomplished prompts us to look up to these fathers of our Synod. True, "the diversi- ties of gifts," as made necessary by the "diversities of opera- tions," were also apparent in these fathers. But that each and every one of them, burning with a genuine zeal for the house of the Lord, recognized the opportunity, and with utter disregard of self put his all in the service of God and the brethren, must add zest to our thanksgiving and fire to our Spirit-born ambitions of being worthy sons in the faith, love, and steadfastness of the fathers. Outstanding among them we find three men whose in- fluence on the formation and development of our Synod was preeminently decisive and beneficial beyond comprehen- sion. Such was Walther, beloved and revered, the chief organizer, the leader among his brethren. Such was Wyne- EBENEZER. 5 66 DR. WILLIAM SIHLER. ken, the enthusiast, in the best sense of the word, who out of a heart afire with the love of his Savior abandoned all for the sake of his scattered and shepherdless brethren and aroused his colaborers to the consciousness of the over- shadowing importance of home missions. And such was Sihler, the man of eminently practical application of the divine truths as they found expression in the confessions of the Lutheran Church. Making due reservation for the proper estimate of each of the forefathers of Synod, we be- lieve it no disparagement to any, when we would liken Walther to the head, spir- itually enlightened, endowed with rare gifts, never failing for good counsel and proper direction; Wyneken, to the heart, pulsating with holy fervor and communicating its throb to the whole body; Sihler, to the hand, seizing upon every opportunity for ways and means successfully to carry on the Lord's busi- ness. In the history of the Church we find one of the most edifying chapters that which tells how God in His mercy provided and fitted men through whose ministrations the Church was tided over dangerous crises, filled with new life, and brought out of a decaying to a flourishing condition. No less instructive is it to behold the oftentimes devious ways by which God led such men to the knowledge of the truth and then made them willing laborers in His vineyard. The latter applies fully to Sihler. Like most of the fathers of Synod, his early youth was lost in the maze of rationalism, in which the Church of his day was staggering about. In an autobiography he gives a stirring account of this saddest period of his life, extolling, however, the grace of God, which Rev. W. Sihler, Ph. D. DR. WILLIAM SII1I.KK. 67 brought him out of tlio dark maze to the divine light of the Gospel. Dr. W. Sihler was born November 12, 1801, at Bernstadt, near Breslau, Silesia. His father was a petty officer in the Prussian army, and an Evangelical, whilst the mother was a devout Catholic. Sihler was by nature exceptionally bright. At five he had mastered his letters, at ten he en- tered college, and at fifteen he was ready for the university. Now, however, he made a sudden turn and, following family traditions, entered the army. Again, after about two and one half years, the young second lieutenant tired of military science and was drawn to the study of languages, history, geography, and belles-lettres. These studies he pursued at Berlin, graduating as doctor of philosophy. After tutoring for a year, he accepted a position at the boarding-school of Director G. Blochmann at Dresden. The school was a private institution preparing young men for entry into the univer- sity. Sihler made the best of the opportunities presenting themselves during his eight years in Dresden. Especially in his intercourse with men of learning he formed intimate acquaintances with men prominent in science and research. However, in his position at the Blochmann institution he was to arrive at another turning-point in his life. It was here that God took hold of him, changed his inner life, and put him on the road to that career which made him one of the illustrious fathers of Synod. Until now Sihler had been little better than a heathen. His religious training at home had been sadly neglected. What he had heard and learned at school, at college, in the army, and during his university years, was rationalism, pure and simple. The whole atmosphere in which he had preferred to move was saturated with rationalistic theories concerning God, man, and the hereafter. At Berlin he had been capti- vated by Schleiermacher, the leader of the religious thought of the day. But Schleiermacher did not know Christ as the Son of God and the Son of Mary, as the Redeemer, but only as the Ideal Man. Pharisaical self-righteousness constituted Sihler's religion during this whole period. However, he must 68 DR. WILLIAM SIHLER. confess himself guilty of one besetting evil passion : he was of a violent temper. And at this point of weakness it was that the Lord took hold of him. Speaking of his conversion, Sihler compares it with that of St. Paul in that it was brought about suddenly, almost violently, without the instrumentality of man or book. After having given way to a violent fit of anger, he was struck to the floor and immediately became conscious of his wretched and damnable condition. But just as instantaneously Christ appeared in his heart with all His saving grace. Sihler was now a new man. As such he henceforth bore himself. The Bible now became his constant companion. His life from now on was a manifestation of the new Light. Old associa- tions must now give way to fellowship with avowed Chris- tians. Because of his witness for the truth he had to relin- quish his position at the Blochmann institute. He accepted an invitation to become tutor on Oesel in the Baltic, an island near the coast of Livonia and later at Riga, the capital of Livonia. The Christian fellowship enjoyed here led him to a searching study of the Lutheran Confessions, and he was brought to the firm conviction that the Lutheran Church is the orthodox visible Church of God, the Church of the pure Word and unadulterated Sacraments. By this time a strong desire to enter the ministry had gripped him. On one of his trips to a friend in the ministry God's providence put into Sihler's hand a copy of Rev. Wyne- ken's stirring appeal for pastors for the scattered Lutherans in America. Instantly he seemed to hear the Lord calling: "You must go!" And when his pastoral friends urged him and the Dresden Mission Society, of which he was a member, wrote him to go, he decided to answer the distant call. With 300 rubles and 10 ducats his Christian friends helped defray his traveling expenses. May, 1843, found him in Dresden, where the Mission So- ciety added another 200 rubles -to his fund. He went to Neu- endettelsau in Bavaria, to confer with Rev. Loehe, in whom Wyneken had won a warm supporter of the work for America. Loehe's zeal and plans for relief in America made a lasting DR. WILLIAM SIHLER. 69 impression on Sihier. With credentials from Dr. Rudelbach, an acknowledged orthodox Lutheran theologian, in his pocket, Sihier journeyed to Bremen, where he met one of Loehe's emissaries for America. They took passage about Sep- tember 17, 1843, on the Caroline, a sailing vessel, and set foot in New York on November 1. Here he was, in the prime of life, with a soul consecrated to his Savior and His service. True, his intellectual equip- ment for the work had not been gained by an academic course in theology at one of the universities of the Father- land, but what of that? In action upon action of his we behold in him the true theologian as he is made only by the grace of God, able to cope with the problems and difficulties he encountered. The spiritual conditions in the East were anything but reassuring. In New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore he found a Lutheranism strongly suffused with the unionism he had fled from in Germany, and permeated with decided Reformed tendencies. He turned his face to his prospective field, took rail to Cumberland, the "end of the line," and traveled by stage to Zanesville, from there to Columbus. Here he met the two theological professors at the seminary, receiving valuable data on mission-work in Ohio. Proceeding to Lancaster, his attention was called to a large settlement of Rhenish Bavarians in and around Pomeroy, Meigs County, where an Evangelical pastor was wanted. Sihier decided to begin his mission efforts among them. He was received with open arms and, by request, preached in town at the courthouse and at a schoolhouse in the country. But immediately there was occasion for him to show that straightforward sincerity which characterized him through- out all the years of his ministry. Originally these Rhenish Bavarians hailed from the unionistic church of Germany, the smaller number being Lutherans, the rest Reformed. Sihier frankly told them that he would preach nothing to them but the Lutheran doctrine, in harmony with the con- fessions of the Lutheran Church. Yet they called him, and he entered upon his first ministry January 1, 1844, basing his inaugural sermon on John 3, 16. 70 DR- WILLIAM SIHLEE. A strenuous time ensued for the new pastor. The people resembled virgin soil, which demanded clearing and drainage if there was to be a harvest. Sihler was no shirker, and the harder he worked, the more he found himself able to accom- plish. He studied the needs of his people, and was then inde- fatigable in teaching and preaching, in public and in private, by day or by night. Thus with wise tact he gradually or- ganized a town and a country congregation. After thorough instruction on the Lord's Supper and on other distinctive doctrines, the congregations were cleared of those who would hold fast to the Reformed teachings. On Sundays and once a week he preached to each of the churches, the farmers leaving their fields, even in the most pressing seasons, and assembling to hear the Word of God. He introduced per- sonal announcement for Holy Communion ; he taught school, both in the town and in the country; he made pastoral visits in the homes. Despite all this labor he found time for private studies, even for writing for the Lutherische Kirchen- zeitung of Pittsburgh, Pa. His tract, A Dialog of Two Lu- therans on Methodism, which had a wide circulation, was written during his pastorate at Pomeroy. In his work he missed one thing very badly, a church- paper of sound Lutheran stamp, which he might recommend to his people. We can hardly imagine the joy with which he read the first numbers of the Lutheraner published by Walther and the Lutherans of St. Louis. Here, at last, was a church-paper with a sound confessional Lutheran, i. e., Scriptural stand, a paper which his parishioners must read and study; and he saw to it that they did study it. At once Sihler also opened a correspondence with the editor of the Lutheraner. Another occasion of great joy for Sihler was when, one day early in 1845, Pastor Wyneken suddenly stepped into his abode. In a very brief time the two men found each other brethren and were a unit in their estimate of the Lutheraner and the Saxons and in their prayers for the welfare of the distressed Church. Wyneken's visit at Pomeroy, however, had a deeper sig- DB. WILLIAM SIIILKK. 71 nificance than merely to meet in person the man whose name was favorably known to him. Wyneken was on the road to his new field in Baltimore, and was now in quest of a pastor whom he might conscientiously recommend to his orphaned charge at Fort Wayne, Ind. Sihler was called. This was in the spring of the year 1845. Though in the year previous he had declined five calls to various cities, because his Pomeroy congregations were not yet properly established, and he knew of no man to whom he might entrust them, he felt in conscience bound to accept the Fort Wayne call. He could now confidently turn his "first love," as he fondly called his first congregations, over to a brother who had been instructed and sent across by Loehe. In Fort Wayne there was a congregation of about sixty members. Northern Indiana, moreover, offered very promising opportunities for mission-work; and, besides, Wyneken had left behind him two students who were preparing for the ministry. Sihler boldly took up the work where his pred- ecessor had left it. During his ministry of more than two- score years at St. Paul's in Fort Wayne he was never known to lag. "Onward!" was his watchword. Sihler arrived at Fort Wayne July 15, 1845. With the aid of the two students he arranged his bachelor's quarters. The spiritual condition of the new parish offered a fair foundation on which to build. Depending on his ministra- tions were also three settlements, twenty and more miles distant, in different directions, all reached on horseback over roads almost impassable. It would carry 'us too far were we to undertake to show in detail how, under his pastoral care, the Fort Wayne congregation enjoyed a most prosperous growth, or how, due to his circumspection and self-sacri- ficing labors, congregation after congregation sprang- up in the counties round about. That is a history of its own. But looking to the man, we find him in the pulpit, in the con- gregational meetings, in the homes, in public, and in private, ever the same, bent upon the one thing needful, upon bring- ing home the Word of God. He believed in the efficacy of this Word. To him the only power of salvation was the 72 DR. WILLIAM SIHLEB. Gospel of Jesus Christ. This was not in need of human aid to energize it. Hence we find Sihler a thoroughly Scrip- tural preacher, but so severely plain in his language that, having heard of his former love of brilliancy of style and beauty of language, we wonder at it. But he was satisfied, that, speaking to the plain people, the preacher cannot make his language too plain, if they are to understand and grasp the divine truths. Sihler knew how to apply the Law with a directness, so as to smite the guilty consciences, and again, to put Jesus in such a manner before the eyes of the peni- tent that they saw, and believed in, the Savior. He was an implacable foe equally of false doctrine and of all duplicity in Christianity. He inculcated truly evangelical discipline; for the congregation was to watch, together with the pastor, over the purity of faith and life in its midst. He insisted on a living faith, and never failed to remind his parishioners, whatever their position in life, and, if need be in special sermons, of the divine injunction, "Show your faith by your works." When Sihler was called to his reward, he left be- hind him a congregation thoroughly indoctrinated, full of living faith, and rich in good works. This in itself would indeed have attested his success as pastor. However, his work at home was brilliantly reflected in the part which he took in organizing the Missouri Synod. From the very beginning of his ministry he recognized the duty of pastors and congregations to affiliate, to unite, if for no other purpose than that of a public confession and of strengthening each other in the unity of faith. He would not stand aloof. He looked askance at such as would, from a mistaken conception of their Christian liberty, not join hands with professed brethren in the faith. From the day he accepted his first call, Sihler earnestly sought synodical connection. One condition, however, must be met by the synodical body with which he could affiliate, viz., actual unity in the faith, founded upon the written Word of God and voiced in the confessions of the Lutheran Church. Casting about among the synods of the East, his conscience forbade him to seek membership in the General Synod because of its DS. WILLIAM SIHLER. 73 utter disregard of Lutheran orthodoxy and its manifest in- dulgence of Reformed error on the part of some of its prominent members. The synod approaching nearest his own convictions, at least by the declaration of its constitution, was the Synod of Ohio. Sihler appeared at its meeting in 1844 at Germantown and applied for ordination and member- ship. In lieu of the obligatory examination the attest of Dr. Rudelbach was accepted as satisfactory. To his ordina- tion, however, the synod at first demurred. It had become the practise first to license candidates for ordination for one year to preach and perform ministerial acts, to put them on proba- tion, before granting them ordination. This faulty practise was due, of course, to a wrong understanding of the articles of the Church and of the ministerial office. Sihler, having learned this much at Dresden, showed that by virtue of his call he was already before God and the Church the rightful pastor of the congregations at Pomeroy, and all he requested was that Synod by the laying on of hands publicly recognize and confirm him as pastor, and give him its blessing for his oifice. Rather than accept the proffered license, he would withdraw his application for membership. His protestations were finally approved; he was ordained and received into membership. As to other spiritual benefits hoped for from this synodical connection, he was sorely disappointed; for he found the synod's work to be, according to established custom, merely a business routine. Sad at heart, he returned to Pomeroy. It does not surprise us, then, to hear that he soon quit this synod. Among other departures from Lu- theran teaching he had verified the fact that at the Lord's Supper not a few pastors were using the unionistic formula : "Christ says, This is," etc. Together with Pastors Ernst and Selle, he memorialized Synod on the decidedly unconfessional character of such formula. Synod, however, turned a deaf ear to their earnest representations. So there was nothing left for them to do but to sever their connection forthwith. This happened in 1845, immediately before Sihler's going to Fort Wayne. He and his fellow-confessors must now seek other company. And here we have a remarkable instance of 74 DR. WILLIAM SIHLER. the possibilities for good in a sound church periodical. The Luthcraner had the true Scriptural, the orthodox Lutheran ring. Sihler and his friends had recognized this. They had already had some very satisfactory correspondence with the editor, Pastor and Professor Walther, at St. Louis. But now the exchange of letters became more frequent. Overtures were made with a view to forming a new church-body, which should take an unqualified stand on the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions. Conferences followed, one at St. Louis, in the spring, another at Fort Wayne, in July of 1846. The result was the draft of a synodical constitution, to be submitted to all congregations and pastors that desired to join. The founding of the new synod in April, 1847, at Chicago, is a matter of record. The account of how it lived and throve and spread over the whole face of the earth, forms one of the most glorious chapters in the history of the Church in these latter days. That Sihler played an important part in the shaping and safeguarding of its foundation and in the de- termining of its policies was readily acknowledged by the young synod. Electing Walther, the recognized leader, to the presidency, it made Sihler the vice-president and charged him with the duties of an overseer of the Eastern District of Synod. When the proper administration necessitated another partition of Synod, Sihler was elected president of the Central District. And he justified the confidence thus placed in him. A watchful overseer over his District, he was a faithful visitor of the pastors and their congregations, giving profitable counsel and, if need be, a helping hand. A conscientious investigator, he successfully removed ob- stacles to the peace and welfare of the churches and of indi- vidual members. A zealous promoter, his eagle eye was quick to discover a settlement, or a favorable center, for mission activity, and a man was put in charge. It is with a thrill that we become aware of how that infant synod, born in 1847, throve and, step by step, arrived at a wonderful maturity under the fostering care of men like Sihler. Just here let us remember that the fathers of our Synod were not permitted to pursue their work in peace. Besides DR. WILLIAM SIIILER. 75 the trowel they were obliged to wield also the sword. Their mettle was put to the test not so much by enemies from without as by such as would be brethren, but were not. And they valiantly gave battle, the trusty shield and weapon of the Word of God gaining in every conflict the victory for sound Lutheranism. Yet with the Missourians it never was a warfare of extermination, but for the winning of souls. In the front ranks, abreast with other leaders, we see Sihler, singled out by his brethren as one of the captains to meet the foe and vanquish him with the Sword of the Spirit. Thus he gave a good account of himself in writing against the eastern denatured Lutherans, and as a representative at both the colloquies with members of the Buffalo Synod and with those of the Iowa Synod. Age forbade his too active participation in the awful conflict which followed the fratricidal attack on our Synod towards the end of the last century, but many a cheering word went from the veteran to those who had to bear the brunt of the battle. He proved himself, indeed, a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And yet in one other direction Sihler was a powerful instrument in the hand of God for the reclaiming and fur- therance of His kingdom. Surveying, upon his arrival at Fort Wayne, in 1845, his new field, the words of the Savior, "The harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few," im- pressed themselves upon him with irresistible force. With him, however, conviction of a need resolved itself into de- termination to act. He finished the training of Jaebker and Frincke, the students left behind by Wyneken, and sent them forth. But he must have more. In letters to Loehe he pre- sented with all the force at his command, the plight of the Lutherans in the West. And Loehe was not slow to send relief. For he now saw the time come to put into operation the plan already outlined in the conference Sihler had at- tended at JSTeuendettelsau. He sent eleven young men to be prepared for the ministry, and sufficient funds to buy an ample tract of land and to put up the necessary buildings for a theological seminary. The location was to be at Fort Wayne, and the execution of the plan and the directorship 76 DB. WILLIAM SIHLER. of the institution was given over to Sihier. Not at all con- fident as to his personal qualifications for so stupendous a task, Sihier at first felt timid about accepting the respon- sibility. But there was the crying need of God's people, and here was God putting the means for relief into his hands. So, in the name of the Lord, he entered also upon this part of the service for the Kingdom. This was the founding of our so-called practical seminary, in 1846. Its scope, as de- fined by its founder, was this : Matured young Christian men who had an adequate general education, omitting the ancient languages, and desired to become ministers, were to be pre- pared for the service of the Church by receiving as complete a theological training within as short a time as possible. Sihler's heart was in the work. Sacrifices for his seminary were not sacrifices for him, even if he did give board and lodging to some of the students in his own home. As the volume of the work increased, Loehe sent him able assistants. In 1848 Loehe, urged by Sihier, presented the seminary to the Missouri Synod. When Synod, however, insisted that Sihier retain the directorship, he was happy. He became attached to the institution with a peculiar fondness, and never quite overcame the grief caused him by its removal, in 1861, from Fort Wayne to St. Louis. Looking back upon his fifteen years of seminary work, he had been materially instrumental in preparing and sending out about one hundred laborers into the harvest, among whom there were men of eminent efficiency both in church and school. Untold bless- ings have sprung and continue to flow to this day from that seminary. Not satisfied with this, Sihier, in 1867, also founded at Fort Wayne our seminary for teachers in our parochial schools. What this teachers' seminary has done and still means for the Church is full well known. This sketch would, indeed, be incomplete if we forgot to take a look also into the home life of Sihier. Aye, he had a home and a family. True, he had come to Fort Wayne forty-four years of age and still a bachelor; but he did not remain so long. His friend Rev. Ernst introduced him to DR. WILLIAM SIHLER. 77 Miss Susanna Kern, a very Christian maiden. The courtship was brief. The difference in ages notwithstanding, the prof- fered hand was accepted, and after a few days a happy bridal couple set out from Neuendettelsau, Union Co., Ohio, for the parsonage at Fort Wayne, Ind. Sihler had drawn a prize, and he appreciated it, and as often as opportunity offered itself, he made much of the treasure which God had given him in his good wife. She was a true handmaiden of the Lord. One with her husband in the faith and in love of the Savior, she was one with him also in the bringing up of their family. As to conducting her household, she under- stood the art of keeping expenses within the bounds of the very limited salary of the pastor. Hospitality was written above the door of the parsonage. Poor students there found refuge; visiting pastors were made welcome. Though there was no amassing of silver and gold, still by the aid of his good wife there had been a wealth of good Christian works heaped up in that parsonage when Sihler laid himself down to sleep. At last the day of rest dawned also for this servant of the Lord. When his years had advanced beyond fourscore, this laborer who had seemed not to know weariness began to grow weary and to long for the rest of the people of God. His last appearance before his congregation was on Pente- cost, June 5, 1885, when he delivered the Communion address. Almost swooning, he was taken home. During the long ensuing weeks he was nursed most tenderly by his faithful wife, assisted by one of the daughters. Although the Lord had done great things through him during his lifetime, yet Sihler would speak of them very lightly. But the sense of his unworthiness to appear before his God could not have been deeper when he was first converted than it was in his last weeks. Only a few days before his death he asked for pencil and paper, and with a trembling hand wrote the first words of several Bible-verses, such as, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself," and, "For me to live is Christ." Sunday, October 25, he declared his pains of body and his temptations of the soul to be at an end, and 78 THE LOEHE FOUNDATIONS. received Holy Communion. The following day he was heard to whisper, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit," and the end was believed to have come. But he rallied once more. Being 'asked by his wife what she was to tell the children, his answer was, "That they abide in Christ." These were his last words, his heritage to his kin of blood and, we add, his heritage also to his kin of the faith. Yes, may that be the lesson we learn from the faith and the life of this father in Christ: "That we abide in Christ!" The Loehe Foundations. Prof. Th. Graebner, St. Louis, Mo. A number of small rivulets, originating in as many springs and mingling their waters as they flow together, fre- quently are the beginning of rivers that gradually become large streams. At the headwaters of the Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States we can trace a number of small con- fluent rivers, rising in as many widely separated springs. There are the Saxon immigrants of 1838, whose story has just been told, and who have a memorial for all time in the word "Missouri," in our corporate name. The word "Ohio" stands for another source that contributed to the slender streamlet of our body in 1847 — the labors of Wilhelm Loehe in Neuendettelsau, Bavaria. To relate how this came about, and how the work of Loehe in Ohio and Michigan, in the providence of God, brought the first contribution of men and means to the foundation of Walther and the Missourians, shall be related in the present chapter. At a time when also the Lutheran Church of Bavaria had come under the influence of rationalistic teachers, Wilhelm Loehe, in the small town of Neuendettelsau, stood forth as a leader among those who were still preaching the Gospel in an age of doubt and unbelief. Our space is limited, and we cannot speak of the labors of Loehe's early years. Far beyond the confines of his town and country he became famous as preacher, organizer, and philanthropist. His contemporaries TIIE LOEIIE FOUNDATIONS. 70 have left accounts of Loehe's great power as a preacher, — for example: "At 6 o'clock in the morning he gathered nun of all ranks about his pulpit, patrician and peasant, learned and unlearned, to listen to his marvelous sermons. Like Rev. William Loehe. a prophet he lifted up his voice without respect of persons." "It was such a preacher who stood upon the pulpit of that village church, and when he preached, it was as if a flame of fire proceeded from his lips. He spoke with the majesty and authority of a prophet. He was also a keen observer of human nature, so that he could touch the inmost heart-strings of his hearers, and warn and plead and point them to the only 80 THE LOEHE FOUNDATIONS. refuge for fallen humanity. As might be supposed, the con- gregation of such a preacher soon contained others than the peasants of the village. Men of all ranks and stations crowded around that poor little pulpit, and for all, high and low, learned and unlearned, he had a message. But whatever the gifts of the preacher might be, who would suppose it possible that from this unknown and poverty-stricken corner influences should go forth that would help to solve the social and missionary problems of the world?" Loehe had the true heart and mind of a pastor, as is evinced in this : "Neuen- dettelsau itself has no attractions for me. But the Lord has called me to this place, and that makes it attractive for me." About the year 1840, Loehe's attention was directed to the sad condition into which the Lutheran immigrants to the North American States had fallen. A missionary society with headquarters in the town of Staden had issued an Appeal for Aid for the German Protestant Church in North America, which quoted from statements of the pioneer mis- sionary Friedrich Wyneken, in which the spiritual distress of German Lutherans in the States was set forth. Loehe read this appeal, and in the Noerdlingen Sonntagsblatt, edited by Pastor Wucherer, gave it wide publicity in the circle of con- gregations by which he was recognized as leader. Number Two of the 1841 volume of the Sonntagshlatt contained Loehe's "Address to the Beaders," from which we quote the salient portion : — "Thousands of families," said Loehe, citing from Wyne- ken's letter, "your brethren in the faith, possibly your brothers and sisters according to the flesh, are hungry for the strengthening meat of the Gospel. They cry out and implore you : Oh, help us ! Give us preachers to strengthen us with the Bread of Life and to instruct our children in the teachings of Jesus Christ! Oh, help us, or we are undone! Why do you not assist us ? Consider the words : 'What ye have done for the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.' Why do you not help us ? Is that your love of Jesus ? Is it thus you keep His commandment ? — It is literally true that many of our German brethren in America THE LOEIIE FOUNDATIONS. 81 thus complain. Besides, in many places there has a new danger. In no other country are there so man; as in North America. Some have even now directed their attention to the settlements of our German brethren and fel- low-Lutherans. Strange laborers would harvest win -re the Lord would call His own. Shall our brethren no longi r wor- ship in the Church of their fathers, filled with the breath of the Lord, and, instead, recline in the lazarettos of the Shall German piety decay in the New World under the in- fluence of human measures? I beg of you, for Jesus' sake, take hold, organize speedily, do not waste time in consulta- tions! Hasten, hasten! The salvation of immortal souls is at stake !" This appeal did not fall on deaf ears. Moneys began to flow rapidly, and soon Loehe had a fund of 600 guilders. The "Society for North America," just organized at Dresden, began to agitate for the relief of the emigrated brethren. Before long workers began to offer their services. The first to enlist for the cause, through the Dresden society, was Adam Ernst, a cobbler's apprentice, who in Bohemia had read the Appeal for America. He had been a pupil of Pastor Wucherer. Very soon another laborer tendered his services, George Burger, a native of Noerdlingen. Both Ernst and Burger desired to become schoolteachers, and with this end in view took lodgings in Neuendettelsau, where Loehe him- self instructed them for a year. On July 11, 1842, these first two missioners of Loehe — Sendlinge he called them — re- ceived their commissions. August 5, Ernst and Burger embarked at Bremen for the New World, and September 26 they arrived at New York. They entered positions corresponding to their abilities and preparation at Columbus, 0. Ernst taught a newly organized German school with fine success, while continuing his voca- tion as a cobbler. Burger took a course in the theological seminary at Columbus in order to complete his education. The very next year, Pastor Wyneken visited Germany. Wyneken, a man of intense missionary spirit and of great energy, had emigrated to America in order to serve his breth- EBENEZER. 6 82 THE LOEHE FOUNDATIONS. ren in the dispersion. Now the Lutheran Christians of Ger- many heard from his own lips the plea for the scattered settlements in the American Middle West. It was the Mace- donian cry: Come over and help us! Mightily he appealed to the conscience of the home Church, impressing upon it the duty of first of all aiding the children of the household of faith, now left without spiritual care in the frontier settlements of the United States. Loehe supported his pleas with eloquent addresses and articles. In one of the early issues of his new paper, Kirchliche Mitteilungen, founded for the support of the work in the American field, he said: "We do not intend to withhold any aid from the heathen, we shall do for them all that lies in our power. Help the heathen, help them with all your resources, but do not forget the 'especially' of the apostle which he accords to those of the household of faith. Do not forget that many North American Christians are actually lapsing into paganism, un- less they receive aid from the fatherland." Loehe next divided the entire province of Hanover into circuits, and at the head of each placed a pastor whose duty it was to represent the cause in his parish and neighboring parishes, and to cooperate with a committee in the capital of the province. By means of this loosely organized body of workers, Loehe managed to extend, through a number of years, considerable aid to the American home mission field. The expenses of quite a number of Loehean missioners were defrayed wholly or in part out of funds collected by Dr. L. A. Petri, the talented and energetic pastor of the city of Hanover. The women of the parish contributed their labors, furnishing bed-linen and other necessary equipment for the Sendlinge. These would often lodge with Petri or one of his parishioners while passing through Hanover on their way to the port of Bremen. When the first colonists designated for Frankenmuth arrived in Hanover, they were hospitably en- tertained in Petri's house and were dismissed by him with prayers and benedictions. Through his endeavors a number of splendid workers, among them Wolter, Roebbelen, and JSievers, were won for the American field. THE LOEIIE FOUNDATIONS. 83 While the plans of Loehe were thus being advanced by the Lutherans of Bavaria and Hanover, a society with the same object in view was formed in Saxony. The most distinguished among the missioners gained through their efforts was a young candidate of philology, Dr. W. Sihier, who was appointed by Loehe to the responsible position of director in the newly founded seminary at Fort Wayne. Also the later missionary to the heathen, Baierlein; came from Dresden. In Mecklenburg the most active promoter of Loehe's undertaking was Provincial Counselor Karl von Maltzan, a man of noble lineage and, what is more, of true nobility of soul. His influence gained for the cause of American home- mission friends and patrons among the aristocracy of Meck- lenburg. Connections with Neuendettelsau having been es- tablished, the Mecklenburg organization assumed the expense of equipping two new missioners, Craemer and Lochner, and also the cost of their journey, the amount necessary for this purpose being 1,104 guilders. Maltzan and his friends con- tinued active supporters of the work for a number of years. As late as 1853 the sum of 2,337 guilders was raised for Con- cordia College at St. Louis through a collection encouraged by the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg. The crying need of the Lutherans in North America soon prompted Loehe to widen the scope of his efforts. His first purpose had been the preparation and support of parish school teachers. He now proposed to supply also the lack of Lu- theran preachers in the settlements of the New World. So great was the dearth of preachers that Loehe decided upon a short cut, characteristic of his energy and practical genius. Instead of obtaining candidates of theology from the uni- versities, he assumed the task of training workers himself, men who had not received a classical education, but who possessed the necessary gifts and, above all, an enthusiasm for the cause. He called these missioners "emergency men" — Nothelfer. Most of their instruction he imparted himself, though sometimes availing himself of the assistance of others. During the forenoons he attended to the duties of his parish, his correspondence, etc., while the entire afternoon, from 84 THE LOEHE FOUNDATIONS. 1 o'clock until 6, sometimes 7, was devoted to lecturing to these students, — surely a testimonial to his own energy and capacity for work as well as for that of his scholars. They would meet again at evening devotion in his house, and at such times one of the students might be called upon to make an address. They would instruct catechumens under his supervision, accompany him on his sick-visits, etc. It should be said that among these emergency men there were, after all, a few who had received academic training. Candidates of philosophy, philology, and theology volunteered for his "short course," especially Hanoverians. When the year 1844 drew to its close, the number of preachers thus obtained had grown to eight. About this time Loehe considered the possibility of en- tering into some working arrangement with the pastors and congregations who had in 1838 accompanied Martin Stephan to the State of Missouri. He had knowledge of their dis- illusionment, but was also in receipt of reports which testified to the spiritual life that dwelt in these settlements after the season of doubt and despair had passed. In 1844 he in- structed one of his missioners, Hattstaedt, to visit Walther at St. Louis, and, if possible, to pave the way for union. Hattstaedt was prevented from making the journey, and Rev. Ernst entered into correspondence with the Lutherans in Missouri. The following sentences from Walther 's reply are characteristic : — "Whoever freely and of his own accord has subscribed to the Confessions cannot possibly entertain any hopes, based on human reasoning, that any good can come of being yoke- fellows with those who are indifferent to plainly revealed truth. Unless a Lutheran synod he willing to receive into itself the seeds of dissolution, it must, by its very law and charter, exclude all possibility of such subtle syncretism. Of what avail is a confession by words if the deeds contradict it? Nay, let us not take flesh for our arm. Let us be loyal to the truth, and not endeavor to advance the cause of God's kingdom by departing from our instructions. We cannot save souls nor preserve the Church, — that is the Lord's THE LOEIIE FOUNDATIONS. 85 business; let us leave it to Him, and to Him alone. Of us, who are but stewards, nothing will be required except that we be faithful. . . . And let us not lose faith in God when He tells us, who are so few in number: 'The people are still too many who are with you.' It is sufficient that we have the trumpet of the Gospel in our hands and the torch of faith in the empty pitchers of our hearts." When contact had been thus established with the Lu- therans in Missouri, Pastors Ernst and Lochner and Dr. Sihler paid a visit to St. Louis. This was in May, 1846. The impressions which these men received from Pastor Walther and the congregational life in St. Louis were most favorable. "A man who has passed through a severe school of affliction, who has, through devout and diligent study of the Scriptures, of Luther's writings, and of the writings of the later dogmaticians, thoroughly liberated himself in every way from the shackles of Stephanism and attained the soundly Lutheran position; a man endowed with remarkable acuteness of intellect and with practical common sense; a born leader in congregational affairs; altogether sincere, straightforward, honest; a man willing to spend himself utterly for others when the glory of God and the welfare of the Church are at stake; strong and steadfast in confession and also in the application of confession to life; an incisive opponent of those who wilfully adulterate the truth, patient and charitable towards those who err from ignorance," — this is the character sketch of Pastor C. F. W. Walther drawn by Dr. Sihler after their first meeting in St. Louis. The spir- itual life which he observed in the St. Louis congregation, especially its spirit of sacrifice, drew from his lips similar words of praise. The object of this meeting of Loehe's representatives with the Saxon pastors was the joint deliberation regarding the preliminaries of church-union, more especially the drafting of articles embodying the general contents of a synodical constitution. This draft was submitted to a conference which met soon after at Fort Wayne, attended by some twenty mis- sioners of Loehe and also by Walther and Loeber, and after thorough discussion was adopted. 86 THE LOEHE FOUNDATIONS. Loehe for two reasons found fault with this document. In the synodical management he desired a certain amount of supervision and control by bishops, and the equality of lay representatives with the clergy he termed a sign of "demo- cratic," "Americanizing" tendency. He confessed to "a cer- tain horror" of a constitution which recognized congrega- tional representation (such as we have in our Synod at the present day). His men, especially Sihler, at first sponsored these objections with no little emphasis. But the clarity and force of Walther's argumentation finally prevailed. Even at this time Loehe had departed from the Scriptural doctrine of the Church and the ministerial office. Had his influence prevailed, we should not now possess, in our Synod, that freedom of the local congregation which is the keystone of our organization as a corporate body. The Saxon pastors in Missouri, then only twelve in num- ber, were overjoyed at the accession of strength which came to them through union with the Loehean pastors, more than twice their own number and in charge of respectable con- gregations, especially in the Eastern States. They recog- nized this increase in outward numbers as a strengthening of sound Lutheranism in the American field, and such it truly was. Walther had shed tears of joy when he first heard Ernst and Lochner preach at St. Louis, and discovered their loyalty to the Lutheran standards. On the basis of the overture for a synodical constitution the union between Loehe's missioners and the Saxon pastors was consummated, and in April, 1847, the first convention of the "German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States" met at Chicago. Loehe's particular views concerning the ministerial office and the Church had been surrendered by his American disciples, yet he was in a measure justified when he referred to the "sower's task" which he had performed. The Missouri Synod recognizes the debt which it owes to the missionary fervor of this man, and the breach of friendly relations which followed must ever remain a source of keen regret. We cannot omit reference, in this connection, though THE LOEHE FOUNDATIONS. 87 the full story will be told later, to the founding of the college at Fort Wayne. Dr. Sillier, pastor of a Fort Wayne congre- gation, had first suggested the establishment of an institution of learning in that city. Loch<\ however, had supplied the first impetus for this move also. He had expressed the desire that "something on a larger scale" be done for America. II is patrons were willing to undertake the raising of 50,000 guilders for his new venture, and though this large sum not realized, Sillier strongly advised that the establishment of a seminary at Fort Wayne bo carried into immediate effect. In October, 1846, the institution, housed in tempo- rary quarters, was opened with 11 scholars. Meanwhile the missionary undertakings of Loehe and his friends had entered a new stage. The Bavarian churchman had long cherished the wish that the Lutheran settlements in America might become centers for missionary activity among the Indians. His plan was, not to send out individual missionaries to the American aborigines, but to establish German Lutheran congregations in the immediate vicinity of the Indian villages. The pastors of the congregations were to be at the same time missionaries to the Indians. The congregations were to be the foci from which the light of the Gospel was to be radiated into the darkness of heathen superstition and immorality around them. The fact that, owing to adverse conditions, so little came of this under- taking or series of undertakings, cannot blind us to the mag- nificent conception which lay at the basis of these new efforts of the Neuendettelsau genius. These efforts were not hampered by any lack of able and willing workers. There sojourned, at the time., in Loehe's house, a young candidate of philosophy, August Craemer. He was a Franconian, a man of fine gifts and accomplish- ments, among these a working knowledge of English. His life had been one of strange vicissitudes, and he had some time since formed the resolution to devote his energies to the work in the American field*. Loehe gave every encouragement to Craemer and resolved to appoint him leader of the colony which was to test out his plan for missionary work among 88 THE LOEHE FOUNDATIONS. the American Indians. For various reasons the State of Michigan appeared to be the missionary territory best suited for this venture. A servant then employed in the Loehean home volunteered as colonist; his determination found an echo in the hearts of others, and soon a small company of young Franconians had gathered who were ready to leave their homes under Craemer's leadership, to settle in Michigan and there serve as a basis for missionary work among the natives. It was an extraordinary company of emigrants. As Loehe said, in his Nach- richteti: "Not poverty is the cause of their emigration / from their home country; / !■£&& ^1Gy nave' every niu' of / |j8% III them, been favored with / ||| good fortune in their home f. land; some, indeed, have been prosperous. Nothing prompts them but the thought — at once humble and sublime — of founding in the wildernesses of the New World a starting- point for missionary work among the heathen. April 20, 1845, they em- barked on the Caroline, a sailing vessel, in Bremerhaven. They reached New York after a somewhat lengthy trip, having been fifty days under way, and then without delay continued their journey to the interior. In Saginaw County several plots of ground suitable for colonization had been selected by Rev. Schmidt of Ann Arbor, then president of the Michigan Synod. On one of these sites, located on Cass Eiver, the first Franconian settlement, Frankenmuth, was established. The beginnings were very laborious. It was hard work to clear the primeval forest, and the immigrants suffered all the hardships and privations of frontier life. Everything Prof. August Craemer. THE LOEHE FOUNDATIONS. SO was strange — the people, their tongue, their cusf" the natural scenery had a strange, almost a menacing look. "No one," wrote one of the colonists, in retrospection, "can have an adequate conception of the appearance of a North American landscape. No path through the forests. Through brush and extensive morasses, over fallen trees, which form the only passageways through the swampy land, the path leads to the settlement. A dead silence reigns in these woods, broken only now and then by the weird screeching of the owls, the barking of the squirrels, or the cry of wild four- footed beasts. After one has waded, climbed, stumbled almost to exhaustion, one comes in view of the colony. And the settlement — what a doleful sight! A cleared space, sur- rounded by a rough rail-fence. In the center of it a miserable cabin, built of rough-hewn logs. The most poverty-stricken village in Germany contains palaces compared with this." The colonists were good churchgoers. Morning and even- ing services were the rule every day in the little log-church which they had erected. Almost every Sunday large numbers would commune at the Lord's Table. The colonists received a strong addition in numbers during the following year, when nearly 100 new arrivals from Germany were made welcome at Frankenmuth. When the colony had been established six years, it consisted of more than 80 cabins and farm-houses, a saw-mill and a flour- mill, there was a physician, three merchants, who accepted all products of the soil in trade, and a post-office. The congregation did not fail to improve its missionary opportunity. From the very outset the colonists sought contact with the Indians. A school was established for Indian children, and Pastor Craemer together with a certain Mr. Flessa, a teacher, by means of an interpreter, instructed the scholars that came. On Christmas Day, 1846, the three first-fruits of the mission were gathered in by baptism. These were Abuiquam, an Indian youth about 18 years of age, who received the name Abraham, since he had signified his wish to become a "Father in the Faith" to many of his 90 THE LOEHE FOUNDATIONS. people; and his two sisters, who were given the names Mag- dalene and Anna. A door to the red men had thus been opened for the Frankenmuth settlement. But the hopes of Loehe and his colonists were not to be realized. The beginning, indeed, was promising. On Pentecost, 1848, Craemer baptized the nineteenth Indian child. Both he and his wife expended their energies without stint in the physical and spiritual nurture of the Indian children. When he began to feel the strain of his twofold office, — he was pastor of the con- gregation besides serving as missionary to the natives, — he received a colaborer in the person of missionary E. Baierlein, who arrived in 1847 together with a com- pany of immigrants, whose leader was Pastor J. H. Ph. Graebner. Baierlein built a log -cabin at Frankenmuth and received the Indian boys into his new home. With the aid of an interpreter he also tried to inaugurate church- services. But the conviction soon grew upon him that for any kind of successful work he should have to make his home among the natives. A propitious occasion arose. Chief Be- massike happened to visit Frankenmuth. Baierlein was much in his company, and when he left, he invited Baierlein to visit him in his village, Shinguagunshkom. Baierlein ac- cepted this offer and was overjoyed when the chief suggested to him that he make his home with the tribe. With the aid of several colonists, Baierlein now built a log-house, thirty by twenty feet in dimensions, which was to serve as dwelling for the missionary, as school and as church. Bethany was the name given to this mission-station. Rev. J. H. Ph. Graebner. THE LOEHE FOUNDATIONS. 91 He composed a speller and a render in the Chippewa tongue, Bible stories constituting the reading-lessons. The children greatly enjoyed the study of this little book and booii acquired the art of reading. In their tepees they would read to their parents the wonderful stories of the New and Old Testa- ments. Soon the first indications of spiritual Life were notice- able in the older people of the tribe. Thus in the course of years a little congregation of Indian Christians was gathered. These children of the forest were intimately united, by bonds of love and veneration, with their spiritual faither. Their sorrow was great when, 1853, Baier- lein felt himself obliged to accept a call to the East Indian mission. One of his most faithful Christians, Pemagojin, declared that he could not and would not witness the depar- ture of his teacher. Two days before the day of departure he appeared, as had been his custom, as a guest in the mis- sionary's residence. He was in hunter's garb. Again he silently smoked his pipe, but his head was bowed low. Then he quickly arose, without uttering a word passionately em- braced the missionary, kissed him, and, hurrying from the cabin, disappeared in the forest. In the farewell service the men bravely controlled their grief, while the women wept aloud. Then a slow procession wended its way to the river. Many of the Indians entered their canoes to accompany the missionary and his family a little way. Singing "To God on High Alone Be Praise," the small flotilla drifted down the stream. Then the Indians returned to their villages. Baierlein never again saw his Bethany, but its memory remained with him during the re- mainder of his life. Hopes of a successful mission among the Indians began to languish. The red men were sparsely settled in the State of Michigan, merely small tribal remnants of ten to twenty families dwelling together. Also the converts were of so roving a disposition that it was quite impossible to win them for settled habits of life. Although the best land in and near Bethany Mission had been conveyed to them, they began to migrate, settling in Isabella County, where the Methodists 92 THE LOEHE FOUNDATIONS. had established themselves. We lose all trace of them after this. Later efforts of Loehe to Christianize other tribes were without tangible result. But the abounding energy of the man had not by any means been exhausted, nor was his courage daunted. He continued his colonization plans, modifying them to meet new situations or to satisfy newly arising needs. He believed that nothing would so contribute towards the establishment of a sound and well-ordered church-life as the settlement, in colonies, of those who were already united by bonds of faith and race. He encouraged the organization of new colonies in the State of Michigan, in localities suitable for nurseries of Lutheran church- and home-life. Frankentrost was the first-fruit of this new program. Founded in 1847 under the leadership of one of Loehe's emergency men, Pastor John Henry Philip Graebner, this colony had a steady and normal growth, though it did not develop as quickly as Frankenmuth, since the colonists were originally quite poor, and later addi- tions did not arrive in very great numbers. The next foundation of Loehe was Frankenlust, established in 1848 on the Sqwa-sqwa-ning River, not far from Bay City. The right man for this undertaking was found in the person of the candidate of theology Ferdinand Sievers, then assis- tant pastor at Husum, in Hanover. He had determined in 1847 to leave his fatherland in order to devote himself to the North American mission among his countrymen. His offer to superintend the foundation of the new colony was gladly accepted by Loehe. In the spring of 184S a number of Fran- conian peasants gathered around him, and on the fourth of July, in the same year, this company, consisting of seventeen adults, started to make their home on a site comprising an area of 600 — 700 acres, near the junction of the Sqwa-sqwa- ning with the Saginaw River. Owing to political unrest in Germany, immigration suf- fered a check during the next few years, but this circum- stance did not prevent Pastors Craemer and Sievers from continuing the development of Loehe's far-sighted plan. Even before Loehe's approval had been received^ they had THE LOEIIE FOUNDATIONS. 93 engaged in a new undertaking by the purchase of 1,592 acres of land on the Cheboygening River. Loehe consented to the arrangement, principally because he now saw an opportunity for the realization of a thought which had long exercised his mind, the founding of a colony for young people who under Bavarian law, prevented by poverty from entering into the state of matrimony. But unforeseen conditions made the execution of the plan impracticable. Several families of Franconian and Swabian origin, together with a number of unmarried young people, had /"""^ ~~~~^\ indeed started in 1850 in yC order to make their home / in the new colony, called m Frankenhilf, and had gotten / \ as far as Saginaw under the / & leadership of their pastor, | H. Kuehn; but here they were attracted by the supe- rior living conditions which the colony Frankentrost pre- sented, as compared with the hardships of a new settle- ment in the unbroken forest, and they remained in Fran- kentrost. Others had to seek immediate employment in or- der to pay off debts incurred for the long journey and to gel a start in the new country. As a result, of the entire emi- grant company only one family, the Amnions, reached the site of the new colony. Amnion was a man of some refine- ment and, of the entire company, really the one least able to endure the hardships of frontier life. He was for a year the only settler on the Frankenhilf territory. Then others ar- rived, increasing the number of settlers to five families, with eighteen souls. At the present day, also Frankenhilf is a flourishing Missouri Synod congregation. "Nothing has gone as we wanted it to go," — said Loehe on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his missionary efforts in Rev. Ferdinand Sievers 94 ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNOD IN 1847. North America, — "but all has gone in such a way that suc- cess and blessing attended our work." Another chapter will give some space "to the controversy on the doctrine of the Church and the ministerial office which brought about the breach between the Missouri Synod and Wilhelm Loehe. It must remain a source of regret that, at that early stage of our work, this division became unavoid- able. In spite of his departure from Biblical truth, our Synod will ever remember the services which Loehe rendered the cause of a strict and confessional Lutheranism. Most of all, however, does the thought fill our hearts with grati- tude that our fathers were unswayed by any consideration of persons — and the engaging and forceful personality of Loehe had made a deep impression on them — in their determination to plant in America a Lutheranism untainted by error. Only because they remained loyal to the confes- sional principle was it possible for a sound Lutheranism to take foothold in the American West, soon to encompass in its sphere of labor and influence the -entire North American republic. The Organization of the Missouri Synod in 1847. Rev. H. Kowert, Chicago, 111. Seventy-five years have passed since the organization of the Missouri Synod. It has grown from a small acorn to a mighty tree ; from a small handful of 22 pastors and 12 con- gregations to a strong and gigantic body of almost three thousand pastors and 3,338 congregations and preaching- stations. Its network of congregations and missions has so girt the globe that to-day it is a world-wide organization. Darkness never settles upon the steeples of our churches. The publications of our Synod enter well-nigh every nook and corner of the universe. The educational institutions are preparing thousands of young men for active work in the Lord's vineyard. The present-day convention of the Missouri Synod deals with great and mighty problems in the kingdom ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNOD IN 1847. 95 of God the world over. It calls for millions of dollars, and requires the active cooperation of every one of the 1,006,065 souls for the successful propagation of its work. And yet, no convention has ever, nor ever will, eclipse tin- very first, the constitutional convention of our Synod. This first convention gave life and form to the body; it laid down the principles which are still in force to-day. All subsequent conventions are but a repetition, an expansion, an elaboration of the first. Well may we therefore ponder over the organiza- tion of our Synod in that first convention. To the Luther aner belongs the credit and the glory of having paved the way for the organization of the Missouri Synod. The Lutheraner was launched by Pastor C. F. "VV. Walther of Trinity Lutheran Church, St. Louis, Mo., on Sep- tember 7, 1844, in conjunction with several pastors in Mis- souri and Illinois. His congregation promised to meet an eventual deficit. The object of the Lutheraner was to en- courage the Lutherans that were scattered over the country like sheep without a shepherd to remain faithful to their Lu- theran Church, to warn them against the many dangers be- setting them on all sides, to provide them with the necessary spiritual weapons for their own defense, and to comfort them with the assurance that their dear Lutheran Church wTas not extinct. At the same time the Lutheraner was to be a public testimony to the Americans in general concerning the doc- trine and polity of the Lutheran Church. Walther, the editor, was well qualified for the difficult task of editing such a periodical. As a result of his thorough and conscientious study of the Bible and the Symbolical Books of the Lutheran Church, he was convinced that the Lutheran Church is the true visible Church of Christ on earth, and he was firmly de- termined to uphold, defend, and disseminate its saving doc- trines at any cost. Hence his Lutheraner had a clear, de- cided, uncompromising ring from the very beginning. It was like the voice of the prophet crying in the wilderness. The Lutheran Church was in a deplorable condition at that time, and it was sorely in need of just such a clarion call to the faith of the fathers. 96 ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNOD IN 1847. The Eev. John G. Morris, president of the General Synod in 1843 and 1883, founder of the Lutheran Observer (1831) and its first editor, in his book, Fifty Years in the Lutheran Ministry, published in 1878, describes the conditions in the Lutheran Church in those days as follows : "Fifty years ago [1838] when there were less than 200 ministers in the Church, neither the ,Augsburg Confession nor any other creed was regarded as obligatory upon them. The large majority of them, however, were orthodox in the usual acceptation of the term; that is, they accepted the evangelical system of Chris- tian doctrine, and a large proportion of them preached it faithfully. But many of them were not strictly Lutheran on the dogma of the Sacraments, or at least did not attach much importance to it. It never was a subject of discussion among them, and hence there was a great diversity of senti- ment. Many of them were not thoroughly educated men, and they gave themselves no trouble concerning the distinguish- ing features of our faith. They were sturdy Lutherans in name as a party signal, but sadly latitudinarian in their theology. "To so little extent was distinctive Lutheran theology discussed that it may, perhaps, surprise some of my readers to learn that in the three volumes of Das Evangelische Maga- zin, the first professedly Lutheran periodical published in this country, the subject of our doctrine on the Sacraments is not even alluded to." To substantiate his position, Walther frequently quoted the church fathers, especially Luther, adducing them as wit- nesses, not as authorities; the Bible alone was his sole authority. The Lutheraner made a twofold impression upon its readers. It divided and it united; it created enmity and friendship; it was bitterly denounced and highly eulogized. Men who were anxiously concerned about the upbuilding of a truly Lutheran Church welcomed its appearance and urged the members in their congregations to subscribe for it. When Pastor F. Wyneken, who had already severed his connection with the General Synod on account of his Lutheran prin- ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNOD IN IVI7. <)~ ciples, saw the Luther aner for the firsl time, he exclaimed, "Thank God, there are yet more Lutherans in America!" A similar effect was produced on other Lutheran pastors in Indiana, Michigan, and other States, many of whom had also left their synods for similar reasons. These Lutheran pastors now began to correspond with Walther. The result of this correspondence wslb an ever- growing desire to meet and discuss the organization of a new synod. The first meeting of this kind was held in Cleve- land, O., in September, 1845. Walther, however, was not present at this meeting. The second meeting was held in St. Louis, Mo., in May, 1846., in the parsonage of Trinity Lutheran Church. Pas- tors Walther, Sillier, Loeber, Ernst, Lochner, Keyl, Gruber, Schieferdecker, and Fuerbringer attended this conference. In place of the Cleveland draft a new one, formulated by Walther, who was gifted with a remarkable talent for or- ganization, was substituted. The earnestness and serious- ness of these men may be gathered from the fact that they devoted nine long meetings to the discussion of the new draft and decided to meet again for further consideration of the same only two months later in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Fort Wayne meeting, which was held in the early part of July, 1846, in the residence of Pastor W. Sihler, Ph. D., was attended by 16 pastors. This number is sur- prisingly large, if we consider the poor transportation facili- ties at that time. "The trip from St. Louis to Fort Wayne cost $50, and consumed four days each way. Nevertheless, Walther, Loeber, Keyl, and Brohm came from St. Louis with a lay delegate, Mr. Fr. W. Barthel, traveling via the Ohio Biver to Cincinnati, and theli by canal to Fort Wayne. The Michigan men, Craemer, Hattstaedt, and several members of their congregations, traveled by lake boat to Toledo, and then to the place of meeting via the Wabash Canal." (Steffens, Walther.) The trip from Chicago to Fort Wayne had to be made on horseback or in a wagon. Six pastors who could not be present at this Fort Wayne meeting signified their approval in writing. After several modifications had been EBENEZER. 7 98 ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNOD IN 1847. made in the St. Louis draft of the constitution, it was signed by the 16 pastors attending the conference: — G. H. Loeber, Altenburg, Perry Co., Mo. ; Dr. W. Sihler, Fort Wayne, Ind. ; Knape, Defiance, Henry Co., O. ; Schmidt, Cleveland, O.; A. Ernst, Neuendettelsau, Union Co., O.; C. F. W. Walther, St. Louis, Mo. ; Th. Brohm, New York, N. Y. ; J.E.Schneider, Marion, Marion Co., 0.; C.August T. Selle, Chicago, 111.; F. W. Husmann, Marion Township, Allen Co., Ind. ; F. A. Craemer, Frankenmuth^ Saginaw Co., Mich. ; J. Trautmann, Danbury, Ottawa Co., O. ; W. Hatt- staedt, Monroe, Mich. ; A. Detzer, Williams Co., O. ; Burger, Willshire, Van Wert Co., and Mercer Co., O. ; G. H. Jaebker, Adams Co., Ind. — Those who were unable to be present at this meeting, but had signified their approval by letter, were the following: Pastors C. F. Gruber, Paizdorf, Perry Co., Mo.; E. G. W. Keyl, Frohna, Perry Co., Mo.; Ottomar Fuerbringer, Elkhorn Prairie, Washington Co., 111.; G. A. Schieferdecker, Monroe, 111. ; J. F. Buenger, St. Louis, and Central Township, Mo. ; F. Lochner, Toledo, O. The follow- ing candidates for the ministry were also present: A. Leh- mann, G. K. Schuster^ Boehm, Wolf, J. W. Scholz. The preliminary steps toward the organization of the new synod had now been taken ; a full and cordial agreement had been reached on every point; the next step was to be the formal organization of the synod at Chicago in April of the next year. Due publicity was therefore given to the entire move- ment; the Fort Wayne draft of the constitution was pub- lished in full in the Lutheraner of September 5, 1846. Con- gregations were expected to study this proposed constitution, and, if in full accord with the same, to cooperate in the organization of the new synod. The intervening time was a time of great suspense and anxiety for the organizers of our Synod. The draft of the constitution had been finished; they had all been "with one accord in one place," but the great question still remained: How will it work? Will the constitution be found practical when put to the test? Are we not trying too much? Will ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNOD IN 1847. 99 the Lutherans from various parts of the country, accustomed to their own peculiar ideas, feel at home in the new organiza- tion? Will the congregations that are viewing this venture and every synod with distrust be willing to join? Will the strong men that have already agreed on this document clash over unforeseen conditions, and precipitate the entire move- ment to sudden ruin and disaster? Will the Synod be ephmeral, or will it live and grow and prosper? What will be the outcome? Those hostile to the new movement branded it as a folly, an impossibility, an absurdity on American soil, and prophe- sied a speedy ruin and collapse. Those vitally interested in it lifted up their hearts to the great Shepherd and Organizer of His Church, and hoped and prayed. Finally the appointed time for the constitutional conven- tion was at hand. On Saturday, April 24, 1847? and on the previous day most of the pastors and delegates arrived at Chicago, then a city of about 20,000 inhabitants. On Jubi- late Sunday, April 25, the opening service was held in the modest little church of the First St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Con- gregation, located at that time on the southwest corner of Ohio and La Salle Sts. Pastor G. H. Loeber preached on the Gospel -lesson for the day, which was significantly appro- priate for the occasion. Holy Communion was also cele- brated. In the afternoon another service was held, in which Pastor W. Sihler, Ph. D., preached on Acts 2, 42 : "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." These two ser- vices strengthened the hope and the longing within every heart. In the evening the pastors met at the residence of the local pastor, the Rev. C. August T. Selle, and agreed upon the mode of procedure for the first session on the next day. On Monday morning, April 26, 1847, the convention was formally and solemnly opened with song and prayer. The first address on this historic occasion was made by Pastor C. August T. Selle. He dwelt upon the purpose of this conven- 100 ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNOD IN 1847. tion. Undoubtedly lie also extended a cordial welcome to the pastors and delegates in behalf of his congregation; but little did he or his congregation surmise that their being host to this small body and thus becoming the cradle of the Mis- souri Synod would go down in church history as one of the greatest honors and privileges ever granted to a congregation. The Fort Wayne draft of the constitution was now pro- duced and signed by the original drafters. Having thus constituted the new synod, they proceeded to effect its organization by the election of temporary officers. The Eev. C. F. W. Walther be- came the first President, the Rev. F. W. Husmann the first Secretary, and the Rev. W. Sihler, Ph. D., the first Treasurer of the Mis- souri Synod. A great charge had been committed to these men: they were responsible for the proper functioning of the new organization; their rights and duties were clearly defined by the con- stitution. The constitution was the result of thorough and conscien- tious Bible study and a diligent search of the symbolical books of the Lutheran Church. Every line in it had been examined and reexamined; it is a bold, clear-cut statement of Lutheran principles (there is not a trace of cowardly yielding or temporizing). In the first chapter the reasons for the organization of a synod are stated as follows : — § 1. The example of the Apostolic Church (Acts 15, 1—31). § 2. The conservation and continuance of the unity of the Rev. C. A. T. Selle. ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNOD IN 1847. 101 true faith (Eph. 4, 3— 16; 1 Cor. 1,10), and a united effort to resist every form of schism and sectarianism (Rom. 10, 17). §3. The protection of pastors and congregations in the fulfilment of their duties and the maintenance of their rights. § 4. The endeavor to bring about the largest possible uniformity in church practise, church customs, and, in general, in congregational affairs. § 5. Our Lord's will that the diversities of gifts should be for the common profit (1 Cor. 12, 4 — 31). § 6. United effort to extend the kingdom of God and to make possible and to promote special aims of the synod (seminary, agenda, hymn-books, Book of Concord, school- books, distribution of the Bible, missionary activities within and without the church, etc.). Surely, all good and necessary reasons for the organiza- tion of a synod ! In order to be reasonably assured of success in carrying out the objects expressed in these reasons, Synod needed men and money; the more, the better, of course. Should it not therefore open wide its doors and receive into membership all who would be willing to join, irrespective of doctrinal differences? Would it not have been expedient in those pioneer days to act on this principle ? No, and a thou- sand times no ! The organizers of our Synod knew that obe- dience to God's Word is more necessary than men and num- bers. Like Luther, their conscience, too, was bound by the Word of God. Hence we find among the conditions of mem- bership in the second chapter these and other requisites laid down as necessary to acquire and to hold membership in Synod : — Acceptance of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- ment as the written Word of God and the only rule and norm of faith and of practise. Acceptance of all the symbolical books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as a true and correct statement and exposition of the Word of God, to wit, the three Ecumenical Creeds (the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed), the Unaltered Augsburg Con- fession, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smal- 102 ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNOD IN 1847. cald Articles, the Large Catechism of Luther, the Small Cate- chism of Luther, and the Formula of Concord. Renunciation of unionism and syncretism of every de- scription, such as serving union congregations composed of members of churches with different confessions as such; taking part in the services and sacramental rites of heterodox congregations or of such of mixed confession; joining the heterodox in missionary efforts or in the publishing and dis- tribution of literature; exclusive use of doctrinally pure agenda, hymn-books, and catechisms in church and school; providing the children with a Christian school education. The following four chapters of the constitution deal with the external organization of Synod, its proper sphere and limitations, the methods to be used in successfully carrying out its principles, the number of officers of Synod, and their rights and duties. An organization built upon such a foundation is not built upon sand, but upon the eternal "Word of God, and assured of His grace and blessing. Christ is our Corner-stone, On Him alone we build. What though the gates of hell withstood, Yet must this building rise; "lis Thine own work, Almighty God, And wondrous in our eyes. After Synod had been duly organized on the basis of this constitution, the credentials of the pastors and lay delegates were examined and passed upon. Memorials and petitions from individual pastors, laymen, and congregations were then received by the chair. Special committees were appointed to report on these memorials and petitions. Two pastors, the Rev. C. J. H. Fick and J. C. Streckfuss, asked to be received into Synod. Synod ruled that they would first have to submit to the colloquy prescribed in the consti- tution. Then, undoubtedly causing a moment of suspense, Pastor Geyer and his delegate, Mr. Hoeckendorf, informed Synod ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNOD IN 1847. 103 that they would be willing to join if certain changes would be made in the constitution. A special committee was ap- pointed to consider their recommendation. A letter from Pastor Hattstaedt of Michigan, asking for the advice of Synod on certain difficult problems in his con- gregations, was also turned over to a special committee. On this very first day Synod also created the office of mis- sionary at large, electing Candidate C. Fricke to this position. A special committee was appointed to give him detailed in- structions later on. After transacting this fundamental business, Synod ad- journed for the day. But adjournment did not mean rest. The committees addressed themselves to their various tasks, and the first colloquy of Synod was held in the evening. The first day had passed satisfactorily; Synod had been firmly established. But its work had only begun ; the follow- ing great and momentous questions still remained to be dis- cussed and acted upon : proposed changes in the constitution ; educational institutions; publishing activities; missions. Several changes in the constitution were proposed by various congregations. The most important change or addi- tion was submitted by Trinity Lutheran Church of St. Louis. According to this addition., Synod, in its relation to the indi- vidual congregation, is to be merely an advisory body; the resolutions of Synod are to have no binding effect on the individual congregation until the congregation has examined them and adopted them as its own; if a congregation con- siders a resolution of Synod contrary to the Word of God or unsuited to its conditions, it has the right to reject it. Synod, ever open to conviction, saw the advisability of this recom- mendation and embodied it in its constitution. Another change in the constitution was urged by the con- gregation at Frohna, Mo. The congregation considered the "retention of the general confession and absolution in con- gregations where it would be impossible to drop this in- stitution" (private confession) as un-Lutheran, offensive, incautious, and insufficient. Synod, however, was not con- 104 ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNOD IN 1847. vinced by the arguments presented, and decided to abide by its constitution, and asked the pastoral conference of Missouri to take up this matter with the petitioning congregation. A lengthy and interesting discussion ensued over various changes advocated by the Rev. E. Leonhardt of Lancaster, O., in regard to that portion of the constitution dealing with the object of Synod to endeavor to bring about the largest pos- sible uniformity in church practise, church customs, etc. Synod decided that no force or coercion should be used in introducing a new custom or ceremony, but that this should be done only after due instruction and in accordance with the principle of Christian liberty. The most serious objection to the constitution was raised by Pastor Geyer and his delegate, Mr. Hoeckendorf , in behalf of their congregation. The committee which had investigated their objection reported that in the course of their investiga- tion Pastor Geyer had maintained that congregations had no right at all to enter into synodical relations, since there is neither a command nor promise of God to this effect, and that the constitution was wrong in claiming that the conven- tion of the congregations at Jerusalem was an example for the present organization. Synod, accepting its committee's report, replied that organizing a synod was a question of Christian liberty and therefore could not be forbidden by any person; that such a synodical organization is an external in- stitution and well in the province of a Christian congrega- tion; that a general command can be found in such Bible- passages as Eph. 4, 3 and 1 Cor. 14, 40 ; furthermore, that the convention of the congregations at Jerusalem and Antioch is a pattern for us inasmuch as they held their convention ac- cording to their Christian liberty, and that what was per- missible then cannot be forbidden now. Since Pastor Geyer maintained his position, Synod ad- monished him prayerfully to reconsider it. Throughout all these transactions Synod showed a broth- erly spirit to all who advocated changes in the constitution, and thoroughly discussed them. The fact that only one im- portant change was made in this first convention, and that ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNOD IN 1847. 105 the same constitution, with only few and slight changes, is in force to-day, shows the firmness and soundness of the foundation laid by the organizers. Educational Institutions. The organizers of our Synod were wide awake and blessed with a vision. They wTere determined to train an orthodox and efficient body of pastors and teachers for future work in the Church. Hence they made provisions in their first con- vention for institutions in which these might be properly trained. These institutions were to be of a twofold char- acter, the one the so-called theoretical course and the other the so-called practical, or shorter course. Due to the providence of God two such institutions were already in existence and were soon to be turned over to Synod as its property. The one, the log-cabin Seminary in Perry Co., Mo., had been built by Candidates Brohm, Fuerbringer, Buenger, and Walther, and also some of the members of the Saxon congre- gations in Perry Co., in 1839. Its main object was to give the students a full theoretical training for the ministry. The other institution was located at Fort Wayne, Ind. It was built in 1846, under the direction of Pastor W. Sihler, Ph. D., with the financial assistance of Pastor Loehe and other brethren in Germany. Its object was to train pastors and teachers for service as quickly as possible. Synod deemed it advisable to acquire full control of these private institutions. Hence the resolution was passed to ask Pastor Loehe whether the founders of the Fort Wayne Seminary wTould be willing to relinquish all their rights in favor of the new Synod, and continue to support the institu- tion financially. In regard to the seminary at Altenburg, Perry Co., Mo., Synod resolved to appeal to certain religious leaders in Ger- many for financial aid, and promised to use the money thus obtained for the maintenance of the seminary at Altenburg, Mo., if the congregations now owning it would place it under the control and supervision of Synod. 106 OKGANIZATION OF MISSOUEI SYNOD IN 1847. In this connection it shonld be emphasized that the first convention of our Synod did not overlook the first and funda- mental educational institution, the parochial school. The constitution provided for the establishment of these schools, in which Christ's little lambs are trained for service in His kingdom, and also for service as citizens of our country. According to the official report of the first convention, every pastor was urged to start a parochial school, and, if necessary, to be its teacher. Publishing Activities. The organizers of our Synod believed in printers' ink. The present size and prestige of our Concordia Publishing House is the inevitable result of the determination of the organizers to furnish the periodicals and books necessary for Synod's work. The publishing of an official periodical or organ for Synod was considered self-evident and was soon decided upon. Full ownership and control of the Luther aner was offered to Synod by Walther for this purpose, and was gratefully accepted. In appreciation of his excellent services as editor, Synod re- tained Walther as the official editor of the Lutheraner, and instructed him to specialize even more than previously on church conditions in this country. Synod also appointed a special committee for the publication of the Lutheraner, and instructed the treasurer of the Lutheraner to insist on payment in advance on the part of all subscribers. Special critics were also designated for each of the leading religious publications in America. Pastor Th. Brohm of New York informed Synod that a certain Mr. Ludwig of New York was contemplating a new edition of the Book of Concord and had printed Luther's Small Catechism (41/^ cents each per 100). Synod agreed to do its utmost in support of this proposed edition of the Lutheran Confessions, and to advise all congregations of this edition of the Catechism. The publishing of a Book of Bible-verses (Spruchbuch) and suitable schoolbooks Synod also, at its first convention, regarded as its duty. ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNOD IN 1847. 107 Finally, Synod resolved to publish 500 copies of the transactions of its first convention. (These were to be dis- tributed as follows: two copies to each member of Synod, one copy to each five voting members of congregations be- longing to Synod, five copies to the District Synod of Eastern Ohio, and five to the Tennessee Synod, and twelve copies to the secretary for distribution among friends of Synod. Missionary Activities. The congregations and pastors that organized our Synod were not only small in number, but also very poor. Most of the congregations were still struggling to hold their own in a financial way. They knew, too, that their educational institutions would cost considerable money. Nevertheless the cause of missions was not overlooked by them, but thoroughly and enthusiastically discussed. "We have already seen that a visitor, or missionary at large, was appointed by them on the first day of the convention. This surely is an indication of their missionary zeal. Detailed instructions, carefully worked out by a committee, were given to the visitor. His chief duty was to explore new fields and per- form missionary work in them; he was instructed to present a thorough report of his findings every two months to the President of Synod. A mission-station among the Indians in Michigan had already been started by some of the brethren. This mission-station was as yet under the auspices of Pastor Loehe and his Mission Board in Germany. Synod was anxious to take charge of this work, and therefore resolved to ask Pastor Loehe whether he and his Mission Board would be willing to give the new Synod full charge and control of this mission among the Indians in Michigan. Pastor A. Cramer informed the convention that he had received a communication from the Central Mission Society of Nuernberg, Germany, in regard to mission-work among the heathen. Synod was willing to cooperate if possible, and appointed a special board to take this matter under con- sideration. Various other matters were also discussed during the first 108 ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNOD IN 1847. convention. From the first to the last session Synod worked hard and successfully. In a resume of the first convention the Secretary writes : "During the convention ten temporary committees were elected for the consideration of important and difficult problems; one official opinion was given; three detailed instructions and six other writings were drawn up; four colloquies were held, two ministers ordained, and there were seven services. Eighteen public sessions were held. In the last session the officers and committees for the next three years were elected with the following result : — Officers of Synod: President, Rev. C. F. W. Walther; Vice-President, Rev. W. Sihler, Ph. D.; Secretary, F. W. Husmaim ; Treasurer, Mr. F. W. Barthel. — Examiners and Collocutors : Rev. G. H. Loeber and Rev. W. Sihler, Ph. D. — Corresponding Secretary for Foreign Connections : Rev. G. H. Loeber. — Chronologist : Rev. Ottomar Fuerbringer. — Mission Board : Rev. C. J. H. Fick, chairman ; Rev. A. Crae- mer, secretary. — Committee for Publication of Lutheraner: Rev. J. Buenger and Mr. F. W. Barthel. After the election, Candidate C. Fricke, who had been ap- pointed missionary at large on the first day, was solemnly inducted into his office, and after having resolved to hold the next convention at Trinity Ev. Luth. Church, St. Louis, Synod adjourned. The journey homeward was much easier than the one made to the convention. The Lord had been with them and signally blessed them. With joy and gratitude in their. hearts toward the Good Shepherd, who had wonderfully brought them together, united them in this organization, and prospered their work, with a firm determination to dedicate their very lives to the up- building of true Lutheranism in this country, they cheerfully and confidently performed their duty, and many of them lived to see at least a part of the phenomenal growth of the Missouri Synod. Let us cherish the memory of our heroic pioneers, ponder over their trials, and follow their noble example. In this way ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNOD IN 1847. 109 we, the new generation, "that knew not Joseph," will leard to value our inheritance higher, defend it more gallantly, and cooperate more heartily toward its perpetuation and ex- pansion to the glory of our Savior and the welfare of Im- mortal souls. CHARTER The charter following order Pastors. C.F.W.Walther, A.. Ernst. W. Sihler, Ph. D. F. W. Poeschke. F. A. Craemer. F. W. Husmann. G. H. Jaebker. G. K. Schuster. G. Streckfuss. J. C. H. Fick. C. Mor. Buerger. W. Scholz. G. H. Loeber. Ottomar Fuer- bringer. C. A. T. Selle. F.W. Richmann. J. Trautmann. C.L.A.Wolter. Th. Jul. Br ohm. W. Hattstaedt. J. E. Schneider. A. Detzer. MEMBERS OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. members of the Missouri Synod are listed in the in the official record of the first convention: — A. Voting Members. Congregations. Trinity, St. Louis, Mo. In Neuendettelsau, Union Co., O. St. Paul's, Fort Wayne, Ind. In Hassler's Settlement and congregation near the Sami- naque. 111. In Frankenmuth, Mich. In Allen and Adams Co. and congregation near Fuelling, Ind. In Adams Co., Ind. In Kosciusko and Marshall Co., Ind. Zion, Van Wert Co., and St. Paul's, Mercer Co., 0. In New Melle. Mo. Trinity, Buffalo, N.Y. St. John's, Minden, Washing- ton Co., 111. Post Office. St. Louis, Mo. Man sville, O. Fori Wayne, Ind. Peru, 111'. Bridgeport, Mich. Fort Wayne, Ind. Poughkeepsie, Ind. Mishawaka, Ind. Willshire, 0. Femme Osaae. Mo. Buffalo, N.Y. Nashville, 111. B. Advisory Membebs. Altenburg, Perry Co.. Mo. Elkhorn Prairie. Washington Co., 111. Chicago, Cook Co.. 111. Fairfield County. O. Danbury, Ottawa Co., 0. Fort Wayne, Ind. New York City. Monroe. Mich. Marion, Marion Co.. O. Williams Co., O. Apple Creek. Mo. St. Louis. Mo. (c. o. Rev. C. F. W.Walther). Chicago, 111. Lancaster, O. Port Clinton, O. Fori Wayne, Ind. New York. N.Y. Monroe, Mich. Marion, O. Lrvan.O. C. Candidates for the Ministry. Carl Fricke. Missionary at large in Wis- Fori Wayne, Ind. con sin. J. Lor. Flessa. Frankenmuth, Mich. Bridgeport, Mich. HO WHY MISSOURI STOOD ALONE. FIRST SYNODICAL TREASURY REPORT. Receipts. 1. Annual Contributions. From Pastors Buenger, Craemer, Ernst, Fick, Fuerbringer, Hattstaedt, Husmann, Jaebker, Loeber, Richmann, Saupert, Schieferdecker, Schneider, Scholz, Schuster, Selle, Dr. Sihler, Streckfuss, Trautmann, Walther, Prof. Wolter, and Candidate Fricke, each $1.00. 2. Voluntary Contributions. From the following congregations and individuals: Chicago, $7.76; Frankenmuth, 11.06; Fort Wayne, 17.00; St. Louis, 48.66%; Marion Township, Ind., 2.00; Marshall County, Ind., 3.62 y2; Neuendettelsau, O., 3.72; Mrs. Weiland, widow, St. Louis, per Mr. Niemann, 1.00; Teacher Winter, Altenburg, Perry Co., Mo., .50; Mr. Gottlob Schmidt, 1.00. {Total, $118.32%.) St. Louis, Mo., June 30, 1847. F. W. Barthel, Treasurer. Why Missouri Stood Alone. Prof. Th. Engelder, Springfield, 111. From the very beginning the Missourians were devoted to the cause of a united Lutheran Church in America. They have given to it the best that was in them, and have suffered shame and reproach for it. But did they not in 1847 organize a separate synod? Why did they not unite with the older synods? The Missouri Synod has been severely blamed for stand- ing alone. In 1849 the Missionary spoke of "their exclusive- ness and their unpardonable one-sidedness, which in many instances is the cause why they and their church are evil spoken of and their usefulness is materially hindered." The Lutheran Observer of 1864 called it "bigotry" and said: "They err in declining to enter into an intimate ecclesias- tical communion with the American Lutheran Church and its General Synod." Again: "Some say that unity must precede union. But the Bible demands that we unite. Hence those who magnify these differences and endeavor to keep us separate are the greatest sinners in the Church." And as late as 1918 the Lutheran declared: "A doctrine of rigid WHY MISSOUB] STOOD ALONE. HI aloofness and separatism was developed as a wall of defense. . . . When orthodoxy becomes so strict and strait-laced and legalistic, . . . the cause of unity is harmed, and union and cooperation are impossible." The fact is that the Missourians labored, not to keep the Lutherans separate, but to unite them, and they went about it in the Lutheran way. That is the only way, according to the Augsburg Confession: "This is sufficient for the true unity of the Christian Church, that the Gospel is preached therein according to its pure intent and meaning, and that the Sacraments are administered in conformity with the Word of God." The fathers were ready to join, and some of them had joined, the older synods on this basis. "Walther had hoped that these synods, by placing themselves fairly and squarely on the Lutheran Confessions, would render it possible for him and his companions to unite with them. He would have been content to see the leaven of truth work in the older synods*, and gradually bring about a better state of affairs from the view-point of confessional Lutheranism." (Prof. Dau, in Quarterly, 16, 136.) And when they, for con- science' sake, organized a separate synod, "the main object the synod sought to obtain by its common efforts was just this : to bring back the straying Lutherans to their Church and her pure doctrine, and to unite them under the banner of her old, but not antiquated symbols." (Lutheraner, Sept. S, 1847.) Synod stood for "the preservation and cultivation of the unity of the pure confessions." (Constitution, chap. I.) "Conditions of membership: Acceptance of all the Symbol- ical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church." (Chap. II.) The General Synod, comprising at that time about half of all the Lutherans in America, had but to accept the Lutheran Confessions, and the Missourians, destined to become the largest Lutheran body, would have formed either an alliance or a union with it. The General Synod refused, and Missouri stood alone. The General Synod refused to accept the Lutheran Con- fessions because the dominating element abhorred them. It was in fact not a Lutheran body. In the letter addressed 112 WHY MISSOURI STOOD ALONE. to the Evangelical Church of Germany in 1845, signed by Dr. S. S. Schmucker, their leading theologian and teacher, Dr. B.Kurtz, editor of the Observer, and others, they say: "In most of our church principles we stand on common ground with the Union Church of Germany." And: "The peculiar view of Luther on the bodily presence of the Lord in the Lord's Supper has long ago been abandoned by the great majority of our ministers." These men loved the Re- formed doctrine and practises, were fanatical champions of the revival, sought to put into the Lutheran Church "the warmth of Methodism and the vigor of Presbyterianism," and advocated a union with all possible and impossible sects, meantime practising pulpit- and altar-fellowship with what- ever Reformed sect was willing. They called this abomina- tion "American Lutheranism." W. M. Reynolds, one-time of the General Synod, called it "a kind of mongrel Methodistic Presbyterianism." With Dr. S. Sprecher, their third leader, they denounced the Lutheran doctrine on Baptism, the Lord's Supper, Absolution, and the Personal Union? and the Lutheran practises "as antiscriptural and injurious to the spiritual kingdom of Christ," and spoke of "baptismal regeneration nonsense and similar semipapal imbecilities." Their hatred of the Confessions was so intense that, when casting about for strong terms of reproach, they coined that of "symbolic Lutherans" as most adequately expressing their repugnance; that Sprecher warned against the sinister de- signs of those who would "make all their synods stand on the Unaltered Augsburg Confession"; and that Schmucker looked upon the practise of binding the conscience of the ministers and members to the Confessions as "highly criminal." * They abhorred the Confessions, and so they abhorred Missouri. They branded its love of Lutheranism as "rigid symbolism," "German Lutheranism," "deformities of a Phari- saic exclusiveness." They denounced the Missourians as * For the whole sad story see Bente, American Lutheranism, Vol. II. WHY MISSOURI STOOD ALONE. 113 "Jesuits in disguise," stigmatized the synod as "a new sect," of Roman-Catholic proclivities; for did they not teach the real presence, and wear gowns, and burn candles on bright midday? And Sprecher insisted that the General Synod re- fuse admission to such as' adhered to the Lutheran Symbols. Are you asking why Missouri stood alone? Lutheranism and General Synodism would not fuse. Wyneken, the first of the fathers to come over, had been led by the providence of God into the Synod of the West, belong- ing to the General Synod, and he labored long and patiently to win it back to Lutheranism. "When I later became ac- quainted with the state of affairs, I felt that I must not at once withdraw, especially since no attempt had yet been made in the synod itself to win over the erring brethren, to a number of whom I had become warmly attached, by means of an open testimony." In 1845 he brought the matter before the general body, was turned down again and again, and when he finally moved that synod either renounce the name Lutheran or reject as utterly un-Lutheran the position of Schmucker, Kurtz, and the others, synod, as the Luthe?ische Hirtenstimme gleefully reported, "listened good-naturedly to this funny motion and tabled it." Wyneken stood alone. Missouri and the General Synod would not fuse. If they had tried it, what kind of "intimate ecclesiastical com- munion" would have resulted? Here is the General Synod declaring: "Our principles not merely allow, but actually demand, fraternal relations with all Evangelical Christians." The Missourians protest, in the words of Luther : "A man who knows that his doctrine, faith, and confession is true, correct, and certain cannot stand together with those who teach false doctrine or who side with such." In 1845 the General Synod "cordially approves of the practise of inviting communicants in regular standing in either church (Lutheran or Reformed) to partake of the Sacrament in the other." Again the Mis- sourians quote Luther: "I am shocked to hear that in one church, at one altar, both parties should take and receive the Sacrament, one party believing that they are receiving mere bread and wine, the other, that it is the true body and blood EBENEZER. 3 114 WHY MISSOURI STOOD ALONE. of Christ." Well, then, who is this man Luther? Walther arises: "We place Luther far beneath the prophets and apostles, but at the same time far above all the other ortho- dox teachers of the Word known to us." Kurtz jumps to his feet: "We are three hundred years older than Luther and his noble coadjutors, and eighteen hundred years older than the primitives. They were the children, we are the fathers." Here is the Lutheraner glorying in the distinctive Lutheran doctrines, and the Observe?" at once and always calling it to order for "gathering these old rags, tying them on to a stick, and calling upon all Lutherans to agree with it on pain of excommunication." The whole time of Synod would have been taken up with the tabling of the "funny" motions of the Missourians. And that is what actually took place. The leaders made it their chief business to combat confes- sionalism. Why did not Missouri unite with the mother synod, the Ministerium of Pennsylvania? Because Pennsylvania pre- ferred the ways of the General Synod. Already in 1844 Sihler had foretold that Pennsylvania, "indifferently ob- serving the anticonfessional, church-destroying activities of the so-called General Synod, yea, fraternizing with their leaders, would become their prey." It was fulfilled in 1853. The Ohio Synod did not belong, by far, in a class with the General Synod. Yet its Lutheranism was not sound Lutheranism. Dr. Loy himself, in the story of his life, characterizes it as being at that time "a unionistic corpora- tion." And what is more, and what finally counted, it refused to forsake the un-Lutheran position it held in this respect. The friendly and earnest remonstrances of Sihler, Ernst, Selle, and other pronounced Lutherans, whom the providence of God had led into the Ohio Synod, were disregarded, and these men were compelled to withdraw. Their letter of with- drawal, of 1845, says: "Some of the undersigned had requested the synod to remove the unionistic formula of distribution now in use among us at the celebration of the Lord's Supper, which formula begins: 'Christ says/ etc." The petition was refused. They further petitioned "that the WHY MISSOURI STOOD ALONE. 115 synod raise a protest against the false teachings of the so- called Lutheran General Synod regarding the Sacrament. A technicality prevented action on this petition and others. And when finally the resolution was offered: "That the synod henceforth accept all the confessional writings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and solemnly enjoin upon its candidates for ordination to consider themselves bound by the same/' "action upon this matter was again postponed for three years. It was plain to us from these transactions that the synod, in the majority of its members, possessed no sin- cere willingness stanchly to represent our Church in its battle with the unionism of our times." "The synod," the letter states, "at this moment can hardly be regarded as acting in sheer ignorance." There was a great deal of ignorance. Loy points out "their limited oppor- tunities." Walther speaks of less than ten copies of the Book of Concord to be found in the older synods. Loy men- tions also the "force of established customs." Sihler's party would have patiently borne with that. But there was no sincere willingness, on the part of the majority, to break the fetters of established customs. One of the leaders declared, in the matter of serving mixed congregations: "You are trying to force principles upon us imported from the 'old country' ; we have no use for them here." And the Lutheran Standard spoke of the secession as a fortunate occurrence. It wished to be left alone. The History of the Ohio Synod and also Prof. Lehmann, both admitting the justice of those demands, still blame the protestants for taking the step they took. G. J. Fritschel does not. He says in his History: "It was not the intention to bring on a rupture. The object was to exert all possible influence on the synod towards placing it on a sound Lu- theran basis." "Since the synod refused to take the true Lutheran position, these men, who were determined to up- hold the Lutheran Confessions, could do nothing less than withdraw and prepare to form a new synod." Nor will Dr. Loy blame them. Referring to the sy nodical sermon he heard at the first meeting of synod he attended in 1S-A9, in 116 WHY MISSOURI STOOD ALONE. which a leading member of synod, himself a Mason, sang the praises of lodgism, and against which he privately protested, he said later: "If the case occurred now, ... I would not have become a member of the Ohio Synod without a renun- ciation of the deistic foundation of that sermon and of the man who preached it, unless he repented of the sin and made all possible reparation of the evil resulting." Exactly that was the position of the protestants. With Luther they were shocked to see Lutherans commune at the same altar with men who had the Eeformed contempt of the Sacrament; but it was only when Synod refused to apply the first prin- ciples of confessionalism and condemn these and similar un-Lutheran practises that they were forced to withdraw for conscience' sake. Said Sihler in 1851: "God is my witness that my testimony against the Ohio Synod sprang from honest zeal for the honor of God and the welfare of the Church. If synod had received our first request with only some measure of good will, the whole situation to-day might be different." They left with a sore heart, and with pro- found grief the Lutheraner reported the matter. A similar separation took place in Michigan, in 1846. The Michigan Synod was organized, in 1849, on the basis of the Confessions; but there, too, indifferentism and unionism prevailed. They received, for instance, a minister into synod who refused to subscribe to the Confessions with- out reservations. In the face of the protest of such stanch Lutherans as Craemer and Lochner, they were bound to con- tinue in their un-Lutheran ways, and four pastors were compelled to withdraw. The spirit in which they took this step is shown in the closing words of the declaration of with- drawal : "We part from the synod with sincere grief because of the un-Lutheran position which the synod maintains in spite of the clear testimony which we have offered. We pray the Lord of the Church that He may soon lead the Synod of Michigan to see and to be convinced that its position is dangerous, especially amid the conditions prevailing among the churches of our country; and that it is necessary for our dear Church of the pure confession and for the pros- WHY MISSOURI STOOD ALONE. 117 perous operation of Lutheran synods to be firm and decided in doctrine and practise/' Finally there was Buffalo. There was a synod which ab- horred unionism as strongly as Missouri did. J. A. A. Grabau had twice suffered imprisonment for holding out against the Prussian Union. Why did not Missouri and Buffalo form a union? How little Grabau cared to have fraternal rela- tions with Missouri he showed in his synodical report of 1848, declaring "that the ministers Walther, Loeber, and their accomplices are living in false doctrine as regards the sacred office of the ministry, the Church. . . . We declare furthermore that they are wilful and proud sinners, who in spite of all Christian exhortation have increased in sin and become strong in crime. Therefore we have to regard them as wilfully false teachers and manifest, zealous sinners, until they turn, repent, and sincerely seek reconciliation with us." This was the sin of Missouri — it had refused to allow Gra- bau to introduce Romanizing principles into the Lutheran Church. Besides teaching that outside of the Lutheran Church there is no salvation, he denied the right of a congre- gation to call, of its own authority, the minister, to prove his doctrine, and to excommunicate the impenitent, and he even asserted that Christians are bound to obey their ministers in all things not contrary to the Word of God. That, of course, meant the establishment of a Lutheran papacy. And if there is anything that does not agree, it is Lutheranism and a papacy. Loeber and Walther could not tolerate the mon- strous thing. They taught with the Confessions that the congregation is the highest, final tribunal in the Church, and that, to Grabau, was a monstrous thing. When Grabau enunciated his doctrines in the Past-n-al Letter of 1840, this' came as a shock to the Saxons, who "had been hoping, with not a little joy, that with just these brethren they might enjoy the most intimate communion, closely united in the bonds of confessional Lutheranism." For years they labored, patiently and earnestly, to bring about an agreement on Scriptural, confessional lines. They refrained for a long time from a public controversy; they 118 WHY MISSOURI STOOD ALONE. carried on the discussion in a conciliatory manner; again and again they attempted to meet Grabau in conference. In the end Grabau excommunicated the whole Missouri Synod. And so Missouri perforce stood alone. The isolation for which she has been maligned these many years was not of her choosing. Nor did she like it. She was eager to establish a friendly entente among all Lutherans, if possible, an alliance, indeed, the closest ecclesiastical communion. They aimed at "the final realization of one united Evangelical Lutheran Church of North America." People must get the idea out of their heads that the Mis- sourians of old were violent men, or men who, blown up with Pharisaical pride, gloried in their isolation. Why, the name of Wyneken was a synonym of modesty and charity! Let Loy tell you how, after a clash in which Sihler had been at fault, he, "the elderly man," sought out Loy, "the mere stripling," and begged his pardon. Let Walther tell you how, when, like Joseph, he had been compelled to speak roughly with his brothers in his polemics, he would, like Joseph, go into his chamber to weep, and only after washing his face come among the people again. (Letter to Delitzsch.) Again: "Our controversy with Buffalo is a cross which would again and again almost crush us to the ground." (Letter to Brunn.) With the fathers of the Smalcald Articles they knew that "it is a serious matter to be separate from so many nations and peoples and to be called schismatics. But here is God's com- mand, which forbids us to hold communion with those who teach false doctrine." — They were, on the whole, rather likable men. Says Loy: "For myself, I never had much difficulty in getting along with the members of the Missouri Synod." There was nothing "exclusive" about Missouri. Men did not at all have to join their particular organization in order to be treated as true Lutherans — if they were true Lutherans. When they became acquainted with the Tennessee Synod, which, from Paul Henkel down, had been testifying against the apostasy of the General Synod, they "rejoiced in having found in them flesh of their flesh and bone of their bone." WHY MISSOURI STOOD ALONE. 