IN CONNECTION WITH THE GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNOD OF MISSOURI, * OHIO, AND OTHER STATES, AT THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION, 1904. By Order of the Synodical Committee on “ School-Exhibition ” BY F. LINDEMANN. St. Louis, Mo. CONCORDIA PUBLISHING HOUSE. 1904. 5 7/0 7/y/JZ^. L c y/e. THE EXHIBIT OF PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS of the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and other States. I. For the first time in the history of the Lutheran Church one of its layers in this country, the “ German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri , Ohio , and other States has ventured to place on exhibition a part of its church work, that part which does not strictly confine itself to the spiritual needs of its members, but, at the same time, is of service and benefit to our nation and country. This body does not enter the arena of exhibi- tions at the World’s Fair in any spirit of boasting, nor does it expect to receive the acknowledgments of the general public. Still, the separation of Church and State, of the reli- gious and secular sphere or realm, of the body politic and the body spiritual in this country, has benefited the educational work of the Lutheran Church to such an ex- tent that this special Lutheran Synod deemed it appro- priate, not to say imperative, to exhibit its parochial school system at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, resting assured of the fair and friendly judgment of the American people, as well as of such Lutherans from all lands as are interested in an institution the like of which has never existed before, but which sprang into exist- ence in this land of religious and political liberty and — 4 — which has been fostered and nurtured under the protec- tion of our laws and our truly republican government. Two distinct educational principles are placed on ex- hibition at the World’s Fair. The one goes in the direc- tion of a broad liberal education, of acquiring knowledge merely for the sake of knowledge. This education is secular only and, at the same time, must be undenomi- national. The other stands for the religious element in educa- tion, regarding secular learning, though of vast impor- tance to the child’s temporal welfare, nevertheless as being subservient to the welfare of its soul, and placing religious instruction and training to the front. The one puts it within the reach of the poorest citizen to procure for his children the most necessary secular learning by establishing public or free schools maintained by public funds and general taxation. The other insists upon the training of the children and the youth within the Chris- tian home and the Church and not by any body politic, maintaining that education should be based on religion, should include the moral as well as the intellectual nature. At the Lutheran School Exhibit there are represented, as far as has been possible to do so, the attainments of elementary and common parochial schools conducted on this last-named principle of education. Granting that secular education is necessary and, in a way, beneficial, the Lutheran Church considers purely secular education as one-sided and imperfect, at best, because its only aim is and can be to fit one for this tem- poral life, disregarding the life to come. The Lutheran Church considers it her duty not to abandon her children to the mercy of politics, or to surrender her rights and prerogatives to the State for the sake of conforming to other denominations and of keeping in line with the spirit of the times. The Lutheran Church claims that not only the intellect and body need attention, but that the heart must be enlightened and purified, if true edu- cation is to be attained, and it asserts that such educa- tion can only be accomplished by means of regular and systematic religious instruction , beginning at home and supplemented by a school in which the tenets of Bible doctrine permeate the whole course of instruction and every branch of learning. The Lutheran Church wants her children trained and brought up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,” at the same time, however, considering it her duty to provide for the necessary training in things secular. This educational work of the Church, being of a kind peculiarly its own, cannot be entrusted to the State. The Lutheran Church, therefore, from its very beginning, has established and maintained parish or parochial schools of its own. Luther’s Reformation had firmly established a system of common schools for imparting religious instruction to the children, which even the ravages of the Thirty-years’ War could not overthrow, and when the Colonial Luther- ans arrived in this countn r , their first concern was to build churches and schools for themselves and their children. True to the traditions of their church, the Lutheran pioneers in America at once engaged in the work of education. Wherever a community of Luther- ans was founded, the erection of a house of worship was immediately followed by the establishment of a school. This fact is illustrated by the Salzburgers, who settled in Georgia in 1734, and of whom it has been said : “No sooner do they take possession of this wilderness than a tabernacle is set up for the Lord. This is speedily followed by provision for the education of the children.” — 6 — When H. M. Muehlenberg and his colaborers organ- ized the Lutheran Church in the eastern part of our country, the cause of parochial schools, from the very beginning, occupied a prominent place in the work of these pioneers. “The first Lutherans, ” says one of the ablest historians of the Lutheran Church in America, “brought with them from the fatherland the parish school , and though widely dispersed and in straightened circumstances, they could no more dispense with these Christian nurseries for their children than with the church itself. A congregation without a school dare not for a moment be taken into consideration. Even when there was no pastor, the congregation must secure a teacher. Beside the rude log church a schoolhouse always arose, and it is suggestive that Muehlenberg, who is said to have never lost sight of the training of the children, and who at first personally gave instructions in the rudiments, built a schoolhouse at the Trappe even before he began the erection of a house of worship. Significant, likewise, is the fact that the second topic which engaged the attention of the first synodical meet- ing was the ‘condition of the parochial schools.’ Each pastor laid before the synod the actual state, the wants and prospects of his school.” In 1750 flourishing schools were reported in all con- gregations, except one. In 1804, 26 congregations re- ported 89 schools; in 1813, 164 schools were reported by 52 pastors; in 1820, 206 parochial schools in 84 con- gregations were accounted for. But the system of public or free schools introduced in the fourth decade of this century gradually wrought a change. Still, up to the third quarter of the century many excellent parochial schools could be found in Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio. — 7 — Lutheran ministers who came to Ohio in 1805, and in the years immediately following, at once began to es- tablish and support parochial schools. In 1815 there were already 21 of them. In 1817 the number had been more than doubled, 48 schools being reported. In 1818 we find 54, and in the following year 57 of them. Prior to the introduction of the public-school system in this country, the Pennsylvania Synod had hundreds