1 1 Q (Bente, I, 217.) Sihler: "It would be a great joy if we could enter into definite church-fellowship with them." The delegates of Missouri to Tennessee, 1853: "Our Synod ex- tends the hand of fraternity to you, not fearing to be refused, and ardently desires, however separated from you by a dif- ferent language and local interests, to cooperate with you, hand in hand, in rebuilding the walls of our dilapidated Zion." Wherever there was a stirring of Lutheran life, Missouri was quick to see it and eager to stimulate and strengthen it. When Ohio was working and fighting its way upwards (as Loy puts it), it was Sihler and Walther who urged them on, counseled and admonished as they felt brothers should do, and rejoiced over the good progress made. The protest of their Eastern District against the Union Letter of the General Synod was hailed by Walther as a hopeful sign: "Surely God will in His grace bring all those who in this land want to hold fast the precious doctrine of the Lutheran Church into still closer communion." When Ohio in 1848, by formal resolution, adopted the Symbols of the Lutheran Church as its confession and was assaulted for that by the Observer, Sihler became the proud champion of their cause. And when in various quarters vehement protests were raised against the Definite Platform (that Zwinglianized Augsburg Confession which the Schmuckerites in 1855 attempted to foist on the Church), Walther warmly commended the Standard for "its Lutheran fervor and manly firmness," and proudly chronicled the fact "that what is known as the Lutheran Church of North America possesses in her various divisions a host of witnesses whom God has given insight, faith, and courage enough to set themselves against the revolutionary and de- structive designs of the many renegades in her midst." And so throughout. The Free Conferences held from 1856 to 1859 by men from Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and Missouri had for their object the unifying of the Lutheran Church. The prime mover was Walther. He had proposed them "with a view towards the final realization of one united Evangelical Lu- 120 WHY MISSOURI STOOD ALONE. theran Church of North America." {Lehre und Wehre, II, 4.) And when the Synodical Conference was formed in 1872, a union between the Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin, Norwegian, Illinois, and Minnesota Synods, glorious as this consumma- tion was, it was not considered the final consummation., but only the groundwork for it. Nothing was permitted to stand in the way of union, nothing short of a wilful and persistent denial of the Lu- theran faith. Not the hard words hurled at them, not even aberrations in doctrine, if but the open mind and an honest desire for the truth remained. If you want to meet broad- minded men, make the acquaintance of the fathers. Presi- dent Wyneken referred to the Buffalo Synod in 1853 as "our brethren" ; and you know what Grabau had been calling Mis- souri. And when Ohio in 1856 urged Missouri and Buffalo to endeavor to establish fraternal relations, Walther, "re- ceiving the admonition with sincere gratitude" and pointing out "that true union can spring only from the unity of faith," concludes with the peace offer : "If, however, in case an agree- ment in doctrine cannot be reached at present, the Buffalo Synod will refrain from anathematizing our doctrine and, as to what has been done on our side in consequence thereof, will let bygones be bygones, and thus accept our offer of reconcilia- tion, we would consider it our sacred duty to maintain, even though our doctrinal difference be not yet removed, fraternal relations with Buffalo." {Lehre und Wehre, II, 380.) Missouri aimed to bring together the Lutherans of America, and for that very reason she stood alone. Her isola- tion was, after all, of her own choosing. The ultimate object of the separation was union. "True unity is oneness in faith," says Krauth. And in order to win men back to the one faith, there had to be a body which clearly taught this one faith, which in doctrine and practise stood squarely on the Confessions and, by refusing to stand with errorists, re- fused to countenance the error. "Nor could Missouri have preserved the faith if she had united with such as persisted in error, or suffered them to unite with her. Faith cannot dwell with error. The body that experiments in that direc- WHY MISSOURI STOOD ALONE. 121 tion will lose its pure faith — and its power for good. Nor can such an organization beheld together. No synod can endure half confessional and half indifferent. "If a Lutheran synod does not want to plant the seeds of dissolution in her very midst, its members must be bound, by provision of its basic law, to refrain from even these subtle forms of syncretism. . . Let us faithfully confess the truth, and not attempt to help along the kingdom of God by deviating from the instruc- tions God gave us." (Walther to Ernst.) The oneness of the faith unites, and Synod knew of no other way of attaining her object, that of uniting the straying Lutherans, than that of unfurling the banner of the old Confessions, and of laying down these conditions of membership : "Renunciation of all syncretistic church-fellowship, such as serving union- churches as such, taking part in the worship and sacramental acts of heterodox and mixed congregations." (Chapter II.) They were far-sighted men. They knew their policy could not fail. They were willing to wait. They were willing to set up in humble quarters — as an insignificant Synoedclien." They were willing to bear shame and reproach for many a long year. For they were confident their way would succeed. It had to succeed. It had God's promise back of it. "Let them return unto thee, but return not thou unto them. And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen wall ; and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee ; for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord." Jer. 15, 19. 20. Accordingly, when these separations were going on, Rev. W. Loehe had reason to prophesy : "By going out from those with whom they could not come to an agreement on the basis of God's Word, their number has not decreased, but their strength is increased. No longer hampered by the halting and lukewarm, our friends can now move forward in a compact mass. . . . They will not remain alone." They did not remain alone. Everywhere champions of the Lutheran faith arose. A mighty battle came to be fought — and, please God, the end is not yet. Indifferentism and 122 WHY Missouri stood alone. unionism was driven back all along the line, and hierarchism on another sector. The Observer was horrified: "From 1830 to 1840 our Church enjoyed a universal peace and flourished greatly. ... It was a time of revivals and great bloom. . . . Between 1845 and 1850 a change took place. A little cloud, like the hand of a man, appeared in the West." And the storm burst, and all good Lutherans rejoiced. "The former lethargy is a thing of the past. A healthy movement has arisen. . . . Everywhere divisions are taking place; at the same time there is manifested among the orthodox a de- termined desire for more intimate union." (Walther in 1846.) They did not all join the Missouri Synod and her sister synods. But the good old Lutheran faith came to be known and, consequently, to be loved by ever-increasing numbers, and while great and grievous doctrinal differences still divide the Synodical Conference from the other synods as such, great multitudes have been brought together in the fundamental form of ecclesiastical communion — the unity of the faith. How much of this shall be credited to Missouri ? We shall not quarrel about that. The fathers did not. The Luthe- raner of September 5, 1846, was glad to acknowledge that the first to protest against the great apostasy was the Lutherische Kirchenzeitung of Pittsburgh, and the good work of the Standard, of Tennessee, of men like Charles Porterfield Krauth (of the Council), who, says Walther, "was whole- heartedly devoted to the pure doctrine of our Church, as he had learned to understand it, a noble man and without guile," received their unstinted praise. We need not quarrel. There is honor enough to go round. And there are men a-plenty to give testimony that the usefulness of Missouri was not materially hindered. G. J. Fritschel: "Later events proved that the influence of Wyneken extended further than he himself had anticipated." The same: "These conferences (1856 — 1859) had a great influence on the Eastern synods, and especially on Ohio." Loy speaks of the "stimulating power" he and his fellow- students found in the Lutlieraner, of "the need of such WHY MISSOURI STOOD ALONE. 123 a tonic to stir us up amid the indifferentism which was de- stroying all earnest faith and life." Of the later years: "I was glad that we had Walther among us, and was thankful that God had given us so powerful an advocate of a cause so dear to my heart." And he speaks "of the new Lutheran life which had come into our synod." There you have a real "revival and great bloom," and the whole Joint Synod of Ohio was glad to point out Dr. Walther as the chief instru- ment of it all. The General Council Pilger: "If the Mis- souri Synod had not so tenaciously clung to the confession of the pure doctrine, if the Lord had not taken pity on the Lutheran Church of America by placing it in her midst, we would be to-day an insignificant body, Lutheran perhaps in name, but otherwise the stamping-ground for foxes and other wild things." F. Uhlhorn, in his History : "The fact is that the greatest gain the Lutheran Church of America made came by reason of the firm and immovable stand men took, against unionism and liberalism, for the old Lutheran faith. The next result, indeed, was division after division, but in the end their determined confessionalism yielded blessed gain. Synod after synod placed itself, with varying degrees, indeed, of insight and consistency — on the platform of the symbols." Neve, in his History: "The close unity [of Missouri], coupled with its size, exercised a powerful influence on those without, strengthening, especially in the Eastern synods, the already awakened confessional consciousness." Krauth : "I have been saddened beyond expression by the bitterness displayed towards the Missourians. . . . They have been our bene- factors. . . . Their work has been of inestimable value." — That will do. The Missouri Synod is going to keep up the good work in the good old way. And great things will be accomplished if all work together along the lines and in the spirit of Dr.Pieper's great treatise: Zur Einigung der amerikanisch- lutherischen Kirche. 124 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE BUFFALO SYNOD. The Missouri Synod and the Buffalo Synod, Rev. Arthur Both, Chicago, 111. While the Saxon Lutherans in Missouri were gradually finding their spiritual equilibrium amid a chaos of physical hardships, there prepared to come to this country a company of Prussian Lutherans. Their king had decreed the official abolition of the Lutheran and the Eeformed churches and the substitution of the United Church for both as the only lawful church of Prussia. Without an attempt at harmo- nizing the distinctive doctrines which had separated the two churches for three hundred years, during which time they had been repeatedly, though unsuccessfully, discussed with the hope of bringing about a real spiritual agreement on the basis of the Word of God, the government simply ordered the cessa- tion of all doctrinal disputes and commanded the acceptance of the union discipline, which equivocated on all disputed questions. To their own shame and disgrace, some Lutherans submitted to this tyrannical measure, while others objected strenuously, and manfully stood up for their right to worship God in the accustomed Lutheran form. But the Prussian government recognized no objections and put down all resis- tance to the union with the strong arm of the police. These circumstances impelled many sincere Lutherans to seek free- dom in America, and so the large company of Prussian Lutherans, under the leadership of Pastor J. A. A. Grabau, came to this country, settling in Buffalo and in several places in Wisconsin, while some remained in New York City. They arrived in the fall of 1839. Together with Pastors H. von Rohr, Leberecht Krause, and G. A. Kindermann, Grabau organized a synod in Milwaukee in 1845 which adopted the official name: "The Synod of the Lutheran Church which Emigrated from Prussia," but was commonly called the Buffalo Synod, because it was governed from that city. Grabau's avowed purpose was to establish the Lutheran Church in its true form in America. Not long after coming to this country, Grabau addressed a Pastoral Letter to his congregations and submitted it to THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND Till: BUFFALO SYNOD. 125 the Saxon Lutherans in Missouri for their criticism. They complied with Grabau's request, pointing oul certain things in which they could not agree with him. Grabau replied that the Missourians were wrong, and if they did ao1 recant their error, he could not recognize them as true Lutherans; what is more, if they did not repent, he would have to excommuni- cate them from the Church. Because he could ao1 supply all his congregations with pastors, he had asked the Missourians, who had more pastors than congregations, to send pastors to his vacant congregations, and the Missourians did so. When Grabau saw that the Missourians did not share his theo- logical views, he attempted to prevent the Missourian pastors from taking charge of the congregations to which they had been called by their congregations with the consent of Grabau or his associates. But these pastors would not leave, aor would their congregations discharge them, only because Grabau objected. Furthermore, it frequently happened that members whom Buffalo had unjustly excommunicated asked Missouri pastors to minister to them and were served by them, only, however, after the injustice of the ban had been proved. Time and again the Missourians asked the Buffaloans to meet them in a friendly discussion of their differences, and though a meeting was promised, yet none was held until 1866. This colloquium took place in Buffalo, with the result that the representatives of the Buffalo Synod saw their errors, re- nounced them, and accepted the Missourian position on all disputed questions. Twelve pastors and a number of congre- gations severed their connection with the Buffalo Synod, and nearly all joined Missouri. The doctrinal controversy which kept Missouri and Buf- falo apart happened at a time when Missouri, in its stand against the unsound Lutheranism of the old American synods, would have welcomed the support of Buffalo. But a union of the two was impossible as long as it could not be effected on the basis of real spiritual harmony. The doc- trines, however, which came under discussion during the con- troversy were such as deeply affected the character of the Lutheran Church, viz., the doctrines of the Church, the 126 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE BUFFALO SYNOD. Ministry, and the Office of the Keys. These were no new and unanswered questions, as their correct answers had already been given in the days of the Lutheran Reformation, though they had never been fully put into practical opera- tion owing to the peculiar conditions of the Church in Europe. Because of this they had been neglected and fallen into obscurity. In America, however, it was possible to organize the Church strictly along the lines of the old Lu- theran ideals. The new situation in which our fathers found themselves here brought these doctrines into the foreground, and made their correct statement and application a condi- tion of supreme importance for the healthy and God-pleasing establishment of our Church in this country. And by the blessing of God our old Lutheran principles were defended by the fathers of our Synod and put into smooth operation to the glory of God and the welfare of our beloved Church during the past seventy-five years. In giving a review of this controversy, let us quote the doctrines of the Buffalo Synod from its own official writings, and place over against them the official doctrines of the Missouri Synod, and then let the Word of God decide which is correct. Rev. T. J. Grosse, in his book, Unterscheidungs- lehren der hauptsaechlichsten sich lutherisch nennenden Synoden* states the difference between the Missouri and the Buffalo Synod on the doctrine of the Church, thus: 1. Falsely claiming the testimony of the Lutheran Confes- sions, the Buffalo Synod teaches that the one holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, is a visible church, when it says: "Our Symbols teach and confess that there is and must remain on earth at all times one holy Christian Church, which really and truly is the visible congregation of believers, among whom the "Word of God is taught in its purity and the Sacraments are administered according to Christ's insti- tution." (Third Pastoral Letter, p. 17.) The word visible is here italicized, because the Buffalo Synod inserted it into its * Distinctive Doctrines of the Principal Synods that Have Adopted the Name "Lutheran," THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE BUFFALO SYNOD. 127 quotation of Article VII of the Augsburg Confession, even as it otherwise slightly altered the text of this article. But the Word of God teaches, Luke 17, 20. 21 : "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation; . . . for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." And a true Lutheran synod teaches: "The Church, in the true sense of the word, is invisible." (Kirche und Ami, p. 15.) 2. The Buffalo Synod also taught "that by it [the one holy Church of God] are not meant scattered believers and saints, but those who gather about the Word and Sacra- ments," and "that these church gatherings are such as have the Word and Sacrament in purity in the ministry." (Fifth Pastoral Letter, p. 9.) On the contrary, the Word of God says, 1 Kings 19, 18 : "Yet I have left Me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." From this we see that even where Baal's prophets ruled, God had preserved unto Himself a church of seven thousand elect, though they were scattered here and there, and were unknown even to the prophet. A true Lutheran synod therefore teaches: "It is very important what Luther says, to wit, that 'Christendom is scattered bodily, but united spiritually/ " (Twelfth Synod- ical Report, Eastern Dist., Missouri Synod, p. 15.) * 3. Buffalo denied the doctrine "that even where the Word of God and the Sacraments are not wholly pure, the holy Church of the elect is gathered, so long as the Word and Sacrament are not totally denied, but are retained as to their essence." (Third Pastoral Letter, p. 20.) The Word of God, on the contrary, teaches, Gal. 1, 2: "unto the churches of Galatia." By designating the called Galatians "churches," or congregations, the holy apostle shows indisputably that even in these communions, although they had been led into error by false teachers, and to a large extent even falling away from Christ, there yet remained the hidden seed of the Church of true believers. Therefore a true Lutheran synod teaches: "Hereby our Symbols would have it understood that there are yet children of God outside of the Lutheran Church, and that because of them even communions holding 128 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE BUFFALO SYNOD. false doctrines, but not denying God's Word outright, may still be called churches." (Twelfth Sy nodical Report, Eastern Dist., Missouri Synod, p. 10.) 4. The Buffalo Synod rejected the doctrine that "only communion with the invisible Church is absolutely necessary for salvation," teaching as follows: "St. Paul . . . says, Rom. 10, that then only are we saved when by faith we also confess with our mouth and thus come into the visible true Church." (Third Pastoral Letter, p. 20.) But the Word of God says, Rom. 3, 28 : "Therefore we conclude that a man is' justified by faith, without the deeds of the Law." Gal. 3, 26 : "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Gal. 3, 9 : "So, then, they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." And a true Lutheran synod teaches: "To attain salvation, only communion with the invisible Church is absolutely necessary. . . . Whoever therefore makes salvation dependent on communion with any visible church thereby overthrows the article of the justification of a poor sinner before God by faith only." (Kirche und Amt, p. 160 f.) 5. Its false statement that outside of the Lutheran Church nobody can be saved, the Buffalo Synod explained in this way: "When we say that outside of the Lutheran Church nobody can be saved, we mean to say that a man must be a living member of this orthodox communion, and that he is in duty bound to flee all meetings of heretics and schis- matics." (Second Pastoral Letter, p. 24 f.) It is true, the Buffalo Synod says : "When among the schismatics and sects, besides the little baptized children, there are awakened souls that have been roused by the reading of the Scriptures and otherwise by better information conveyed to them occa- sionally, and that now grasp the pure Christian doctrine begin to believe aright, really know Christ, confess him, and call upon Him; we know that this is in reality a spiritual exodus from the sect, and they are now no longer in the sect, but outside it"; but in the same breath Buffalo continued: "And the Lord God will soon bring it about that they will also come into a church which confesses its orthodoxy, and where the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity." THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE BUFFALO SYNOD. 129 {Third Pastoral Letter, p. 20.) But hereby the external fellowship with a visible orthodox church -communion is again made the final and indispensable condition for the attainment of salvation. The Word of God, however, teaches, Eom. 11, 2 — 4: "Wot ye not what the Scripture saith of Elias, how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed Thy prophets, and digged down Thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life? But what saith the answer of God to him? I have reserved to Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal." From this it is evident that even in the corrupted Jewish Church of that day God had His hidden believers who were not publicly gathered about the Word and the ministry in a visible church. According to this a true Lutheran synod teaches : "The one holy Christian Church on earth, or the Church in the real sense of the word, outside of which there is neither salvation nor heaven, according to the Word of God, is the total number of those who believe on Christ and are sanctified by this faith." {Sy nodical Report of General Meeting of Missouri Synod, 1866, p. 40.) "There are indeed many faithful children of God who, as far as their conscience is concerned, actually have left the sects, though not bodily." {Twelfth Sy nodical Report, Eastern Dist, Mis- souri Synod, p. 9.) Eegarding the Office of the Keys, Buffalo said: Christ did not give the keys of the kingdom of heaven to the Church and to each true believer, but solely and exclusively to the pastors. "If, now, the members of the Lutheran congrega- tions should fancy that they possess the Office of the Keys by virtue of their own personal anointment and spiritual state of grace, i. e., their spiritual priesthood, that would be the same enthusiasm (Schwarmgeist) which possesses the Roman Pope, who asserts that in the shrine of his heart, because of the most holy unction of his person, the office and the power of the Keys are deposited by Christ." (Informatorium, I, 37.) — "The multitude of the local congregation shall not have the highest and final jurisdiction, but the multitude of the apostles and at present the persons engaged in the holy EBENEZER. 9 130 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE BUFFALO SYNOD. ministry." {Inf., IT, 5. 6.) — "It is therefore not for the con- gregation to judge and to command and to declare that the sinner is to be held as an heathen man and a publican." {Second Pastoral Letter, p. 28.) — "It is just as erroneous to teach that in case of doubt regarding the use of the key of excommunication or of absolution the decision which key must be used rests with the congregation. . . . Enough of these anabaptistico - democratic follies!" {Second Pastoral Letter, p. 16.) Buffalo called the doctrine "that the pastor, by reason of his office, does not possess the power of the keys exclusively, but each congregational member possesses it also," a "false, pietistical doctrine." "We know," Buffalo said, "that. the members of a congregation do not have in their midst and for their benefit the power of the Keys, except in the holy ministry and in the present rightful pas- tors." {Third Pastoral Letter, p. 14.) — Also in its most recent publication, Beleuchtung und Widerlegung, the Buf- falo Synod rejects the true doctrine of the divine Word regarding the Office of the Keys as false. On pages 22 and 23 Buffalo says : "Missouri argues thus : Christ gives the highest and final jurisdiction to the Church; consequently each local congregation, be it large or small, has the highest and the final jurisdiction within its parish, therefore also the juris- diction over the publicly impenitent sinners. The holy min- istry has nothing to do with all this, and is in reality no further concerned with it beyond publicly, in the name of the community, i. e., in the stead, name, and by the command of the congregation, excommunicating the sinner after the spiritual priests have decided that this must be done. Not the pastor has the right to excommunicate, but the congre- gation, and it really is the congregation which excommuni- cates the sinner, the pastor acting only as its mouth. This false Missourian doctrine of excommunication, or Office of the Keys, flows from its false doctrine regarding the ministry." The Word of God, on the contrary, teaches, Matt. 18, 17 — 20: "And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church ; but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE BUFFALO SYNOD. 131 unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." According to this clear statement of the Word of God a true Lutheran synod teaches: "That these keys have been given to the whole Church originally and immediately, i. e., not mediately, through the ordained pastor, and indeed in such a way thai they belong in like measure to every congregation, the smallest as well as the largest, this, in the first place, the public Confessions of our Church attest in clear words. Thus we read in the First Appendix to the Smalcald Ar- ticles: 'Moreover, it must ever be confessed that the Keys were not given, nor do they belong, to one man alone, but to the whole Church, since this can be definitely established with clear and sure reasons. For just as the promise of the Gospel surely and immediately belongs to the whole Church [the Latin text reads: principaliter et immediate, i. e., originally and without means], even so the Keys belong to the whole Church immediately, because the Keys are nothing else than the office through which this promise is appro- priated to every one who desires it, just as the common practise shows that the Church has the power to ordain pastors. And Christ says in connection with these words : 'Whatsoever ye shall bind,' etc., indicating thereby to whom He has given the Keys, namely, the Church: 'Where two or three are gathered together in My name,' etc." (Die rechte Gestalt, etc., p. 15.) Regarding the Ministry, Buffalo said: 1. "It is not the congregation which gives or conveys the holy ministry, but the Son of God, together with the Father and the Holy Ghost." (Hirteribrief, Antikritik, p. 39, and Beleuchtung und Widerlegung, etc., pp. 26. 28, where this statement is ex- pressly called "Buffalo Doctrine.") 132 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE BUFFALO SYNOD. 2. A congregation must not by itself, without the assis- tance and presence of a representative of the ministry, elect and call a man as its pastor, "because this has not the slightest validity before God and is vain arrogance." (Hirten- brief, p. 16.) — "Consequently it is our conviction that a man chosen arbitrarily by the congregation can neither give abso- lution, nor distribute Christ's body and blood, but that such a one gives only bread and wine." (Hirtenbrief, p. 15.) In regard to this last statement, however, the Buffalo Synod lately offers this explanation: "However, what was said in the Eleventh Pastoral Letter, namely, that in such opposition congregations no real Lord's Supper is distributed, but only bread and wine, we do not want to urge on any one as an article of faith, nor do we want to uphold it henceforth; we commit it to the Lord." (Beleuchtung und Widerlegung, etc., p. 39.) In the immediate context, however, the Buffalo Synod asserts again that for such congregations the promise of the real Lord's Supper does not exist at all. For the pamphlet continues at once: "For, although there is no promise that the Lord will be among schismatics and apos- tates with His Supper, still the matter rests with Him." (I. c, p. 39.) Furthermore: "The Church confesses, as you see, that a lawful call is necessary for the administration of the holy Sacrament; if it is done without the call, it is not done according to God's command and institution, and conse- quently there is also no promise that, when the Sacrament is thus administered, Christ truly is and will be present with His body and blood ; for it is not administered in accordance with His institution." (Beleuchtung und Widerlegung, etc., p. 35.) 3. "We also believe and confess that this office, as God's own institution in the Church, forms a distinct and separate rank, or class." (Inf. I, p. 73.) 4. "Lutheran Christians know that when the Word of God says : 'Obey them that have the rule over you, and sub- mit yourselves/ this does not only pertain to the sermon, but to all good Christian things and occasions which the Word of God brings about and demands, and which are requisite THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE BUFFALO SYNOD. 133 for the good government of the Church, also for Christian welfare in respect to life and works, and that honor, love, and obedience according to the Third and Fourth commandments are demanded here. ... In all these things the obedience demanded is a matter touching conscience." (Second Pas- toral Letter, p. 156.) 5. The congregation itself has no right to judge the doc- trine of its pastor; only other pastors have this right. "Therefore leave the judging of doctrine to those to whom it belongs according to the 28th Article of the Augsburg Confession." (Second Pastoral Letter, p. 142.) — The Buffalo Synod rejects these orthodox statements : "The congregation is the highest and final court in the Church; the pastors are its servants and are responsible to it." The congregation and each individual church-member has the right to examine the doctrine of their pastors." "The congregation has the right to depose its pastor, not arbitrarily indeed, but when it can prove that the pastor, according to the Word of God, must no longer be tolerated." To this Buffalo said: "Before the great God we deplore this with tears!" (Second Pastoral Letter, p. 127.) Concerning synodical meetings, Buffalo said: It is cer- tain from Acts 15, 1 — 21 that Christian church-members of all ranks are permitted to participate, in Christian order, in the discussions and questions regarding the Word of God, to listen, to ask questions, and to have them answered by the Word of God, and in this wise to serve as co-deliberating witnesses in the presence of the good-and-true ministry, met in conference and synod, and from Christian conviction to join them in giving their opinion on matters under discus- sion. (Second Pastoral Letter, p. 141 f.) On the other hand, the Word of God teaches, John. 20, 22. 23 : "And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained." Whoever, therefore, has the Holy Ghost has the whole Office of the Keys. But the Holy Ghost is possessed by all believers. 1 Pet. 2, 9 : "Ye are 134 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE BUFFALO SYNOD. a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." According to this, all believers have the priesthood immediately. It is they who do, and alone can, transfer the office of the ministry to certain persons who are qualified for it. For this reason even the Apostle Matthias was not elected to office by the Eleven alone, but by the 120 believers who were present. Acts 1, 15 — 26. — See also Acts 6, 1 — 6, where we are told how the office of almoner was branched off from the office, or ministry, of the Word. There it is ex- pressly said, v. 2 : "Then the Twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them." The whole congregation was re- quested "to look out among them seven men of honest report." V. 3. And finally, we hear v. 5 : "And the saying pleased the whole multitude ; and they chose Stephen," etc. Matt. 23, 8. 10. 11 : "But be not ye called Eabbi ; for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. Neither be ye called masters; for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is the greatest among you shall be your servant." 1 Cor. 3, 5 : "Who, then, is Paul, and who is Apollos but ministers by whom ye believed." Matt. 20, 25. 26 : "Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not he so among you." 1 Pet. 5, 1 — 3 : "The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, . . . Peed the flock of God which is among you, taking the over- sight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock." 1 John 4, 1 God says to all Christians: "Try the spirits whether they are of God." In harmony with this a truly Lutheran synod teaches : 1. "The ministry is conveyed by God through the congrega- tion, which is the ijossessor of all church power, or of the Keys, and through its call, as prescribed by Him." (Kirche und Amt, p. 250.) * "After the Second Appendix to the Smal- cald Articles has established the power of each true congre- THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE BUFFALO SYNOD. 135 gation 'to elect and ordain ministers' from the fact 'that the Keys belong to the whole Church, and not to certain Bingle persons only,' it continues thus: 'Finally this 18 also con- firmed by Peter, when he says: "Ye are a royal priestlif><>,<) p. 16.) Finally : "But when there are several Christian con- gregations in one country, among which a unity of spirit prevails, it would be sinful and contrary to the Word and will of God if they would not also uphold an external com- munion, and in difficult questions of doctrine and of con- science would not examine and adjudicate these matters jointly, but each individual church-member, or each Bingle congregation, would arrogate to itself the final decision alone." (Beleuchtung und Widerlegung, p. 54.) But the Word of God says, Matt. 18, 17: "And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church; but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." And therefore a real Lutheran synod declares: "All the rights which belong to an Evangelical Lutheran local congregation are comprehended in the keys of heaven, which the Lord originally and immediately gave to his whole Church, and that in such a manner that they all belong to each and every one, the smallest as well as the largest, in the same measure." (Rechte Gestalt, p. 13.) — "That the Church, or all believers, were given the highest jurisdiction within their sphere, when given the keys, our Confession attests when it says : 'Christ gives the highest and final jurisdiction to the Church, by these words : Tell it unto the church. Matt. 18, 17.' (Smalcald Articles, First Appendix.)" (Rechte Gestalt, p. 30.) "It is an error, on which the papacy is founded, that a local congregation, in order to have and to exercise all church powers, must be externally united with other congregations, and with these must be under one church government, and is thus dependent on other congregations." (Rechte Gestalt, pp. 19. 20.) Such was the controversy with Buffalo. The truth which our fathers defended then is our possession now. We thank God for it, but also pray: "Sanctify us, O Lord, through Thy Truth; Thy Word is Truth." 140 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MINISTRY. The Doctrine of the Church and the Ministry. Rev. D. H. Steffens, West Henrietta, N. Y. The doctrine of the Church and the Ministry must be given an important place in writing the history of the Mis- souri Synod. One is tempted, instead of undertaking the writing of an essay, simply to translate Walther's "Vorerin- nerung" or introduction to the first edition of his book on The Church and the Ministry, published in 1852, five years after the organization of the Synod, and leave it to the reader to make his own deductions and applications. No brief essay can do more. Look at the suggestive title of Walther's book : "The Voice of our Church on the Question of the Church and the Ministry. A collection of testimonies on the question from the confessional writings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the private writings of her faithful teachers submitted by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States, as a testimony of its faith in defense against the attacks of Pastor Grabau in Buffalo, N. Y., by C. F. W. Walther, Professor of Theology at Concordia College, St. Louis, and Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran congrega- tion at the same place." Thoughts crowd upon thoughts, questions upon questions. Who was this Professor of Theology, C. F. W. Walther, of St. Louis ? Who was Pastor Grabau of Buffalo ? What led the one man to Missouri and the other to Western New York ? What was the Missouri Synod ? How did it come into being ? What did it stand for ? And the Buffalo Synod ; what about that ? How did these people justify their separate existence ? Were there no other Lutheran church-bodies in America with which they might have affiliated themselves ? What did these bodies stand for? What was their view of the Church and its ministry? When writing their constitutions, did they try to go back to first principles, to the Confessions, to the writings of Luther and the Lutheran fathers? They might well have done so, for here was a virgin soil and an ecclesia plantanda, a "Church to be planted," as Muehlenberg DOCTRINE OF TIIE CIIURCII AND THE MINISTRY. 141 put it. Or did they, under the plea of establishing an " Amer- ican Lutheran Church" rather than a Lutheran Church in America, try to conform as far as possible to their ecclesias- tical surroundings? Having done this, Low did they look upon the organization of these new Lutheran church-bodies? Was not this movement in their eyes not only un-Lutheran, but un-American? Was it not a challenge to their orthodoxy and an affront to their position among the denominations of America? Was it not a thing to be resisted to the uttermosl and anathematized when it could not longer be resisted^ Walther's book claims to be "a testimony of faith in defense against the attacks of Pastor Grabau." What had Walther and his colaborers done to invite attack on the part of Senior Ministerii, Pastor Andreas Grabau and the Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Emigrated from Prussia? How was the attack made and met? Was the protest against the assertion of hierarchical principles within the Lutheran Church as made by Walther and the Missouri Synod jus- tified?' Were "hierarchical principles" taught within the Lutheran Church in Europe or America by other men besides Pastor Grabau? Did their teaching give force and point to those Zwinglian inclinations and tendencies which led to the publication of the "Definite Platform" as the confession of faith of the American Lutheran Church ? What was the out- come of the controversy? Did it or did it not make for the most careful preservation of true catholicity and the avoid- ance of all separation? Was it or was it not a reassertion of Article VII of the banner confession of the Lutheran Church which reads: "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. Nor is it neces- sary that human traditions, rites, or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be everywhere alike. As St. Paid says : 'One faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all,' etc. (Eph. 4, 5. 6)"? If it was, how must we explain that it failed to find 142 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MINISTRY. full and unqualified acceptance by all who called themselves after the name of him who said : "The Catechism, the Expla- nation of the Ten Commandments, and the Augsburg Con- fession are mine"? (Walch, XXII, 1532). Surely no man can call himself a faithful Lutheran who is unwilling to accept Luther's own confession of faith. One may readily find an explanation for the position of the Lutherans of Ger- many and Scandinavia. They, to quote Walther, lived in "inherited ecclesiastical conditions" (in vererbten kirchliclien V erhaeltnissen) — a fact, by the way, with which Luther him- self was compelled to reckon. They were in the position of a congregation in possession by inheritance of a magnificent cathedral, built and arranged for the gorgeous ceremonial of Rome, but which it must use for Lutheran worship, the center of which is the preaching of the Word. But the Lutherans of America were under no necessity of reckoning with "in- herited ecclesiastical conditions." None such existed other than those established by denominations which in doctrine, spirit, and genius differed from the Lutheran Church. The ground was unencumbered. There was very little rubbish to clear away. Why not lay strong foundations and build plumb and true? There was nothing to prevent this. How came it that this was not done? Let us imagine it had been done. Let us imagine that the principles laid down in Walther's two books, Kirche und Amt and Die rechte Gestalt, had found general acceptance on the part of all Lutherans in America. Would we to-day see as an accomplished fact the magnificent goal Walther set himself, "the final realization of one united Evangelical Lutheran Church of North America"? Would we still be haling Christian congregations into civil courts to defend their property rights against synods and ministeriums, com- pelling Christian ministers and laymen to listen to the vexa- tious bickering of caviling lawyers on the relation of the "Galesburg Rule" to the "Four Points" ? What would have been our position during the war? Would our government have insisted upon grouping us with all other non-catholic church-bodies, including the adherents of Mrs. Baker Eddy, DOCTRINE OF THE CHUBCH AM) THE MINISTRY. 143 and, when it came to rendering service or offering spiritual ministration to our own people in field and camp, make our approach through the Federal Council of Churches or the Y.M.C. A.? And now since the buttresses which men imag- ined to bo necessary to hold up the established church of Germany have been torn away, would we be in a position to persuade Luther's people that the Church of God can indeed stand without the support of the State? Let us desist. Speculation is futile. Positive statement is impossible. Moreover, we have said enough to show thai any adequate treatment of the subject, the Church and the Ministry, would mean unending research and the writing of a history covering a period of four hundred years. Let us go back to the settlement of the German Lutherans in Perry County, near the Obrazo, and tell the story as briefly and simply as possible. Let us not be discouraged. We know that God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform. He always accomplishes mighty results through means so small as to invite the contempt of men. An unknown Augustinian friar, a piece of parchment, and a church-door spells the Reformation. An unknown Lutheran minister, a few sentences prepared for debate, and a little log-church at Altenburg, Perry County, Mo., may perhaps in God's providence spell a step toward the realization not only of Lutheran, but of Christian unity. Who knows? Let us not place too much dependence on big things, pan- Anglican con- ferences, pompous encyclicals, pronunciamentos, and the like. Passing over the events which led to the expulsion of their one-time leader from the colony of Saxon immigrants in Perry County, Mo., and calling to mind the conditions, both temporal and spiritual, which confronted these people, we may set down the theses or sentences prepared by Walther for the Altenburg Debate. Their purpose as stated by him is "the quieting of conscience, the rejection of false teaching seeking to insinuate itself under the guise of humility, the firm holding of the true doctrine of the Church, its power, office, call, fellowship, the power of the Word, and the divine honor. It is not a question of any man's honor or justifica- 144 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MINISTRY. tiou, but of the honor of God." He, of course, thought only of the members of the colony. But there were other tender consciences which needed quieting through the affirmation of truth and the rejection of error. There are such to-day. These sentences are the corner-stone not only of all of Wal- ther's writings on the question of Church organization, but of the organization of the Missouri Synod itself. They read as follows : — I. The true Church, in the most real and most perfect sense, is the totality (Gesamtheit) of all true believers, who from the beginning to the end of the world from among all peoples and tongues have been called and sanctified by the Holy Spirit through the Word. And since God alone knows these true believers (2 Tim. 2, 19), the Church is also called invisible. No one belongs to this true Church who is not spiritually united with Christ, for it is the spiritual body of Jesus Christ. II. The name of the true Church also belongs to all those visible companies of men with whom God's Word is purely taught, and the holy Sacraments are administered according to the institu- tion of Christ. True, in this Church there are godless men, hypocrites and heretics, but they are not true members of the same, nor do they constitute the Church. III. The name Church, and, in a certain sense, the name true Church, also belongs to those visible companies of men who have united under the confession of a falsified faith, and therefore have incurred the guilt of a partial departure from the truth; provided that they possess so much of God's Word and the holy Sacraments in purity that children of God may thereby be born. When such companies arc called true churches, it is not the in- tention to state that they are faithful, but only that they are real Churches, as opposed to all worldly organizations (Gemein- schaften ) . IV. The name Church is not improperly applied to heterodox com- panies, but according to the manner of speech of the Word of God itself. It is also not immaterial that this high name is allowed to such communions, for out of this follows: — 1. That members also of such companies may be saved; for without the Church there is no salvation. V. 2. The outward separation of a heterodox company from an orthodox Church is not necessarily a separation from the uni- versal Christian Church, nor a relapse into heathenism, and does not yet deprive that company of the name Church. DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AM» THE MINISTRY. 145 VI. 3. Even heterodox companies have Church power; even among them the goods of the Church may be validly administered, the ministry established, the Sacraments validly administered, and the keys of the kingdom of heaven exercised. VII. 4. Even heterodox companies are not to be dissolved, but re- formed. VIII. The orthodox Church is chiefly to be judged by the common, orthodox, public confession upon which its members recognize themselves to have been pledged and to which they confess. (From Doctor Carl Ferdinand WiUielm Walther, by the Reverend D. II. Steffens.) With characteristic humility Walther gratefully recog- nizes his indebtedness to another document which antedated his sentences, namely, the "Public Protestation against the false, medieval, papistic, and sectarian Stephanistic System of Church Government." It was published by Doctor Carl Eduard Vehse, Heinrich Eduard Fischer, and Gustav Jackel and addressed to Pastors Loeber, Keyl, Buerger, and the two Walthers. Briefly stated, it is an attempt on the part of Christian laymen to define and state the true Lutheran doctrine of church organization and government, together with the correct and proper relation of pastor and congrega- tion. It is a compilation of quotations from Luther and the Confessions as well as from other recognized teachers of the Church. The authors justify their protest by urging that it "was the chief purpose of the whole emigration to make truly free on this free soil the Evangelical Lutheran Church which had indeed been oppressed." Walther says: "Without this writing we, perhaps, would still have gone many a false way, which we now have happily avoided." At the Altenburg Debate, which was held in April, 1841, Walther was opposed by Dr. Adolph Marbach, a learned and adroit jurist, who took the position that the Colony, by sep- arating itself from the Church of Germany, had ceased to be a Christian congregation and had become a disorderly group of people, absolutely lacking all authority and power to perform any ecclesiastical function whatsoever. As the EBENEZER. 10 146 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MINISTRY. only proper solution of the difficulty, he urged a prompt return to Europe, especially of those immigrants who still had natural duties to perform at home; without, however, being able to suggest any way by which their return might be accomplished. Walther had made most careful written preparation for this debate from which Koestering, who should be read, quotes at length. He expands, elucidates, and applies Article VII of the Augsburg Confession, supporting as with a buttress of solid masonry his every statement with "testimonies on the question from the confessional writings of the Evan- gelical Lutheran Church and the private writings of her faithful teachers." He completely routed his opponent. That, of course, was a small matter. Let us not overlook that Doctor Marbach served a very important purpose. If, in the edifice Walther erected, there was danger of his mis- placing a stone, the watchful eye of his opponent compelled him to stretch his line taut and build to it. He convinced himself. That is more. His gifted brother, Otto Herman Walther, pastor of the St. Louis congregation, had died January 21, 1841. On February 8, this congregation called C. E. W. Walther to succeed his brother. The call came to him just when he was in the midst of his preparations for the Altenburg Debate. He does not immediately accept. Scruples of conscience prevent. After the debate, however, on April 26, 1841, we find him at a meeting of the St. Louis congregation. His scruples are removed, his conscience is quieted, he has come to full conviction. He is now absolutely certain that the congregation could not be deprived of the glory of a Christian congregation, consequently it could not be denied the privileges of the same. He enters upon a divinely ordered relationship which endured for nearly fifty years — and leads Trinity Congregation of St. Louis to be- come a blessing unto thousands. He completely convinced the other Saxon pastors and can- didates with their congregations. They sorely needed such help. Pastor Buerger at Seelitz had suspended himself from office. Pastor Loeber was tempted to resign and return to DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MINISTRY. 147 Germany or remain in America as a layman. The candidates refused to preach and doubted if they could ever be law- fully called or even act as vicars to the pastors in office. Earnest Christians refused to attend public worship led by any of the pastors, and tried to content themselves with family worship in their homes. With these doubt- removed and conviction established through a knowledge of the truth, these pastors and congregations also entered upon thai divinely established relationship of shepherd and Hock with- out which any real spiritual growth is well nigh impossible. A further result was the actual application of the truths established and the principles laid down at Altenburg in the formal organization of Trinity Congregation, St. Louis. Here the role played by Doctor Marbach at Altenburg was assumed by a certain Sproede, who with a few like-minded adherents, through their agitations, necessitated the holding of countless congregational meetings for the searching of the Scriptures, "whether these things were so." Their gainsaying again compelled Walther to stretch his line taut and lay up to it. The outcome was the framing of a constitution (Ge- meindeordnung ) and rules for the guidance of the Elders (Vorsteherordnung) together with rules for an almoner's fund ( Armenhassenordnung ) . Walther and his congregation spent two whole years on this matter, trying every paragraph by the rule of the inspired Word and the testimonies of the Church. A summary of these discussions may be found in Walther's Pastoral-Theologie, published in 1872 (pages 355 to 375). This constitution was finally approved and adopted in the spring of 1843, two years after the Altenburg Debate. It established the form and model for government and ad- ministration in all congregations of the Missouri Synod. It did more. It established the form and model for the organization, government, and administration of the Synod itself. After the draft of Synod's constitution was prepared at the Cleveland meeting of 1845, and the St. Louis and Fort Wayne meetings of 1846, Trinity Congregation devoted ten meetings to its consideration, finally approving it at a meet- ing held February 22, 1S47, a few months before the formal 148 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MINISTRY. organization of Synod by its adoption at Chicago on May 26, 1847. Trinity Congregation added the important paragraph which declared Synod to be only an advisory body, the reso- lutions of which are to become effective only after their approval by the congregations composing the body. The leaven of the truth was spreading. Twelve congregations, each represented by a pastor and lay delegate, with ten other pastors and two candidates of theology, signed the constitu- tion; among them Sihler from Fort Wayne, Ind., and Craemer and Lochner from the Saginaw Valley, Mich. Therefore "Ohio and Other States" as part of the official title. Wyneken and Baltimore, Brohm and New York, Brauer and Addison came in at the second convention in 1848. In God's gracious providence the Altenburg leaven was to spread still farther and be more firmly and securely established. The outward occasion was a little more gain- saying, not by an individual as at Altenburg and St. Louis, but by another church-body through its leader. Pastor Andreas Grabau of Prussia, who had been twice imprisoned for resisting the "Prussian Union," left Germany for America with a congregation of one thousand souls eight months after the Saxons. He was followed by Pastor G. A. Kindermann, L. Krause, and H. von Kohr with other immi- grants. They founded strong settlements in Western New York and Wisconsin. They largely outnumbered the Saxons. Certain occurrences, chiefly caused by a lack of ministers among these Prussian Lutherans, prompted their leader, Pastor Grabau, to address a "pastoral letter" (Hirtenbrief) "To the Brethren and Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Buffalo, New York, Milwaukee, Eden and Little Hamburg, Albany, Portage, Canada." He sent copies to the Saxons requesting a Gutachten, or theological opinion. That was in 1840, the year before the Altenburg Debate. They were in no position to give an opinion on any matter, least of all a theological opinion on the Lutheran doctrine of "the Church and the office of the ministry." It surely was a case where silence was golden. But a continued silence DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MINISTRY. 149 was not permitted. Pastor Grabau suggested the joint founding of a theological seminary, and through Pastor Krause requested a formal statement of their position by the Saxons. A burnt child shuns fire. Pastor Grabau's Hirteribrief contained doctrines and principles reiterating and emphasizing the same hierarchical tendencies so success- fully used by "Bishop" Stephan to tyrannize his misguided adherents. How could Walther and his colaborers, by asso- ciating themselves with Grabau, put their necks into the same noose they had just escaped? That was unthinkable. They, under date of July 3, 1843, wrote a courteous, carefully worded, yet thorough reply. Here is the gist of what they said: "It would seem to us, on the one hand, with respect to the so-much-emphasized old Kirchenordnungen, that the essential and unessential, the divine and the human have been confused and therewith Christian liberty curtailed; on the other hand, however, more ascribed to the ministerial office than belongs to it, and therewith the spiritual priest- hood of the congregation forced into the background." Coming from people who had just passed through their ex- periences, this was more than mild. For the "Senior Minis- terii," Pastor Andreas Grabau, had insisted, among other things, that "the congregation must pledge him [its pastor] faithfulness and obedience in all things which are not con- trary to God's Word." "What may or may not be contrary to God's Word is to be decided not by any one member of the Church, but by the Church itself in its Symbols [Con- fessions], church rituals, and synods." Leo X never asked any more of Martin Luther. One need not read the Hirt en- brief to learn what "Senior Ministerii" Grabau thought of the necessity of ordination, of what constitutes a "lawful call" (Augsburg Confession, Article XIV), of absolution, of the validity of the Sacraments, etc., etc. The representations of the Saxons were not well received. Grabau promptly accused the "Missourians" (they owe this their name to him) of "errors" (Irrungen) and a "lax, un- churchly spirit" (einen laxen, unhirchlichen Geist). The fight was on, and it was to be fought with increasing bitter- 150 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MINISTRY. ness, harassing pastors and congregations for twenty-five years. At first directed against Pastor Loeber, after the organization of Synod, it was transferred to that body and to Walther, its first President. It ended at the "Buffalo Colloquium" of November 20, 1866, where representatives of the Missouri and Buffalo Synods met face to face and dis- cussed the doctrine (1) of the Church, (2) of the ministerial office, (3) of excommunication, (4) of the power of the ministerial office with respect to adiaphora, and (5) of ordi- nation. Full agreement was attained with eleven members of the Buffalo Synod, who thereupon joined the Missouri Synod. A deplorable controversy, and yet unavoidable. And the result? "The assertion of hierarchical principles within the Church of America" was dead. The principle of catho- licity so briefly and magnificently stated in Article YII of the Augsburg Confession, asserted and vindicated at Alten- burg in 1841, at St. Louis in 1843, at Chicago in 1847, was again asserted and vindicated at Buffalo in 1866, — not before a congregation or a group of congregations, but before the entire Lutheran Church of America. It was also asserted and vindicated before the Church of Europe, on the one hand, by the break with Pfarrer J. C. Wilhelm Loehe of Neuendettelsau, Bavaria, the most gen- erous friend and benefactor of the Lutheran cause in America; and on the other, by the publication of Walther's book Kirche und Amt as the testimony of the Missouri Synod (convention of 1851) in Germany in 1852. In his opening address at the fourth convention of Synod, Walther, after describing Romanizing tendencies in the Church of Germany and America, says: "Most recently, however, we have finally been drawn into serious conflict with the same from two sides." The one side was Grabau. The other side was Loehe. While in the main satisfied with the activities and efforts of the brethren in the New World, Loehe could not refrain from disapproving what he called "the strong intermixing of democratic, independent, and congregational principles in their constitution as doubtful and deplorable." The assertion of the dignities and rights of all true believers, DOCTRINE OF THE CHUBCH AND Till. MINISIKY. 151 whom God hath made "to bo king:- and priests forever" I Rev. 1, 6; 1 Pet. 2, 9), used with such telling force by Luther against the pretensions of the Roman hierarchy, and written by Walther into the constitution of the Missouri Synod, was in Loehe's eyes amerikanische Poebelherrschaft (American mob-rule). That it is stated in Article VII of the Angus- tana made no difference. "Not all parts of the Confessions are of equal binding force," said Loehe. There are "open questions." "We must strive for further doctrinal develop- ment/' etc., etc. Like Grabau and Stephan before him, Loehe wanted ein festes Kirchenregiment (a firm church government). The three men had some things in common. They had a profound mistrust of the laity. They had a fondness for colonization schemes. They had great enthusiasm for litur- gical forms. Their attitude toward the Confessions was somewhat similar. They approached them with preconceived notions, seeking endorsement of previously formed theories. They argued: "It is expedient to organize so and so. We may do this, for the Confessions, Luther, and the Kirchen- ordnungen say so and so." Walther argued: "The Scripture-, the Confessions, Luther, and our faithful teachers say so and so. Therefore we must organize so and so." With this result: Writing to Sihier (Walther s Letters, Vol. I, p. L87) of his book, The Correct Form of a Local Evangelical Lutheran Congregation, Walther says: "This book is really the practical application of the principles laid down in The Church and the Ministry. It showed "that the very Lutheran doctrine of the Church and the ministry forms the firmest foundation upon which a particular Church (eine Partilmlarhirche) may build itself in correct form," and "that our old faithful teachers, although they lived in a state church, under consistorial organization, on the basis of their doctrine of Church, ministry, church government, etc.. did not conceive of the form of a local congregation, independent of the state, otherwise than it is found here represented." Every possible effort was made to prevent a break with Loehe. It was unavoidable. It came in 1S52. It hurt, for 152 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MINISTRY. the Missouri Synod owed Pfarrer Loehe much. But when it came to choosing between a sacrifice of the truth and a sacrifice of grateful friendship, there could be but one choice. As Walther says: "We therefore need men who in trial have experienced the excellence (Herrlichheit) of the Word; yea, of every word; who know that in each eternal life may be enclosed, and that therefore with each eternal life may also be lost; each must be defended to the last (bis aufs Blut)." (Letters, Vol. I., p. 96.) No man can call himself a Lutheran if he does not stand ready to adhere to, and confess, the truth at any cost. The 'break with Loehe brought Walther and the "Missourians" much reproach. It had to be borne, and by Walther, who always spoke of Loehe with high esteem, it was borne in silence. Walther's book on The Church and the Ministry was pub- lished at the request and order of the Synod in 1852, the year of the break with Loehe. It contains (I) Walther's theses, or sentences, on the doctrine of the Church and (II) the doctrine of the office, or the ministry. The sentences on the Church are a restatement of the Altenburg theses reordered to apply, not merely to the condition which neces- sitated that discussion, but generally and universally in the Church. Lack of space forbids their introduction here and ' a critical comparison, which would seem to be necessary and profitable. Suffice it to say that the sharpness of debate, and especially the controversy with Grabau, served to bring about increased precision of definition and clearness of statement. Thus in theses VII and IX he is plainly rejecting the errors which determined all of Grabau's thinking and prompted him to call the synod he organized "The Synod of the Lutheran Church Emigrated from Prussia." The doctrine of the ministry is stated thus: Thesis I. The holy office of preaching (Predigtamt) or the ministry (Pfarramt) is not identical with that of the priesthood of all believers. Thesis II. The office of preaching or the ministry is no human institu- tion, but an office instituted by God Himself. DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MINISTRY. 153 Thesis III. The establishment of the office of the ministry is not optional. but it is divinely enjoined upon the Church, and' until the end of days the Church is ordinarily bound to honor it. Thesis IV. The office of the ministry is no separate holy estate, like the Levitical priesthood, standing out as more Holy than the common estate of all Christians, but an office of service. Thesis V. The office of the ministry has the power to preach the Gospel and administer the holy Sacraments and the power of spiritual jurisdiction. Thesis VI. The office of the ministry is conferred (uebertragen) by God through the congregation, as possessor of all Church power or the keys, and by the congregation's divinely prescribed call. The ordination with laying on of hands on those called is not a divine institution, but an apostolic, ecclesiastical rite and only a public solemn attestation of such call. Thesis VII. The holy ministry is the power conveyed by God through the congregation, as the possessor of the priesthood and all church power, to administer by common consent (von Gemeinschafts ivegcn) in public office the rights of the spiritual priesthood. Thesis VEIL The office of the ministry is the highest office in the Church and the source of all other offices in the church (aus welchem alle andern Kirchenaemter fliessen) . Thesis IX. To the holy ministry there is due honor and unconditional obe- dience whenever the minister applies the Word of God (Gottes Wort fuehrt) ; nevertheless, the minister may not exercise dominion in the church; he, therefore, has no right to make new laws, arbitrarily to arrange the adiaphora and ceremonies in the church, or alone and without previous knowledge on the part of the whole congregation to impose and carry out the sentence of excom- munication. Thesis X. The holy ministry, indeed, has the divine right to judge doc- trine; however, the "laity also has this right; for which reason laymen have also seat and voice with the ministers in church courts and councils. This translation is no doubt stiff and lame. It lacks the precise exactness of Walther's most carefully worded sentences. Still, one may get an idea of what he says. His 154 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MINISTRY. opponents promptly seized upon Thesis VI as being, in their judgment, the weakest point in the argument and mocked at Walther's "conveyance doctrine (Walthers Uebertragungs- lehre)" They would not have it that God confers the sacred office through the communion of saints as represented by the two or three gathered together as a Christian congrega- tion in Jesus' name. To their way of thinking it was much more seemly and carried with it greater honor that the sacred office should be conferred by God upon ministers through ministers. And so they argued and still argue. What the Scriptures, the Confessions, Luther, and all faithful teachers of the Church may say, carries no weight. With Walther it was the only argument worthy of consideration. Accord- ingly, as under the sentences on the doctrine of the Church, he marshals and arrays under each of these sentences, building up his proof step by step, stone by stone, an over- whelming body of testimony, citing first the Scriptures, then the Confessions, then Luther, then other faithful teachers, preferably Gerhard, Chemnitz, Calov, Quenstedt, Carpzov, and then the councils and fathers of the ancient Church. His list of authorities quoted fills four pages and contains the names of the greatest teachers before and after the Reformation. When he has finished, one feels that an attempt to change any word he wrote may well be likened to an attempt to push a brick out of a solid wall with one's finger. He states his purpose in the Vorerinnerung : — "Willingly as we admit that the conditions under which we live here in America have been of deciding influence upon our vividly apprehending the doctrine of the Church and the Ministry as stated in this publication, upon our clinging to it as a precious treasure and now confessing it before all the world, we must nevertheless just as positively reject the accusation that we have modified and molded the holy, pure doctrine of our Church to suit our conditions. Since we are here not placed under inherited ecclesiastical conditions, but, on the contrary, are so placed as to be compelled to lay the foundation for the same, and to be able to lay it without DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MINISIKY. 155 hindrance on the part of what may exist, these conditions have rather compelled us earnestly to inquire after the prin- ciples upon which, according to God's Word and the Con- fessions of our Church, the constitution of a true Lutheran congregation (Gemeinschaft) must rest and in accordance with which it must be framed. The less the question occu- pies us, What may we retain without sin? but the question, How, according to the principles laid down and proved by God's Word and the Confessions of our Church, must it be \ the more pressing the necessity for us to attain clearness and certainty of faith with respect to the principles of the doc- trine of the Church, the Ministry, the Power of the Keys, church government, etc. We have not molded the doctrine of our Church according to our conditions, but we have molded these according to the doctrine of our Church. To him who doubts this we cheerfully say: 'Come and see,' and him who with astonishment finds principles and doctrines which he has hitherto shunned with horror as teachings of religious enthusiasts (Schwaermereien), presented by us as principles and doctrines of the Lutheran Church, we can cheerfully refer to the proofs we have adduced, permitting him the choice of either leaving us the reputation of Lu- theran orthodoxy or denying this to a great cloud of faith- ful witnesses from Luther down to a Baier and a Hollaz. . . . Now may the rich blessing of Him who regards that which is lowly rest upon this small gift from poor America, which ordinarily asks gifts of the German mother country toward the upbuilding of our beloved Evangelical Lutheran Zion. Above all, may this public action somewhat aid in the seeking and digging out of the treasures of utterance and knowledge which at present for so many are unfortunately hidden in the dust-covered writings of our divinely taught fathers. For our Church that would be a gain of inexpressible worth. We, however, to whom God out of boundless mercy has suf- fered to know the pure doctrine of His holy Word by the grace of His Holy Spirit and the service of those faithful servants who now see what they once believed, pray Him to keep us, despite all dazzling wisdom of men and all deception, 156 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MINISTRY. in His truth, and render to Him thanks, praise, land, and honor through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen." Again, he says: "America, poor in theological learning, Germany rich, and yet the rich treasure of utterance and knowledge hidden in the dusty tomes of our faithful fathers, the finding of which is great gain. We should be grateful and faithful, putting to use whatever talent we, by God's grace, may have received, even offering any small gift we may possess to the mother country — all for the upbuilding of our beloved Evangelical Lutheran Zion." This was his one thought, the one desire of his heart, the spirit which fired his soul. Whether he writes into the constitution of the Missouri Synod this ground for its organi- zation: "The preservation and cultivation of the unity of the pure Confession (Eph. 4, 3 — 6; 1 Cor. 1, 10), and the common warding off of separatistic and sectarian confusion (Kom. 16, 17)," whether he writes to Sihler of the constitu- tion, speaking of "the most careful preservation of true catholicity and an avoidance of all separatism," or whether he speaks of "the final realization of one united Evangelical Lutheran Church of North America" (foreword of Lehre und Wehre, Vol. II), it all has one purpose: the upbuilding of our beloved Church. It is from this view-point that Kirche und Ami must be read, and again it is from this view-point that we must try to measure the result not only of its publication, but of everything connected with or re- sulting from it. As far as Europe is concerned, the tangible results are small. The Church of Germany not only, as Walther put it, "lived in inherited ecclesiastical conditions," but its leaders, to quote Walther again, "were not minded to seat themselves with childlike simplicity at the feet of our old teachers." (Letters, Vol. I, p. 78.) Their great word and aim was Fortentwiclclung (progressive development). While in their theological journals they recognized the diligence and painstaking scholarship which had gone into the writing of Kirche und And, their criticism, generally speaking, may be summed up in the statement: "He has produced nothing DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MI.MSIKY. 157 new." That, to their way of thinking, was condemnation enough. Whether or not the position taken and the principles laid down were Scripturally correct and true did not enter into consideration with them. That it might be their duty to reorganize their churches according to these principles, and thus establish in correct form "an Evangelical Lutheran congregation independent of the state," hardly entered their minds. If the thought did come to them, it was brushed aside as being so inexpedient and impossible as to deserve no serious consideration, much less any expenditure of effort or energy. At this moment, when all their "inherited eccle- siastical conditions" have utterly broken clown, it would seem that they are no more ready than they were to sit "with childlike simplicity at the feet of our old teachers." The crushing catastrophe which came upon them through the World War may have changed some things, but it did not change that. They are still trying to produce or evolve something new, without, however, being able to decide whether this new form of organization is to be a StaatsMrche, a Yolkskirche, or a Freihirche. Judged by these outward and visible signs, the result in Germany of Walther's Kirche und Amt, together with its realization in the organization and administration of the Church in America, would seem to be small. In an attempt to gauge results in the Church of America, it will be necessary to distinguish between the Missouri Synod with those bodies affiliated with it in the Synodical Conference, on the one hand, and those Lutheran bodies now organized into one federation: the General Council, the United Synod of the South, and the General Synod, on the other. It will also be necessary to study the organization and development of those independent synods which came into direct contact with Missouri: the Buffalo Synod, the Iowa Synod, the Ohio Synod, and the Norwegian Synod, as well as the Scandinavian and other synods. Such a study will show that all these bodies were in some measure affected and influenced by Walther's resolve, when it came to deter- mining the correct form of an "Evangelical Lutheran church 158 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MINISTRY. independent of the state," to sit "with childlike simplicity at the feet of our old teachers." The fullest appreciation on the part of a fellow church leader was that so generously accorded by Dr. Charles Porterfield Krauth of the General Council. How far his teachings influenced the General Council and the synods now federated with it in the "Merger" would have to be determined by a study of their constitutions, synodical resolutions, and synodical practise. In general it will be found that it was not easy for them wholly to shake off the influence of their "inherited ecclesiastical conditions." Still, this should be said: When, in the year immediately preceding the four-hundredth anniversary of the Reforma- tion, the pastors of the Missouri Synod, the General Synod, and the Ohio Synod residing in and near Baltimore and Washington met in free conference "for the promotion of Christian unity through doctrinal discussions based upon the inspired Word of God and the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church," it was unanimously agreed to center the discussions upon Article YII of the Augsburg Confession. More encouraging still was the fact that each point developed by the essayist, whose thorough study of Walther eminently qualified him to lead these discussions, was, after fullest pos- sible consideration, unanimously adopted by a rising vote of all pastors in attendance. Even more encouraging was the fact that these discussions were bringing forth fruit as exemplified by the attitude taken by some of the pastors over against the local ministerial union and the abortive attempts of that heterogenous body to arrange a Reformation Day celebration for the year 1917. It is a pity that these con- ferences were discontinued. It is an even greater pity that the excessive and unconquerable modesty of the essayist pre- vented a publication of these proceedings. They would have supplied gratifying proof that the leaven of Altenburg is still working and spreading in the Lutheran Church of America. God speed the day when the whole lump shall have been leavened, when, as Walther put it, we may see "the final realization of one united Evangelical Lutheran Church of North America" ! DOCTRINE OF THE CIIUKCir AM. TIIK MI.MSTKV. \ " | I The two publications Kirche und Ami and Die rechte Gestalt were followed by a discussion, led by Walther, a1 the session of the General Body at St. Louis in L866 of the theme, "The Evangelical Lutheran Church, the True Visible Church upon Earth." For thirteen years he elaborated, a1 thi sions of the Western District, a theme which rings out like a paean of victory: "Only through the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church God alone is given nil glory — an irrefutable proof that her doctrine is true." He com- pleted this magnificent work in 1886, as it' it were closing his life (he died May 7, 1887), with the motto which had inspired his very thought and deed: "Soli Deo gloria!" In the foreword of his book Die rechte Gestalt he wrote these words: "Finally let it be said that the reader is herewith not offered something untried for new organization experi- ments, but a form or organization is presented which has existed here for twenty-four years, and under which by God's grace, a not insignificant, but year by year increasing num- ber of congregations have been established, and are still being established, which in one faith and confession and in the work of love are outwardly firmly united and are riehly blessed." It is a repetition of his "Come and see!" in the foreword of Kirche und Amt. Let us change the "twenty- four" to seventy-five, and the words may still stand. Soli Deo gloria! A very able pastor of another synod, in private conversa- tion some years ago, offered this explanation for the wonder- ful development of the Missouri Synod as compared with other Lutheran church-bodies organized years before 1847: "The Missouri Synod had bigger men." The founders of the Synod were indeed big men. That explanation, however. does not explain. Dr. Henry Eyster Jacobs, in his Lutherans in America, written for the American Church History series, comes nearer the truth when he heads the chapter describing the organization and growth of the Missouri Synod : "The Confessional Reaction." That is better. But even that does not fully explain. It must not be overlooked that the Mis- souri Synod, from its weakest beginnings at the Altenburg 160 MISSOURI AND IOWA. Debate, stood not only for unqualified acceptance of, and adherence to, the Confessions, but for their unfaltering appli- cation and fullest possible realization in the organization, government, and administration of the Church in America. It stood for a confession of faith, for "the preservation and cultivation of the unity of the pure confession and the common warding off of separatistic and sectarian confusion." It stood for a principle of organization, for "the protection and the guarding of the rights and duties of pastors and congregations." (Sy nodical Constitution, chapter 1, par. 4.) It would therefore seem that any attempt to explain the growth and development of the Missouri Synod must lay equal stress upon these two points, both tersely, yet fully and explicitly stated in Article VII of the Augsburg Confession, elaborated in Kirche und Amt and applied in Die rechte Gestalt. As one does that, one may somewhat adequately explain the growth and development of the Missouri Synod. But "lest we forget" — Soli Deo Gloria ! Missouri and Iowa. Prof. John H. C. Fritz, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo. The very cordial and brotherly relation between our early pioneers and those of the Iowa Synod, the common work which both did in the early history of our Lutheran Church in this country, and our indebtedness to the father of the Iowa Synod, Pastor Wilhelm Loehe of Neuendettelsau, are sufficient reasons for a special chapter on "Missouri and Iowa" in a series of chapters written upon the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of our Missouri Synod. For the very same reasons it is highly regrettable that the Iowa Synod was ever organized, and that for almost seventy-five years the work which was originally done in com- mon and in brotherly unity was carried on along divided lines and with hard-fought doctrinal controversies. Two pastors, Grossmann and Deindoerfer, Gottlob Am- man and family, two students, and a few young people left the colony in Michigan, in September, 1853, and, in MISSOURI AND IOWA. 1 g 1 October, crossed the Mississippi River at Dubuque; the majority of those whom Loehe had scut to the colony in Michigan remained not only with the colony, but with our Synod.1) And August 24, 1854, the Iowa Synod was or- ganized by only four men: Pastors Gr. Grossmann, J. Dein- doerfer, S. Fritschel, and Candidate M. Schueller, the two last named having just arrived from Europe. It is a pity that these few permitted themselves to be influenced to such an extent by Loehe that they could not see their way clear to remain with us. We still much deplore this fact, but pray that the overtures which are being made at the present ti un- to bring about doctrinal harmony between us may with the help and grace of God not prove unsuccessful. The acquaintance of Loehe, the father of the Iowa Synod, with the pioneers of our Synod and the moral and financial support which was given us by him and through his influence, was the result of a call for help extended by Wyneken in 1841 in behalf of the stray Lutherans in this country.2) A society in Hannover printed and published Wyneken's call for help, and in this way it came also into the hands of Loehe, who at once in the Noerdlingen Sonntagshlatt, edited by his friend, Pastor Fr. Wucherer, made an earnest plea for the thousands of Lutheran families in North America who were sorely in need of proper spiritual care.3) So much interested was Loehe in the work of the Lntheran Church in this country that in 1843 he, together with his friend Wucherer, published a special paper in its behalf, Kirchliche Mittei- lungen aus unci ueber Nordameril-a, which was circulated in 8,000 copies. Loehe's original intention was not to send preachers, but 1) Quellen unci Dokumente, Geo. J. Fritschel, p. 130. 2) Wyneken, having learned the spiritual needs of his country- men on this side of the Atlantic through missionary magazines in the Old World, had landed at Baltimore about half a year before the Saxons had arrived in 1838 and 1839 at New Orleans, from which place they had gone up the Mississippi to St. Louis and Perry County. 3) Gesch. d. ev.-luth. Syn. v. Iowa u. a. St., J. Deindoerfer, p. 7. EBENEZER. 11 162 MISSOURI AND IOWA. teachers to America to relieve the spiritual distress of the children of the immigrants and save them for the Church. But when two men, Ernst and Burger, Wyneken's and Loehe's first-fruits, arrived at New York, Prof. Winkler of the theo- logical seminary of the Ohio Synod, whom they met at Pastor Stohlmann's, persuaded them to go with him to Columbus, O. Columbus was so well pleased with these young men whom it had picked up in New York that it requested Loehe to send more of them. He did so. Some joined the Ohio Synod and others the Michigan Synod.4) Loehe's connection Avith these synods was but of short duration. Both proved at that time to be unsound in doc- trine. Since the theological seminary of the Ohio Synod at Columbus could no longer be used to educate preachers and pastors for the large mission-field in which Loehe and his men were interested, it became necessary to establish a new theological seminary. At the suggestion of Dr. Sihler, who had left the Ohio Synod and had become the successor of Wyneken at Fort Wayne, Loehe consented to have a theolog- ical school established at Fort Wayne, and in 1846 a semi- nary was opened in rented quarters with an enrolment of eleven students under the leadership of Sihler. Soon there- after land and buildings were purchased with moneys which had largely been collected by Loehe and his friends. When our Synod was organized in the following year at Chicago, Loehe, upon our request, turned over the seminary to our Synod with the proviso that the seminary ever serve the Lutheran Church, that it remain German,5) and that it ever 4) The Michigan Synod had been founded by a certain Pas- tor Schmidt, who served a number of congregations near Ann Arbor, whose members had emigrated chiefly from Wuerttemberg. Through Loehe's connection with Schmidt the Frankenmuth colony was founded. In 1845 Pastor Aug. Craemer arrived there with a number of families. 5 ) What was meant was, no doubt, that German be used as the medium of instruction. Loehe's reason for this was the same fear which men in our Synod formerly had, namely, that the use of the English language would introduce the literature of the sects and thereby their false doctrines. MISSOURI AND IOWA. \Q£ continue to be ein Nothelfer seminar, that is, a seminary which by a short course, in a few years, prepares nun for the ministry. After fourteen years the Fort Wayne Seminary was removed to St. Louis, where it was not merged, bnl com- bined with Concordia Theological Seminary until 1874 and 1875, when it was moved to Springfield, 111., where last year its seventy-fifth anniversary was celebrated. During this time 1540 candidates for the ministry were graduated from it; and the original stipulations made by Loehe are still in force, with the exception that English is now also used as a medium of instruction, and that the students arc trained to preach the Gospel not only in the German, but also in the English language, and in other languages, which, while not conforming to the letter of Loehe's transfer, we believe would meet wnth his approval if he were living to-day. As early as 1844 Loehe sought to get in touch with the Saxons at St. Louis. When, in that year, he sent G. W. Hatt- staedt to America, he asked him to visit these in person. Iiattstaedt, however, being prevented from so doing, asked Sihler and Ernst to attend to the matter. This was done by way of correspondence. A favorable answer was received and a copy sent to Loehe, who by this reply and by copies of Der Lutheraner, which Walther had edited since 1844, was encouraged in believing that he and the Saxons could work hand in hand.6) When in 1846 a draft of a synodical con- stitution was discussed at Fort Wayne, Loehe's men were present. This constitution was adopted when our Synod was organized in the following year at Chicago. Deindoerfer, in his history of the Iowa Synod, says: "It is indeed sur- prising that in such an important matter as the adoption of a synodical constitution, in which the peculiar doctrine of the ministerial office, as taught by Dr. Walther, was clearly stated, the pupils and friends of Loehe did not even stop to ask those by whom they had been sent for their opinion and their advice." 7) Loehe was not well pleased, but he was 6) Fritschel and Deindoerfer, I. c, pp. 15. 37. 7) Deindoerfer, I. c, p. 17. 164 MISSOURI AND IOWA. satisfied for the time being to let his men work under a con- stitution which did not in all respects have his approval. The issue on which Loehe and the few men who organized the Iowa Synod finally separated from the Missouri Synod was that of the Church and the Ministerial Office. Loehe took an intermediate position between the Missourians and Grabau with strong leaning towards Grabau. He, like Gra- bau, did not believe that every Christian has all the rights and privileges of the Office of the Keys, nor that the Chris- tians, as spiritual priests, transfer their rights, when calling a pastor, to such pastor for public administration, and that in this wise the office of the ministry is established in a con- gregation, and that, therefore, the office of the ministry is de- rived from the spiritual priesthood of believers. Not through the local congregation, said Loehe, but through the Church, that is, through the congregation and the clergy, the Lord calls and ordains men for the ministry. Loehe believed that, according to the Scripture, the clergy (das Ministerium) is entitled to a voice in the calling of a pastor, and he was not satisfied to admit that ordination was simply a church cere- mony, which publicly attested the validity of the call. He, however, did not agree with Grabau in believing that church- members must obey their pastor in all things which are not contrary to the Word of God, nor did he approve of Grabau's papistic doctrine of excommunication. Loehe, however, was not of the opinion that the existing differences were a de- parture from the Lutheran doctrine and constituted a cause for a rupture. As early as 1850 Loehe already intimated that the time had perhaps come when he would be compelled to carry on his work apart from the Missouri Synod in another territory of North America. "At any rate," said Loehe, "although we do not agree with our brethren in North America., we shall let charity and peace prevail toward them." 8) In 1851 our Synod had extended an invitation to Loehe to come to its convention at Milwaukee; and when Loehe could not come, 8) Deindoerfer, I. c, p. 23. MISSOURI AND IOWA. 1 ( | ,", Synod sent Walther and Wyneken to Germany, where, besides attending to other things, they should also confer with Loehe. Although Loehe did not fully agree with Walther and Wyneken, he was hopeful as to the future; but when, in the mean time, the Missourians of the colony in Michigan insisted that their doctrine of the Church and the ministerial office was that of the Bible, and when at this time Grabau visited Loehe in person, the break with the Missourians could no longer be averted. The result was that a few people who sided with Loehe left Michigan and journeyed to Iowa.9) When the Iowa Synod was organized by four men in the unfinished parsonage at St. Sebald, Iowa, August 24, 1854, a constitution was not adopted, although the meetings were mainly devoted to a discussion of the principles on the basis of which the new synod was to operate. "In view of the importance as also of the difficulty of drafting a formal synodical constitution," 10) only a fe^v paragraphs, by which the new synod was to be guided in its work, were agreed upon. The first of these paragraphs reads: "Synod accepts all the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, be- cause it believes that all their symbolical decisions of dis- putable questions which had arisen before or during the time of the Eeformation were made in accordance with the Word of God. But because within the Lutheran Church there are different tendencies (verschiedene Richtungen), Synod de- clares itself in favor of that tendency which, by means of the Confessions and on the basis of the Word of God, strives toward a greater completeness (einer groesseren Vollendung entgegenstrebt).^ (Italics our own.) The uncertainty and the lack of definiteness manifested in this basic principle not only characterize Loehe and the Iowa Synod from its very inception, but were the very source of their weakness, and offer the explanation for their peculiar doctrinal attitude, and their failure to understand and ap- preciate Walther and the Missourians, wno, after having 9) It makes interesting reading when we are told that an acre of land in Iowa at that time sold for $1.25. 10) Fritschel, I.e., p. 131. 166 MISSOURI AND IOWA. thoroughly examined a doctrine in the light of the Word of God, made not only very clear and definite statements, but were, like Luther at Worms and at Marburg, unyielding in their position, knowing that if they pleased men, they would not be the servants of Christ. For favoring that peculiar tendency which permits a churchman to consider as an open question what the Bible teaches, but what has not yet been symbolically defined by the Lutheran Church, the Iowa Synod was early taken to task. It, therefore, later did not embody the "peculiar tendency" principle in its constitution, but, says Deindoerfer, the Iowa Synod "did thereby not abandon its tendency and its peculiarity, and will — God grant it — never abandon it : Synod will not refuse to accept any good which God may in the future by His Spirit give unto His Church, but be ready to receive it." n) Psychologically we .can readily understand and explain why the Iowa Synod classifies a doctrine as belonging to "subordinate doctrinal questions," while with us it is put in a class with the paramount issues; and why Iowa speaks of the "intolerance" of the Missouri Synod, while that very "in- tolerance" is with us a matter of conscience. The situation between Missouri and Iowa is similar to that between Luther and the later Melanchthon. But what we can readily understand and explain psycho- logically we cannot readily understand and condone from a Biblical point of view, and, which is equivalent, from the point of view which a Lutheran must take who would be true to the principles of the Reformation and to the Confessions of the Lutheran Church. True to its peculiar doctrinal tendency, the Iowa Synod, in its answer given at Toledo in 1867 to the question, "What is necessary for unity in the Church?" declared: "There never has been an absolute doctrinal unity in the Church, and it ought not to be made a condition of church-fellow- ship." 12) Iowa makes Luther sponsor for this peculiar posi- 11) I. c, p. 42. 12) Deindoerfer, I. c, p. 127. MISSOURI AND IOWA. 1G7 tion.13) But Luther not only said: "There is not a clearer book written upon earth than the Holy Scripture,"14) hut: "Where there is no true unity, there certainly both part- can- not be the true Church."15) Again he says: "Christiana should insist upon unity of the Spirit." lf>) And again : "Even as the Sacramentarians highly extol unity in reference to the [Christian] life, so we must make unity of doctrine and faith stand out/'17) The variations as to doctrine in Luther's writings are chiefly due to his deeper knowledge of the Scripture in later years over against that of his early career, as he himself tells us, and partly to the fact that Luther also was not infallible, never, however, to any indif- ferent or compromising attitude on his part. Not only his writings, but also his work as a Reformer corroborate this fact. At that very synod in Toledo, in 1867, at which certain theses with reference to church unity were adopted, Iowa de- cided to ask the Missouri Synod for a colloquy in order to discuss the doctrinal differences between the two synods. This request was cheerfully granted by our Synod, and the colloquy was held at Milwaukee, November 13 — 18, 1867. It is noteworthy that one of the reasons that prompted Iowa to ask for this colloquy was the fact that some pastors of the Iowa Synod were favorably disposed toward the Missouri ■Synod, or, as Deindoerfer puts it, "dass manche Pastoren der Synode sich in bedenklicher Weise zu Missouri neigten." ls) At the colloquy the attitude of both synods to the Confessions, the so-called open questions, and some differences in the doc- trine of eschatology were discussed. Lack of time prevented a discussion of that doctrine on which Iowa and Missouri originally separated, the doctrine of the Church and the ministerial office. An agreement was not arrived at. Iowa would not admit that the doctrines as to the observance of Sunday (whether or not a certain day was commanded), as to the first resur- 13) Deindoerfer, I. c, p. 126. 14) St. L. 5, 334. 15) St. L. 12, 740. 16) St. L. 12, 898. 17) St. L. 9, 727. 18) L. c, p. 128. 168 MISSOURI AND IOWA. rection, Rev. 20, and as to Antichrist must be considered symbolically fixed in the Lutheran Church and classed as articles of faith. For the term "open questions" the Iowaans were ready to substitute that of "problems," but while the colloquists agreed that there are open questions, or problems, namely, such things as are not definitely or not all taught in the Scriptures, they did not agree as to what could be counted among such problems. In the year 1873^ at Davenport, Iowa, the Iowa Synod, upon the request of one of its conferences, made an official statement of its doctrinal relation to the Missouri Synod. Space forbids us to reprint the twenty-one paragraphs which were adopted. Nor is it necessary, for they give only a sum- mary statement and contain nothing essentially new. In fact, Deindoerfer says: "With this declaration," referring to those twenty-one articles, "the result of the Milwaukee colloquy was accepted by Synod." 19) Prior to the synodical meeting at Madison, Wis., in 1875, there were serious disturbances in the Iowa Synod, which made it necessary that at Madison the Iowa Synod should again officially state its position over against Missouri. This was done in the Madison theses, consisting of eight para- graphs. Although in the course of years some slight modi- fications were made in Iowa's doctrinal position, yet also at Madison the Iowa Synod desired to have it distinctly under- stood that essentially it had not changed its position over against Missouri. In 1879 Iowa celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary. At its synodical meeting a number of theses were discussed and adopted in which the synod stated the purpose of its organi- zation and in a general way restated its doctrinal position. Thesis No. 10 reads : — "The occasion for the formation of the Evangelical Lu- theran Synod of Iowa was given by the intolerance of the Missouri Synod. In the controversy with reference to some parts of the doctrine of the Church and the ministerial 19) L.c, p. 136. MISSOURI AND IOWA. 169 office Pastor Loehe had voiced certain opinions which were not in accord with certain theses of the Missouri Synod. Although Loehe's opinions were not contrary to the faith of the Church and to her Confessions, yet the Missouri Synod could not bear with him and his men. Later certain diver- gent opinions in eschatological doctrines were also made a matter of controversy. "As a result our Synod was from its very beginning per- suaded to make a distinction between such articles in the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as are necessary articles of faith (Glaubenslehren) and such other doctrines (LehrpunTcten) as are not doctrines necessary for salvation ; and our Synod has considered it one of her duties very earnestly and emphatically to teach as an important truth . . . b) that there are doctrines, even doctrines of the Bible [italics our own], concerning which members of our Church may hold different views and convictions without thereby being compelled to refuse each other church-fellow- ship; and that these are the very doctrines for the sake of which the Missourians adjudge us to be heretical. In such matters unity should indeed be sought; but it is not ab- solutely required, as, in the doctrines of faith (Glaubens- lehren)." 20) We have quoted this to show that Iowa maintained its position which characterized it from the very beginning. Iowa desired to be Lutheran ; but while it was not willing to grant as wide a berth for Lutheranism as was found with the Eastern synods, it regarded the Lutheranism of the Missouri Synod as much too narrow. When Missouri was drawn into the controversy on election and conversion, Iowa felt that, for the information of its congregations and in order to go on record as a synod, it had to make an official declaration. This was done at the synod at Dubuque, in 1882, in a twofold manner : a series of theses by Dr. S. Fritschel were discussed and ordered printed, and a tract by Dr. G. Fritschel was published. While up to this 20) Deindoerfer, I. c, p. 219. 170 MISSOURI AND IOWA. time Iowa would not admit that the doctrinal differences between Missouri and Iowa were of a serious nature, it now accused Missouri of a fundamental error and of heresy which was sufficient cause for separation (fundamentaler , grund- stuerzender und kirchentrefinender Irrtum).21) In the third thesis Dr. S. Fritschel said : "The Lutheran Church has ever considered it Calvinistic error ... to speak of election as having been made without reference to the conduct of man (ohne Ruecksicht auf das menschliche Verhalteri), merely in accordance with the pleasure of the divine will, and to de- nounce as an error that God made His election in respect to faith which He foresaw (in Ansehung des vorausgesehenen Glaubens), because, according' to the doctrine of the Lutheran Church, God in His eternal, divine counsel has decreed that He would save no one except those who would know Christ, His, Son, and truly believe in Him." 22) As a result of the so-called election controversy Dein- doerfer wrote in his History of the Iowa Synod: "Although in former years the difference between us and the Missouri Synod did not stand in the way of church-fellowship, the difference now existing in the doctrine of election is of such a nature that there can no longer be any church-fellow- ship." 23) Officially the Iowa Synod has not essentially changed its position and its relation to our Synod, although a more friendly spirit is noticeable in late years. In the foreword to his Quellen und Dokumente, of which the ninth and last issue, which contains also the foreword, has recently left the press, Dr. Geo. J. Fritschel writes: "What encouraged them [the founders of the Iowa Synod] was the clear consciousness that that representation of the Lutheran Church [known as the Missouri Synod] needed a corrective — the historico- exegetical alongside of the dogmatico-traditional tendency. The Iowa Synod refused to represent any one single school, refused to consider a theological school and the Church as 21 ) Deindoerfer, I. c, p. 229. 22) Deindoerfer, I. c, p. 229. 23 ) Deindoerfer, I. c, p. 232. MISSOURI AND IOWA. 171 one and the same thing. And this very position has the mark of Lutheranism, which we find in the Iowa Synod. At the time of Luther there existed [theological] schools; alongside of him were Melanchthon, Brenz, Osiander, and others. Each one of these had his peculiarities and hie own peculiar ways. Even so it was at the time of the Formula of Concord: the school of Brenz, of Chemnitz, of Chytraeuaj the Gnesio-Lutherans, who differed from Chemnitz, and the Melanchthon-Lutherans. Thus it has always been ;inf Missourianism in Baltimore, faithfully and efficiently supporting the synodical activities at home and abroad, and producing, in the course of years, a comparatively large number of pastors and teachers edu- cated at our synodical institutions. The pastors at these now three older churches until the present have been: — St. Paul's: Hugo Hanser, 1867- lss'-: Oscar Hanser, vacancy pastor, 1885— 1886; G.Johannes, 1886—1895; Chr. Kuehn, 1805—1918. Immanuel's: K. Stuerken, 1864—1888; T. Stiemke, 1888 to 1908; H.Th. Stiemke, 1908— 1913; O.Burhenn. Martini: C. H. F. Frincke, 1868— 1901; C. Gaenssle, 1896 to 1897; E.F.Haertel, 1897— 1S!»!»; D. H. Steffens, 1900 to 1918; E. F. Engelbert. The following congregations have resulted from the mis- sionary enterprise of the foregoing three congregations: — St. Thomas, in the western section of the city, was or- ganized mainly out of St. Paul's, in 1890, and its church dedicated January 18, 1891. Pastors: Wm. Schaller, 1891 to 1 901 ; H. Guckenberger. Emmanuel's English, western section, organized Jan- uary 19, 1888. Pastors: Wm. Dallmann, 1888—1898; C. Abbetmeyer, 1898—1902; C. F. W. Meyer, 1902—1910; Theo. F. Halm, 1910— 1915; P. Bente, 1915 — 1920; J. M. Bailey, 1921. Jackson Square, now Church of Our Savior, English, eastern section, organized March 10, 1892. Pastors : H. B. Hemmeter, 1892—1895, O. Kaiser, 1895—1910; Theo. Sorge, 1910—1921. MISSOUKI SYNOD IN EAST AND SOUTHEAST. 195 Bethlehem, originally St. Peters German, came to the Missouri Synod and was later reorganized, August 17, 1903, under Pastor F. Yerwiebe, and was received into Synod in 1904. Pastor Verwiebe served until 1907, and Pastor G. Spil- man since 1908. Redeemer, Irvington, was organized October 20., 1898; Bethany, Violetville, the same year. They form one parish and were served by the following pastors : W. Moll, 1900 to 1904; F. C. Fackler, 1904—1910; E. Steger, January to July, 1910; P. G. Kenreich, 1911— 1914. A missionary society has existed in Baltimore for many years, composed of delegates of the various Missouri congre- gations there. It was mainly through the agency of this society that the aforenamed missionary fruits were borne. Largely under its influence also the following churches have been organized: Christ (Polish), Sparrowspoint ; St. James, Overlea; Nazareth, Highlandtown ; with missions at Bay View and at Orangeville; St. Paul's, Glenburnie, with mis- sion at Brooklyn; Cross Street Mission; besides missions in Prince George's, St. Mary's, and Charles counties ; and con- gregations in Caroline and Dorchester counties. Missouri Synod pastors served old congregations at West- minster and in Greenspring Valley, Md. , Washington. In 1843, the German Evangelical Congregation at Wash- ington, D. C, secured the services of Pastor Adolf F. Th. Biewend, who had just landed in New York, in response to the appeal that Wyneken on his trip to Germany made for missionary helpers among the scattered German Lutherans in this country. Biewend intended to go west, but whilst in New York received this call together with another to the Ger- man congregation at Bichmond, Va. Biewend found not only Keformed members in this congregation, but also Boman Catholics. He labored both patiently and conscientiously, endeavoring to lead the congregation to a true Lutheran basis, but failing in this, in October, 1847, resigned his office. 196 MISSOURI SYNOD IN EAST AND SOUTHEAST. remaining in the city teaching ancient and modern languages and the natural sciences at Columbian College. In 1849 he accepted a call as professor at our college at Fort Wayne, from which institution he was called the following year to the seminary at St. Louis, where he died in 1858. Biewend's successor at Washington was unsatisfactory to a number of the more conservative Lutheran members, and their protest against his false doctrine and unbiblical administration of the Sacrament remaining unheeded, they appealed to their former pastor, now at St. Louis, for help in securing a Lu- theran pastor. He referred them to Keyl of Baltimore, who, together with the then Praeses Wyneken, again on his way to Germany, came over from Baltimore and preached for them, Keyl in the morning, and Wyneken in the afternoon, in one of the rooms of the City Hall. This was August 10, 1851, which became the birthday of a new Missouri congrega- tion, about 120 hearers attending the services. Pastor Nord- mann, at this time serving congregations near Baltimore, was called in November, 1851, and installed at Washington April 4, 1852, by Pastor Keyl, seventy persons from Baltimore attending, among them the "Posaunen- and the Singchor" of old St. Paul's. The service and installation was held in Temperance Hall. The first church -hall was dedicated August 22, 1852. Pastors Keyl and Sommer were present at this service, and after Pastor Sommer had preached the sermon iii the afternoon, he and his bride, who had lately come over from Germany, were publicly married. In the same year the congregation joined Synod. The present church was built in 1856, and a parish-school was established from the very beginning, Pastor ISTordmann teaching. In the spring of 1858 Pastor Nordmann left for Germany, and having there received a call to a Lutheran congregation in Osnabrueck, was in July of that year relieved of his office at Washington. The Rev. Ernst Moritz Buerger, from near Buffalo at that time, became the next pastor. In 1859 the Eastern District of Synod met within the congregation. Teacher Hoelter, later at Holy Cross, in St. Louis, held his first charge as MISSOURI SYNOD IN CAST AND SOUTHEAST. 197 teacher under the pastorate of Buerger. In L869, Buerger having accepted a call to Winona, Minn., the Rev. P. Brand, then pastor in Buffalo, came to Washington, and under hia pastorate the congregation- ''Unshed. The Eastern District met for a second time in the congregation in 1873. In 1870 the English question was urged in the congregation, the con- gregation as such opposing it, the matter resulting in the withdrawal of a number of members and the organization of an Ohio Synod congregation, Missouri and Ohio at that time being in fraternal affiliation. Brand, in 1876, accepted a call to Pittsburgh, and the Eev. W. C. H. Luebkert, then of But- ler, Pa., succeeded in this ministry. In 1892, the English Christ Ev. Luth. Congregation was organized of members who had been dismissed for this purpose, and Pastor C. C. Mor- hart became the first pastor. The Eev. F. Wenchel succeeded him and is now the pastor of this congregation. Pastor Lueb- kert resigned his office in 1895, serving for a while the con- gregations in the vicinity,, removing to New York City in 1898, and later to Mount Yernon, N. Y., where he died March 20, 1900. He was buried in Glenwood Cemetery, Washington, on March 26. Pastor George Koenig, then of Brooklyn, N". Y., followed Pastor Luebkert, being installed into office there on the second Sunday after Easter, 1896. His ministry was not to last long, for on January 24, 1897, whilst in quest of his health, he died at Brooklyn, where he was buried in the Lutheran Cemetery. Pastor Henoch Schroeder, then of Port Richmond, 1ST. Y., became his suc- cessor and is still the pastor of old Trinity there. Our congregation at Alexandria was organized during the ministry of Pastor, later Praeses, Brand. Its first resident pastor was R. Bischoff, later professor at Fort Wayne. The pastors at Washington for years have been assisting in serving weaker and mission congregations in its vicinity, among them a small flock at Herndon, another at Buck Valley, Pa., and from time to time the congregation at Alexandria, Ya. A mission-station at Brookland has received attention for many years. 198 MISSOURI SYNOD IN EAST AND SOUTHEAST. York, Pa. The consistory of Christ German Evangelical Lutheran Church of York, Pa., resolved to introduce more English services into the congregation/*s_c> number of German mem- bers, dissatisfied with this action, requested that the matter be submitted to the congregation for action. When the con- sistory refused, they took the matter to court. The court deciding against them, they organized a new congregation, St. John's, October 27, 1873. Until now they had been con- nected with the General Synod, but needing a German pastor, and having through one of their number who had family connections in a Missouri congregation in Indiana become acquainted with the Lutheraner, and through this paper with the Missourians, they directed themselves to Pastor C. Schwankovsky, who at that time was a member of the Mis- souri Synod and served a congregation at Harrisburg, Pa. He conducted the first service at York on January 4, 1874, and from that time on services were held regularly at York, at first at the courthouse, and conducted by Missouri pastors from Baltimore and vicinity. On April 26, 1874, Pastor H.H.Walker, until then pastor at Paterson, N. J., was in- stalled as pastor at York, by Pastor CI. Stuerken of Balti- more. Pastor Walker still continues as pastor of the congre- gation, together with Pastor Paul Succop, who was called in the summer of 1917 as assistant, and who is now the acting- pastor. The present church was dedicated October 17, 1875. A parish-school is still maintained. Richmond. "The Old Stone House on Main Street" which was built by a German in 1737 is still standing. But the Germans in the eastern part of Virginia, no doubt due to the social con- ditions, the idle habits of the whites, and the slavery of the negroes, were not as numerous as in the western part of the State, where, for instance, in the Shenandoah Valley, large numbers of German settlers, coming down from Pennsylvania and Maryland^ turned the wilderness into a veritable garden. MISSOURI SYNOD l.\ I.AS'l a\D SOI "I I ( KAST. 100 Smithfield, however, in the county Isle of Wight, was founded by Germans, who built a Lutheran church there in 1772. Missouri is represented in Richmond, and lately in Norfolk in the east, outside of its Negro Mission stations, and further west in Charlottesville and at Waynesboro and Coyners Store. Bethlehem Congregation at Richmond was organized October, 1852, by Pastor W. Smogrow, who in 1855 was followed by Pastor E. C. Luebkert, who, after a ministry of six months, accepted a call to Baltimore. On February 7, 1856, the congregation decided to withdraw from the Virginia Synod and to unite with Missouri. The Rev. Carl Gross of the Missouri Synod accepted a call to the church, being ordained June 22, 1856, serving until September, 1867, when he accepted the call to Trinity of Buffalo. Pastor Louis Lochner succeeded in the ministry November 10, 1867, and under him the new church edifice was built in 1868. On the Wednesday after the dedication, August 26, Prof. C. F. W. Walther preached the opening sermon of the Eastern District Synod in this church. In 1877 Pastor F. Dreyer followed Lochner, who went to Trinity, Chicago, and in 1883 Pastor C. J. Oehlschlaeger accepted the congregation's call. Rev. F. H. Meuschke became pastor of the congregation in 1903 and was followed in 1921 by the present pastor, O. Sauer. A small congregation at Charlottesville, Ya., has been served by Missouri pastors for many years. The records of Coyner's Congregation^ Virginia, date back to 1772. In 1868 the Concordia Synod, made up of pastors and congregations who left the Tennessee Synod on account of increasing laxness, was organized in Coyner's Church. This synod later became affiliated with the Joint Synod of Ohio. In 1881, during the predestination controversy, this congregation, with its pastor, F. Kuegele, .came to Missouri. Pastor Kuegele later became first President of the English Synod of Missouri, and was author of a series of English sermon books, also a book of devotion. He took an active part in the periodical literature of the predestination con- troversy. 200 MISSOURI SYNOD IN EAST AND SOUTHEAST. Pittsburgh. On January 22, 1837, a number of German Lutherans met to organize the First German Lutheran Congregation of Pittsburgh and requested pastoral service from the Pennsyl- vania Ministerium. Pastor F. Heyer was sent as Lutheran missionary to Pittsburgh to establish an English Lutheran congregation and in connection therewith to serve the Ger- mans also. He began to hold services in a little church, then standing on Smithfield St., preaching German in the after- noons. On February 5, 1837, he installed the church council consisting of six persons. On March 6 the congregation chose its name, as above stated., secured twenty lots for burials in the Baptist cemetery, and decided to use the host in the celebration of the Lord's Supper. In a vestry meeting held this same day, the council decided to adopt the Disci- pline of the Ministerium in the government of the congrega- tion in so far as applicable. Services were held in the little church on Smithfield St., belonging to the Unitarians, for about five months, and then in a public schoolhouse on the same street where now the Monongahela House stands. After a little while, services had to be held in the county courthouse for want of another place. July 14, 1838, the congregation bought a church lot, corner of Sixth and Grant Sts., and April 5, 1840, dedicated the church, the congregation then numbering 66 voting members. A parish-school was opened in the lower story of the church and taught by Teacher Scheib. Pastor Heyer was succeeded by Pastor F. Schmidt, on Octo- ber 11, 1840. On January 17, 1841, the congregation was incorporated. September 25, 1842, Pastor Gottfried Jensen took charge of the congregation and served it until his death, February 19, 1847. Under his pastorate the congregation adopted a constitution of its own. In 1846 the congregation established a cemetery of its own on Dinwiddie St., which in 1863 was abandoned when the new Oakland Cemetery was laid out, the dead having been removed to the new burial- grounds. After a vacancy of four months, Pastor J. Vogel- bach was installed into office June 10, 1847. January 18, 1848, a new church, which the growth of the congregation MISSOURI SYNOD IN EAST AND SOUTHEAST. 201 required, was dedicated on the corner of High St., now Sixth Ave., and Wylie Ave., the old church having been sold to the Baptists. Pastor Vogelbach having accepted a call to Harris- burg, Pa., August 11, 1850, Pastor J. G. Zeumer became his successor November 18. On May 3, 1852, the congregation decided to join the Ohio Synod. September 18, 1854, the congregation decided that henceforth no lodge-members be received into the congregation. On October 1, 1855, the church council passed resolutions protesting against un- Lutheran practise on the part of Synod in the matter of unionism and of secret societies, and dissatisfied with the results of their deliberations with the representatives of said Synod, decided July 7, 1856, to join the Missouri Synod. Pastor Zeumer having resigned, June 10, 1856, Pastor A. Ernst, a Missouri" Synod pastor, was asked to serve during the vacancy. Pastor E. A. Brauer, then of Addison, 111., was called, and Pastor J. A. Huegli became vacancy pastor. After a second call Pastor Brauer accepted, and served the congregation most energetically and efficiently the following six years. In the fall of 1862 he was called to a professorship at St. Louis, and Easter, 1863, he removed to that city. Pastor J. A. F. W. Mueller, then of Chicago, succeeded him in office. Owing to the damage to the church-building caused by the excavation of a railroad tunnel under it, the congre- gation was forced to conduct a lingering lawsuit and then to build a new church, its present house of worship. In 1871 Pastor J. P. Beyer followed in office, Pastor Mueller having accepted a call to Johnsburg, Pa., and served until 1880, when he accepted a call to Brooklyn, K Y. Pastor F. A. Ahner, of Frankentrost, Mich., now accepted the call of the congrega- tion and served until 1896, when Pastor Wm. Broecker, the present minister, took charge of the pastorate. The following congregations were branched off from this First Church in the course of years : ■ — St Paul's, Southside, founded 1849. Pastors: Gustav Neuffer, 1849— 1852; Christ. Poppe, 1852— 1854; J. H. C. Schierenbeck, 1854— 1857; C. H. Gilbert, 1857— 1863 ; F. A. Herzberger, 1864—1876; P. Brand, 1876—1918; E. F. Brand, 202 MISSOURI SYNOD IN EAST AND SOUTHEAST. 1916 to date. Under the pastorate of Pastor P. Brand, the congregation left the Ohio Synod in 1882 and in 1886 joined the Missouri Synod. Pastor P. Brand was for many years President of the Eastern District of the Synod of Missouri and the Vice-President of the General Body. St. Paul's, Pride St., founded 1851. Pastors : W. Berke- meyer, 1851— 1858; E. Neumann, 1859— 1865 ; G. A. Wenzel, 1865—1878; F. Lindemann, 1878—1885, who left to become Professor at Addison; K Soergel, 1885 — 1893; F. Brand, 1893—1903; W. Brand, 1903— 1912; J. Geo. Bornmann, 1913 to date. The congregation came from the Pittsburgh Synod to Missouri in 1879. The first church was bought in 1852; the present house of worship was built in 1873. St. Matthew's, Allegheny, founded 1873, under Pastor J. P. Beyer. The school out of which this congregation grew was opened in 1861 by Pastor Brauer, of Trinity. Pastors: Albert Brauer, Friedrich Wambsganss, E. H. Wischmeyer, and J. K. Horst, the present pastor. Zion, 37th St., founded 1868, under the pastorate of J. A. F. W. Mueller. Became a member of Missouri Synod in 1872. Pastors: C. Engelder, F. W. Richmann, M. Hein, W. Lues- senhop, W. Lochner, C. Roeper, the present pastor, since 1908. In and about Pittsburgh there are connected with the District Conference also the following churches : — The First Church of Sharpsburg, Pa., founded 1863, under Pastor Dethlefs, a small number of Lutherans severing their connection with the "Evangelische Vereinigte Ge- meinde," of Etna, Pa., and joining the Ohio Synod in 1864. In 1882, under Pastor K. Walz (1867—1905), the congrega- tion left the Ohio Synod and joined the Concordia Synod, from which it came to Missouri in 1888. Pastor H. Speckin followed Walz in 1906, and Pastor L. Mueller in 1909. Since 1919 Pastor W. Sander has charge of the congregation. St. Johns, Millvale, founded 1877, having since 1873 been organized as a Reformed church, joined the Ohio Synod. In 1888 the congregation split on the lodge issue. In 1889 it called Pastor Otto Maas, member of the Missouri Synod, MISSOURI SYNOD IN I.AM AM. 301 Mil Wl. 203 who served until 1893, when l';istor N. Soergel supplied the congregation for one year. In L894 Pastor E. Totzke waa called, seizing until 1907. The congregation joined our Synod in 1899. Pastors since 1907: Theo. Mackensen, 1907 to 1919; R. C. Franke since 1919. Immanuel, Braddock, founded 1880. Called a graduate from St. Louis, F. Brand. Under his guidance the congrega- tion was set on a sound Lutheran basis. When Pastor Brand left in 1893, Pastor C. Engelder accepted the call and served until 1904, when the present pastor, F. Engelbert, took charge. Trinity, Pitcairn, founded 1894 by Pastor F. Brand, at that time pastor at Braddock. After serving the congrega- tion two years, Pastor Brand relinquished the charge to Pastor Walter Koenig, who then served from September, 1895, to September, 1904. Pastor G. J. Mueller, who suc- ceeded him in 1905, is still serving the congregation. St. Paul's, New Kensington, founded 1895. Pastor E. Totzke, then of Millvale, explored the field and preached for a short time, after which Pastor Theodore Walz was called. The name of the congregation then was Trinity. Pastor Paul Succop took charge in 1904, and in 1908 on account of the lodge led out about a dozen members, adopting the present name, St. Paul's. In 1917 Pastor Goerss followed in the ministry, in 1920 Pastor Theo. Andree. Holy Cross, Brushton, now Pittsburgh, founded 1896. First pastor, John Schubert, followed by E. Wischmeyer. The present pastor is the Rev. H. R. Lindke. St. Mark's, McKees Rocks, founded 1894 by Rev. John Schubert and a number of members who withdrew from St. John's Church. Pastor Schubert served the congregation until January; 1895, when Candidate G. Eifrig of St. Louis Seminary became the pastor. Since then the following pas- tors have served the congregation : H. Osterhus, J. Boschen, H. Engelken, and G. A. Mueller. Zion, Bridgeville, founded 1900. The congregation in 1915 withdrew from the Pittsburgh Synod and made applica- 204 MISSOUEI SYNOD IN EAST AND SOUTHEAST. tion for a Missouri pastor, since when the Rev. G. A. Mueller has served them. St. Luke's, Hannastown, founded August 8, 1847, by Pas- tor Heinrich Isensee. Pastor J. C. G. Schweizerbarth, of the Old Joint Synod of Ohio of Zelienople, later of Butler, Pa., one time colaborer of Wyneken, had for some time, since 1838, served the scattered Lutherans of this section. Among the many pastors who in the course of years served this old church we find the name of John H. Fritz, in 1861. From 1870 to 1891 Pastor F. Wilhelm, later Superintendent of the Orphan Home at Marwood, served the congregation. Then Pastor C. Engelder was called. In 1903 Pastor Theo. Andree succeeded to the office, and in 1920, the Rev. W. K. Pifer, who is the present pastor. Zion, Summit Township, founded 1877, by Pastor F. Wil- helm. Served in' connection with the Hannastown congre- gation. Zion, Accident, Md., founded 1864, under Pastor A. M. Koehler, the members having left the General Synod congre- gation at that place. Pastors: Herman Krebs, Frederick Dreyer, Emil Fleckenstein, W. Hoemann, G. W. Wolter, J. Halboth, G. Blievernicht, L. D. Zimmermann, Geo. Luecke. Trinity, Freedom, Pa., founded 1869 by Pastor C. A. Frank, with twelve families, which left St. John's Church of the Pittsburgh Synod on account of doctrinal differences. St. John's was founded in 1837 and was served until 1867 by pastors of the Ohio and Pittsburgh synods. In 1867 applica- tion was made for a Missouri pastor, and Pastors J. A. F. W. Mueller and Chr. Hochstetter served until Candidate C. A. Frank was installed. After serving the congregation a little over a year, the separation came, and Trinity was organized and a church built. With the exception of an interval of sixteen years, during which the congregation was served as a filiate by pastors at Pittsburgh, the congregation has had its own pastors. The present pastor is W. E. Schuldt. St. Peter's, Knob, Pa., founded about 1848, served from Zelienople. The congregation since 1903 has been served from Freedom. MISSOURI SYNOD IN BAST AM> 801 nil \-l 205 Trinity, Cumberland, Md., founded L853, a Dumber of the members of the local church of the Mary hind Synod, together with the teacher, Carl Brauer, who had insisted on teaching Luther's Small Catechism and on that account had been dis- missed, formed the new organization. Pastor Keyl, of Balti- more, upon request visited the people, preached to them, and organized them into a Lutheran congregation. In the spring of 1853 this congregation joined the Missouri Synod. Teacher Brauer later became professor at Addison. Pastors : J.Biltz, 1853—1860; H. Steger, 1860—1862, when cholera so weakened the congregation that it could not support its own pastor until 1865, when Pastor C. Schwankovsky was called; then F. Kuegele, 1871—1879; M. Moll, 1879—1881; W. Hanewinckel, 1881—1887; J. E. W. Kuhlmann, 1887 to 1899; G. Eifrig, 1899 — 1903; M. Gallmeier, 1904—1916; J. H. C. Albohm since 1917. Martin Luther, Punxsutawney, Pa., founded 1853, under Pastor C. C. Brandt. The present pastor is H. G. Oermann. Immanuel, Du Bois, Pa., founded 1900, under Pastor G. J. Mueller, with members formerly of Buffalo and of Olean. The present pastor is H. G. Oermann. The oldest English Missouri Synod churches in Pitts- burgh date their origin back to the nineties of the last cen- tury. Trinity, on the Southside, was organized out of Old St. Paul's. Its first pastor was the Eev. C. Spannuth, who was followed by the Eev. Theo. Huegli, who labored under great stress for many years. Pastor A. Holthusen succeeded Pastor Huegli in 1902 and was followed by Pastor H. B. Hemmeter in 1905, and by the present pastor, W. H. Dale, in 1908. St. Andrew's was organized by members of Old Trinity and of the Second St. Paul's Church, having as its first pas- tor A. W. Meyer, who was succeeded in 1895 by Pastor H. B. Hemmeter, who served the congregation for seven years. having as his successor Pastor W. P. Sachs, who was suc- ceeded by the present pastor, H. P. Eckhardt. Besides these English mother churches, there are English congregations in Greenfield and in the Hill Top sections. 206 MISSOURI SYNOD IN EAST AND SOUTHEAST. The Beginning of English in the Missouri Synod. Mrs. S., who understood no German, desired to join her husband's church, Old St. Paul's, at Baltimore. Pastor Wyneken proceeded to instruct her in English, providing her with a New Testament, the Book of Concord, New Market Edition, and a translation of Meurer's Life of Luther, which had then just been published in New York. But Wyneken left Baltimore before he could confirm the lady, and so Pas- tor Schaller, vicar during the vacancy, finished the instruc- tion and confirmed her. Pastor Keyl, busy with the in- creasing German work, was not inclined to further the English. But on April 28? 1854, three members of St. Paul's, Dr. A. F. Haynel, Francis Buehler, and Daniel Dobler, ad- dressed a communication to the congregation, asking whether the time to establish an English Lutheran church had not come, and soliciting the cooperation of the German congre- gation in such an organization. As reasons for their action they urged the loss of many young people to the sects soon after their confirmation. The church council, after three months, in a document dated July 27, 1854, replied nega- tively. Two other communications to the congregation fol- lowed, the latter dated August 1, 1855, signed by the petitioners named above in behalf of the "Society for the Furtherance of English Lutheran Services, U. A. C," this society having been organized May 16, 1855, at the residence of Dr. Haynel. Besides the persons named, men of such known Lutheran character as Thiemeyer, Einwaechter, Schu- macher, etc., had become members of this society. The memorials they addressed to Old St. Paul's were voluminous. They addressed also President Wyneken and the Eastern Dis- trict of the Missouri Synod. They were determined men, and when they had failed to gain the support of Old St. Paul's in their last communication to the congregation, they had said : "Brethren, if you cannot be of one mind with us, pray grant us the liberty of conscience, and give us your blessing upon our undertaking. We desire only that the precious Gospel of Jesus Christ be preached to our children, and their de- scendants, as purely and sincerely as we have received it Missoi in SYNOD J \ EAST AND SOUTHEAST. 207 from our pious church-fathers." They also stated: "If .von refuse our just prayer, you will have to answer Eor it to God; wo will not recede, for we cannot act against God's Word and our conscience; we will go forward and <>\\r banner is, 'Jehovah Nisi.' Ex. 15, 5." This last communication was dated August 1, and in November, 1856, three members of Old St. Paul's, Dr. A. V. Haynel, Francis Buehler, and Daniel Dobler, together with John Dobler, who was not a member of Keyl's, organized "Old St. Peter's," and J. Clement Miller, former member of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, but who had taken a special course under Walther at St. Louis, became the pastor. A con- troversy which arose because of the withdrawal of the organizers from Old St. Paul's was carried on until it was finally adjusted, November, 1857, by Dr. Walther and Pastor Schwan, who were appointed by Synod, and who came to Bal- timore for that purpose. A parish-school was established by this English congre- gation in January, 1858, and Teacher C. W. Miller, then at Philadelphia, took charge of it. He came to Baltimore in April; but the life of the school was short, for the scattered membership of the congregation, which was small, the want of a church edifice and other suitable buildings, as well as the lack of support from the German church, which at that time had over 300 voting members, spelled its disaster. Teacher Miller, after three months' hard work, withdrew and accepted a call to St. Charles, Mo. This misfortune was followed by another. Pastor Miller contracted throat trouble, was compelled to resign, and died at Lebanon, Pa., January 5, 1859, of consumption. The faculty at St. Louis now supplied a vicar for the congrega- tion, Student Jacob Buehler, a Baltimore boy, later pioneer Missouri pastor on the Pacific coast, at San Francisco, and, later still, president for many years of the California and Nevada District. The vacancy continuing for some time. Pastor S. Kleppisch followed Student Buehler, until Rev. Henry Wetzel, of Mount Solon, Va., was secured for the pastorate for a short while. After calling a number of men 208 MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. vainly, the congregation finally secured Pastor F. A. Schmidt, .then of Olean, N". Y., in 1860, under whose leadership the congregation began to grow. The Civil War, however, came with fury, and on April 21, 1861, the congregation was dis- possessed of its meeting-place, the soldiers requisitioning it for a barracks. For a while the congregation worshiped in two different schoolhouses of Old St. Paul's. But the mem- bers suffered much from the war, war prices prevailed, and it soon became difficult to maintain the pastorate. Pastor Schmidt receiving a call at this time, 1861, to the college at Decorah, accepted it. In 1865 the congregation disbanded. The Missouri Synod and Its Parochial School System. (1847—1922.) Prof. E. A. W. Krauss, D. D., St. Louis, Mo. (Translation by the Rev. W. A. Dobberfuhl.) When God in His grace wanted to reform the Church through His chosen vessel, Doctor Martin Luther, He soon led him, and His dear Church through him, to the conviction that the only way to check and overcome the deadly sores with which it had been afflicted consisted in the renewed proclamation of the Word of God, especially of the gracious Gospel of Jesus Christ, that it might give light unto all that are in the house. And especially did Doctor Luther see the necessity of inculcating the Catechism, the Christian doc- trine in short and simple form, upon the young, so that the Church of future generations might be built upon the foun- dation of the most holy saving Christian faith. We all know how Luther, in the year 1529, in his Preface to the Small Catechism, reproves the "bishops and pastors" under the papacy "for having so shamefully neglected the people, and having never for a moment exercised their office," and never asked whether their people knew and understood the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Ten Commandments, or any part of God's Word. He implores and entreats his "dear brethren who are pastors and preachers" to devote themselves MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PABOCHIAX SCHOOL SYSTEM. 20!J for God's sake heartily to their office and to have pity upon the people who are committed to their charge. They should help him to inculcate the Catechism upon them, especially upon the young. He also adds some words of instruction how this can be done most profitably and how from the earliest school-years on the Christian faith shall be taught. Nor was this Preface of 1529, which every Lutheran pastor and teacher ought to know by heart, the first time that Luther urged a thorough Christian education. Even before this time he had occupied himself with plans for a Christian school system. In 1520 he had written his famous book "To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation on the Improvement of the Christian Estate." In section 25, dealing primarily with the reformation of the schools of higher education, the universities, he voiced the general principle : "Where the Holy Scripture does not rule, there I will indeed advise nobody to place his child; for everything must be doomed to perdition that does not study the Word of God without ceasing"; and he demanded in particular: "Above all things the Holy Scripture should be the principal and most common lesson in the higher and lower schools, and the Gospel for young boys. And would to God that every city also had a school for maidens where these could hear the Gospel one hour every day ! . . . Ought not a Christian really know the entire Gospel at the age of nine or ten years, since his name and life is contained therein? Even a spinner and a seamstress will teach her daughter her trade while she is young." But with much greater detail did Luther in the year 1524 in his book "To the Councilmen of all Cities of Ger- many, to Establish and Maintain Christian Schools" show the German people with flaming enthusiasm the urgent neces- sity of Christian schools : "I will speak and not be silent as long as I live, until the righteousness of Christ shall go forth as brightness. And I want to tell you, my friends', with all boldness and confidence, that, if you obey me in this matter, you undoubtedly are not obeying me, but Christ; and who- soever will not obey me, does not despise me, but Christ." EBENEZER. 14 210 MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. In this incomparable book, which might be called the Magna Charta of the Christian parochial school, Luther showed in a masterly way how important it was either to plunge the "asses' stables and devil's schools" of the papacy into the abyss or to convert them into Christian schools. "God has now blessed us so abundantly and has given us such a multi- tude of men who are able to instruct and train the young people. We surely ought not make light of God's grace, nor let Him knock at our door in vain. He is standing at the door; blessed are we, if we shall open unto Him. He is greeting us; blessed is he who will answer Him. Should we neglect Him and let Him pass by, who shall bring Him again? My dear Germans, buy while you have the market at your gates; gather while the sun shines and the weather is bright." How earnestly does he direct his people to God's command to lead the children, as the work of God's hands, to Him ! How insistently does he remind the parents of their duty according to the Fourth Commandment, to attend to the young people and to give them a Christian training! "It is impossible that the wild (young) people should teach themselves; God has, therefore, given this command unto us who are old and experienced, and He will earnestly call us to account for them." How ably and clearly does Luther then explain why it is that so many parents, though they call themselves Christians, are not doing their duty in this respect ! In the first place, some are not pious and upright enough to do it, although they would have the ability. They are satisfied that they have brought forth their children, and will do no more. In the second place, most parents have, sad to say, not the ability and do not know how children are to be trained and taught. For they themselves have learned nothing more than to provide for their belly; but for properly training and instructing children you must have men especially trained for this purpose. In the third place, even those parents who would be able and willing to do it themselves will not find the necessary MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PABOCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 211 time on account of their business and their domestic duties. So they arc forced to keep common schoolmasters for their children, unless each one would engage a schoolmaster for his own children. This, however, would be too hard and too expensive for the ordinary man, so that many a fine boy would have to be neglected on account of poverty. Besides this, many parents die, leaving orphans behind. How guardians, as a rule, provide for such, one can deduce from the fact that God calls Himself the Father of the fatherless (Ps. 68, 5), since they are forsaken by everybody else. Finally, there are such as have no children; these will also not take any interest in training children. Luther then proceeds to explain how Christian schools are to be established, how the children must be prepared and trained for the temporal and for the spiritual kingdom, and how, in doing so, neither pains nor toil nor expenses should be spared. He concludes: "I have admonished you faith- fully. The Pope and the emperor, the spiritual and the tem- poral tyrants, have indeed excommunicated and outlawed me ; but you will have seen from my book that I am not seeking my own benefit, but only the welfare of the entire country. Follow me. May God soften and kindle your hearts that you will earnestly provide for the poor young people to the honor and glory of God the Father through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen." * * •» When in the year 1847 twelve congregations, twelve voting and ten advisory pastors and two candidates of theology were gathered in Chicago from April 20 to May 6 and organized the Missouri Synod, they were not only of one mind in regard to the Christian doctrine, professing undivided loyalty to the Confessions of the Lutheran Church as laid down in the Book of Concord of the year 1580, but they were also fully con- vinced that the ideas regarding Christian education as ex- pressed by Doctor Martin Luther in the books cited above should serve as the guiding principle for the Christian train- ing and education of their children. For this very reason they, in Article II, § 6, of their Constitution, mentioned "the 212 MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. training of the children of the congregation in Christian schools" as one of the "conditions nnder which a congre- gation may join the Synod and continue its membership therein." In every congregation which joined the Synod there either was a Christian parochial school or they estab- lished one. In most cases these schools were conducted by the pastors themselves; very few congregations had separate teachers. The Constitution, however, declared in Article V, § 9: "It is the duty of the Synod to erect, maintain, and control institutions for training pastors and teachers for the future." The Synod was in earnest in this matter, even before it was possible to found a separate Teachers' College. The Con- stitution granted the teachers advisory membership at the regular synodical meetings. They were standing members of the Synod, who were not permitted to absent themselves from the conventions without urgent cause. Let us adduce two examples from the years 1850 and 1856. When in the year 1850, after St. Louis had again been afflicted with the cholera, Synod convened there from Octo- ber 2 to 12 at Trinity Church, it consisted of 85 standing members, 75 pastors and 10 teachers. Most pastors were also teaching school. Of the schoolteachers only the four from St. Louis were present : Roschke, Ullrich, Koch, and Buenger. The other six (H. Bartling, J. Koch, Wolf, Zagel, Pinkepank, and Winter) were unable to come. At the second convention of the Western District (held in April, 1856, at Altenburg, Perry County, Mo.), "a teacher belonging to Synod had made the request to start an organi- zation whereby our teachers could serve each other with their various gifts and experiences. Thereupon Synod resolved to urge the teachers to attend the synodical conventions more regularly and to hold conferences during the time of such conventions. They were furthermore instructed to arrange District conferences wherever possible, and to submit the minutes of their meetings to the Synod for examination." Thus we read on page 33 of the report of this convention. MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 213 The other Districts, one after another, also accepted these rules and put them into practise. When the Delegate Synod met at Fort Wayne in October, 1857, the President, Pastor Fr. Wyneken., had the following- remarks regarding school matters in his report: — "It is unnecessary for me to say that our schools are in need of improvement. Where there are separate teachers, the schools are improving from year to year, and it becomes evident that the appreciation which the German people show for such schools is kindled. For such schools are frequented First Parochial School of Holy Cross Ev. Luth. Church, St. Louis, Mo. by so many children of parents not belonging to the congre- gation that in most cases the children of strangers outnumber the children of the congregation. This is to be noticed especially in the larger cities, where, thank God, the congre- gations are, just on account of the large number of strange children coining to school, almost forced to establish new schools, and they are becoming more and more willing to meet the large expenses necessary for this purpose. May the congregations consider more and more the important mission- work done through our schools among our unbelieving Ger- man countrymen, and may they realize that the Lord has entrusted especially the little children to our care. May He 214 MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. soon enable our Synod to establish a good Teachers' College, and give us men who are willing to follow this holy calling with its great responsibilities! May the Lord in His grace also help the parents, as they grow in faith, to overcome more and more their worldly-mindedness, which prevents many, on account of earthly gain, from sending their children to school more regularly and for a longer time. The Lord has indeed destined our children in this country for something else than to be mere burden-carriers to satisfy the mania for speculation. If we consider the corruption of civic matters St. Paul's Ev. Luth. School, Fort Wayne, Ind. at the present time, . . . we should also for this reason strive to educate our children, so that God may use them also for the welfare of our country. In my estimation a propitious sign for better times is the schoolteachers' conference held at Milwaukee, as well as the prospect of finally opening the academy at Fort Wayne. It is to be deplored that in most congregations the pastors still have to teach school; and as long as our Synod does not cease to supply every congrega- tion, be it ever so small, with a separate pastor, rather than establish larger congregations with more schools, both the office of the ministry and of the schools will have to suffer. This is so self-evident that I need not dwell on this matter any longer." (Report of Ninth Delegate Synod, p. 16.) MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 215 These words of Pastor Wyneken were oot Bpoken in vain, la many places it had become evident that it is simply impossible tor a single man to be pastor and teacher at the same time and to do jusl ice to both offices. Lot us look at the situation as it really was. There was a pastor busily at work in the morning teaching school. At 10 o'clock lie was called First Teachers' Seminary Building1, Addison, 111. to a sick member of his congregation. It would not always do to say, "I shall come after school-hours." If the case was urgent, he had to go at once. Nor would it always be possible for the pastor's wife to take charge of the school during his absence; she was probably indispensable at the house on account of her family. Consequently, the children had to be dismissed, and thus they lost either a whole or at least half a day in school. A funeral or any other matter of great importance wrould cause the same interruption of his school 216 MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. duties, and during the pastoral conferences the school-work had to be interrupted for several days in succession. All of this was to the detriment of the school, and the work was thereby greatly hampered. Now it is true that the college at Fort Wayne, founded in 1847 by Loehe and his missioners, was intended from its very beginning to train young men according to their natural abilities and qualifications to become either pastors or school- teachers. But since more stress had to be laid on the prac- tical training of young men for the ministry, it could not be avoided (as Koestering re- marks on page 82) that com- paratively few young men became schoolteachers, and the small number of teachers was out of proportion to the Rev. F. Lochner. urgent need. For this reason Pastors F. Lochner, S. L. Dulitz, and P. Fleischmann, together with Mr. Diez, the excellent or- ganist and choir-leader, since the year 1855 had under- taken to establish a (private) Teachers' College in ■ Mil- waukee in order to meet the great shortage of teachers. They became convinced, however, as Koestering says, that Milwaukee was not the proper place for such an in- stitution. Therefore Synod resolved, in the year 1857, to arrange a special department in Fort Wayne for such students as should be prepared exclusively for the work in the schools; and Pastor Ph. Fleischmann was called to take charge chiefly of this department, together with Prof. Craemer and the other teachers of the theological semi- nary. Rev. Fleischmann accepted the call, and until 1861 the students of his department were occupying the same building as those preparing for the ministry. Then how- Missorui SYNOD ami lis PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTKM. 217 ever, the two institutions were separated, and the Teachers' College was moved to a dwelling which had been rented for that purpose, and Pastor C. A. T. Selle, of Crete, 111., was installed as second professor. Synod up to this time, as we have just seen, did nol yel Prof. J. C. W. Lindemann, First President of Teachers' Seminary, Addison, 111. own a special building for its Teachers' College. The congre- gation of Pastor A. G. G. FrancTce at Addison, III., had already in the year 1857 declared its willingness to assist in the establishment of such an institution within its midst, and the Chicago Teachers' Conference was at that time very much in favor of separating the Teachers' College from the Theological Seminary. Nevertheless several years passed be- 218 MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. fore the Synod (in 18G3) decided to erect a separate Teachers' College and chose Addison for its location. The Lutheran congregation at Addison had expressed the earnest desire to get this institution. This congregation had promised not only the necessary piece of ground (20 acres) without cost Prof. Carl Brauer. to the Synod, but it was also willing to raise a considerable portion of the cost of the building itself. Synod accepted this offer with sincere thanks. But the building should not be started until three-fourths of the necessary funds had either been collected or covered by subscriptions. The con- gregations showed great enthusiasm and willingly brought the necessary offerings, so that the college could be dedicated MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 219 on December 28, 1864. As Professor Fleischmann had again accepted a call into the ministry, Prof. C. A. T. Selle con- ducted the removal to Addison, and Synod called Pastor J. C. W . Lindemann, of Cleveland, O., as president of the institu- tion, who held this responsible office until his death, fourteen years later, in January. 1879. He proved to be a very faith- ful, conscientious, and able man for this position. Dr. H. Duemling. Let us now point out some of the important events in the further development of the school system of the Missouri Synod. As the number of students in the preparatory and in the seminary department increased, Synod called more professors. Soon after Lindemann, Prof. Carl Brauer was called, espe- cially for the instruction in Music (Singing, Piano, Organ, Violin, Harmony). For a few years Dr. H- Duemling taught the Sciences and Arithmetic, but then accepted a call to the 220 MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. college at Fort Wayne. His place was filled by Prof. Clemens Esaias Haentzschel, who taught especially Arithmetic and German. He died October 21, 1890. In October, 1875, Pastor T. J. Grosse was installed as fifth teacher of the insti- tution. Already during Lindemann's time the building had re- ceived an addition on the north side, then on the south side, thus making an imposing structure. Still it was overcrowded, for in the year of Lindemann's death (1879) it contained living and sleeping quarters for 122 students, four lecture- rooms, the living quarters for four professors and their families, for the steward and his family, together with the servants, and a dining- hall. After the death of Director Linde- mann, Profesor Grosse accepted a call to the congregation at Addison and left the faculty. His place was filled by Prof. Theo. Brohm, Sr., who was to instruct chiefly in English. Mr. John Merkel served temporarily as assistant for the Prof. Theo. Brohm, Sr. instruction in Music. President of Addison On March 15, 1880, the present writer Teachers' Seminary, was installed as Lindemann's successor. (He held this office until the end of October, 1905.) Teacher E. Homann became professor (of Music) in 1881. In 1884, when the total enrolment had risen from 128 to 200, Synod was able to create the seventh pro- fessorship, that of Prof. J. L. Baclthaus. This was all the more necessary since a Department B had to be added in 1883 on account of the great shortage of teachers. The purpose of this department was to accommodate such students from Germany as had the general qualifications otherwise, but had to be placed in the second class of the seminary department, requiring special training in Eeligion, English, and Music, in order to be able to teach in our schools. Although this department comprised only six to eight students, it still re- quired about one-half the time of one professor. (This department was discontinued in the year 1888.) MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 221 But now it was high time to provide more space. Synod, being told of the need, appropriated the sum of $20,000 for a new building. This building contained the auditorium, four lecture-rooms, and four dormitories, besides the library. Three professors' residences were also erected. The new building was dedicated September 20, 1885. Now there was sufficient room for the students. Besides the steward and his help, only the Director with his family were compelled to live in the old building with the students. After Professor Haentzschel's death Pastor F. Koenig was called. On December 21, 1891, Prof. C. Brauer celebrated his twenty-fifth anniversary as teacher at the institution. On March 10, 1893, the venerable senior of the institution, Prof. C. A. T. Selle, resigned. He had celebrated his golden jubilee, but on account of his age had been compelled to drop his lessons in the last years sometimes for months, his col- leagues assisting him as much as possible. After Synod had created an eighth professorship, Pastor F. Lindemann and Teacher F. Rechlin were elected in Professor Selle's place. They began their work in September, 1893. After thirty years' labor at the institution Prof. C. Brauer retired in 1897, and Teacher G. C. A. Kaeppel, of St. Louis, took his place September 20, 1897. When, in the year 1905, the en- rolment had increased to 243, the Board of Control appointed Mr. Ferd. Schmitt for one year. He was definitely called the following year, after Mr. A. Miller, a teacher, had already been elected as ninth professor on February 9, 1906. Long before this time Synod had erected a separate build- ing for the kitchen, the dining-hall, and the hospital depart- ment. Furthermore three new professors' residences, to- gether with a more spacious dwelling for the Director, were built. The institution also had a fine gymnasium., built not directly by the Synod, but by means of private contributions of the teachers and others, the net proceeds of concerts also being used for this purpose. Here a physical instructor of Chicago, Mr. Camann, instructed the student -body every Saturday, one of the professors usually being present. The Training-school, which was in operation since Easter 222 MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. of the year 1898, deserves special mention. Some students had even before this time served as supplies in school-work, but there they were mostly left to themselves and were lacking the necessary supervision and criticism; all others, however, Prof. F. Lindemann. had but four lessons once a year in the parochial school at Addison for their practical training: in teaching school. There it happened, for instance, that in the upper class a question of Dietrich's Catechism or a short lesson in Geography was treated, in the intermediate class a Bible History, and in the lower class an Arithmetic lesson with Ulssoi i;i 81 \<>i) AM) tTS l'\i:o< ' ill \l SCHOOL SYSTKM. 223 the numbers from 1 to 20; the professor who was present could afterwards criticize the attempl made al teaching; but these four half hours also constituted the entire "practical training-" of the candidate before he entered upon his regular school-work. This was altogether insufficient, But the at- tempt to establish a training-school as found in connection with teachers' colleges not only in Germany, hut also in our country, for a long time met with stubborn opposition, until in the year 1898 the plan finally was adopted. For a few f :■■ • ■'.,:,:■....'.., .... :. .■. ■,..:._■: /'-.V 1 C% i . * . ,i , %% Zion Ev. Luth. School, Staunton, 111. years oiie of the lecture-rooms had to be used for this purpose. Great was the joy, however, when a separate building, erected by Synod, was dedicated on December 8, 1901. In the training-school the students of the Senior class teach under the supervision of a professor. After school the work is criticized, helpful suggestions are made, and model lessons are given. Each student instructs about four weeks. During the last week his successor already is present in order to get acquainted with the course of study as well as with the children. Two instruct in the forenoon and two in the after- noon. Definite branches are assigned to each one. They *224 MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. also learn to exercise proper discipline. The frequent change of teachers does not cause much disturbance, as one professor exercises general supervision. After I had left the institution in October, 1905, the presidency was first temporarily, then (since March 30, 1906) definitely held by Prof. Th. Brohm, till he resigned in the year 1913. On June 13, 1913, Pastor W. C. Kohn, President of the Northern Illinois District, was called as Director of the institution. In the mean time Prof. F. Lindemann had died (December 13, 1907), and Prof. F. Koenig had accepted a call into the ministry. Prof. Ed. Koehler became a member of the faculty on January 15, 1909, Prof. G. Eifrig on Octo- ber 6, 1909, and Prof. Martin Lochner on November 21, 1912. At the Delegate Synod held at St. Louis in the year 1911 the resolution was carried, with but a small majority, to remove the college from Addison, as it was not deemed ad- visable to erect a new building amounting to about $100,000 at that place. River Forest, III., was chosen as the new home of the institution. In our annual Catalog of the Educational Institutions, of the year 1913 — 1914, we already find the Teachers' College located at River Forest, a long building surrounded by the professors' residences. Since then three members of the faculty have died: Homann, Backhaus, and Rechlin. Three new men have taken their places: E. H. Engelbrecht, O. F. Rusch, and H. C. Gaertner. At the present time the faculty consists of ten professors and three assistants. Since the year 1910 the enrolment was as follows : 190, 174, 173, 170, 192, 200, 233, 230, 224, 210, 178. Why was not the enrolment larger, the years 1886, 1895, and 1905 showing numbers just as large, and the number of synodical congregations growing from year to year? The explanation is found in the fact that a second Teachers' Col- lege was founded in the year 1894, located at Seward, Nebr. For ten years this institution served as a preparatory school for Addison, but since the school -year 1906 — 1907 it was operated as a full college, having then 120 students, 6 pro- fessors, and a training-school. In June, 1921, River Forest had 10 professors, 3 assistants, MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 225 and 178 students ; Seward had 8 professors, 3 assistants, and 111 students. The names of the professors at Seward are: F. W.C.Jesse (President since 1914), G.Weller (President for twenty years), Fr. Stricter, K. Haase, II. B. Fehner, Aug. Schuelke, J. T. Link, and Paul Reuter. Since Seward has become a full college with a training- school, Concordia College of St. Paul, Minn. (Prof. Th. Buen- ger, President), has ceased to have a three years' preparatory department for Addison besides its regular college course. This department had been a great success; Addison received a good number of well-prepared students for its seminary depart- ment from this institution. Almost all the above data have been collected from the annual Catalog of the Educational Insti- tutions of the Missouri Synod. These reports are to be consulted for further information." The Missouri Synod has always taken great interest in its teachers' colleges, has, according to its best ability, provided for their inner and outer improvement. Howt often did I, during my presidency of the institution at Addison, go to the Delegate Synod with a timid heart wThen I had to support requests which called for unusually large appropriations of money; but I always returned full of joy and confidence, for Synod had made all the required appropriations, whether these consisted in the Prof. G. Welter, First President of Teachers" Seminary i Seward, Nebr. * These reports contain much indispensable material for the future study of our school system. They could be of still more value if each institution would in about ten or twelve lines add, in chronicle fashion, the changes in the faculty, erection of new buildings, calamities, and other important events. This would primarily be the place where future historians would look for such information, rather than in the Lutheraner, Witness, or the daily papers. EBENEZER. 15 226 MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. creation of a new professorship, the purchase of new organs and pianos, the erection of new buildings, or other things. Our two teachers' colleges now have a six years' course, including the preparatory department. The course of study accommodates itself more and more to the State Normal Schools. Both colleges are accredited by the State. A grad- uate of these institutions may instruct without further ex- amination in a number of States. If it should ever happen that a candidate of one of our teachers' colleges could not be placed into a Lutheran parochial school, he still would not have to remain idle, as far as teaching school is concerned. Zion Ev. Luth. School, Brighton, Colo. Our Synod has also taken great pains to provide the necessary schoolbools and school-supplies for our Lutheran parochial schools. There is a large number of books, both German and English, for the instruction in the Catechism, Bible History, Beading, Language, Arithmetic. The Synod every three years elected special boards for the revision of books on Beligion, German, English, and also for the Sciences and for Music. The annual catalog of Concordia Publishing House shows the large number of good books that have been published in the course of seventy-five years. Various needs had to be considered: the requirements of advanced schools in the cities and of simple country schools, of schools located in the East and of such west of the Mississippi Biver. The MISSOUllI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. 227 needs of a well-equipped day-school were much greater than those of a mission school held probably by a traveling mis- sionary every four weeks for two or three days. For all these requirements Synod wanted to assist its teachers and those pastors who were teaching school. A monthly periodical, called the Ev.-Luth. Schulblatt, appeared since the year 1865 (since 1921 under the title Lutheran School Journal). This periodical has for the past fifty-six years served as means of uniting all our teachers and, together with the regular tf i ■ rPf i I in 11 lEiKI Wrf jjWflMjatggggBg ~~~ i||WB— -r- - *i^r- „ ' ' '-,-,-,' ,-,\ - ' : ■ ~ " ' :'•>>¥;; River Forest Seminary. (Main Building.) teachers conferences, of keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (The woman teachers are now also taking part in these conferences.) Many courses of study do we find in the Schulblatt for so-called mixed schools as well as for schools with three, four, six, and even eight teachers. Besides this., there are many books published by our Synod which treat extensively the methods of teaching the Cate- chism, the Bible History, and the Sciences. Our Synod now has 2,800 pastors, serving 4,130 congrega- tions and preaching-stations. 956 of these pastors are also teaching school. Besides these we have 1,080 trained school- teachers and 262 woman teachers in 1,32S parochial schools. 228 MISSOURI SYNOD AND ITS PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM. (In addition, we have 630 summer- and Saturday-schools.) The total number of parochial school children is 83,875 ; this shows a decrease of 12,825 in the last three years. Consider- ing this sad decrease, it is no great consolation to report that in the same period the number of Sunday-school children has risen to a total of over 100,000. Of course, this decrease is easily explained if we consider that in the last three years, chiefly during the war, not less than 500 schools (especially such as were taught by pastors) were closed by the fanatical opponents of everything con- nected with a German name. The hatred against parochial schools, which hatred characterizes many so-called Americans who try to abolish all private and parochial schools, has especially in these last years, under the cloak of patriotism and Americanism, acted like a hog in a cabbage -field. Unceasingly the enemies of our schools endeavor, now in this State, now in another, to instigate laws which would be detrimental to the very existence of our schools. The Mis- souri Synod has, therefore, besides the school boards of the separate Districts, created also a general School Board whose duty it is, among other things, to guard our schools against vicious attacks and to preserve the religious liberty guar- anteed to every American by our Constitution. The old Romans used to say: Videant consules, ne quid detrimenti respublica capiat, i. e., Let the consuls be on their guard lest the state suffer harm. We add: also church and school; otherwise the state surely will also have to suffer harm. In the year 1920 we ought to have had twice as many and in the year 1921 three times as many candidates in order to give a teacher to every congregation that sent in a call. Thank God that there is an increasing demand for parochial school teachers! May the Lord every year give us many boys who are gifted and willing to become parochial school teachers! Yes, may He mercifully bless the education and instruction of the young, that they may grow up in the fear of God to the praise of His name! DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 229 The Development of Higher Education in the Missouri Synod. Dr. P. E. Kretzmanx, St. Louis, Mo. A chance traveler or, more likely, a hunter or trapper, passing along- the highway leading from Wittenberg, in what is now Brazeau Township, Perry County, Missouri, to the village of Altenburg, a few miles to the west, might, in the "The Old Log Cabin." The First Concordia. Built by the Saxon Immigrants, 1839. summer of 1839, have witnessed a strange sight. For at the point where a branch road led to the settlement of Dresden, not far from the Obrazo, now known as Apple Creek, in a clearing of some six acres, three or more men were busily engaged in trimming and fitting logs for a cabin. Although the three men, Theo. J. Brohm, Ottomar Fuer- bringer, and J. Friedr. Buenger, were far more accustomed to wielding the pen, they clung to their self-appointed task of putting up the first building of an institution of higher 230 DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION. learning which was erected by Lutherans in America west of the Mississippi, with dogged perseverance. Buenger espe- cially minded neither blisters nor cuts, but cheerfully felled trees, split rails, and removed stumps. The well which is still in use some sixty feet south of the cabin site was dug by him alone. Meanwhile the Saxon immigrants of Perry County and of St. Louis, under whose auspices this cabin was erected, inserted a notice in the Anzeiger des Westens of St. Louis, dated August 13, 1839, in which they announced their plan of making the course of study in the school then in process of construction that of a German Gymnasium, the subjects included in their list being Eeligion, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, French, English, Geography, History, Mathematics, Physics, Natural History, Elements of Philosophy, Music, Drawing. The opening of the school, which had been planned for October 1, was delayed until December 9, 1839. But its dedication took place in October, and Pastor Otto Herman Walther of St. Louis wrote a poem for this occasion which will always occupy a position of honor in our synodical his- tory. The opening verses of each stanza contain the funda- mental thought of the prayer: "Lord, come in! Let this house be dedicated unto Thee!" The teachers at this first Concordia in the midst of the forest primeval were, at least in the first years, the three candidates of theology who had been so active in the con- struction of its home. The first pupils, as nearly as can be learned, were E. J. Biltz, J. A. F. W. Mueller, C. H. Loeber, H. W. Buenger, Theo. Schubert, a boy from the neighbor- hood by the name of Price, and Theobald v. Wurmb. Avail- able records seem to indicate that the school was coeduca- tional in a sense, for the following girls were enrolled in the early years: Maria Wurmb, Sarah Wurmb, Lydia Buenger, and Martha Loeber. However, they do not seem to have taken the full academic course, but received only a more thorough training in the elementary branches, although more advanced work was pursued in individual studies, also of high school and college grade. DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 231 Thus, with hearts overflowing with gratitude toward God, did the Saxon immigrants lay the foundation of their system of higher education. But progress during the next years was slow. It was not long before Pastor C. F. W. Walther was called to St. Louis; Candidate Buenger had preceded him thither; Fuerbringer accepted a call to Illinois; and finally, Brohm went as pastor to New York. Meanwhile the log cabin had been moved about a mile west, into the neighbor- hood of the parsonage at Altenburg, and it was Pastor Loeber who took care of the tender plant, being assisted to some extent by Pastor Keyl, of Frohna. In 1843, however, the congregations both of St. Louis and of Perry County having grown stronger, the Candidate J. Goenner of St. Louis was called as first full-time teacher of the small college. Enter- ing upon his charge in September, he attacked the problems it offered with cheerful energy, especially by working out a regular course of study. Only eight pupils were enrolled at that time, but the institution was able to do all the better work with the small number. The theological training at that time was chiefly in the hands of Pastor Loeber, the pastors Biltz, Mueller, and C. Loeber having obtained prac- tically all their education in this line from the faithful Altenburg pastor. Among the resolutions adopted by the newly organized Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States, in 1847, was not only one declaring it to be the sense of Synod that all exist- ing private institutions be placed under the auspices of the entire body, but also one ordering the writing of a letter to friends in Germany, and the assistance thereby obtained was to be used for the theological college in Altenburg, provided, however, that the congregations concerned would place the institution in the care of Synod. The next year brought the answer from Perry County, stating the willingness of the congregations to accede to the wishes of Synod, but request- ing that the school be left at Altenburg. The plan was now discussed to leave the Gymnasium in Altenburg, but to move the seminary to St. Louis. But the Lutherans of St. Louis having made a very advantageous offer, including the gift 232 DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION. of two acres of land and $2,000 in cash, the resolution to move the combined institution to the metropolis was adopted, not only in 1848, but with added emphasis in 1849. When the corner-stone of the new building was laid, on November 8, 1849, Professor Walther, in his usual eloquent manner, stated as the purpose of the school the fostering of The First Concordia in St. Louis, Mo. College and Seminary Combined. Dedicated in 1850. the arts and sciences in the service of the Gospel and to the honor of the Lord, whereupon Pastor Buenger officiated at the placing of the stone. Professor Goenner came up from Altenburg in December with nine pupils, but the dedication of the building did not take place till June 11, 1850. For this occasion Pastor Herman Fick had composed a rousing festal hymn: "Praise the Lord, ye nations all!" Pastor Wyneken delivered a German address, Professor Walther DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHEfi EDUCATION. 233 one iii Latin, and Pastor Schieferdecker closed with an address to the Young Men's Society, whose chief object was the support of indigent students. A feature of the service was the singing of Luther's great Battle Hymn in Latin: "Turns Deus fortissimo," On the next day there was a solemn academic celebration, in which Professor Goenner spoke in Latin and Student Eissfeldt in German, the meeting closing with the singing of "Veni, Creator Spiritus." After that the professors with their families and the sixteen young men who were enrolled in the institution moved into their new home. The need of another teacher being evident, the call was ex- tended to Pastor A. Biewend, who taught the languages, Mathematics, Geography, and General History. The rapid development and the thorough work of the school, which made the erection of the north wing of the projected build- ing necessary in 1852, is largely due also to the indefatigable interest and energy of this eminent scholar. It was a sad blow to the young institution when Professor Biewend died after a short illness in April, 1858, a few days before the proposed dedication of the building, whose central part had finally been erected in accordance with the original plans. Other teachers of the first Concordia beside those mentioned till now were Saxer, Schick, Seyffarth, Lange, and Larsen, every one of whom placed his talents into the service of the Lord in unselfish devotion. The outbreak of the Civil War had its effect also upon the St. Louis institution. Up to this time the course of the humanistic Gymnasium, that preparing the pupils for the study of theology proper, had been given under the same roof with the work in theology. But in 1861 the Gymnasium, the college section of the institution, was moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., while the theoretical seminary remained in St. Louis under the presidency of Professor Walther. At the same time, the so-called practical seminary, which had, for a decade and a half, done good work in Fort Wayne, was united with the St. Louis Seminary, the transfer taking place under the direction of Professor A. Craemer, one of the grand old men in the early history of our Synod. The year 1875 marked 234 DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION. the transfer of the practical seminary from St. Louis to Springfield, but at the same time the celebration of the silver anniversary of the seminary in St. Louis. On June 11 of this year, just twenty-five years after the memorable dedica- tion of the south wing, a whole day was devoted to services of song and praise, President O. Hanser of the Fort Wayne college preaching in the morning and Pastor C. S. Kleppisch in the afternoon, while four students, C. Birkmann, H. Wese- loh, J. Schlerf, and N. Christensen, delivered short addresses in German, Latin, English, and Norwegian, respectively. In the evening a cantata, whose text had been written by Professor Schaller, was rendered, after which a display of fireworks was given. There are still a number of venerable veterans in our Synod who were in St. Louis on the 9th and 10th of Sep- tember, 1883, and whose eyes glow as they exchange remi- niscences of the great event celebrated at that time, the dedi- cation of the fine new building of the Seminary, for a number of years one of the show-places of southern St. Louis. Some fifteen thousand people attended the services on the first day, which were opened with the rendition of Psalm 150 by the students' chorus. After the singing of the hymn "Lobe den Herren, o meine Seele," the venerable Doctor Walther ascended the rostrum, and in eloquent words extended thanks to Him who had so faithfully guided His small flock and blessed the humble efforts of His people in the erection of this edifice. After the forenoon services had then been closed by the singing of Luther's Battle Hymn, the visitors were guests of the St. Louis Lutherans. An account of this great outdoor dinner states: "It may be interesting to note that, among other things, 400 pounds of coffee, 100 gallons of milk, 1,000 pounds of ham, and 2 barrels of sugar were consumed at this time." In the afternoon services, which were opened by the singing of the choral "Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist," Pastor C. Gross, of Fort Wayne, delivered the Ger- man, and Professor A. Crull, of the same place, the English address, after which the services were closed with Luther's Battle Hymn. Among the poetical contributions to the DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 235 celebration was one which appeared in Lehre und Wehre: "The year of praise a gift of praise requireth, A Bethel built to praise the Lord withal," and one in Der Lutheraner: "What wondrous things our God has done For us, beloved brethren !" The services of the second day were of an academic Present Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Mo. Dedicated in 1883. The Annex built in 1907 is not shown here. nature. The morning service, which was conducted in Latin, was opened with the hymn "Veni, Creator Spiritus," after which Professor Pieper delivered an address. After a choral, "Spiritus Sancti Gratia" Pastor Stoeckhardt, at that time Professor Extraordinarius, delivered the second Latin ora- tion, and the service came to a close with the mighty "Turris 236 DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION. Deus fortissimo,." In the afternoon, orations were delivered by two students, Meyer, of New Zealand, and Hattstaedt, of Michigan. The history of the Seminary since 1883 has been one of steady, healthy growth. Among the teachers who were en- gaged in the work at the side of the venerable Doctor Wal- ther, who was called home four years later, were the beloved Schaller, the gentle Guenther, the versatile Lange, also Pro- fessor, now Doctor, Pieper. Later came Doctor Graebner, distinguished for great erudition in many branches of theo- logical and general learning, as his books and articles abun- dantly show, and Doctor Stoeckhardt, the grand old man in Exegesis. The other men whose terms of service reach back into the last century are Professors Fuerbringer, Bente, and Mezger. In 1899, when the institution was sixty years old, a cele- bration took place, Professor Pieper delivering the address of welcome to the guests, and six alumni, one from each decade of the school, responding, namely, F. J. Biltz (read in his absence), J. P. Beyer, J. M. Buehler, H. Haake, F. W. Herz- berger, and L. A. Wissmueller. And finally, on October 20, 1907, the new addition to the Seminary building, the recita- tion annex, was dedicated, Doctor F. Pieper delivering the main oration and Prof. E. Pieper an address. This last build- ing was really only in the nature of a temporary relief, its erection being made necessary by the great increase in attend- ance. The fond hope is cherished, now that the resolution to move the Seminary to more commodious quarters has been passed, that the buildings which will be erected will be ade- quate for all future needs. Fort Wayne is a city which is held in fond remembrance by a great many former Concordians in all professions, for not only did its hospitable arms shelter the practical seminary from 1846 till 1861, but it proved itself no less a mother toward Concordia College when this institution was separated from the seminary at St. Louis and given orders to stand on its own feet, with the city at the head of the Maumee as its new home. It was on the 9th of September, 1861, that DEVELOPMENT OF II Kill FK EDUCATION. 237 Professors G. Schick, G. A. Saxer, and R. Lange began their work in the former seminary building with an enrolment of 78 pupils. The institution was then long past the experi- mental stage and, although compelled to battle with various diseases, especially with the dreaded malaria for a number of decades, it nourished and grew in every respect, not only by the acquisition of the fine oak grove north of the first build- First Concordia College at Fort "Wayne, Ind. Founded by Pastor W. Loehe in 1S4G. Deeded to the Missouri Synod in 1847. Parent institution of the present Springfield Concordia. ings, but also by the erection of additional buildings. First came a commodious refectory, an addition to the dining-room, and a bakery; then, the number of pupils having in 1867 reached 130, the so-called "new building" was erected in 1869, which was needed all the more since the "old building" was almost entirely destroyed by lire on December 28 of that year. In 1905 the new Eecitation Hall was dedicated, which, to- gether with various other buildings, such as the natatorium, 238 DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION. the hospital, the new refectory, the gymnasium, and the central heating-plant, give our oldest college an equipment which serves its needs very well. The most meager sketch of the Fort Wayne Concordia would be incomplete without a reference to some of its faith- ful teachers. The work of Professor Biewend, the first presi- dent of the Gymnasium, whose apparently untimely death Prof. A. Biewend. was so deeply felt, has been referred to above. A man with a record of more than half a century of educational work, the "grand old man" in classics, was Dr. G. Schick, old "Rector" Schick, as his hundreds of former students prefer to call him. From March 31, 1856, when he was inducted into office, until January 3, 1915, when he fell asleep, he had been teacher at our oldest Concordia, a pedagog trained by the great humanist Naegelsbach, a martinet for work, but at the same time a truly lovable friend to those who really knew him. Then there was Dr. H. Duemling, always kind, always DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION; 239 gentlemanly, always interesting, Professor Crull, whose Ger- man lessons, especially in the upper classes, were so brilliant as to produce a new crop of poets every year, Professor Bischoff", and Professor, now Doctor, Zucker, no longer active Prof. G. Schick, Ph. D. in the classroom, but still serving in the capacity of head librarian. It is principally due to one man that books like A us der alien Kaffeemuehle become classics in so short a time, and that man is "Onkel Craemer," the man who guided the des- tinies of the practical seminary for so many years. Founded 240 DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION. in 184G at Fort Wayne, due to the efforts of Pastor W. Loehe, of Neuendettelsau, Bavaria, with Dr. W. Sihler and Candi- date Roebbelen as its first teachers, the seminary is still doing effective work, after vicissitudes which would have exhausted the vitality of a less hardy plant. Upon the organization of Synod, in 1847, the institution was deeded to the young church-body. It was Professor Craemer who moved down to Our First Concordia at Springfield, 111. The old Illinois State University. Purchased bv Svnod in 1*74. St. Louis with his school in 1861, working in the practical department of the seminary on the banks of the Mississippi with the same faithfulness as in the northern city, where the school had had an independent organization. And it was the same "father of the institution" who moved to Spring- field, when the proseminary in 1874 and the seminary in 1875 were transferred to the buildings formerly occupied by the Lutheran "Illinois State University." With the increase in enrolment came the need for further buildings, and this need DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 241 has always been met. New men have been added to the faculty from time to time, an almost entire reorganization taking place in the year following Professor Craemer's death, in 1891. Of the older teachers, the names of Prof. H. Wyne- ken and of Prof. R. Pieper are heard most frequently from the old graduates; of those whose time of service reaches back into the last century there are Professors J. Herzer (retired), F. Streckfuss, and Louis Wessel. When Pastor Loehe sent Candidate Roebbelen with twelve young men to Port Wayne, one of his purposes was also to train teachers for Lutheran day-schools, and the institution kept this purpose in mind during the first years. But since the school system of Synod grew so rapidly, it was found that this one plant could not provide teachers in sufficient numbers. Accordingly, in 1855, a teachers' seminary was founded, as a private venture, in Milwaukee. Two years afterward the resolution was passed to combine the Mil- waukee school with the practical seminary. So Professor Fleischmann, the first president, came to Fort Wayne on November 10 of that year, accompanied by four seminarians. When the growth of the school made the calling of a new man necessary, Pastor C. A. T. Selle was found willing to undertake the work. When the readjustment of the semi- naries and of Concordia College was in process, the young teachers' seminary was obliged to move, first to a house in the city, and then to a former tavern on the historic Piqua Road, two miles from the city limits. It took a full measure of real pioneer spirit to overcome the difficulties which were encountered in these years, but both teachers and pupils were made of sturdy stuff and thrived by overcoming the opposing forces. In 1864 the teachers' training-school moved into its own quarters, in Addison, a village about twenty miles west of Chicago, the dedication of the main building taking place on December 28, with Pastor J. C. W. Lindemann as president. Now came the era of steady growth, continuing under the presidency of Prof. E. A. W. Krauss and of Prof. F. Lindemann, a fact which finally decided the location of the school, for since October 12, 1913, the teachers' seminary, EBENEZER. 16 242 DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION. now known as Concordia Teachers' College, and accredited as a normal school in good standing by the educational authorities of the State, has been occupying its modern and commodious quarters in Eiver Forest, a suburb of Chicago. There are few church-bodies which, in the face of the most adverse conditions, have had such a wonderful growth as the Missouri Synod. This fact is apparent also from the history of its educational institutions. For while the older schools were being supplied with buildings, funds, and teachers, new ones were called into being by sheer force of circumstances. The expansion, for a while, was centered in the Northern States, were there is a strong Lutheran population. When the wave of immigrants which flowed over our country in the 70's of the last century made it evident that the schools then existing could not possibly supply all demands, some far- seeing men in Northern Illinois and in Wisconsin considered ways and means of founding an institution of higher learning in this great territory. Men prominent in this movement were Pastor Wunder, of Chicago, and Pastor Loeber, of Milwaukee, one of the first pupils in the Perry County log cabin. On September 1, 1881, the school was opened, the first building being dedicated on January 3, 1883. Sinco 1887, the Milwaukee Concordia has been under the control of Synod. It also has grown in teachers, buildings, and equipment as circumstances de- manded. A fortunate thing for the school has been the fact that comparatively few changes have taken place in its fac- ulty, the terms of President Albrecht, and of Professors Huth, Mueller, Hattstaedt, and Koss going back to the last century. The emphasis upon the Christian day-school as a vital factor in both Church and State being a feature in our Prof. E. A.W. Krauss, D. D. DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 243 circles, it was not surprising that the one normal school at Addison was unable to meet all the demands for teachers. Accordingly, the establishment of another teachers' seminary west of the Mississippi, in the rapidly developing prairie section, was urged with such quick results that the teachers' seminary, or the Lutheran Normal school, of Seward, Nebr., was founded in 1893, twenty acres of land and $8,000 in cash having been donated for that purpose by a number of mem- bers of Synod in Nebraska. On November 18, 1894, when the institution was opened and its first building dedicated, its first professor, Pastor G. Weller, was also installed. The western normal school has always been a special foster-child of the Nebraska District, whose energetic members have been indefatigable in advancing the school. Since 1905 the insti- tution has had the full course of a normal, and has now, with added facilities in the form of laboratory equipment, been accredited by the State authorities. Meanwhile the Lutherans in the far East were not idle. As early as June 7, 1881, the wide-awake New York Local Conference had passed a resolution requesting St. Matthew's Church to organize a Gymnasium class in its academy, the congregation promptly acting upon this suggestion. For a number of years the school led a rather precarious existence; in fact, it was not till its removal to Hawthorne, N. Y., in 1894, its acceptance by Synod in 1896, and finally its removal to the new location with its fine buildings in Bronxville, in January, 1910, that the Concordia Institute really measured up to the standard of its older brethren. But the fostering care of the Lutheran Education Society of New York has done much to give the institution the standing it now enjoys. Much credit is also due to the first president of the school, Prof. C. B. E. Bohm. Of the present faculty, the terms of Prof. H. Feth, Dr. H. Stein, and Prof. B. W. Heintze extend back to the last century. Once a pioneer, always a pioneer! That explains the energy of Pastor F. J. Biltz in founding St. Paul's College, of Concordia, Mo. Himself a pupil of the Perry County log cabin, he was ready to begin the school which he believed 244 DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION. necessary in the rapidly developing West under very humble conditions, on a small tract of four acres. Prof. A. Baepler began work with six pupils in January, 1884, the first build- ing being dedicated on August 31 of that year. In spite of many obstacles, the school managed to maintain and increase its usefulness, being accepted first by the Western District of Synod, in 1855, and then by Synod, in 1896. The school, with the help of God, has managed to survive vicissitudes and overcome difficulties which seemed to bring certain defeat. The men whose term of service extends back to the last century are President J. H. C. Kaeppel, and Professors H. Schoede and A. Baepler, the latter having returned after spending some years at Fort Wayne. It has not been much more than a generation ago that men in the East believed the prairies of the Northwest prac- tically uninhabitable and utterly useless for agricultural purposes. But a trip through the territory included in this section will convince the most skeptical, especially if the end of his journey finds him in St. Paul, where our northern Concordia has had its home since 1893. After a year in rented quarters, the buildings of a former State institution were bought, their dedication as a Lutheran training-school taking place on September 9, 1894. Just how highly the constituents of this institution value it is seen from the fact that the fine new Recitation Hall, dedicated on June 30, 1918, was built largely through their efforts. Of the present faculty, the term of only one reaches back into the last cen- tury, namely, that of President Theo. Buenger, who was the school's first teacher. Concordia College, of Conover, N. C, was founded and controlled for more than two decades by a private educational association. It was Concordia High School from 1877 to 1881, when it was incorporated as a college. It was then conducted under the auspices of the Tennessee Synod, in so far as this body called and maintained the theological pro- fessor. Early in the nineties, the school was first offered to the English Missouri Synod, and, after negotiations extend- ing over some ten years, the formal legal transfer of the DEVELOPMENT OF II Mill KK KDUCATION. 245 college property to this body was reported at the meeting of 1905. With the merging of the English Missouri Synod as a District synod of the Missouri Synod, in 1911, the school has come under the control of the larger body. The father of St. John's College, Winfield, Kans., is Mr. J. P. Baden. The first building of this southwestern Concordia was erected by him and donated to the English Missouri Synod, in 1893. On March 1 of the next year the dedication took place, at which time the first professors were also installed. The school had the usual struggle with adverse circumstances, after some years also the bothersome lack of room. But a fine new dormitory has taken care of expansion in one direction, while friends of the institution have pro- vided more room in the form of real estate. Of the present faculty, Professor Stoeppelwerth has been with the college from the beginning, and the terms of President Meyer and of Professors C. Scaer and L. Steiner reach back into the last century. Our youngest institution is Concordia College of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, which was opened in the autumn of 1921, the installation of its first president, Rev. A. Schwer- mann, taking place on October 30. More than 30 boys en- rolled at the opening of the school. And still the list of Synod's higher institutions of learn- ing is not exhausted. There is Seminario Concordia, of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, which serves our brethren beyond the Tropic of Capricorn. The Oregon and Washington District has a Concordia College at Portland, doing work since 1905 and occupying its present quarters since 1907. The California and Nevada District has the Cali- fornia Concordia College, of Oakland, established in 1906 and occupying its fine new building since 1915. The Mis- souri Synod, with the other members of the Synodical Con- ference, has also an interest in the schools for colored at New Orleans and at Greensboro, N. C. There are a number of private institutions existing under the auspices of organiza- tions within Synod, bearing, of course, a decided Lutheran character. Milwaukee has a Lutheran High School ; Deshler, Nebr., has a Lutheran High School and Business College; 246 DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION. Chicago has its Luther Institute; and Fort Wayne the youngest of the high schools within the Missouri Synod, the Fort Wayne Luther Institute. Walther College, of St. Louis, after many years of excellent service, discontinued its work, as did Concordia College of New Orleans. Such is the history of Synod's educational institutions in a nutshell, an account of the expansion of the individual schools and of their growth in number, as well as in interest taken in their work. It is, in brief, a history of its educa- tional development. That the Missouri Synod's educational policy has always been strongly conservative is well known. The emphasis has always been on the humanities, with ana- lytical work predominating. The watchword has been : Non multa, sed multum (Not manifold, scattering interests, but much of the best). There has been no multiplicity of courses, especially at the theological seminaries. Yet the schools have, and usually very successfully, tried to remain abreast of the times. This is true not only of the normal schools, as noted above, but also of the classical preparatory institutes, many of which now have their high school department accredited, some also their junior classical college department. The statement in the deed of transfer of 1849 and 1850, when the first Concordia was moved from Altenburg to St. Louis, has always been observed: "Also such young people as do not intend to devote themselves to Lutheran theology may have the benefit of the Gymnasium" May the prayer appended to the same document be fulfilled as long as Synod exists: "May the blessing of the Lord crown the institution forever I" As a matter of record, it might be noted here that the latest statistics, those of March, 1921, show the following figures : In all the institutions owned and operated by Synod, including those maintained under its auspices, the number of professors and instructors was 155, and the number of students, both of preparatory and of collegiate grade, was 2,752. The value of all the property of Synod's higher insti- tutions of learning was approximately $3,000,000, a sum which does not include recent improvements, especially in the matter of laboratories. COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN THE OLDEN DAYS. 247 College and Seminary Life in the Olden Days. Dr. E. G. SlHLEBj New York, N. Y. These reminiscences of a half century and more might also be entitled: "Fort Wayne and St. Louis Long Ago." It would be a waste of words to urge that these are important places in any history of the Lutheran Church in America, nor need we even point to the fact that hundreds of pastors and their wives and children know and feel what a large place these cities hold in the life-history of fathers, grand- fathers, brothers, cousins. Nay, how many an excellent Frau PastoAn would never have found the particular one else- where? It is exactly sixty years ago that the institution, begun in the log cabin of Perry County, Mo. (having been transferred to St. Louis, to a site then out in the country, where it was distinctly and exclusively the feeder and pre- paratory school for the theological seminary of Dr. Walther), was moved still farther away. It is, I repeat, exactly sixty years ago, as I am writing, that Praeses Wyneken, Dr. W. Sihler, and Professor Craemer at Fort Wayne, and Prof. C. F. W. Walther at St. Louis arranged for the exchange which they deemed wise, nay, necessary at the time. It was when Fort Sumter was fired upon and all of Missouri was either in the zone of Civil War or so close to it as to render the further conjunction of the classical feeder with the theo- logical Concordia precarious. So the Gymnasium, with its Sexta, Quinta, Quarta, Tertia, Secunda, and Prima, began work on the old seminary grounds in September, 1861, and the Praktisches Seminar with August Craemer joined the Theoretisches Seminar in St. Louis on Jefferson Avenue, on the way to Carondelet. Of course, to my tender years the Secundaner and Primaner of 1861—62 were of heroic stature, and when they came in to attend service at old St. Paul's on Sundays, I viewed them with awe and silent admiration. Would I ever be such a one? It took some years until the Lutheran folk at Fort Wayne ceased to call the institution das Seminar. The first faculty consisted of four men : Dr. Wm. Sihler, 248 COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN THE OLDEN DAYS. President, Director Alexander Saxer, Rector George Schick, and Prof. Rudolph Lange, who some time before had been Lutheran pastor at St. Charles, Mo. Two houses were built by architect C. Griese, of Cleveland: a double house for Schick and Lange and a single house for the Director. Prof. R. Lange. (Between it and the old seminary building was a huge apple- tree with apples so sour that Mother Reinke could not use them at all for her kitchen, and we were made free of their use. Every autumn we went through the form of making "cider" of them. When we tried to eat those apples, the inner tissues of our mouths were literally glued together by their acerbity.) Mrs. Saxer, a daughter of Kanzleirat COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN THE OLDEN DAYS. 240 Klefeker of Berlin, will not be forgotten for her refinement and grace of manner. We were wont to marvel at her living at all in our rude western world. The Prima of 1861 — 62 consisted of exactly three men or youths, Stellhorn, Crull, and Herzer, all of them ultimately destined for a didactic career. But after June, 1862, all three upper classes were transferred to St. Louis. So, when the present writer entered Sexta, in September, 1862, there were only four classes. The "class of 1865" contained the twin sons of Praeses Wyneken, Martin and Henry, Ad. Bie- wend, C. Ernst from Hanover, Zimmermann, Joe Schmidt of Saxon stock, Carl Frank (Dr. Frank), Partenf elder from Michigan (the best skater in the college), and C. C. Schmidt (now Presbyter Academicus at St. Louis and Dr. Theologiae, homiletic author). Nor must we forget Brinjhild Hovde, the Norseman, famous for herculean strength. He could take a lad like myself and hold him out with his right arm at right angles from his body. Dr. Wilhelm Sihler presided in the meetings of the faculty and gave instruction in Religion and Geography. He had (as a lieutenant and student in the Allgemeine Kriegs- akademie at Berlin) been a pupil of Carl von Bitter, later had studied at the University of Berlin, and, still later, had been an Erzieher in the notable Blochmaim's Institut at Dresden. His moral earnestness, which always sought to deal with fundamentals, coupled with his psychological acu- men and tact, together with his very positive seniority (he was then sixty), was of particular importance in that place and time. Praeses Wyneken had taken a house in the northern out- skirts of the town, not far from the homestead and flour-mill of his old friends, the Rudisills. He did not often appear at the college, whereas, when on the great holidays of the Chris- tian year he filled the pulpit at St. Paul's, there was always a rare spiritual service and inspiration welling up from that rare Christ -loving soul. In my father's family he was "Onkel" Wyneken. In all the life and interaction of those rare men there was 250 COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN THE OLDEN DAYS. a pure fraternal devotion, a unity of spiritual aim, a simple directness, a veritable habit of self-denial, a cheerful willing- ness to rough it, a dedication of uncommon qualities to the furtherance of Christian doctrine and Christian life at all points of personal and churchly contact, the full measure of which is best known to Him alone whom they strove to serve. Soon P. Achenbach came down from Grand Eapids, and as KonreJctor assumed much of the work in the lower classes. He had, if I remember rightly, been sent through Gymnasium and university by the favor of the Grand Duke of Hesse. His was a gentle and all together most lovable personality. Also, he was highly trained in the nobler forms of music, and at once the practise of choir-singing by all at the Con- cordia began to go forward and flourish. A sweet soprano voice in that time (before the change) was that of Wm. Hatt- staedt, who entered Sexta from Monroe, Mich., in September, 1863. His solos greatly embellished the renditions of re- ligious compositions by Haydn or Mozart on the great anniversaries of the church-year at St. Paul's, which, by the by, I believe, is the oldest church of our Lutheran faith in the entire State of Indiana. It dates back to 1837. The earliest pastor was Jesse Hoover (Heuber), 1837 — 38, fol- lowed by Friedrich Wyneken, 1838—47, Wm. Sihler 1845—85, Heinr. Sauer, to 1896, and Jacob W. Miller, to this day. Of course, in our studies at Fort Wayne Greek and Latin predominated, with Hebrew added in Prima. History was important and was most properly conveyed by narrative, although the faculty of taking good and coherent notes was not sufficiently inculcated. There sometimes even three classes were combined. We youngsters sometimes marveled at the weaknesses of some pupils whose eminence in physical strength on the playgrounds we were not disposed to question. The Latin course went from a Tirocinium (or beginner's book) through Phaedrus, Nepos, Caesar, Cicero, Livy to Horace's Odes. That any effort at intellectual analysis had any share whatever in our acquisition of Latin syntax I do not remember. The consistent training in Latin writing (so essential in training youth in that sine qua non of mental COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN THE OLDEN DAYS. 251 exactness) greatly stimulated the eagerness or ambition of competitive effort. In the autumn of 1868 Robert Engel of Saxony, a nephew of Dr. Walther, joined the faculty, and in our Prima (1868 to 1869) we had some Quintilian with him and for the first time also were trained to hear Latin spoken, a preparation for Baier's Compendium later on at St. Louis, 1870 — 72. With Professor Lange we had in Prima Drobisch's Logik (whom I later heard at Leipzig). Lange was the most many- sided of our teachers, and for his private studies even acquired that great standard work, Hyrtl's Anatomischer Atlas. In Greek we reached Sophocles's Antigone and the first book of Thucydides. There was, however, one very positive defect in the more advanced stages of our classical education. We never really passed beyond the stage of grammatical concern. That the design of these writers, the contents and substance of their production, the specific per- sonality there at work, with the background of times and eras and a Weltanschauung revealed by themselves, — that all this was something vastly greater than parsing, — of this we never attained any conception or experience. One could get an A (a I) in this grind, but there was, in all truth, nothing stimulating in it, nothing that might have proved an in- centive to wider or more independent reading. Director Saxer laid the foundation of Greek most efficiently, and his work in German was admirable. Vortragen was of two kinds. In the earlier stages it was the delivery from memory of some noted poem (generally), and sometimes remarkable feats of memorizing occurred, such as the entire Lied von der GlocJce by Schiller. Later on we laid on the Director's desk our own compositions in Rein- schrift, which we then delivered. When Adolph Stahr (who often traversed the forests with his gun) once spoke of the burning of Moscow, we were greatly impressed by his exces- sive iteration of the phrase: "an alien Ecken und Kanten." Director Saxer was inexorable in puncturing the habit of some to appropriate phrases or terms which were beyond their own grasp or clear conception. 252 COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN THE OLDEN DAYS. Freimachen was one of the most glorious achievements within the student-body, and we then generally marched, often with fife and drum, across the canal down the Maumee, where we could swim, play ball, deliver speeches from a ven- erable stump, and cook our coffee; provisions were often conveyed by the college team, handled by "Christ.," our Danish college-'knecht , who was so strong that he could lift up a bag of grain with his teeth. Director Saxer, during my time, fully commanded our respect. A little trait: He smoked very good cigars, and when he made his rounds about 10 P. M., his approach was safely evidenced by the fragrant weed. The consequence was that the upper class men often overstayed that canonic hour, and rushed to bed sometimes with their clothes on and feigned sleep by artificial snoring. Once I remained over night at the college on account of some task of joint study, occupying the bed of some absentee. One of our number had rushed to bed with his clothes on. By and by the steps of "the Old Man" came nearer, and, curiously enough, he at once approached the bed of the very one who had so hurriedly endeavored to anticipate the Director's round of inspection. He shook the shoulders of the feigning sleeper and said: "Stiemke, schlafen Sie?" "J a, Herr Direhtor" was the curious and certainly non-plausible answer, which, as among young folk, at once became an event and a winged word which amused us in a lasting way. There was also a nocturnal organization, known as the Nyldophylalcen — Greek for Nachtwaechter. The nonsense they sometimes practised was extraordinary. One of us had a very, very ancient trunk. A committee had been appointed to make the Pope jealous to possess this venerable relic, dubbed older than Noah's ark. But that committee was not ready to report. Thereupon the two best athletes, Theophilus Mees and Chas. Frincke, were delegated to apply punishment to the delinquent committee ad hominem. Well, there was an upheaval, because the committee used boots and bootjacks in their defense. In dulci iuventa! In those days wood was the only fuel. The seminary farm COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN THE OLDEN DAYS. 253 or college farm, then consisting of 99^ acres, still heavily wooded, had been purchased by Dr. Sihler in 1848 for $500 ! The upper class men with the college team at certain seasons went over and felled trees and prepared cords upon cords of fire-wood both for the college kitchen (so admirably managed by our Hausvater Reinke and his strenuous spouse) and for the stoves of the study-rooms of the Zoeglinge. Chopping fire-wood and sweeping the rooms was an inexorable part in the daily routine of duties. In bitter winter weather this current work was no slight addition to the daily tasks and obligations. Our daily life, in a word, was thoroughly plain, nay, homespun. The under class boys had to clean knives, forks, and spoons after every noonday meal. Further, the pupils were called upon to help in the household, e. g., in the apple-harvest. Some of these were diverted to the inner part of convenient desks. There was a student inspector who kept tab on this routine of services. H. Niemann admirably sustained that function and (exactly as, later on, as president of the Central District) was cool, wise, practical, and fair. So, too, were the decurions in the rooms, when we juniors obeyed loyally and willingly. And who would not gladly have followed students like H. Succop and Herman Engel- brecht ? Even at this distance of time I warmly cherish their memory. During the period of time from 1862 to 1866 (when base- ball was begun) the favorite game was "touch-ball" (not Dutch ball, as some miscalled it). When, racing from the home-base to the field-base, any one was touched in any way or hit by the ball thrown by any one on the outside, the sides changed at once. Once, I remember, Herman Engelbrecht hit me (and it was always a solid rubber ball) in the rear of my anatomy. It hurt. In the evening I surveyed, with an effort, many colors. No one ever dared to exhibit any sense of pain. We were a Spartan band. Baseball began in 1866 and soon absorbed all other forms of sport. The club par excellence in the triennium from 1866 to 1869 was called "Empire," and our "Alert" never beat them. May I tell the roster of that nine of first eminence? Chas. Obermeyer and Louis 254 COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN THE OLDEN DAYS. Hoelter were catcher and pitcher, respectively ; Capito (Pitts- burgh) was on first, Joe Bonn (Philadelphia) on second, and Theophilus Mees (Columbus) on third base; Phil. Lincke (Brooklyn) was short -stop, Adolph Geyer, center -fielder, Goehringer, I believe, left-fielder, and the other I know no more. Pastor Stubnatzy did not miss an important game on Saturday afternoons. Scores sometimes were 85 to 35, pitch- ing being really what the term then implied, a delivery with an underhand swing, no throw; the batter could wait for a "knee-high," "hip-high," or "shoulder-high" ball, whichever he preferred. One really could hit the ball to any part selected by the eye. No gloves then. The Maumee River and the Wabash-Erie Canal figured heavily in our daily life. The old lock-keeper, Mutz by name, was a rabid Roman Catholic, and sometimes, when he got angry, shouted at us : "Hat eich der Ludder wieder am Sett!" He sold provisions also to the canal-boats. We tried to catch sun-fish there about Easter time with dip-nets. The old red Wines' Mill stood then, and above it was the dam. Above this was an ideal basin for bathing, a sandy beach with a gradual slope. No student ever equaled Dr. Sihler in the force and distance of his strokes. It was in June, 1863, that I first swam across, being then in my eleventh year — my classmates mostly fifteen — (Sexta!), guided and aided by that kindly soul H. Succop; always alone after that. Independence of effort was deeply ingrained, I believe, in my character; games reveal these things, as Aristotle has ob- served. The mill-race ran swiftly. Sometimes we essayed rather perilous diving feats there. Skating was mainly done on the canal, beginning generally late in November on a shallow basin known as the "stillery." The frame of an old defunct distillery still stood there, hence the name. New Haven was much sought in those noonday excursions on the winged steel. Some students in Christmas vacation actually skated to Defiance, O., where Pastor Detzer hospitably re- ceived them. Our Synod in those early days was like one family or body of kindred. The farmers, too, often made the boys welcome over the week-end, particularly in autumn, COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN Till: OLDEN DAYS. 255 when Pomona spread her bounties. There were peccadillo excursions, too, I must say, in September; in October to the big orchard of Neighbor White (later site of Berghoff's). Sometimes complaints were made by the injured proprietor, and those excursionists, crestfallen, had to appear in the Director's study. From St. Paul's there were planted gradually a number of country churches, manned by Dr. Sihler's earlier theo- logical pupils and others : P. Husmann, Stock, Bode, Wambs- ganss, Jaebker, Fritze, Zagel. The ample gifts of flour, hams, quarters of beef, apples and apple-butter, butter, eggs, pota- toes, and cabbage that steadily flowed from the bins and granaries and smokehouses of our Lutheran farmers into the cellar and larder of Father and Mother Reinke to eke out the slender Kostgeld in those pioneer days, — this splendid generosity and bounty, so untiring and inexhaustible, must not be forgotten in this record of the past. May God bless their children and grandchildren and their offspring to the latest generations ! Then, too, in the town : the Sunday dinner in the families to all the college boys, the laundry service every week, and the Naehverein, which patched and repaired, darned and knitted, and often provided new clothes for the poorer boys, — who can forget all this? There was a gladsome spirit of service and help truly worthy of Him whose name all would bear, but not all follow. "Ungrateful is he who has for- gotten," says Seneca, the wise Stoic of old. Therefore in this connection it seems meet to set down some of the names of the olden time in the churches who helped and gave and furthered. In the country: Bleke, Mensing, Baade, Kern, Yon der Au, Lunz, Kohlmeyer, Gerke, Rose, Griebel, Schroeder, Schaper, Brick; then the farmer-members of St. Paul's on the Piqua Road, who also supported their own day-school out there ; then the distinguished patriarch of all the countryside, pioneer settler of 1834, and honored leader in civic matters, Conrad Trier, and his neighbor Frosch, of blessed memory. In town some of the hospitable and helping hands were of families like these : Thieme, Schroeder, Paul, 256 COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN THE OLDEN DAYS. Griebel, Steup, Kanne, Moellering, Spiegel, some ten or more Meyers (discriminated by vocational predicates, such as druggist Meyer, Wassermeyer, Musikmeyer, Holzschuhmeyer, etc., etc.), Brand, Koch, Brase, Schmiedes, Knothe, Beyer, Piepenbrink, Walda, Waltemath, Scheimann, Mennewisch, Stellhorn, Becker, Krudop, Siemon, Schwegman, Tresselt, Wef el, Woebking, Wilkening, — and last, but not least, the first pastor of Immanuel's, Rev. Wolfgang Stubnatzy. Unci seine Blaetter verwelken nicht, Ps. 1, 3. Our Concordia Lutheran Cemetery is, perhaps, not a Hall of Fame in the widest interest of our dear faith and Church, but still it is a place I love to visit above all others when sometimes I see my native city now so flourishing, once more, a Lutheran city of noble memories, where my Lutheran con- sciousness is always mightily stirred and strengthened. In that consecrated ground, too, there rest the mortal remains of the Rev. Jesse Hoover (1810 — 38,) who died young, on whose memorial slab are chiseled the lines of the first stanza of "Mir nach! spricht Christus, unser Held." Before I say farewell to Fort Wayne, I must briefly recall an idyl of those earlier days. It was in the first days of June, 1865, the graduating month of the Wyneken twins and their classmates : Pentecost Saturday. Peace once more after the Civil War ! Before sunrise we issued forth, march- ing by Riegen of our Tumverein, not by classes (that dear man Fred Stutz of Washington, so long pastor at Albany, N. Y., being my particular commandant) . Our goal was the congregation of P. Jaebker in Adams County (now Fried- heim — beautiful name). As the disk of Helios began to appear above copse and field, we sang in four-voiced glorious harmony : — ■ Die Sonn' erwacht! Mit ihrer Pracht Erfuellt sie die Berge, das Tal! We had a great time out there. There was an exhibition of our declamatory prowess before all our hosts and their families in a grove not far from Heckmann's country store, and also there was a negro minstrel show on a Buuck porch, COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN THE OLDEN DAYS. 257 in which Linckc and Ohm shone as interlocutors. The chief speech of appreciation and gratitude to our kind hosts was made by Primaner Carl Frank, who concluded with the famous couplet : — Freunde wollen wir una nennen, Bis der Kater Junge kriegt! And now of St. Louis, 18G9 — 1872, a time when the Mis- sissippi ferry was still the only mode of crossing- the famous stream. Early in September of the year first named our Synod had a general convocation in St. Paul's, Fort Wayne. The chief figure of new interest there was Dr. Edward Preuss, who had left Berlin a year before, I believe. There he had been professor of History in the famous Friedrich-Wilhelm- Gymnasium (under Director K. Ferd. Eanke, brother of the great historian), and also Privatdozent in the university; he had reedited Chemnitz's Exaraen (or analysis) of the Tiiden- tinum and published also a searching study of the Roman Catholic mariolatrous dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Dr. Preuss gave several quite brilliant lectures before the synod and returned to St. Louis as professor of divinity there. His facile pen soon was much in evidence in Lehre und Wehre and Lutheraner, as well as in the Abendsclxule, of which he soon became editor. He was then some thirty-six years old and very clever, I mean adroit, and one who could marshal his resources at any given point with puzzling celerity. But I cannot now bring- myself to believe that he was sincere. — At that time Dr. Walther was just near com- pleting his fifty-eighth year; Professor Craemer, I believe, was about fifty-eight or fifty-nine, Professor Brauer about forty-nine or fifty. A former instructor, Baumstark, if my memory fails me not, had gone over to the Roman Catholic Church. In many of its aspects it was a curious and somewhat incongruous world into which we entered in the autumn of 1869, odd, too, the variety of inhabitants domiciled in the old building with its north and south wings. In the latter lived EBENEZEPw. Yl 258 COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN THE OLDEN DAYS. Dr. Walther and his family, likewise Professor Brauer and his large family, of which the greater number were boys. The oldest, Albert, was doing his Prima work at Fort Wayne. In the north wing resided Professor Craemer, the chief divinity professor of the Prahtisches Seminar. Mrs. Craemer, as at Fort Wayne, was the directress of general economics and head of the food department for the entire student-body. There was a team of horses also, if my memory serves me right. The country congregations still furnished a goodly part of the supplies through that lady's untiring exertions and tours of collection. We always celebrated her birthday with some formal function of honor and some expression, through a present, of our respect and gratitude. But in this poor world no adequate expression was then, or perhaps has ever been made of that which Missouri owes to that consecra- tion and that service. Thus, too, it was possible that the entire Kostgeld for the academic year in that era was much less, I believe, than fifty dollars. Andacht (with some readings from Luther in the morn- ing) involved a roll-call. The student who rang the matu- tinal signals uniformly acted for the sluggards, by tolling the second monition for an unconscionable length of time to give space for a very hurried toilet and a rush to seats in the grosser Lehrsaal. The organ-playing and the superb con- certed delivery of our grand chorals as now done must not be expected from that more primitive era. As for the triennium between 20 to 23 years of average age, need I even say that adolescent life always is more or less susceptible? When one ponders on the etymological meaning of Anmut (as that which appeals to the esthetical and emotional appreciation of men, especially young men), I need not say that the "social" opportunities were much larger than in Fort Wayne. Attaching oneself to a congre- gational "mixed" choir was one of the well-established and quite impeccable media for extending one's "social" oppor- tunities. Besides this, the Sunday hospitality and laundry service was quite as freely given as at Fort Wayne. Drei- einigJceit was our Lutheran cathedral, or chief church, in COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN THE OLDKN DAYS. 259 those days, a Gothic edifice of dignified lines, destroyed, I am sorry to say, by the tornado of 1896. Teacher Roschke always presided in the organ gallery ; I am not sure whether he also was chief Kantor. The poet and scholar Pastor Schaller, a graduate of Erlangen, presided over that congregation, to Prof. G. Schaller. which then belonged two of the most estimable of our Lu- theran laymen, Messrs. Leonhardt and Schuricht, founders and owners of the "Saxony Mills" on Lombard St. May the present writer say (with gratitude as full as poor words per- mit) that the kindness and kindliness of that home on the hill (with its stone wall enclosing the garden on two sides, where grew delectable peaches and grapes) was freely ex- tended, among others, to the writer of these memories ? Also 260 COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN THE OLDEN DAYS. we must mention Mr. A. Heinicke, of Holy Cross, who, when room was narrow in the Old Building (1869 — 70), kindly placed a bedroom in his own house at my disposal. During the earlier part of 1870 great changes in building, par- ticularly in providing entirely new domiciles for Professors Walther, Brauer, and Preuss, gained both more living- and more sleeping-room for the student-body. Dr. Walther was legally the chief pastor of the four city churches: Holy Cross, the college church, Pastor Theo- dore Brohm; Trinity, Pastor Schaller; Immanuel, Pastor Buenger; Zion, in the North, Pastor Boese. There was then a well-ordered exchange of pulpits between these four, meant to be wholesome and stimulating for all. In one particular matter there was at that time a strong difference between Fort Wayne and St. Louis, I mean in the Christmette, held at 6 A. m. on Christmas morning. In Fort Wayne it was the most crowded service of the year, in which young and old most eagerly shared, in which "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm' ich her," "Lobt Gott, ihr Christen allzu- gleich," and "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ," were sung with a rapture beyond words, in which the manger of Bethlehem was extolled especially by children's concerted voices, in which the entire church was festooned with fragrant gar- lands of evergreen, and lighted up with every contrivance of festal illumination. In St. Louis, in those days, small and often shivering assemblies were generally content to listen to some one of us students. I said above that the inmates of the old Seminary build- ing (1869 — 72) were somewhat incongruous. What do I mean? First, there were the Theoretischen from Fort Wayne, the graduating class of '70 being that of Sprengeler, Naegele, Janzow, etc. ; the middlers, Ferd. Walther, Broemer (Alex. v. Schlichten), Schuessler; the Freshmen, my class, in which not only the Norwegian Hans Gerhard Stub, John Koconer, Reque, and more of the Scandinavians were en- rolled, but also four Germans, Schaaf, Dankworth of Celle, Eickmeyer of Lemgo, and Hoyer. Of the Praktischen some were natives, who first had to go through the Proseminar, COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN THE OLDEN DAYS. 261 but in addition there were two groups: first those selected and prepared by Pastor Brunn at Steeden, Nassau, and the Hermannsburger of Louis Harms, author of Goldene Aepfel in silbernen Schalen. I had a high regard for their maturity and spiritual sincerity. In this respect they were far more mature than we Fort Wayne men. Pectus facit theologum, which means something greater than emotion or homiletic declamation or mere doctrinal correctness. The Norwegians exhibited in some of their men exceptional specimens of physical strength and soundness, such as Lars Eeque; also their glee-club sang Norse songs with a blending of voices and an exquisite delivery, the charm of which still lingers in my memory. They lived apart, over Teacher Erck's, and held rigidly aloof from certain convivial habits with which, among us, birthdays were celebrated, somewhat sub rosa. In my last year (1871 — 72) it was my fortune, with five others, to have as our study the quondam study of Dr. Wal- ther, and we were just a bit conceited over this distinction. Pastor Brohm, of Holy Cross, living in a small parsonage, was our pastor, and I received from him a pastoral visit when in the spring of 1870 an epidemic of smallpox infested the Seminary. His manner was reserved, and with all the gentleness of his character there was in him a something that held us in awe. Now these five men did all the didactic work in the three segments domiciled together: Walther, Craemer, Brohm, Brauer, Preuss. The last-named often dazzled us by his cleverness; the others, however, were more lastingly impres- sive by something greater, viz., by their very life and past service, of which they never said much, by the trials and tribulations and privations which we only knew by hearsay and by a general, but living tradition. In my later academic preparation at the universities of Berlin and Leipzig, as well as at the newly established Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore, during a period of full six years (1872 — 75 and 1876 — 79), I studied under, and observed with keenest in- terest, some of the foremost scholars of the nineteenth cen- tury, but those four in St. Louis stand apart, even so. I mean 262 COLLEGE AND SEMINARY LIFE IN THE OLDEN DAYS. this: their souls and all their striving were devoted to the eternal concerns of the Son of God, and to everything here in the world, within their own field and opportunity, that could advance the Kingdom of God. I am writing as an elderly man, or, if you prefer, an old man, and half a century has gone by. They planned, worked, directed, encouraged, or inhibited, strove, on the six week-days precisely as on Sundays — they were, in a word, I am deeply convinced, con- sistent, genuine, faithful Christians, and they were highly fit to be Christian leaders just because they were such Chris- tians— "dass ich nicht andem predige und selbst verwerflich werde." Per contra, as for us young folk from the Maumee, we realized that we lived in a large city now; Fort Wayne then had some 17,000 inhabitants, but St. Louis more than 260,000, and in such a community there always are the weak and foolish in a certain fringe that surrounds and touches some- times the youth even of a Christian institution like ours, who talk in a tone of curious superiority of what it is to "know life" or to "see life," which, as a rule, is a current euphemism simply for harlotry of every degree, and is like a painted porcelain lid covering a cesspool. Such voices from beyond the precincts of our Concordia sometimes came near us, though such things shun the light. There is an ancient adage which to-day, in the day of those coming forward, is just as significant as then : "Wenn man den Teufel an die Wand malt, so Jcommt er." "And lead us not into temptation." Athletics, severe bodily effort, is a wholesome thing even for young divinity students; we trust there will be a well- equipped gymnasium at the new site. That the body be sound, and that the soul rule it always, — one need not cite Juvenal for this simple axiom of right living. We had a little baseball practise on the slope immediately south of what is now Winnebago St., but it did not amount to much. Sometimes we made an Ausflug, out Gravois Road a few miles, where some of us rolled ninepins in a Kegelbahn, with the adjuncts of such a place; but that, too, was not much. COLLEGE AND SEMINARY I. Ill IN TI1K OLDEN DAYS. ^ I | j : ', The muddy and mighty "Father of Waters" — yes, we some- times bathed there, that is, in May and June we hired some rowboats and crossed the main channel to a gravelly island covered with shrubs and willows, where a gentle slope invited the bather. Twice I let others bring my things back in the boat and myself swam back from the Illinois side to our own, a fool- hardy act of youthful braggadocio. One of our Praktischen was studying his Dietrich under a tree on "Kaisers Huegel," and, no longer able to trace my head in the waters, hastened up to the Seminary and reported a drowning. The fact is the current carried me down nearly a mile towards Caron- delet. This "Kaisers Huegel" figured not a little in annual church-school festivals, where some of us shared in the diver- sions of harmless social games such as "Plumy sack." Youth has its paverga and will have them; we need no Horace to remind us of "in dulci iuventa" But all was in the clear sunlight and amid the fathers and mothers to whom belong the daughters in Israel. A special joy, too, was the annual Waisenfest out at Des Peres, when a number of youth, academic and non-academic, engaged a large furniture van, fitted with many seats and graced with some fair daughters in Israel amid an equal number of attendant knights, — a delightful outing in May or latest April. Wie Feld und Au So blinkend im Tau! Wie durchs Gebueseh Die Winde so frisch! Wie froli im hellen Sonnenstrahl Die lieben Voeglein allzumal! In February, 1870, the first printing house (Conrad Erbe chief typographer), a modest brick structure on the seminary grounds, was dedicated: Feeder schools and publication, great and essential factors for growth and life of the Church, consistently devised and developed by that eminent man, Dr. Walther, and his coworkers, whose memory we all honor ! In May, 1872, was celebrated the completion of the first quarter-century of our Synod by a solemn and joyous convo- 264 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE NORWEGIANS. cation at St. Louis. Other pens will write of that mile-stone in our history. Many things have changed. Half a century has since pased into eternity. We were then not merely in our corporate form and public appearances a German Lu- theran body. The fathers of most of us students of 1869 to 1872, I trust, clung no more faithfully than we and our own descendants — to Luther and Luther's consistent Scriptural faith as the core and kernel of our hope and being. Never was Missouri so great as when she was still small : small to the eye and by the standards of worldly impressive- ness, great in consecration, leadership, and the living trust in the imperishable foundations. The Missouri Synod and the Norwegians. Dr. S. C. Ylvisaker, St. Paul, Minn. The early records afford abundant proof of the sincere purpose of those who established the Norwegian Synod to let the Bible rule among them, not only in name, but in fact. They were, therefore, particularly careful when the time came to be identified in any way with other Lutheran bodies. Advances were made by the Ohio Synod as early as 1852, but the leaders cautioned against any hasty action in so im- portant a matter. It was first necessary to ascertain the doctrinal position of the Ohio Synod and make sure that the same spirit manifested itself in both bodies. "If it is im- portant for individuals who desire to enjoy church-fellowship with one another to have one faith and one confession, then the same must be the case in a still greater degree in the case of groups of individuals, of synods, since the opposing forces, if disagreement arises, are so much greater, and thus the damage they could inflict upon one another correspond- ingly more dangerous." (Maanedstidende, Oct., 1852.) As Synod grew and the number of pastors coming from Norway was not great enough to supply the need of workers, the problem of preparing men for the ministry became one of primary importance. In 1855 it was resolved to send two THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE NORWEGIANS. 265 pastors, Rev. I. A. Ottesen and Rev. N. Brandt, to visit the institutions which had already been established at St. Louis, Columbus, and Buffalo. This committee should report to the Norwegian Synod regarding the advisability of placing a Norwegian professor at one of these institutions. The committee reported in 1857, and on the basis of this report Synod resolved unanimously to establish a Norwegian pro- fessorship at the theological seminary at St. Louis, the expenses to be defrayed from a, fund to be collected for the eventual erection of a college within Synod itself. This temporary arrangement would bring a threefold advantage: 1) provide teachers for the Church in the near future; 2) help Synod to gain experience before starting its own school; 3) bring Synod into contact with a church -body which had been established on a truly Lutheran foundation, and thus help it to become strengthened in the knowledge of Christian doctrine and of matters pertaining to church government. Prof. Laur. Larsen, who accepted the call to this position, did not remain at St. Louis longer than till the summer of 1861. The Civil War had made it seem expedient for the Norwegian Synod to start its own college at Decorah, Iowa. But in this short time the fraternal bonds between Missouri and the Norwegian Synod had been cemented which held through many a severe strain in days to come. The unity of spirit made itself felt in various ways. In 1859 President A. C. Preus urged Synod to adopt officially all Symbolical Books of the Lutheran Church, both to make the doctrinal standpoint of Synod as clearly denned as possible, and to strengthen the bond of unity with the Missouri Synod. The members of Synod were encouraged, as early as 1859, to support the mission among the Indians conducted by the Missouri brethren. The Rev. F. A. Schmidt, at that time a pastor of the Missouri Synod at Baltimore, accepted a call to a professorship at Luther College in 1861, and remained with the Norwegian Synod until the 80's. Theological students of the Norwegian Synod continued to receive their theological training at the seminaries of the Missouri Synod, 266 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE NORWEGIANS. and Professor Schmidt cared for their special needs at St. Louis from 1872 until 1876, and Professor Asperheim for the needs of those who attended the seminary at Springfield 1875 — 1876. The enrolment of Norwegian students at insti- tutions of the Missouri Synod grew to be quite considerable, so that by the time the Norwegian Synod finally established its own theological seminary, a total of 127 had been grad- uated as candidates of theology. Each new class of graduates brought with it from St. Louis the spirit of Walther and the sound Lutheranism of his teaching; personal friendships, too, were formed at school which united the pastors of both bodies ever more closely. Official greetings were exchanged at frequent intervals. Thus a feeling of sincere mutual regard sprang up, all the more genuine because based on real unity in faith. This sentiment was voiced repeatedly, in especially tender terms when Professors Walther, Craemer, and Sihler in 1864 appeared at the synodical convention of the Norwegian Synod as official delegates of the Missouri Synod. At the same convention, President H. A. Preus, after reviewing con- ditions in the Lutheran Church, says concerning the Missouri Synod: "We acknowledge with gratitude toward God that one German Lutheran synod, the Missouri Synod, has not been satisfied only to bear the Lutheran name, but has un- hesitatingly brought forth the testimonies of the Lutheran fathers, without fear held aloft the banner of the Lutheran Church, the pure doctrine, zealously guarded it within the synod itself, and with boldness and courage, as well as with learning, defended it against external enemies. . . . And when we rejoice at the fraternal relations which exist between our small and youthful synod and this older and larger body, we are certain that they, by the gracious help of God, will remain, as they have been, of blessed consequence to us in our endeavor to know and hold fast the pure doctrine and to abide by the Word of God." It was only a natural step, a "fruit of the fraternal spirit" between the Norwegian Synod and the Missouri Synod, when the former joined the movement which resulted in the organi- THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE NORWEGIANS. 267 zation of the Synodical Conference in 1872. The resolution contains these words : "It must, of course, be our aim as an orthodox body to preserve and spread our Lutheran teaching, which aim we can advance in the surest and best way when we do not isolate ourselves, but try to cooperate with brethren in the faith of other nationalities, whereby we shall also be better prepared for the time when the transition to English shall take place among our people." Synod continued its active membership in the Conference until 1883. At this time the controversy concerning Election was raging, and the opinion of those prevailed who urged that it might be possible to avoid a split within the ranks of Synod itself by withdrawing from the Conference. It was argued that, since the language of the Conference was German, the suspicion and confusion of the laity were the more easily aroused because they were not able to follow the doctrinal discus- sions which were then at their height. The anti-Missourian element openly demanded withdrawal from the Conference on doctrinal grounds. For this reason it was emphatically stated by many in Synod that it became a matter of con- science and confession, to say nothing of loyalty and grati- tude, to remain in the Conference, come what might. How- ever, the resolution to withdraw carried, to the rejoicing of those many who had long pointed to the German synods as the source of all ills, and to the intense regret of those who thankfully realized what inestimable blessings the contact had brought. Dr. Walther viewed the action of the Nor- wegian Synod with real sorrow. What the outcome would have been if the Norwegian Synod had not severed its connections with the Synodical Conference, is difficult to surmise. The split was not averted by this step. At best, probably, it was postponed, the actual division taking place in 1887. The anti-Missourian element at first formed a Brotherhood, and in 1890 united with other bodies to form the United Norwegian Lutheran Church. The Norwegian Synod by the split lost about one-third of its former membership, but was blessed for many years with internal peace and doctrinal harmony. 268 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE NORWEGIANS. Fraternal relations could, therefore, very soon be resumed also with the Missouri Synod and the Synodical Conference. In 1895 two representatives of Synod appeared at the meet- ing of the Conference at Milwaukee, and the Conference delegated two of its members to bring fraternal greetings to the Norwegian Synod at its convention the following year. On this latter occasion the Eev. C. A. Frank said: "We love you and honor you for your battle and victory. You have professed a good profession before many witnesses. . . . We are in hearty unity of spirit with the orthodox Norwegian Synod and pray that God will continue to bless your labors, as they have been greatly blessed in the past." From this time on the Norwegian Synod sent representatives to the meetings of the Synodical Conference, and fraternal rela- tions were reestablished in every way, though Synod did not become an active member of the Conference. It continued to support the mission among the negroes and was for many years represented on the Negro Mission Board of the Con- ference. The sainted Eev. Bakke, a graduate of Luther Col- lege, Decorah, and his work among the negroes may well be called a monument to the fraternal relations which existed during these many years between Synod and the Synodical Conference. An official publication of Synod vin the year 1903 contains these words: "Our Synod is in hearty unity of spirit with this federation of German and English ortho- dox synods, and we pray that God will continue to bless the work of the Synodical Conference." These fraternal relations were maintained chiefly with the Missouri Synod, as was natural, both because it was the largest body and because of the earlier close contact. Its periodicals enjoyed wide-spread circulation among the Nor- wegians, and the church-papers of Synod, although in the Norwegian language, found many readers among the Ger- mans. Theological text-books were to a great extent the same in both bodies. Local cooperation among pastors and con- gregations in conferences, union services, etc., became more and more common. There was cooperation also in schools and academies (e. g., Wittenberg, Wis.; Clifton, Tex.; Lu- THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE NORWEGIANS. 269 theran Ladies' Seminary, Red Wing, Minn.), in missions (e. g., Immigrant Mission, New York; Indian Mission; Jewish Mission), hospital work, etc. There was frequent interchange of official greetings, and the joys and sorrows of the one body were shared heartily by the other. Such occa- sions as the funeral of Dr. Walther and the Walther Cen- tennial in the Missouri Synod, and the 50th anniversary of Synod (1903) and of Luther College (1911) in the Norwegian Synod, met with the response which is fitting among brethren. The honorary degrees conferred upon Professors Pieper, Graebner (1903), and Stoeckhardt (1904) by the theological seminary of the Norwegian Synod, and upon Professor Larsen, Rev. Koren, Professor Stub (1903), and Professor Ylvisaker (1904) by the seminary at St. Louis, were tokens of the regard each body felt for the other. The attacks and criticism leveled against the Norwegian Synod during this time offer striking proof of the unity of spirit with the Missouri brethren, for they were to a great extent the same as those directed against the Missouri Synod by its opponents: if was too exclusive, too intolerant, too orthodox, too formalistic; it made an idol of the name "Luther." Among bodies with which it was not in full doc- trinal agreement, it was generally respected, but not loved, for all forms of unionism were an abomination. It had the audacity even to see and call attention to faults within the mother-church, the Church of Norway, and the resultant prejudice among immigrants was a difficult thing to over- come. Naturally, Dr. Walther and the Missouri Synod were given a good share of the blame from the very first. In 1859 President H. A. Preus writes: "The intolerance and ex- clusiveness of these men [of the Missouri Synod] is con- demned, but truth must be exclusive over against lies and error . . . ; for what fellowship is there between these, between Christ and Belial? We must rejoice when we are condemned as hard-hearted, intolerant, and unchristian, because we, like the Missourians, will not let any one take away from us the most precious thing God in His grace has 270 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE NORWEGIANS. bestowed upon us here below, His Word of Truth, and do not either desire the fellowship of those who would feed us stones instead of bread. Assuredly, this, too, is a blessing for which we cannot be too thankful toward God, that He has permitted us to come into such close contact with a body which respects God's Word above all else, and which would gladly surrender all else in order to keep it pure and unadulterated, as God Himself has committed it to us." The men of the Norwegian Synod have also from the earliest days been accused of a blind acceptance of every- thing of a theological nature that hailed from St. Louis. Personal acquaintance with the leaders of Synod, their independence of thought as well as wide theological knowl- edge and logical acumen as evinced in articles, treatises, and debates, will prove the utter injustice of the charge. Rev. Ottesen writes as early as February, 1863, as follows: "Since Walther and the Missourians have been referred to, I shall by . . . impotent scorn and ridicule by no means allow myself to be cowed from openly confessing, with thanks to God and these orthodox teachers, that I have received much 'sound' instruction and counsel from them, not regard- ing some new school of thought, but concerning the old truth, that same truth which I had learned from my earliest instruc- tors in the Word of God ; and when I bless and honor these, and all those dear teachers who since that time have helped me to remember and keep the same, not as 'ideas and views' which tolerate all sorts of contrary 'opinions,' but as a sure and clear truth which considers all else a lie and error, then I also bless and honor these experienced teachers of the Missouri Synod who in the hands of God became instruments to establish me in the same here in a foreign land. And it would be not only ingratitude on my part toward God and them, but also cowardice and unfaithfulness toward that truth which God in His grace thereby confirmed in me, if I out of fear of . . . derision should conceal this. However, neither I nor any of us worship Walther as a god or submit as slaves to his authority. We never mention only the name of Walther or what stand he takes in a matter, . . . but we THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE NORWEGIANS. 271 quote Walther's reasons and proofs from the "Word of God, which then, naturally, speak for themselves, and would have the same weight though a child had said something equally good. . . . Because Walther teaches pure doctrine and proves it from Scripture and does not only come with his Views,' . . . therefore we love him and are glad to receive instruction from him, while we honor and respect his faithfulness and zeal in the service of the truth." That the attitude of the Norwegian Synod was unchanged forty years later, is clear from the following quotation (H. Halvorson in Synodens Festskrift, 1903) : "It may cer- tainly with justice be called an extraordinarily bountiful, magnanimous help which the Missouri Synod has accorded our church-body during the period of about twenty-five years that our students have enjoyed the instruction at its excellent schools. Dr. Walther's Luther-lectures and his both stirring and inspiring presentation of pastoral theology will never be forgotten by the many who had him as their teacher. Our Norwegian students there received a spiritual capital which, in the case of so many of them, has brought the greatest returns for themselves and the congregations to which they were sent, and for Synod and the Church as a whole. They learned to grasp the distinction between Law and Gospel as they had not learned it hitherto ; they learned to understand what true Christianity and true Lutheranism is, and not only to understand it, but — and this was of infinitely greater value — they were brought into a personal and close relation to the Lord Jesus, and they learned obedience toward His Word both as to what they should believe and what they should do. Just as Dr. Martin Luther would know nothing unto salvation save God's Christ alone, and just as he would accept no other doctrine save that alone which was firmly grounded in the Holy Scriptures, . . . thus it was in the case of Dr. Walther also, and thus it became in the case of so many of those who were privileged to sit daily at his feet and hear him speak. They learned to prize more highly the two principles of the Reformation, the two pillars upon which the true Church of God at all times is founded, and they 272 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE NORWEGIANS. learned to apply and put into effect these fundamental prin- ciples both in the active work in the congregations and in their own personal life and their relations to the Lord they served. What a blessing this has brought to our congrega- tions and our whole Synod, even the whole Norwegian Lu- theran Church in this country, we can realize only in part. . . . But this is certain, that Dr. Walther, by his thoroughly Christian character, by his great humility, by his personality patterned after the image of Christ, by his rich and produc- tive mind, by his intimate acquaintance with the works of Luther, by his clearness and firmness in confession, by his thoroughly Christian and truly churchly and Lutheran view- point, has, both in and through his excellent writings and in and through his many faithful disciples, planted a seed among us Norwegian Lutherans which to this day has borne blessed fruit for the knowledge of the truth, God's revealed truth, for its propagation, its preservation, and establishment in the present generation, and will bear blessed fruit in future generations. His memory will live and shine on the firmament of the Church of God with a luster probably still more glorious in future days, and he will remain a teacher for all time to come. . . ." The year 1911 saw the centennial celebration of the birth of Walther in the Missouri Synod and the semicentennial of the founding of Luther College among the Norwegians, the one celebrated in the spring, the other in the fall. The same year marks the turning-point in the course of the Norwegian Synod in its relations to the Missouri Synod. Dr. Koren had passed away in 1910, and Dr. Stub became president. For some years, committees appointed by the three Nor- wegian Lutheran church-bodies, the Norwegian Synod, the United Norwegian Lutheran Church, and the Hauge Synod, had been conferring on doctrinal matters with a view to removing controverted issues. Theses on the doctrine of Absolution (1906), of Lay Preaching (1906), of the Call (1907), of Conversion (1908), had been agreed upon, but no such favorable report could be made with regard to the doc- trine of Election. Here the committees had plainly disagreed. THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE NORWEGIANS. 273 Sentiment in favor of union had, however, by this time so taken hold of a large percentage also of the Norwegian Synod's constituency that it was a comparatively easy matter to persuade the Synod at its convention in 1911 to follow the example of the United Norwegian Lutheran Church; consequently, a new committee was elected which should try again. The result was the document known as Opgjoer, adopted by the conferring committees February 22, 1912, and by the various church-bodies concerned in the course of the summer of the same year. Within the Norwegian Synod the opinions were by no means unanimous in their endorsement of the results achieved. A minority, which soon assumed considerable pro- portions, protested vigorously against union on a basis which left disputed points unsettled. The main weakness of the document was paragraph 1, which contained an unreserved acceptance of both forms of doctrine, so-called. Voices in the Synodical Conference were raised also, considering earlier sets of theses unsatisfactory, but directed especially against the Opgjoer as a compromise and consequently a denial of the truth for which the Norwegian Synod had fought all these years side by side with the brethren of the Conference. Officially the whole matter was discussed at several ses- sions of the convention of the Conference at Saginaw, Mich., August, 1912, and a communication was sent the Norwegian Synod asking that, for the sake of the confession, specific changes and additions be made in the Opgjoer, also that the theses concerning the Call, Conversion, and Election might be discussed with the Conference in a brotherly way. A com- mittee was elected and instructed to convey this letter in person to the Norwegian Synod at its next convention. The criticism of individual members of the Conference and of the Conference as such did not meet with the friendly reception it merited. It was bitterly resented by many, who saw their hopes of union among the Norwegians endangered. As spokesman of this faction, the so-called Majority, Dr. Stub maintained that Opgjoer, and the various sets of theses that had preceded it, were nothing but a reiteration of the old EBENEZER. 18 274 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE NORWEGIANS. doctrinal position of the Synod as well as of Walther, and that those who had dared to criticize and find fault repre- sented a new and dangerous departure. It was the cry of New Missouri which Dr. Schmidt had raised in the 80's that was reechoed in the writings and speeches of Dr. Stub from this time on. His words at the Walther centennial as early as 1911 contained both a threat and a warning: "We do not want to go beyond Walther (Wir wollen nicht ueber Walther hinaus)." The sentiment was fanned which blamed the Mis- sourians as trouble-makers, and by repeated delays and post- ponements it was effected that the committee of the Con- ference remained unheard. When it appeared on the scene of the union meeting at St. Paul in a final attempt to per- form its mission, it was told in no uncertain terms that its presence was not desired. In the interest of establishing new fraternal relations, the old were set aside — it would be time after the union to confer with the brethren of the Synodical Conference. However, when this time came, the Church desired and needed "peace and rest," and the church council of the newly organized body asked (February 22, 1918) "the dear brethren of the Synodical Conference to postpone these negotiations indefinitely." When this report was made to the Conference in 1920, and when the real significance of the strange succession of events became clear, only one course was left open, that, namely, which was con- tained in the following resolution adopted unanimously : "To our great sorrow we are compelled to state that the 'Synod for the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church of America,' by holding fast to the Opgjoer and its union with the other two Norwegian synods in 'The Norwegian Lutheran Church of America,' has severed its bond of faith and church- fellowship with the Synodical Conference." The minority continued its determined opposition to a union on the basis of Opgjoer, their attitude being vir- tually identical with that of the Synodical Conference. It appeared as late as 1916 that a break was inevitable, when, through the efforts of Professors J. N. Kildahl and L. W. Boe of the United Church, and Professor C. K. Preus and Rev. THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE NORWEGIANS. 275 I. B. Torrison of the minority, a document was drawn up at Austin, Minn., the so-called Austin Agreement. This docu- ment eliminated the objectionable first paragraph of the original Opgjoer and made two other modifications. The union committee and the synods forming the amalgamation declared that there was nothing in the doctrinal position of those who preferred this revised Opgjoer which was contrary to the Word of God and the Confessions of the Church, "wherefore the group of men and congregations whose stand- point is defined in the document referred to are invited to join the union on an equal basis and with mutual fraternal recognition." This note was, however, attached: It is self- evident that the resolution quoted above must not be inter- preted in such a manner that Opgjoer as the basis of union between the three contracting bodies thereby is abbreviated or changed." This note greatly increased the unclearness of the Agreement itself; still, the greater part of the minority felt that so much had now been gained and its doctrinal posi- tion so clearly maintained that the necessity of separation was obviated, and it became an integral part of the new body at the union meeting in 1917. Doctrinally, this faction still claims to be Missourian and purposes to uphold the doctrines and principles of Missouri. It maintains that it has not subscribed to Opgjoer, and that it has by the Austin Agree- ment, been guaranteed the right to testify in the new body according to its convictions. By joining the Norwegian Lu- theran Church it has, however, shut itself off from fraternal recognition by, and fraternal association and cooperation with, Missouri and the Synodical Conference. It has, by becoming an integral part of the new organization, declared publicly that its real brethren, with whom it will fight the battles of the Lord, are those who have formed the Norwegian Lutheran Church. A small part of the former minority could not feel satis- fied that the Austin Agreement was a real settlement of the points at issue knowing it would be unionism to enter the new organization on a doctrinal basis which it considered both unclear and insufficient. But it seemed a hopeless 276 THE MISSOURI SYNOD AND THE NORWEGIANS. matter for these few to maintain a separate organization, for they were left without church-papers, without institutions of learning, with very few organized congregations. Some considered joining the Missouri Synod, either individually or by congregations, but it appeared that there still remained a mission among the Norwegians which could best be accom- plished by an organization which in doctrine and principle would be recognized as a continuation of the former Nor- wegian Synod. Thus the Norwegian Synod of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church came into existence in 1918. It numbers between thirty and forty pastors and about the same number of congregations, with many individuals and groups here and there which are in sympathy with the organi- zation and ready to support it by their contributions. An arrangement has been effected with the Missouri Synod whereby students of the Norwegian Synod may receive their education at institutions of the Missouri Synod, and two professors, formerly connected with Luther College at Decorah, are now members of the faculty of Concordia Col- lege, St. Paul. At the convention in 1920 it was formally resolved to cooperate with the Missouri Synod on the foreign mission field, and a representative of the Norwegian Synod was accepted as a member of the Foreign Mission Board of the Missouri Synod. One Norwegian is already a missionary in the China Mission of the Missouri Synod. Another is at the head of the Indian Mission at Gresham, Wis. The same convention of the Synodical Conference which declared that those of the Norwegian Synod who joined the Norwegian Lutheran Church had severed the bond of faith and church-fellowship with the Synodical Conference, unani- mously resolved to accept the present Norwegian Synod as a member of the Conference. A representative of the Nor- wegian Synod was made a member of the Negro Mission Board. Thus the old relations to both the Missouri Synod and the whole Synodical Conference have been reestablished. In one sense it may be said that fraternal relations have, since the earliest times, continued unbroken between the Mis- PREACHING IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 277 souri Synod and the Norwegians, that branch, namely, which remained loyal to the doctrine and principles of the old Nor- wegian Synod. And now, as the division of the Lutherans of America into the two camps, Synodical Conference Lu- therans and National Lutheran Council Lutherans, more and more is becoming a reality, may ever more of the Norwegians flock to the old standards, the standards of the Synodical Conference, of Walther and the Missouri Synod, of the Lu- theran Confessions, of the pure Word of God! Preaching in the Missouri Synod. Prof. G. Mezger, St. Louis, Mo. Three quarters of a century ago a slender and delicate sapling was planted in our land. It was planted by pious, God-fearing men who had left their countries and homes, their relatives and friends, and had come to this Western Hemisphere to serve God, unhindered and unmolested, ac- cording to the dictates of their conscience; to bring the salvation that is in Christ Jesus to the heathen population of this country, to the poor Indians; to gather into congre- gations, by the preaching of the Gospel, their churchless countrymen who were scattered in the dense forests or over the endless prairies as sheep having no shepherd. Slender, indeed, was the tree that was planted by our fathers in the then small and insignificant city of Chicago, our dear Evan- gelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States. The great masses of the people did not hear of this event, neither would they have cared, if any one would have called their attention to it. A very few only took notice of this planting, and these few, for the most part, did not look with special favor upon the delicate plant. Even those who called themselves Lutherans in those days did not appreciate it. The tree, so it was said, was of foreign growth, not suited to our soil and climate, to the free institutions of our Re- public. A precarious existence, a short life, was predicted for our Synod. 278 PREACHING IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. God willed it otherwise. The tender tree that was planted in His name and committed to His gracious care with fervent prayers took root and began to grow. It proved itself well adapted to the new soil, to this land of religious liberty. It kept on growing and growing. The sapling has become a stately tree, spreading its branches over our country from ocean to ocean, from the Gulf to its northern boundaries and even beyond, into Canada. Yea, the tree spreads its cooling shade into distant parts of the world beyond the mighty seas. It has again come true what our Lord says in His parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. Which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." Matt. 13, 31. 32. How did this happen? There is but one answer to this question: "This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes." Ps. 118, 23. The Lord, in the abundance of His grace, has granted rain and sunshine in due season that the tender plant grew up and flourished like the palm-tree planted by the rivers of living waters bringing forth its fruit. Many a storm indeed has passed over this tree, again and again the Prince of Darkness with his allies has tried to uproot and destroy it. It was all in vain. Under the gracious guidance of our Lord all these tempests, severe though they sometimes were, only served to strengthen it, giving the tree a firmer and surer foothold. God has blessed our Synod, so that it has become by His grace a blessing to thousands upon thousands. Not unto us, O Lord, but to Thy name we give glory and praise for Thy mercy and Thy truth ! It is the Lord's doing, but our Lord does His wondrous works here on earth generally through certain visible means ; He works especially in His Church and for His Church through His Word, His Gospel. Many and various are the agencies God has employed to bless our Synod by His Word. We could point to our parochial schools, to the zealous and careful ministrations of our pastors to the spiritual wants of their members, the care for their souls, the faithful and PREACHING IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 279 prayerful attention our ministers have given to the growing generation of the Church after confirmation, and many others. One of the most important factors, yea, we must say, the greatest factor, in the growth of our Synod, under God's gracious guidance has been, and still is, the preaching of His Word and Gospel, public preaching in public worship. Public preaching, the Word of God spoken by men of God whom He Himself has chosen and called through His congre- gation for this task, has been at all times the mightiest means of spreading His kingdom, of building His Church, both ex- ternally and internally. That is an established fact, proved again and again throughout the history of the Christian Church. "History bears unanimous testimony on this point. When the Evangel [preaching of the Gospel] ceased or fell into contempt, the Church grew weak and corrupt. When the Evangel asserted its ancient authority, the Church arose and put on her 'beautiful garments.' No power in human experience has wrought such mighty works as the spoken word." (John Watson, The Cure of Souls, p. 3.) From its beginning our Synod has emphasized this truth. Synod in- structs its "visitors" in the first place, on their visits to the congregations, to hear the minister preach and to note if he teaches the way of salvation pure and unadulterated in plain and simple words, so that everybody can understand him. In the Proceedings of the first convention of the English District of our Synod we find these words: "The most important method of ministering the Word of God is public preaching, words spoken to the assembly. No means of spreading the good tidings of salvation in Christ can super- sede this. An angel from heaven stood and said to Cornelius : 'Send men to Joppa and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter, who shall tell thee words whereby thou and thy house shall be saved.' There is no better way whereby people may be held to the Church than by good preaching." Our Lutheran Church has always taken pains to make her divine services in every respect as beautiful and reverent as possible. She has a beautiful liturgy, beautiful and truly inspiring hymns of confession, prayer, and praise; but the central 280 PREACHING IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. part, the most precious jewel in her public worship, has always been, and to this day is, the sermon, the preaching of the Word of God. No public worship without at least a short sermon, a short explanation and application of the Word of our Lord — such has been the rule among us. In our theological seminaries this duty is impressed upon the minds of the students as their first and foremost task publicly, in the assembly of the congregation, to preach the Word of God, the precious Gospel of Christ. Dr. Walther remarks in his American Pastoral Theology, p. 77: "There can be no greater faithlessness a pastor may be guilty of in his work, there is no surer way in his high and holy office to earn for himself God's wrath and damnation, than if he does not with all diligence, by meditation, study, and prayer, try to give to his congregation in his sermons the very best he can give according to his abilities." Preaching is the most important factor in building our Synod, our Church, the kingdom of our God. What is true preaching? What are the main requisites of a good and efficient sermon? Without a doubt, the first requisite of a good sermon is that it contain nothing but the Word of God, pure and unadulterated. Preaching, in the true sense of the word, does not mean delivering discourses on various religious subjects, proclaiming our human wisdom, or rather foolishness, about religious questions and problems. Chris- tian preachers are ambassadors sent by God, ambassadors for Christ, sent to deliver to a dying race God's saving message, that God Himself was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, in Christ's stead to pray lost sinners : "Be ye reconciled to God !" 2 Cor. 5, 19. 20. "Preach the Word" is Paul's charge to his disciple Timothy. 2 Tim. 4, 2. That is our task as Christians, the task of all Christian ministers, as God's messengers, to preach the Word, to proclaim their Lord and Master's holy Word and will. "He that has My Word," says the Lord of Hosts, "let him preach My Word faithfully." It is true, God does not reveal His Word to His servants personally; He does not give to them new revelations every time they stand before PREACHING IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 281 their congregations. He has given us His Word in writing, by inspiration of the Holy Ghost, in the Scriptures. In the Bible, and there alone, we find the Word and will of our God. True preaching is to explain the Bible, to unfold from its sacred pages the divine thoughts, the divine truths con- tained therein, that hidden wisdom of God "that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." 1 Cor. 2, 9. This Word, these truths, are the means through which God's Spirit works upon and in the hearts of men, regenerates those that are dead in trespasses and sins to new, spiritual, and eternal life. The Word of God, revealed to us for our salvation, must not only be proclaimed, it should also be applied in the sermon to the various needs of our times and our hearers. That is the second requisite of true, effective preaching. God not only has given us His written Word, always true and reliable, a power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, sufficient for all times and places, for all the varying conditions of mankind, but in His wisdom and love to us He has also instituted in His Church a personal ministry; that is, our ascended Lord from on high has bestowed upon His Church as His precious gifts apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Eph. 4, 11. These men, whom He Himself makes sufficient to be able ministers of the new testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit, He bestows on His Church that they may apply His Word to the various needs of the ever-changing times, to the various wants of various men in various localities, under various conditions and circumstances. The sermon must be timely, applying the old, never-changing Gospel-truth to the ever-changing needs and wants and conditions of men for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, and for consolation. The search-light of Scripture, of the in- fallible Word of Christ, must in the sermon be thrown upon the sins and transgressions, upon all the unfruitful works of darkness of the present generation, that it may stand re- proved. The Christians should be shown where and how 282 PREACHING IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. they can find consolation and new strength in their every-day afflictions and sorrows, new courage in their trials and temp- tations, how under present conditions they may walk up- rightly and shine as lights in the world, that men will see their good works and praise God. The Word of God, pro- claimed and explained, "not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power," 1 Cor. 2, 4, explained to men of our present generation that they may apply it to their needs and wants, — that is true and effective preaching. Such, by the grace of God, has been the preaching in our dear Synod from its very beginning. God had led the fathers of our Synod, Walther, Wyneken, Sihler, Craemer, and many others, though they were brought up in rationalistic and un- believing surroundings, to the knowledge of His Word. Through His Word He revealed in them His Son, the Savior. Through many and oftentimes severe trials they came to the knowledge of Christ and of His saving Gospel, to the knowl- edge of the pure doctrine, which God had restored to His Church through the services of Dr. Martin Luther. Our fathers became truly and outspokenly Lutheran. And what they had seen and heard, what they had experienced in them- selves, the truth of the Gospel, they preached to their con- gregations, they taught in their schools, they delivered to their disciples and students, making them by the grace of God sufficient to teach others. Year after year the unadul- terated Word of God (with devout thanks to our faithful Lord we may confess it) has been proclaimed from our pulpits by our ministers. Not human wisdom has been preached, but God's wisdom, God's redeeming truth. Our ministers have declared in their sermons all the counsel of God for our salvation, both as to the Law and the Gospel. The Law and the Gospel, rightly divided, have been preached. The Law, the letter that killeth, has been preached in order that sinners might be convinced of their sins and of the wrath of God, that they might see the utter helplessness of their own resources. And poor sinners who in the anguish of their souls cried out : Woe unto me ! I am PREACHING IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 283 lost ! What must I do to be saved ? have been consoled with the glorious Gospel: "Arise, shine; for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee," "for God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have ever- lasting life." Believe in Him, your only Savior, who "was delivered for our offenses and M'as raised again for our justification," and you will be saved. Seventy-five years have passed, and we again say it with devout thanks to God whose work it is, still we have His Word pure and clear, these streams of living waters are still flowing among us. Manifold and various are the gifts and talents God has bestowed on our preachers, their sermons differ in many ways in their outward form and make-up, they use different tongues and languages, but in one respect the sermons that are heard in our Synod are the same everywhere. All our ministers preach the Word, the Word that can save, and really does save, poor, lost sinners. What an inestimable blessing of our Lord! Indeed, the Lord has done great things for us. Let us look back to the time when the foundations of our Synod were laid in Chicago, seventy-five years ago. What were the con- ditions of so-called Protestant Christianity in those days? It is true, the Lutheran Church in that period had to a great extent forgotten Lutheran principles and Lutheran doctrines, and in a unionistic spirit associated freely with the sects, the various bodies of the Reformed Church. In those churches and religious communities many a false doctrine, invented by human wisdom, was palmed off as God's Word. Never- theless, the fundamentals of our Christian faith were pro- mulgated from most of the pulpits in our country. The central truth, that salvation is by Christ alone, by His vicarious suffering and death, by His vicarious atonement on the cross, through faith in Him, was preached in many churches, was heard by the people and believed in. One could hear and learn how to be saved. How is it to-day? The preaching of the Word has become rare in our country, in the churches calling themselves churches of Christ. When we take up our daily newspapers to read the subjects of 284 PREACHING IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. sermons for the following Sunday, what do we often find? Sermons, or rather essays and speeches, on political and eco- nomic questions, on the expediency of having this or that law or statute passed by Congress, or the legislature, or the municipal assembly, sermons on political, social, or moral reforms by the state, on the expediency of strikes and boy- cotts, on the relationship of capital and labor, etc. How to make the world safe for democracy and humanity; how to make mankind good and happy for this life on earth; how to establish the promised kingdom of God in this world through our own efforts and works, through the application of the Golden Rule; how to bring the name of Christ into our Constitution, — these are some of the subjects mostly treated in the sermons of to-day. To love God as the common Father of all men, to love our fellow-men as ourselves, the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of all men, is preached as the saving gospel to the world. Love God, love your neighbor as faithfully as you can, and you will be saved, you will make the world happy for this life and for the life to come, — these are the "good tidings" heralded from most of the pulpits in most of the denominations of Protestant Christianity. The fundamentals of our holy faith are neglected, they have been almost forgotten. If Christ is preached, — and His blessed name is, indeed, still heard in these churches, — He, never- theless, is not held up to the people as the Son of God, the Redeemer, come into this world to save sinners, who gave Himself a ransom for all, who through His holy, sinful, perfect life has fulfilled in our stead God's holy Law and thus has reconciled God with us. Christ is preached as the holy, virtuous, perfect man, as the great prophet of God and leader among men, who through His ministry, through His life and His death as a martyr, has revealed to us the true God as our loving Father, has shown us the way to Him and His heavenly dwellings, and by His example encourages us to follow His footsteps, to conquer sin, to lead a holy life, to love God and our neighbor, and in this way to work out our salvation. Christ our model, the most perfect man, to imitate whom brings happiness and bliss here and hereafter, — that PREACHING IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 2^"j is the sum and substance of the sermon. The old Gospel, salvation by grace alone through Christ, the Son of God, whose blood cleanses us from all sins, is not only often put into the background or entirely forgotten, but is often de- spised, yea, even, vilified as "blood theology," unworthy of being believed by the modern educated and refined man of the twentieth century. And the result of such preaching is death, eternal death. In the Lutheran Church, and especially in our Synod, God in His infinite goodness and grace has preserved His Word in all its purity. In our churches not the philosophies of men, not political or economic wisdom, not questions of social reforms concerning the external welfare of our race are discussed, but the Word is proclaimed, the Law of God, not to make man holy and just in God's sight, but to convince him how utterly sinful and lost he is in himself, and above all, the Gospel of Christ, and Him crucified for our trans- gressions,— that joyful message for every poor sinner, that man is freely justified, without the deeds of the Law, by God's grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord, by faith alone in Him, who is our justification and our peace with God, our Creator. We still hear from our pulpits the true and only Gospel of Christ, "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." And such preaching bears fruit, brings results. Through this preach- ing, as through His powerful and efficient means of grace, God the Holy Ghost saves sinners, calling and illumining them with His precious gifts, sanctifying and preserving them in the true faith unto the end. In the preaching of the Gospel the Lord Himself is with us, His little flock, alway, even unto the end of the world. Through the admoni- tions and promises of His Word the Lord daily renews our strength in our trials and temptations, cheers and comforts us in all our afflictions and troubles ; by this power He keeps us through faith unto salvation. This Word being preached to us, we may confidently say with the Psalmist: "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will feav 286 PREACHING IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." All this God has done "purely out of fatherly divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me." If God had acted with us according to our worthiness, accord- ing to what we have merited, He would long ago have taken His Word away from us. How often have we proved our- selves unworthy of the great gift of our Lord, ungrateful for this inestimable blessing! Not always has this Word been our greatest treasure, more to be desired than gold and much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Do we hear the Word of our God as we should hear it? Do we always hear it gladly? Are not some, perhaps many, becoming tired of this bread of life, disgusted with this heavenly manna? How often did we fail and do we fail to shape our whole life according to this Word which ought always to be the lamp unto our feet and the light unto our path! Nevertheless, God has not taken away from us the Word of Truth. For this His mercy and forbearance it is certainly our duty to thank and praise, to serve and obey Him. And how can we show our gratitude to our God for His loving-kindness? Not otherwise than by keeping His Word and preaching holy, and gladly hearing and learning it, by believing and keeping it in an honest and good heart and bringing fruit with patience. "Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown !" Rev. 3, 11. Our public preaching has been performed in the past mostly in the German language. It could not be, nor should it have been, otherwise. The fathers of our Synod came from Germany, in the first years of their labors here they were not able to preach in any other tongue than the German. When they came over, they found many of their countrymen, scattered in this wide land, hungering after the bread of life, who could understand only a German sermon. In the last third of the preceding century the immigration from that country reached its highest point. Tens and hundreds of thousands of German people came over to find a new home, to help to develop the vast resources of our beloved country. ^REACHING IN TIIK MrSSOCRl SY.VOI). 28? God had called our Synod, in the first place, to minister to these masses of our countrymen, members of our Church, to bring- to them the Evangel of Christ. Home mission work in the German language was the first and foremost duty of our Synod. Even to-day, after three-fourths of a century, this language is indispensable in our church-work. More than half, about 60 per cent., of our sermons are preached in the language of our fathers. But, on the other hand, we have never closed our eyes to our duty to preach Christ to every creature, in every tongue we are capable of using. We preach the Gospel to a number of nationalities in foreign tongues. From its beginning our Synod has especially been mindful of its duty to reach with the Gospel those of our fellow- citizens who can understand only the language of our land. We have been aware of this fact, and have been living up to it, that we must more and more use in our churches the English language, since English is more and more becoming the language of our homes, the mother-tongue of our children. Preaching in the English language wTill steadily grow in im- portance among us; more and more we must preach our fathers' faith in our children's language, in the language of our homes. But whether we use English or German, or any other tongue it must be the aim and purpose of all our sermons to preach God's Word and Luther's doctrine pure. God has given to our Synod quite a number of prominent and brilliant preachers, preachers distinguished for their clear and masterful demonstration and statement of the divine doctrines, for their forceful language, and their masterly oratory in general, an oratory, sacred in the true sense of the word, suited in every respect for the proclama- tion and explanation of the sublime truths of God. The best known of these, without a doubt was the sainted Dr. C. F. W. Walther, the founder and father of our Synod. God had given to Walther a special gift for preaching. His sermons not only contain the pure Word of God, not only is their constant aim to glorify Christ in the hearts of the hearers, but they also present the divine truths in a wonderfully clear and lucid manner, in beautiful, elevating language. Walther 288 PREACHING IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. truly was an orator who used all his oratorical faculties in the service of his Lord. And all his sermons are pervaded by the warmth and power of the innermost conviction of his heart that in preaching he is about his heavenly Father's business, that he is speaking the truth, God's truth, to an otherwise lost, dying generation. Walther has been the model preacher for many of our ministers. From him and his sermons many have learned to present the Gospel to the people lucidly and powerfully. He has been a model to many, not only as to the contents of his sermons, but also as to their style and form. During Walther's lifetime a few volumes of his sermons made their appearance on the book market, particularly his Amerikanisch-Lutherische Evangelien-Pos- tille" sermons on the Gospel pericopes of our church-year. After his death several more volumes were published from his sermon-manuscripts. These sermons are still read with delight and edification by many of our lay-members, and are studied with profit by many of our ministers, to the benefit of their hearers. Besides Walther we mention only the names of some of our prominent preachers who by their publications have enriched our homiletic literature : Dr. W. Sihler, Pas- tor F. Lochner, Dr. C. C. Schmidt of St. Louis, Pastor F. Kuegele, H. Sieck, and others. In the interest of public preaching, particularly, to aid our younger ministers in this important work, our Synod publishes a monthly periodical: Magazin fuer Ev.-Luth. Homiletik und Pastoraltheologie (Magazine for Ev. Luth. Homiletics and Pastoral Theology). It is now running in its forty-sixth year. Being formerly published in German only, with now and then a contribution in the English language, it has since 1903 become a bilingual monthly. Take not away, O Lord, in Thy mercy, out of our mouths the Word of Thy truth, the Gospel of Christ and Him cruci- fied. Grant us that in future as in the past our preaching of the Gospel may be not with enticing words of man's wis- dom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that our faith may not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 1 Cor. 2, 4. 5. PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF THE MISSOURI SY.NOI). 289 Publication Activity of the Missouri Synod. Mr. E. Seuel, St. Louis, Mo. Concordia Publishing" House. At present, January, 1922, the official publication house of the Missouri Synod occupies a group of buildings in St. Louis, situated on South Jefferson Ave., Miami St., and Indiana Ave. The office is in the corner building on Jefferson and Miami. It is a three-story-and-basement structure front- ing 96 feet on the former with a depth along the latter of 123 feet. Really there are two buildings, the one on the corner being eighteen years older than the addition to the north. The building on the corner houses the main offices on the first and part of the second floor, while the basement, the greater part of the second, and the third floor — all but a sanctum for the editor of the Popular Commentary of the Bible — are used for storing raw stock and finished mer- chandise. In the basement of the northward continuation of the office-building is the press-room, while the first floor is used entirely as salesroom and shipping-room, a portion of it on the alley side being arranged as a built-in garage, which affords the convenience and economy of loading and unload- ing directly from, and to, the shipping-room and elevator. The second and third floors serve as stock-rooms. Fronting on Miami St. (originally fronting on Indiana Ave.) is the oldest building in the present group, which, with the boiler-house towards the north on Indiana Ave. and an addition on Miami St., forms practically a unit 71 feet wide and 124 feet long and four stories high above the basement, except that the boiler- and engine-rooms are but one story high. The basement under these buildings furnishes additional stock-room, and is used in part for a packing-box factory and a small machine repair-shop, both, of course, for the exclusive use of the firm. The entire first and second floors are used by the bindery, the third by the composing-room and EBENEZER. 19 290 PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. The First Printing-House of Synod. Erected on the Seminary grounds, facing Texas Ave. Dedicated in February, 1870. Vt-j^:,.^ 'itwk •yp| %&. Bird's-Eye View of Concordia Publishing House. Engraving made before the addition in 1911 was built. PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 291 Second Printing-Establishment. Erected on cor. Indiana Ave. and Miami St. Ready for occupancy 1874. Annex built in 1888. New Building, together with 1911 Addition. Fronting Jefferson Ave. Old Building in Background. 292 PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. editorial department, and the attic for storage purposes. Distributed throughout the building there are seven rather large fire-proof vaults for the storage of valuable papers and plates. In addition a street-level store-room, fifty feet north of our office-building, has been pressed into service as temporary warehouse space, while the other buildings on the three addi- tional lots north of the Jefferson Ave. main buildings, which were recently acquired for a much-needed expansion of the plant, are rented out for residence purposes until building operations can be begun. Space is not available in this book to go into a detailed description of the equipment. Suffice it to say that, barring the quantitative inadequacy to meet the ever-growing de- mands, the equipment throughout is comparatively up to date and complete. All modern labor- and time-saving devices usually employed by progressive printers, binders, and mer- chants are in successful operation. Hundreds of visitors are shown through the plant annually by special guides, and the visit regularly ends, on the part of the visitor, with a gratified expression of surprise at the size, the completeness, and — this is quoted with special satisfaction — the cleanliness and orderliness of the plant. Professor Theo. Graebner in the Witness, No. 13, of June 22, 1920, prints an engagingly written description of the works and the workings of the works, to which the reader is respectfully referred. It is quite natural in this connection to be curious as to the value of this property. The answer will depend, and quite properly so, on the point of view of the questioner. The tax assessor's answer is not the same as that of the agent soliciting the insurance business, or the salesman selling the machinery. For general purposes a satisfactory answer can be derived from the fairly regular income which Synod receives from the concern, viz., $100,000 per annum. Investors consider an investment which yields on a con- servatively safe basis a net return of 10 per cent, a very satisfactory buy, and on that basis the worth of Concordia Publishing House may well be accepted as a round million PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OP THE MISSOURI SV.VOH. 293 dollars, even though the account books of the concern do not claim that much. The founding of this Publishing House really antedates the Missouri Synod. Before the call was issued that resulted in the organization of the Missouri Synod in 1847, the activity of a publication agency, then identical with Trinity Lutheran Church at St. Louis, had spread the printed news of the Saxon immigrants and the doctrines promulgated by their leaders from "Missouri" to "Ohio and Other States." Young Ferdinand Walther, called from Perry County, Mo., to succeed his brother, Otto Walther (f January 21, 1841), was editorially and managerially the soul of the enterprise, which, however, was so unassuming in the beginning that the participants themselves did riot realize that they were engaging in the publishing business. What Walther was writing, his parishioners felt, was a message that should reach a larger audience than the growing congregation on the edge of "Frenchtown" in old St. Louis, and this desire of theirs was supported by a steadily increasing circle of interested readers. Somehow the congregation raised the requisite funds, often from the parish treasury, more often from contributions cheerfully given by a few of the more prominent members who had promptly succeeded in achieving prosperity in spite of, or on account of, their German tongue and their German methods in a young Western city just outgrowing its French traditions. In 1849 it was recognized as a Yerlag, a publication society. In the earliest years the printing and binding was done by various job- or news- printers, for quite a while in a print-shop officially dedicated to Catholic work. The first printers of the Lutheraner were Weber and Olshausen (1846), and in the next year Arthur Olshausen, who was then the publisher of the Anzeiger des Westens, a German newspaper that survived until but a very few years ago. The firm of Wiebusch (at this very day operated by heirs and successors of the founder on almost the identical site on South Fourth Street) for several years printed the Lutheraner, originally published by Walther for Trinity Lutheran Church, the first number bearing the date 294 PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. of September 7, 1844. In 1854 Wiebusch himself advanced the sum of $1,000 towards the founding of a "synodical press," his idea being' that in five years the savings effected would repay this amount. It seems, however, that the ex- periment proved unsatisfactory, for Synod three years later returned the enterprise to Wiebusch under certain condi- tions. It is significant that in the same meeting (1857) Synod appointed a publication committee (E. W. Leonhardt, C. Roemer, and T. Schuricht). Trinity Church in 1847 published (printed in New York) a German hymn-book, practically the same that is now in use by the whole Missouri Synod, the publication rights having been deeded to Synod in 1863, even before Trinity Church and its daughter congregations had ceased to carry the financial responsibilities for the publishing business. The uncertainty of, and other disagreeable features con- nected with, contract printing prompted a few well-to-do members of Walther's congregation, principally the three just named, together with Louis Lange and E. F. W. Meier, to offer facilities for printing and binding which should be under the immediate control of the publishers. A sum of $3,000 was invested in a modest printing equipment, which was installed in a room connected with the seminary, of which Walther had now become professor. This was in 1868, or probably in 1867. The plan was submitted to, and ap- proved by, Synod in Fort Wayne, 1869, and subsequently Walther himself, then President of Synod, encouraged the purchase of shares in the stock company being formed by the men who had proposed the plan (Louis Lange, Henry Kalbfleisch, H. Steinmeyer, E. F. W. Meier, and "colporteur" F. Lange). The debenture certificates ($25 each) bore the date of January 1, 1870, and were redeemable without in- terest or dividends by January 1, 1875. At the time when Walther's announcement appeared (Lutheraner, October 15, 1869, p. 38), the Board of Directors was already operating a plant, and the building was being erected. It is therefore historically more correct to accept the date of the resolution under which this first Board of Directors was created (Sep- PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF Till u innmi 1:1 BYNOD. 295 tember 11, 1869) as the rea] date of the founding of Con- cordia Publishing House. From the beginning Louis Lange, the founder of the Abendschule, was intimately associated with the enterprise. In 1869 Synod agreed to let Mr. Lange print his own paper in Synod's plant free of cost in consideration of his exer- cising a supervisorship over the new institution. Lange, how- ever, declined to accept this compensation. (Synodalbericht, 1869 — Dr.Preuss.) According to an article by Prof. A. L. Graebner, D. D., in an Encyclopedia of the History of St. Louis, compiled by Hyde and Conard, and published in 1899 by the Southern History Company of New York, Louisville, and St. Louis, the first Board meeting was held on September 20, 1869. The Board, which had evidently anticipated Synod's action, proceeded with most remarkable promptness. On October 21, 1869, one month after the first Board meeting, and not quite six weeks after the creation of the Board, the corner-stone of the building was laid; on December 27 the composing- room was operating in the new building, and on February 6, 1870, after much delay, an "Adams" press (built by Hoe of Boston for $3,800) was running in the shop. The dedication of the first "Synodaldruckerei" (Synodical Press), as it was then called, the first official name Concordia- Verlag not being given till 1878 (synodical resolution), was a very elaborate affair. Services were held in Holy Cross Church (in the adjoining city block). There was special music by the brass band of Immanuel Church, reinforced by "trumpeters" from Carondelet; there was a special hymn composed for the occasion by G. Schaller, music by the Semi- nary Chorus (part of the print-shop was used to accommodate students from the seminary with lodging quarters), and there was a classic sermon by "Walther. The little building was decorated inside and out with foliage hewn from the near-by jungles of what is now one of the most thrifty residence sections of the city. A United States flag was proudly flying from the gable of the building, and the Lutheraner report (in the number of March 15, 1870) of the affair by Walther 296 PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. mentions particularly that crowds visited the plant in full operation, and that the Board furnished princely refresh- ments ("wahrliaft fuerstlich bewirtet") in the Seminary dining-room. In passing, it should be noted that the print- shop was built on the campus of the college. During the afternoon and evening bands and choirs gave concerts, and Dr. Preuss, one of the professors of the Semi- nary, delivered an oration on the business of publishing. Community singing stretched the celebration till what in those days must have been far into the night, for there were no trolley cars or electric street lights. It ended at 11 P. m. with "Nun ruhen alle Waelder," sung by the whole assembly. The new enterprise thrived visibly. The first job run on the firm's own press was a number of the Schulblatt, a periodical founded by Director J. C. W. Lindemann, the first director of Synod's first normal school. The same con- vention that founded the publishing concern (Fort Wayne, 1869) adopted the Schulblatt as an official publication of its own and placed the editorial management in the hands of the Addison faculty. That same convention also issued the original orders for the compilation and publication of certain books, for instance, the Dietrich Catechism and a German intermediate reader (Lesebuch fuer Mittelklassen). (Syno- dalbericht, 1869.) The present superintendent of the firm's printing depart- ment, Mr. Phil Euehl, entered the service of the plant while it was in the little building on Clara St. (now Texas Ave.), and he remembers well the personal influence of Walther not only as editor and author, but also as an evident factor in the business affairs of the young enterprise. He delights to tell how Walther, in partly solemn, partly humorous speech, received the young cub into service, impressing upon him the importance and the responsibility that would in course of time rest upon his shoulders. The punctiliously kept books of account of the foreman at that time are still in the archives of the office. A counter-check was kept on the expenses by a book in the handwriting of Mr. Louis Lange, PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 207 whose temporary guardianship over the infant industry was alluded to before. Business went so well that the shop outgrew its housing in a few years, and new quarters had to be provided. The Board of Directors acquired the corner lot on Indiana Ave. and Miami St., and a new building was erected thereon with a degree of ambition and enterprise that commands the admiration of the present generation. According to a report made to the St. Louis convention of the Synod in 1872, the publication and the sales business (the two enterprises were managed separately till 1872) had a gross turn -over of $111,958.60, and had made a profit of $56,274.60 in the two and two-third years ending April 1, 1872, an average of $21,102.98 per annum. By the way, the rate of profit at that time was over 50 per cent, on the sales, as compared with to-day's profit rate of less than 12 per cent, gross. It is interesting to observe that among the considerations that engaged the attention of that 1872 convention were claims for cancelation of "old" accounts of some of the firm's customers which were declined because the fathers wisely saw — though they did, in the end, make an exception with one customer — "that there might be no end to this sort of thing" if a precedent were set. There were also orders issued to buy better paper and do better binding. The principal resolution of this convention was to accept the plant officially (with a small debt), to unite the book agency and the manu- facturing plant under one management, to relieve the old board and elect a new board of seven, Synod's treasurer to be a member of the same. It was also understood that the DireMorium proceed to house the business in a building amply large to take care of the present and the future, part of the plan again being that some of the surplus room of the new edifice was to be used as living-room for the seminary students. The building on Indiana Ave. and Miami St. was com- pleted in 1874. The cost was $20,964.13, about one-half of which remained a debt for a few years. In the Lutheraner of June 15, 1874 (p. 91), report was made that the new build- 298 PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. ing, a brick structure of 40X94 feet and four stories high above the basement, was now in full operation. The transfer from the little building- on Clara St. to the imposing new factory was accomplished without any public demonstration. There is one employee with us to-day who "moved over" in 1872. He remembers that quite a little celebration took place, however, among the personnel. The Lutheraner in its report describes the equipment. We quote: "The installation in- cluded a twenty-four horse-power boiler in a special boiler- house 44X26 feet (torn down in 1909 to make room for a dynamo-room and a new two hundred horse-power boiler equipment) ; there were two job-presses and two cylinder- presses in the basement ; the store and office on the first floor, the bindery on the second, the composing-room and stereo- type foundry on the third, while the fourth floor was reserved for stocking and "drying the paper." The building was heated by steam and equipped with an elevator. All space was so completely required for the needs of the publishing firm that the fond hopes of some of the promoters were dis- appointed — "no students could be housed in the building." Mr. M. C. Barthel, who had for several years before been the more or less officially recognized "book agent" of Synod, was in 1874 given charge of both the manufacturing and the selling end of the firm, the superintendency of the printing and the binding department being then made answerable to the Board through the "general agent," which was the official title given Mr. Barthel. It is interesting and significant that Synod in the 1874 meeting again devoted much of its time to such details as the quality of materials and workmanship of the product, insisting on the best; it also insisted on "market prices," by which, as other remarks show, it meant that Concordia prices should meet, and not exceed, the prices of competing books. At the same time the wish was emphatically expressed that book-dealers should be allowed a liberal (25 to 33 y3 per cent.) discount on Concordia's line, in order to stimulate a wider distribution of its productions. In spite of all this, however, increasing revenue was manifestly expected from the firm, PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 299 though it was never the expressed design that Synod's publi- cation business should be operated for the sole or principal purpose of profit. From 1878 to 1881 Synod tried the plan of having two non-resident directors on the Board, enlarging the member- ship to nine. The workings of the new arrangement do not seem to have been satisfactory. In 1878 Mr. Louis Lange definitely withdrew from the superintendency of the plant, after having served almost continuously for ten years in at least an advisory capacity. Mr. Conrad Erbe, who had served as foreman under Lange for a while, but who resigned in favor of Mr. Niedner, was definitely appointed foreman, which position he held till he died in 1902, after thirty years of service. His assistant, Mr. Phil Ruehl, the first apprentice of the synodical print-shop, succeeded him. Under Louis Lange, whose official title was Faktor, the first beginnings of a bindery were made when in 1872 the former contract- binder, Mr. Finck, was bought out. The equipment, pur- chased for $3,000, must have been very meager, however, even measured by the standards of 1872, for Mr. Wm. Becktold declined the foremanship because "it might harm his reputa- tion as a master binder" to be in charge of so inadequate an equipment. This, however, was before the building of 1874 was erected. In 1873 Mr. B. Otto took charge and was not ashamed of his job. He was succeeded in 1898 by Mr. John A. Meier, familiarly known as "Goldmeier," because previous to his foremanship he had for many years been in charge of the gilt-edge work in the bindery. The commodious quarters again grew inadequate, and in the Board minutes of August 11, 1880, the first hint of an annex building was given, the plans being submitted for approval four weeks later. But the plans were not executed as room was gained by selling the stereotyping outfit, which had outgrown its usefulness. But in 1882 a narrow (16X80 feet) two-story annex was added on the Indiana Ave. front. This provided fairly enough room till the annex building first suggested in 1882 was finally erected in the summer of 1887. The old smoke-stack was replaced at the same time by 300 PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. a new one. The whole structure cost $14,160.75, as reported in the February meeting of 1888. A new engine was installed in 1888. In May, 1890, we find the Board again talking of ex- pansion, apparently somewhat perplexed as to growing across the street or across the alley. Largely because the owner of the property across the alley asked a rather high price, they decided to put up with the discomfort of a disconnected plant, and bought the Outley property across Miami St. for ware- house purposes, but it was sold again in 1892 at a slight advance, and they paid the owner of what is now the Jefferson Ave. corner even a higher price than had first been asked, $6,000 for 95X122 feet. The contract for the office-building was let on June 28, 1893, Synod's treasurer (E. F. W. Meier) being rather opposed to the venture on account of the high cost. The price was $23,570.77. The incorporation of the firm, which had been discussed before then, both in and outside the Board, was effected on May 28, 1891, the first officers of the Board being Bev. C. L. Janzow, president, Kev. C. F. Obermeyer, secretary, and M. C. Barthel, treasurer and general agent. A few months later Mr. Martin Tirmenstein was elected assistant manager. He succeeded Mr. Barthel as manager on November 17, 1891. The Board had much trouble during this year, and for some time thereafter, to determine the amount of the loss which was sustained by the firm through the dishonest practises of two of its trusted employees, and, after it was determined with reasonable accuracy, to secure indemnity from the guilty party. In 1895, on February 27, the silver jubilee of the firm was celebrated. Rev. E. A. Brauer, the only surviving member of the seminary faculty of 1870, delivered the sermon, and a celebration followed in the "new building." In this year started the Concordia Magazine, a venture which was hardly within the scope of the firm's work, a popular magazine. The enterprise was doomed to failure from the start, even though the purpose was lofty enough — to supplant doubtful PUBLICATION ACTIVITY 01 THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 301 or harmful popular literature by instructive and entertaining literature written and edited from a Christian view-point. The great mass of the public does not want Christian litera- ture, and therefore will not support an undertaking of this sort. The minority that does support it is so insignificant that the circulation, compared with that of an unchristian or non-Christian publication, not only fails to attract adver- tisers, but necessarily causes the subscription price, even if sold without a view to profit, to mount to heights that must be considered preposterous. Concordia Magazine was finally changed to the Young Lutherans' Magazine, which is now serving an excellent purpose without presuming to reach out for a clientele through the news-stands. After the splendid success achieved at the Chicago World's Fair, an exhibit of the firm's product was also made at the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition in 1900, and subse- quently in 1904 at the St. Louis World's Fair, where the highest prize and award was given to Concordia Publishing House for excellence of material and workmanship. Never- theless, when in later years San Francisco and San Diego were considered, the management was of the opinion that the publicity obtained through exhibiting in this way was not commensurate with the cost of properly staging the exhibit. An important resolution was passed in 1905, when, after almost a year's deliberation, the first typesetting machine was installed. Now there are seven in constant use. On March 10, 1907, Mr. Tirmenstein resigned the man- agership, and the present writer was elected his successor, taking charge on March 18. Early in 1911 the need for additional room for manufac- ture and for storage became painfully apparent, and during the summer and fall of that year the lot left partly vacant in 1892 wTas built upon, and the old factory building on Miami St., considerably remodeled, a built-in garage being part of the structure (in 1911 the firm bought its first automobile truck). The whole cost of these improvements amounted to slightly over $60,000. 302 PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. From a $3,000 investment it has grown to a book value of nearly $800,000, an increase of 267 times its original size in fifty-two years, an average increase of 500 per cent, per annum. In personnel it has grown from four employees to 127; in area occupied, from a few hundred square feet to a little over three acres of floor space; in output, from a few thousand sheets per annum to about three million sheets, from a few hundredweight to forty carloads annual product. It has not grown in profit rate. The first few years showed a profit rate of over 50 per cent, on the total sales, while its present profit rate is less than one-fourth that much, though the sales have increased about sixteenfold. The policy of management has remained practically un- changed in the entire history of the House. Synod reserves for itself the ultimate control of its publishing house, and at every delegate convention three or four men are elected to serve as directors. For the sake of convenience in doing business the firm is operated as an incorporated stock company. There are but seven stockholders (the directors), who, however, do not have the stock (twenty-eight shares each) issued in their name until they have endorsed an assignment of any personal interest or benefit to Synod. The stock certificates are not held by the stockholders, but are kept in Synod's safe-deposit box, and the dividends are paid, not to the stockholders, but to Synod's treasurer. It is difficult to conceive an arrangement by which Synod's in- terests and rights could be more completely safeguarded with- out seriously hampering proper commercial and industrial expedience. While the Board is in complete charge of the business and all its details (subject to a synodical audit, however, and also subject to the approval of Synod's president and Board of Directors), the management is dependent on the St. Louis Seminary Faculty's censorship for all theological and religious publications (which is practically all its work) and on certain special boards and committees for censorship and approval of other publications. The editorial staff is PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF TDK MISSOURI SYNOD. 303 mofetly Synod's own choice, and if not directly chosen, is subject to the approval of synodical boards or officers. There are now published and distributed from this office the following professional magazines: Lehre und Wehre (founded 1855), a theological monthly of 32 octavo pages, mostly in the German language; Magazin fuer Ev.-Luth. Homiletik (founded in 1877), a homiletic monthly of 32 pages, German and English, a professional magazine devoted to pastoral theology and homiletics; the Lutheran School Journal (succeeding the Ev.-Luth. Schulblatt, which was founded in 1865), a 32-page monthly, both German and English, for parochial school teachers as well as for pastors who teach school (the proceeds of this magazine and of the Homiletic Magazine are used by Synod's Board of Sup- port for the benefit of Synod's superannuated pastors and teachers) ; the Theological Monthly, which succeeds the Theological Quarterly, founded in 1897 and current as Quarterly until December, 1920, when its form and the fre- quency of publication were changed to a 32-page monthly. The official papers published are the Lutheraner, founded in 1844, a 16 -page, 9X12 German fortnightly, and the Lutheran Witness, the same general style and size as Der Lutheraner in the English language. In 1882 the Witness was founded by the Northern Conference of Ohio, with Eev. C. A. Erank as editor, who, before the completion of its second volume, when it was threatened with extinction, con- tinued the publication at his own risk. In 1888 the paper was taken over by the English Conference of Missouri and Other States, and later by the English Synod of Missouri, and issued by the American Lutheran Publication Board, which, upon the amalgamation of the English with the German Missouri Synod in 1911, was absorbed by Concordia Publishing House. The 1912 volume of the Lutheran Witness was the first to be published by Concordia Pub- lishing House, the current volume being 41. The House publishes four juveniles: Young Lutherans' Magazine, founded in 1902 as successor to the Concordia Magazine, which had been issued from 1896 to 1901. It is 304 PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. a 16 -page, T^XIO1/^, illustrated monthly, designed prin- cipally for young people, just as our German (in the same style, size, and general make-up) Kinder- und Jugendblatt, which, fifty years ago, was founded by Rev. J. P. Beyer (being at that time called only Kinderblatt) as a private enterprise, but has been issued by Concordia Publishing House since 1889. Fuer die Kleinen (founded in 1895) and Lutheran Guide (founded in 1892, published by us since 1912) are the four- page (^y^XlO1^) illustrated publications for the little ones. The Sunday-school series of Concordia Publishing House now comprises the following issues: Primary Leaflets, in conjunction with which Concordia Picture Roll is used; Junior and Senior Division, Bible Class, and Lesson Helps. Though not strictly a periodical, the Kalender and Annual should be mentioned in this connection. These are year- books, the former German, the 1921 issue being the fifty-first volume; the latter English, published in 1921 for the eleventh time. The combined circulation of the two books is over 125,000 per annum. The Statistical Year -Book and the synodical reports are also in a way periodical publications of considerable importance. The book publications of this synodical concern may be classed in four principal groups — service, devotional, pro- fessional, and school-books. In the service group there are the books of, and on, forms of the church service, foremost among which are the hymnals in both the German and the English language. The German hymn-book printed orig- inally by and for Trinity Lutheran Church, has been in almost general use throughout the Missouri Synod from the very beginning. A few years ago it was republished with additional hymns, but otherwise it was hardly changed. There is still a large demand for this book, last year's total sales in all sizes and styles amounting to 29,484 copies. The German Agende, or book of forms, is as widely distributed, though not as many copies by far are required. This ven- erable Agende is now being republished in a somewhat amended and modernized form (as to shape and phraseology). PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 305 The English Agenda follows the German in most respects, in some respects slightly returning to forms honored by usage antedating the Missouri Synod. It is very probably the most widely used English Lutheran liturgy and ritual. Of Eng- lish hymnals there are, unfortunately, several, the original hymnal of the English "Missouri" Synod (since 1911 the English District of the parent body), the missionary hymnal (202 hymns), first published by Concordia in 1895, and the general standard, the hymn-book compiled by a committee of the former English "Missouri" Synod and completed by Concordia Publishing House after the English Synod joined the mother synod in 1911. Of all English hymnals, including also the Sunday-school Hymnal of the American Lutheran Publication Board (the official publishers of the former English Synod, absorbed by Concordia Publishing House in 1912), the sales during 1920 amounted to 56,620. In the devotional group the first place is accorded to Bibles. The German Bible was originally published by Trinity Congregation in St. Louis. In the course of years Concordia Publishing House printed this Bible for the society, and finally accepted the gift of the publication rights from the society on condition that the popular edition should always be sold practically at cost, a condition which is being carried out most conscientiously by the firm. It publishes quite a few editions of its own, and markets a large number of special editions produced by other publishers. The greatest undertaking in this group is now in progress, viz., a popular commentary on the whole Bible. The first volume of this important work by the Kev. Paul E. Kretzmann, M. A., Ph. D., issued from the press in December, 1921. It is hoped that the entire work will be completed by 1923. A German commentary on the Bible, known as the Alt en- burger Bibelwerlc, revised in 1900, has been on the market for many years and is still regarded as a standard in its class. Of devotional books proper there is a goodly number in both languages, and some of the earliest publications of this character are still popular. Very many titles of a professional nature were published EBENEZER. 20 306 THE JUBILEE IN 1872. and are still being published, such as special texts on theology, systematic aifd pastoral, and books for professional teachers in religious schools. Then there is the long list of school- books of which the firm, in spite of the necessity of accom- modating the parish-school curricula to local public school standards and texts, sells tens of thousands annually. In addition, Concordia Publishing House does the ever- increasing volume of official printing for Synod and an appre- ciable amount of job printing for individual churches and societies. The Jubilee in 1872. Rev. Martin Walker, Buffalo, N. Y. Synod having been organized in 1847, the Silver Jubilee was due to be celebrated in 1872. Most of the founders and organizers of Synod were still alive after twenty-five years, and to them the very day of organization meant so much that the convention of 1872 was moved forward into April, so that the exact birthday, April 26, might be celebrated as a day of joy with services of praise to the great Head of the Church. Accordingly the Lutheraner of February 15 pub- lished the first notice, calling Synod to convene in St. Louis from April 26 to May 7, in accordance with resolutions adopted by the four District synods. The joyous expectancy that throbbed in the hearts of Synod's members found expression in a poem published in the Lutheraner of April 1 by Pastor J. P. Beyer, then in Pittsburgh, later one of the Vice-Presidents of Synod. The joy of the pious Israelite who sang : — I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem — animated the hundreds of pastors and teachers and professors and lay delegates who made the pilgrimage to St. Louis by rail and steamer and canal-boats in a day when travel was THE JUBILEE IN 1872. 307 associated with no small degree of inconvenience and dis- comfort. The Eastern and Central Districts had requested Presi- dent Walther to invite two prominent pastors in Germany to attend Synod as guests, the above Districts guaranteeing expenses, to wit: Pastor Harms, Director of the Missionary Institute in Hermannsburg, and Pastor Brunn, Director of the Proseminary in Steeden, Hessen-Nassau, in which school many young men received their collegiate training prepara- tory to entering the higher classes of our college and thence into our seminary at St. Louis. To their own and Synod's regret, both men had to decline the generous invitation. Under date of May 14 (see Lutheraner, June 15) Pastor Brunn wrote Professor Walther that in a quiet way April 26 had been observed in the Proseminary, and that a larger cele- bration was coupled wTith their mission-festival on April 28. The theme of • Pastor Brunn's festival address was: "God's Wondrous Providence as We Behold it in the Lutheran Church of North America, More Particularly in the Missouri Synod's Existence of Twenty-five Years." And Pastor F. Buhland, who had just gone to Germany as a representative of our Synod to strengthen the hands of the brethren of the Free Church, wrote under date of April 15 (see Lutheraner, May 15) : "Most hearty greetings and con- gratulations we send to Synod for its jubilee on the 26th. Yes, indeed, Missouri may rejoice and celebrate. For it stands as a glorious memorial of divine grace and mercy, as a gracious light set on a hill, whose shining brings joy to two hemispheres. May God preserve and advance His wTork and grant that there may be a large and grateful appreciation of the great things God has done in making Missouri a witness of the truth in this day of, lies, errors, and deceptions." There can be no doubt that the St. Louis synod of 1872 was a happy, enthusiastic, and richly blessed convention. And it may well be that individual congregations and con- ferences celebrated the Jubilee in various cities. And yet, to our surprise wTe find no reference whatever in Lehre und Welire to the Jubilee (compared with a report of seven pages 308 THE JUBILEE IN 1872. on the Detroit Convention of 1920). And even in the Lutheraner (which to-day gives over almost a whole issue to such a Jubilee) we find no mention of the Jubilee or the convention, after the preliminary notices, excepting a brief, five-inch editorial comment by Professor Walther, from which we quote the essential part: "On our recent convention at St. Louis we would report, for the benefit of those who could not attend, that it was truly what had been intended — a grand celebration. The Lord gave grace to the convention to remember with great joy His unspeakable mercies and unitedly to thank and praise Him for all the blessings which He in His grace and faithfulness has showered upon us in the past twenty-five years." Probably the chief reason why our synodical papers at that time refrained from publishing reports on the synod was that not only every pastor and every teacher, but also a very large proportion of congregational members bought and studied the full official report. From this report we learn that the opening service, a real festival service, took place in Trinity Church, St. Louis, on the morning of April 26, and that the regular sessions were held in the large hall of the Mercantile Library. The official attendance was : 245 voting pastors, 126 advisory pastors and professors, 168 teachers, and 181 lay delegates. In addition, many pastors and teachers from near-by places and many St. Louis members attended the sessions and services. The statistical tables, included in the report, show the following membership of Synod in 1872 : — Congregations Voting Advisory Belonging District. Pastors. Pastors. to Synod. Western 102 85 107 Northern 00 25 80 Central 59 12 68 Eastern 45 18 55 275 140 310 Also 175 congregations not yet belonging to Synod. The tables reveal a total of 72,120 souls in the Synod, of whom 20,416 were voting members. There is no record of THE JUBILEE IN 1872. 309 communicant members. At that time church statistics had not gained their present-day significance. Though we have practically no historical material on what may be called the human side of this first Jubilee Synod, yet the spirit that dominated that convention, and the standard of teaching and practise in the Synod are clearly apparent from three valuable documents that are left us: (1) The opening sermon by President Walther (who at that time was not yet spoken of as "Dr.," not receiving the degree until 1878). This sermon is published in the volume entitled Brosamen. (2) Vice-President Brohm's address in opening the first business session, which was inadvertently omitted from the report and thereupon published in the Luther aner. (3) The doctrinal theses by Pastor Brohm, with comments, published in the report. Professor Walther's Sermon. After striking a jubilant note with reference to the Te Deum that had just been sung, the preacher set his con- gregation to thinking upon the cause for rejoicing. He warded off the thought of self-glorification, confessing his own and his colaborers' unworthiness, and declaring with David: "Not unto us, 0 Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and Thy truth's sake." He then announced his text, "Take not the Word of Truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in Thy judg- ments," Psalm 119, 43, with the theme and parts as follows : The Preservation of Our Synod for Twenty-five Years in the Word of Truth a Sufficient Cause for Our Jubilee This Day. With God's help I propose to show : 1. That our Synod, from its organization twenty-five years ago to this day, has been preserved in the Word of Truth; 2. Why just this fact is so good a reason for to-day's Jubilee; 3. What kind of celebra- tion ours must be, according to God's Word, in order to be pleasing to Him. In his first part the preacher referred to the fact that in the constitution adopted twenty-five years previous the reception and continuance of a congregation in the Synod was made absolutely conditional upon these two 310 THE JUBILEE IN 1872. provisions: (1) acknowledgment of the Sacred Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the written Word of God and the only rule and norm of faith and life; (2) acceptance of all the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as the pure and unadulterated declaration and expo- sition of this divine Word. Such subscription to the Scrip- tures and to Lutheran Confessions was, however, not regarded as sufficient. The Word of Truth was not only to be found in Synod's hands, as a book-possession ; it must be in Synod's mouth, as a confession of the inner attitude of the heart. "I believed, therefore have I spoken." Synod for twenty-five years has been obedient to the apostolic injunction: "Keep that which has been committed unto thee," and: "Contend for the faith once delivered to the saints." In' proof whereof the preacher gave a resume of Synod's doctrine, as taught in its institutions and expounded from its pulpits, and showed this doctrine to be in conformity with the Scriptures and the earliest Christian teaching, as well as with Luther and his colaborers, as laid down in the Confessions of the Church and the Eeformation. In the second part of his discourse the professor first quoted Scripture and then pointed to history to show that it is not within the power of man to arrive at or to hold divine truth; that men have ever conceived and propagated error; that a knowledge of saving truth and true faith are the gifts of the Holy Spirit ; and that He alone can move the believer to confess and retain truth unadulterated. Coming then to the record of the Missouri Synod, the preacher said : — "But if to receive and retain the truth of God's Word has ever been beyond human reason and strength, then this was surely the case at the time of the founding of our Synod and throughout the period of its existence. Those who twenty- five years ago organized this Synod grew up under the in- fluence of rationalism and heterodoxy (in Germany) ; and most of them were caught in the unbelief of their day or at least in various false teachings. Now, how did it come about that in that awful time, when the voice of truth was almost silenced, all of these young men were delivered from error, THE JUI5ILEE IN 1872. 311 led to perceive the truth and to make our and the same avowal to abide in the truth, without wavering, unto their last breath? Again, what happened when our Synod began to give testimony to the pure truth? From thai very moment on till this day our Synod has had to battle ceaselessly with old and new enemies of our Church, who seem to have gathered here from all parts of the world into one vast army. We have had to battle with the unbelief and the mockery of our day, which under the cry of freedom and progress seeks utterly to destroy religion and morals, Church and State all divine and human ordinances. We have had to battle with the spirit of religious unionism, which is pervading all Christendom like a pest, throttling at its very inception all love for pure truth. We have had to battle with the fanaticism of enthusiastic sects. We have battled with the impertinent assumptions of an antichristian papacy that is ever growing bolder and bolder. We have battled with a new- type Lutheranism that has been corrupted through rational- istic, unionistic, sectarian, and Eomanizing teachings, prin- ciples, laws, and practises. Yes, we have had to contend with false spirits in our own midst, How, then, did it come to pass that our Synod, amid such conflicts, under ceaseless bitter attacks and lurking temptations, yet like a frail tempest- tossed vessel was not wrecked, but kept her course, having now for a quarter century continued unwaveringly in the old doctrine of the old true Church? — I ask, How was this brought to pass? "Ah, surely, that was not the result of our penetrative insight, nor the reward of our fidelity; that was the free gift of Him of whom it is written: 'Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called : but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise ; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty ; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: that no flesh should glory in His presence.' 1 Cor. 1, 26 — 29. What? May we not, shall we not, must we not 312 THE JUBILEE IN 1872. rather on this day rejoice and give thanks, praise and glorify God? "Yet now I seem to hear all our enemies say sneeringly: 'Yes, yes, "Reine Lehre," "pure doctrine," "orthodoxy" — that's it, and that's about all you glory in. Vainglory!' But, my brethren, let them mock us if they will; by such mockery they reveal of what manner of spirit they are. Surely theirs is a different spirit from David's, who, after beseeching God not to take the Word of Truth from his mouth, at once adds : 'For I have hoped in Thy judgments.' These judgments, these pronouncements of God, in other words, this pure doctrine of the divine Word, that was the only hope of his soul. "And so has it ever been with all the true children and servants of God. For what is r reine Lehre"? Pure doctrine is the pure Word of God, the pure bread of life eternal, the pure seed of the children of the Kingdom, a pure fountain of faith and love, a pure well of divine comfort, in a word, it is the clean, sure, and straight way to Christ and into heaven. Truly pure doctrine, then, is more precious than silver and gold, sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, stronger than sin, death, devil, and hell, more than heaven and earth. And pure doctrine is never an idle or dead thing : from it, and from it alone, flows spiritual, Christian, divine life. Even among the sects, what spiritual life there is, is the fruit only of pure doctrine so far as it is taught; all errors among them are merely germinating seeds of a spir- itual and eternal death. Wherever there is purity of doc- trine, there will be found miracles of divine grace, according to the promise : 'The Word that proceedeth out of My mouth shall not return unto Me void, but shall accomplish that which I please, and shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.' " Referring then to the results of Luther's preaching of pure doctrine, Walther points with evident humility to the visible accomplishments of this pure doctrine in the Missouri Synod, and closes this part of his discourse with the excla- mation: "Even now God lets us see such rich fruit of our THE JUBILEE IN 1872. 313 planting and watering that we must now already, if we would not be damnably ungrateful, exclaim : 'The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.' " Having thus justified the jubilee spirit of the occasion, the eloquent preacher set forth, in the closing part of his sermon, the spirit that must dominate the celebration if this was to be well pleasing to the Lord. First, he declared, all glory must be given alone to God, since He alone in His grace has kept Synod for twenty-five years in the Word of Truth; and then, looking to the future, the members of Synod must be deeply in earnest, as was David, in praying, "Take not the Word of Thy truth utterly out of my mouth." Conscious of his obligations as president of Synod, the preacher, in a passage surcharged with pathos, pointed to signs of oncoming lukewarmness, of the passing of the first love in the congregations, and sorrowfully added : "Even our ministry is no more what it was twenty-five years ago," asking, however, to be excused from furnishing the sad evidence. Quoting Luther's memorable and prophetic state- ment about the pure Gospel's passing from place to place like a rain, but seldom remaining for more than two genera- tions, the preacher yet bade his hearers be cheerful as to the future, remembering that the grace of God had wrought, and would yet work, mighty miracles. Calling upon preachers and hearers, teachers and pupils, men and women, old and young, to unite in a sacred confederation and to declare with David : "I have sworn, and will perform it, that I will keep Thy righteous judgments," the preacher fervently prayed : — Lord Jesus Christ, with us abide, For round us falls the eventide; Let not Thy Word, that heavenly light, For us be ever veiled in night. In these last days of sore distress Grant us, dear Lord, true steadfastness, That pure we keep, till life is spent, Thy holy Word and Sacrament. He then concluded with this glowing doxology : "Thanks, praise, glory, honor, and worship be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, to-day here in the dust, but hereafter, 314 THE JUBILEE IN 187^ in yonder world, with all the choirs of angels and archangels and the triumphant congregation of all the blessed and perfected saints at the great jubilee of heaven, world without end. Amen! In Jesus' name, Amen!" Vice-President Brohm's Address. In opening the business sessions on April 27, Vice- President Brohm spoke as follows : — "Our honorable President [Prof. C. F. W. Walther], fear- ing that yesterday's jubilee sermon might prove so great a strain on him that he could not without injury to his health open the sessions of Synod, has requested me to take his place to-day. May I then be permitted to address you as the words come from my heart. "We all certainly must realize that to-day we are opening the most important convention of our Synod in 25 years. Surely all present join me in saying from our hearts: 'The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.' As we look back to-day over the 25 years of the existence of our Synod, we are reminded of the parable of the mustard- seed. Matt. 13, 31. 32. There Jesus says : 'The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field ; which indeed is the least of all seeds ; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.' "The kingdom of God makes a small, apparently weak beginning; but despite all obstacles it spreads and grows into a tree under whose shade immortal souls find refuge. This is true of the Kingdom as a whole, so also of its com- ponent parts. That indeed is one of the distinguishing marks of a work that is divine and not human. Human enterprises often make a big show' at the start, but their progress is poor, and the end is miserable. God's work, however, takes a modest beginning, but has a blessed continuance and progress that cannot be hindered by all the powers of hell. "To prove this from general church history would carry us too far. But if it be permissible to compare small things THE JUBILEE IN 1872. 315 with great, we may say that the parable of the mustard-seed finds application to our Synod. When our Synod was organized on April 26, 1847, there were present only 12 voting pastors with lay delegates from their congregations, and also 12 advisory pastors and candidates; to-day their number has risen to 450. Then our synodical members were scattered here and there over G States; now 25 States and Canada are represented. In every one of the large cities we have one or more congregations. Then there were but a few parish school teachers; to-day we have over 230 in our Synod. The only institution which we had at that time for training ministers was still in its early stages of development; in fact, it was so insignificant that it scarcely could lay claim to the name Gymnasium (college) or seminary. Under the blessing of the Most High our Synod now possesses three pearls, one college, one theological seminary and one teachers' seminary, in which 400 young men are being trained to become preachers or teachers. At that time our Synod occupied a solitary and lonesome position, looked at askance, or even despised, by other church-bodies; to-day we are in fraternal relationship with five, partly large, bodies. Immigration from Germany has in the last twenty-five years taken on such proportions as to have become a matter of world history; and our Synod has followed this immigration step by step, as a true servant, ever seeking to bring the bread of life to the scattered brethren of the faith in the desert of this great western country. "True, we cannot deny that other church-bodies have also had a tremendous growth in the past twenty or thirty years. However, what distinguishes us from them is the pure, un- adulterated confession of the Lutheran faith. That is the very heart of our Synod ; that is the golden chain that binds us together; that is the banner about which we rally; that is the goal toward which we ever strive. In this confession God Almighty has hitherto preserved us; therein He has established us through varied trials and experiences. "In view of these facts we must to-day exclaim: 'Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, 316 THE JUBILEE IN 1872. for Thy mercy and for Thy truth's sake.' If we were gathered here to-day to take honor for ourselves or for any man, or in self-esteem to lift ourselves above other synods, then God's curse would rest upon our convention; then we should have the awful prospect of seeing our work, so well begun, come to an inglorious end like the tower of Babel, under the curse of God, who resisteth the proud. "If, on the contrary, conscious of our own nothingness and unworthiness, we are convinced that our Synod is God's own work, and that God has hitherto poured out His inde- scribable blessing over us, — then the question very naturally comes to us: What can and must we do that this blessing shall come upon our children when we elders shall soon lay down our heads ? — To this end theses have been prepared, which may serve as a basis for fraternal discussion, should Synod be pleased to take up this matter. "May our almighty and merciful God fill us with His Spirit of truth and concord, that this convention may mark a stage from which we may safely continue our churchly pilgrimage!" Vice-President Brohm's Theses. What task have we to perform that the blessings which God in the past twenty-five years has poured out over us be not dissipated by us, but rather be handed down to our descendants? I. What are these blessings ? (1) That in a day of general apostasy from the Lutheran faith and of many schisms within the Lutheran Church, there still exists among us unity in the pure Lutheran doctrine, with an absence of all papistic and unionizing tendencies. (2) A constant, uninterrupted growth of our Synod in membership, without any political coercion, or overriding of conscience, or any earthly interests as inducements to join us; and a consequent growing influence of our Synod upon immigrants of our faith. THE JUBILEE IN 1872. 317 (3) The prosperous condition of our educational institu- tions for the training of pastors and teachers. (4) The blessed condition of our parish-school system, so that our children need not be turned over to the irreligious public schools. (5) A treasure of sound, orthodox books, making it pos- sible for Christians desiring to grow in knowledge to do so, and also to have Christian family devotions. (6) Church-papers which under God's blessing have been instrumental in developing the inward and outward growth of our Synod. (7) Fraternal and harmonious cooperation with four like- minded Lutheran synods. "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory for Thy mercy and for Thy truth's sake." II. What are the dangers of dissipating (forfeiting) these blessings? That such dangers also beset us we may learn from — (1) The prophecies of Scripture, which tell us of the common dangers of all periods: Acts 20, 29. 30: "For 1 know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." Matt. 13, 25 : "But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way." And more particularly of the latter days, 1 Tim. 4, 1. 2 : "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron." 2 Tim. 3, 1. 2 : "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy." 2 Pet. 3, 3 : "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts." Matt. 24, 11. 12 : "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall 318 THE JUBILEE IN 1872. abound, the love of many shall wax cold." Luke 18, 8: "Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth ?" 1 Thess. 5, 3 : "For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." (2) The fulfilment of these prophecies in the history of the Christian Church: the post-apostolic period, the period following Luther's death, and the Thirty Years' War. (3) Two memorable declarations of Luther: (a) from his sermon on the Epistle-lesson (2 Cor. 6, 1 — 10) for the First Sunday in Lent; (b) from his Letter to the Mayors and Aldermen of all the Cities of Germany in oehalf of Christian Schools* III. What is our task, in order that this blessing be not dissipated, but handed down to our descendants ? We must squarely face this most important question because of the debt of gratitude we owe to God, because of the watchfulness demanded by the dangers that beset us, and because of our love to our children and posterity. * "Let us consider the wretchedness of our former condition, and the darkness in which we were enveloped. I believe Germany has never heard so much of the Word of God as at the present time; history reveals no similar period. If we let the gracious season pass without gratitude and improvement, it is to be feared that we shall suffer still more terrible darkness and distress. My dear countrymen, buy while the market is at your door; gather the harvest while the sun shines and the weather is fair; use the grace and Word of God while they are near. For know this, that the Word and grace of God are like a passing shower, which does not return where it has once been. The divine favor once rested upon the Jews, but gone is gone; now they have nothing. Paul brought the Gospel into Greece; but gone is gone; now they have the Turks. Rome and Italy once enjoyed its blessings; but gone is gone; now they have the Pope. And the German people must not think that they will always have it; for in- gratitude and neglect will banish it. Therefore seize it and hold it fast whoever can; idle hands will have an evil year," i ill. JUBILEE IX IS7J. .",1 !) (1) In general: We must be on our guard againsl ingratitude on account of which the fountain of grace is stopped; against self-esteem and boastfulness, whereby God is provoked to wrath and to destroy what has been built; and also against satiety, stinginess, and ungodly living. (2) More specifically : — (a) The ministers must watch not only over their cong le- gations, but also over themselves; hold the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience; prepare their sermons with due diligence; exercise pastoral care conscientiously and in an evangelical spirit; not display a spirit of lordship over the congregations; continue the diligent study of the Scripture as well as of the writings of our orthodox fathers ; maintain among themselves the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace; conduct no business on the side, whereby their sacred office could suffer; not change pastorates light-heartedly or from selfish motives; nor by their conduct cause the holy Gospel to be despised in their congregations. The same task, relatively, is imposed upon the teachers in our lower and higher schools. (b) The congregations and their members must not merely receive the Gospel in word, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; establish and maintain Christian day-schools ; exercise admonition and discipline in a fraternal and evangelical spirit; not suffer secret orders to invade the congregation; be liberal in support of Synod's institutions and the poor. (c) Our educational institutions must develop not only studiousness, but also a Christian spirit in their students; the study of the ancient as well as modern classics must ever be safeguarded with Christian critique. (d) Our theological papers must continue the exposition and defense of pure Lutheran doctrine ; and in the necessary polemics they must preserve a truly Christian character. (e) Synod, as a whole, must keep aloof from all union- istic tendencies; on the other hand, Synod must with all diligence and patience, forgetting all selfish interests, seek to cultivate the spirit of unity with all like-minded Lutheran 320 THE jubilee in 1872. synods, in order that by harmonious cooperation the interests of the kingdom of God in America be advanced. Moreover, as Synod becomes stronger, it must make more generous pro- visions for the English language, in the parish-schools as well as in the colleges, that our members may be better equipped in a larger sphere to fulfil their heavenly calling of being a light in the Lord and that they thus also as Christian citizens may help to promote the welfare of our country. IV. The results. — What results our endeavors in per- forming this task may have upon our future generations, God alone knows. It is for us to do our part, never to become discouraged, and in earnest prayer to commit the results to God. Whether the time of God's grace is yet to be consider- ably extended over this Western land, with its many German immigrants, or whether the return of Christ in glory will soon make an end of all earthly things, — that is hidden in God's counsels. Whether the Lord come to-day or to-morrow, may we be found as good and faithful servants ! Now, after half a century, as we read the sermon of Walther, the address made by Brohm, and the theses, to- gether with the reported discussion of the same, we are deeply impressed with the sturdy orthodoxy of our fathers, their unswerving loyalty to the divine Word, and their holy de- termination to continue unto the end "to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints." In these documents we find much holy joy, but no sinful pride; much glorying in God, but no boasting of self; keen alertness to besetting dangers, but also calm confidence in the greater power of Christ's saving Gospel. We find the forward look, seeking to measure future responsibilities by present opportunities. Through it all we behold a heaven-born zeal to work while it is day, before the night cometh. As Elijah's mantle fell upon Elisha, so may the faith and love, the courage and confidence, the zeal and self-sacrifice of our fathers come upon us of the third and later generations ! Faith of our fathers, holy faith, We will be true to thee till death. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE BYNODICAL CONFERENCE. 321 The Organization of the Synodical Conference. Prof. A. W. Meyer, Winfield, Kans. "Inasmuch as a number of Lutheran synods in America are about to form a confederation to be known as the Synodical Conference, in conformity with a constitution drafted for this purpose, it will not be deemed out of place nor unimportant publicly to state the reasons why these synods do not connect with one of the general church-bodies in this country bearing the Lutheran name, but instead feel themselves bound in conscience to form a separate body. To place this project of theirs in the right light will appear perfectly in order, yea, a duty, in a sense, over against those not synodically connected with us, be they friends or foes, so as to guard against misconceptions or defamations from the start." These are the introductory words of Dr. W. Sihler's paper, read to the assemblage of Lutherans about to organize the Synodical Conference. It was eminently fit and proper for them, as Lutheran Christians, to assure themselves that the important step they were about to take was in full accord with the will of God and brotherly love. Were they "en- deavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4, 3), and were they not weakening instead of strengthening the Church by forming a separate body? Questions such as these were present in their minds, and are entered upon in the paper referred to, and in justice to them we shall follow this paper largely in rehearsing their reasons for forming a separate general organization, not wishing to imply thereby that their position differs in any respect from ours to-day. The Doctor's line of thought runs as follows: In the first place, would not the General Synod of that day have answered the purpose? This synod was organized (in 1821) at a time of general looseness in doctrine, both in Europe and America. It proved true to the atmosphere of its origin in its later development, fostering laxity in doctrine and practise and even engaging in open hostility to conservative EBENEZER. 21 322 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SYNODIC AL CONFERENCE. Lutheranism. The Lutheran name is indeed held to, but theological inferences resulting from the name are denied. Her synods and pastors (at ordination) are pledged on the non-committal statement that "the fundamental doctrines" of the Word of God are taught in the Augsburg Confession "in a manner substantially correct." This pledge is further weakened by not enumerating or defining, the "fundamental doctrines." In the year 1845 the General Synod sent an official document to Germany, wherein they, in a manner unabashed, with great majority, avowed themselves as being in accord with the Evangelical Church (unierte Kirche) in most doctrinal questions, declared they were not to be classed "old-Lutheran" (that being behind the times), and that Luther's peculiar view on the bodily presence in the Lord's Supper had long since been abandoned. Many have been the conferences and conventions of this general body within the fifty years of its existence, but nowhere, in discussions or resolutions, do we find even a trace of fidelity to the Lutheran Confessions, or an attempt to stay the overweening tendencies of the times to wipe out doctrinal differences. Synods which, by adopting the Definite Platform, had rejected the Augsburg Confession were tolerated in their organization (Verband), and overtures for union were made to an evangelical {unierte) church-body. Their church- publications and institutions of learning naturally reflected and propagated the same lax views and tendencies. Obviously our fathers could not unite with the General Synod. How about the General Council? Those familiar with the history of the American Lutheran Church will recall that the General Council, organized in 1867 and constituting a number of synods, seceded from the General Synod as a protest against looseness in doctrine and practise. Our fathers admit: "While we might find fault with some details of the Council's constitution, we frankly admit that we are perfectly satisfied with the doctrinal basis officially adopted by that body, and could enter into affiliation with the Council on this basis." A confession is not to be a dead letter, however, but a power in the Church, THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SYNODICAL CONFERENCE. 323 directing and permeating it, so that her doctrine and prac- tise are a reflex of her confession. However, this was not the case with the Council. They received the Iowa Synod into their connection, as an advisory member, without inquiring into its position on the Lutheran Symbols and tolerating its "open questions" in matters doctrinal. Furthermore, while the Council protested against the General Synod's practise of open communion and pulpit-fellowship with non-Lutherans and withdrew for that reason, it is itself delinquent in this respect, failing to exercise proper doctrinal discipline when such is plainly called for. Secretism and millenarianism are tolerated, yea at times defended. We ask them, In what relation does the authority of our Symbols stand to the authority of Scripture ? How about "open questions" ? Give us a definition, doctrinally, of the Church, the Ministry, Church Government, the Antichrist. How about serving congregations composed of Lutherans and Eef ormed ? A defi- nite and full understanding must be arrived at on these and other questions of moment, before we could join hands, con- scientiously, with the Council. The same objections, virtually, bar the way to a closer union with the General Synod South. While it is refreshing to find voices raised for conservative Lutheranism, and while it is encouraging to meet with doctrinal discipline (though not always along Scriptural lines), it is, on the other hand, a deplorable fact that revivals and protracted meetings are common, and that open communion and pulpit-fellowship are frequent. Without surrendering doctrines and principles vital to confessional Lutheranism, Dr. Sihler observes, we obviously could not unite or amalgamate with any of the general bodies named. Nor could we consistently invite them to our altars and pulpits, and otherwise fraternize, while maintaining a separate church organization. This would be a living con- tradiction. It would be wrong to squander time and means in separate synodical machinery, if we could commune at the same table, worship at the same altar, and listen to the same pastor. Furthermore, to ignore vital differences in 324 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SYNODICAL CONFERENCE. doctrine and practise is directly contrary to God's Word. "How can two walk together except they be agreed?" Amos 3, 3. a) Teachers must he true in doctrine, and absolutely sure they are right. Our Lord says : "Whosoever shall break one of these commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5, 19. "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." Matt. 28, 20. Paul uses the strong words: "Though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." In order that his words might not be misunderstood, he repeats : "If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." Gal. 1, 8. 9. Comp. 1 Tim. 4, 16. Read the penalties which Moses imposes on false teachers Deut. 13, 6 fT., and the threats God utters against them. by His prophet Jeremiah (23, 28—32). b) In fact, false teachers are not to be tolerated. We are to beware of false prophets, Matt. 7, 15, and to avoid them, Rom. 16, 17. Such only as continue in His Word are acknowledged by Him, John 8, 31, for only they recognize His voice, John 10, 27, and continue steadfastly in His doc- trine, Acts 2, 42. He that "brings not this doctrine" should not be received into our house, nor should we bid him Godspeed, 2 John 10, but he is to be rejected as a heretic, Titus 3, 10. c) Preachers are to be trustworthy guides. Not like children are they to be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. Eph. 4, 14. Indeed, they are to "speak as the oracles of God." 1 Pet. 4, 11. Paul does not want to be classed with such as "corrupt the Word of God," he is conscious, when preaching, of speaking "in the sight of God." 2 Cor. 2, 17. d) In view of the above, if we are "all to speak the same thing," if we are to be "perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment," how could we join hands THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SYNODICAL CONFERENCE. 325 with such as are at variance with us? Our Confessional Books fully harmonize with this view. The Seventh Article of the Augsburg Confession, often referred to in this con- nection, reads : — "Also they teach that one holy Church is to continue forever. But the Church is the congregation of saints (the assembly of all believers), in which the Gospel is rightly taught (purely preached), and the Sacraments rightly ad- ministered (according to the Gospel). And unto the true unity of the Church, it is sufficient to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacra- ments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, rites, or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be alike everywhere; as St. Paul saith : 'There is one faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all.' " ( Jacobs's Edition.) This is supplemented by the Tenth Article of the Formula of Concord: "We believe, teach, and confess also that no Church should condemn another because one has less or more external ceremonies not commanded by God than the other, if otherwise there is agreement among them in doctrine and all its articles, as also in the right use of the holy Sacra- ments, according to the well-known saying: "Disagreement in fasting does not destroy agreement in faith." The position our Confessions take is clearly this: Cere- monies and institutions originated by man are matters of Christian liberty; in such there may be differences of opinion and divergence in practise. But the Gdspel must be "preached unanimously according to the pure under- standing," etc. Again, "there must be agreement in doctrine and all its articles." Hence in all doctrines clearly taught in the Bible unity must prevail. It is not agreeable to the flesh to be called a separatist. This our fathers of the Reformation also experienced; for, says the Booh of Concord in the "Treatise on the Power of the Pope" : "It is a hard thing to want to separate from so many countries and people and maintain a separate doctrine. But here stands God's command that every one shall be separate from, and not be agreed with, those who teach falsely," etc. 326 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SYNODIC AL CONFERENCE. Dr. Sihier, as spokesman, concluded by saying that his brethren are very willing to continue colloquies and meetings with representatives of the synods mentioned, looking to a removal of difficulties and obstacles so as to form a God- pleasing general union of all Lutheran bodies in this country, "that we may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 15, 6. To the above summary of Dr. Sihler's paper we add the remark that the synods of the Synodical Conference were not the only ones to object to an alliance on unscriptural grounds. About the year 1840 the Tennessee Synod "Resolved, That we cannot recognize the General Synod as an Evangelical Lutheran body, inasmuch as they have departed from the doctrines and practises of the Lutheran Church. "Resolved, That under present circumstances we have no inclination whatever to unite with them, except they return once more to the primitive doctrine and usages of the Lutheran Church." In fine, let us not unionize, but unify, and we shall, with God's grace, meet with success ' in proportion to the loyal effort we put forth. The first incentive given to the organizing of the Synod- ical Conference was an action taken by the Eastern District of the Joint Synod of Ohio, convening in Youngstown, O., in June l£70. It was there "Resolved, That we acknowledge the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States as an orthodox evangelical Lutheran synod. "Resolved, That our Joint Synod be asked to take like action, and so inform the Missouri Synod officially. "Also, That Joint Synod be requested to appoint a com- mittee to represent our Synod at the next session of the Missouri Synod." Owing, undoubtedly, to this recommendation of the Eastern District, the Ohio Synod at its convention at Dayton, O., in October, 1870, appointed a committee with THE ORGANIZATION OF Till: SYNODlCAL CONFEBEN( I.. 327 instructions to confer with similar committees to be ap- pointed by synods of the same confession, looking to a closer union and cooperation in the work of the Lord. The synods approached (which all took favorable action) were those of Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois (later the Illinois District of the Missouri Synod), and the Norwegian Synod. Their representatives met in Chicago, in January of 1871, in the congregation of Rev. Beyer. The main result of their deliberations, conducted with utmost cordiality, was the draft for the proposed union, published in the synodical church- papers soon after. This draft, or outline, was to be sub- mitted to the synods at their next session, for an expression of opinion, or for amendments. (The synods in question so acted.) Since, however, the Joint Synod of Ohio and the Missouri Synod would not meet until 1872, these representa- tives resolved to meet once more in November, 1871. The attendance at this meeting was not to be restricted to members of these committees, but a general invitation was extended to pastors of the synods interested to take part in the deliberations. At this meeting, conducted in Dr. Sihler's church at Fort Wayne, Ind., his paper, referred to, was submitted and adopted. The attendance was very encouraging; and the prevailing tone was one of praise to God and of bright hopes for the future of our dear Church. By resolution, the synods concerned were called upon to meet for the organization and first convention of the Synodical Conference in the church of Pastor Bading, Milwaukee, July 10—16, 1872. Dr. C. F. W. Walther preached the opening sermon, and by action of the Conference this sermon was printed in the minutes "in lieu of an opening address." That prominence being shown the sermon, we deem it proper to give the opening prayer and some of the leading thoughts. The opening prayer was as follows : — "It is not the work of man, O Lord Jesus, it is not our work, but Thine alone, and due to Thy grace that we are assembled here to-day in unity of faith, knit together by the bond of love and peace. To Thee be thanks, praise, and bless- 328 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SYNODIC AL CONFERENCE. ings in time and eternity! Bnt Thou alone, O Lord, who hast begun in us the good work, canst sustain it, crown it with Thy blessings, and perfect the same. Oh, we therefore pray Thee, who through Thy Word and Spirit hast caused us to join hands in advancing Thy cause, we pray Thee do not now forsake us, grant unto us Thy gracious presence at this gathering and henceforth, and do Thou ever aid us, for with- out Thee we can do naught but err, sin, and ruin Thy cause. Do Thou then work with us, enlighten us, sanctify us, strengthen us, bless us, and let a blessing proceed from all our gatherings, for the welfare of our dear charges, for the upbuilding of Thy whole Church, for the saving and salva- tion of many souls redeemed by Thy blood, and for the honor of Thy great name. Lord, we prostrate ourselves before Thee in our prayers, relying not on our righteousness, but on Thy great mercy; hear us for Thy mercy's and Thy truth's sake, Amen." The venerable Doctor preached on 1 Tim. 4, 16 : "Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee." He developed the thought — How important it is to make the saving of souls the one great object of our cooperative work in the kingdom of Christ. If we keep this one object steadily before us, we shall 1) Take heed unto ourselves, lest selfish motives enter into our common efforts; we shall 2) Take heed unto the doctrine, lest we lack in fidelity to the Word. 3) We shall "continue in them" (in our efforts to save souls), and not grow weak in the time of trial. We much regret that lack of space prevents reproduction here of the entire sermon. When perusing it, one is im- pressed not only with the masterly production, but still more with the conviction that if the saving of souls be made the paramount issue and object in all our church-work, be it congregational, sy nodical, or intersynodical, it would be the solution of all seemingly tangled problems. — THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SYNODICAL CONFERENCE. 320 Delegates, ministerial and lay, qualified from 1. the Synod of Ohio and Other States; 2. the Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States; 3. the Synod of Wisconsin; 4. the Nor- wegian Lutheran Synod; 5. the Synod of Illinois; 6. the Synod of Minnesota. In addition, quite a number of ad- visory members from the synods named were present. Conference now permanently organized by electing the following officers: Prof. C. F. W. Walther, President; Prof. W. F. Lehmann, Vice-President; Pastor P. Beyer, Secretary; Mr. J. Schmidt, Youngstown, O., Treasurer. On inquiry it was found that all the several synods had unanimously adopted and endorsed that draft of the consti- tution submitted by the committee of synodical represen- tatives. The unique and interesting historical fact stands out that the first doctrinal paper the Synodical Conference took up for discussion was one by Prof. M. Loy on Our Duty to the English-speaking Population of This Country. Bearing in mind that the composition of the Synodical Conference at that time was overwhelmingly German, and their mis- sionary interests wholly absorbed by the large influx of immigrants from Germany, it is all the more to their credit that they evinced interest in the topic of English mission - work. They took a timely and advanced view, as the follow- ing outline shows : — First Thesis: Our Evangelical Lutheran Church has, without questio'n, the mission to proclaim the great deeds of God in the English language in this country, for (1) she would otherwise not comply with the divine command to preach the Gospel to all creatures, and (2) she would not meet her specific obligation in this country. Second Thesis: The Synodical Conference is not absolved of this specific obligation on the ground a. That she must care for the German and Scandinavian members of the faith, for she is to do the one and not leave the other undone; nor on the assumption b. That other denominations amply cover this field; for the Church of the pure "Word, offering the whole counsel of 330 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SYNODICAL CONFERENCE. God for our salvation, can never rest content with having others preach only parts of this saving truth; nor on the ground c. That, the heterodox having already occupied the field, we, by working in English, would be accounted "as a busy- body in other men's matters." 1 Pet. 4, 15. We recognize and respect the parish rights of heterodox congregations also, but all souls beyond their pale must be considered mission material. Nor are we exempted from this obligation on the ground d. That certain other combinations of Lutherans, so called, exist, to whom such work in English should appeal. We cannot leave it to them, for they disseminate false doctrine with disdain, and they show marked lethargy in prosecuting English mission-work. Third Thesis: It is, therefore, the plain duty of our synods to see to it (a) that scattered fellow-Lutherans of the English tongue be gathered into congregations; (b) that con- gregations already existing be built up, and that those with- out be reached by ministration in English. Fourth Thesis: Hence it is the further duty of our congregations to cooperate in establishing truly Lutheran congregations, wherever a prospect, 'even distant, appears, by either giving financial aid, or by permitting free use of their churches, or by dismissing some of their members to the English organization. Fifth Thesis: Wherever there is any expectation, either of holding members who might otherwise fall to the sects, or of gaining such as would otherwise remain without, our pastors, if at all in a position to do so, should preach the Gospel also in English, until those of English tongue can call a pastor of their own. It follows that, in the training of our ministry, our seminarists, whenever this is at all feasible, should be enabled to preach also in English. Sixth Thesis: Since in our times and country, people do very much reading, it would be disloyal to our Church not to do all in our power to acquaint the English-speaking popu- THE ORGANIZATION OF THE 8YNODICAL CONFERENCE. 331 lation, by the spreading of periodicals and books, with the treasures of our Church. These theses were commented on favorably and unani- mously adopted. However, the main doctrinal, or exclusively doctrinal paper, of fully 48 pages in print, was on the pivotal question of Justification. This fact is in itself a confession. When men who represent a large proportion of Lutherans in this country meet for the first time, they naturally have much important business to transact, and when they subordinate .this to the discussion of a paper of 12 theses and devote seven of their sessions to its discussion, it shows that they as a body wished to teach and preach, first and foremost, that "a man is justified by faith alone, without the deeds of the Law." Dr. Walther said of this dissertation when the Proceedings had left the press: "The deliberations on the doctrine of justification lend to the report its peculiar value. The treatise on this doctrine, dear to the hearts of all, is not of the dry, learned-theological type, but practical, fully satisfy- ing any one seeking food for his soul." {Lutheraner, Vol. 28, p. 184.) It is of historic value, and it may be of interest to the reader, to note the names of the clerical delegates to this first convention of the Synodical Conference. The Ohio Synod was represented by Professors W. F. Leh- mann and Prof. M. Loy; Pastors E. Herbst, H. Belser, J. C. Schulze, F. A. Herzberger, G. Trebel. The Missouri Synod delegates were : Prof. C. F. W. Wal- ther; Pastors W. Sihler, Ph. D., F. J. Biltz, W. Bartling, A. Wagner, M. Tirmenstein, A. Crull, F. Lochner, C. J. A. Strasen, J. Herzer, Fr. Wyneken, Sr., H. Schwan, C. Gross, J. P. Beyer. The Wisconsin Synod was represented by President J. Bading, Prof. A. Ernst, and Pastor A. Hoenecke. The Norwegian Lutheran Synod had the following repre- sentatives : President H. A. Preus ; Pastors W. Koren, P. A. Easmussen, A. Mikkelsen ; Prof. F. A. Schmidt. 332 THE OPENING UP OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST. Delegates of the Illinois Synod: President F. Erdmann, Pastor F. Wolbrecht. Delegates of the Minnesota Synod: President J. H. Sieker, Pastor A. Kuhn. To the writer's knowledge the only living charter mem- bers of the Synodical Conference at present are Prof. em. J. Herzer and the venerable Prof. A. F. Ernst, Ph. D., president for many 'years of Northwestern College, Watertown, Wis. The venerable Doctor was a member of the committee that drafted the constitution of the Conference, and for the half century of its existence he was a regular and welcome atten- dant at the meetings. The Opening Up of the Great Northwest. Dr. F. Pfotenhauer, Chicago, 111. At the time when Minnesota was received into the Union, in 1858, several Lutheran colonists had already settled in this territory, particularly in Winona and Carver counties, and along the banks of the Mississippi as far up the river as the city of Minneapolis. Some of these settlers were members of congregations of our own Synod in Cleveland, O., and in the States of Wisconsin and Illinois, while others had emigrated a short time ago from Germany, especially from Pomerania and Hannover. A churchly tendency had been implanted in these people by faithful pastors, particularly by the Rev. Louis Harms of Hermannsburg. Accordingly, these pioneers gathered for so-called "reading services," to listen to the reading of Scriptures and of sermons. They were not satisfied, however, with this arrangement, but soon made earnest efforts to procure pastors and preachers of their own in their midst. The first truly Lutheran preacher came to Minnesota in the person of Rev. Sievers, Sr., of Bay City, Mich. The Northern District of our Synod had commissioned him in 1856 to explore the Territory of Minnesota. In conjunction with this, he was to visit the Indian mission at Crow Wing. THE OPENING UP OF THE GUI AT NORTHWEST. 333 This commission was discharged during the summer of L856, not without great difficulties and physical hardships. After reaching the railroad terminus at La Crosse, Wis., Rev. Sievers tramped his way along the Mississippi until he reached Minneapolis. Leaving Minneapolis, he struck out in a southwesterly direction till he reached Faribault. Through dense forests he traveled for many miles over pathless tracts, carrying his luggage, consisting of books and his small outfit of most necessary articles, on his back. All the while, however, he was eagerly engaged in trying to find fellow- Lutherans and refreshing them with the Word of Life. This journey was a great success. He found brethren in Min- neapolis, St. Paul, Maple Grove, Shakopee, Chaska, Carver, Henderson, Prairie Mount, St. Peter, Faribault, Red Wing, and in other localities. At several places he had the great satisfaction of being able to organize small Lutheran congre- gations. Thus a beginning was made to open up the great Northwest. The very next year, 1857, Synod sent two men into this new territory. In May, 1857, the Rev. Cloeter, Sr., who was appointed as Indian missionary, entered upon his work at Crow Wing, and, upon the urgent request of the congrega- tion in Carver County, Rev. Kahmeyer was sent to be their pastor. The Lutheraner of 1857, p. 15, reports these events as follows: "The readers of the Lutheraner, no doubt, will rejoice to hear that a preacher from our midst has now gone to Minnesota to minister to our German brethren in that territory. We expect our brother to be in the thick of his work when this issue reaches our readers. Ever since their arrival in Minnesota, our dear brethren in Carver County have earnestly sought by the grace of God to have the holy office of the ministry set up among them. Their wish has now been fulfilled; for the Lord has given them a preacher and pastor in the person of Mr. Kahmeyer, a graduate of our seminary at Fort Wayne. He was ordained by the present writer, Rev. Polack assisting, on August 19, 1857, by order of the venerable Vice-President of the Western District, the Rev. J. F. Buenger. August 20 found him already on his way 334 THE OPENING UP OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST. to his charge, urged onward by his call and his cordial love for the holy office of the ministry. We should all have pre- ferred to see Kev. Kahmeyer ordained within his own charge ; however, the journey necessary in order to ordain him there would have cost a great deal of money, which, we believed, could be spent to greater advantage by aiding Eev. Kahmeyer in purchasing a horse in order that he might the better discharge the duties of an evangelical preacher not only in his immediate neighborhood, but in a wider sphere." During the first years the pio- neers did not venture out upon the endless prairies, but settled in woodlands and along water- courses, where they found better shelter against the inclemency of the weather, and could more readily procure the necessities of life than out on the prairies. The work of our ministers among these people was exceed- ingly difficult. They had to cover long distances, partly on foot, through forests and swamps, in order to minister the Word and the Sacraments to their scat- tered fellow-Lutherans. Because of the primitive and altogether inadequate means of transpor- tation, they were, moreover, entirely cut off from their brethren in the East. As regards the form which their church organization was to assume, they were thrown almost exclusively upon their own resources. But they were careful to have their congregations place themselves from the start fully and unreservedly on the Lutheran Confessions, and thus grow up into well-organized congregations. In this endeavor they were very ably supported by individual members who had become indoctrinated by reading our periodicals, and studying the writings of Luther and Walther during the long winter evenings. President F. Pfotcnhauer, D.D. One of the pioneer missionaries in the Great Northwest. THE OPENING Ul* OF THE GBEAT NOBTHWE8T. 335 Particular difficulties were created for our pastors in the education of the young, but they found ways and means to overcome them. Especially during the winter months, the ministers would gather the children about them, sometimes even lodging a number of them in their own narrow homes, where they were thoroughly instructed in the Catechism and Bible history, and, in addition, were given the necessary training in reading, writing, and arithmetic. In many places these manse schools preceded the public schools, so that, while many children of unchurched parents during those pioneer days grew up wholly illiterate, our pastors and congregations provided for their children as good an educa- tion as the stress of those pioneer days permitted. Until the year 1870 progress was rather slow. Still our Synod in that year had 16 pastors in Minnesota, who labored almost exclusively in the eastern part of the State, which at that time was embraced in the Northern, and, since 1875, in the Northwestern District. In the seventies, however, when immigration into this country, and particularly into this sec- tion, made such rapid strides, Minnesota was brought more and more to the attention of these Districts, as a promising mission-field. Not only were missionaries provided for the field, but a beginning was also made to provide them with some means, chiefly to enable them to purchase a saddle horse or a horse and buggy. Prior to this time it had been the custom simply to send those pastors on their mission, without making any provision for their support. The itinerant preachers were now assigned their fields according to a definite plan: mission centers were estab- lished, and from these centers, or bases, the territory round about was thoroughly canvassed. Such centers were Carver County, Sauk Center, Leaf Valley, and Freiberg in the northern, Fairfield in the western, Willow Creek and Court- land in the southern part of the State. The missionaries in these fields were self-sacrificing men, their hearts throbbing with the love of Christ and His people, men staunch and sturdy in all sorts of weather. Day and night they would ride their ponies, or drive their buggies over the lonely 336 THE OPENING UP OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST. prairies. Wherever they found a few Lutherans, they preached, and, in the course of time, a congregation would be organized. One of our preachers in this field, for instance, served 42 stations and 500 families in those days. His terri- tory extended from Sauk Center across Minnesota as far as Big Stone Lake in the Territory of Dakota. To add to these difficulties, many sectarian revivalists, especially the Albrights, entered these colonies and caused many distur- bances with their revival meetings. Frequently it happened that our pastors met with these fanatics. On such occasions sharp encounters took place, and not infrequently these led to heated public debates. The result was that our people were induced to "search the Scriptures" as the people at Berea to see "whether these things were so." Our people became more and more grounded in doctrine, particularly in the doctrines of conversion and of the means of grace. A prominent and very successful feature in the practise of our missionaries in their work was that they never gave up as hopeless any station, no matter how few their hearers were. This practise of being faithful in small things was wonderfully blessed by the Lord. In many localities where, forty or fifty years ago, the itinerant preacher would gather about him a few hearers in a small room, there are to-day large, magnificent churches. And while but very few preaching-stations and congregations have been discontinued, there is to-day hardly a trace to be found of the clamorous proceedings of the sectarian preachers of those days. Our missionaries of the pioneer days of the Northwest have long finished their race. Their pictures are not hung in the State Capitol at St. Paul among the pioneers, their names are not mentioned in the history of the State, but they have contributed much to the colonization of Minnesota and its rapid development. Above all, they have been to many the guides to life everlasting, and under severe trials and hardships have laid the foundation of a sound church organization. The importance of adopting correct principles and methods in organizing a congregation can hardly be overestimated. If a mistake is made at this point, it is sure THE OrENING UP OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST. 337 to be passed on from generation to generation. If, however, a good foundation is laid at once, blessings are entailed upon children and children's children. Those pioneers are to be numbered with the heroes of faith, described in the words of the Epistle to the Hebrews: "They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented ; (of whom the world was not worthy;) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens, and caves of the earth." Heb. 11, 37. 38. When the year 1880 was ushered in, the mission in this territory had become so strong that it was decided to ask the Delegate Synod, or General Body, to create a separate Dis- trict in the Northwest. Synod granted this request, and the congregations were permitted to establish the Minnesota and Dakota District. The activities of this newly created District were to extend over the State of Minnesota, the Territories of Dakota and Montana, and Northwestern Canada. At the time of its organization, in 1882, this Dis- trict was listed with 49 pastors, 13 teachers, and 21 lay delegates. Rev. Strasen, Sr., in his address to this District synod, said among other things : "Your District is really and truly a mission District. Great numbers of immigrants con- tinue to settle in Minnesota and Dakota. If you cherish God's Word, how will your hearts swell with joy at the sight of these thousands! With what cheerfulness will you, as servants of the Word, hasten to these forsaken people to break the Bread of Life to them and to refresh them with the Water of Life! With what readiness, too, will the con- gregations which are animated with love of the Word of God permit their preachers to go for a time to serve those distant regions and in other ways be glad to support this work and at the same time regard themselves unworthy of the favor which God accords them by permitting them thus to serve in the promulgation of His precious Word ! Believe me, my dear brethren, for it is most certainly true, without this cordial delight in the Word of God the work of missions is of no value; for in that case nothing will be done as it should be done, and the work will consequently bear no EBENEZER. 22 338 THE OPENING UP OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST. genuine fruit. You, my dear brethren, with others, however, are called chiefly to do this missionary work. Therefore, may God give you, as He surely will, in increasing measure whatever you need !" These prophetic words have been most wonderfully ful- filled. The growth of our Synod in the Northwest now assumed unlooked-for dimensions. By the providence of God several factors worked together to bring about this growth. The newly organized District carried on its mission-work in a systematic way. At its conventions a detailed report was given of the work done, and this was followed by thorough deliberations. The Board of Missions was earnestly devoted to this worthy cause, and provided the missionaries with the necessary means of support, though these could be supplied only moderately. The conferences of the District tried to find ways and means for opening up new territories. About this time railroad construction advanced with enormous strides. While formerly the railroad had come in the wake of the immigrants, it now ran ahead of them. As a result, the prairies lost their terrors and were speedily settled. The invention of harvesting machinery rendered it possible to put large tracts of land under cultivation with great profit to the farmers. Thus the Northwest attracted thousands of settlers from other States. Moreover, an enormous immigra- tion to America was started in Germany, particularly among the Protestants of the peasant class. Add to this that our college and seminary facilities had been increased, making it possible to send more men into this field than previous years. The number of graduates from our seminaries that entered the work of this mission District increased from year to year. These young men took hold of the work filled with enthusiasm and energy. They traversed the prairies in all directions, and extended the work begun by the first pioneers. Southern and Central Minnesota were completely changed into a gar- den of God, in which a perfect chain of Christian congrega- tions flourished. Thorough work was done in the Red River Valley. The messengers of the Word advanced as far as the Mississippi, thence northward to the borders of Canada, and THE OPENING Ur OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST. 339 along the Rainy River to Port Arthur on Lake Superior, and into the iron ore district north of Duluth. Thus the whole State of Minnesota was covered with a network of nourishing Lutheran congregations. In 1893, our Synod had gained such strength in the Northwest that the Delegate Synod enthusiastically decided to erect a college in the twin cities of St. Paul and Min- neapolis, where a number of congregations were already flourishing. This resolution was promptly carried into effect. The institution grew rapidly and provides for the training of ministers of the Gospel. While the work of missions was carried on for a number of years in Minnesota, work was begun also in the Territory of Dakota. This vast area, comprising the present States of North Dakota and South Dakota, is one endless, rolling prairie. Only the Black Hills are seen rising above the horizon. This explains why little or no colonization took place in this country before the coming of railroads, though the soil, particularly in the eastern section, is very rich. It was not till the beginning of the early seventies that a number of German emigrants settled in Southeastern Dakota. These settlers came from the southern part of Russia; they professed themselves members of the Lutheran Church, and desired to have the ministry of the Church established among them. Their wish was granted by our pastor at Fort Dodge, who visited them, and in September, 1874, moved with his family into Dakota. This missionary gave the following report at that time : "A great part of these Russians rejoiced to have found in America the pure Word of God, and a pastor who faithfully ministered the same to them. They love and esteem the sacred office of the ministry, whereas the ministry has fallen into contempt with the so- called Stundists (Stundenbrueder) . I am thoroughly con- vinced that God, who is faithful, will, in His own time, develop these people. Even now there are several most ex- cellent men among them, who are models in every respect. Despite the fact that several congregations were lost, I still have a great field to work in: I preach at 26 stations and 340 TIIE OPENING UP OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST. serve about 225 families. These congregations and preaching- stations are scattered over eight counties, making it quite impossible for me to preach more than once every four to six weeks in the larger congregations. Including these Russian families, I also have to serve from 50 to 60 German families at several preaching-places. These German families are a source of joy and pleasure to me; during my forced absence they meet Sunday after Sunday and conduct ^reading-services'; they instruct their children in the Word of God, and are truly peaceable in their mutual relations. The 'reading-services' on Sunday are faithfully attended also by the Russians. In short, I can say with a cheerful, heart that our beloved Lutheran Church has gained a firm foothold in Dakota. All glory and honor be to God! He who has hitherto helped and blessed the work will also bless, according to His exceeding grace and love, our poor efforts in the future, for His glory and the salvation of many souls. The prospects for the future are very promising, as great numbers of Germans from Southern Russia are still arriving; even from the United States Germans in increasing numbers are choosing Dakota for their new home, because under the Homestead Law there are still vast tracts of government land to be had gratis, and, barring the cold in winter, which is indeed severe at times, the land and climate of Dakota are as good as that of any part of the United States. True, it seems to be the lot of our dear Synod everywhere to pass through more or less grievous conflicts. To a large extent, this is also the case with our missions in Dakota. Neverthe- less, I firmly trust that even in this territory the Lord will crown our labors and conflicts with glorious blessings and victories." (Lutheraner 32, 64.) What this missionary wrote nearly 50 years ago has been fulfilled. Incessantly immigrants poured into Dakota by the southern gateway. Gradually our field of operations extended as far as the Missouri River. When the railroad between Montevideo and Aberdeen was completed in 1880, the stream of immigrants began to flow into South Dakota also from this point, and our missionaries followed in its wake or were THE OPENING UT OF THE GBEAT NORTHWEST. 341 carried along* with the rush to Dakota. Quite frequently it happened that the missionaries would invite these people to their services, while the settlers were engaged in building their shacks or establishing themselves in their sod-houses. It was not a rare occurrence that new neighbors first learned to know each other after the service, and were happy to find brethren in the faith so near. It was no great achievement in those days to organize a number of preaching-stations within a few weeks. In 1893 mission-work was commenced in the Black Hills territory. The work here progressed slowly, but at present the work is beginning to prosper. The Sanatorium at Hot Springs is owned by a company of men who are members of our Lutheran congregations, and is con- ducted in a Lutheran spirit. So bountifully did the Lord bless the work in South Dakota that in 1906 it was made pos- sible to organize South Dakota as a separate District, which is earnestly striving to enforce sound methods of church-work in the congregations and to extend its mission-work. The northern part of Dakota, now the State of North Dakota, was first served in 1873 or 1874 by our pastor near Fergus Falls, Minn. A few Lutherans had settled in the fertile Red River Valley, in the vicinity of what now is Hankinson. To these people a graduate from our seminary was sent in 1876. When he entered upon his office, the con- gregation numbered 13 voting- members, and owned a small frame church. The week after his installation the pastor began to teach school. Until Easter he had not more than five pupils. Conditions here were exceedingly poor. The winters were long and cold, and the loneliness was great, being interrupted only by the occasional visit of Indians on their bartering trips. Moreover, fanatics were at work also in this region. There was talk in the small congregation about moving away from this inhospitable locality. But the settlers remained and became very well to do. At present our Synod has in this section many large, well-organized con- gregations, with magnificent churches. The great flood of immigration which poured over the entire Northwest ex- tended also into North Dakota. In a short time the Red 342 THE OPENING UP OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST. Eiver Valley from Traverse Lake to British America was staked off in claims. Next the settlers followed the railroads that were built across North Dakota, such as the Northern Pacific and Great Northern, and the mission-work was ex- tended northward to the border of Montana. Those Lu- therans from our congregations, however, who had settled in the central part of North Dakota, i. e., west of Bismarck, on the west side of the Missouri River, were regularly served for a while by traveling missionaries from Minnesota. They are the stock from which a group of flourishing congregations has sprung. West of Dakota lies glorious Montana. Mission-work was begun here by our Synod in the year 1884. On a journey through the Red River Valley, traveling missionaries had met a Christian woman from Miles City, Montana, who ex- pressed an earnest desire that a beginning be made of preach- ing the Gospel to her people. Besides, our missionary to the immigrants at New York, Rev. Keyl, had written, informing the Board of Missions of the Minnesota and Dakota District that immigrants had settled in Montana. Accordingly, the Board sent two men to explore this unknown territory. This was done in the years 1884 to 1886. The Northern Pacific Railroad had completed its line to the Pacific Coast. This made it possible for our traveling missionaries to visit Mon- tana. The eastern section of the Territory of Montana in those days was given exclusively to cattle-raising, while mining was the chief enterprise in the western part, in the Rocky Mountains. The mining section was even then settled by a goodly number of people. When the gold craze was rushing thousands of people to California, small detachments separated themselves in Utah from the caravans traveling across the country, and, following the Indian paths, came to Montana in quest of gold. They did find gold and in a short time the mining camps in Montana grew to be cities. Virginia City, Helena, and Butte developed from such mining camps. The rich, fertile Gallatin Valley furnished the sur- rounding country with the necessities of life. Before the railroad was built, these settlers in Montana were entirely THE OPENING UP OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST. 3 ] 3 cut off from the rest of civilization. Our traveling; mis- sionaries met people who had not heard a sermon in twenty- five years. Preaching was begun in Miles City, Bozeman, Helena, Deer Lodge, Butte, and other cities; children were baptized, and many a starving soul was refreshed with the Holy Sacrament. In the fall of 1886 the first pastor of Mon- tana was stationed at Helena, and, as the years rolled by, others were added in different parts of the State. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the eastern part of the State was opened up to agriculture, and it was then that missionary work was zealously carried on from the west, so that in a few years our missionaries could join hands with their brethren operating from the east, from North Dakota. Since 1910, North Dakota and Montana are organized as a separate District, in which much mission-work remains to be done even to-day. During the colonization of the Northwest of the United States, a new Northwest was being opened up in Canada. This was the vast territory that extends from the Eed River to the Pacific Coast. It consists in part of a great prairie and in part of mountainous country. The prairie extends from Winnipeg to Calgary, a distance of 800 miles. The soil is extremely fertile, and is irrigated by the mighty Sas- katchewan River, which has its source in the Rocky Moun- tains, flows through Lake Winnipeg, and empties into Hudson Bay. In places the prairie is broken up by poplar woods. West of Calgary rise the majestic Rockies. From the foot of the Rockies to Vancouver is a distance of 600 miles. As far back as the two last decades of the preceding century frequent attempts at colonization were made, however, with little success. The opinion prevailed that this country in the northern latitudes, where the thermometer in winter drops below 50 degrees, and the summers are of short duration, was not adapted to agriculture. However, about the year 1900 a sudden change set in. Railroads were built in all direc- tions, cities were founded, and the land was advertised throughout the whole world. Moreover, God from heaven gave rain and fruitful seasons. Immigrants now poured into 344 THE OPENING UP OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST. Canada's Northwest, where land was to be had gratis, as formerly in the United States under the Homestead Act. Families with abundant means came from the United States and laid out excellent farms. From Russia and Austria thousands upon thousands came to settle in Canada. The Union Station in Winnipeg was turned into another Castle Garden. The wide prairies were soon dotted with settlements and changed into one of the richest granaries of the world. Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary, and Edmonton soon grew into great metropolises. Then came the horrible war, in which Canada took an active part from the very beginning. It paralyzed the further development of this wealthy country. Our Synod was in the Canadian mission-field from the beginning and is most intimately connected with the history of Canada. During the Pentecostal season of 1879, our pastor at St. Paul, Minn., visited ten Lutheran families in the little village of Ossowo, in the province of Manitoba, ministered the Word and Sacrament to them, and confirmed a class of young catechumens. This was the beginning of regular missionary trips made by our pastors of Northern Minnesota into Manitoba. In 1892 the first missionary was stationed at Winnipeg. His first report was as follows: "My mission territory is in Manitoba and Assiniboia. In Manitoba, where I made my first attempt, not many German families are living; the majority of settlers are British, Scandinavians, and Indians. Having traversed the country in every direction, I was able at length to establish six small preaching-stations consisting of three, four, or six families. Most of these people are emigrants from our congregations in Dakota and Ontario. Even in Winnipeg the number of Germans is quite small. Still, I have preached there lately twice every Sunday. Winnipeg is a very important city, being the capital of Manitoba, and also the terminal station for all Germans. During this year, already 6,000 families have arrived from Germany, Austria, and Russia. The people are very, very poor, most of them having been exiled from their country because of their faith. As regards their religion, they can be classed for the most part as Lutherans and THE OPENING UP OF tiif. GREAT nortiiwkst. :;.]., Reformed. Accordingly, I cherish a well-grounded hope that there will be an increase for our Lutheran Church. — In Assiniboia, where two missionaries of the General Council are already at work, there are large German settlements. One colony, served by myself, consists of 30 faithful, energetic Christian families, whose members drive ox-carts seven to eight miles every Sunday to attend service, and carefully test every sermon by means of the Scriptures. I serve another colony of Germans who have emigrated from Dakota. This colony is 325 miles northwest of Winnipeg and 65 miles from the nearest railroad station. In one month I have traveled 900 miles by rail, 130 miles by wagon and on foot; in eight months I have covered about 7,000 miles in all directions. Last month I was home but three days." Now, while our activities continued to spread from the east to the west, and one missionary after the other was placed into this territory, a new center was created in Alberta, 1,000 miles west of Winnipeg, in the neighborhood of Edmonton. A great number of families had immigrated here from Austria and were waiting to be served by a pastor from our Synod. Our traveling missionary in Montana was sent out on an exploration trip. He set out for this section, traveling along the eastern side of the Rockies into Canada. His report was so favorable that it was at once decided to station a pastor at this distant place. Now, from this center the Word was carried in every direction. The missionary organized congregations at Calgary and Pincher Creek. He traveled through British Columbia as far as Vancouver, and saw to it that ever more men were sent into this field, who pushed their missionary work eastward, until they hailed their brethren operating from the East, and the net that had been spread over Canada was closed. The Lord has so sig- nally blessed our work in Canada that Alberta and British Columbia have formed a District of their own last year, and this year, in all probability, Saskatchewan and Manitoba will separate from the Minnesota District, which has faithfully served this immense territory these many years. Moreover, a college of our Synod was opened last fall at Edmonton. 346 THE OPENING UP OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST. Thus we have briefly sketched what our beloved Synod has contributed to the opening up of the Northwest of our continent. In the regions where our first missionary in 1856 made his lonely journeys, visiting small, insignificant colo- nies, we have to-day 446 pastors and 69 teachers, serving 978 congregations and mission-places with about 128,988 souls, who will in the near future form five synodical Districts. The ' opening up of the Northwest was a difficult and arduous undertaking. It necessitated privations and hard- ships on the part of the missionary and no less on the part of the missionary's wife, who followed gladly and willingly, wherever the Lord sent her husband, giving up every comfort to live for Christ's sake in great loneliness. Moreover, she was a true helper to the missionary by taking an active in- terest in his work, hospitably opening her home to strangers, and in many instances teaching her husband's school when the latter was absent for weeks. At the opening up of the Northwest the blessed angels, too, ministered their help. Travel in this vast region is oftentimes dangerous. The terrible snow-storms, usually rising quite suddenly, soon cover up every trail and envelop the traveler as in a bag while the cold is continually in- creasing. Even the stanchest heart is filled with fear when overtaken by such a storm while traveling alone. In former years these blizzards exacted their toll of human lives every winter. When the gentle breezes of spring blow, the little creeks and rivulets become torrents, which it is next to im- possible to ford for man or beast. To these and many other risks our traveling missionaries were, and still are, exposed, yet not one of them in the past 65 years has lost his life while performing the work to which the Lord has called him. The words of Ps. 91, 11 have been fulfilled : "He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways." We praise God for spreading His Word rapidly through- out the Northwest. May He keep and evermore spread it in that territory for the salvation of many immortal souls and unto the glory of His holy name! THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. 347 The March toward the Pacific Coast. Rev. Ernest Eckhardt, St. Louis, Mo. At a time when almost all parts of our country have been touched by civilization; when fast trains with their dining- cars, parlor-cars, and Pullman coaches, electric interurban cars and automobiles, from high-priced Pierce-Arrows to common Fords, have reduced distance and made travel com- paratively inexpensive and a real pleasure; and when mail deliveries and telephone service have been extended to rural districts, the difficulties and the hardships of the early Western pioneers in our church-work are not easily appre- ciated. Their faith and love and zeal ought to be an inspira- tion to us who are permitted to continue their work under less trying conditions. In the following paragraphs we shall speak of the extension of our Synod's work in the Western part of our country. Iowa.* In the fall of 1848 the Eev. F. Lochner of St. Louis (later of Galena, 111.) was authorized by Synod to make an exploration trip to Iowa, of which he gave an account in the Lutheraner. He visited Keokuk, Fort Madison, Burlington, Davenport, Iowa City, and Dubuque. But the people of these places were found unapproachable, and for eight years thereafter no more missionary efforts were made. In 1856 the first resident pastor of the Missouri Synod, the Eev. H. Graetzel, took charge of a small congregation in Maxfield Township, Bremer County, but he remained only one-half year. At about the same time the Rev. C. A. T. Selle, of Rock Island, began to preach in Iowa City and in Benton County. Eventually a congregation was organized in Iowa City, and Candidate F. Doescher became its pastor on the twenty-second Sunday after Trinity, November 20, 1859. Pastor Doescher labored untiringly and extended his work to many parts of the State. For a time he visited twenty-eight * This account of the Iowa District was written by the Rev, Th. Hanssen of Bremer, Iowa. 348 THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. preaching-stations, traveling three hundred and twenty-five miles to complete the circuit. He established eight self- supporting parishes. Pastors H. Lossner, of Boonesboro, near Boone, and H. Wehrs were active in a similar way, the latter having become the successor to the Rev. Doescher in Iowa City in 1863. Strange as it seems, the first two congrega- tions founded in the State went over to the Iowa Synod, and the first two pastors, Graetzel and Doescher, joined the Ohio Synod. Towards the close of 1865 there were three pastors and a theological student of our Synod in Iowa : H. Wehrs in Iowa City, F. Doescher at State Center, E. A. Schuermann in Iowa County, and Ph. Studt (student of theology) in Benton County. After the close of the Civil War, Iowa began to enjoy great prosperity. Old settlers from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and other States, and also many immigrants from Germany came to Iowa to improve their condition, and, indeed, they came to a State richly blessed with a productive soil. In 1850, 5,688,620 persons born in Germany were in our country; ten years later their number had increased to 7,461,724. During the first eight months of 1857, 140,000 immigrants, mostly Germans, had landed in this country and settled principally in Iowa and Minnesota. Our pastors called on as many of these newcomers as they could reach, and min- istered to their spiritual needs. The harvest truly was plenteous, but the laborers were few. In 1869 the number of pastors had increased to eleven, and their time was fully taken up by the work in their congregations and in their parochial schools. But their congregations, being mindful of the blessings which they had received from others, were almost always willing to permit their pastors to bring the bread of life to such as were without it. In 1871 the Rev. Mr. Mertens traveled as an itinerant preacher (Reiseprediger) with horse and wagon through the northwestern part of Iowa. During that year he covered 6,622 miles and preached 169 times. Even in 1874 he served 120 preaching-stations. Pastors Alexander and Rupprecht succeeded him as itinerant preachers in Iowa. THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. 349 Iii 1878 the Second Delegate Synod, which assembled in St. Louis, was petitioned to permit Iowa to become a separate District. The petition being granted, the Iowa District con- vened for its first session August 20, 1879, in Fort Dodge; twenty synodical congregations, forty-one pastors (nineteen voting, twenty -two advisory), three teachers, and eighteen lay delegates were present; two congregations were excused for not sending delegates. Prof. C. F. W. Walther, D. D., read the doctrinal essay, and Prof. Aug. Craemer of Spring- field, 111., was present by special invitation. The first officers of the District were: Pastor J. L. Craemer, President; Pas- tor Th. Braeuer, Vice-President; Pastor J. Fackler, Secre- tary ; Mr. J. P. Eademacher, a teacher, Treasurer. The first Mission Board consisted of Pastors J. Horn, G. Haar, and a teacher, Mr. L. Voudt. According to incomplete reports the Iowa District had 4,600 souls at the time of its organiza- tion, approximately 1,400 voting members in its churches, and 1,000 pupils in its parochial schools. From the very outset Northwestern Iowa was a most promising mission -field. A line drawn from Hampton, Franklin Co., both west and north shows the territory in which we have outstripped other Lutheran synods in the State. In the northeastern part we are, although well rep- resented, outnumbered by the Iowa Synod. In a not very wide central belt, east and west, we have as many congrega- tions as the Iowa Synod and other synods; the various congregations are either side by side, or partly in the same territory. In Southwestern Iowa we are fairly well repre- sented, but in the southern part of the State the German Evangelical Synod of North America (JJnierte Kirche) has more churches than we. The fields were held by the synods that came first. Missionary opportunities are still good in Iowa. — In 1891 a Church Extension Fund was established. The Iowa District has always taken a very active part in the work of the General Body : in its missions, colleges, and other undertakings. In 1915 Director Buenger, of St. Paul, was invited to make a house-to-house canvass among the congregations for a new college-building. The collection 350 THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. amounted to $32,488. For the Lutheran Laymen's League the Iowa District collected $183,474.30. In order to increase the interest in the great work of Synod, the Iowa District, since 1909, distributes the District Synodical Eeport among all members in the congregations, the congregations lifting a collection for this purpose. A summarized report of all the moneys collected during the calendar year by each con- gregation has been published since 1912. A Children's Home-finding Society is located at Fort Dodge, a hospital at Sioux City (1903), and another hospital at Hampton (1916). The Iowa District has grown from forty-one pastors, three teachers, and twenty synodical congregations in 1879 to one hundred and forty pastors, forty-two teachers, and one hundred thirty-two synodical congregations in 1921. In 1904, the twenty-fifth year of its existence, the District collected for the various treasuries of Synod a total of $14,481.57, or about 65% cents per communicant. Since 1915 the majority of our congregations are distributing their contributions ac- cording to an annual budget. In that year $52,435.16, or $2.09% per communicant, were collected; in 1920, $87,475.50, or $3.24 per communicant. California and Oregon. In 1856 Pastor Herman Fick called Synod's attention to the large mission-field in California. Inexhaustible gold- fields lured marry people at that time to California. Where formerly there was a barren desert, in which only some Indian tribes and a few Mexicans were to be found, soon flourishing and popular cities arose. It was not until August 24, 1860, however, that the first pastor of our Synod, Pastor Jacob M. Buehler, after a journey of twenty-four days, came to San Francisco. Buehler soon was called by a so-called Lutheran congregation whose most influential members were freethinkers and rationalists, who had deposed their former pastor because he was leading an offensive life. For conscience' sake Pastor Buehler could not accept this call. "Almost all the German people here," wrote Pastor THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. 351 Buehler, "live without God in this world." The congrega- tion at San Francisco, however, whose call Pastor Buehler could not for conscience' sake accept, i)ermitted him to preach in their church, and soon a number of faithful Lu- theran families were found, and the number of his hearers grew from Sunday to Sunday. Soon Pastor Buehler had as many as 75 hearers, and on November 8, 1860, a congregation with 40 members was organized. The small church which the congregation had bought was not well located. Then it became necessary to use a Pres- byterian church, in a new loca- tion, on Sunday afternoons. A number of members, how- ever, would not consent, and therefore separated. The ser- vices, however, were well at- tended at the new location, and soon it was decided to build a church. A plot of ground was bought for $5,000, and the corner-stone was laid on Octo- ber 31, 1864. At first only the basement for a church was built and covered with a temporary roof. The complete brick church, costing about $30,000, was not dedicated until De- cember 30, 1866. Pastor Buehler preached on the subject: "When is this church -building truly a house of God?" Pastor Ebert preached in the evening service. After two years trouble arose in the congregation. Cer- tain people would not permit the pastor to have any part in the affairs of the church council or of the congregation ; he was not even to be an advisory member of the congregation. Trouble also arose on account of the lodges. Finally, in 1867, Pastor Buehler's conscience persuaded him to resign, but he at once began to gather a new congregation. On Easter Sunday, 1867, Buehler preached in a rented hall. A number of faithful members stood by him. When an opportunity Rev. J. M. Buehler, Synod's Pioneer on the Pacific Coast. 352 THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. presented itself to buy a beautiful church, well located, for $24,000, the new congregation closed the deal, paying $14,000 cash, and on the First Sunday in Advent, 1867, dedicated the church. Also at San Francisco the Gospel proved to be a power of God, and out of the mass of unbelievers a remnant gathered which would not cast aside the grace of God. While at San Francisco, Pastor Buehler established a church at Sacramento, which at that time had about 25,000 inhabitants, one-third of whom were Germans. Buehler preached there for the first time in the spring of 1861. His hearers earnestly requested him to preach to them regularly. While Buehler's congregation at San Francisco was reno- vating the church, Buehler spent six weeks in canvassing Sacramento. As a result, a congregation was organized with 52 heads of families, and a certain Pastor Bartling was called. A great flood, however, which did much damage in the city, interfered; Pastor Bartling declined the call, and the congregation finally fell into the hands of a preacher of no particular creed. The California mission-field was too large for one man. Although as early as 1861 efforts were made to call a second pastor and money was collected for this purpose, it was not until 1878 that Pastor Hoernicke took charge of the work at Placerville, CaL, and not until 1880 that Pastor L. Wagner, of Chicago, was installed on Sunday Bogate as Pastor Buehler's assistant and first missionary for the State of California. Pastor Buehler himself then undertook a mis- sionary tour throughout the State and visited many places; Pastor Wagner did likewise. On the 12th Sunday after Trinity, 1880, the first services were held at Oakland, and already on the following Sunday a Sunday-school of 75 chil- dren was organized. Oakland was served by Pastor Wagner. Soon our Church also found an open door in the State of Oregon, and 'our Synod was called upon to send additional workers. In the same year, 1880, Pastors M. L. Wyneken and H. C. Craemer came to Los Angeles. A few years later the Cali- fornia and Oregon District of our Synod was organized with THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. 353 12 pastors, 2 teachers, and 7 congregations. The first meet- ing of the District was held September 21, 1887, in St. Paul's Church at San Francisco. President Schwan had come to bring greetings and encouragement to the new District. The following pastors were members of the District at that time : Voting pastors : J. M. Buehler, M. Claus, E. Doering, J. Kogler, P. G. Jacobsen, G. Runkel; advisory pastors: E. P. Block, G. H. Hoernicke, J. H. Schroeder, J. M. Theiss, Er. Selle. (Pastors Claus, Doering, and Selle were located in Oregon.) .Pastor Chr. Meyer was received as a member. On account of the great distances on the Pacific coast, the pastors and congregations of Oregon and Washington in 1899 formed their own District. Two preparatory schools, or colleges, were established on the Pacific coast, Concordia College of Portland, Oreg., in 1905, and California Concordia College of Oakland, Cal., in 1906. In 1920 the California and Nevada District numbered 57 pastors, 63 congregations, 34 preaching-places, and 13,583 souls ; the Oregon and Wash- ington District, 52 pastors, 58 congregations, 65 preaching- places, and 9,996 souls. Kansas. In the year 1860 a certain Pastor Eritze visited his relatives at Diamond Creek near Council Grove, Kans. On his homeward journey he found a number of Lutherans at Lyons Creek and at Clarks Creek. He informed the Presi- dent of our Synod, Pastor Wyneken, of the spiritual needs of the Lutherans in Kansas. As a result Candidate F. W. Lange was sent to Kansas as our first missionary in that State. He traveled from Fort Wayne over Chicago to Iowa City, where Pastor Lossner was in charge of a congregation. From Iowa City — the railroad did not go any farther — he, together with Pastor Lossner, continued his missionary trip with horse and buggy to Council Bluffs, Nebraska City, and Topeka, Kans. After three weeks, on August 13, 1861, the two men arrived at Clarks Creek. "During these three weeks," writes Pastor Lange, "wTe were day an'd night under God's open sky; our meals consisted of bread which we bought from the settlers and coffee which we cooked." Pastor EBENEZER. 23 354 THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. Lange preached his first sermon August 17, 1861. The first congregational meeting was held September 1. Clarks Creek served as a basis from which a number of preaching-places were established. Pastor Lossner of Iowa, who had brought Candidate Lange to Kansas, stopped on his homeward journey at Leavenworth, where, north of the city, he found a Lutheran family. On the 25th day of August he preached there in a Methodist church. As a result, Candidate M. Meyer was sent to Leavenworth, arriving November 9, 1861. In the mean time Pastor Lange had preached several times. No pastor of our Synod being near by, neither Pastors Lange nor Meyer could be ordained until Pastor Biltz came to Kansas in the spring of 1862. He ordained Pastor Meyer on Sunday Jubilate, and Pastor Meyer ordained Pastor Lange on the 12th Sunday after Trinity, 1862. At Leavenworth, where Meyer was pastor for twenty years, the first Lutheran church-building in Kansas was dedicated on Christmas Day, 1862 ; the first Lutheran parochial school was established on Easter Sunday, 1863, and the first Lutheran parochial school teacher was called, Mr. C. Th. Diessner. Flourishing congre- gations were also established in the surrounding country, at Weston, Potter, and Farley. After two years Pastor Lange, of Clarks Creek, accepted an urgent call to Humboldt, Kans., which, with its surround- ing territory, became the third mission-field of our Synod in Kansas. At Humboldt the second Lutheran church-building in Kansas was dedicated on Sunday Rogate, 1866. Pastor Lange's former mission-charge at Clarks Creek was supplied by Pastor C. Berner, who was installed on Pentecost Sunday, 1863. During his pastorate this mission territory was divided, and Pastor R. Koehler was installed at Lyons Creek on the 7th Sunday after Trinity, 1865. We now had four mis- sionaries in Kansas. In 1866 the itinerant missionary for Missouri, Pastor C. F. Liebe, visited the northeastern part of Kansas, preaching at Atchison and at other places in the neighborhood. Pastor Lorenz Menge was installed at Atchison on Sunday Invocavit, THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. 355 1867, and in December of the same year the third Lutheran church-building in Kansas was dedicated. After Pastor Menge's death, Pastor G. Landgraf was installed as his suc- cessor on December 1, 1867. He did mission-work also near Bremen, preaching his first sermon there on Trinity Sunday, 1868. Congregations were established at Lawrence and Eudora, where Pastor E. Sitzmann was installed on the 4th Sunday after Trinity, 1867. In the same year, on Sunday Quinquagesima, Pastor W. Zschoche was installed near Paola. During this time President J. F. Buenger made an extended missionary journey through Kansas, obtaining personal knowledge of the spiritual needs of the scattered Lutherans. As a result three additional workers were sent to Kansas in 1869: C. H. Lueker, installed on the 8th Sunday after Trinity at Lyons Creek; Jonas Matthias, installed on the 9th Sunday after Trinity near Bremen; H. C. Senne, in- stalled on the 12th Sunday after Trinity at Mill Creek. This is a brief sketch of the beginnings of the Missouri Synod in Kansas. It was not an easy task. One of the mis- sionaries at that time wrote to a friend: "You can at least buy postage stamps. I cannot do that, as my people have no money." Eor two years' work one missionary received not quite $100. The congregation in Humboldt promised the first missionary an annual salary of $65 and from every member a sack of wheat and five bushels of corn. As a result of the war and failures of crops, many would have starved if food and clothing had not been sent from the East. The lack of good wagon roads and of railroads made mission-work very difficult. The first missionaries were, as a rule, brought with ox wagons from Leavenworth to the West. In making their missionary trips many pastors had to cover large distances on foot, on horseback, or in a wagon. The Lord, however, blessed the work. In the year 1888 the congregations in Kansas had already become so numerous that a separate Kansas District, with 27 voting pastors, 15 advisory pastors, 6 teachers, and 30 congregations, was organized in Pastor Hafner's church in Leavenworth. The following officers were elected : Pastor E. Pennekamp, Presi- 356 THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. dent; Pastor C. Hafner, Vice-President; Pastor F. Droege- mueller, Secretary ; Mr. A. Mangelsdorf , Treasurer. Presi- dent Biltz of the Western District said to the members of the new Kansas District : "Thou art our sister ; be thou the mother of thousands of millions." This good wish has been fulfilled, for in the year 1920 the Kansas District numbered 144 pastors, 199 congregations, 54 preaching-stations, and 35,524 souls. In the year 1921, June 8, the Kansas District was divided, the Colorado District being organized. College at Winfield. — On the day before Christmas, 1892, Mr. J. P. Baden, whom God had richly blessed with this world's goods, came to his pastor, the Rev. G. Luecke, and offered him $25,000 for a new college. This sum later was raised to $50,000. The offer was made to the English Missouri Synod and was received with great joy and thanks. Ground was broken April 10, 1893, and the college was dedi- cated March 1, 1894. In the mean time, however, already in September, 1893, ,Prof. H. Stoeppelwerth began the college work with 6 boys and 6 girls. In 1921 the Winfield college had 7 professors, 2 assistants, and 172 students, of which number 52 were in the business department. The Kansas District fostered this institution and supported it liberally with the necessary moneys. A Home-finding Society was organized at Winfield, Kans., in 1902. Since its organization 472 children have been cared for in Christian families. A beautiful children's home was presented by Mrs. J. P. Baden. For many years Mr. Geo. Weinrich has been superintendent of this Home-finding Society. A new large and comfortable children's home was built and dedicated in 1921. Nebraska. The first pastor of our Synod who came to Nebraska was the sainted Pastor Adolf Wilhelm Frese. President Buenger ordained him at St. Louis, January 26, 1868. His call from a settlement near Rock Creek, Cuming Co., Nebr., was signed by 19 men who promised him an annual salary of $250 and free dwelling and board. Pastor Frese was, however, much THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. 357 disappointed when, after arriving with much difficulty on his new mission-field, he was told that he was not wanted. Some man had already opened a school, and as a result all but five who had signed the call withdrew their signatures. These five promised, in case no congregation could he organized, to give Pastor Frese enough money to return to St. Louis. Before Pastor Frese could preach his first sermon to the people who called him, he responded to a call to preach at a funeral. On the following Sunday quite a number of people gathered to hear him preach. After the service a man arose and said: "You know that I am an enemy of the Church and her preachers, that I voted against calling a preacher because I believed that then our unity here would be disturbed; but now we have already heard in the funeral sermon preached by Pastor Frese that we need a Savior and also a shepherd to show us the way to eternal life. To-day we heard that a pastor is not our lord and master, but only a servant of Christ. Such a pastor we must have." These words coming so unexpectedly from an outspoken enemy of the Church made a deep impression on all. A new call was written and on February 16, 1868, was signed by 24 members. Thus the first Lutheran congregation of our Synod in Nebraska came into existence. Pastor Frese soon served other places also, from Arlington to Norfolk and as far as Columbus. Already in the following year his brother, E. J. Frese, came to his assistance. He was installed on the 7th Sunday after Trinity, 1869, at Logan Creek and Brown Creek. Pastor A. W. Frese had to hold his services in the Rock Creek settlement in the district schoolhouse and the parochial school in a farmer's dwelling. On Pentecost, 1871, a small church, 24X35, was dedicated. The members them- selves furnished the wood, and one of them, without any charge, cut it in his sawmill. The flooring had to be hauled forty miles. In Omaha, a city of about 20,000 inhabitants, Lutheran services were occasionally held before 1870. A call was sent to Candidate F. Kuegele who was installed on the 10th Sunday after Trinity. However, he did not stay very 358 THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. long, having- taken charge of a congregation at Cumber- land, Md. The Rev. J. Hilgendorf was chosen and installed September 9, 1871. The "First Lutheran Congregation" was organized with a membership of 13. Five years later, Rev. Hilgendorf resigned on account of ill health and Candi- date J. Strasen became his successor, followed, after two years, by Rev. E. J. Frese of Hooper, who served this congre- gation for thirty-six years. At present there are five con- gregations in Omaha belonging to the Missouri Synod. From here the Gospel spread to Papillion and Bennington. Beginning with 1870, our church -work was rapidly ex- tended throughout Northern Nebraska. In 1871 J. Rupprecht came to Norfolk, L. Hannawald to Louisville. In 1873 Pastor H. Norden was ordained at Pebble Creek, where on Sep- tember 10 of the same year the Northern Nebraska Special Conference was held, the following pastors attending : A. W. Frese, E. J. Frese, C. W. Baumhoefener, J. Hilgendorf, F. G. Burger, and J. Rupprecht. In 1874 Ph. S. Estel accepted a call to Pierce, August Leuthaeuser to Grand Island, and E. A. Frese to Platte County. In 1876 we find Rev. F. H. Jahn in Grand Island and F. Eisenbeiss in Ponca. A few more names, together with the year of their coming to Nebraska, may be mentioned : J. H. Hoffmann, Green Gar- den, 1877; A. Hofius, Cedar Bluffs, 1878; J.P.Mueller, Lyons, 1878; J. Catenhusen, Louisville, 1879; A. Bergt, Hooper, 1879; G. Bullinger, Martinsburg, 1880; W. Harms, Cuming Creek, 1880; M. Adam, West Point, 1881 ; W. C. H. Oetting, Lyons, 1882. Let us now turn to Southern Nebraska. Our oldest mis- sion territory in Southern Nebraska is seven miles east of Seward, at Middle Creek. The first Lutheran settlers came here at the close of the 60's. About this time Pastor K. Theo. Gruber came and organized a small congregation. With Middle Creek as a basis, a number of preaching-stations were served, which later developed into large congregations : e. g., Stevens Creek, Malcolm, Marysville, Waco, Hampton, and Seward. The first services at Middle Creek were held in the public school building. In 1873 the congregation erected its tiik m \i:< ii touakii nil. PACIFIC COAST. 350 first building, a stone church. Pastor Gruber served this con- gregation from 1870 to 1881. His successors were : Pastor C. E. Bode, Pastor Ferdinand Wahl, Pastor W. J. Gans, and Pastor Merz. In Malcolm, Pastor Gruber began mission-work by hold- ing services in a sod-house, which was used until the congre- gation in 1884 built a church. This congregation was served in turn by Pastor Fr. Koenig, 1881; W. Brakhage, 1884; Oertel, 1891 ; and F. Moeller. In the neighborhood of Marysville, Lutheran settlers were found already before the year 1870. These met regularly in the home of Mr. Fr. Hartmann, who read sermons to them. In 1870 Pastor Kuegele of Omaha came to this field and organized a congregation with 19 members. Pastor Theo. Gruber took charge of the congregation. The first small church was built in 1874; the building material had to be hauled fifty miles. In 1878 Pastor Tr. Haessler became the resident pastor. He was succeeded by Pastor G. Weller, 1881 ; Pastor J. Catenhusen, 1894; Pastor W. Eittamel, 1906. Through correspondence in the Abendschule attention was called to the territory in Thayer County. There Pastor J. Kern, on December 6, 1874, organized a congregation with 7 members, and on July 23, 1876, Pastor E. H. Biedermann was installed. A little church was built in 1887. Pastor Biedermann was succeeded by Pastors G. Storm, A. Groerich, and H. Schabacker. This mother church now is surrounded py the following congregations : St. Peter's, at Deshler, 1887 (Pastor W. Cholcher) ; Bethlehem, near Kiowa, 1880 (Pastor John Meyer) ; Immanuel, at Deshler, 1887 (Pastors H. Voss, Chr. Bock, W. Flach, P. Kuphoff, H. F. Eggert). A few more names of the older pastors of Southern Nebraska, together with their year of entering the District, are herewith given: K. Th. Gruber, 1870; F. W. John, Tecumseh, 1871; Tr. Haessler, Crete, 1872; F. Hachenberger, Middle Creek, 1874; J. Seidel, Marysville, 1874; M. Martens, Sterling, 1874; W. Bohlen, Macon, Franklin Co., 1875; J. G. Burger, Hampton (formerly in Northern Nebraska), 1S75; K. H. Biedermann, Friedensau, 1876; M.Buerger, Sterling, 360 THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. 1877; L. Dornseif, Crete, 1877; E. Stubnatzy, Lincoln, 1877; C. Meyer, Webster Co., 1877; Gottfried Endres, Utica, 1878; L. Huber, Crete, 1879; A. W. Bergt, Tecumseh, 1880; J. Meyer, Kiowa, 1881 ; E. Flach, Kenesaw, 1881. F. Koenig, Malcolm, 1881; H. Frincke, Lincoln, 1882; G. Wellef, Marysville, 1882 ; F. Caemmerer, Arapahoe, 1882 ; C. Becker, Falls City, 1882. In 1882 the congregations of Nebraska branched off from the Western District of onr Synod and formed their own District. The first synodical meeting was held at Logan on June 28, 1882, 17 voting pastors, 15 advisory pastors, and 16 lay delegates being present. Pastor J. Hilgendorf was elected President of the District and was later suc- ceeded by Pastor C. H. Becker and the present President, Pastor C. Brommer. For a period of twenty- five years Pastor John Meyer was Secretary of the Nebraska Dis- trict; he was succeeded by the present Secretary, Pastor F. W. Seesko. In the course of years the Nebraska District grew to such an extent that the question of divid- ing it into two Districts is being considered. In 1920 the District had 184 pastors, 235 congregations, 38 preaching- places, and 50,000 souls; of these, 10 pastors and 10 con- gregations are located in the State of Wyoming. Lutheran Seminary, Seward, Nebr. — The year of 1894 was a year of hardship for Nebraska, on account of a crop failure due to a severe drought. It was in this year that a twenty-acre tract of land at Seward was purchased with the intention of erecting a teachers' seminary. Members of the Seward congregation gave much financial aid toward the purchase of this land. A part of it was divided into lots and sold. The erection of the main building was begun that Rev. J. Hilgendorf, First President of Nebraska District THE MABCH TOWABD THE PACIFIC COAST. 3G1 very same summer. When the synodica] convention of the Nebraska District at Hampton adjourned on August 28, 1894, many of the delegates went home by way of Seward in order to witness the laying of the corner-stone. Professor A. Graebner of St. Louis and Rev. O. Frincke of Lincoln officiated. The building was completed by the Nebraska District without assistance from the General Body. Rev. G. Weller, of Marysville, Nebr., was called as professor and president of the academy, the building was dedicated Novem- ber 31, 1894, and instruction began the following day. In 1895 the president's residence was built. In 1906 a brick building, containing kitchen, dining-hall, and dormitories, was completed and a large recitation hall, valued at $21,000, dedicated the following year. In his dedication sermon Rev. J. Hilgendorf showed that the Teachers' Seminary at Seward is a precious fruit of Luther's Reformation. The value of the property according to court appraisal was $150,000. In 1921 109 students were enrolled. The present faculty consists of Prof. F. W. C. Jesse, President, Prof. G. Weller, Prof. F. Strieter, Prof. C. Haase, Prof. Aug. Schuelke, Prof. H. B. Fehner, Prof. J. T. Link, Prof. P. Reuter, Prof. H. L. Hardt. The Nebraska District has always contributed liberally toward the support of this institution. Lutheran High School and Business College, Deshler, Nebr. — Time and again the Lutheran Church has been accused of neglecting the higher education of its youth. This is not quite consistent with the truth. The Missouri Synod has within her midst a number of high schools, among them the Lutheran High School at Deshler, Nebr. Built and dedicated in 1913, it has now a teaching force of five professors and a student-body of 76. The building is valued at $50,000. Orphanage and Home-finding Society at Fremont, Nebr. — Rev. P. Graef, pastor of the congregation at Fremont, was the founder of this institution. He describes the organizing of this society as follows: "Childless ourselves, we were hardly half a year at Fremont when two requests came urging 362 THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. us to accept orphans, and at the same time a letter arrived from a widower asking us, for Christ's sake, to support and bring up his two little daughters if he should die shortly. After meditating over this for some time, I finally came to the conclusion that I would organize a Lutheran Orphans' Society at Fremont. I talked this matter over with my con- gregation on March 7, 1892. The congregation favored my project. It even offered a sum of money for this purpose and elected a committee to take the matter in hand." Until the orphanage was completed, Rev. Graef's residence served as a home for the children entrusted to his care. The corner- stone of the orphan home was laid in the fall of 1892, and the building was dedicated June 25, 1893. Many congrega- tions of Nebraska contributed freely toward the maintenance of this charitable institution in their midst. The Orphans' Home Society consisted of 14 congregations surrounding Fremont. Later the society was changed to a Home-finding Society. In 1896 only 3 children could be received, while 46 had to be refused entrance because there was not room enough for them in the orphanage. Fourteen years later, in 1910, 52 children were received and provided with a Christian home. Since the organization of the Home-finding Society 568 children have been taken care of temporarily, at a cost of about $3,500 annually, and, as soon as possible, placed in Christian homes. The following have served as superintendents of the society : Rev. P. Graef, 1892—1897; Rev. F. Nammacher, 1897—1899; Mr. Trapp, 1899—1900; Rev. A. Leuthaeuser, 1900—1910; Rev. G. Wolter, 1910—1915; Mr. J. F. Gnuse, since 1915. The first president of this society was Rev. J. Hilgendorf, who was succeeded in 1909 by Rev. M. Adam. Lutheran Hospital at York, Nebr. — The necessity of a hospital at York having often been pointed out by the physicians and business men of the city, the Lutherans of York and vicinity finally concluded to erect a hospital. "The Lutheran Hospital Association of York, Seward, Hamilton, and other Counties" was organized in June, 1914. A private THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. 363 building was purchased and temporarily used as a hospital. In 1915, however, the association succeeded in building a hospital proper. It is located in the northern part of the city. After a few years the hospital was overcrowded with patients, which necessitated the extension of the building. With the hospital a training-school for nurses is connected, which is accredited by the State. Lutheran Hospital at Beatrice,, Nebr. — In June, 1913, the hospital of the United Brethren at Beatrice was bought by the Lutheran Hospital Society of Beatrice, which took charge of the hospital on October 7 of that year. The society consists of about 100 members. Since there was room for only 30 patients, the society resolved to built a new modern hospital, valued at $150,000, which was dedicated in 1921. Colorado. In 1872 Pastor J. Hilgendorf, of Omaha, Nebr., was directed by President Buenger to visit the scattered Lu- therans in Colorado. President Buenger sent Pastor Hilgen- dorf $50 to defray the traveling expenses, remarking that "this sum, of course, will not suffice, but a missionary always knows how to help himself." In those days the railroads demanded ten cents a mile, and hotel expenses, too, were very high. Pastor Hilgendorf wTent to Colorado in October, 1872. When he came to Denver and made known his intention to preach, he was advised not to do so lest he be hanged. He paid no attention to this warning, however, but preached before a number of families. Prom Denver he went to Pueblo. Here also' some people intimated that they would like to break his neck when they had learned that he was a preacher. He reached his next goal, Westcliffe, only after surmounting great obstacles. Here he held a service with fourteen families. At different places he baptized a number of children, for which ministerial acts he received enough money to enable him to return to Omaha in December. Candidate H. Brammer came to Denver in 1873 as the first resident pastor. On the 13th Sunday after Trinity in the same year Candidate F. W. Hoemann was installed at 364 THE MARCH TOWARD THE PACIFIC COAST. Wet Mountain Valley. Pastor Hirschmann, who at that time was in Colorado on account of his health, rendered good services to our Church. To-day Colorado has 23 pastors, 34 congregations, and 5,458 souls. The organization of the new Colorado District has already been mentioned. The officers are : Otto Luessen- hop, President; Theo. Hoyer, First Vice-President; Otto Heerwagen, Second Vice-President; Otto Hoyer, Secretary; W. Eabe, Treasurer. In Wheat Ridge, Colo., a sanitarium for consumptives was opened in 1905, and until 1913, 525 consumptives had been cared for. The Ev. Luth. Sanitarium Review is pub- lished in the interest of the work. Pastor H. H. Feiertag is superintendent. For many years the tubercular patients were cared for in tents. In August, 1921, new buildings, costing $250,000, were dedicated. Of this sum, $100,000 was given by members of the Walther League, which intends to continue the collections to cover the debt. Oklahoma. Oklahoma was opened to settlers in 1889. In 1891 Pastor J. V. Kauffeld, of Newton, Kans,, made an exploration trip in the interest of our Church in Oklahoma, visiting and preach- ing at Orlando, Guthrie, and Oklahoma City. From Newton and Herington, Kans., Lutherans living near Okarche, Okla., were served. From Winfield, Professors Meyer and Stoeppel- werth made missionary trips to Oklahoma. To-day we have 30 pastors, 45 congregations, and 6,092 souls in Oklahoma. Also in New Mexico our Synod has established congrega- tions. Pastor Paul Kretzschmar labored there as pastor for many years. To-day about 20 congregations and preaching- stations are served by 7 pastors of our Synod. The work of our Synod has been much blessed by the Lord in the western part of our country, and it still has a glorious future there. MISSOURI SYNOD IN SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST. 365 The Missouri Synod in the South and Southwest. Rev. J. W. Beiinken, Houston, Tex. (The writer has obtained much of this information from Revs. G. Birkmann, E. W. Kuss, A. O. Friedrich, President G. J. Wegener, Teacher C. W. Sauer, and from a history of St. Paul's Congregation, Serbin, Tex., written by the late Rev. II. T. Kilian, all of which is hereby gratefully acknowledged.) When the Missouri Synod was organized, no representa- tive of the South and the Southwest was present. There was no one who would have been entitled to act as a represen- tative at such an orthodox gathering. Again, there were no congregations to represent. Of course, there were so-called "Protestant congregations," but in the entire Southland — that great section comprising about one-fourth of our country — there was not one sufficiently interested in purity of doc- trine to establish a truly Lutheran congregation. There were individuals who were Lutherans at heart, as later develop- ments show, but they lacked proper leadership. The men who posed as pastors and leaders were saturated with unionism and rationalism. It is doubtful whether either pastors or people had any information in regard to the memorable gath- ering of Lutherans in Chicago. If they did, they paid little or no attention to it. Little did they realize at that time that some of their congregations would now be numbered with those who joyously celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the Missouri Synod. How, then, did the Missouri Synod find an open door in this section of our country? The answer to this question must be divided into two parts. God opened the door in New Orleans, La., and again in Serbin, Tex. In the spring of the year 1852 a New Orleans daily paper published statistics concerning Protestant churches in New Orleans. A copy of this paper happened to fall into the hands of some member of the Missouri Synod in St. Louis. One item in this report, though the editor likely never in- tended it to attract such great attention, nevertheless leaped 366 MISSOURI SYNOD IN SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST. to the notice of faithful "Missourians." It told about a cer- tain congregation, which held its meeting in Custom House Street, and held itself aloof from all other Protestant congre- gations, calling itself "Evangelical Lutheran." Candidate George Yolck was at once sent to New Orleans to investigate. Arriving there, he was ,told that the con- gregation in Custom House St. was made up of a peculiar class of people, for they wished to know of nothing in their church but of the blood of Christ. Eather good news for a "Missourian" ! Truly a praiseworthy "peculiarity"! Most encouraging information for a candidate sent on such a mission! The meeting of the candidate with these "peculiar" people brought to light the fact that in January, 1852, several mem- bers had left the Protestant church, located at Clio and St. Charles Aves., because their demand to have the meetings of the congregation opened and closed with prayer was not heeded. At first they adopted the name "Lutheran Congrega- tion in Custom House Street." On August 5, 1852, this name was changed to Ev. Luth. St. John's Church. At that time some wanted merely the name "Evangelical," while others insisted on having only the name "Lutheran." The above- mentioned name was adopted as a compromise. A happy compromise ! The chronicler of St. John's Church remarks : "Thus the infant congregation in name became a member of the true visible church without fully realizing it, for the knowledge of the Evangelical Lutheran doctrine was very weak among the members." After they had withdrawn from the Protestant church and formed a separate congregation, a lay-member out of their own midst conducted the services for some time. Then an attempt was made to obtain a pastor from the Ev. Luth. Texas Synod (the majority of the congregations belonging to this synod are now members of the Iowa Synod, the minority after some years joined the General Council, and since the Merger are now members of the United Lutheran Church). Because of tardiness on the part of this synod in complying with their request, the congregation accepted the services of MJSSOl 'III SYNOD IN BOUTB AM) SOUTHWEST. 36*3 a pastor without any synodical connection. He proved to be a rationalist and was dismissed on account of it. At this juncture Candidate Yolck arrived. The outcome of his visit was that the congregation entrusted him with the mission of procuring for them a pastor from the Missouri Synod. Candidate Volck was recommended and duly called. On May 22, 1853, the sainted Dr. Walther ordained and installed him. Thus the Missouri Synod had gained a foothold in the South. During the following year (1854), another congregation was added. Zion Church, which had been organized by an independent pastor in September, 1847, had a faithful paro- chial schoolteacher, Cantor Buenger, who persuaded the con- gregation to resolve in its meeting on May 29, 1854, to join the Missouri Synod. This so displeased the organizer, Rev. Kleinhagen, that ho resigned his pastorate a month later. This seeming loss was really a gain for the congregation. A request for a suitable man from the Missouri Synod brought Rev. W. A. Fick to the congregation. Though he was their pastor for even less than one year (he died of yellow fever August 20, 1855), yet he had accomplished much to introduce genuine Lutheran doctrine and practise in the con- gregation. Another very large congregation in New Orleans became affiliated with our Synod in June, 1874, namely, St. Paul's Ev. Luth. Church. It is the oldest Protestant congregation, having celebrated its diamond jubilee in 1915. Its organiza- tion dates back to August 2, 1840. Until the year 1856, how- ever, its confessional position was anything but positive and decided. In 1856, the congregation was fortunate in obtain- ing the services of Pastor Christian Gottlieb Moedinger, a graduate of the Mission Institute of St. Chrischona. Being a Lutheran at heart, he proceeded at once to instruct his people in Lutheran doctrine and practise. He joined the Ev. Luth. Texas Synod during the same year, prompted to do this, no doubt, by the fact that some of his associates from St. Chrischona belonged to this synod. In 1860 he induced also his congregation to become a member of said synod. But 368 MISSOURI SYNOD IN SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST. in 1870 both he and his congregation severed their connec- tion with this synod again. Up to this time the congregation had been having much trouble in obtaining efficient and reliable Christian teachers for their parochial school, which they had maintained from the beginning. In 1870 they made application for a candi- date from our Teachers' Seminary at Addison, 111. Their request was granted by sending Candidate H. L. Huettmann. Though he remained with the congregation but one year, the way had been paved for obtaining teachers from the Missouri Synod. Immediately after Mr. Huettmann had accepted a call to the school of Zion Church, the congregation called and obtained two graduates from Addison, Mr. Z. F. K. Zeige and Mr. H. D. Schroeder. This did much to induce the con- gregation to apply for membership in our Synod. During the early part of the seventies our Synod was requested to enter Mobile, Ala. The request came from a con- gregation there which had found it necessary to dismiss its former pastor. Before leaving them, he sought to do his former congregation a great favor by warning them against calling a pastor from the Missouri Synod. Just this warning, coming from such a source, made them all the more anxious to make application for a Missourian. They had received only good reports about the work of Missourians in New Orleans. This was convincing. One of their members, M. Wagner, was instructed to write to Dr. Walther, with the result that Rev. H. G. Sauer was called. Thus Missouri had been enabled to extend her lines eastward in the Southland. These "Missouri" congregations functioned as good salt, which had not lost its savor. Early in the seventies the "Evangelical Lutheran Mission Society of New Orleans" was organized. It proved to be an active society. Other congre- gations were organized in New Orleans and vicinity. Its activities extended as far north as Shreveport, La., where a mission was started. This, however, was completely wiped out by a fearful yellow fever epidemic. In this connection some mention must be made of the yellow fever epidemics, which repeatedly wrought such havoc MISSOURI SYNOD IN SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST. 369 in the South during those early days and caused great losses also to our congregations. A number of our pastors and teachers became victims of the dreadful disease. The worst of these epidemics raged in 1878. It struck New Orleans especially hard. During that time Rev. M. Tirmenstein, pastor of Zion Congregation, was absent on a vacation, and could not return on account of the quarantine. Rev. Bau- mann, pastor of St. John's, and Rev. A. Eirich, pastor of Trinity in Algiers, La., died of the dreadful fever. This left Rev. C. G. Moedinger alone to attend to the sick and dying in his own and three or four sister congregations. Teacher C. W. Sauer, who had served in the school of St. John's Congre- gation 1866 — 1878, and had just accepted a call to the school of St. Paul's Congregation, of which Rev. Moedinger was pastor, relates of that epidemic: "It was terrible. Pastor Moedinger was kept busy constantly visiting the sick and burying the dead. There was a funeral every day, sometimes a number of them in one day. I always carried two candles in my pocket, which I wTould light and hold for Rev. Moe- dinger, when darkness would overtake us at the last funeral of the day. Sometimes we would be returning from Algiers and Gretna, crossing the river on the ferry at 7.00 a. M. with a corpse, which was to be taken to New Orleans for burial." Another evidence of the zeal and activity of these early Christians in the South is the fact that they established a Lutheran academy or college in New Orleans. This was done as early as 1868. Rev. Albert Hoppe, who had been pastor of Zion Church for twelve years, accepted the call as professor of the new institution. He remained in charge of it until 1887, when he was called to St. Louis to prepare the St. Louis edition of Luther's works. With his departure the institution was discontinued for a number of years. Though it had not grown like its sister colleges in the North, mainly because of a lack of a sufficient number of larger con- gregations from which to draw students, yet its work had not been in vain. In Texas the Lord used a large colony of Wends to open the door for our Synod and its work in this largest State of EBENEZEK. 24 370 MISSOURI SYNOD IN SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST. the Union. On May 23, 1854, representatives of Evangelical Lutheran Wends living in different parts of the kingdoms of Prussia and Saxony, formally called the Rev. John Kilian to be the pastor of a congregation, organized by people of these different settlements for the purpose of emigrating to the State of Texas in North America. During the first part of September more than 500 of them started their journey from Hamburg via Liverpool to America. Their journey was saddened by the fact that cholera broke out among them, claiming 73 victims before they landed in Galveston, Decem- ber 14, 1854. From Galveston they journeyed 200 miles in- land. Poverty caused some among them to discontinue the journey. They remained in Industry and New Ulm, Tex., as well as at other places to seek work. The greater number of the colonists, however, reached their destination. Here con- siderable trouble was experienced in obtaining a suitable tract of land with a clear title. After the land had been pur- chased, the colonists experienced two hard years. They were not accustomed to conditions here. They did not know the language of the country. They had very much sickness. Their crops were very meager. We have here a duplicate of the experience of our Saxon colonists of 1839 : tribulations on their journey, and sickness and hardships during their first few years in America. But they took the true Christian view of it. Pastor Kilian at that time wrote to Dr. Walther : "Yes, the hand of God has faithfully humbled us." In another sense these Wends were like the Saxons of Perry County. They hastened not merely with the building of their own homes, but also with the building of a place of worship. At first they erected a parsonage, which served as a home for the pastor, a schoolroom, and a place of worship. Primitive conditions? Yes, but genuine Christian zeal and sincerity ! Pastor Kilian at once became a member of the Missouri Synod. He had known Dr. Walther overseas. In fact, they had been fellow-students at Leipzig. During the first twenty years in office he passed through great doctrinal disputes. This was excellent training for him and served to make of MISSOURI SYNOD IN SOUTIT AND SOUTHWEST. 371 him a positive and decided Lutheran. Hence he was not long in joining the Synod of the pure doctrine. President Buenger wrote him at that time: "With great joy do I welcome you and your beloved congregation to America and to our Synod. As much as Germany may need witnesses of the truth, America and especially Texas needs them even more. May God grant that you and your beloved congregation will become a great blessing to many." Dr. Walther wrote: "Your sorrows and joys we share with you. May the Lord be with you, grant you bodily health and comfort from His holy Word, and crown your work, done amidst sobbing and tears, with abundant blessings." On account of the great distance, and the poor traveling facilities of those days, the intercourse between his congregation and Synod was chiefly by mail. But in the year 1860 Pastor Kilian attended ses- sions of Synod in St. Louis. Besides his own congregation Pastor Kilian served a con- gregation of twenty families in New Ulm, Austin Co., Tex. Every five weeks he made this trip of forty miles on horse- back. Furthermore, he preached at Louis Settlement (now Swiss Alp), Fayette Co., Tex., and at Boeder's Mill, near Shelby, Austin Co., Tex., also at Bastrop, Tex. Besides this he taught parochial school for ten years. Evidently a busy man who did not shun work ! It is to be regretted that there were not sufficient men available in Synod at that time to grant the request of Pastor Kilian for a traveling missionary for Texas. Not merely a few faithful Lutheran families could be found scattered here and there at that time, but whole settlements of true Lutheran families would have welcomed the services of a truly Lutheran pastor. For fourteen years Pastor Kilian was the only "Missouri" pastor in Texas. In the fall of 1868, Candidate Zimmermann was ordained and installed in Rose Hill, Harris Co., as Texas' second pastor of the Missouri Synod. Others soon followed him. The records of the year 1881 show that 11 Missouri Synod pastors were stationed in Texas, serving 9 congrega- tions wThich were members of Synod, 4 congregations not as 372 MISSOURI SYNOD IN SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST. yet members of Synod, and 9 mission-stations. Of course, conditions were primitive in those days, as may be seen from excerpts of a description of a conference held in Rev. Stiemke's church near Rabbs Creek, Fayette Co. Pastor G. Birkmann says of this : "The church-building was extremely primitive, perhaps 20X30 feet, rough, constructed of logs and boards. But there was a roof on it, and the walls kept off the wind somewhat." Primitive? Yes, but the eleven pas- tors assembled did some genuine and enthusiastic work. When the Missouri Synod was divided up into Districts, the South belonged to the Western District. On account of the great distance, however, Southern representatives at- tended the conventions very irregularly. It happened at times that not a single representative of the entire South was present. Of course, such an arrangement could not continue. Too many had to forego the benefits and blessings which one derives from attendance upon synodical con- ventions. Hence in the year 1880 the "Southern District Conference" asked the Western District, in session at Con- cordia, Mo., whether they would not deem it advisable to allow them to present a petition to the next Delegate Synod in which they would ask for permission to organize a separate District. The official minutes of said convention (Syn. Re- port, Western District, 1880, page 70) contain the following: "Synod resolved to support the petition of the 'Southern Dis- trict Conference' for permission to organize a separate synod- ical District at the next Delegate Synod." This permission was granted by the Third Delegate Synod, which convened in Fort Wayne, Ind., May 11 — 21, 1881, by the following resolution: "Resolved that the congregations in Texas, Louisiana, and adjoining States be granted permission to organize a separate District under the name 'Southern Dis- trict of the German Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States.' " This organization was effected on February 8, 1882, in Zion Church, New Orleans, La., Rev. Otto Hanser, First Vice-President of the Missouri Synod, presiding. Pastor T. Stiemke was chosen as the first President of the new District, MISSOURI SYNOD IX SOUTH AM) SOTTTHWEST. 373 Pastor Paul Poesener, Vice-President, Pastor G. Birkmann, Secretary, and Mr. G. W. Frye, Treasurer. The new District numbered 20 pastors (12 voting and 8 advisory), 15 teachers, and 13 voting congregations. It will, no doubt, be interesting to read here a tabulated report (compiled by President G. J. Wegener in Southern Lutheran, May, 1897) of Missouri Synod activities and prog- ress in the South up to the time of the organization of the new District : — 78.7/. 1861. 1871. 1881. Pastors — 3 8 20 Congregations, members of Synod . . — 3 4 13 Congregations, as yet not members \ of Synod — 7 Preaching-stations — — — 9 Teachers — 1 3 15 This action of Synod to form a new District was surely a step in the right direction. Zeal for mission-work grew more intense. The report of the first convention of the Dis- trict contains the statement: "Synod recognized it to be its main duty to carry on zealously the work of home missions in the South." This was not merely an emotional outburst drafted into a resolution, but was followed up by the calling of missionaries into the field. The results achieved have not been as astounding as in some other sections of our country, but the work has cer- tainly not been in vain. We must take into account here that conditions in the South were far different than in the North. Our men met with some obstacles and difficulties which were not known in the North. Some claim that even the climate has some effect upon religious zeal and vigor. Whether that be so or not, we do know that the work is often more taxing in the South than in other sections. Again, much of the material which our missionaries found was so different from material elsewhere. Immigrants did not come in such great numbers, and generally speaking, there was a different class of immigrants than in the North. Again. fraternal organizations, lodges, etc., had taken such a firm hold upon the South. This explains somewhat why the 374 MISSOURI SYNOD IN SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST. phenomenal growth of the Missouri Synod in some other sections was not duplicated in the Southland. Nevertheless, the blessings of God rested upon the work. The following statistics, also compiled by President G. J. Wegener on dif- ferent occasions, will show this : — 1881. 1896. 1906. Pastors 20 55 70 Congregations, members of Synod. . 13 24 29 Congregations, as yet not members of Synod 7 46 G5 Preaching-stations 9 52 51 Souls...' 4,500 16,801 20,877 Communicants 2,500 8,993 1 1,023 Voting members 800 2,456 2,335 Teachers 15 19 24 Pupils 1,300 2,119 3,144 Pastor T. Stiemke served as president of the District until 1888, when he accepted a call to the Eastern District. The vice-president, Pastor G. Birkmann, served the unexpired term until 1891. Then the present incumbent of office, Pastor G. J. Wegener, was elected. He holds the remarkable record of being president of the Southern District for thirty years. Let it be said to his credit that they have been years of most efficient and faithful service, all of which has been humbly rendered alongside of the goodly amount of pastoral work in St. Paul's Congregation, New Orleans, La., of which he has been pastor since November 13, 1887. The year 1906 marks the beginning of the Texas District. The Delegate Synod in convention at Detroit, Mich., June 21 to July 1, 1905, voted to grant the request of congregations in Texas to organize a separate District. (Syn. Rep. 1905, page 151.) This organization was effected at the convention held in Trinity Church, Houston, Tex., February 14—20, 1906. President" Wegener presided at the opening meeting. The election of officers resulted as follows : Rev. A. W. Kramer, President, Revs. C. A. Waech and F. Wunderlich, Vice- Presidents, Rev. H. Studtmann, Secretary, and Mr. H. W. Lottman, Treasurer. Since that time Revs. C. A. Waech, G. Birkmann, and H. Studtmann have served as presidents MISSOURI synod IN SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST. 375 of the District, the last-mentioned being the present incum- bent of office. The branching out of congregations in our cities usually results in greater activities for both the mother and the daughter congregations. What is true of congregations has proved, itself to be equally true of synodical Districts. The Southern District and the Texas District are no exceptions, as the following figures for the year 1920 will show : — Southern Texas District. District. Totals. Pastors 27 72 99 Congregations, members of Synod. . 14 43 57 Congregations, as yet not members of Synod 27 52 79 Preaching-stations 20 45 G5 Souls 11,607 18,814 30,421 Communicants ' 7,838 10,631 18,469 Voting members 853 2,934 3,787 Teachers 5 19 24 Pupils 239 2,084 2,323 The above figures really speak for themselves. One item, however, needs a word of explanation. There are far more parochial schools in the South than the number of teachers would indicate. There are a number of congregations whose numerical strength does not as yet permit the calling of a teacher, yet they have a school taught either by the pastor, a student, or a lady teacher. The Southern District has 7 schools and the Texas District 53, making a total of 60 parochial schools in the South and Southwest. According to the last Statistical Year-Booh there were 6 students, 3 lady teachers, and 3 pastors teaching in the Southern District, and 12 students, 2 lady teachers, and 34 pastors in the Texas District. This indicates that in the Southwest especially the parochial school is flourishing. Our members are showing great interest in this wonderful nursery of the Church. The Mission Board constantly urges the establishment of such schools, and the missionaries are doing some faithful work in this respect. May God preserve such zeal for the cause! Such an article as this would not be complete if we did not make special mention of the forty-six years of Rev. G. Birkmann's activity in Texas. "With the exception of two 376 MISSOURI SYNOD IN SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST. years, during which, he served the mission in Dallas, Tex., all of these years have been spent with his congregation in Fedor, Tex. Well gifted and exceptionally faithful in private study, especially also in the ancient languages, he soon ranked among the leading pastors of the District. Though quiet and unassuming and decidedly humble, he has for many years been looked upon as an authority at conferences and synodical conventions. Many of the brethren have turned to him for advice when some critical matter con- fronted them, and were grateful to receive the very advice which they needed, stated in simple words, but based upon sound judgment and firmly founded upon the Word of God. He has served the District in almost every capacity. In the spring of 1920, he resigned from the presidency of the Dis- trict, but he is still active as pastor of his congregation. A few miscellaneous facts, which will no doubt be of in- terest to the reader, may be added : — When the first church of our Synod was dedicated in Serbin, Tex., Pastor Kilian preached in three languages, Ger- man, Wendish, and English. For a number of years the Texas District cooperated with the Norwegian congregations in Central Texas in maintain- ing the Lutheran college in Clifton, Tex. During that time Prof. F. W. C. Jesse, now director at Seward, Nebr., was director of the Texas institution. When these Norwegian congregations merged with the United Norwegian Church, the Texas District severed its connection with the college. Until 1903, when they organized their own District, the brethren, who were doing our work in Brazil, were considered to be a part of the Southern District. The Southern District has had charge of the work in Cuba and the Isle of Pines. Rev. R. Oertel located this field while there on a visit. He afterward served there as missionary until his death. According to the Statistical Year-Booh 1920 there are now four preaching-stations. They have been without a pastor for some time, but will be supplied again, since Candidate K. Krog, Class 1921, has been assigned to this field. TIIK IIOMK MISSION WdKK OF SV.NOI.. 377 Since 1881 the South 1ms had organized work in behalf of orphans. This resulted in the opening of the Bethlehem Orphan Home in New Orleans in 1883. Though not a synod- ical institution, it has been supported by the congregations of the South. Since it was founded, 3G5 orphans have been received into the home. Truly, then, the work of the Lord has not been in vain in the Southland. We say this with hearts grateful to the Lord God. He has blessed the labors of His servants and His people. To Him belongs all the glory. Our fervent prayer is that He may continue to be with us as He was with our fathers. The Home Mission Work of Synod. Rev. F. Weidmann, St. Louis. Mo. "The lightning shines only when it flashes ; and when it rests, it dies." If this quotation be applied to a Christian organization, it conveys this meaning, that such an organiza- tion cannot long endure after it ceases to spread the Gospel broadcast. With the relaxation of mission effort, as church history teaches, comes a lapse into decay and ultimate rum. If our Synod is not later to look back upon memories of a glorious past, when its Gospel banner once waved over thriving congregations, the interest in propagating the Gospel everywhere must be sustained in the future at the same white heat as in the past. What a missionary program, in spite of their limited means, our forefathers carried out ! It was in 1847, Monday, April 26, that twelve congrega- tions, twenty-two ministers, and two candidates for the min- istry formed "The German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States." The outstanding features of the constitution of this body were, and for that matter still are, that membership in it is conditional on the accept- ■ ance of the Bible as God's verbally inspired Word; further- more, on the acceptance of all the Symbols of the Lutheran Church without exception or reserve; again, on the declara- ,;7S THE HOME MISSION WORK OF SYNOD. tion to abstain from every kind of syncretism, from union- istic pulpits and services, and open communion; and, finally, on the promise to use purely Lutheran books in churches and schools. In spite of much opposition to this confessionalism and prophecies of a speedy dissolution on that account, this body so formed chose at once a committee for missions, and so gave evidence of the earnestness with which they heeded their Savior's command: "Go and preach the Gospel to every creature." The personnel of the first mission board consisted of a chairman, the Eev. C. J. H. Fick, New Melle, Mo. ; of a secretary, the Rev. A. Craemer, Frankenmuth, Mich. ; and of a treasurer, F. W. Barthel, St. Louis, Mo. Among the resolutions respecting Home Missions, in the report of the first convention, we read: That the candidate for the min- istry, C. Fricke, be commissioned to visit unchurched Lu- theran settlements in the West. As one of their first and foremost duties, the founders of our Synod regarded the task of building up Zion in the land of their pilgrimage. In fact, from the moment of their landing on the shores of the sluggish Obrazos in Missouri, in 1839, one of the fore- most concerns of the forefathers was to further the growth of Christ's kingdom by preparing a place to educate mis- sionaries and pastors. With their own hands they constructed in the forest primeval in the midst of all their hardships and poverty, a rough, unpretentious log-cabin for the training of Gospel-preachers. In its issue of August 13, 1839, the Ger- man newspaper of St. Louis, Der Anzeiger des Westens, brought the announcement of the opening of the college in Perry County. The teachers, Fuerbringer, Brohm, and Buenger, with the aid of Walther, Loeber, and Keyl, set as their rather ambitious goal a thorough training in religion; in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, French, and English; in history, geography, mathematics, the natural sciences, etc. This small beginning developed into two of the largest theo- logical seminaries in the United States, one located at St. Louis, Mo., and the other at Springfield, 111., from which the no mi: mission work of synod. 379 hundreds of young men have gone forth to win souls for Christ. In sending out their pastors and missionary explorers, our forefathers followed the direction given in Luke 24,47: "That repentance and remission of sins should be preached among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." As the disciples of Jesus were to win their home people first, so the founders of our Synod began, first of all, what has since been desig- nated as Home, or Inner, Mission Work. The name is happily chosen. It describes very characteristically the work of gathering into congregations such as have already been called, enlightened, sanctified, and brought to faith, such as are of the household of faith, but are now living void of spiritual care, scattered abroad in every nook, and corner, and crevice of our home and neighboring countries. Although Synod's first mission efforts centered almost wholly in bring- ing the Gospel to its German brethren, living far and near as sheep without a shepherd, yet we find at an early date some feeble beginnings of work among others ; for instance, among the Indians. At the Delegate Synod of 1887, the General Mission Board reported an expenditure of $102.25 for erect- ing a huge cross, replacing a number of grave stones and enclosing with a picket -fence the Indian Cemetery at Bethany, Mich., where lie buried the first-fruits of our earliest mission-work among the Indians. In 1872, August 17 — 20, we find Dr. C. F. W. Walther attending the sessions of an English Lutheran conference in Gravelton, Mo. A few years later, 1879, the Western District promised to send a missionary and otherwise to support the work of this English conference, in order to aid in gathering English- speaking people into congregations. We discover here the nucleus of our English District and of our mission-work among the unchurched of English tongue. We are not to imagine that these earliest attempts to extend Christ's kingdom were made under propitious circum- stances; that, for instance, the German inhabitants of a dis- trict or city were waiting to welcome the "Missouri" pastor. The reception given the Saxon immigrants at the time of 380 THE HOME MISSION WORK OF SYNOD. their landing in St. Louis boded but little good for the teach- ing they hoped to set up in their new home. Der Anzeiger des Westens of that date contains flings at "obscure ortho- doxy," "priestly arrogance," "spiritual tyranny," and spoke of the immigrants as having been "deluded by their P faff en into believing that if they were to die in Europe, they could not be saved." In many other places, too, the "Missourians" received mockings and threatenings for a welcome, the open field for a chapel, and at most a family or two instead of a crowd of inquiring German brethren. But in spite of all antagonism, penury and hardships, the Craemers and Buen- gers went heroically to work, gathered their German brethren, and established them firmly on the solid foundation of God's Word and Luther's doctrine pure. When, in 1872, the twenty- fifth anniversary of Synod's organization was celebrated, in the Mercantile Library Hall at St. Louis, the faithful work- men could look back upon work well done, for from the tiny beginning of twenty-two ministers the Synod had grown into a body numbering 428 ministers and 251 teachers. The in- fluence of this orthodox band of men and of their efficient work was felt in other Lutheran circles, which began to make overtures to unite with them. July, 1872, at Milwaukee, the Synodical Conference, comprising the Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Norwegian, and Missouri Synods, re- sulted. In how far this consummation was traceable to Home Mission work is beyond the scope of this article, but it cannot be gainsaid that this united body became a powerful agency to spread and to preserve the truth among perverse or at least indifferent people. The work of those early days was not so much different from what it is now. The voice of the preacher was heard either in the wilderness or prairie or town; a congregation was gathered, to which the Word was preached ; a school was opened for the young; a small chapel, ofttimes of logs, was built at first, which in time gave place to a larger house of worship ; and, when the means of the congregation permitted it, a schoolteacher was engaged to aid the pastor. THE HOME MISSION WORK OF SYNOD. P,81 Frederick Conrad Dietrich Wyneken. Among the first who worked as outlined in the preceding paragraph was the man whose name serves above as subtitle. Learning from mission periodicals of the spiritual needs of his German countrymen on the other side of the Atlantic, especially in the western solitudes of the United States, he determined to go out to help them as Paul did to the calling Macedonians. About a half year before the Saxon immi- grants arrived in St. Louis, Wyneken landed at Baltimore and almost simultaneously in a prayer-meeting, the antics of which so astonished him that he declared: "I do not know whether it is of God or the devil; but it isn't Lutheran." A man of powerful frame, of a well-trained mind, fiery, energetic, burning with zeal to carry the Gospel farther and ever farther, he was well equipped for the life of hardships and privations he chose in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. Though he received his commission from the Synod of Penn- sylvania, his Lutheran convictions soon moved him to affiliate with the Missourians, whom he recognized as Lutherans of the stripe of Luther and Chemnitz from the first number of their official organ, Der Lutheraner. Characteristic of the man is his exclamation after the perusal of its pages : "Thank God! There are more Lutherans in America." In sowing the seeds of spiritual life in the western wilder- ness, he traversed almost impassable sections, in fair and foul weather, on foot and on horseback. We tarry for a moment for an illustration or two of the difficulties encountered by Wyneken, and of the primitive conditions under which he labored. His humble parsonage was a log-hut, sixteen by eight feet, with no other opening for light but a sagging door. A basin of spring water served as a mirror for shaving and like purposes. The roughly hewn bedstead was covered with a straw sack. His garments were of mean cut and seem to have consisted primarily of a pair of yellow trousers. On rainy days he wore a green horseman's cape thrown over his shoulders. The chair was a small round block of wood. Overtaken by the sudden darkness of an autumn night- fall, — to give an example of the dangers he was exposed 382 THE HOME MISSION WORK OF SYNOD. to, — he urged his horse to greater speed, when the faithful animal halted abruptly and, in spite of all spurring, refused to move. A light soon revealed that another step would have hurled horse and rider into a wildly churning mill-race. — On another occasion, coming to heavily inundated lowlands, the missionary, eager to keep his appointment, began to jump from one protruding stump to another. When this way of progress ended and floating logs seemed to make possible a continuance of his perilous journey, he jumped for a foot- ing upon this swaying rolling pathway. The impact, how- ever, caused the jammed logs to drift so far apart that the missionary, despairing of proceeding farther in the deepening twilight, sank down exhausted on this strange couch and fell asleep, his legs and arms trailing in the stream. The next morning he was rescued from this dangerous position and directed aright. — Note another instance of faithfulness under circumstances of dire want. The children, come for catechetical instructions, sometimes stood with their pastor in a drizzling rain until some kind-hearted settler out of sheer pity asked them under his protecting roof. Daily, for a number of years, in season and out of season, this faithful man thus traversed the miry, little traveled roads of those early days, gathering the people into congregations and canvassing the territory for parish-school pupils; for, pleaded he, the rising generation must be grounded in the elements of Christian religion, if the Church is to have a spiritually well-trained membership. Returning from these trips of exploration, fatigued and ofttimes drenched to the skin, he gave his first attention to his horse and then thought of himself, partaking of a most frugal meal, generally con- sisting of bread and cold black coffee. No wonder that ac- quaintances wrote of him : "He is altogether so unconcerned about food and drink and other bodily wants that he seems satisfied even though they are not supplied. He puts us to shame." Again : "Oh ! how his example shames so many of us that are enjoying every comfort and ease and are habitually so averse to bringing even the smallest sacrifices for our im- poverished brethren in the Lord." Largely by personal solici- TIIK IIOMK MISSION WORK OF SYNOD. 3R3 tiition during a visit in Germany, by public addresses as well as through an able pamphlet, The Crying Need of the German Lutherans in North America, Wyneken was indefatigable in enlisting thousands of hearts and hands among his former countrymen to espouse the cause of Home Missions in Xorth America. Among the men whom Wyneken won for his cause was William Loehe. Loehe not only sent missionaries to America (among them the talented G. Schaller, professor of theology at St. Louis and for a time also manager of Loehe's so-called Pilgerhaus at Saginaw, Mich.), but he also opened a seminary at Fort Wayne (our "Practical Seminary" of later days) for the training of men for the mission-fields. Because of his tireless energy in promoting the spiritual welfare of his fellow-men, the name of Wyneken stands fore- most as the pioneer missionary in the "colonial" period of our Synod. A Pioneer in Southeast Missouri. Among the trail-blazers the sainted Doederlein should receive honorable mention. After the massacre of his asso- ciate missionary among the Indians he was forced to select a new field. He chose to labor in Southeast Missouri, among a people whose Sunday services wTere but the congregating place whence they hurriedly repaired to their drinking bouts in the near-by cemetery. The pastor's pains and patience to improve such morals awakened a hatred that threatened to stop nothing short of the murder of the monitor. An oppor- tunity for the perpetration of the fell deed seemed favorable. Surrounded by impenetrable darkness, standing at a cross- roads, one of the arms of which led to safety and the other into a most perilous slough, the baffled missionary asked directions of a settler, in whom he did not recognize his most bitter enemy, the leader of the debauchees. The directions were hesitatingly, but satisfactorily given. Many months later the former antagonist, but now devoted follower, con- fessed to his pastor that on that memorable night he had planned to send him into the bottomless swamp and to death ; but, added he, "there was a power from without which com- pelled me to direct you aright. The fear that came over me 384 THE HOME MISSION WORK OF SYNOD. then and there drove me to go to the preaching of the Word, where at last I found peace of conscience." Under such cir- cumstances was mission-work begun in a section now teeming with congregations. A Western Pioneer. Space will permit us to adduce but one more sample of a faithful pioneer missionary, whose name, since he is still living at a ripe old age, is for that reason withheld. Lacking the means of travel by rail from Omaha, — the salary for his third year of work was $99, — he walked across the entire State of Nebraska to reach a preaching-station in Colorado. At another time, with $50 to meet his expenses, he set out to explore Denver upon the request of "Papa" Buenger of St. Louis. A reduced fare- was granted from Omaha as far as Cheyenne, but thence the rate to Denver almost equaled the cost from Omaha to Cheyenne. In Den- ver, where the gold excitement was at its height, the most modest lodgings cost $20 a day. Happily, hospitality was finally offered him in a Lutheran household, where, however, he was warned of a conspiracy against him. Prior to his coming to Denver, a vagabond "preacher" had pilfered a carpet. The enraged community, ready in cowboy-fashion to mete out quick justice with a noose, vainly sought their escaped victim. Chagrined because of their failure to lay hold of the real culprit, the populace decided to string up the first preacher who would come to town. When our missionary was informed that he was the luckless one, he calmly replied : "Under these circumstances, I fancy I'll have to be at your hanging." His answer that refused to see anything but humor in the whole situation disposed the would-be hangmen to withdraw. Under circumstances so foreboding was work begun in the West. — So deficient in Christian knowledge were the first hearers that, according to Dr. Walther's advice, the preaching-station was organized "with such as desire to become Lutherans." At the recent convention of the Ne- braska District in Lincoln jubilee services were held in honor of this pioneer missionary who shepherded either directly or indirectly many of its present 226 congregations. THE HOME MISSION WORK OF SYNOD. 385 Many similar examples of ceaseless working, Buffering, watching, and praying on the part of our missionaries could be given. In 1884, their number in eleven Districts was 84, and their stations totaled 531. At the Delegate Synod of that year, Pastor Buehler, since 1800 missionary in Cali- fornia, reported: "After much labor a congregation was or- ganized in San Francisco which recognizes its missionary privileges. Its prayers are being heard. In Los Angeles, in Orange, in. Oakland, and in Stockton church conditions are shaping themselves so that our hearts are filled with grati- tude towards God." Under the pastoral care of this laborer and of his colaborers in the many sections of the American vineyard, the stations developed into congregations, exhibit- ing the qualities of a thoroughly healthy church life ; namely, ability to support their own pastors and teachers; power to govern and administer their church affairs according to God's Word; and missionary zeal, to disseminate the seed in new unexplored and hitherto barren fields. The Mission Boards, in convention at Chicago, 1921, resolved to gather for publication pertinent biographical sketches of the pioneer workmen, descriptions of their fields, the methods and results of their work, the gradual division of territories, and whatever else may prove of historical value in such a retrospect upon the Home Mission work of Synod. The foregoing and following portions of this essay indicate somewhat the field so ambitious a work intends to cover. The Mission Board. The very fact that representatives of twenty of the twenty- five District Mission Boards were assembled in Chicago, August, 1921, shows an astonishing development of mission- work. Not so many years back, there were no such Boards save one, the General Board; no more were necessary. But with the ever-growing opportunities and possibilities the need of District Boards became apparent. They work in con- junction with the General Mission Board, one of whose duties is to supply the moneys for the Districts unable to foster satisfactorily their mission-work without financial aid from EBENEZER. 25 386 THE HOME MISSION WORK OF SYNOD. Synod. These dependent Districts are the following : Alberta and British Columbia, Atlantic, California and Nevada, North Dakota and Montana, Oregon and Washington, Colo- rado, Southern (including Cuba), and Texas. A further in- sight into the growth of our Home Mission work may be gotten by comparing the subsidies totaling $20,515.79, granted by the General Board from 1887—1890, with the $100,000 to be supplied to the aforementioned needy Districts in the single year 1921 by the same board. The lines along which both General and District Boards work for the successful advancement of mission-work are, as the writer recently showed in the Western Distinct Bul- letin, the following : — 1. They instruct their missionaries to gather their scat- tered brethren or to lift the unchurched out of their igno- rance by no other means than by the Gospel. It is cease- lessly reiterated in all the reports of the District Boards that if the missionaries do not bring the plain, faithful, living Word of Christ into the pulpits, the pulpits had better re- main empty. 2. They instruct their missionaries to sally forth into the streets and lanes to induce parents to let their children at- tend Christian parish-schools. Even though but five or six respond, all conditions being equal, a school should be opened. 3. They send forth their missionaries with the admonition which is at the same time an index of their earnestness: "Young men, if you wish to serve your Savior and His redeemed, be ready to go where no one else will go, and to do what no one else will do." 4. They are indefatigable in conducting an educational campaign. As early as 1879 one of the Boards instructed its missionaries to publish stimulating mission-news regularly in the Lutheraner; and, if necessary, to have even a supplement added, in order to quicken missionary ardor and to awaken a general interest in the vast unreached and neglected areas of outcast populations in the South and West. 5. They introduced the so-called Mission Sunday (Mis- sions f est), both to set the hearts aflame with missionary zeal, THE HOME MISSION WORK OF SYNOD. 387 and to prompt systematic, regular giving for the furtherance of missions. "If a wrong use is made of what we have, it would be a waste for God to give us more, for that might set a premium on unfaithful stewardship." 6. They urge the use of tracts for promoting missions, in- forming the minds and inspiring the hearts of the readers. 7. They claim that "every disciple must be a discipler." If Christians cannot go out as actual missionaries, they can be God's helpers in consecrating their sons to His service or in supporting the sons of others during the years of prepara- tion; they can establish Christian schools, circulate Bibles, scatter religious tracts, and, especially, pray. Men and money will be forthcoming when prayer is urgent, importunate, and believing. 8. They encourage pastors to explore the territories beyond their immediate parochial confines. 9. They advise gleaning where others have already har- vested, for such gleaning is blessed labor. 10. They regard eye-and-ear investigation as indispen- sable. For that reason many recommend the calling of a field secretary. The Field Secretary. At present the Atlantic, Central, Nebraska, North Wis- consin, Texas, Oregon and Washington, and Western Dis- tricts have so-called field secretaries. The Eastern, English, and Iowa Districts are contemplating the calling of such a functionary. The reasons prompting the instituting of this office are briefly the following : — Unencumbered as a field secretary is by other pastoral and congregational work, he is in a position to give the District conventions a thorough insight into the needs and wants and various possibilities of their mission-fields. He can visit regu- larly, year by year, the mission-congregations and preaching- stations. His efforts along these lines are productive of the following good: Year by year many a mission-charge is induced to become self-sustaining; weak, sickly, hopeless stations are united with stronger ones and merged under one head; the funds of the Mission and of the District Church 388 THE HOME MISSION WORK OF SYNOD. Extension Treasury are materially increased; interest and enthusiasm in mission-work is kept at almost white heat by circulars and pamphlets and perhaps by a mission periodical regularly distributed throughout the District; in brief, the cause of missions is kept thoroughly and uninterruptedly before the eyes of all church-members throughout the Dis- trict, as it ought to be. In addition, the field secretary can continually be on the lookout for those openings where much mission-material seems to abound, can be the first man on the ground, and so prevent the old repetition of our sad ex- perience that we try to take up mission-work after others have harvested, and, in consequence, must content ourselves with a sickly gleaning. Finally, by his efforts non-giving churches are added to the list of contributing churches, and sluggish mission-charges are taught to appreciate the fact that a disproportionate outlay is being expended in them as compared with their small returns. Of course, only an able, energetic man — only the very best is good enough for the position — can under God's blessings guarantee such im- provements in mission-work as indicated. The General Church Extension Fund. Another important and greatly needed factor in pro- moting the progress of Home Mission work is the General Church Extension Fund. In the first years of our mission history a few Districts (among them the Eastern since 1889) and a few individual congregations assisted needy mission-stations in their church- building crisis, partly with non-interest-bearing loans and partly with gifts. Not until 1902, at the delegate convention in Milwaukee, was the impetus given to establish a general fund. An appeal of the London brethren for a loan of $6,000 to erect a chapel showed the necessity of such a fund. Because of the increased cost of real estate and of building materials and labor, other mission-charges, too, it was readily recognized, could no longer build without outside aid. A plan was, therefore, adopted whereby older and wealthier congre- gations might help mission-stations in their need by contrib- THE HOME MISSION WORK OF SYNOD. 3 SO uting regularly to a general fund, from which non-interest- bearing loans could be made under the condition that annual repayments of at least 10 per cent, be guaranteed. A con- tinual rotation of moneys is thus assured, and the working power of each dollar for good, God willing, will not cease until the end of days. The necessity for such a fund was seen in the further fact that a foothold could be gained in some fields only with great difficulty because of powerful opposition — powerful by reason of the heavily endowed church extension treasuries of the opponents. Our opponents were unquestionably more far- sighted than we in that they for years have been working untiringly for their church building funds. The Methodist Episcopal Church North has within fifty years collected more than thirteen and a half million dollars ; the Methodist Church South, in thirty-three years, more than five and a quarter million dollars ; and the Congregational Church Building Society more than seven and a half million dollars. — The Methodist Church North, — to give but one example of the possibilities of such a fund, — in the fifty years since the organization of its building society, helped to erect 16,500 church-structures. The total number of churches and par- sonages which have been built to date by the extension funds of the sectarian bodies is 57,339; and their total capital for the promotion of this branch of mission-work is $45,008,565. If our Home Mission work is not to yield to them fields that have been gained by dint of hard labor, if it is to make the same progress in the future that under God's grace has been made in the past, we need to fill generously our church ex- tension treasury. In the years 1902—1908 but $400 flowed into this fund. From 1908 to 1911 the further meager sum of $4,000 was added. From such modest beginnings greater things, how- ever, came. In 1911, a memorial collection for the sainted Dr. C. F. W. Walther, amounting to $40,000, was voted the fund. In 1917, the quadricentenary of the Eeformation, a thank-offering of $344,895.24 was collected for this treasury. Traceable to this Christian liberality is the building of 260 390 THE HOME MISSION WORK OF SYNOD. church edifices in the years 1902 — 1919, wherein approxi- mately 29,223 hearers are regularly taught the way to salva- tion through faith in Christ Jesus. The post-war conditions in 1920 emphasized everywhere the lack of both churches and parsonages. The need of the latter was particularly acute. Readers of the American Magazine of that time will recall that the New York Building Commission therein reported a shortage of 76,000 apartment houses in New York, of 36,000 in Philadelphia, of 5,000 in Minneapolis, a shortage of houses everywhere. This want made itself sorely felt in our mission-fields, too. Secretaries wrote pathetically that "for want of something better mis- sionaries were living in veritable hovels and suffering from inclement weather" ; and that "we must either build or allow our missionaries to be placed where they can be provided with a domicile." Sympathizing with such dire need and hoping to afford some relief, Synod, in convention at Detroit, merged the surplus of the Army and Navy Fund, $313,747.14, into the Church Extension treasury. The working capital of the fund at the present writing (August, 1921) is $759,278.31. From 1910 to 1920 petitions for $1,665,950 were received. Loans aggregating $790,750 were granted to 304 congregations. In order to give a full report of mission-work done in this way, mention must be made of $474,060.94 controlled by 20 District Mission Boards, so that Synod's actual operating fund for this form of mission-work is $1,233,339.25. The number of churches aided is probably 500. This latter figure is but approximately cor- rect, because four Districts failed to report. It may be of interest to note some points of similarity in the methods of operation, followed by the various church- building societies as well as by our own. All organizations safeguard their loans against loss by demanding mortgages. All proportion the amount of aid according to the cost of the proposed church-building, but outside our General Church Extension Board only two others venture to aid up to one- half of the cost. With the exception of the General Council, the General Synod, the Ohio Synod, the Missouri Synod, and THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE HEATHEN. :>,<)] three other denominations, all demand interest on their loans. All require insurance policies, carrying the clause that loss, if any, is payable to the mortgagee, as far as his interests may appear. All recruit their resources from legacies, from annual contributions, and from temporary loans made on demand notes to the fund. Many incorporate the probable amount needed for the year into the financial budget, which the congregations of their denomination are expected to raise towards supplying the annual needs of the general body. All, finally, agree that the Home Mission work has been en- larged and strengthened and its progress accelerated through the moneys provided by their church extension boards. While our statistics for 1920 show that our work, origi- nally so limited by reason of a lack both of men and of means, now comprises 648 men and 1,364 stations, our work is but begun. Immense areas and populations, especially in the great Northwest, are so far unreached. When, in 1879, the Western District appealed to Synod to send a missionary to Oregon, that vast State had as yet no resident missionary of our Synod. Notwithstanding the many men now laboring in that and the neighboring States, there are innumerable counties in the District which have as yet not been entered. Besides this, there are great territories in our country totally unreached by our Lutheran pastors. Let us, then, continue to undertake great things for the advancement of our Savior's kingdom, and expect great things from Him. We shall be the gainers. Some one has tersely said : "Our religion is a com- modity of which the more we export, the more we have remaining." The Evangelization of the Heathen. Rev. Richard Kretzschmar, St. Louis. Mo. When the Lutheran pilgrim fathers in quest of religious liberty came to this country and founded the Missouri Synod, seventy-five years ago, their first concern necessarily was to preserve God's Word and Luther's doctrine pure for them- selves and for their children. Therefore thev erected familv 392 THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE HEATHEN. altars, built churches, schools, colleges, and seminaries. At the same time, however, they were not insensible to their responsibility in regard to the unchurched people of this country. They were zealous in doing home mission work. Thus, in the course of time, many Lutheran congregations were gathered, and a strong home base was established from which, through many missionary channels, the Gospel went forth to other fields till it reached the heathen in the utter- most parts of the earth. Even before our devout fathers had set their foot upon the shores of America, they had solemnly declared their pur- pose to do mission-work among the heathen, and to publish the name of Jesus among those who had never heard it be- fore. On the pages of our Synod's earliest history we find the record of missions among the Chippewa Indians in Mich- igan and among the Sioux in the Northwest. It was also largely mission-work among heathen when our fathers under- took to proclaim the Gospel among the colored people of the South. European Lutheran societies which engaged in the evan- gelization of heathen in foreign fields were for a time lib- erally supported with gifts and prayers by members of the Missouri Synod. But it was urged that this synod should enter a foreign mission field and send out her own mission- aries to the heathen world. This reiterated request was com- plied with at the synodical meeting in St. Louis, 1893, when it was resolved that work should be begun in Japan and a Board for Foreign Missions was elected, consisting of the following members: Prof. F. Pieper, Prof. A. L. Graebner, Prof. F. Zucker, Pastors C. M. Zorn, O. Hanser, E. A. Frey, C. F. W. Sapper, Ferd. Sievers, Sr., and Messrs. E. L. Leon- hardt and L. Volkening. The Rev. Ferdinand Sievers, one of the most ardent advocates of the cause of foreign missions, departed this life before he was able to attend the first meet- ing of the Board. Director J. Schmidt was elected in his place. While the Board called the Bev. Ferd. Sievers, Jr., to the directorship of foreign missions and was casting about for candidates who were to be sent with him to Japan as THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE HEATHEN. 393 missionaries, untoward conditions in Japan rendered it in- expedient just then to begin missionary operations in that country. Simultaneously with the unfavorable conditions arising in Japan the attention and interest of the Board was turned towards India. Two missionaries, Theo. Naether and J. Mohn, who had worked in India, had been dismissed by the Leipzig Mission on account of their firm Biblical testimony "that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God." They wrere recommended to our Synod by brethren in Europe, and after it had been fully established that they were in perfect accord with us in doctrine and practise, they were called by the Board — all synodical Districts concurring — to return to India as the first missionaries sent by the Evangelical Lu- theran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States to the heathen. During the synodical meeting of the Western Dis- trict, at a solemn service held in the Lutheran church at St. Charles, Mo., on October 14, 1894, they received their commission, the Rev. C. M. Zorn delivering the sermon and the President of Synod, Dr. H. C. Schwan, assisted by Pro- fessors A. L. Graebner and F. Zucker, giving the charge. Soon afterwards Missionary Naether sailed for India, ar- riving there in the beginning of 1895. A year later he was followed by Missionary Mohn, whose shattered health had to be restored before sailing. India, the southernmost country of Asia, has an area of one and three quarter million square miles and numbers over 300,000,000 inhabitants. It is a land of vast resources and of remarkable contrasts. In the plains we find a scorching heat under the tropical sun, on the Himalayas everlasting snow and ice. Parts of the country are astoundingly fertile and exuberant, other sections hopelessly sterile and barren. During some months the land is deluged by torrential down- pours; during others it is thirsting in vain for refreshing rain-drops from the sky. India is under the rule of Great Britain; yet some native states have their own kings, called Maharajahs or Rajahs, 394 THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE HEATHEN. and the whole country has recently been given an increased measure of home rule. The Hindu population, though of a dark -brown com- plexion, is our kin, belonging to the white race. It is di- vided by a babel of languages and dialects, about 150 in number, and by castes almost numberless, from the highest caste of the Brahmins down to the Sudras, and, still lower, to the most despised and down-trodden, the very outcasts, the Pariahs and Puleyahs, the masses living in indescribable degradation, poverty, filth, ignorance, and misery. To be touched by the very shadow of a Pariah is pollution to a Brahmin. The caste women are secluded in their "zenanas," which are inaccessible to male missionaries. Baby girls are often given into marriage by their parents, and there are thou- sands of child-widows who never have seen their husbands, yet are held responsible for their death, and in consequence are accursed, enslaved, abused. Formerly — till it was stopped by British injunctions — widows were burned on the funeral pyres of their husbands. Girls and women were debased. Schooling, as a rule, was not intended for the female sex. And as a Hindu proverb has it, beating is to be inflicted upon a donkey, a drum, and a woman. All India is blighted and benighted by idolatry. Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva are the chief idols. Besides these there is a countless multitude of deities of various description and rank, many of them shockingly atrocious, vile, and immoral. Idol-worship is largely demon-worship, devil-worship, having all the elements of fear and hate, and none of love and con- fidence; and some modes of worship are extremely sensual in character. All over India one will find images, statues, shrines, and temples of idols. Gorgeous festivals are cele- brated in honor of idols, and people, carried away by their emotions, permit themselves to be crushed under the wheels of the huge idol wagon, a practise now almost abolished by the British. Various animals are worshiped in India, especially the bull and the cow. Hindu devotees consider their sacred pools THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE HEATHEN. 3Q5 so much more effective for meritorious ablutions after fche "holy kine" have been wading in them, their excremental dep- ositions notwithstanding. A dying Brahmin sometimes will try to find a ray of consolation in the darkest hour by con- necting somehow with the tail of an ox. The Hindus expect their souls to migrate after death, to be born again in some bird or beast, or perhaps even in some human being of a lower caste, and thus to expiate their sin. Helpless, hopeless, hap- less heathendom! But God prophetically said to His Son, the promised Mes- siah : "I will also give Thee for a Light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth." Is. 49, 6. In the Gospel-message of the missionaries this sal- vation is coming to the benighted heathen of India. According to traditions and the assertions of certain "Thomas Christians," found on the western coast, the first missionary to India was Thomas, the apostle. Since the days of Ziegenbalg and Carey many Protestant societies have done mission-work among the Hindus. Still, up to this day, there are untold millions in that great country who as yet have not been reached by any missionary. The first missionaries sent out by the Missouri Synod were charged not to build on ground previously occupied by other missions, but to select a territory where the Gospel had not been preached before. And there was no difficulty in finding such a field. Missionary Naether started his work in Krishnagiri, a populous city in the Salem District of the Madras Presidency, among the Tamil-speaking pagan popu- lation. The work afterwards was extended also to unoccupied sections of the North Arcot District, and the stations Ambur, Bargur, and Yaniyambadi were added, and round about them a number of outstations. It was pioneer work. The missionaries were in need of great faith and much patience. The heathen did not flock to them to hear the glad tidings of the Savior. The messengers of peace had to go out along the streets, to the market-place, or to the fields to find people to whom they could preach the eternal truths about sin and salvation. Sometimes they em- 396 THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE HEATHEN. ployed music and song to draw a crowd. Some listened, asked questions, became interested, and would hear more about it; others objected, reviled, and picked up stones to throw at the preachers. After years of patient and persevering- labors the mission- aries were permitted to see and gather in the first-fruits. By and by small congregations were gathered, chapels were erected, and at all mission-stations the children were gath- ered into schools and were instructed in the Word of God, which is able to make men wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. At Ambur even a higher elemen- tary school was established, which later received the govern- ment's recognition as an accredited lower secondary school. The number of pupils increased to 399. In connection with it the missionary in charge is conducting a boarding-school for boys who are trained for mission- work, and a small indus- trial school of sericulture for the benefit of native Christians, In the year 1907 the missionaries received an urgent appeal from a Christian young man by the name of G. Jesu- dason. He was a Panchama, or Pariah, but through industry and by acquiring an education had advanced to the position of secretary to the British Resident at Trivandrum, where the Maharajah, the king of the native state Travancore, had his residence. Jesudason's heart was filled with genuine pity for his benighted countrymen, and he wrote an appeal in behalf of an independent "Christian" congregation at Vadaseri, near Nagercoil, which was sorely in need of true pastoral guidance and care. Two missionaries were sent to investigate, and they found conditions as depicted. They found that it would involve no encroachment upon any other missionary society's domain if the request were granted. Consequently the work was taken up in Travancore at Nagercoil, about 500 miles south of the other field. There the missionaries found an open door to many villages; in fact, at various times they were urged to extend their work to new places. But, alas! they had to refuse on account of a shortage of workers. In 1912 missionary activities were also begun at Trivandrum, where Malayalim is spoken, and where also the work has THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE HEATHEN. 397 prospered beyond expectation. Within a few years a large number of missions were opened in Travancore. Many classes of catechumens were prepared for baptism, many con- gregations were organized, chapels were built, schools were established, and both at Nagercoil and Trivandrum institutes were erected for the training of native aids — evangelists, catechists, and teachers. Up to the first year of the World War twenty missionaries had entered the service on the two mission-fields in India: Theo. Naether, J. Molm, Geo. Kellerbauer, R. Freche, Albert Huebener, Geo. Naumann, F. Forster, H. Nau, Theo. Gut- knecht, F. R. Zucker, Geo. Kuechle, J. Harms, A. J. Lutz, G. Huebener, O. A. Ehlers, J. Williems, R. W. Goerss, H. Ha- mann, H. Stallmann, and Eric Ludwig. The faithful pioneer missionary, Theo. ]N"aether, while rendering services to plague-stricken members of his little flock, was infected by the deadly disease. From a distance, in order not to expose them to infection, he directed tender words of pastoral farewell to Christians and heathen and then was received into the joy of his Lord on February 13, 1904. His remains were laid to rest on the mission com- pound between the graves of his two children. Missionary Geo. Kellerbauer was summoned from this life October 27, 1914, while on furlough in Europe. According to His un- searchable providence God, on March 31, 1919, called home also the devoted young worker Eric Ludwig, whose remains are slumbering unto the great resurrection morn on the mission compound at Ambur. Four missionaries had to leave India or could not return to their field of labor on account of their failing health or sickness in their family. Unspeakable havoc was wrought upon missions in India by the terrible World War. Other missions suffered more, but the Missouri Synod's missions also suffered very heavily. The relentless fortunes of the disastrous catastrophe caused the removal of three faithful missionaries from the field of their efficient and sorely needed services, prevented three missionaries from returning from home furlough to India, and barred new men from reinforcing the depleted ranks of 398 THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE HEATHEN. laborers in the field white for the harvest. Still the five mis- sionaries remaining in the field, fighting", as it often seemed to them, against insurmountable odds, did not retreat nor retrench, but under God's signal assistance stood undismayed and indefatigable, carrying on the good work, occupying even new ground, and working overtime to train a larger force of native missionaries, meanwhile appealing and praying for the most desperately needed reinforcements from the home base. At last, when the war was over and the barriers gradually were lifted, the two veteran missionaries Kuechle and Harms hastened back to give help to their comrades, and together with them went out two new missionaries, Paul Heckel, who had served as lieutenant and chaplain in the IT. S. Navy, and Paul Kauffeld. At the same time E. A. Noffke, a young pas- tor from Australia, where much interest is shown for the evangelization of the heathen, accepted a call to India, and another young missionary from America, Andrew Fritze, a few months later, started out for the same mission-field. At this writing, passage for India has been booked for the largest party of missionaries in the history of the foreign missions of the Missouri Synod. Missionary Zucker is re- turning with his wife and four children from home fur- lough; six new missionaries are sailing with them, graduates of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, the majority of them after having taken unto themselves as an "associate mission- ary" a wife: Louis Boriack, Robert Jank, Herbert Levihn, Gerhard Oberheu, George Schroeder, Bernard Strasen; also two medical mission nurses, Miss Etta Herold and Miss Angela Rehwinkel, and a teacher, Miss Henrietta Ziegfeld. Miss A. Brauer, a teacher from Australia, will probably at the same time be added to the missionary ranks, and several candidates of the theological seminary in Australia are ex- pected to enter the foreign mission service early in 1922. A brighter day has dawned upon the mission-field in India. Indeed, a bright day of great rejoicing for the mission- aries and their charges was the second Sunday in March, 1921. Jesudason, who under God was instrumental in bring- ing the missionaries to the field in Travancore, and who for THE EVANGELIZATION OK THE HEATHEN. 399 years was educated and trained by them, and tried by prac- tical service as an evangelist, after having passed very credit- ably a thorough examination before the missionary confer- ence, was, pursuant to a resolution of the Board, ordained to the ministry, and as "Indian pastor" Avas given his own mission-charge. A medical branch is a valuable adjunct to foreign mis- ion work. Missionaries and their families in case of sickness would often be deprived of very necessary help if they could not consult the mission doctor, or call in a mission nurse, and draw from a mission pharmacy. Medical resources in hea- then lands are, as a rule, woefully deficient. The ravages of disease among the ignorant and superstitious natives, living in filth and other extremely unsanitary conditions, beggar description. Is it not a service, of true Samaritan charity when Christian medical missions bring them help and relief in their various bodily afflictions? But what is more, every patient coining in touch with such medical missions is di- rected to Jesus, the great and only Physician, who brings real healing both to body and soul. Missionaries often for years cannot gain access to heathen and overcome the barriers of their prejudice and suspicion, while the doctor and nurse may succeed quickly in finding the way to the hearts of pagan patients, win their confidence, and have golden opportunities to do evangelistic work in behalf of perishing souls, or pre- pare the way for the missionary and his Gospel-message. A small beginning of medical mission-work was made in the Missouri Synod's India foreign mission field when in 1913 Miss Lula Ellerman, R. N., entered this service. Many times our missionaries had occasion to thank the Lord when she served them well in days of suffering and sickness, and many thousands of heathen patients flocked to her little dis- pensary at Bargur, and received what she had to offer for body and soul. 2,810 patients were registered during the last year before her first home furlough. When, early in 1921, she returned, she took with her as her assistant Miss A. Georgi. Many an urgent appeal was issued for a doctor of either 400 THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE HEATHEN. sex to take charge of this medical mission-work in India. At last a most welcome response was heard. Dr. Theodore Doe- derlein, a noted physician and surgeon of Chicago, offered to v\ ^"\ • NorHier n field T,-.V)f/\V. Irfi \\\ Nacjcrcail fielJ^S^ U A\\ - --'', «t Ceylor Map of India. Showing Our Northern Mission-Field, Our Southern Mission-Fields in Nagercoil and Trivandrum, and Our Mountain Retreat in Kodaikanal. suspend his extended practise and tender his services to this worthy cause in India, to organize the medical mission enter- prise, superintend the building and equipment of a dispen- sary and hospital, and open a practise which is to he turned THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE HEATHEN. 401 over to another, younger Lutheran doctor, who after two years is to succeed him. The missionaries in India often have occasion for "indus- trial mission-work," in order to give useful employment to members who are ostracized by a pagan community, or other- wise are poor and needy, and to give some manual training to the boys in the boarding-schools and institutes. An at- tempt has therefore been made in Ambur at sericulture (the breeding and management of silkworms) and at Nagercoil at the manufacture of brooms and brushes. A real boon for the missionaries and their families is the beautiful mountain retreat (Bergheim), provided for them by the women and the ladies' societies of the Missouri Synod at Kodaikanal. It is situated in the Pallni Mountains, at an altitude of 7,000 feet, about midway between the northern and the southern mission-fields. The missionaries and their families resort to this retreat during the hottest season in summer for needed refreshing and recreation, enjoy mutual fellowship, and discuss many missionary topics. In case of sickness the members of missionary families find the moun- tain retreat a most congenial and genuinely good health re- sort. The children of the missionaries, who in the sweltering heat of the plains would wither and waste, find a wholesome climate and a pleasant home and school at the retreat, and it is not necessary to estrange them from their loving parents by bringing them to America during the tender years of childhood. Many futile attempts were made by the Board to find a suitable manager for this home at "Kody." At last, in 1914, a couple was found well fitted for the position. Mr. and Mrs. Herman Lorey, of Akron, O. They accepted the call, started out for India, landed at Colombo, but "on account of conditions caused by the war" were refused per- mission to enter, and were forced to return to America. The following figures are given in the latest statistical report from this foreign mission field in India : 66 stations, 4,180 souls, 1,752 catechumens, 2,401 baptized members, 368 communicant members, 68 schools with 3,049 pupils (609 of whom are baptized, 2,440 not baptized) ; 303 were received EBKXEZEK. 26 402 THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE HEATHEN. into the Church in 1920 by baptism. The 9 missionaries in the field are assisted by 169 native aids, 1 ordained Indian pastor, 1 evangelist, 27 catechists, 140 teachers. Total ex- penses in 1920, $54,909.53. Total property, 207 acres. The Beginning of Foreign Mission Work in China. A more recent foreign mission field of the Missouri Synod is China. Oh, think of the vastness, the immensity of China, 1,474 miles in length, 1,355 miles in breadth, with a popula- tion of 400,000,000, which means one-fourth of the entire population of the earth ! China, noted for its ancient civili- zation, literature, history, inventions, and yet up to this day full of appalling ignorance, lethargy, superstition, and a shocking variety of ugly, nasty idols ! Confucianism, Tao- ism, and Buddhism are three systems of idolatry in China, and the people do not know which is which, and often at the same time want to have all of everything, but, after all, have nothing but a terrible delusion, no real happiness all the days of their lives, and no light and no hope in death. Can Chris- tians measure up to their responsibility if they will not exert themselves to save the largest nation of the earth from ever- lasting ruin? When recently in large famine-stricken prov- inces millions in China were suffering the pangs of hunger and the terrors of death, vast supplies of food were rushed over from America to bring rescue and relief. Should we not rush over the bread and the water of life for immortal souls, languishing, perishing every year in China by the millions ? The pioneer of the Missouri Synod's mission in China is Missionary E. L. Arndt. By his glowing appeals he suc- ceeded in arousing interest and compassion for the millions in China in many hearts within the Lutheran Synodical Con- ference of America. In 1912 a society was organized for the propagation of the saving Gospel in China. The following year Prof. E. L. Arndt was sent out as the first missionary. Though he was somewhat advanced in years, he took up the study of the Chinese language (which, as some one has said, seems to have been invented by the devil to obstruct the THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE HEATHEN. t03 preaching of the Gospel) with such youthful fervor and in- domitable zeal that in half a year he began to preach and to teach, to translate the Symbolical Books, to publish Lutheran literature, and, in time, even to translate hymns in that language. On September 27, 1914, he was permitted to bap- tize his first convert catechumens. In the spring of 1921 the total number of heathen received into the Church by him through baptism was 104. He selected the large city of Hankow for the field of his labors. After many unsuccessful efforts to secure more mission- aries for the vast field in China, Erhard Riedel was sent out in 1915 and was associated with Arndt in Hankow. The China Mission Society in 1917 asked the Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States, assembled at Milwaukee, Wis., to take this small mission in China under its fostering care and control, which the Synod unanimously resolved to do. Seven missionaries have since entered the field in China : L. Meyer, A. H. Gebhardt, H. Gihring, Walter Arndt (who soon afterwards tendered his resignation in order to train as a medical missionary), H. Bentrup, L. Schwa rtz- kopf, and, early in 1921, Geo. Lillegard, a member of the Norwegian Synod of the American Lutheran Church, now cooperating with the Missouri Synod in foreign missions and having representation on the Board. Missionary Lillegard had been in China before and is conversant with the lan- guage. Four graduates of the St. Louis Seminary have ac- cepted calls to China and will sail on October 15, 1921 : Her- man Klein, Arno Scholz, Max Zschiegner, and Henry W. Theiss. Both in India and China female missionaries are in demand as teachers and Bible women. Miss Olive Gruen, an experienced teacher, will enter the China mission before the close of 1921. The China missionaries for some years had planned to branch out into the inland. A committee of missionaries was sent on an extended trip of exploration. They selected the city of Shihnanfu, where no Protestant mission as yet was to be found nor in the territory round about, and decided to make it the second main station of the Missouri Synod 404 THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE HEATHEN. mission in China. Shihnanfu is located about 700 miles west-southwest of Hankow and is reached by a trip on the Yangtse River to Ichang and thence through a rugged moun- tain region on footpaths leading over high cliffs and through deep ravines amidst various dangers. No mission property as yet has been bought either in Hankow or in Shihnanfu, all buildings used for schools and chapels and for housing of missionaries being rented. But the purchase of property is being seriously considered. The opening of a medical mis- sion in Shihnanfu is considered very desirable, and the Board has issued urgent appeals for a doctor and nurses. Latest statistics of the China Mission, which is still in its incipient stage: There are now (1921) 8 missionaries (this number is to be increased by 4 and by one woman teacher before the close of 1921). The missionaries are assisted by 10 native evangelists and 30 native teachers. The mission numbers 3 stations, 12 preaching-places, 15 schools, 130 bap- tized souls, 98 communicants, 69 voting members, 600 school- children, 613 Sunday-school children. 49 were baptized in 1920. Expenses in 1920, $26,447.65. The affairs of the foreign missions of the Missouri Synod are administered by a Board elected at each general meet- ing of Synod for a term of three years. This Board consists of an executive committee of six members (two professors of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, two pastors, and two lay- men) and of five members at large, serving at all times as consulting members and meeting together with the executive committee during the general meeting of Synod and when- ever very important business demands it. The present in- cumbents of the executive committee in St. Louis are : Profes- sors M. Sommer and W. Arndt (secretary), Pastors Richard Kretzschmar (chairman) and Herm. Hohenstein, and Messrs. Win. Lehr (treasurer) and G. Schmidt. Members at large are Prof. F. Zucker, the Rev. P. Roesener, the Rev. J. F. Boerger, the Rev. H. M. Zorn, and Prof. S. Ylvisaker, repre- senting the Norwegian Synod. The board elects a general secretary, or director, who is the official representative and correspondent of foreign mis- THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE HEATHEN. 405 sions. The first one elected for this office was the Rev. Ferd. Sievers, Jr., who, however, resigned when it was decided to start foreign mission work not in Japan, but in India. Pro- fessor F. Zucker, who had been a missionary in India, was elected in his place. He filled this office very creditably till ♦ 1912, when, owing to his age, he tendered his resignation, and the Rev. Julius A. Friedrich was made his successor, who held this office till 1915. When the Rev, Friedrich re- signed, the chairman was asked to serve temporarily as direc- tor, which he consented to do till at his and the Board's urgent requests the Synod at the meeting in Detroit, 1920, resolved that a director should be elected who should give his entire time and strength to this important office. The Rev. F. Brand, the First Vice-President of Synod, was elected and instructed to visit the fields in India and China, to study conditions, and to consult with the missionaries. He is now in China and in the fall of 1921 intends to proceed to India. This is a short sketch of the missionary efforts of the Missouri Synod for the evangelization of the heathen. En- couraging indications are that these efforts will be continued, yes, that they will be greatly intensified. The harvest-fields are large. The urgent call for new laborers is heard from the fields, and nothing bars them from entering. Thank God, more men and women than ever before are willing to con- secrate themselves to the great cause of bringing the Gospel to the heathen. Christians are awakening to a keener con- sciousness of their glorious privilege and great responsibility of sending the light of our Savior's Gospel into the darkness of heathen lands, and of working, praying, and contributing for this cause. One family is willing to give the salary of one missionary. A little congregation pledged the salary of another one. The Walther League and four individual dis- tricts of that great organization of Lutheran young people are assuming the responsibility for the support of five men in the field. Individuals, societies, schools, and Sunday- schools are sending an annual contribution of $35 which will pay the way for one year for a native student preparing for mission-work in one of the mission institutes. Ladies' mis- 406 TTIE PREDESTINARIAN CONTROVERSY. sion aids are sewing for the poor Hindu schoolchildren, to supply them with clothing-, which these formerly regarded a luxury out of their reach. At the same time these Lu- theran women are giving their generous support for the upkeep of the mountain retreat and for medical missions. A Lutheran medical auxiliary recently has been organized to lend moral and financial assistance to the doctors and nurses in the foreign mission fields. Dr. H. Hanser, son of the first president of the board, is chairman of this organization. It is the Lord's work. May He give us all grace to be faithful to our trust and make us ever more willing to serve! The Predestinarian Controversy. Prof. J. T. Mueller, St. Louis, Mo. The Predestinarian Controversy is, no doubt, the most important and the most deplorable of all conflicts that per- turbed the American Lutheran Church. At one time it threatened to undo the whole work which for forty years had been accomplished by arduous toil. It was a bitter struggle, from which our fathers at first shrank with horror, but which they nevertheless saw through with unflinching loyalty; although it blasted Dr. Walther's hope of accomplishing his proudest task — "the final realization of one united Evan- gelical Lutheran Church of North America." Yet even this vicious attempt of Satan to impede and dis- rupt the Church proved itself a blessing. On the side of doc- trine as well as on that of outward growth it resulted in great gain. Pastors and laymen together searched the Scriptures and were "enriched in all utterance and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in them." 1 Cor. 1, 5. 6. We are still very near the clash. Faintly we yet' hear the din of strife, and the veterans who have borne the brunt of it are partly still in our midst. At this writing we hope and pray that what our fathers fought for may in the future be fully accomplished. May God's glory be magnified by all who love Him, and may His precious Word THE PREDESTINAU1AN CONTROVERSY. JliT be preached in all its sweet truth and divine purity! It is largely for this purpose that this essay has been written. Hence, while we cannot enumerate every historical fact, we shall, in the main, trace the chief events, set forth the prin- ciples for which our fathers stood, and show the chief errors which they renounced. For the sake of clearness we shall group the discussion about the following four divisions : 1) The Controversy; 2) The Doctrines Involved; 3) Errors Kejected; 4) A Plea for Reunion. 1. The Controversy. It was unfortunate that the controversy should arise at the very time when the prospects for outward growth, internal agreement and development, and general cooperation seemed most hopeful. Mightily and rapidly the little band of Saxon immigrants had developed into a large church-body. On April 26, 1847, twelve Lutheran congregations were organized at. Chicago as "The German Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States," on the basis of God's Word and the Confessions of the Ev. Luth. Church as set forth in the Book of Concord of 1580. The growth of Synod was marvelous. Twenty-five years after its organization, in 1872, the Missouri Synod numbered 428 pastors and 251 parochial school teachers. It had two theological seminaries, a teachers' semi- nary, a college, and a publishing house. In the same year was organized the "English Synod of Missouri," which in 1911 was absorbed by the mother synod at St. Louis, and is now "The English District of the Missouri Synod." In 1872 (July 10 — 10) the first convention of the Synodical Con- ference took place in Milwaukee, Wis. Already in 1871 (January 11 — 13) representatives of the synods of Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota, together with repre- sentatives of the Norwegian Synod, had met in Chicago, in order to effect a union among the synods agreeing in faith and doctrine. At a meeting held in 1871 (November 14 and 15) a constitution was adopted, and Professor Walther was elected president. At Milwaukee the Ohio Synod was represented by twelve delegates, among whom were Professors 408 THE PREDESTINARIAN CONTROVERSY. Lehmann and Loy. On January 25, 1878, the Joint Synod of Ohio, at that time part of the Synodical Conference, con- ferred upon Professor Walther the degree of Doctor of Divinity. In the same year the Delegate Synod of Missouri called Prof. M. Loy to its seminary at St. Louis to fill the chair of English, a call which he, however, declined. Thus everywhere there seemed to be peace, harmony, cooperation, and outward growth. However, even at this time Dr. Walther had presentiments of imminent trouble. "In his letter of thanks to the Chicago Pastoral Conference, which had sent him a congratulatory poem on his having been honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity, Dr. Walther said : 'The circle in which I have hitherto lived consists in this, that God soon humbled, soon exalted me, so that I always knew, when an exaltation came, a deep humiliation would promptly follow.'" (Steffens, Dr. Carl F. W. Walther, p. 337.) Two years after the Joint Synod of Ohio had conferred upon Wal- ther the degree of Doctor of Divinity, that very synod pub- licly charged him with being a heretic. The change came about thus. For a number of years the Western District of the Missouri Synod, under the leadership of Walther, had discussed the theme : "Only through the doc- trine of the Lutheran Church is God alone given all glory, an irrefutable proof that its doctrine is the only true one." In 1877 the doctrine of predestination was discussed upon the basis of theses taken verbatim from the Formula of Con- cord. Thesis III states : "The Lutheran Church teaches that it is false and wrong to teach that not the merit of God and the most holy merits of Christ alone, but that in us also there is a cause of the election of God for the sake of which God has elected us unto eternal life." Upon the basis of this paragraph it was declared : "God foresaw nothing, absolutely nothing, in those whom He resolved to save, which might be worthy of salvation, and even if it be admitted that He fore- saw some good in them, this, nevertheless, could not have de- termined Him to elect them for that reason ; for as the Scrip- tures teach, all good in man originates with Him." (Report of Westei'n District, 1877, p. 51.) In setting forth this truth, it THE PREDESTlNARlAN CONTROVERSY. 400 was pointed out that "the true sentiment concerning predes- tination must be derived from the holy Gospel of Christ alone," and that "we must banish from our minds other thoughts that do not flow from God, but from the insinua- tions of the malevolent enemy." Accordingly, Dr. Walther also rejected "the unfortunately selected terminology" of the dogmatic ians of the seventeenth century, "that God elected in view of faith {intuitu fidei)" a term invented by Aegidius Hunnius. It was this discussion that led to the strife. In January, 1880, Prof. F. A. Schmidt, a former student of Dr. Walther, violently assailed the statements made by his former teacher, and in his new magazine, Altes und Neues, declared that he must sound the alarm against the new Crypto Calvinism of Missouri as expressed in the synodical report of the Western District of 1877. It seems strange that this onslaught should have been made after Dr. Schmidt had still, on May 8, 1878, in a private letter to the president of a District synod, an- nounced his willingness to accept a professorship at Con- cordia Seminary. Though a candidate, Professor Schmidt was not elected "out of consideration for the Norwegian Synod." This public attack upon Dr. Walther had been pre- ceded by private correspondence with Walther and others. Also the President of the Missouri Synod, Pastor H. Schwan, had vainly invited Professor Schmidt to a conference with President O. Fuerbringer in July, 1879, requesting him earnestly to observe the agreement of the Synodical Con- ference by which its members were pledged not to attack each other publicly until every means of adjusting differences in doctrine had been exhausted. For a whole year Dr. Wal- ther brooked charges of heresy directed against him, merely refuting them, and setting forth the true doctrine of the Lutheran Church regarding predestination in an objective way. These charges were not new, for already in 1872 Prof. G. Fritschel of the Iowa Synod had bitterly accused Dr. Walther of teaching Cryptocalvinism. On September 29, 1880, a public conference was held at Chicago, at which five hundred pastors of the Missouri Synod were present and took 410 THE PREhESTlNARlAfr CONTROVERSY. part in the discussion. However, the conference ended in failure. On January 5, 1881, a. colloquy was held in Mil- waukee between Missouri and Ohio representatives. The col- loquy also proved itself incapable of effecting an agreement, as on the fifth day the representatives of Ohio terminated the discussion and withdrew. A proposal on the part of Dr. Walther, not to carry on the controversy publicly, was flatly refused, as Professor Schmidt declared that he had been commanded by God to wage this war, whereupon Dr. Walther replied, "Since you desire war, you shall have war." May 23 and 24, 1881, a second general pastoral conference was held at Fort Wayne, which likewise did not avail in bringing the opposing parties to an understanding. The Synodical Con- ference, meeting at Chicago in October, 1882, discussed the matter further, after the Third Delegate Synod, meeting at Fort Wayne, May 11 — 21, 1881, had adopted thirteen theses, drawn up by Dr. Walther in Vol. 36 of the Lutheraner (1880, Nos. 2 — 9) as the official declaration of faith on the debated questions. The convention also instructed its delegates to the sessions of the Synodical Conference "not to sit together and deliberate with such as have publicly decried us as Cal- vinists," and "not to recognize any synod which as a synod has raised the same accusation of Calvinism against us." In September, 1881, the Ohio Synod met in extra session at Wheeling, W. Va., and resolved to withdraw from the Synod- ical Conference, the vote on withdrawal being 119 to 19. The controversy that followed was exceedingly bitter, and it was hoped by many "that the whole colossus of the Missouri Synod might break into a thousand pieces." Nevertheless, in the decade of 1878 — 1888 the Missouri Synod almost doubled the number of its pastors. From 1880 to 1884 the conflict raged with unabating ardor on both sides, the main contro- versialists of Missouri being Dr. Walther, Professor Pieper, and Rev. Stoeckhardt, and those of Ohio, Professors Stell- horn and Schmidt, and Pastors Allwardt, Doermann, and Ernst, former members of the Missouri Synod. Intersynod- ical conferences between Missouri and Ohio were held in 1903 at Watertown, in 1904 at Detroit, again at Detroit in THE PREDESTIWARIAK CONTROVERSY. 411 1905, and in 190G at Fort Wayne. Since then the discussion has been steadfastly pursued through committees and con- ferences, and as much of the former bitterness and personal animosity has passed away, it is hoped that with the help of God an agreement may yet be reached on the unchangeable basis of Scriptural truth. 2. The Doctrines Involved. The main points of doctrine involved in the controversy may be summed up in the following three propositions: 1) Does predestination, or the election of God's children, depend solely and alone upon God's grace and Christ's merit, or does it depend also upon man's persevering faith, foreseen by God, and man's better conduct? 2) Is faith, foreseen by God, a result of predestination, or is predestination the result of man's persevering faith, foreseen by God? 3) Can and should a Christian be sure of his salvation or not? In his Controversy concerning Predestination, published in 1881, Dr. Walther has stated the chief controverted point thus : "It consists simply in the following twofold question: 1) Whether God from eternity, before the foundations of the world were laid, out of pure mercy and only for the sake of the most holy merit of Christ, elected and ordained the chosen children of God to salvation and whatever pertains to it, consequently also to faith, repentance, and conversion; or 2) whether in His election God took into consideration anything good in man, namely, the foreseen conduct of man, the foreseen non- resistance, and the foreseen persevering faith, and thus elected certain persons to salvation in consideration of, with respect to, on account of, or in consequence of, their conduct, their non-resistance, and their faith." The first of these questions, says Dr. Walther, we affirm, while our opponents deny it, but the second question we deny, while our opponents affirm it. In a note, the venerable author states: "There is indeed another [controverted point], namely, whether a be- lieving Christian can become and be certain of his salvation, and consequently of his election. This question also Missouri affirmed, while their opponents denied it. 412 THE PREDESTINARIAN CONTROVERSY. In thus stating the issue, Dr. Walther indeed hit upon the essential point. The question was : Is the salvation of man solely due to God's grace, or also, in part, to the merits and powers of man? The opponents of Missouri had thus attacked the heart of Christian faith. The battle was ulti- mately the same which Luther had waged against Erasmus. Hence the struggle was one of life or death. It was for this reason that the Missourians fought so ardently and stood so firmly upon every inch of Scriptural ground, warding off every effort to shift the controverted point. It was a heroic struggle to put down synergism, which denies the sola gratia, salvation by faith alone, just as Calvinism denies the univer- salis gratia, universal grace. Hence their emphatic state- ment: "We deny that God in His election took into considera- tion anything good in man, namely, the foreseen conduct of man, the foreseen non-resistance , and the foreseen persever- ing 'faith." In fighting their fight, the Missourians knew themselves in full accord with Scripture. The above two propositions are but a restatement of Eph. 1, 3 — 6; Horn. 8, 28 — 30; 11, 5. 6; 9, 11. 12. 15. 16; Matt. 22, 14; Acts 13,48. The whole effort was directed to hold fast each word of God's revelation : "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved." Eph. 1, 3 — 6. "Even so, then, at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace; other- wise work is no more work." Rom. 11, 5. 6. Thus, as the reader may judge for himself, the propositions are nothing else than the plain words of God, laid down in Scripture. Hence the doctrine regarding election, taught by the Mis- THE PREDESTINARIAN CONTROVERSY. 413 sourians, is Scriptural. True, unless received with simple faith, these statements may give rise to endless subtle ques- tions. It was for this reason that Dr. Walther continually warned his opponents to confine themselves to plain state- ments of Scripture and to be on their guard against deduc- tions and conclusions "from reason or from the Law of God." At the same time our fathers knew that their doctrine regarding election was that also of the Confessions of the Lutheran Church as set forth in the Book of Concord of the year 1580. To this Dr. Walther calls attention in his Contro- versy concerning Predestination, where he writes : "The prin- cipal means by which our opponents endeavor to support their doctrine consists in continually quoting passages from the private writings of the fathers of our Church, published sub- sequent to the Formula of Concord. But whenever a contro- versy arises concerning the question whether a doctrine is Lutheran, we must not ask, 'What does this or that father of the Lutheran Church teach in his private writings ?' for he also may have fallen into error; on the contrary, we must ask, 'What do the public Confessions of the Lutheran Church teach concerning the controverted point?' For in her Con- fessions our Church has recorded for all times what she be- lieves, teaches, and confesses." (p. 5.) He then cautions his readers to bear in mind the two main propositions of the Formula of Concord, in which the true Scriptural doctrine regarding election is set forth. He wrrites : "The first of these sentences is the following: 'In the first place, the dif- ference between the eternal foreknowledge of God and the eternal election of His children to everlasting salvation must be accurately observed. For praescientia vel praevisio, that is, that God foresees and foreknows all things before they come to pass, which is called the foreknowledge of God, extendeth to all creatures, whether they be good or wicked, etc. But God's eternal election, vel praedestinatio, that is, the ordain- ing of God unto salvation, doth not at once pertain both to the good and the wicked, but only to the children of God, who have been elected and ordained to eternal life, before the foundations of the world were laid; as St. Paul (Eph. 1, 5) 414 THE PREDESTINARIAN CONTROVERSY. testifies, saying : He hath chosen us in Christ Jesus and pre- destinated us unto the adoption of children.' " (New Market Ed., p. 711.) After showing that this doctrine is in full accord with Scripture, he continues: "The second principal point in the doctrine concerning predestination is the following : 'The foreknowledge of God (praescientia) foresees and foreknows evils also, but this is not to be understood as if it were God's gracious will that they should occur, etc. The foreknowledge of God is not the origin or the cause of evil; for God does not create or cause evil, nor does He aid or promote it, etc. But the eternal election of God not only foresees and fore- knows the salvation of the elect, but through His gracious will and good pleasure in Christ Jesus is also a cause which procures, works, aids, and promotes our salvation, and what- ever pertains to it; and upon this our salvation is so firmly grounded that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; for it is written : Neither shall any pluck My sheep out of My hand; and: As many as were ordained to eternal life believed.' Matt. 16, 18; John 10, 28; Acts 13, 48." (New Market Ed., p. 711 f. The Controversy, pp. 7. 9.) Even a casual comparison of Professor Walther's two propositions with the Confessions shows that they agree not only with the Scriptures, but also with the teachings of the Lutheran Church. Both the Scriptures and the Confessions teach in plain words that God out of pure grace and in Christ Jesus, the Redeemer of the world, has elected His children unto a salvation which, through faith, is absolutely sure and certain. 3. Errors Rejected. However, the Missourians not only set forth the true Scriptural teaching as regards predestination, but they also refuted all errors by which human reason has tried to solve the mysteries connected with this doctrine. 1) They denounced as utterly false the assertion that the Confessions speak of election in a wider sense; for election in a wider sense is nothing else than the general way to sal- vation for all men, (The Controversy, p. 7.) Identifying THE PRKDKSTI.VAIU \.\ CONTROVERSY. 415 olcction with God's general plan of salvation practically eliminates the Scriptural doctrine concerning predestination. 2) They refuted as plain synergism the doctrine that the election of the children of God depends not only upon the grace of God and the merits of Christ, but also upon the foreseen conduct, the foreseen non-resistance, and the fore- seen faith of man. This was really the decisive issue; for if election depends on man's good conduct or non-resistance, then salvation is no longer of faith, but of works. In the periodical Altes und Neues one of the opponents had de- clared: "It is undeniable that in a certain respect conversion and final salvation are dependent upon man and not upon God alone." (Zeitblaetter, 1887, p. 325.) Such assertions were made time and again, and this doctrine was insisted upon as the true Scriptural teaching. How utterly unscrip- tural, heathenish, and damnable it is every Christian who has but an inkling of Gospel-truth at once can see. It is syner- gism indeed, as was rightly maintained. o) As the Missourians repudiated the doctrine that salva- tion and election depend also upon man's good conduct, so they repudiated the assertion that election took place in view of faith. True, certain dogmaticians, such as Gerhard, Scriver, Pontoppidan, Quenstedt, Calov, and others, had with Hunnius employed this terminology. Yet while these dog- maticians abhorred, confuted, and rejected synergism, the opponents of Missouri used it as a cloak to cover their syner- gistic doctrines. (Cf. Dr. Pieper's Election and Conversion, pp. 67— 70.) Already in 1872 Dr. Walther declared: "We may best avoid misunderstandings, so easily called forth if we entirely abstain from using the new terminology of the seventeenth -century theologians/' (Lehre und Wehre, 1872, p. 140.) Also he considered the advisability of "entirely abolishing and no longer tolerating the expression 'in view of faith,' because modern synergists hide their error in this term." (Beleuchtung, p. 16.) 4) Moreover, the Missourians rejected the assertion that there is in man a dissimilar conduct over against divine grace. This error was first introduced into Lutheran theology by 416 THE PREDESTINARIAN CONTROVERSY. Melanchthoii, in order to explain the difference why some are saved, while others, being in equal guilt and damnation, are lost, though offered the same grace. This teaching was strongly rejected as being at variance with the clear state- ments of Scripture, Eph. 2, 1. 5; 1 Cor. 2, 14; John 6, 43—45; Rom. 9, 16. 5) Likewise the Missourians rejected the error that man may convert himself by means of spiritual powers imparted and offered to him by grace, especially, that by means of powers so conferred man may decide for conversion, con- duct himself rightly over against grace, cease to resist wil- fully, etc. This, too, they declared a subtle synergism, as it presupposes in man natural powers for good with which to em- ploy such spiritual powers. Such an assertion, however, con- tradicts those Scripture-passages which prove that all men by nature are dead in sins, Eph. 2, 1. 6) Erom the very beginning of the controversy the Mis- sourians directed the shafts of their polemics against each and every attempt to solve the mystery involved in passages such as these: "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in Me is thine help." Hos. 13, 9. The question which human reason propounds is this: "If salvation depends entirely upon God's grace, and if all men are alike in equal condem- nation, why is it that some are saved and others not, though the same grace is offered to all? Calvinism answers this question by denying universal grace; synergism, by denying that salvation is by grace alone. Scripture repeatedly states both: that salvation depends entirely upon the grace of God, and that all men are alike dead in trespasses and sins, but does not solve the mystery. Rom. 11, 33 — 36. So also our Confessions "reckon this among the mysteries of predestina- tion: 'This man is hardened, blinded, and given over to a reprobate mind; another, though equally guilty, is con- verted to God.' " (New Market Ed., p. 720.) By leaving this mystery unsolved, the Missourians followed both the Scrip- tures and the Confessions. 7) The acknowledgment of this mystery led to a twofold charge against Missouri, in both of which she was accused of THE PREDESTINARIAN ( '0NTR0VERSY. 417 being guilty of Calvinistic heresy. In the first place, the Missourians were said to teach that God does not desire the salvation of all men. This charge was followed by another, they being accused of teaching that God does not seriously and effectively offer to those who are lost His divine grace. Both of these charges were vigorously denied as malicious lies fabricated by their opponents for the perversion of truth. As flatly as the Missourians rejected synergism, so likewise they rejected the pernicious heresies of Calvin, who taught that God would not have all men to be saved. In connection with this the Missourians rejected as pernicious and heretical the teaching that there are in God two redemptive wills, one an earnest, gracious will, efficient for conversion, which ex- tends to the elect only; and another, non-efficient for con- version, which concsrns those who are lost. 8) Moreover, the Missourians rejected as erroneous the doctrine that God's predestination of man is an arbitrary act of His secret will. In opposition to this, they asserted with the Formula of Concord that "the predestination of God's children unto salvation must not be sought in God's secret counsel, but in the Word of God in which it is revealed; wherefore the true sentiment concerning predestination must be derived from the holy Gospel of Christ alone" so that a sinner in doubt and trouble with regard to his salvation should not look to a bare, hidden, secret will of God, but to the universal promises of God's grace in Christ Jesus. 9) This constant emphasis on the election of God's chil- dren in Christ Jesus led the Missourians also to reject the error that a Christian cannot be sure of his salvation. Just because election and salvation depend solely upon divine grace, our fathers asserted that a Christian through faith should be sure of his salvation, while their opponents denied this. To all who know the words of Christ : "Neither shall any pluck them out of My hand," it is clear whether the Missourians were teaching Scriptural truths or not. Such, then, are the doctrines which the Missourians taught regarding predestination, and which by the grace of God they teach to this very day; and such were the errors EBENEZER. 27 418 THE PREDESTtN ASIAN CONTROVERSY. which they rejected. To this day the thirteen theses adopted by Synod in 1881 set forth to all men the plain teachings of Scripture and the Confessions concerning- predestination. Brief and precise as they are, we cannot help but accord them a place in this essay. The Thirteen Propositions Adopted by Missouri in 1881. 1. We believe, teach, and confess that God has loved the whole world from eternity, has created all men for salvation and none for damnation, and earnestly desires the salvation of all men; and hence we heartily reject and condemn the contrary Calvinistic doctrine. (A powerful declaration of universal grace.) 2. We believe, teach, and confess that the Son of God has come into the world for all men, has borne, and atoned for, the sins of all men, has perfectly redeemed all men, none excepted; and hence we heartily reject and condemn the con- trary Calvinistic doctrine. 3. We believe, teach, and confess that God earnestly calls all men through the means of grace, i. e., with the intention of bringing them through these means unto repentance and unto faith, and of preserving them therein to the end, and of thus finally saving" them, wherefore God offers them through these means of grace the salvation purchased by Chrises atonement, and the power of accepting this salvation by faith ; and hence we heartily reject and condemn the contrary Cal- vinistic doctrine. 4. We believe, teach, and confess that no man is lost be- cause God would not save him, or because God with His grace passed him by, or because He did not offer the grace or per- severance to him also and would not bestow it upon him ; but that all men who are lost perish by their own fault, namely, on account of their unbelief, and because they have obsti- nately resisted the Word and grace of God to the end. . . . 5. We believe, teach, and confess that the persons con- cerned in election or predestination are only true believers, who believe to the end, or who come to faith at the end of THE FREDESTINARIAN CONTROVKKSY. 410 their lives; and hence we reject and condemn the error of ITuber, that election is not particular, but universal, and concerns all men. (Election in a wider sense.) 6. We believe, teach, and confess that divine election is immutable, and hence that not one of the elect can become reprobate and be lost, but that every one of the elect is surely saved; and hence we heartily reject and condemn the con- trary Huberian error. 7. We believe, teach, and confess that it is folly and dangerous to souls, leading either to fleshly security or to despair, when men attempt to become or to be certain of their election or their future salvation by searching out the eternal mysterious decree of God; and hence we heartily reject and condemn the contrary doctrine as a piece of pernicious fanaticism. 8. We believe, teach, and confess that a believing Chris- tian should try from the revealed Word of God to become sure of his election; and hence we heartily reject and con- demn the contrary papistic error, that a man can become and be certain of his election and salvation only through a new immediate revelation. 9. We believe, teach, and confess, 1) that election does not consist of the mere foreknowledge of God as to which men will be saved; 2) also that election is not the mere purpose of God to redeem and save mankind, for which reason it might be termed universal, embracing all men generally; 3) that election does not concern temporary believers (Luke 8, 13) ; 4) that election is not the mere decree of God to save all those who believe to the end; and hence we heartily re- ject and condemn the contrary errors of the rationalists, Huberites, and Arminians. 10. We believe, teach, and confess that the cause which moved God to choose the elect is His grace and the merit of Jesus Christ alone, and not any good thing God has foreseen in the elect, even the faith foreseen of God in them, and hence we reject and condemn the contrary doctrines of the Pelagians, Semi-Pelagians, and Synergists as blasphemous, 420 THE PREDESTINARIAN CONTROVERSY. frightful, subversive of the Gospel, and therefore of the entire Christian religion. 11. We believe, teach, and confess that election is not the mere foresight or foreknowledge of the salvation of the elect, but also a cause of their salvation and what pertains thereto, and hence we heartily reject and condemn the con- trary doctrines of the Arminians, the Socinians, and of all synergists. 12. We believe, teach, and confess that God has "still kept secret and concealed much concerning this mystery, and re- served it alone for His wisdom and knowledge," which no man can or should search out, and hence we reject what some would inquire concerning this that is not revealed, and what they would harmonize with their reason in those things that seem to contradict our reason, whether this is found in Calvinistic or in Pelagian-synergistic doctrine. 13. We believe, teach, and confess that it is not only neither useless nor even dangerous, but rather necessary and wholesome, to present publicly also to our Christian people the mysterious doctrine of predestination, as far as it is clearly revealed in God's Word, and hence we do not agree with those who think that this doctrine must either be en- tirely concealed or must be reserved only for the disputations of the learned. 4. A Plea for Reunion. In his Conversion and Election Dr. Pieper has urged a plea, which, because of its earnestness and sincerity, im- presses itself powerfully upon the hearts of all lovers of divine truth. He says: "Before we close, we beg leave to assure the reader once more that in our discussion we have had no intention of offending any one personally. We would serve the cause of union in the truth of our Lutheran Con- fessions. Would that the entire American Lutheran Church also in its public teaching might occupy the position which all Lutheran Christians, indeed, all Christians on earth, even now occupy in their relation to God. It is the position stated by Scripture in the words: 'There is no difference, for all THE PREDESTINARIAN CONTROVERSY. 421 have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justi- fied freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.' Away with 'dissimilar conduct' as affording a means of explaining why some are converted and saved, and others are not! Back, in simplicity of faith, to the Lu- theran Confessions which state with utmost clearness: If those who will be saved compare themselves with those who will be lost, they must confess that they, too, conducted them- selves ill and are in equal guilt. At the same time they know from the Word of God that those who will be lost will perish not by reason of any deficiency of divine grace, but through their own guilt. Whatever transcends these two truths must remain a mystery during the present life. The Calvinistic solution, by denying or, at least, by detracting from universal grace, is contrary to Scripture. Likewise is the synergistic solution, by supplementing grace with good human conduct contrary to Scripture. Let it be said once again — it is but necessary that all concerned confess that with their lips which they already believe in their hearts before God. May the Lord of the Church graciously grant this through the work- ings of His Spirit !" (Conversion and Election, pp. 142. 143.) Soli Deo Gloria! that was the motto which our fathers inscribed upon every official document dealing with the doc- trines of the Church. Soli Deo Gloria! that was the goal for which they strove in the predestinarian controversy. To give unto God all praise and glory for having, out of pure grace in Christ Jesus, elected, redeemed, called, converted, and sanctified His saints; to teach salvation by grace alone, sola gratia, and at the same time, grace for all sinners, gratia universalis; to magnify Christ and not themselves, solus Christus; and to preach, not their word, but God's Word, sola ScHptura — that was the steadfast aim and invariable purpose of our sainted Dr. Walther and his coworkers. In the spirit of Paul and of Luther they contended for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints, Jude 3. Every- thing they said was to say but this: Soli Deo Gloria! 422 THE ENGLISH WORK OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. The English Work of the Missouri Synod. Rev. William Dallmann, Milwaukee, Wis. Before the Revolution, Lutherans had settled in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee, and later some of them moved to Missouri. Far from their home base, they sought contact with the Missouri Synod, and so in August, 1872, Prof. Walther of Concordia Theological Seminary, St. Louis, and others held a free conference with them at Gravelton, Wayne Co. Theses prepared by Prof. Walther were adopted by all present, and then and there was organized "The English Evangelical Lu- theran Conference of Missouri" — Pastors Andrew Rader, J. R. Moser, and Polycarp C. Henkel. The conference at St. Paul's, Webster Co., in 1876, re- gretted that Prof. F. A. Schmidt's removal from St. Louis to the Norwegian Seminary "would place him where he would not be able to do for his English friends as heretofore." The sixth convention, in 1877, at Hindsville, Ark., re- gretted the absence of the "Missouri" brethren; it seems the secretary had failed to notify them of the meeting. At the seventh convention in Zion Church, Caster, Bol- linger Co., Mo., in 1878, the Rev. I. E. Rader read his transla- tion of "The Constitution of the Synodical Conference." The meeting regretted that the members of the Synodical Conference "have failed for the three last sessions to favor us with any aid or at least one counselor." At the eighth convention, in 1879, at St. Paul's, Webster Co., Mo., Prof. Guenther and Pastor Janzow were present, and Conference requested the Western District of the Mis- souri Synod to send a delegate to the meetings of the con- ference. New blood came into the conference by the calling of Pastor A. W. Meyer to Emmanuel in 1885 and Pastor W. Dallmann to St. Paul's in 1886, both in Webster County. Parochial schools were started at once, and missionary work was carried on. Pastor Janzow was elected visitor, and the Western District promised to pay all missionary expenses. THE ENGLISH WORK OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 423 The thirteenth convention, at St. James, Barton Co., Mo., in 1880, was inspired to thank God for "the signal Buccess attending the mission-work within bounds of Conference," and appointed Pastors A.W.Meyer, I. E. Kader, and Kim- tary Dallmann to plan for Conference to join the German Missouri Synod as a separate English District. That body, however, at Fort Wayne in 1887 advised the organization of an independent English synod — a very serious mistake in the opinion of many. In accordance with that advice the fourteenth convention at Springdale, Ark., appointed Pastors Meyer and Dallmann to draft a constitution for a general body, which was printed in the Lutheran Witness, Vol. 7, ISTo. 5, pp. 35. 36. The work began to spread and entered a new phase when the first English city mission was begun — Baltimore, Md. After the outbreak of the election controversy the three German Missouri churches in Baltimore would no longer send their English members to the Ohioans, and asked for a preacher to take care of their young people in an English Missouri church. This request was denied by the English Mission Board at St. Louis, which asked either one of the churches to call an English assistant, which none would do; and there the matter ended, as far as the three churches were concerned. Then Mr. Philip Treide of Emmanuel took up the matter, and with Mr. Edward Lang of Martini and Mr. Lewis Briggeman of St. Paul's organized English Em- manuel, and sent a call to the Mission Board. Pastor Janzow of St. Louis went to St. Paul's in Webster County, and per- suaded them to release Pastor Dallmann, who arrived in Baltimore early in 1888. Though the churches had no Sunday evening services, and though the three school-halls were vacant all Sunday, the little congregation was compelled to conduct services and Sunday-school in a hall on the third floor over a livery stable and pay rent. Such was the beginning of the first English city mission of the Missouri Synod. At this time Dr. Schwan, the venerable president of the Missouri Synod, bade the brethren at Baltimore be very care- 424 THE ENGLISH WORK OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. ful, for if this mission proved a failure, English work in the Missouri Synod would be dead for the next fifty years, and if this venture proved a success, English work would be taken up elsewhere. Jackson Square Church was started on the East Side; the work was begun on the South Side ; a mission was started in Washington, and steps were taken to start a mission in New York City. New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, St. Louis, Fort Wayne, Chicago, Detroit, and other cities fol- lowed in time, as Dr. Schwan had foretold. The fifteenth convention was the first one to meet in a city, St. Louis, in Pastor Janzow's Bethlehem Church, October, 1888. The published Constitution of the General English Evangelical Lutheran Conference of Missouri and Other States was adopted, and Pastor F. Kuegele of Coyner's Store, Ya., elected president. Conference thankfully accepted Prof. Crull's compilation of a hymn-book, for which Pastors Dallmann and A. S. Bar- tholomew were to prepare an Order of Service. Pastors Dall- mann, Kroeger, and Kuegele were elected a publication board. Conference passed suitable resolutions on the death of Dr. Walther, "the guide and director in forming the English Lutheran Conference of Missouri, having been present at its first meeting, and always showing great and active interest in its work and sincerely desiring that it might grow and increase." It was resolved to join the Synodical Conference. The second convention met in 1891 at St. Louis, beginning in Bethlehem Church and ending in Pastor Adams's new Grace English Lutheran Church, and the "Conference" was changed to "Synod." The hymn-book, printed at Baltimore in 2,000 copies, was sold out, and a new edition, revised and enlarged, was called for, Pastors Dallmann and L. M. Wagner to secure the "Com- mon Service," which was done. Pastor A. C. Frank, who had started the Lutheran Witness on May 21, 1882, and presented it to Synod at the last session, now resigned, and Pastor Dallmann was elected editor. THE ENGLISH WORK OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 125 Pastors Dallmann and Kuegele, with Mr. Philip C. Treide of Baltimore, were elected the Publication Board. The second edition of the Hymn-Book, The Ten Commandments, the Lutheran Witness Tracts, etc., were published. Another forward step was taken at the third convention, at Chicago in 1893. Pastors Kuegele and Dallmann looked into the affairs of Concordia College, Conover, N. C, in December, 1891. The authorities there did not need money, but teachers for their school, and the committee advised the calling of professors to that institution. Synod assumed control of the college, and called Pastor Dau and Candidates Romoser and Buchheimer of the St. Louis Seminary. Later the German synod generously granted a subsidy of $500 a year. At the same session the English Synod thankfully ac- cepted Mr. John P. Baden's donation of St. John's College at Winfield, Kans., for which he promised the sum of $50,000. Pastor Henry Sieck, Candidate J. H. Stoeppelwerth, and Prof. Charles Scaer were called to the institution, which later was turned over to the German synod. Since January Pastor A. W. Meyer had edited the Lu- theran Guide, a new monthly child's paper; he was elected editor. The Publication Board at Baltimore had to get out a third edition of the Hymn-Booh, and it was told to make plates for the second edition of The Ten Commandments and the Lutheran Witness Tracts. Pastors A. W. Meyer and Huegli, with Mr. C. F. Ahlers, all of Pittsburgh, were elected a Mission Board. The fourth convention, at Fort Wayne in 1895, ratified the action of Chairman Dallmann of the Publication Board transferring the business to the American Publication Board at Chicago. Upon repeated requests of Editor Dallmann to be relieved, he was thanked for his services, and the editorship of the Lutheran Witness was given to the faculty of Con- cordia College, Conover, N. C, Prof. Dau, editor-in-chief. A committee to revise all manuscripts before publica- 426 THE ENGLISH WORK OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. tion was appointed — Pastors A. W. Meyer, Dallmann, and Kuegele. Pastor A. W. Meyer having* been made president of St. John's College, Pastor Hemmeter succeeded him in the Mission Board. At the fifth convention, at Emmanuel Church, Baltimore, in 1897, the Revision Board recommended the publication of a book of Funeral Sermons; it was soon after published. Pastor Dallmann, Dr. E. Miller, and Mr. F. Miller, all of Baltimore, were elected to get out a Sunday-School Hymnal. When it was published, Synod said: "The prodigious labor expended has brought forth a highly satisfactory book." Pastors Dallmann, Morhart, Hemmeter, Kaiser, Dr. E. Miller, and Mr. F. Miller were elected to get out the Hymn- Book, music edition and word edition. After a number of years and changes in the committee the book was put on the market. The Publication Board was moved from Chicago to Pitts- burgh — Pastor Hemmeter, Chairman. The Mission Board was moved to Baltimore — Pastors Dallmann, and Kaiser, and Mr. Henry Dreyer. The resolution of the German Synod in 1887 notwith- standing, the Western District received an English congrega- tion, but later the Delegate Synod advised this congregation to join the English Synod. This and other unpleasant inci- dents led to the following unanimous resolutions : — 1. That Synod submit to her congregations the question as to the advisability of inquiring of the German Missouri Synod whether they could not find ways and means to remove the barriers which ten years ago prevented us from becoming an English District of the German Missouri Synod. 2. That our congregations be asked to instruct their dele- gates so as to enable these to act on this question of union at the next convention of Synod. At the sixth convention, Detroit, 1899, Chairman Hem- meter of the Publication Board announced that Pastor Kue- gele's Booh of Devotion had become the property of Synod, THE ENGLISH WORK OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 427 and that the American Lutheran Almanac and Year-Booh and the Elim S. S. Lessons, were printed. The convention divided Synod into conference and visita- tion districts and elected the following visitors: Dallmann, Kuegele, Eckhardt, Sommer, Sieck. Synod resolved to be incorporated; Committee: Pastors Dallmann and Romoser, and Mr. A. E. Succop. Synod resolved to get out a Bool: of Forms; Pastor Abbet- meyer, of Baltimore, compiled it; publication followed. Upon our question of 1897 the German Synod sent Presi- dent F. Pieper and Pastors P. Brand and G. Spiegel to our convention. Pastors Dallmann, Kuegele, and Steffen, and Messrs. Nieman and Dreyer, were elected to confer with them. It was held natural that German congregations should seek German, and English congregations English synodical connection. Synod passed resolutions of thanks to Pastor Kuegele for his faithful services as president for five successive terms and elected Pastor Dallmann president. At the ninth convention, in 1905, at St. Louis, Professors Bente and Herzer and Pastor Obermeyer appeared as a com- mittee sent by the German Synod, and Pastors Dallmann, Eckhardt, and Kuegele, and Messrs. Kemmler and Kilian were elected to confer with them. They reported the German Synod had resolved, 1. That the official language on the floor of Synod remain as heretofore the German; 2. that the German Synod, however, is now ready and willing to receive into its membership English-speaking congregations, pastors, and teachers, respectively, to keep the same within Synod. This was an indirect answer to our question of 1897, and a change in their position taken in 1899. To the eleventh convention, at Cleveland, in 1909, came Prof. F. Bente, Pastor J. W. Miller, and Mr. N. Schuetz to treat of union with their German Synod. The articles of agreement were submitted to our congregations. As a result of the vote, at the twelfth convention, in 1911, at St. Louis, our English Synod joined the German Synod as an English District, and an impressive Thanksgiving ser- 428 THE ENGLISH WORK OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. vice was held at Holy Cross Church; the grave mistake of 1887 was now happily rectified. . The German Synod from the earliest days saw the need of English work, and Prof. Biewend taught the language at the St. Louis Seminary. As early as 1852 Synod at Fort Wayne voted the proceeds of lots at Dayton, O., donated by Mr. Buehler, to the insti- tution at Fort Wayne, in order to raise the educational standard also in respect to the English language. Prominent English citizens having voiced a desire for an English college at Fort Wayne, Pastor Husmann and Mr. Piepenbrink were appointed a committee to look into the matter. Next year Synod at Cleveland authorized the com- mittee to proceed, since there was no need of proofs that such an institution was needed for our Synod and the Lutheran Church at large. Experience proves that our children will become English in spite of all efforts to keep them German, and that English people can remain true Lutherans. The next year Synod at St. Louis thought the matter so important that, if necessary, even a small capital might be borrowed for the purpose; a general collection was also to be taken. The collections did not amount to much. The congrega- tions of the Fort Wayne Conference pledged $7,000 for a new building to house both the seminary and the academy. The dedication of the same on October 26 was the worthy and in- spiring close of the synodical sessions of 1857. Mr. A. Suter- meister, formerly a teacher at an English mathematical insti- tution at Boston, was the first professor at the English Academy at Fort Wayne, which was opened on November 16. Dissension between St. Paul's and some former members at Baltimore raised the question: "What measure is Synod to take when the need for an English church becomes ap- parent ?" Prof. Biewend read a paper on the subject, and in the same year Synod declared : — "We account it our sacred duty to found English churches so soon as it has become manifest that for the organiza- tion of a congregation there is a sufficient number of such as understand English better than German. . . . Synod THE ENGLISH WOIiK OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 429 acknowledged it in this case the duty of the mother church not only to consent to the organizing of an English church, but also to aid therein with counsel and deed. Especially also willingly dismiss such older and experienced members as indeed do not need it for their own person, but for their family's sake, partly that the members of families might not be divided between different churches, partly that by such older members the young congregation might be strength- ened. " (Minutes, 1857, pp. 51.52. See also Synodical Con- ference Minutes, 1872, p. 18, and 1874, p. 33.) Synod's aim has been to turn out men able to preach and teach in English as well as in German, and in large measure the goal has been reached; by the way, a most notable achievement. Upon many urgent requests, Pastor Dallmann projected an English homiletical publication, but on invitation of the St. Louis Faculty turned the work over to them, and since then their Homiletic Magazine has tried to fill the want long felt in this field. In 1897 Prof. A. L. Graebner took a forward step in get- ting out the Theological Quarterly, and in 1908 another by his Doctrinal Theology, our first English dogmatics. In 1917 the biographical field was entered by Dallmann's Luther, and in 1919 Prof. Dau broke the English historical ground by the Leipzig Delate, and Prof. F. Bente by his American Lutheranism. The exegetical field is being invaded by Dr. Paul Kretz- mann's Popular Commentary in four volumes, and Professors Bente and Dau have entered the confessional field by editing the Concordia Tiiglotta — the Lutheran Confessions in three languages, Latin, German, and English. The Concordia Cyclopedia, now under way, will be some- thing new for us in this direction. The Young Lutherans' Magazine looks after the interests of the rising generation, and The Lutheran Pioneer seeks the spiritual welfare of colored people. Eor her Christian day- schools Synod publishes text-books, too numerous to mention here. Individuals, conferences, and societies issue publica- 430 THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. tions for various interests, and poets and composers are coming" forth. From extremely small beginnings and against serious dif- ficulties the English cause has grown like a tender root out of a dry ground, until now forty-five per cent, of Synod's work is carried on in the English language. Unscriptural prejudices are waning, and the future looks brighter. God grant us grace to preach His pure Gospel in all languages, and especially in the English, for it seems that i ■ l God's providence it is bidding fair to become the world language. The Young People in the Missouri Synod. Rev. Walter Maier, Milwaukee, Wis. The importance and necessity of serious and systematic work among the young people of our Church has been the subject of much careful thought and effort at all times in the history of our Synod. Finding in its young people the largest and most promising of all mission-fields, and realizing that the future welfare of the Church, its inner development, and its outward growth is best entrusted to a trained, devoted, and consecrated youth, the fathers of our Synod were not slow to appreciate and not reluctant to state that no efforts should be spared in making this work as effective and all- embracing as possible. Luther had told his contemporaries: "I appeal to you, my dear lords and friends, for the sake of God and the poor young people: do not regard this matter as lightly as many do who do not realize the intentions of this world's prince. For it is a serious and important matter, which vitally concerns Christ and the whole world, that we help our young people and give them advice" ; and following Luther, there has been a pronounced and outspoken effort in our Synod, ever since its very inception, to keep the young people of our Church close to their altars and loyal to their faith. All who read the early numbers of our periodicals cannot but be impressed with the degree of devotion which THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 431 the pioneer toilers manifested for the work which would help to assure to their posterity the inheritance of a growing Lu- theran consciousness. As early as the year 1848 this effort took a systematic and organized form. A young men's society came into existence in Trinity Church, St. Louis, which was destined to enjoy an active and beneficent existence of more than half a century. That the Rev. Buenger had encouraged and promoted this movement, and that Dr. Walther openly approved of this society in an article contributed to the Lutheraner, demon- strated quite clearly that this organization was not estab- lished without the hearty approval of the founders of our Synod and of others prominently identified with the pioneer days of our Church. Dr. Walther clothes his approval in no uncertain terms. Appealing to all pastors and congregations then embraced in Synod, he writes : "And so the young people are happily at work. Convinced of the benefits and blessings of such societies by their own experience, they hope that similar organizations may be established in other places. For this reason they appeared before the last sessions of the Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States, express- ing the wish that Synod would encourage the formation of such societies in its congregations. It is the purpose of these lines to help give this encouragement. May they be well re- ceived and be accompanied by blessing." Concluding in the same spirit, Dr. Walther urges : "As soon as there is love and interest for this work, all difficulties will be overcome. What joy there would be, if here and there such a society would be established! What enthusiasm this would create! What blessings this would bring, inwardly and outwardly! Up, Christian youths, and start! Do not hesitate! Do not wait until your numbers have increased! Organize, so that you may increase!" Nor did he stand alone in advocating systematic and or- ganized work among the young people. When Synod met in St. Louis for its fourth session, in 1850, the Rev. Buenger was requested to contribute an article for publication, em- phasizing the need of organizations in other parts of our 432 THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. country patterned after the society in his congregation, which had the distinction of being the first organization of its kind in our Church. Five years later this appeal was again voiced when the Western District met for its first convention. And in 1856 the president of the Central District, the Rev. H. C. Schwan, deploring the conditions existing among the young people in the then newly settled Central and Western States, urged a larger measure of interest and action in young people's work. With his characteristic vision of the future, however, Dr. Walther not only advised the formation of societies for the young people, he also published, two years before the outbreak of the Civil War, an appeal, circulated by the young men's societies of Baltimore, urging the young people in all parts of the country to federate, and to establish an alliance which would inspire them with the strength and enthusiasm of united and concerted action. It was not, however, until many years after this first effort, when Dr. Walther had joined the ranks of the saints above, that the endeavor to which he had thus given the impulse was realized in any large and systematic degree. In the early nineties of the last century a movement was or- ganized which was designed to unite the young people of all the Lutheran synods in this country into one federation. Delegates from some of our churches attended meetings held in this connection and were impressed with the' fact that while it was impossible to be identified with this effort, there were strong and impelling reasons which spoke for organized cooperation among the young people of the Synodical Con- ference. After much and serious deliberation a call was finally issued, inviting the young people's societies of our Church to send representatives to a meeting held in Trinity Church, Buffalo, K Y., May 20—23, 1893. Delegates from some of the more important centers of the East and Middle West appeared and formed the "General Alliance of Young- People's and Young Men's Societies of the Synodical Con- ference," which soon, in honor of the founder of our Synod, who had been so outspoken in advocating and promoting or- THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. I,',.; ganized work among- the confirmed youth, was officially called the Walther League. The growth of the Walther League was only gradual. Because the work was misunderstood, its objects were often misinterpreted. In 1910, after seventeen years of existence, the League numbered only sixty-nine societies. At this time, however, a program of extension was inaugurated with such encouraging results that in 1915 the number of affiliated societies had increased to two hundred ten. Then came the World War, and, largely as a result of the intensive work carried on by the League, the enrolment grew steadily and with increasing proportions. At this writing there are about six hundred fifty societies in the League, distributed over thirty-six States and Canada. More than thirty-five thousand young people of the Synodical Conference, or- ganized in twenty-five State districts, are embraced in the rapidly increasing army that is striving for the accomplish- ment of the high aims for which the League stands. These aims are expressed in the motto which the Walther League has adopted, Pro Aris et Focis, For Altars and for Hearths, For Church and for Home. Impelled by a high desire to prove themselves worthy of accepting the heritage which has been bequeathed to them by their fathers, the young people have found their first and supreme duty in working for the preservation of their Church. They have been impressed with the privileges and responsibilities in- volved in their calling as missionaries of the Savior, a con- sciousness of being Lutheran has been emphasized, attention has been focused upon the powers that threaten to destroy the very foundations of our Church. And the result? The young people are eager to work; they have become proud of their Church; they have taken an outspoken and uncom- promising stand on the burning questions of the day which affect the welfare of our Church. Societies have instituted systematic efforts designed to assist in the upbuilding of the home congregation. Bible classes are becoming more numerous; choirs are steadily enlisting the services of more young people; Sunday-school teachers have largely been BBENEZER. 28 434 THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. recruited from the ranks of the younger church-members. In publicity work, in house-to-house canvasses for new mem- bers, in "drives" for funds, in relieving the pastor of much routine and detail work, the young people have been happy to do their share in promoting the welfare of their congre- gations. Work in the society has trained young men in the essential qualifications for leadership in congregational affairs; it has impressed young women with the increasing opportunities offered for direct service to the Lord in the upbuilding of the home church. But the work of the young people has gone out beyond the confines of the home congregation. The first societies in our Church were almost exclusively young men's organiza- tions ; and as such their chief object was the support of young men who were preparing themselves for the ministry. This work has been continued and enlarged. Societies and dis- tricts have for years been supporting students at our church institutions, scholarship funds of several thousand dollars are in the making, and in recent years the awakening to the opportunities of our Church in the foreign mission field has become pronounced and encouraging. Several districts of the Walther League have definitely pledged themselves to sup- port at least one ambassador of Christ among the millions to be rescued for salvation, and unless all indications fail, this is only the beginning of a great wave of missionary en- thusiasm which has begun to sweep over the young people of our Church. An example of the willingness on the part of the young people to accept the large opportunities of service for the Church will be found in the readiness with which they re- sponded in the emergency of the late and lamented World War. During those anxious and eventful years thousands of our young men were called away from home and church, and were thrown into environments for which they were unpre- pared and to which they could adapt themselves only with difficulty. It was, therefore, imperatively necessary to adopt all possible means of bringing to our soldiers and sailors the message of encouragement from church and home. For this THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 435 purpose the young people raised thousands of dollars and paid for the printing and distribution of more than a quarter of a million of Lutheran hymnals, prayer-books, and copies of the new Testament, all of which were gratefully received and sincerely appreciated by the young men under the colors in this country and abroad. One of the most direct forms of service which the young people are striving to offer to the Church is the care for the stranger in our midst. Every year thousands of our young people leave their homes to seek their livelihood in the large commercial and industrial centers of our country. And every year some of these young people become lost to our altars and, in some cases, lost to salvation. The hospice system, or travelers' welfare work, now in operation for a dozen years, was organized to counteract the influence which the godlessness of our large cities exerts upon hearts and minds that are especially susceptible to temptation when removed from the protection of home and the guidance of the Church. By working in the home congregation, by wel- coming the stranger, by listing available rooms and quarters, by posting church notices in railroad stations, hotels, and public buildings, by distributing tracts, visiting hospitals and State institutions, in short, by showing a happy and intel- ligent willingness to be their brothers' keepers, the hundreds of hospice secretaries in individual societies throughout the country are struggling with a problem which should receive much more and detailed attention. In our large cities hospices have been established which offer to the young people the wholesome atmosphere of a Christian home, the association with friends of their own faith and inclination, and, finally, food and lodging at prices which are usually much more attractive than elsewhere. In Chicago, Buffalo, Milwaukee, Sioux City, these buildings have protected thousands of our young people and kept them in close touch with the activities of their Church. A very encouraging sign is to be found in the fact that many of our other large cities are devising ways and means for the estab- lishment of similar hospice buildings, so that the vision of 436 THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. a chain of such institutions extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific may soon be realized. Quite recently an endeavor related to the hospice work has come into well-deserved prominence. No small number of Lutheran students attend the colleges and universities of our country every year, and many of these young men and young women are without spiritual guidance. Realizing that our Church needs trained and professional men and women for the responsibilities of leadership, the young people have begun to take an active interest in establishing students' quarters at institutions with a large Lutheran enrolment. At the University of Illinois in Champaign, 111., the first step of what seems destined to be a large and extended movement was taken when our Lutheran students of that institution or- ganized and took over special rooms and quarters. Several Walther League districts have pledged themselves to the sup- port of similar students' homes in other educational centers within their States, and have thus given encouragement to a field of effort which has too long been neglected. An impressive instance of the spirit of the Good Samar- itan among our young people has been demonstrated in the establishment of the Ev. Luth. Sanitarium at Wheat Ridge, Colo. It was largely through the sacrifices on the part of our young people that this work was undertaken ; for their organizations in different parts of the country were the first to answer the appeal in behalf of the unfortunate victims of the white plague. And it was very largely through their renewed devotion to this work of mercy that the tents, which for sixteen years sheltered the patients, were replaced in 1921 by the new Sanitarium building. Standing at the crest of Wheat Ridge and gazing at the magnificent spectacle of the two hundred and fifty miles of mountains, rearing upwards as mute, but majestic monuments to their Maker, one is con- strained to declare: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power" ; and then, turning and behold- ing the "Monument of Gratitude toward God," for the erec- tion of which about two hundred thousand dollars have been required, one is impressed with the rich blessings which have THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 437 descended upon this institution of mercy. WTien all facili- ties will have been completed, accommodations will be avail- able for about one hundred fifty patients, many of whom are supported by the charity of the young people and their friends. In addition, this institution offers the best and most scientific treatment under the care and supervision of capable physicians and sympathetic nurses. Here the immortal soul is regarded as the object of prime consideration, and in periods of gloom and depression, when their faith needs sup- port, the patients find comfort and assurance in the guidance of a Christian pastor, and in helpful comradeship with those of the same household of faith. The work among our young people has also been directed into educational channels. The Young Lutherans' Magazine, published since 1901, and the Lutherisches Kinder- und Jugendblatt, which first appeared in 1872, are official publica- tions of Synod, edited to meet the requirement of the younger people. The Walther League Messenger, the official organ of the League, enjoys a wide and increasing circulation. In order to promote the reading of good literature and to dis- courage the use of pernicious books, a synodical committee has compiled lists of material suitable for young people of different ages and has fostered the publication of new and helpful books. For societies affiliated with the Walther League an educational committee offers regular and detailed instructions for conducting educational meetings, gatherings at which the young people, under the direction of one of their associates as leader, discuss questions of importance for our Church and our country. Gradually the realization is making itself felt more keenly that, if it is necessary and advisable to give children a Chris- tian training and education before their confirmation, it is at least just as imperative to have this influence continued when the children leave the elementary schools. For this reason the Junior Department of the Walther League was organized, which concerns itself exclusively with the welfare of the newly confirmed during the three or four years which usually intervene between their confirmation and their en- 438 THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. trance into the senior society. This work has been attended with rich blessings; but it is of such vital importance that both energetic and decisive steps be taken immediately to awaken in the young people of these critical years a warm interest in the work of the Church and an unhesitating readi- ness to bear the burdens and responsibilities which multiply as the years roll on. But again following Luther, who held that pleasure and enjoyment were just as necessary for young people as food and drink, our Church has kept aloof from all puritanical tendencies which seek to deny the young people that which is rightfully theirs — an opportunity to enjoy the years of adolescence. While taking a firm stand against all encroach- ments of worldliness, our pastors have been happy to permit all forms of sociability which do not militate against a Chris- tian conscience. School-buildings have been equipped with facilities for social and recreational activities. Halls and auditoriums have been built to afford additional opportunity for enjoying Christian fellowship, the members of our con- gregations realizing that while this work does not lie in the field of the Church's most essential activity, nevertheless any measure which is designed to keep the growing youth away from the too frequent temptations of the present day can only be helpful and commendable. The Walther League has given its services to further Christian love and fellowship in and among its societies. In the local societies the young people of the congregation are brought closer together; in rallies and State conventions they are given opportunity to meet fellow-Lutherans from their neighboring congregations; in the annual national convention they unite with many hundreds of young Chris- tians from practically all parts of our country. At such gatherings the ties of Christian fellowship become stronger; the young people who attend are reminded of their personal duties and obligations; they are shown new opportunities of service for the Church, — all of which brings encourage- ment and inspiration, and goes far in making the young THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. lot) people prepared for the important tasks they may be called upon to perform in the future. Yes, the work of the past three-quarters of a century directs our vision to the future. With the allurements of worldliness growing stronger as the world goes farther and farther from its God; with organized secrecy making heavy and continued inroads upon our Church; with the statistical records proving that the powerful forces of evil every year succeed in decoying not hundreds, but thousands of our young men and women away from their altars, our Church must be brought to realize more fully that strenuous and organized efforts must be instituted immediately to preserve our youth true to Christ and to secure for themselves a happy and hopeful future. The conviction which forces itself upon all who have lent to the work among the young people even a part of the consideration it truly deserves, is this : We must pray more whole-heartedly and more incessantly for our young people. We must work more zealously and more energetically to counteract the baneful influences so destruc- tive in these days of growing godlessness; we must give more cheerfully and more enthusiastically to send out leaders who with divine help will succeed in inspiring our young people and in rallying them under the banner of the Cross for devoted service to our Church. It is to the young people that we look for the Church of the future, and it is to the Church of to-day that the Lord looks for the love and en- couragement which the Church of to-morrow must have for the proper carrying on of the work entrusted to it. May God grant that our Church will ever appreciate its sacred duty towards its young people; and may our young people never become unmindful of the heritage of the faith invincible that in these latter days calls them to the defense of our altars. 440 1839. concokdia. 1889. 1839. Concordia. 1889. Prof. Th. Graebner, St. Louis, Mo. The Golden Jubilee. 1. In Perry County. Thirty-three years ago, on a day in June, a group of girls were sitting in the churchyard at Altenburg, Perry Co., Mo., weaving garlands out of foliage and gathering and tying into wreaths and bouquets flowers gathered from the country- side. It was the evening of the golden jubilee of the college that had been built through the labors of three young candi- dates of theology at Altenburg in 1839. On the following day, the 23d of June, great multitudes were moving from every direction towards the church. They came on foot and on horseback, in farm-wagons and in coaches, and when the hour of service was at hand, the wor- shipers filled every available space of the Altenburg church. They had come from St. Louis and Milwaukee, from Perry- ville, Salem, New Wells, and Wittenberg. The ringing of the bells ceased, the organ preluded, and then, supported by a brass band, led the worshipers in the singing of "Nun jauchzt dem Herren, alle Welt." A former pastor of the congregation, Rev. J. F. Koestering, mounted the pulpit, and after a prayer ex corde discoursed on 1 Pet. 2, 9. In the afternoon Rev. J. A. F. Mueller, of Chester, 111., one of the few survivors of those who first enrolled as pupils at the opening of our first Concordia addressed the multitude on Rev. 3, 11. It was an unforgettable day in the history of the Perry County settlement. 2. At St. Louis. The celebration in St. Louis, like that at Altenburg, was necessarily colored by the coincidence of the founding of the congregations with the founding of the college. On June 16 chairs had been placed in Trinity Church for the surviving charter members of the congregation : Herman Motz, F. W. Schuricht, Michael Schmidt, and Christian Daeumer. The 1839. CONCORDIA. 1880. 441 beautiful church, which was later destroyed by the St. Louis cyclone (189(5), was crowded to the doors when organist Kaeppel preluded the "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of Hosts." Rev. E. A. Brauer, then sole survivor of the former pastors of Trinity, preached on 1 John 1,7. In the afternoon a joint service of the St. Louis congre- gations was held in the auditorium of the old Exposition Building. The choirs of Bethlehem and Trinity and the students' chorus of Concordia Seminary were massed on the stage. Six thousand persons intoned: "Nun lob', mein' Seel', den Herren," and none that heard these majestic strains on that occasion is apt to forget their impressiveness while life lasts. The congregational choirs sang the "Gloria" from Mozart's Twelfth Mass, and then Prof. M. Guenther, who had been a witness of the beginning of our work in St. Louis, delivered the first address. After the singing of "Ein' feste Burg," Pastor A. Reinke, of Chicago, delivered a most eloquent sermon. The students sang the "Hallelujah" from Haendel's The Messiah. An evening service was held in Trinity Church. Repre- sentatives of Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal), whose hospitality the Saxon immigrants had enjoyed in early days, were present by invitation. The church was richly decorated and illuminated. Rev. Henry Birkner spoke on Gen. 12, 2. On the following Monday the festivities continued. At 8 o'clock in the morning great crowds began to gather at the Soulard Market and an hour later were organizing into an impressive parade. The marchers were divided into six sec- tions, each headed by horsemen draped in sashes of red, white, and blue, and wearing silk hats. At the head of each division was a brass band. The first section was composed of the members of the St. Louis congregations, the clergy and the professors riding in coaches. They were followed by the children of Trinity Church and their teachers. The third section was composed of the members of the local young men's societies. The students of Concordia Seminary and pupils of the Lutheran High School followed next. The fifth 442 1839. cOncordia. 1889. section consisted of carriages bearing the young ladies of the St. Louis congregations. The sixth and last division was composed of the families of the voting members, also in carriages. The parade marched down Ninth St. and in a general southwesterly direction traversed Broadway, Ninth St., and Utah until Concordia Park was reached. The address of the day was delivered by Prof. A. L. Graebner in the German language. Luther's Battle-hymn concluded the celebration. Of those who attended these services of jubilee, the greater number have now gone to their long home. Of pastors who rode at the head of the procession on that day in 1889 the following have been called to their reward : Geo. Stoeckhardt, A. F. Hoppe, M. Martens, J. F. Koestering, W. Achenbach, H. Obermeyer, O. Hanser, A. Reinke, A. Schieferdecker, Prof. K. F. H. Lange, Prof. M. Guenther, and Dr. A. L. Graebner. There are still living Dr. F. Pieper, Revs. H. Birkner, G. Wangerin, and H. Bartels. 3. At Fort Wayne, Ind. The celebration at Fort Wayne, Ind., on June 25, was in more than one respect the most notable of all. In the grove on the campus of Concordia College were gathered the people of our local congregations and a great number of visitors from many parts of the Missouri Synod. Special trains had brought delegations from St. Louis and Chicago. At the morning exercises President J. P. Beyer of Brooklyn, N. Y., addressed the gathered hosts on Gal. 3, 5: "He, therefore, that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth He it by the works of the Law or by the hearing of faith?" his theme being: "The Cause of Our Jubilee To-day and a Significant Question." In the after- noon Director Andrew Baepler addressed words of welcome to the alumni of the Fort Wayne institution, which rang out in the sentence : "So long as our Concordia will remain true to her purpose, will remain a nursery of the true Church, so long as you who are with us to-day and the brethren who, though absent in the body, are rejoicing with us in the spirit, 1839. concordia. 1889. 443 retain their love to their and our divine Redeemer, — so long will our Concordia continue to exist and perform the tasi God has given her." The next speaker was Prof. A. L. Graebner of St. Louis. In his oration faith, hope, and charity were the dominant thoughts. The fathers of our synodical work and the humble circumstance under which they performed their task of founding a soundly Lutheran body, actuated by faith, im- bued by love, and sustained by an abiding hope, were char- acterized, and the mercies of God extolled, who had so sig- nally blessed their labor. "That on these distant western shores while the shadows of the world's evening are length- ening, and all things are tending towards final dissolution, God would build through their service in Western America, rather let me say, throughout our land and in distant coun- tries, an Evangelical Lutheran Zion of such grandeur and glory, in which great numbers of evangelists would publish the Word of Truth in all its purity, simplicity, and power, and with such visible blessing of the Almighty, — all this surely none of them had dared to hope, none had dared to expect. Yet there are those living to-day who, with hearts filled with fervent thanks to God, have seen all this come to pass, have witnessed wonderful growth far beyond their powers of physical vision. Thus has God, our Lord, not only granted wonderful fulfilment, but has immeasurably exceeded the expectations of the founders." Director Henry Kaeppel then spoke in English, his ad- dress dwelling mainly on the growth of our colleges as sym- bolizing the material and spiritual growth of the organi- zation. A letter of congratulation was read from President H. C. Schwan, and from the faculty of the Gymnasium at Gera (Reuss, Germany) greetings had arrived, addressed to Pastor Ottomar Fuerbringer of Frankenmuth, an alumnus of the college at Gera and one of the founders of the college in Perry County. The visitors were next treated to what appears to have been a highly successful evolution of Company B on the 444 1839. concordia. 1889. campus, and then the visitors inspected the new college building. The evening's entertainment took place down town in the Academy of Music, the hall being crowded to the doors. Teacher Ungemach directed the songs of the student-body, and after an address of welcome by Prof. Crull, Dr. Henry Duemling exhibited a series of stereopticon views illustrating the history of the Lutheran Church and particularly of the Missouri Synod. As each picture was shown, a student of the college recited suitable selections in prose or rhyme. The second day of the celebration was given over to a reunion of old Concordians. It was undoubtedly one of the most representative social gatherings that has taken place in the history of our Synod. In the morning session the weal and woe of the institution was discussed, and various reso- lutions regarding the future expansion of the work were adopted. Two nines selected from the old Concordians played a game of baseball in the afternoon with the rather disgraceful score of 29 to 32. For the evening celebration a modest banquet had been prepared in the dining-hall. The gathering was one never to be forgotten by those who at- tended. Speeches, declamations, musical numbers followed one another without interruption, and from the description before us it is evident that a spirit of utmost cordiality pre- vailed. Prof. Graebner had been instructed to compose an address of congratulation to Pastor Fuerbringer, which was signed by all present. Scores of congratulatory letters and telegrams were read by Pastor Sauer. A collection was taken for the benefit of the institution. For each decennium of the college a speaker had been appointed, President Beyer dwell- ing on the memories of the first, Pastor Reinke on the second, Pastor Succop on the third, Pastor F. Wambsganss on the fourth, and Pastor Zorn on the fifth. Prof. Stoeckhardt was called upon for a Latin speech. Among the churchmen who had come from Connecticut and San Francisco and points between were the following alumni : A. Baepler, J. P. Beyer, H. Birkner, F. Brand, Alb. Brauer, F. Brauer, Th. Brohm, A, Crull, H. Feth, C. Frank, L. Fuerbringer, A. Graebner, 1839. concordia. 1889. 445 Th. Gross, E. Hamann, O. Hattstaedt, R. Heintze, J. A. Huegli, H. Kaeppel, W. Kohn, L. Lochner, J. H. Niemann, A. Reinke, C. C. Schmidt, W. Schoenfeld, O. Siemon, Chr. Sihler, J. Streckfuss, H. H. Succop, L. Wagner, J. Wefel, H. Weseloh, L. Wessel ; also Rector G. Schick, Prof. Zucker, Prof. F. Pieper, Prof. Stoeckhardt, Dr. H. Duemling Prof. C. Huth, Rev. C. Eissfeldt, and Dir. E. Bohm. The dominant thought of the celebration may be summed up in Director Kaeppel's peroration, which may also serve as the close of this chapter : — "O then, let us this day, with thanks to God, remember the grand faith and love of those men who, fifty years ago, in Perry County's wilds, planted our college amid so much of discouragement and toil. Let us this day remember the sacrificing faith of those poor Lutheran pioneers whose pre- cious mites were willingly tendered to promote this work of the Lord. Let us this day remember the painstaking faith and love of those who have occupied the teachers' chairs of our institution, and spent their days in untiring labor for the furtherance of its pupils. Let us this day remember the prayerful faith and love of the men whom the Lord has placed at the head of our Synod, and whose unceasing care and wise counsel has never been wanting. And last, but not least, let us this day remember the constant faith and love of all dear Lutheran souls whose hearts have always responded to the cry for help, and whose hands have ever been ready to ad- minister aid. Yea, glory be to the name of the everlasting God for all the Christian faith and love which He has graciously brought to light in the planting, growth, and prosperity of our Concordia College! "But all this shall not exhaust the measure of our duty. A higher praise than all others is when we feel the obligation and, as God shall give us ability, endeavor to fulfil it, to be faithful to the trust which has thus graciously been bestowed upon us by the Lord our God's love and kindness through Christian faith and love, and to hand it down yet more en- nobled and enlarged to those who are to follow us. "Therefore, my fathers and brethren, let us ever keep in 446 CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES OF MISSOURI SYNOD. mind the love and kindness of the Lord, our God ; let us ever remember the Christian faith and love which has built up this house of God, that we may ever have a warm heart and an open hand for our blessed alma mater. "And may He, the everlasting and almighty God, ever hold His protecting hand over our beloved Concordia College. May He bless its teachers and its pupils. May He bless our dear Synod and all its parishes. May He bless this good city, Fort Wayne. May He bless our country and our Government. May He, finally bless this day's celebration, so that our faith may be strengthened, our love inflamed, and our hope quickened. "Glory, praise, thanks, and honor be unto His holy name now and forever. Amen! Hallelujah! Amen!" The Charitable Activities of the Missouri Synod. Rev. F. W. Herzberger, St. Louis, Mo. In no boastful spirit do we review for this jubilee volume the manifold and wide-spread charitable activities of our much -maligned Missouri Synod. Humbly and gratefully would we give all glory to God for the rich and undeserved blessings He has showered and continues to shower on our beloved Synod's multitudinous labor of love. Yes, Missouri is much maligned for her uncompromising Biblical position in doctrine and practise. But to charge her with "dead" orthodoxy is a cruel slander. Sham orthodoxy, indeed, is dead and void of all true charity. But true Biblical ortho- doxy is always full of spiritual life, full of missionary zeal, full of unfeigned helpful, compassionate love, for it is the work of God's Holy Spirit in the hearts of His believing children. Sincerely, reverently do we say it: By the grace of God Missouri is what she is, and the grace He bestowed upon her fathers and her children throughout the past seventy-five years has not been in vain. By His grace, His CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES OF MISSOURI SYNOD. 447 divine grace alone, Missouri's faith is no dead historical faith, but the faith that worheih by love. Missouri contVssrs in ihe words of Luther with the Fourth Article' of the Formula of Concord, treating- of good works: "Faith is a divine work in us, that changes us and regenerates us of God, and puts to death the old Adam, makes us entirely different men in heart, spirit, mind, and all powers, and brings with it the Holy Ghost. Oh, it is a living, busy, active, powerful thing that we have in faith, so that it is impossible for it not to do good without ceasing." . It is true, Missouri's cKaritable enterprises have never caused any stir in the public press. She does not number any oil kings or steel magnates among her members who with one stroke of their opulent pen can bequeath millions to her benevolent institutions. But then, true charity is not quanti- tative, but qualitative in character! The two mites of the poor widow, given out of a devout and grateful heart (Mark 12, 42>, find the loving approbation of our Savior; the large sums contributed by the pompous rich to the Temple's treasury remain unblessed. Missouri has always stressed qualitative charity! As her doctrinal position conforms strictly to God's sacred Word, so her benevolences are con- ducted strictly according to Biblical lines. Their motives must be evangelical, not flowing from fear of God's wrath or from any meritorious self-seeking spirit, but from grateful love to the Redeemer. 2 Cor. 5, 14. 15. Again, the measures used for raising the required charitable funds must be ac- cording to the Scriptures. Gifts must be voluntary gifts of love, as Paul declares 2 Cor. 9, 7 : "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver." Another noteworthy fact in the charitable activities of the much-maligned orthodox Missouri Synod is the wonderful growth of her benevolences. The older generation of her members came chiefly from Germany, where the state sup- ported the ministry and also looked after the poor, the sick and needy in its charity institutions. Here in America these thousands of immigrants had first to learn and acquire the 448 CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES OF MISSOURI SYNOD. grace of giving for the Gospel ministry and all kinds of charities. And they did learn it under Missouri's faithful preaching of the old, old Gospel-faith that worketh by love. Indeed, we venture to say that no other Protestant Church so stresses, on the one hand, the doctrine of salvation by pure and free grace and, on the other hand, takes such pains officially to inculcate upon its ministers and lay people the principles of true Christian charity, as does Missouri. Wit- ness the official text-book on pastoral theology used in its seminaries, which was compiled by her foremost teacher and founder, the sainted Dr. C. F. W. Walther, and which teaches in its 35th paragraph : "Although a pastor has chiefly to care for the spiritual wants of his congregational members, still the care for the bodily welfare, especially for the necessities of life among the poor, the sick, the widows, the orphans, the infirm and needy and aged, also belongs to the sphere of his ministerial duties. Gal. 2, 9. 10. Compare Acts 6, Iff.; 11,30; 12,25; 24,17; Eom. 12, 8. 13; James 1,27; 1 Tim. 5, 10; 1 Thess. 4, 11. 12." And in his epoch-making work on the formation and conduct of Lutheran congregations, bearing the title : Die rechte Gestalt einer vom Staate unabhaengigen Evangelisch-Lutherischen Ortsgemeinde (The True Character of a Local Evangelical Lutheran Congregation, Independent of the State), the venerable Doctor instructs the laity in the 34th paragraph: "Likewise the congregation shall care for the nourishment, clothing, housing, and all necessary wants of the poor, widows, orphans, aged, invalids, who are unable to support themselves or have no relatives who are in duty bound to do so. (2 Thess. 3, 11. 12; 1 Tim. 5, 16. Compare 1 John 3, 17; Matt. 25, 35. 36. 40. 42. 43. 45; James 1, 27.) Also in calamities caused by fire, famine, dearth, robbery, etc., the congregation is to help the sufferers (2 Cor. 8, 13. 14; Rom. 12, 15 ; 1 Cor. 12, 26 : 'And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it'), in order that no brother or sister be tempted, in shame of the Gospel, to appeal for charity to those that are without or even to join with them in secret organizations which make the purpose of mutual aid CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES OF MISSOURI SYNOD. 449 their deceptive trap. 1 Thess. 4, 11. 12. For this reason the congregation should appoint charity officers. Acts G, 1 — 7." It will be noticed that the sainted Doctor in both text- books bases his instruction on proof-passages of the Bible. Such Scriptural instruction was bound to bring forth blessed and abundant fruit. Even in the early days of their struggling poverty Missouri's congregations learned to give and to give liberally both for the spreading of the Kingdom and the alleviation of bodily distress. Widows and orphans were tenderly cared for, and the aged and infirm provided with kindly support. Where fire or flood, or drought or tornadoes, or the yellow fever caused wide-spread suffering, Missouri's Christians hastened to the rescue of their afflicted brethren. As the congregations waxed stronger, growing in numbers, and in membership, and also in material wealth, they also, by the grace of God, increased in knowledge and in love and the performance of all charitable deeds. Most gladly would we here bring a complete statistical report of the funds given by Missouri's Christians for charitable purposes during the seventy-five years of their Synod's existence, but that is impossible for two reasons. In the first place, Synod did not begin to publish a Statistical Year-Booh that recorded also its benevolences till the year 1885. Its first Year-Booh, pub- lished a year earlier by the sainted Prof. Guenther, contains no list of Synod's charities. In the second place, even the figures in the successive Year-Boohs are incomplete; for there are many private charity organizations within the bounds of Synod that do not send their funds to the different synodical District treasurers and of which therefore the Year-Booh brings no report. But incomplete as the figures are, they speak an eloquent language for all who love our Lutheran Zion. Broadly speaking, the charities of Synod fall into two general classes: 1) those fostered and supervised directly by Synod; 2) those fostered and supervised by private organiza- tions within the bounds of Synod. In our brief review of these charities we state the figures as printed in Synod's Year-Boohs from 1891 to 1920 (during the last thirty years), EBENEZER. 29 450 CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES OF MISSOURI SYNOD. and as we were able to gather them from the official reports of the various private organizations. First and oldest among Class A of Synod's charities is her support of invalid pastors, parochial teachers, professors, and their widows and orphans. When the Lutheraner became Synod's official organ, its very first number, of September 8, 1847, reports a gift for the sainted Pastor Buerger's widow amounting to $40, contributed by members of a few congre- gations. In the course of years the number of invalid pastors and teachers, their widows and orphans, steadily increased, making greater funds and a better system for their support necessary. Hence Synod at its delegate session in Milwaukee in 1917 created a General Board of Support which in 1920 cared for the wants of 102 pastors, 33 teachers, 111 wives of pastors and teachers, 188 pastors' widows, 65 teachers' widows, and 375 children below the age of sixteen. The amount paid these beneficiaries in 1920 totaled $107,160. From 1891 to 1920 contributions total $1,059,034.98. This Delegate Synod at Milwaukee has become historic, for in it the newly formed Lutheran Laymen's League (the L. L. L.), composed of prominent and charitable lay members, made Synod a jubilee present of $100,000 to cover the deficit in its general treasury, and it is now engaged in raising an endowment fund of three million dollars for the support of Synod's invalid pastors, their widows and orphans. Indigent Students. In these materialistic, and degenerate days Missouri, in contrast to other Protestant church-bodies, still retains her flourishing colleges and seminaries filled with students destined for the holy ministry or the parochial school teacher's profession. What is the reason ? The answer is to be found in her faith that worketh by love. She early provided for the maintenance at her colleges of gifted, but indigent students. Many of her older congregations can look upon numbers of pious pastors and teachers they helped to support at college and who now are gathering rich sheaves in the Lord's harvest fields. Individual Ladies' Societies, Young Men's and Young Women's Societies early took up the same blessed work. The sainted Pastor Buenger of St. Louis was CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES OF MISSOURI SYNOD. 451 the first to found a Young Men's Society for the purpose, and "Old Trinity," the "Saxon" mother congregation of St. Louis, has a noble record to cherish and sustain. In 1920, about 400 students were supported at Missouri's educational institutions at an outlay of $64,304.22. From 1898 to 1920 contributions totaled $910,274.22. Immigrants. In the great flood of German immigration that came to our shores after the Civil War, there were many Lutherans who, being ignorant of the language and ways of our country, fell an easy prey to the money-sharks and swind- lers that infested the harbors of New York and Baltimore in those days. Then it was that the sainted Kev. Stephen Keyl founded our Immigrant Mission at New York in 1868, which Synod took over in the early seventies, purchasing later its far-famed "Pilgerhaus" at No. 8 State St., in which thou- sands of immigrants found secure lodging, and from which they could be safely sent on to their ultimate destination. From 1870 to 1883 Pastor Keyl cared for 27,000 immigrants, found work for 1,042 and lent newcomers $47,252, all but $5,000 being finally paid back. When the United States Government took over the care and the forwarding of immi- grants direct from Ellis Island, our "Pilgerhaus" had to close its doors after harboring at the outbreak of the World War over 3,000 refugees and German seamen. The house was sold for a goodly sum in 1917 and the money deposited with our Lutheran Immigrant Society, Incorporated, New York, which is to use the funds for Immigrant and Seamen's Missions as the exigencies demand. At the 1920 Delegate Synod this Society reported $2,780.90 given outright for charity, loans amounting to $1,281.42, and the receipt and disbursement of $97,104.50 for various purposes. From 1891 to 1920 the dona- tions direct amounted to $52,811.96. General Relief Board. Sufferers from fire, flood, and other catastrophes received assistance to the amount of $21,410.94 during the years 1917 to 1920 from our Board of General Relief. Red Cross. According to our official statistician, the Rev. E, Eckhardt, our Missouri congregations contributed 452 CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES OF MISSOURI SYNOD. $1,265,000 to the Eed Cross during the calamitous World War. How many unrecorded additional sums, running into tens of thousands, were donated to this charity by our Lutheran business men in their local communities, will never be known. Overseas Charities. The appalling distress caused by the terrible World War in famine-stricken Central Europe called early, and still calls, for generous relief on the part of our American Christians. Our American Lutheran Board for Relief in Europe, composed of a General Board, with sub- committees for Alsace, Germany, and Poland, reports through its Manager and Treasurer, the Rev. O. H. Restin, for 1919 and 1920 the sum of $309,586.51. China Relief. Acting promptly on the fervid appeal issued in the Lutheran Witness and later in the Lutheraner by our Director of Foreign Missions, the Rev. E. Brand, our Christians have contributed the sum of $15,928.69 from January 3 to June 1, 1921, for relieving the fearful famine in China. Charitable Legacies. The legacy fund of Synod, mainly for the support of pastors' widows and orphans and indigent students, shows a total of $87,379.90 in the report of the recent Delegate Synod at Detroit. Legacies received in 1920 amount to $40,700.06. Since 1904 this treasury received $682,043. We now come to Class B of the charitable activities — the private charity organizations within the bounds of our beloved Synod. First and foremost among the numerous charity institutions founded and fostered by these zealous societies, the Lutheran Hospital at St. Louis deserves our notice. It was founded by the sainted Pastor F. Buenger on December 1, 1858, being the first Protestant hospital erected in St. Louis. It started on its career in two little rooms in the house of Mr. Ed. Bertram, and its first patient was a Mormon invalid. On its sixtieth anniversary the hospital published a richly illustrated volume telling us that during the fiscal year ending September 1918, it numbered 61 beds in its different wards and 27 beds in well-furnished private CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES OF MISSOURI SYNOD. 453 rooms. It employed 47 nurses, took care of 1,421 patients, and its doctors performed 1,043 operations. As it was the first hospital established in our midst, so our first training- school for Lutheran nurses was founded within its walls on October 11, 1898, by its energetic superintendent, Mrs. Louise Krauss-Ament. Up to 1918 the school has graduated 202 scientifically trained nurses, whose reputation is of the highest. Encouraged by the evident success of the St. Louis Christians with their well-conducted hospital, other Lutheran centers erected similar institutions in their midst. Brook- lyn, K Y., followed in 1881 ; Cleveland in 1896, Mankato, Minn. (Synodical Conference), in the same year; Spring- field, 111., in 1897; Sioux City, Iowa, in 1902; Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1903; St. Paul, Minn. (Synodical Conference), in 1913 ; Beatrice, Nebr., in the same year ; Hampton, Iowa, in 1914; York, Nebr., in the same year. The total value of these institutions runs up to $1,243,000. The well-known Sani- tarium for tubercular patients at Wheat Ridge, near Denver, Colo., was founded in 1905 and cared for 88 patients in 1920. The Walther League and other friends of this institution, in 1921, erected a hospital pavilion at a cost of $225,000. The sanitarium for nervous disorders at Hot Springs, S. Dak., was bought by our Lutherans for $200,000 and cared for 608 patients in 1920. The newly established Convalescent Home in St. Louis for invalid women and girls cost $20,000 and reports 20 inmates. Orphanages. As the sainted Buenger was the first to es- tablish a Lutheran hospital, so he established the first orphan home within the bounds of our Synod. It was founded in 1868, in a little log cabin on a forty-acre tract at Des Peres, Mo., fourteen miles west of St. Louis. In 1918 the Home celebrated its golden anniversary, and from the jubilee issue of its official organ, the Kranken- und Waisenfreund, we learn that the Home during its existence till then cared for 1,189 children; 80 children were baptized, and 377 were confirmed. Seven of the orphan boys have entered the ser- vice of the Church as pastors or schoolteachers. The Home is now valued at $100,000. Other orphan homes were estab- 454 CHABITABLE ACTIVITIES OF MISSOURI SYNOD. lished at the following places: at West Roxbury, Mass., in 1870 ; at Addison, HI., in 1873 ; at New Orleans, La., in 1881 ; at Marwood, Pa., in 1883; at Indianapolis, Ind., in 1883; at Fort Wadsworth, K Y., in 1886 ; at Baltimore, Md., in 1893. These eight orphanages have harbored a total of 4,398 chil- dren, and at present are caring for 638 poor orphans. Their total property value amounts to $539,800. Home-Finding Societies. The blessed work of saving de- pendent and neglected children is not confined to the orphan- ages within our midst. Hand in hand with them our home- finding societies are carrying on the same glorious rescue work. In 1896 the first home-finding society was founded at Wauwatosa, Wis., by the Rev. Carl Eissfeldt. Other societies soon followed : Bay City, Mich., in 1900 ; Fort Wayne, Ind., Fort Dodge, Iowa, and St. Paul, Minn., in 1901 ; Peoria, 111., and Winfield, Kans., in 1902; St. Louis, Mo., in 1903; Buf- falo, N. Y., in 1905. Fremont, Nebr., originally founded as an orphanage in 1892, is now doing home-finding work. Since their organization these ten societies have placed 5,059 homeless children into Lutheran families either for adoption or for education and training until their maturity. The value of their property represents a total of $160,000. Institutions for defective children. In the Lutheraner of the 15th of September, 1873, the sainted Rev. G. Speckhard published a burning appeal in behalf of the unfortunate deaf- mute children living in our midst without being instructed in the consoling truths of Christ's saving Gospel. The Luthe- raner at the same time carried the announcement of the open- ing of the Deaf-mute Institute at Royal Oak, near Detroit, Mich., of which the sainted Speckhard became the teacher and director. This blessed school is still in existence, now situated within the confines of the city of Detroit, and to it we owe the final establishment of our wide-spread deaf-mute mission with its 12 missionaries, 9 organized congregations, and 63 preaching-places. The present enrolment of the school is 35 pupils, and its property is valued at $60,000. Besides caring for the deaf-mute children, our charitable Christians have also provided a school and home for feeble-minded CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES OF MISSOURI SYNOD. 455 and epileptic children. This school is situated in romantic Watertown, Wis., and was originally founded in 1903 by our Various home-finding societies, which were early burdened with the care of these unfortunates. The school at present numbers 45 children, and its fine property is quoted at $215,000. Manual Training-School and Industrial School. In 1910 our Lutheran churches at Chicago, 111., took over the old Teachers' Seminary at Addison, 111., and turned it into a manual training-school for boys and an industrial school for girls. Its efficient superintendent, the Rev. H. C. Jaus, reports that in 1920 this institution took care of 125 children, 53 girls and 72 boys. Most of these children are committed to this school by the County Court of Cook County. Its maintenance last year cost $26,651.09. Hospices. Providing a safe and homelike shelter in our large industrial centers to which so many inexperienced young Lutherans come from our rural districts is a new phase of charity work to which our zealous Walther League is dedicated. There are five such hospices at present with a valuation of $76,400. But this work has been fully de- scribed in a separate article. Homes for the Aged. Brooklyn, N. Y., heads the list of homes for our aged and often forsaken Christians. Its home was established in 1875. Other homes are at Arlington Heights, 111., and Monroe, Mich., in 1892; Marwood, Pa., in 1883; Baltimore, Md., in 1893; Wauwatosa, Wis., and St. Louis, Mo., in 1906; Buffalo, K Y., in 1911. These insti- tutions number 378 inmates and reveal property holdings valued at $413,493. The total of charitable institutions within the Missouri Synod is 14 hospitals, 9 orphanages, 13 home-finding societies, 3 educational institutions and 5 hospices. The donations re- ported for these institutions alone from 1891 to 1920 amount to $2,858,239.15. To the educational institutions listed in the Year-Booh of 1920 we must add the School for Lutheran Deaconesses established by the Charity Conference — founded 1904 — of the Synodical Conference at Fort Wayne, Ind., in 456 PUBLICITY WORK IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 1919. . Its newly opened Mother-house cost $18,000. The esti- mated value of the various charitable institutions is given at $3,366,693, not adding the Mother-house at Fort Wayne. Disbursements during 1920 amounted to $1,070,952.20. Publicity Work in the Missouri Synod. Rev. Paul Lindemann, St. Paul, Minn. The missionary command which Christ has given to His Church, as the custodian of His truth, demands that every means be employed to bring the wondrous tidings of salva- tion to the attention of men. The great spiritual treasures that Christians enjoy are not to be selfishly guarded for private personal use, but are to be heralded out into a dying world that men might be saved. The light of truth is not to be kept under a bushel. The attitude of the Church is not to be one of passive receptivity, but of aggressive activity and solicitation. The Church is to go out into the highways and byways and by insistent presentation of the cause of the Lord compel the spiritually diffident bystander to come in. The Church's light is to burn with undimmed radiance in a sin-darkened world. It is to be as conspicuous as a city set upon a hill. A policy of aggressive publicity of what it stands for and what it has to offer is, on the part of the Church, not only in harmony with the missionary precepts of Jesus Christ, but a positive necessity if the Gospel is to exert the greatest possible influence. As a matter of fact, the missionary opportunities of the Church will never be fully realized, and its blessed influence never fully exerted unless the Church uses every possible means to bring its life- giving message to the attention of a disinterested world. The founders of our Synod were mindful of this fact. During the seventy-five years of Synod's existence the presses have been kept busy in the interests of our Church. The need of a church-paper for the propagation of sound Luther- anism was soon recognized, and the Lutheraner was called into existence in 1844. The condition of American Luther- PUBLICITY WORK IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 457 anism at the time was of such a character that the able editor, the sainted Dr. Walther, was soon of necessity in- volved in polemics. In the midst of a Lutheranism that had long forsaken the true Lutheran principles regarding both doctrine and practise, and had forfeited all claims to respect by its rank unionism, the Lutheraner sounded a firm note and summoned the straying back to a firm basis of sound confessionalism. The editor wielded an extremely able pen, and the influence of the Lutheraner toward the establishment of sound Lutheranism in America simply cannot be overesti- mated. Even synods that never acknowledged themselves in full accord with Missouri and fought Missouri's position with vigor and bitterness could not avoid the conservative influence of the Lutheraner s testimony. In the formative period of Synod's existence it proved a mighty power in uniting the widely scattered Lutherans on a firm confes- sional basis. Its fearless testimony set many to thinking and brought many a vacillating churchman to conviction. The doctrinal stand of the fathers of Synod needed publicity, particularly among the vast host of spiritually unattended Lutherans scattered throughout the length and breadth of our country, and the Lutheraner supplied it. While the Lutheraner was at first a private venture, it became with the beginning of the fourth volume of its issue the official organ of the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States, and to this day, in the 77th year of its existence, proclaims with unimpaired vigor the tenets of sound Lutheranism to the German-speaking element of our citizenship. The founders of Synod were firm believers in the value of printers' ink. Books and pamphlets began to appear in ever- increasing numbers, and Synod soon realized the advantage of having its own publication plant. The present manager of Concordia Publishing House states correctly in a recent article: "There is probably no other agency that has been more emphatically or more consistently in American Lu- theran publicity work than Concordia Publishing House, for over fifty years printers and publishers to the Missouri 458 PUBLICITY WORK IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. Synod." In order to give an idea as to what dimensions the work of this great publicity agency has grown, we again quote the manager. He tells us : — "There is a score of editors and assistant editors writing and editing manuscripts for our twenty-four periodical pub- lications which go to a grand total of about one-fourth of a million subscribers. Seven modern composing machines set the type, a staff of five editorial readers and proof-readers are maintaining a reputation for correctness and absence of typographical errors ; half a score of large book presses print the publications, a very modern addressing machine addresses and mails them at a rate of 9,000 addresses an hour, faster by far than the presses and folding machines can turn them out. The greater part of the time and energy of the 127 men and girls that people the three acres of floor space is occu- pied in turning out books and pamphlets by the thousands and tens of thousands. "Taking figures from recent stock records, the monthly capacity of the plant is about 183,281 books and pamphlets,, which equals an annual output of over two million items,. and the value of these books and pamphlets as publicity material must not be underestimated, for every title page of every item carries out usually to more than one pair of eyes the announcement that there is a Concordia Publishing; House which is entirely devoted to the enterprise of publish- ing distinctively Lutheran literature; and to judge by the healthy physical appearance of just about all of our wares,, that same Concordia Publishing House does not seem to be on a starvation diet. The careful observer instinctively feels that Concordia Publishing House is rather enjoying good health in spite of its prolific production of 2,199,372 books and four million numbers of periodical publications, or a grand total of over six million pieces per annum." Of course, since the early days other periodicals have come into existence to aid the Lutheraner in the spreading of the divine truth. Lehre und Wehre, Theological Monthly, Iiomiletic Magazine, School Journal, Kinder- und Jugend- blattf Young Lutherans' Magazine, and others are doing PUBLICITY WORK IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 459 their share in advancing the cause of sound Lutheranism in our country. Naturally Lutheranism in America would be compelled in the course of time to adopt as the means of operation the language of the country, and the need of an official organ in the English language became more and more evident. Through the amalgamation of the English Synod with the general body as an English District in 1911 the Lutheran Witness became the official English mouthpiece of Synod. This ably edited paper has steadily increased in in- fluence and is aggressively presenting the tenets of true Lu- theranism in the language of our land. In the course of time local and sectional periodicals have appeared within Synod in large numbers, representing their specific interests in cir- cumscribed localities and no doubt proving valuable publicity agencies within the limited circle of their influence. Various institutions and organizations with benevolent or missionary purposes have found it expedient to issue periodicals in the interest of their respective causes, and since missionary endeavors and works of Christian benevolence are but the natural expression of Christian faith, these numerous papers have a special value as a means of presenting Lutheranism's claims also to the outsider. Amidst the flourishing congre- gational life which soon became evident in Synod the appear- ance and rapid spread of the parish-paper idea was inevitable. Wherever efforts are made to distribute these papers beyond the confines of the congregation, they naturally constitute a force for Lutheran publicity in that particular locality. Compared with the humble beginning seventy-five years ago Synod is to-day a mighty body, the largest separate synod- ical organization in the country. Its numerical strength, its wide-flung educational, benevolent, and missionary ramifica- tions, all developed within the short space of seventy-five years, mark it as a marvel in American church history. Naturally a body of such size cannot remain unnoticed. Its very size forces it upon the attention of the public. And yet Synod did not and does not occupy the attention in the public mind that its size and influence would seem to warrant. Some other denominations of much lesser strength are better 460 PUBLICITY WORK IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. known to the average American citizen than the Lutheran Church. By various means of publicity, usually a publicity of personalities and not of denominational principles, their churches were brought into the limelight. Our own Church, due to its doctrinal conservatism, its clear distinction between the spheres of Church and State and its firm stand against unionistic practise was naturally not so prominent in the public eye. It was completely preoccupied with the tremen- dous tasks that lay at hand, and performed its work quietly without blare of trumpets and sensational attempts to attract public attention. Then, furthermore, the early work of the Missouri Synod was carried out principally in the German language. The thousands upon thousands of German Lu- therans scattered throughout the country and constituting not an inconsiderable portion of the country's population, offered a field that was truly white for the harvest. The task of gathering these spiritually unattended Lutherans into Christian congregations, of winning the thousands of strayed back to earnest church activity, was a task that was stagger- ing in its immensity. It taxed the strength and resources of Synod to the uttermost. It was compelled to concentrate all its attention upon the task at hand. Its consecrated labor has been abundantly blessed by the Lord. But naturally there would come for Synod a time which would call not for a change in its doctrinal position and blessed Gospel policy, but for a readaptation of the methods of work to changing conditions. The second and third gen- erations on American soil would not employ the language of their fathers. They would be thrown into more intimate contact with the various phases of our busy American life and would be called upon to defend their faith in the lan- guage of the land. In other words, there would come upon the Church a period of transition which would call for patience and wisdom in the handling and for single-minded devotion to the cause of the Lord in spite of all prejudices and personal preferences. Our Synod is in the midst of the throes of this period. It is confronted by the fact that the influx of Lutheran immigration from European countries PUBLICITY WORK IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 461 has almost ceased, and that thus this great recruiting agency has suspended operations. It also realizes that a mere de- velopment from within, the focusing of all its attention upon the training of the children within its midst into dutiful church-membership, would be out of harmony with the broad missionary command of Christ. It is realizing more and more that it has a message for, and a duty toward, that vast unchurched host of Americans that has drifted away from all spiritual influence. The future home mission work of our Synod will be directed toward gathering into the fold of Christ the many thousands of our fellow-citizens who at the present time are completely out of touch with any re- ligious influence. The fact that a majority of the American people are not connected with any religious organization whatsoever and that the majority of American children are growing up without any religious influence in their lives impresses upon us the vastness of our task and the unlimited scope of our opportunities. Of course, the reshaping of our missionary policy will call for the employment of the English language in an increased measure and also for an aggressive and persistent campaign of publicity. Events that are still fresh in our minds have convinced us that the principles of Lutheranism are little known to the general public. Slander and ignorance have combined to bring about all sorts of misconceptions regarding its history, its doctrines, and its principles. To many it is absolutely unknown. To others it appears to be a foreign institution, transplanted to American soil, which, according to the liberal policy of our free country, must be tolerated. That the whole history and policy of the Lutheran Church make it typically American is by no means generally recog- nized. But the two cardinal facts are that the Lutheran Church has by the grace of God the pure, unadulterated, soul-saving Gospel-message that a sin-cursed world needs, and that we have the command to bring this message to the attention of all men. The Lutheran Church has never hidden its light. The very nature of its church architecture with its towering steeples and ringing bells was a means of publicity. 462 PUBLICITY WORK IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. But the general character of the pioneer work which Synod had to do in this country did not call for the extensive use of publicity methods in the modern sense of the term, the extensive use of printers' ink, for instance, with the intention of bringing the tenets of Lutheranism to the notice of the non-Lutheran public. This was due partly to the circum- stances under which the early history of Synod was shaped, partly to a fear of emulating the example of some sensational religious self -advertisers who were constantly appearing in print. Synod has, however, begun to adapt itself to changing conditions and to realize the necessity of publicity work in connection with its changing and rapidly expanding program. Advertising has become a valuable factor and a veritable art in the business world of our day, and in the ceaseless hustle and bustle of our life with its thousand and one diverting influences the necessity of intensive publicity work in order to gain the attention of a preoccupied public is generally recognized. The Church, which has in its possession the "one thing needful," the panacea for all the ills of the human soul, the one commodity that has eternal value, has the duty to use every means to bring and keep its soul-saving truth before the eyes of men. The value of well-planned publicity work as an almost indispensable adjunct to the modern home missionary activities of the Church has been receiving more and more recognition in our circles. Finding the general ignorance in the public mind regard- ing the principles of Lutheranism, on the one hand, and the preconceived prejudices, on the other, a decided handicap to the progress of the Church, and realizing the value of arousing and systematically organizing the latent publicity possibilities within Synod, a number of Eastern clergymen and laymen in the year 1914 organized the American Lu- theran Publicity Bureau, which proclaimed as its object "to acquaint the general public with the history, doctrines, prin- ciples, and practise of the Lutheran Church." The method by which the Bureau hoped to attain its end was by a stimu- lation of a more extensive use of the public press and local PUBLICITY WORK IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 463 advertising material, by the wide-spread distribution of tracts, by public lectures, and by the placing of Lutheran literature in libraries and other public places. The Bureau announced itself as a national organization with every member of the Synodical Conference eligible for membership. The funds necessary to carry on the work were to come through dona- tions and through the one dollar-a-year membership fees. The project was new and like every proposition had its usual share of prejudices to overcome. But from the beginning the Bureau proved itself a wel- come addition to the forces of Synod, and while not an officially appointed or created body, it set itself whole- heartedly to further Synod's interests. The fact that the Lutheran Church to-day can no longer be stigmatized gen- erally as an "unknown Church," and that it is throughout the country energetically presenting its case to the American people, is in some measure due to the activities of the Bureau. Its work has been perhaps primarily stimulative, suggestive, inspirational, seeking to arouse local circles and congrega- tions to a policy of publicity for the precious wares they have to offer the souls of men. Pulpit programs, announcement cards, and other local advertising material are being exten- sively used. Newspapers are carrying paid advertisements and as a result have thrown their columns open to news items regarding Lutheran activities. For special occasions the Bureau has furnished material for newspaper write-ups, which has been extensively used. Lutheran church services are being advertised in hotel bulletins and in other public places. Church bulletin boards, preaching their daily sermon to the passer-by are being generally installed. Many churches are including generous sums for church publicity in their annual budget. House-to-house canvasses are the order of the day. Church societies have interested themselves in publicity work and have been particularly active in placing Lutheran literature into public libraries and reading-rooms. In this way hundreds of libraries have in the past few years been supplied with Lutheran books and periodicals. Infor- mation in directories regarding local Lutheran churches and 464 PUBLICITY WORK IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. Lutheran benevolent institutions and organizations have been corrected and brought up to date. In fact, there has been wide-spread activity in many localities to place the claims of the Lutheran Church before the eyes of the people. In order to keep alive a general interest in the important cause of Lutheran publicity, and to encourage local congre- gations to a full use of their powers for the spreading of the Kingdom in their particular localities, the Bureau has since 1918 been issuing a magazine called the American Lutheran. This magazine has been an exponent of general matters per- taining to publicity, and has tried to advance the cause of congregational efficiency. It has dealt with the practical side of church-work, and has endeavored to be helpful in suggest- ing modern methods of congregational work. Since it re- frains from discussing doctrinal topics and does not bring devotional material, but confines itself to the practical phases of church-life, it is really a Lutheran technical magazine, devoted to the cause of the expansion of the boundaries of Zion. The Publicity Bureau's tract department has done fine work in disseminating the truth of Lutheranism. It has been instrumental in distributing about 2,410,000 tracts on dif- ferent subjects. During the first years of the Bureau's exis- tence tracts were sold for distribution at cost price, but during the last year the tracts are delivered to applicants free of charge in any quantities, as the funds supplied by the contributions of individuals, congregations, and church societies will permit. Many of our congregations have in- stalled tract racks and are distributing tracts in the routine of their congregational work and particularly on special occasions. The quadricentennial year 1917, commemorating the birth of the Reformation, gave impetus to the cause of Lutheran publicity. The big Lutheran celebrations with their exten- sive preliminary work and accompanying distribution of Lu- theran literature were an effective means of bringing the Church to the attention of the public. Since that time the PUBLICITY WORK IN THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 465 large Lutheran joint celebrations seem to have paid more attention to the solicitation of public interest and are usually connected with more or less elaborate publicity propaganda. Joint services as an advertising medium are becoming more and more popular. Public Lutheran noonday Lenten services for the presentation of Lutheran doctrine, for which purpose large theaters are rented during Holy Week, have become annual institutions in some of the Lutheran centers of the Middle West and have proven a most effective means of publicity. The Lutherans of St. Louis have for a number of years been running such services throughout the six weeks of Lent. In all cities where such services are in vogue tract distribution has been featured. The preliminary advertising campaign and the accompanying newspaper publicity have done much to make the Church and its work known to the public. Lutheran publicity work has kept clear of the blatant and cheap sensationalism which has tended to cheapen other churches in the eyes of the public. It has but one thing to advertise, and that is the Gospel of the crucified Christ as the only means of salvation, and it has kept all its publicity methods in harmony with the dignity of its message. Con- secrated aggressiveness is something different from sensa- tional self-assertiveness. And in the tremendous tasks and glorious responsibilities that confront the Church it will need to employ every possible means for the propagation of the truth. With the blessed end in view of gathering in as many souls as possible for the great harvest of the Lord, modern publicity methods are indeed a consecrated agency for the expansion of the Master's kingdom. It is surely not vain- glorious to hope and believe that the most glorious part of Lutheranism's history lies not in the past, but is now in the making. The opportunities are unlimited to bring the saving truth to the attention of the children of men that they may know the way to salvation and, ^knowing, may believe. EBENEZER. 30 466 OUR TRANSOCEANIC CONNECTIONS. Our Transoceanic Connections. Rev. Arthur Brunn, Brooklyn, N. Y. We desire to express our indebtedness to the following brethren from whom we have received valuable information concerning our transoceanic connections: Prof. W. H. T. Dau, Pastor J. M. Michael, Pastor F. Broders, Pastor K. Knippenberg, and Pastor G. Bertram. Other sources used: Lehre und Wehre, Lutheraner, Zcuge und Anzeiger, Hermannsburger Missionsblatt, Evang.-Luth. Mission und Kirche, Der Lutherische Kirchenbote fuer Australien, Der Bote von 8. Lourenvo ; Hochstetter, Geschichte der Missouri- Synode; Stoeckhardt, Die Icirchlicheii Zustaende Dcutsehlands ; Brunn, Mitteilungen aus meinem Leben; Ey, Mitteilungen ueber die Auswanderung der preussischen Lutheraner nach Sued- Australien. The Pentecostal church was truly cosmopolitan. "Par- thians and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Meso- potamia, and in Judea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians," heard in their tongues "the wonderful works of God." The Church of Jesus Christ knows no bounds. The truth of the Gospel and the Holy Sacraments are the banner around which the children of God gather. And wherever the truth is proclaimed, it carries the promise that it shall not return void, but accomplish that wherefor it is sent. It is, therefore, but natural that the testimony of our Synod to the truth of God's revealed Word, wherever under the fashioning and guiding providence of the Lord it is heard, must bear fruit, and that others, like-minded, rally around the same banner. A memorial volume commemo- rating the 75th anniversary of our Synod would then be in- complete if it did not give an account of our transoceanic connections. Our survey will take us into far distant countries : Ger- many, England, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, South America. In covering such a widely scattered territory, it will, of course, be impossible to do more than summarize and point to the great outstanding facts. OUR TRANSOCEANIC CONNECTIONS. 467 In all of our transoceanic connections, whether with the. Church in Germany or in Australia, in England or in South America, there is much sameness. It is true to-day as it was in the days of St. Peter that the "same affliction- are accomplished in the brethren that are in the world." And the days of trials and tribulations have always been accom- panied by a process of cleansing and purifying, which sepa- rates the chaff from the wheat. Even the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church of Christ, and wherever Satan sought to destroy the Church by false doctrine and indif- ference to the revealed Word of God, there Mere always found a few faithful ones who came out from Babylon and separated themselves from error and errorists. Often in a providential manner we were thrown together with such as were like-minded, and thus, as a rule, our transoceanic con- nections were established. Turning to Europe, we find there first among our trans- oceanic connections the Free Church of Saxony and Other States. This Church is not the result of any mission en- deavor on the part of our Synod, but rather the result of an independent movement on the part of pious inquirers after the truth during the reign of rationalistic indifference and unionistic practises in the Church which bore the name of the great Reformer in Germany. The man who for many years wielded perhaps the greatest influence in the Free Church of Saxony was Friedrich Brunn, for more than fifty years pastor of the church in Steeden, a little sequestered town in the former duchy of Nassau. Brunn's father, court-preacher for the Prince of Nassau at Castle Schaumburg, was a rationalist of the deepest dye, so much so that he believed it blasphemous to teach little chil- dren to fold their hands in prayer, because they had no understanding for such things. And so Brunn grew up a heathen ; refined, but nevertheless a heathen, as he himself confesses. The prince had selected young Brunn as successor to his father. Through the influence of an uncle he was therefore sent to Leipzig to study theology. There he met the man 468 OUR TRANSOCEANIC CONNECTIONS. through whom he learned the ABC of Christianity — Graul, who later on became the well-known director of missions at Leipzig. In 1842 Brunn was appointed pastor of the Runkel parish, of which Steeden was a preaching-station. Though IpPIr ■■ Jm ; i dm — A '.■'■■ ^-jM ffillS(!^vK0 y;!©5?|::v:;^^ Rev. Friedrich Brunn. at heart now a devout Christian, who through his manner of preaching and pastoral work caused a great revival, Brunn was yet ignorant of a great many fundamental truths con- cerning the Sacraments, the office of the ministry, the Office of the Keys, etc. Many trials and tribulations within and OUR TRANSOCEANIC CONNECTIONS. 469 without, the necessity of defending the truth as he knew it, and the desire to have a firm ground on which to stand, compelled Brunn to study the Bible, Luther, and Lutheran dogmaticians, among them also Walther, whose book, Die Stimme unserer Kirche in der Frage von Kirche und Amt, proved a great help to him after he had severed his connec- tion with the state church in 184G. When Walther visited Steeden in 1860, he found in Brunn a true Missourian in doctrine and practise. Our Synod in those days stood in great need of preachers able to gather in the masses of Lutherans living in this country like sheep without a shepherd. Since the connections with Loehe had been broken off, Walther, during his visit to Steeden, persuaded Brunn, in whom he found the man he was looking for, to open a school which might supply the Missourians with prospective preachers and missionaries. An arrangement was effected whereby Brunn would keep the young men for a year, in some cases two years, and then send them to America, where they could finish their studies in our institutions. Between two hundred and three hundred young men were prepared in Steeden for the American ministry. While our Synod helped to a certain extent to finance the Steeden preparatory school, yet the greatest burden was placed on the shoulders of Brunn and his faith- ful wife. During the summer vacation Brunn would travel far and wide and preach at many mission-festivals on what he called "Our American Mission," pleading for young men who were willing to leave hearth and home and prepare for work in America, and securing promises for financial sup- port, since most of the young men who were willing to pre- pare for the ministry had no money. When he had gathered a new group of prospective students, and when these had come to Steeden, "Mother Brunn" was busy worrying where the next morsel of bread would come from, while Brunn tried somewhat to polish the rough material given him and pre- pare the young men for entrance into our seminary here. This institution at Steeden and the work connected there- with proved to be a source of great blessing for many. 470 °UR TRANSOCEANIC CONNECTIONS. It was through his annual journeys in connection with this school and the monthly paper published in the interest of the school, Ev.-Luth. Mission und Kirche, that Brunn became a well-known and highly honored person in many orthodox and pious circles of Germany. Many turned to him for help and advice. The closest affiliation was established between Brunn and our brethren in Saxony. The affairs of the Church were in a bad state in Saxony when, in 1865, a group of pious and devout laymen in Dresden banded themselves together for their own edification and fur- therance in the doctrines of true Lutheranism. They or- ganized the "Evangelical Lutheran Society for Home and Inner Missions" ("Verein evangelisch-lutherischer Glaubens- genossen fuer innere Mission und zur Unterstuetzung Armer und Kr anker"). Having no pastor of their own, they sought affiliation with like-minded men elsewhere, and it was but natural that they turned to Steeden, establishing connections with Brunn and also with our own Synod. Two years later the society was reorganized under the name "Lutheran Society" ( "Luther anerverein"). Similar societies were or- ganized in Zwickau and Planitz. After having appealed in vain to the church authorities to check the unionistic and un-Lutheran practises which had been emphasized after the war of 1866 between Prussia and Austria, some of the mem- bers of this society in Dresden and Planitz left the state church and organized the "Independent Evangelical Lu- theran Church in Saxony" in 1871. Pastor H. Euhland, a member of our Synod, was called, and he accepted the call to the pastorate of this independent church. Soon several other pastors joined this little band of faithful confessors, and in 1876 the churches in Saxony, together with the churches in Nassau, organized the "Evangelical Lutheran Synod of -Saxony and Other States." At the opening of the first session of the synod, Pastor Brunn preached the sermon on the theme: "We Wish to be Saved" ("Wir wollen gerne selig werden"). The desire to be saved, not pharisaical aloof- ness or any such thing, was the motive of these brethren when they organized their synod. OUR TRANSOCEANIC CONNECTIONS. 471 From the very beginning to the present day our Synod has been in close affiliation with the Free Church of Saxony, and has often given expression to the unity of spirit which exists between these two bodies. Against much opposition and often with much heartache the work of our brethren in Germany has been carried on these many years since 1876. Though but few in number, yet they have held aloft the banner of true Lutheranism in the midst of a decaying church. They never dared to hope that another revival of true orthodoxy would be experienced. Brunn and others read the signs of the times correctly ; they foresaw the com- plete collapse of the Church in their country as we are wit- nessing it to-day. Whether or not the Lord has in store another season of spiritual awakening, and whether He will see fit to use the brethren of the Saxon Free Church for this purpose, who can tell? Since the World War our Synod has sent several commissioners, not only for the purpose of making arrangements toward providing the brethren with the things they have need of 'for their bodies, but especially also with the view of studying the situation of the Church of Europe. At the present writing Prof. W. H. T. Dau of our St. Louis faculty is abroad. May the Lord bless his efforts, and, if it so please Him, once more build up His Zion on the foundation laid anew by the fathers of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Saxony and Other States. At present 24 pastors are serving 34 congregations and 75 preaching-stations, sowing the seed here and there as opportunity offers itself. The official organ of our Saxon brethren, Die Ev.-Luth. Frcikirche, together with many tracts and books, which are distributed through the efforts of col- porteurs, help to spread the Gospel-truth among a people that is being ground to pieces spiritually between the upper and the nether millstone of higher criticism and worldliness. The Free Church of Denmark is organically connected with the Saxon Free Church since 1911. Conditions similar to those in Germany prevailed also in the Lutheran State Church of Denmark, when Pastor N. P. Grunnet severed his connection with the state church in 1855 and organized the 472 0UB TRANSOCEANIC CONNECTIONS. Evangelical Lutheran Free Church in Denmark. Grunnet had been prepared for the foreign mission field, but for con- science' sake left the state church, in which there was little left of Lutheranism save the name, and then spent his strength ministering to those who together with him loved the truth. From Copenhagen, where he had his headquarters, Grun- net worked with great and ever-increasing success, so that within a few years he was able to report: "Thousands are praying with us." By and by it became impossible for one man to do all that needed to be done, and Grunnet was con- fronted by that problem which so often has been the undoing of a good beginning. Where could he find preachers who would work together with him, faithful to the truth and the Confessions of the Lutheran Church? It seemed impossible to establish a seminary, Grunnet being the only pastor. The state church offered no available material. And so Grunnet finally was compelled to take some of the more intelligent laymen as assistant preachers and missionaries. After a short training-course they were put to work under the supervision of Grunnet. For a time this arrangement seemed to be a very satisfactory solution of the problem; by and by, however, this system of lay-preachers undermined the work of Grunnet. Lacking a thorough training and indoctrination, many of these lay-preachers developed into fanatics and errorists who would no longer work under the supervision of Grunnet, but insisted upon being independent. In the mean time Grunnet had become acquainted with our Synod through the brethren in Saxony, and so he sent his son to attend our seminary, hoping that, with the assis- tance of his son, he could later do the work without the lay- preachers. However, the lay-preachers would not be shelved so quickly. Some of them had had visions and dreams of becoming successors to Grunnet. They succeeded in es- tranging many from Grunnet. Only a few hundred remained faithful when the separation came. Grunnet died shortly afterwards. It was at this time that the connection of the Danish OUR TRANSOCEANIC CONNECTIONS. 473 brethren with the Free Church of Saxony and our Synod proved a source of great blessing. The continued support which the little band of faithful followers of Grunnet re- ceived from our Synod enabled them to hold their property in Copenhagen, and in course of time a second pastor was called from our own circles. Since 1914 Pastor J. M. Michael is the only worker in the Danish Free Church. He has nine preaching-stations, which are scattered over Zealand, Funen, Langeland, and Jutland. In Copenhagen there is a church, in Loesning only a chapel, and at the other preaching-stations services are held in the homes of the people, who live scattered over a vast territory, altogether in twenty-one different towns. According to the latest statistics the Free Church of Denmark numbers 167 communicant members. When we remember that already in 1863 the founder of the Danish Free Church could report: "Thousands are praying with us," and hear that to-day, after seventy years of faithful work, there are only 167 left, and when we further remember the immediate cause of this de- crease, the lack of preachers and teachers, what a mighty incentive the experience of our Danish brethren must be to us to support and enlarge our seminaries for the training of teachers and preachers, lest our Synod also suffer great losses because the laborers are few! We now cross the Channel to England. Lutheranism is not a foreign plant in England. "When England almost Became Lutheran," an essay in Four Hundred Years by Prof. Theo. Graebner, makes mighty interesting reading. Also in England there have always been a number of Lutherans. Ernst Eabe was teacher at the German Lutheran Marienkirche in London. Under his leadership a number of young men severed their connection with the Young Men's Christian Association because of certain unchristian tenden- cies with which they were dissatisfied. Though at first they planned to come to America in order to find a church to their liking, yet they were finally persuaded by Rabe to remain in London and organize a congregation there, an acorn which, if the Lord would grant grace, might grow into a mighty oak. 474 OUR TRANSOCEANIC CONNECTIONS. F. W. Schulze, a graduate of our St. Louis Seminary, in 1896, was called as the first pastor of this congregation. Under his leadership, and due to the enthusiastic support of the mem- bers, the work soon expanded. In a very short time a parish- school was opened in Tottenham, and a teacher, Mr. John Yornsand, was called. Already in 1901 a second pastor, Mr. Bruno Poch, a graduate of our St. Louis Seminary, entered the work, Pastor Schulze being stationed in Ken- tish Town, while Pastor Poeh took care of the work in Tottenham. A second teacher was also called for Tottenham, Mr. Vornsand taking care of the school in Kentish Town. Both Pastor Schulze and Pastor Poch were called away in 1909, and their successors were Pastors K. Knippenberg and Martin Holls. The work was signally blessed, and already plans were being made in the minds of some men for a necessary enlargement of the church-building in Ken- tish Town, where the work prospered more than in Totten- ham, when suddenly the fearful catastrophe of 1914 called a halt. While at first the members of the church were not molested, yet as the war progressed, and the hatred and animosity caused thereby reached its height, many of the members were interned, while others left for America, and still others were carried back to Germany. Fortunately Pas- tor Knippenberg was an American citizen, and some of the members were British subjects; so the work could be con- tinued, although the congregation had lost fully two-thirds of its members. Pastor Holls accepted a call to America. The tremendous strain put on Pastor Knippenberg during those trying years proved too much, so that a change in his pastorate was imperative. One of the members of the class of 1921 from our St. Louis Seminary, Mr. O. Battenberg, was assigned to the church in London. May the Lord bless his labors and make glad again the brethren according to the days wherein He afflicted them and the years wherein they saw evil! Long before the gold fever took possession of Australia, men of vision realized that the then prevalent method of sending convicts to this possession of the British crown would OUR TRANSOCEANIC CONNECTIONS. 475 never work out in a satisfactory manner. Men who were interested in the emigration problems were busy making plans for new methods of bringing desirable emigrants to Australia, when in 1836 Pastor August Ludwig Kavel came to London from Germany for the purpose of making arrange- ments for the immigration of an entire congregation either to America or to Australia. Kavel was pastor of the church at Klemzig, near Frank- fort on the Oder, in Prussia. When the Union was intro- duced in Prussia in real Prussian fashion, and the con- sciences of many Lutherans were violated, many of them felt that the only thing for them to do was to immigrate into some foreign country where they would enjoy religious liberty. In order to make arrangements for the emigration of his congregation from Klemzig Pastor Kavel came to London. He soon came into touch with emigration agents, who persuaded the dissatisfied Prussians to go to Australia, and so it happened that in the same year in which our Saxon forefathers started their voyage to America these Prussians set sail for Australia. They landed at Port Adelaide in November, 1838, and that day may be put down as the begin- ning of Lutheranism in Australia. They established a colony in South Australia. Others soon followed. According to their own testimony the object of these Prussians was not the prospective gold fields of Australia, but they were prompted by the desire to worship God according to the dictates of their consciences and according to the Confessions of the Church in which they had been reared. We are therefore not surprised to read that only a few months after their arrival in their new home they organized a synod. However, the newly organized synod was soon disturbed and rent into many factions because of doctrinal controversies. Chiliasm was the wedge which sepa- rated the brethren in Australia. Pastor Kavel, the leader of the chiliastic movement, soon severed his connection with the synod, and, together with his followers, organized a new synod, while Pastor G. D. Fritsche, who had arrived three years after the first Prussian emigrants had set foot on 476 OUR TRANSOCEANIC CONNECTIONS. Australian soil, contended for the truth. Other factions arose, and for many years the Lutheran Church in Australia was rent and torn asunder by this party spirit, and even to-day the breach is not altogether healed. The first connection which we find between the Australian Lutherans and our own Synod dates back to 1875, in which year Pastor Ernst Homann, having become acquainted with our Synod through Lehre unci Wehre, sought advice and in- formation from our own Dr. Walther. Homann soon became an enthusiastic Missourian and succeeded in convincing others of the correctness of the Missourian position. Shortly after his arrival in Australia Pastor Fritsche planned to establish a theological seminary. However, be- cause of the disputes which arose in the Australian Synod the seminary soon had to be discontinued, and only three students entered the ministry in 1855, when the seminary closed its doors. Having established connections with our Synod, we can easily understand that by and by the Austra- lian brethren looked to us for pastors. Thus it happened that in 1881 Caspar Dorsch, one of the graduates of our St. Louis Seminary of that year, accepted a call extended by the Australian Church. Dorsch became one of the champions of Biblical Lutheran doctrine among the Australian Lutherans. He soon had followers. The air was somewhat cleared, and the lines were drawn sharper between the contending parties. Although the first theological seminary proved an utter failure, and a second academy, which had been opened in 1876 as a private school for the purpose of training men as teachers for the parish-schools and had later been taken over by Synod, had to be sold in 1881, a third effort was made to establish a theological seminary, this time by the churches in Victoria. In 1891 several members of the church pur- chased a tract of land and erected suitable buildings for a seminary in Murtoa. This seminary almost proved the undoing of the Australian Synod. In order, if possible, to iron out the difficulties, Dr. A. L. Graebner of our Synod visited the Australian brethren in the year 1902. The visit of Dr. Graebner and his kind services for the Synod in Aus- OUR TRANSOCEANIC CONNECTIONS. 477 tralia proved a source of great blessing. The friendliest rela- tions were established and have continued to exist unruffled until this present day. The seminary grew and prospered and was later removed to Port Adelaide, where to-day it has a staff of four professors, all of them graduates of our own schools. Our Synod has taken an active interest in the work of our Australian brethren, giving them their first missionary among the natives in South Australia, Pastor C. Wiebusch, and supplying them as far as possible with pastors and teachers until their own seminary supplied their needs. Closely connected with the work in Australia is the work in New Zealand. Although the first Lutherans came to New Zealand about 1848, we did not come into touch with them before the beginning of the twentieth century. The Her- maimsburger Freikirche was at that time conducting a mis- sion among the native Maori through Pastor G. Blaess. Associated with him was Pastor Klitscher. Both of these men had entered into correspondence with our Synod for the purpose of closer affiliation. When these men heard that Dr. Graebner was visiting the Australian Church, they wrote to him in Australia, begging him to come to New Zealand also. So anxious were they for a visit from Dr. Graebner that Pastor Blaess came over to Australia and pleaded with the sainted Professor not to pass their door. Of course, the Doctor could not deny so urgent a request. He came and saw and was conquered. He wrote a most glowing report concerning the faithfulness of some of the New Zealand Lutherans and their missionary oppor- tunity. In a most urgent appeal he pictured the many handi- caps under which they were working and their pressing need for help, as far as both men and money were concerned. It was altogether due to this visit of Dr. Graebner that in the year 1903 Martin Winkler, one of the candidates of our St. Louis Seminary, was given the call to the New Zealand Church. However, Pastor Klitscher entered the Church Triumphant, and so the arrival of Pastor Winkler did not give the New Zealand brethren any additional help, but only filled the gap caused by the early death of another worker. 478 OUR TRANSOCEANIC CONNECTIONS. Another appeal was sent to us, whereupon Pastor Teyler went to New Zealand. Pastor Winkler now worked as a real Eeiseprediger. Annually he traveled thousands of miles, ministering to the scattered members of the Church at seventeen different places. Already in 1903 two additional calls for assistants to Pastor Winkler were sent in, but be- cause of the great scarcity of ministerial candidates and the need of our own Synod the requests for additional workers in New Zealand had to be laid over until 1905, when Pastor F. Hassold was sent to bring relief. Although several more men entered the New Zealand work, yet the field had been neglected too many years, and the evjil results of this neglect are apparent to this day. The younger generation has largely drifted away from the church of the fathers, and even among the older people there are only a scattered few who remained faithful. The Hermannsburger Freikirche had conducted mission- work among the native Maori through their missionary, G. Blaess. But the work was discontinued in 1906, when Pastor Blaess accepted a call to Australia. A result of his work among the natives was that Hamuera Te Punga, a young Maori, was sent to our Springfield Seminary to study for the ministry. When he was about to finish his studies, the request came from the New Zealand brethren to our Mis- sion Board to make another effort and put Te Punga to work among his own kindred, the hope being expressed that he would have more success among his own people than a white missionary could expect to have. Te Punga is still at work sowing the seed among his fellow-kinsmen, who not more than a century ago were cannibals. Together with him there are at present only two pastors and one teacher in the New Zealand field, ministering as well as they can to the scattered few who are faithful to the Lord. We now turn our attention to that field white to harvest which was opened by our Synod in South America. A large number of Germans had for years immigrated to South America, especially to Brazil. They were organized into school districts, which at the same time constituted church OUR TRANSOCEANIC CONNECTIONS. 479 parishes. For several years before our Synod took up the work in Brazil, we find notices in the Lutheraner concerning the lamentable condition of the Church among the Germans in Brazil, aiming at the opening of mission-stations among them. So when Pastor F. Brutschin, a German Lutheran pastor in Brazil, who had been receiving our church-papers, requested our Synod to send a man to become his successor, since he was obliged to retire because of old age, the time for action seemed to be at hand. Our Synod, convened in St. Louis, Mo., in 1899, passed the resolution to begin mission- work in Brazil. In answer to an appeal for funds, which appeared in the Lutheraner in November of the same year, a friend of this work donated $2,000 in order to enable the Board to make a beginning. At the request of the Mission Board Pastor P. Broders was asked to visit Brazil, recon- noiter the field, and begin work. In twenty-five parishes Pastor Broders did not find one ordained Lutheran pastor. The churches were served by "spiritual vagabonds," called "pseudos," usually unscrupulous characters, who did a great deal of harm and little good. With the help of "Father Gowert," a pious, devout Lutheran, who was called a Mucker by the other people on account of his piety, Pastor Broders established the first congregation in Sao Pedro, Bio Grande jdo Sul. The news that a real pastor had arrived, spread like wildfire, and soon people came from far and near to hear the new preacher. The "pseudos," fearing that their own existence might be undermined if that sort of thing would continue, began to spread evil re- ports about our work. Already in August, 1902, the Reichs- hote, a Berlin paper, published a report to the effect that the Missouri Lutherans had sent preachers and teachers to Brazil, who were backed up by a capital of a million dollars in order to spread anti-German propaganda among the Germans in Brazil. In spite of all opposition, however, the work con- tinued, and in February, 1901, Pastor W. Mahler left for Brazil to become pastor of the congregation in Sao Pedro, leaving Pastor Broders to continue his reconnoitering work. Already in the same year three candidates from our theo- 480 OUR TRANSOCEANIC CONNECTIONS. logical seminaries were sent to Brazil to take charge of some of the congregations which had petitioned Synod to send them a pastor. In 1902 four more men were called, and thus the work there continued under the signal blessings of the Lord. Great have been the hardships and the sacrifices of the men who were sent into the Brazilian field, but they con- tinued faithful at their given task. In 1905 the work was carried over into Argentina, where there are also large num- bers of Lutherans like sheep without a shepherd. In November, 1903, the first issue of Ev.-Luth Kirchen- blatt fuer Suedamerika, published by our Brazilian brethren in the interest of their work, made its appearance. It has rendered most valuable service in spreading the truth and establishing the members of our Brazilian churches more firmly. The conviction that the Brazilian church must eventually furnish its own preachers and teachers soon grew on the brethren. Early in the year 1904 plans were made to open the first institution for the preparation of future pastors and teachers within the congregation Bom Jesus in Sao Lourenco, which was then being served by Pastor J. Hartmeister. When in the spring of 1904 Pastor L. Lochner, a member of the Mission Board, visited the brethren in Brazil, the Brazil District of our Synod was organized under his leader- ship. The first meeting was held June 23 — 27 in Rincao Sao Pedro, where Pastor J. F. Harders was stationed. It was at- tended by nine pastors, nine delegates, and one teacher, five pastors being absent. The District numbered fourteen pas- tors and ten congregations. The school at Sao Lourenco, which so far had been in the hands of a few men, was taken over by the newly organized District ; it was later moved to Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, under the name of Concordia Seminary. Our Synod, convened in Detroit in 1920, authorized the purchase of a new site for the Brazilian seminary, where the students are now com- fortably housed. The work of our South American brethren, both in Brazil and in Argentina, in spite of many and great obstacles, is SYNODICAL CONVENTIONS AND PASTORAL CONFERENCES. 481 continuing to grow and to prosper under the blessings and guidance of our good Lord. A large number of our churches in South America are still numerically and financially weak and in need of our continued support, but the Lord's Word cannot and will not return void, and only eternity will reveal the sum total of souls brought to a knowledge of their salva- tion through the work which we are privileged to do in South American countries. May this short synopsis of our transoceanic connections inspire us to further zeal in the propagation of the truth! May it lead us to a realization of the greater privileges and the many more advantages which we enjoy in comparison with many of our brethren in other countries, and recall to our mind the words of our Master : "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." Synodical Conventions and Pastoral Conferences in the Missouri Synod. Rev. W. Czamaxske, Sheboygan, Wis. Synodical Conventions. About the year 50 A. D., the Christian congregation at Antioch sent delegates to Jerusalem, the mother-church, for the purpose of settling a momentous question which agitated the hearts and minds of the early Christians. Certain men from Judea had come down to Antioch, con- tending that the Gentiles were obliged to submit to the rite of circumcision after the manner of Moses, if they expected to be saved. After the manner had been discussed and de- bated, the church at Antioch "determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jeru- salem unto the apostles and elders about this question." "And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles, and elders, who came to- gether for to consider of this matter." In the presence of the multitude, that is, in the presence of the members of the EBENEZER. 31 482 SYNODICAL CONVENTIONS AND PASTORAL CONFERENCES. congregation at Jerusalem, the Pharisaic party argued the necessity of keeping the Ceremonial Law of Moses with all its rites and ritual; but Peter and Paul, Barnabas and James, brought proof from the Scriptures and from their own experience that no such commandment had been given to the Gentiles, but that all who are saved are saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not by the works of the Law. There were other matters that came up for consideration ; for instance, mission-work and the proper care of the poor. Before the convention adjourned, it was voted to transmit a report of the proceedings to the church at Antioch, with the result that the troubled consciences of the Gentiles were quieted and a closer bond of faith and fellowship was estab- lished between the churches. Synodical conventions in the Missouri Synod, from the time of its organization up to the present time, have been held after the pattern of the first convention in the early Christian Church. As the congregation at Antioch had its pastoral and lay delegates at the convention in Jerusalem, so the Missouri Synod, believing in the common priesthood of all believers, has always given the lay delegates an equal voice with the pastors in the shaping of its policies and equal rights and privileges on the floor of the convention. This condition does not prevail in most of the other so-called Lu- theran bodies, where the laity has no vote, but is merely a witness to the transactions, shorn of all power, even that of a veto. Even our opponents must admit that the Missouri Synod has never been an autocracy, or an oligarchy, but a democracy, an organization of the people, by the people, and for the people, according to Christ's word : "One is your Master, even Christ, but all ye are brethren." Those who doubt the correctness of this statement we need only refer to the official proceedings, dating back to the year 1847, when the organization of Synod was effected; for at this first meeting, as the record shows, lay delegates, rep- resenting their respective congregations, were seated not as SYNODICAL CONVENTIONS AND PASTORAL CONFERENCES. 483 mere spectators, but with the full privilege of the floor and with the power to vote on any question and proposition. But some one may say : "Is it not true that two pastoral conferences were held prior to the formation of Synod, the first one at Cleveland, in September, 1845, and the second at Fort Wayne, in July, 1846, both conferences being convened for the purpose of drafting a synodical constitution, which was afterwards submitted to Synod and adopted ?" We admit that these pastoral conferences did take place, and that their purpose was to draft a constitution; but if our opponents infer that this constitution was foisted upon the lay delegates without debate, correction, or amendment, they are very much mistaken. Furthermore, let us not forget that this constitu- tion was published in the columns of the Lutheraner in order that every congregation desiring to affiliate itself with the proposed synod might be able to judge whether this public declaration was in full accord with the Scriptures and the confessional writings of the Lutheran Church or not. Then, in the columns of the same periodical, the time was made known as well as the place where the meeting was to be held, namely, on April 24, 1847, at Chicago, 111., in the Lutheran church of which Eev. A. Selle was then pastor. The next day being Sunday, the pastors and lay delegates from Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and even from New York, together with the members of the local church, met for divine services, Pastor G. H. Loeber preach- ing in the morning and Rev. Dr. W. Sihler in the afternoon. In the evening the brethren met at the parsonage of Pastor Selle, preparing plans for the opening of the sessions on the following morning. After the local pastor had opened the meeting with de- votional exercises and had made a short address, explaining the purpose of the gathering, a temporal organization was effected. Pastor C. F. W. Walther was elected president; Pastor F. W. Husmann, secretary; Dr. W. Sihler, treasurer. According to the records twenty pastors and laymen were present either as representatives of congregations or in their own name. There were also a number of guests, four of them 484 SYNODICAL CONVENTIONS AND PASTORAL CONFERENCES. coming from the State of Wisconsin and three from other States. Sessions were usually held from 8 a. m. to 12 M. and the afternoon sessions from 1.30 or 2 until 5 or even 6 p. M. Ten temporary committees were appointed, which reported on important and difficult matters. One official opinion was handed down ; four applicants for membership in Synod were examined; two pastors were ordained, and seven sermons were preached. In all, eighteen sessions were held; in the last one the officers and standing committees of Synod were elected, a visitor was formally sent out whose duty it was to visit the various sections of the country for the purpose of supplying the scattered Lutherans with the means of grace. To-day we call such an itinerant missionary a field secretary, the work of a visitor being limited to a conference district, where pastor and congregation may call upon him for advice in difficult matters, or where they may consult with him in regard to the best plans and policies to promote the welfare of their church, as well as the Church at large. The first synodical conventions were mostly devoted to business, such as adopting a constitution, defining the duties of the officers of Sjmod and its standing committees, dis- cussing the need of an official publication, electing a publi- cation committee, etc. Some of the most interesting items in the early synodical reports are those regarding mission-work among the Indians. Four stations are mentioned, namely, Shiboyank, Sibiwaing, Bethany, and Frankenmuth. In the synodical meeting of 1853 the question of erecting an English college in Fort Wayne came up for earnest consideration. In the same year Synod took a definite and decided stand against secret societies, such as Freemasons, Odd-Fellows, and other lodges. On November 16, 1857, an English academy was opened at Fort Wayne, Ind., with Mr. A. Sutermeister as its first professor. In the same year Synod devoted a large share of its sessions to the discussion of a doctrinal paper on Chiliasm. This discussion made such a favorable impression on the dele- gates that doctrinal papers became the rule at every synodical convention. Such an arrangement has continued to this SYNODICAL CONVENTIONS AND PASTORAL CONFERENCES. 485 day and, more than anything else, has helped to keep Synod, which is now composed of twenty-five Districts, in the unity of the Spirit and in the bond of peace. Eternity alone will reveal what blessings these doctrinal discussions have brought to the delegates who had the privilege of hearing them, as well as the blessings that were derived by the reading of these discussions, found in the synodical proceedings, pub- lished by Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo., where most of them may still be obtained for a nominal price. It would be impossible in this article to mention all the doctrinal papers discussed at Synod's meetings, but we can- not refrain from mentioning the following : "The Essence of Christianity"; "The Miracles of the Christian Religion"; "The Eight and Blessed Use of Holy Scripture"; "How to Read the Bible"; "The Doctrine of the Church"; "The Office and "Work of the Holy Spirit"; The Right Use of the Means of Grace"; "The Ten Commandments"; "The Three Articles of the Creed"; "The Lord's Prayer"; "Holy Bap- tism"; "The Office of the Keys"; "The Lord's Supper"; "Conversion" ; "Justification" ; "Sanctification" ; "Preserva- tion"; "Predestination"; "Man's Reconciliation with God"; "The Blessed Influence of the Reformation on Our School System" ; "Our Christian Day-schools in the Present Crisis" ; "The State, the Bible, and Popery" ; "Rome and the United States"; "The Church and the Lodge"; "The Lutheran Church and Eddyism, or Christian Science, Falsely So Called," etc., etc. There are also a number of essays on Bible characters, such as "Cain and Abel" ; "Job, the Cross- Bearer"; "The Time and Miracles of Elisha"; "Daniel"; "John the Baptist"; "Mary, the Mother of Our Lord"; "Paul, the Apostle of Jesus Christ"; "Simon Peter," and many others. We conclude this article on synodical conventions by quoting from the constitution of Synod as revised and adopted in 1917, Articles III and VII, the former stating the object of Synod and the latter defining the relation of Synod to its members. 486 SYNODICAL CONVENTIONS AND PASTORAL CONFERENCES. "The objects of Synod are : — "1. The conservation and continuance of the unity of the true faith (Eph. 4, 3 — 16; 1 Cor. 1, 10) and a united effort to resist every form of schism and sectarianism (Bom. 16, 17) ; "2. The extension of the kingdom of God; "3. The training of ministers and teachers for service in the Evangelical Lutheran Church; "4. The publication and distribution of Bibles, church- books, school-books, religious periodicals, and other books and papers ; "5. The endeavor to bring about the largest possible uni- formity in church-practise, church-customs, and in congre- gational affairs; "6. The furtherance of Christian parochial schools and of a thorough catechetical instruction preparatory to admission to the Sacrament; "7. The supervision of the ministers and teachers of Synod in regard to the performance of their official duties; "8. The protection and maintenance of the rights and the duties of pastors and congregations." Article VII, denning the relation of Synod to its members, reads : — "In its relation to its members Synod is not a govern- ing body, exercising legislative or coercive powers. In all matters involving the Christian congregation's right to self- government, Synod is but an advisory body." Thus it will be seen that the purpose and policy of the Missouri Synod from the time of its organization seventy- five years ago to the present date has not been to command respect on the part of the world or that of other denomina- tions, much less to exert a powerful influence in social and political affairs, nor to wield "the big stick" over the congre- gations and its ministers, but to further the work of extend- ing Christ's kingdom by the simple and yet saving Gospel of Jesus. To encourage such preaching and to inspire men to support such preaching by a constant and continual reference to the mercies of God, has been the keynote of every conven- SYNODICAL CONVENTIONS AND PASTORAL CONFERENCES. 487 tion in the history of our Synod. May we never become sloth- ful in this business, the only business which Christ has en- trusted to His Church. Pastoral Conferences. We did not claim a divine command for the formation of a synod, neither can we claim it for pastoral conferences as they have been and are still being held within our midst. But we do assert that pastoral conferences are as old as the Lutheran Church, yea, almost as old as Christianity itself. That may seem like a rather bold statement and difficult to prove. But let me ask, Why did the Lord send out His apostles two and two? And why did He adhere to the same arrangement with the seventy also whom He appointed to go before His face into every city and place, whither He Him- self would come? Was it not that they might confer and consult together when they were confronted with difficult problems and peculiar situations? And what were the meet- ings of the apostles, held right after the resurrection of Christ, but pastoral conferences ? At one of these conferences Thomas was absent and not only missed the fellowship of kindred minds (who wTere trying to get clear on the resur- rection) and the blessing of the risen Savior's peace, but this absentee drew near to the border-land of despair and almost made shipwreck of his faith. We might mention other meetings of the apostles which remind us of the pastoral conferences held in our day. In Acts 9 we read that Barnabas took Saul and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. From Acts 16 We must conclude that Paul and Silas, Luke and Timothy abode in the house of Lydia a number of days. Timothy, who, as we know, was just starting out in the work of the ministry, was to be the companion of the greatest mis- sionary the world has ever seen. Can we imagine that the thrilling events of the past days were never so much as men- tioned in the presence of Timothy? On the contrary, we 488 SYNODICAL CONVENTIONS AND PASTORAL CONFERENCES. . believe that this newly enlisted soldier of the Cross was listening with rapt attention to the older and more ex- perienced men, asking for information and advice in regard to the best methods of approach in mission-work and how to solve other pastoral problems. This conference of four in the house of the hospitable Lydia must have lingered long in the hearts and minds of these pioneers who blazed the trail for the progress of the Gospel in the trackless forest of an unfriendly and unsympathetic world. Pastoral conferences were held during the time of the Reformation, as we gather from a writing of John Freder (died 1562) to the city council of Hamburg. In this writing, which forms the preface to an exposition of Psalm 15, John Freder praises the custom inaugurated in Hamburg of having the pastors meet in conferences a number of times each year. He says that these conferences help to keep the doctrine pure, to inspire the younger preachers to a diligent study of the Scriptures, to make them more apt to teach, better able rightly to divide the Word of Truth, and by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. He also says that these conferences will help in destroying the opinions of those self -conceited persons who think they know it all, and lead them to see that there is still very much to learn. In an agenda of 1690 we find the work of pastoral con- ferences clearly defined. These pastoral conferences were to be held in the months of June and August and were to begin at six o'clock in the morning and continue until twelve o'clock noon. The midday recess lasted from 12 to 2, during which time a clearly described bill of fare was set before the con- ference from which each pastor was to choose just enough to satisfy his hunger. Promptly at two o'clock the afternoon sessions were to begin. Those who were absent or late were obliged to pay a fine. There were also fines for those who told tales out of school, and for those who started a quarrel. The main topics to be discussed were methods and forms in preaching, doctrinal subjects, and such books were brought to the attention of the conference as were worthy of being bought and read. SYNODICAL CONVENTIONS AND PASTORAL CONFERENCES. 489 Pastoral conferences in the Missouri Synod may not have all the rules and regulations referred to above, but they are patterned after the first pastoral conferences in the Christian Church and those held in the days of the Reformation. Doctors, lawyers, merchants, and others find it necessary to have conventions where interesting and instructive papers are read and consultations are held in regard to difficult problems. Why should not the pastors meet together and consult with their coworkers in the kingdom of God in regard to those special problems with which the minister of Christ in his high and holy office has to contend? At our pastoral conferences such essays as these are read : "Exegetical and Homiletical Essay on the Beatitudes"; "Special Problems of Adolescence and Their Treatment in Pastoral Work"; "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ"; "Exe- gesis on the Letter to the Hebrews"; "Christ's Conduct toward Unbelievers"; "Reformation Texts and Their Treat- ment"; "Dangers Threatening Our Congregations and Pas- tors, and How to Combat Them"; "The Witch of Endor"; "How to Conduct a Bible Class" ; "Efficiency in the Sunday- school," and many others of a similar nature. After the presentation of a doctrinal, exegetical, his- torical, or practical paper by a member of the conference, a general discussion of the topic under consideration is taken up. And since the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal, the gift of one differing from the gift of another, it is but natural that many a wholesome lesson is learned and many a practical hint is given. At each conference sermons are preached and then sub- jected to friendly and constructive criticism. The preacher may have acquired peculiar habits in the delivery of a ser- mon or use stereotyped phrases which recur time and again. What a blessing for the preacher himself, who wants to do his best, when his own brethren in the ministry point out and try to correct his weaknesses! Perhaps a pastor has become disheartened in his work, like Elijah under the juniper-tree, imagining that all his labor is in vain. Contact with his brethren will cheer him 490 SYNODICAL CONVENTIONS AND PASTORAL CONFERENCES. up and inspire him to labor on, even without the visible proof of success. The dejected brother may be told what the Savior once said, "One soweth, and another reapeth." John 4, 37. Or the words of Paul may be brought to his attention: "I have planted, Apollos watered ; but God gave the increase. So, then, neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God, that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one; and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor." 1 Cor. 3, 6 — 8. Many a dying ember has been revived when brought into contact with live coals. What a blessing for the congregation to see its pastor come back from the con- ference and take hold of the work with new zeal and vigor! Realizing the benefits and blessings of pastoral conferences, every congregation ought to be glad to see its pastor go regularly, and cheerfully defray the expenses of his trip. Many congregations are doing so now, and the others ought to follow this example. What has been said above naturally applies also to the teachers in our Christian day-schools, and even to the teachers in our Sunday-schools. If we wish to raise the standard of our day-schools and Sunday-schools, we must have an intel- ligent and well-indoctrinated teaching staff. There have been congregations which, for one reason or other, have dis- couraged their day-school teachers from attending teachers' conferences, where essays are read pertaining to the welfare of the school and the best methods of teaching. What right have we to deprive our teachers of these blessings, or to hinder them from enjoying the contact and the advice of their fellow-workers ? None whatever ! On the contrary, we ought to encourage their going to conferences not only for their own sake, but also for the sake of the little ones among whom they labor and whom they are to make wise unto sal- vation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. May God speed the day when Sunday-school conventions will no longer be a novelty in our midst, but as customary as our synodical conventions and our pastoral conferences. THE PASTORS OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 491 The Pastors of the Missouri Synod. Dr. C. C. Schmidt, St. Louis, Mo. The pastors of the Missouri Synod, from the very begin- ning, in a way distinguished themselves from the pastors of other denominations. Ever and anon, for instance, it was said by pastors coming from Germany that the Missourians were able to preach better than they and their kind. Evidently in their education much stress had been laid on good preaching. The pastors of our Synod always were conscious of the fact that of all their ministerial activities the foremost and most necessary one wras right preaching. They knew that they were called by the Master to preach the Word of God and nothing else, and to preach it in such a manner as to make themselves understood by everybody, the simple as well as the learned. To the preparation of their sermons, therefore, they devoted much time, indeed, their choicest time. It was a rule with them not to enter the pulpit, except in extreme cases, with little or no preparation. Though, as regards general education, many of them were inferior to theologians coming from abroad, this being due to existing circumstances, yet, as to the chief function of their office, i. e., preaching, they were well educated. They were familiar with the doc- trines of the divine Word they were to preach, and having sprung from the very people over whom God had made them pastors, they were acquainted with their ways of thinking and talking, and knew how to speak to them so that all were able to understand them. This has often been realized and gratefully acknowledged by their hearers. In their endeavor to make themselves well understood they were favored in a way by the polemical element essen- tial to the character of their sermons. That it is the duty of a shepherd not only to lead his flock to wholesome pastures, but also to protect them from noxious influences and the ravening wolf, or, to speak without a figure, that the pastor of a Christian congregation is in duty bound not only to offer his people the saving Gospel, but also to point out to them the false doctrine wherever it looms up, this the pastors 492 THE PASTORS OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. of the Missouri Synod had been taught in school, and they were now continually reminded of it as they read and studied the Bible. So it was a matter of conscience with them to fight the enemy by refuting error, and defending the truth. Thus the polemics, though by no means regarded favorably by some of their hearers, offered them a good opportunity to set forth the Scriptural truths by pointing out the opposite, the negative side, in order to bring to view so much more clearly the positive, the real truth, at the same time render- ing their sermons the more vivid and instructive. The pastors were not all masters in the art of preaching from the very day that they entered the ministry. On the contrary, every one was aware, more or less, that there was still much to be learned by him in this line. This being so, and, moreover, all being agreed that every one should preach well, as well as he could, it became customary for them to help one another in learning how to preach. At conferences, large and small, sermons were preached or read, and after- wards discussed and criticized by the brethren, who would praise what could be praised, but also point out whatever defects they discerned. One, for instance, evidently had not been quite clear concerning the contents of his text, or had made a mistake in dividing his subject properly, or had failed to develop it logically. Perhaps he had forgotten the necessary polemical part, or possibly had overdone it. All these things were discussed for the benefit of the brother, and of the rest too, for that matter. Also the preacher's delivery, his attitude, language, and diction, were sometimes made the subject of criticism. The standpoint was taken that since the subject of the sermon, the Word of God, is of such august and holy character, it was well worth the atten- tion and care one might bestow also upon these externals, lest such human weaknesses as could be avoided prove a hindrance to the proper reception of the Word. If one then was not impatient, but accepted the criticisms of the brethren in the proper spirit, with the aim of becoming, by the grace of God, a good preacher, — which, no doubt, generally was the case, — one could derive much benefit from such fraternal criticism. THE PASTORS OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 493 Pure doctrine and godly life always were regarded as requisites by the pastors of the Missouri Synod. The Holy Scriptures are so clear and positive concerning this require- ment that no one familiar with the Book can fail to see it. Says the apostle in his first epistle to Timothy : "Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." Again: "Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me." Again: "If any man teach other- wise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is accord- ing to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing." And how earnestly does the apostle impress it upon that same preacher, Timothy, that a bishop, i. e., pastor of a Christian congrega- tion, must be blameless in his daily life, having a good report also of them which are without, and being an example to the souls entrusted to him both in word and conversation. Such words the Missouri pastor always regarded as an instruction for himself. Though the pastors and congregations of other denominations heedlessly absolved themselves from such obli- gations, he considered himself bound to them, as each of the pastors held his brother pastors bound to them likewise. It was a matter of course with them that it must not be otherwise, that no one teaching false doctrine and giving offense by his conduct could be a pastor of a Lutheran church. Either he must repent and make amends, or the congrega- tion must remove him from his office. Missouri Synod pas- tors cannot call such a one their brother who insists upon teaching otherwise. The doctrine of the Evangelical Lu- theran Church, because it is the doctrine of the Bible, is to them holy and inviolable. To deviate therefrom they regard as a grievous offense, too serious to be overlooked even in their best friends. And if a pastor becomes guilty in his daily conversation of conduct unbecoming a man in his official standing, bringing upon himself even the reproach of them that are without, he thereby severs the bond of frater- nity with his fellow-pastors, and forfeits their confidence. In case, therefore, the Missouri pastors have such an offend- 494 THE PASTORS OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. ing brother in their vicinity or in their conference, they are expected not to overlook or ignore the fact. Perhaps for a short while they may show some indulgence, but finally they will have a serious talk with the offender, and never let the matter rest until he removes the offense by showing true penitence, or is himself removed from office. The pastors will not suffer the Christian congregation to be offended, because this would mean to destroy that which they are daily engaged in building up, and to hinder and frustrate the blessed end and aim of their ministerial work. The pastor of the Missouri Synod always was a pupil of the Catechism. When -as a little boy he was sent to school, he began committing it to memory before he could read it. As he advanced in learning the things offered to his mind, he discarded book after book. He discarded the Primer to take up the Second Reader, but the Catechism was never discarded throughout the grammar school. And when he was promoted to the high school and the college, the Catechism was there again. Yes, he still had to learn the Catechism, realizing all the while, and all the more, that there was yet something for him to learn in this wonderful book. And when, after studying it eight and six years, he entered the seminary, where he was to learn something quite new, even Theology, behold, the professor stepped to the front with a little book he would now expound to him. What was it? The Catechism. Then the professor of Systematic Theology laid before him the program of his lectures for the following years, and he soon became aware that they also would be along the line of the Catechism. So, after an additional three years' thorough study of this old friend of his, he learned just enough of it to come to the conclusion that, if he wanted to become an efficient pastor, he could do no better than to continue learning the Catechism. Thus it is that the pastor of the Missouri Synod always has been a pupil of the Catechism, to the great benefit both of himself and of his congregation. It was one of his min- isterial duties to lead the children, both in school and in the confirmation class, to a knowledge of the chief doctrines of THE PASTORS OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 495 the Scriptures, and he could find no better medium for this work than Luther's Catechism, as in this little book the chief parts of Scriptural truth are laid down in words so simple and artless that the children could well comprehend it. How- ever, in taking up this work, he soon realized that, if he meant to be a good teacher, he must learn his Catechism again, reviving the text of it in his memory, studying the construction of the sentences, and, moreover, learning how to apply the proper proof-texts and Bible-stories, in order to get his pupils to understand that it is nothing but the Word of God the Catechism teaches them. But docendo discimus. Such teaching of the Catechism, combined with diligent preparation, helped the Missouri pastor to grow in spiritual wisdom, deepening his knowledge of Christian truth, and leading him into a fuller understanding of the Biblical texts. The Catechism became for him a touchstone of his theological thoughts. The daily use and diligent study of the Catechism, more- over, proved to our pastors an excellent help in preparing their sermons. Reading and studying the text they were to preach on, they presently recognized in it the doctrines they had become familiar with in the Catechism, this involuntarily bringing to mind the proof-texts and stories of the Bible which were so closely connected in their memory with it — just the material for their sermons. They knew now what to preach. They knew that they were on the right way. Thus the Missouri Synod pastor was, after the manner of Luther, a lifelong pupil of the Catechism, and for that reason also a good teacher of the same. Quite naturally he made it his aim to have his people, young and old, become familiar with this book; and in setting forth the Christian doctrines, as contained therein, he was always desirous of convincing his hearers of the fact that whatever they had learned from this book was the teaching of the Bible and was firmly rooted therein. And he did so with a view of estab- lishing them in the knowledge of saving truth, making them sure and confident that the Christian faith and hope was well grounded, and also rendering them able to distinguish be- 496 THE PASTORS OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. tween truth and error, and to mark them which cause divi- sions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which they had learned, and to avoid them. Nor has such faithful teaching of the Catechism been barren of good results. It is a fact that our Lutheran Chris- tians know how to apply to themselves in a proper way the Ten Commandments so as to be made aware of their sins, both in their outward conduct and in their inner life, realiz- ing with St. Paul that in their flesh dwelleth no good thing, and then also to take hold of the sweet comfort offered in the Gospel, which gives full assurance of the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. We notice also that in dis- cussing questions of faith and Christian living they have a habit of quoting words of the Catechism, using them as a guide. And, no doubt, it may be regarded as one of the precious fruits of teaching the Catechism that our people are not so easily tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, believing one thing to-day and another thing to-morrow, but that they continue in the words of Christ, standing firm on the unchangeable foundation of divine truth. As men in general differ from one another in many and varied respects, so also the pastors of the Missouri Synod. But there are a number of traits which are more or less common to them all. We expect a Missouri Synod pastor to have learned to deny himself. As a rule, we are not disap- pointed in this expectation. A Missouri Synod pastor knows at the outset, his teachers having impressed it upon him, that the ministerial office to which he has been called has not been instituted by Christ for the personal convenience of the incumbent, but, on the contrary, demands of him intense application of all the faculties of body and soul. Many a task awaits him from which a selfish nature recoils. He dare not, however, seek to avoid them, or to remove the difficulty by weakening the demands, but he must renounce his own ideas and inclinations, and cheerfully take hold of every work in the name of the Lord, confident that he will be able, by the grace of God and under His guidance, to perform it, disre- THE PASTORS OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 497 garding the consequences for himself, and solely intent on furthering, among men, the honor of Him whom he serves. With such knowledge and confidence he has assumed his office, and through faithful exercise in the performance of his ministerial duties, self-denial for the sake of his work has in the course of time become a habitude with him. "I dare not spare myself," he reminds himself again and again on account of his weak, unwilling flesh. "I must be prepared for every exertion which the work of the Lord may demand of me. For the work is not there for my sake, but I am there for the work's sake. 'I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day; the night cometh when no man can work.' " Thus it came about, for instance, that many pastors, in addition to performing their actual ministerial duties, also taught school. And even to-day our Statistical Year-Book reports that 973 pastors are also acting in the capacity of schoolteachers. It was always considered a matter of course that a pastor should teach school as long as his congregation was not able to call a teacher, or, at least, was not willing to do so. And if a pastor thought this was asking too much of him, his brethren in the ministry would both admonish and encourage him until he showed the necessary self-denial also in this respect. Contentment, which is by no means a characteristic of natural man, but is found only in Christians in whom the Spirit of the Lord dwells, the pastors of the Missouri Synod have always had ample opportunity to practise, especially in the early years of Synod. And because they were, by the grace of God, so minded that they did not seek the office of the ministry for filthy lucre's sake, nor chose the study of theology as their life calling solely to earn their livelihood by it, and because they loved the Savior, being glad to serve Him in His Church, if He graciously deigned to desire their service, they were willing and ready to be content with such things as they had. Thus contentment has become a char- acteristic of the Missouri pastors. It was always expected of them as being self-evident, and is expected of them to-day. EBENEZER. 32 498 THE PASTORS OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. In the earlier days this trait was even more apparent in them than it is at the present time. Many a pastor entered upon his office without the assurance of a fixed salary, content with the general promise given him by the people who had called him that they would provide for his sustenance. And this caused them no concern, not because they relied upon the promise of their parishioners, but because they firmly believed that the bounteous God, who had called them, would not let His servants suffer want. Here and there a pastor was satis- fied with earning his support by teaching school. Another would consent to take up his abode with a family richly blessed with children, because the needy circumstances of the people did not permit of another arrangement. A young beginner, sent to a mission-field of Kansas, built himself a shack in a ravine, as no one was willing to provide shelter for him. And that a pastor, pressed by the urgent need of his work, agreed to do janitor duty in church and school was by no means a rare occurrence. Among the characteristics common to the pastors of the Missouri Synod, we justly count their conscientiousness in performing their official duties. They hold themselves ac- countable to God for every act. They dare not allow them- selves to be influenced by personal inclinations nor by public opinion. If a preacher was what is called "a good speaker," who, relying on this ability, confined the preparation of his sermons to a mimimum, taking little pains, for instance, to study his text and not discriminating as he should between Law and Gospel, the fact that his congregation was praising his sermons could not satisfy his conscience. It would con- stantly remind him of the duty he owed to God and the Church. — Sick-calls are not always pleasant to the flesh, nor is the pastoral love and care for the afflicted always so thoroughly alive in his* heart as it should be — a condition which is apt to mislead him into putting off the necessary visits. But his conscience will prompt him to do his duty. It may be that a congregation would not object if the pastor were to admit people of false beliefs or void of all Christian knowledge to communion, or if he would not be so intent THE PASTORS OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 49 9 upon the much-needed church discipline, but would rather let matters take their course without any interference what- ever. However, there is the mentor, conscience, demand- ing strict performance of duty regardless of men's opinions and of the approval or dissent of his parishioners. — It is only natural that a pastor should consider the prospec- tive "improvement" in a call extended to him from another field. Yet his conscience warns him against allowing this consideration to be the deciding factor. The will of God as clearly revealed in Scripture must be the guiding star, and the pastor must unflinchingly heed its direction, otherwise he would lose his clear conscience, and forfeit the cheerful con- fidence that God is with him and blessing his labors in the ministry. This is what always has been expected of the pas- tors of the Missouri Synod, and this they expect of each other. They were agreed that such conscientiousness in the performance of their ministerial duties must be their way. And if one of their brethren would be found wanting in this regard, the others felt in conscience bound to counsel him privately, or eventually take the matter up with him at the next conference. Speaking of the life and activities of the Missouri Synod pastors, it must be said that conferences always were an essential feature of the same. Having spent so many years at college together, it was but natural for them to be desirous of meeting again at times, to bring to each other's remem- brance the happy college days, and to tell each other the ex- periences they had in the ministry. But this desire, natural though it is, never was the motive nor the object of insti- tuting conferences. It was brought about by the interest the pastors had in their common work, by a desire to discuss the work in hand with the brethren, to learn from them, and to become more eflicient in the performance of their ministerial duties. Let us in spirit attend such a conference. On entering the room, we find the pastors at work. A sermon may be taken under consideration and criticized. Or a brother reads a paper on a certain passage of Scripture which every one 500 THE PASTORS OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. of them may be called upon some day to preach on. Perhaps it is a somewhat difficult text of the Bible concerning the correct interpretation of which none of them, being teachers of the Bible, should be in doubt. Or may be they are to hear about some occurrence or condition of the times threatening the peace and welfare of the Church. All very important matters, indeed; and the discussion following can result only in mutual benefit. The brother who reads the paper he has written for the occasion renders a valuable service to the others, and they, in turn, serve him with their spiritual gifts by approving or correcting his work. Thus they serve each other in their mutual endeavors to promote the kingdom of God, to benefit their respective congregations, and to glorify the name of Jesus Christ. Much time has always been given in these conferences to discussing practical questions called casualia. The Evan- gelical Lutheran minister is familiar with the Biblical prin- ciples that are to guide him in every particular phase of the administration of his office. But the circumstances of the individual cases requiring his attention and action are often so different from the circumstances of apparently similar cases, as well as so intricate, that much spiritual wisdom is needed to handle them correctly. A pastor embarrassed with such a case, and not knowing just how to proceed is glad to lay it before the conference. The brethren have had ex- perience in these matters. Perhaps one of them has had just such a case before, and therefore knows all about it ; or there are some who, through many years of practise, have acquired a reliable judgment. So the case is taken under consideration, and again one learns from the other. The brother who had been in trouble now sees his way clear, knowing how to act in the case, and with a feeling of relief and thankfulness to God he returns home. Thus the conference has always been an important feature in the life of the pastors of the Mis- souri Synod. During these seventy-five years quite a number of the pastors of the Missouri Synod have been itinerant preachers. As the German Lutherans emigrated from the old country, THE PASTORS OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 501 seeking a new home both for themselves and for their chil- dren in this blessed land, they mostly flocked to the new States, which were still sparsely settled, or not settled at all, where land therefore could be bought at a nominal price. In doing so, however, they rarely thought of taking into con- sideration the question as to church and school. They did not look for the Church, and so the Church had to look for them. Preachers traveled from one settlement to the other, mostly on horseback, preaching to as many as they could gather together in houses or even barns, exhorting them not to forget their Lord and Savior in this new country, but to be mindful of His admonition : "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Their aim was to organize these people into con- gregations as soon as possible, and then to have them call a pastor of their own. The first Lutheran itinerant preacher in the West was the sainted Wyneken, who in 1838 and 1839 in this way visited the German settlements of Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan. His example caused Synod at its first meeting, in 1847, to appoint a "visitor" for the purpose of looking up the German Lutherans, scattered here and there in the new settlements. He was given instructions how to go about his work. Others followed, and the result of their pioneer work was that, after a few decades, hundreds of Lutheran congregations were gathered in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. In reading the reports sent in by these men, we marvel how it was possible for them to do these things, and to carry on this work for any length of time. To be away from home again and again for days and weeks all the year round, traveling over the worst imaginable roads, in rain or snow, even with blizzards blowing, and then, perhaps, on arriving at a settlement, to find their approach to the people blocked right and left, or to see the glowing expectations of success that filled their hearts at the former visit to this place cruelly shattered, — this seems to be enough to tire out a man both physically and mentally in a few months. Why was it that these traveling preachers were not easily tired out and dis- 502 THE PASTORS OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. couraged, but kept up their work for years? It was because they were altogether of the same mind as their other brethren in the ministry, holding that they were not in this work for their own sakes, but for the sake of their Master Jesus Christ, to carry out His Great Commission to the Church: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature," and for the sake of the lost souls, whom Christ has redeemed with His precious blood. They were willing to do all in their power that some of them, by the grace of God, might yet be saved. "A woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised," we read Prov. 31, 30. In a general survey of the life of the pastors of the Missouri Synod during the past seventy-five years, mention must needs be made also of the pastor s wife. We find that God has graciously favored our pastors with wives that feared the Lord, and were of a true Christian dis- position, ready to follow their husbands whithersoever the Lord would call them, to accommodate themselves to condi- tions, whatever they would be, and, in general, to be faithful helpmeets. And many a pastor must — rightly understood — confess of his wife that she made a man of him. Earlier in this article we spoke of the contentment of the pastors. But how much would they have accomplished, though they themselves were really content to bear hardships, if their wives had not been of the same mind? The wife has to bear the burden if the man is to be content with a small income for a living. And she must be willing to bear such burdens. She must forego many things her sisters in better circumstances are enjoying. A person who wants to be content with scanty means at hand will not succeed unless he learns thrift and economy. But who takes care of this business in the home? Is it not, in a great measure, the housewife? Such praise- worthy qualities were always expected of the Lutheran min- ister's wife. And, as a rule, she was not found wanting. Eecognizing what was expected of her, she was ready, in the fear of God, to be a good helpmeet also in this regard. She had to do her own work. Servants were rarely found in the parsonage, unless private means made such expenditure THE PASTORS OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 503 possible. It is true, there were other women in the congrega- tions that were no better off. However, while these had to look after their own family only, and perhaps for weeks and months no stranger would cross their threshold, the pastor's wife was obliged to keep open house, as it were. A bishop should be given to hospitality, say the Scriptures, and the Missouri Synod pastor always tried to live up to this require- ment, even in the early days of our Synod, when almost everybody was poor. When conference assembled, the pastor's house was the logical place of gathering. When a brother pastor in official business happened to come to a place that had a Lutheran congregation, he would stop at the pastor's, of course; and many a brother from the laity on his journey loved to pay a passing visit to the pastor of the place he came to. And many a stranded foreigner would remember that he was a Lutheran, and, hoping to find Christian hos- pitality in the Lutheran parsonage of the place, would be sure to find out the address. So there was much extra work for the already overburdened pastor's wife, who had to do her own work. Now, though not every one of them received the guest with a kind welcome, we dare say that it was the rule, for it is generally said of the pastor's wives of our Synod that they are hospitable. And such of us as, traveling in Synod's business, had occasion to stop at many a Lutheran parsonage will gladly declare that the hospitality of these places and the kind entertainment, so cheerfully offered by the hostess, count among the most pleasant reminiscences of their lives. The German population of our country during all those years of our sy nodical activities consisted mostly of farmers, mechanics, and wage-earners. Such, therefore, was the char- acter of our congregations both in the towns and cities and in the rural districts. The rich and the educated were rare exceptions. It was, therefore, a great advantage for the Mis- souri pastors' wives also to have come, for the most part, from these circles. They felt at home among the women of the congregation, nor were they looked upon as not fitting in among them. They could talk with them after their own 504 THE PASTORS OF THE MISSOURI SYNOD. fashion about cooking, baking, sewing, putting up fruit, etc. They would join them socially in their houses as women of their own class; they were able to do them a good turn by giving them their sisterly advice, and even, if need be, lend- ing them a helping hand. We can recall an instance of a young pastor's wife having won the hearts of the women of the congregation because she was so handy in making a certain kind of bonnet for them which they called shakers. Thus in many cases a bond of mutual confidence was soon formed, and the pastor's wife not rarely became prima inter pares. In this way she would indirectly become a helpmeet of her husband in his ministerial work, though she made it a rule not to mix in the affairs of his office. Because of his wife the women of the congregation would take so much more kindly to the pastor; and the provisions brought to the kitchen as gifts often assisted him in dispelling thoughts of care and worry. — It must be said, however, that all pastors were not so fortunate in having such an excellent consort. There were also unpleasant exceptions, it is true. This fact, however, though not to be passed by, need not be discussed at length. Large families were met with in the parsonage almost everywhere, thank God ! May it always be so ! As in every Christian home the bringing up of the children, to a great extent, rests with the mother, so it is also in the pastor's home. But, again, to bring up many children means much work, much self-denial and faithfulness for the mother. The Christian training, as experience shows, even in the most favorable cases, fails to reach the ideal. That is the case in the pastor's family as well as in others. Yet, as a rule, the pastors of our Synod had their children in subjection, and they were well trained, one proof for which assertion may be found in the fact that of the young men and boys that year after year devoted themselves to the service of the Lord in church and school a large number came from the parsonages. We close this essay with the words of our sainted teacher Doctor Walther : "May God at all times, grant us a believing and God-fearing ministry!" LIFE AND WORK OF OUR TEACHERS. 505 Scenes from the Life and Work of Our Teachers. R. A. MangelsdobFj St. Louis, Mo. The work of a Lutheran teacher in a Christian training- school is of a manifold nature. Chiefly, however, it consists in being an educator and a trainer of children. As an edu- cator it is not his purpose to produce artists or even artisans, nor to give the children a scientific education, but to produce efficient citizens, who recognize their duty and place in home and state and aim to become proficient in the duties devolving upon them. As a trainer a Lutheran teacher considers the things named in Eph. 6, 4: "And ye fathers [teachers], bring them [the children] up in the nurture and admonition [the means of training] of the Lord [the aim of the train- ing]." He is a pedagog, which in the Greek language means a leader of boys. This word, which occurs also in the New Testament, has been translated instructor and schoolmaster. The aim that the Lutheran teacher has as a trainer of youth certainly will only be approximated in this life. The aim to bring the children to the Lord and teach them the way to salvation implies that they become more and more perfect in thoughts, words, and deeds, that they live as true Chris- tians should live. What a difficult problem this combined work is, and what measure of grace, patience, and love the Lutheran teacher must receive from the Lord, we can only comprehend after a close and intimate study of his work. While this article does not intend to give to the reader an intimate knowledge of the teacher's task, an attempt will be made to portray a few scenes from the teacher's life and work. In bringing our children to the Christian training-school, we entrust them to the Christian teacher, whose whole life is dedicated to that one work of bringing these children to Jesus, the great Friend of the little ones. The life of such a teacher is dedicated, yes, consecrated, to obeying the com- mand of Jesus, "Feed My lambs!" What an unpretentious calling they have in the eyes of the world! How have not 506 UFE AND WORK OF OUR TEACHERS. these schools been maligned! How eagerly did not their enemies try to suppress them ! Yet the Lord held His power- ful hand over them, so that, instead of being suppressed, their number, by His gracious blessing, has been increased; there is now a larger demand for such teachers and schools than ever before. This is a counterpart to the life of Israel in Egypt — the more they were oppressed, the greater their number became. It is therefore plain that it is the Lord who lias held His protecting hand over them. The lives and experiences of the preachers and teachers of old (the prophets) are recorded in the Bible for our spir- itual edification, to increase our faith. Would it not at least be interesting to hear something about the lives of our teachers? Would it not profit some one to be permitted to hear something of the life and work of the men who were so unostentatious in the performance of their duties? Let us take a glimpse at the lives and schools of some (particularly the founders) ; take a look into their home life, their school life, etc.; yes, observe the alternate joys and sorrows of these men. These teachers observed what their Master and Savior said and did in reference to those teaching and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ Crucified. They took up the work without requiring the promise of high salaries, comforts of life, etc. They followed the call of their Master. Their demands in home and school were very modest. Their home was in most cases a log hut or its equivalent. Two or three rooms, devoid of all ornaments or beauty, except the faith, peace, and happiness of heart which made the rough walls and floors comfortable. Much of the support of the household came from free-will offerings, which were given more or less regularly according to the season. Very often the good helpmate came to the teacher for funds to purchase supplies for the home. Often there were no funds, however, since in many cases no certain amount had been promised. So first of all he had to make known his wants and give due time for the collection of funds. The teacher, as well as his wife, were truly masters of finance. To bring up a large LIFE AND WORK OF OUR TEACHERS. 507 family on their small allowance; to clothe and feed them; yes, to give them a good education, required the mind of a financial genius. It is hardly necessary to remark that luxuries were not only unknown in these homes, but were not even missed, yes, not even desired. Still this very home waited for the time to come when the oldest son could be sent to college to help the Church with another worker in the vineyard of the Lord. How did they manage to accomplish this ? Where did the funds come from to support the son at college? The good Lord only knows. It is a problem to us of the present time, and we soon come to a desperate stop, seeing nothing but deficits. As was said above, the Lord knows, for He blessed the home and made the little last, even as with the widow at Elijah's time. The schoolroom, where the teacher accomplished even greater things than at home, was also of the same type as the home; plain, simple, yes, extremely plain. Constructed, of logs, in many cases by the members of the congregation themselves, it was a counterpart of the early churches and homes. The desks and seats for the pupils were home-made, usually accommodating from eight to ten pupils. The table for the teacher was of the same type, constructed from boards procured from the nearest sawmill. On the front wall, and there only, was a blackboard. The plaster of this front wall was given a coat of slating or common black paint. A box stove for burning large logs was the heating apparatus. The windows were small and few; consequently the light for the room was not of the best. There was no lack of fresh air, however, as the windows and doors admitted plenty of it, even when closed as securely as they would permit. One benefit in the arrangement of the desks was this, that if the number of pupils increased, all that was necessary to accommodate them was to order the pupils to sit a little closer. Where eight ought to sit, sometimes twelve would be accommodated. In this way often a Jiundred or more pupils were placed in a small schoolroom. The want of school supplies, text-books, and other things need not be mentioned, although it seems a miracle that with 508 LIFE AND WORK OF OUR TEACHERS. the limited amount of text-books and supplies these schools accomplished such wonderful results, results which showed the direct blessing" of the Lord, who multiplied in the heart and mind of the children the results by two and three, since the work was done in His name and for His sake. Look about in our Synod. Are not most of the old workers in the vineyard of the Lord pupils of just such schools % Were they not there equipped with the necessary knowledge for entering college? Are not many, yes, very many of the workers in the Lord's vineyard of the present time, even the younger laborers, the product of our Christian training- schools ? Let us now observe the teacher while actively engaged in his work in the schoolroom ; see his instruction and training, his relation to the pupil; in short, observe the many ex- periences of the master mind in such a school. The musical instrument of the school in the early days of Synod was the violin. With it the children were trained not only in rote songs, but also in two- and three-part songs. An accomplished master in this respect was the sainted Teacher Schachameier of Chicago. Many, if not most, of the arrangements or settings for the children's choruses in school had to be made by the teacher himself, since books with such music were difficult to procure. Many showed great skill and knowledge in arranging the songs and hymns in harmonious and correct setting. Teacher Hoelter had ac- quired great skill in this work, as his Choralbuch shows, for which he is justly known. The teacher, being also the organist in the public services on Sundays and holidays, was very conscientious in preparing his music for such services. He regretted, however, that suitable organ music was so scarce in those days or at least difficult to procure. He would copy passages from old mas- ters, yes, some copied their entire Choralbuch, before the editions were to be had* that are popular at the present time. If some teacher of our Synod had collected a book of preludes or interludes and published it, it would be welcomed by all. Well we remember when Teacher Kunz had his books of LIFE AND WORK OF OUR TEACHERS. 509 interludes published. He was an efficient organist, being gifted with a rare musical talent. Up to the present time his interludes, as well as Teacher Moesta's, are known to our organists. Let us now enter one of our very early city-schools, the one of E. Eoschke, of old Trinity in St. Louis. This congre- gation, as others of the time, did not believe in coeducation. On that account Teacher Eoschke had only boys to instruct for a number of years. Palm Sunday and Easter Day have passed by, and the new recruits are expected in school. Early in the day the teacher is active at home. After the regular morning devotion and breakfast he retires to his room and once more prepares his mind and heart by special prayer and supplication for the day's work. Long before it is time for school to take up we find the teacher in the school- room, where he sees to it that everything is in readiness for the reception of the newcomers, as well as the ones already enrolled. By and by the mothers are coming, escorting the little recruits on the first day of their school-life. The eyes of the mother and of the little boy are trained on the teacher, observing his expression of face, his demeanor and actions. He is aware that particularly in these first hours he can gain or destroy the confidence of the newcomer. For each one he has a special word or remark that will give confidence to the little timid hearts. Of Max he inquires about his rabbits; of Willie, about the chickens or dog, etc. So one after another is led to his place, until the room is crowded to the teacher's desk. The mothers have again returned home; the session begins. The sound of the morning hymn and prayer has ceased; all are ready to hear the story from the Bible. Our teacher has been surveying the class of newcomers, but they have been doing the same with him. Little Paul has not turned his eyes away from the teacher for a moment; he is com- paring the teacher with his papa at home. Emil is very anxious to see what the teacher will do and say, what school really means. While Julius is laughing, Ferdinand is crying, indulging in sorrow. Max is sitting as quiet as a statue, but 510 LIFE AND WORK OF OUR TEACHERS. John is making general observations about all parts of the schoolroom. Frederick is trying to start a conversation with the teacher, while Herman has left his seat, believing that school grants the same liberties and privileges as the home. Herbert has been trying to sight the candy promised him; however, Henry is trying to discover the rod that his parents said he would make acquaintance with in the schoolroom. Thus we see that each child differs from the other. Every face gives expression of the impressions made on the mind during the first minutes of their school-life. A very singular picture. Now, what are the thoughts of the teacher while observing this class of recruits ? They are also many ; cheerful, serious, anxious ones. Certainly his main thought is, Lord, help me ! He has long learned that human efforts and attempts avail little when hearts of children are to be directed to salvation. Every heart is a field to be planted and cultivated in a God- pleasing manner. The teacher tells his newcomers the story of Jesus bless- ing little children. During this lesson the little ones listen more or less attentively. The teacher now takes some time to devote exclusively to the newcomers. Will he begin to instruct them? No, he makes an effort to get acquainted with them ; to take the fear from their hearts ; to make their stay in the schoolroom a pleasant one. He discusses events with them with which they are acquainted; he displays a large picture or a familiar object from life for the discussion of the class; he draws a large picture on the blackboard for further discussion or for copying as best they can. While they are engaged with this drawing, he may be able to devote time to the other classes. Let us observe another actual occurrence in a different school with a very backward child. The boy had not taken part in any of the discussions of the class ; he would not copy a picture from the wall; not even would he offer a "yes" or "no." Finally the teacher took him to his desk, talked friendly to him, and then drew on the slate of the boy the outlines of a hog. The boy surveyed the picture and finally LIFE AND WORK OF OUR TEACHERS. 511 burst out with indignation, saying, "You surely did not see a hog for a long time !" All these engagements with this class of newcomers are short, as the children tire quickly, not having learned to con- centrate their minds for any length of time on one topic. We may estimate the teacher's task when we consider that during all this time he has other classes waiting for him. It is well known that our teachers, even to the presenl day, use the so-called "Socratic method" of teaching in many of the topics of the curriculum, especially in Bible history, Catechism, etc. This method consists in teaching through well-directed questions on the topic. There are other methods, e. g., the heuristic method, the lecture method, the socialized method, and others. The socialized method has been reju- venated in the last decade. All these methods were used long ago, but are rediscovered every once in a while. It is certain that many of the so-called discoverers are not familiar with the history of education, or they would not dare to proclaim them as new methods. During many of the lessons, also in Bible history, which must needs be treated seriously, demanding holy respect for the Word of God, occasionally answers are given which nearly upset the order of the class. In most cases they are the result of inattention. They may be amusing, however, and there- fore we shall listen to a few answers of this kind. The class of Teacher Fischer, of Chicago, about the first Lutheran teacher in that city, was beginning the stories of the Old Testament. Teacher Fischer had tried to make the class understand that there are two Testaments. He had re- ceived the answer that the first is the Old Testament. He asks the class, "What other Testament does the Bible con- tain?" One of the pupils volunteers the answer, "A young one." It required very tactful action by the teacher to regain the desired attention and state of mind. In the class of Teacher Bartling, of Addison, who cer- tainly is known to a great number of our teachers and min- isters, the story of the resurrection of the young man of Nam was treated. The discussion has progressed to the point 512 LEFE AND WORK OF OUR TEACHERS. where Jesus came near to the gate of the city. The teacher asks the question, "What happened as Jesus came near to the gate of the city ?" The prompt answer was supplied, "A dead man came out of the gate." The dignified nature of the old teacher had the required equilibrium established again in a few seconds. The patience of the teacher must seemingly have no end, as, particularly in the lower grades, the children come from homes where they have received so many considerations and have enjoyed so many personal concessions, that they must first learn that the school must be just to all and grant no such privileges without special need. Let us enter the school- room of one of our old primary teachers, that of Teacher Kilz. The day for enrolling the newcomers was again at hand. The older sister of a small girl was still in the room. She was ready to leave and had said good-by to little Martha, not expecting a dramatic scene. Just then Martha began to lament: "O Annie, my Annie, stay here!" This was re- peated several times. The teacher asked Annie to leave, as he would take care of the little one. After Annie had left the room, Martha was drying her tears on a handkerchief much soiled and quite wet from tears. The teacher tried to console Martha, but she cried louder, so that he feared the rest of the class would soon join her, since their faces showed signs of approaching disturbance. After a moment's thought he got the large towel used in the room when need be, and handing it to little Martha, said, "Your handkerchief is not large enough, take this towel." She took it and dried her tears to her heart's content. First a few of the other new- comers, who had showed signs of trouble, began to smile and then more and more, until the whole class was amused, even Martha finally getting happy and joining the rest in their work. This towel episode showed a beneficial effect later on in this same class. A little girl belonging to this class was very contrary. She was a pretty little girl with blue eyes, regular features, and bobbed hair. She did not want to know or say anything. If she did answer at all, she would say, "I can't," LIFE AND WORK OF OUR TEACIIERS. 513 or, "I don't know." If the teacher tried to urge her to do her part in the class, she would shed an abundance of tears. This had gone on for some days, when the teacher remarked to her, "Let me get the large towel to help dry your tears." He had gone only half way, when she exclaimed with great fear, "No, no, I'll he good; I'll answer. No, no, don't get the towel!" Why had this child such fear of the towel? It seemed that since little Martha had dried her tears with this towel, the others thought it meant ridicule to use the towel in class. The intercourse with the small children is a very intimate one ; the little ones wish to be intimate. The sainted teacher H. H. Meyer, of St. Louis, told the following experiences he had with a little girl of his class : While passing close to her desk, she remarked, "Teacher, I seen you yesterday." He cor- rected her, saying, "I saw you yesterday." She frowned at this correction, but was quite happy when he added, "I also saw you yesterday." When the reading-lesson told of snow and ice, she remarked to the class, "I love to paddle around in the snow." To this she added a long story how she had been sick, the doctor had given her ice to hold in her mouth, etc. She told all this with great cheerfulness of mind, never thinking of the worries her parents must have had with her during that sickness. At another time this same girl told her teacher, "Teacher, my mother's birthday is next Sunday; you will get a bottle of wine and a cake." All he had, however, of this treat was the anticipation. While some of the episodes related above appear to be more or less humorous, another one without humor might show the seriousness of training children. An older teacher relates the following experience: I received a boy of twelve and a half years who did not have a good reputation with the school in which he was enrolled before. It had been remarked that he tried to have the teacher punish him every day. If no provocation was at hand, he would seek one. On the first morning he misbehaved, trying me severely. Having, how- ever, resolved not to do what the boy believed I would do, I merely admonished him. In the afternoon the boy tried EBENEZER. 33 514 MFE AND WORK OF OUR TEACHERS. the same thing again. I admonished him with words of Scripture, but without avail. On the second day this boy tried to make a disturbance in class during the catechism- lesson. After this lesson I really intended to punish this boy. I therefore summoned him to my desk. He did not come, even after I had repeatedly ordered him to do so. I then told him that I would come to him, but that this would mean a severer punishment than if he had come to my desk. As I walked towards his desk, the boy left it, trying to have me catch him. This I refused, returning at once to the front of the room, telling him that unless he would come imme- diately, he would be suspended. As he would not obey, he was suspended until I could take the matter up with the parents. ' When the parents were informed that evening of the boy's actions and behavior, they were so provoked to wrath that the father wanted to punish the boy with a piece of stove- wood. This I prevented, telling the father that it was the saving of the boy's soul I earnestly wished for, and that he should do the punishing later, after due deliberation. After having agreed that if the boy would come penitently to the teacher, promising to mend his ways and do better, he would again be received into school, I returned home. On the morning of the next day the boy returned to his place in school, expecting a severe punishment. As he did not come to me, and wishing to avoid a disturbance in the class, I ignored him all day. I did not put any questions to him; I did not speak to him at all. When school was out, I re- quested him to remain. The heart-to-heart talk I had with him then broke the ice of his cold heart, which had not been broken by the father's punishment. I prayed with the boy while he wept pitifully. He promised to become a real Chris- tian child. When I told him of his Savior's blood and tears, also how he could help the school and teacher by being a model pupil, he asked to be given an opportunity to show his sincerity. After another prayer, spoken by me and re- peated by the boy, he went to his home. What was the result ? The boy never needed another correction or even admonition. He became a model boy, who even admonished the other LIFE AND WORK OF OUR TEACHERS. 515 pupils whenever they trespassed the rules of the school or a divine law. It was mentioned at the outset what wonderful work tin- teachers did and are doing in the schoolroom, even though de- prived of the complete equipment that public schools usually possess. As years have rolled by, the old and, in many cases, primitive buildings and equipment have been replaced with modern buildings supplied with up-to-date equipment and supplies. We cannot, however, in general compete with the public schools and their equipment except in some cases, since their resources for the erection and maintenance of such in- stitutions are not limited as ours are. Nevertheless, our schools are not only competing with these institutions in results attained, but usually excel them. Our teachers, having chosen their vocation for life, are receiving an educa- tion and a training which enables them to cope successfully with the difficult problem of keeping up with the times in educational matters. Our normal schools have received their teachers or instructors from these schools. Have not our schools shown that they have teachers who are really masters of their vocation? If they have not shown it publicly in all branches of the curriculum, they have shown it at least in some. It is, and ought to be, our teachers' aim to become masters of the art of imparting the truths of the Catechism and of the Bible-histories. This being their aim, they will learn all their lives, never ceasing to add to their knowledge and experience. Is it not refreshing, therefore, when the schoolteacher attends his regular conference, either to present a paper or to listen to one? If he writes the paper and presents it himself, he has a double blessing. But all cannot read papers at all conferences. So the members come for the purpose of giving and receiving. A conference, therefore, is not an institution for criticism, although criticism may find a place; it is an institution where the members expect to add to their knowledge and experience by hearing others tell of work in which all are interested and which is intended to benefit all. To the older members, particularly, do the teachers look for advice at conferences. They possess a wealth 516 LIFE AND WORK OF OUR TEACHERS. of experience from which they can take and serve the younger colleagues. So the Chicago conference has the venerable Louis Selle, who is still active in schoolroom and conference, although the Lord has granted him more than half a cen- tury of service. The St. Louis conference has the venerable Gustav Just, well known by many books from his pen, espe- cially the Lutherhuch, whose fiftieth anniversary was cele- brated some years ago, and who, although not actively teach- ing in the schoolroom, still attends the conferences and shows that he is a master of pedagogy. Thus most conferences have their patriarchs, too numerous to name. What the heart of such an old teacher is filled with, how he feels toward God and his neighbor, especially toward the members of the congregation which he served, is also worth considering. Very seldom have we the opportunity of hear- ing an open confession, as most are very reticent when their own accomplishments are touched upon. It may, therefore, be of general interest to read what an old teacher, since departed, wrote to his congregation when he was forced by illness to retire from active service, not long before his death. The words which follow are from the pen of the sainted Teacher Leutner of Cleveland. After having stated in the preamble of his letter that the combined skill of ten prominent doctors could not cure a case of cancer, he con- tinued his letter as follows : — "On account of these conditions I find it my painful duty to urge the dear congregation to relieve me of the school and organist's duties so dear to me, in order to make it possible for me to retire from active service. Complete rest will be my severest pain, since I cannot attend the Christenlehren, the services, nor come to the altar to partake of Holy Com- munion. And how gladly would I come to praise the Lord in His tabernacles! But from all this I must now refrain. "When I consider that the Lord found me worthy to serve Him half a century, to teach the children in the school and to act as organist, it touches my heart, so that all I can say is: 'And all this purely out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me.' When LIFE AND WORK OF OUR TEACHERS. 517 I consider the grace, blessings, and kindness which the Lord has shown me during all that time, my heart is moved to praise the Lord with the words of the psalmist: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.' When I consider the many shortcomings in the conduct of my office, having done things I should have avoided, and, on the other hand, failed to do what I should have done ; when I consider these transgressions and the patience the Lord has shown me, I cannot praise Him enough for being so long-suffering, gracious, merciful, and patient. "Dear brethren, for the confidence you have placed in me, I must express my sincere and deepest appreciation; for all your kindness and love I express my heartiest thanks. "My legacy to the congregation is : Lord, mercifully bless the education and training of the young according to Thy Word. Lord Jesus, be and abide with Thy grace, blessing, and faithfulness with our dear Jesus-school; keep the whole congregation with the one thing needful, that all may fear Thy name, that is, Thy Word, and grant them grace ever more to regard their school as a great endowment and jewel which they are willing to protect and develop. "And now, at the close of my career as teacher, I must confess that it has been very glorious, even though combined with pain and labor; but pain and labor for the grand and holy purpose of leading the children entrusted to me to eternal salvation. I am right well contented that the Lord has made me retire from my labors; I only hope that the evening of my life will not be too long, but that the Lord will grant me a blessed home-coming to Him very soon." What a wonderful possession our congregations do have when they have established a Christian training-school! What jewels have they been given when they have faithful teachers in these schools! What strenuous efforts ought they not to make not only to keep these schools, but to im- prove them ; to improve their teachers' working and teaching conditions ; to improve where and how they can, to the glory of God and their own welfare! 518 CONGREGATIONAL AND HOME LIFE. Congregational and Home Life in the Missouri Synod. Prof. Martin S. Sommer, St. Louis, Mo. The New Mission. The beginnings of most of our missions were very small, — in the sight of the world, no doubt, even contemptible and humiliating. After an announcement in the press, after visits among prospective members, the first service was held in some humble private home, perhaps in some hut not un- like the stable of Bethlehem, or perhaps in some little store- room, or some schoolroom at the cross-roads. In some cases the first services were held in some hall, two or three flights of stairs up. The first audience straggled in timidly and with uncertain bearing. Besides a few men and women there were also a few noisy children. Outside of the door, if the place happened to be upon the ground floor, there was at times another audience that failed to be entertained by the service and therefore undertook to entertain themselves by disturbing the service. It took a man of stout heart and serene determination to proceed and to carry on to the close a divine service under such circumstances. The Missouri missionary who was opening the mission had prayed for God's blessing, for the Holy Spirit's guidance, for the help of Almighty God. He had led the congregational singing, perhaps he himself or his wife had furnished the sacred music for the entire service, then he had preached, a simple, but earnest Gospel-sermon. He had told those who were present what Peter told those who came together on Pente- cost Day : he told them of their sin, of God's wrath, and then he had lifted up the Crucified and had called to them to behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. At the same service he had announced the opening of the Christian day-school, where he himself, besides his arduous labors as missionary, was also to instruct the children both in secular as well as in religious knowledge. In most cases CONGREGATIONAL AND HOME LIFE. 519 the missionary had to labor to establish preaching-stations at several places, the one far distant from the other. How did he travel? By rail, on the hand-car, on a jigger, with horse and buggy, on a farm wagon, by automobile, or — he walked it. God has recorded the weariness, watchings, fast- ings, dangers, and hardships which these men endured. Books have been written which tell of some of these ex- periences, and more books could be written, but space forl>i PRINTED IN U. S. A.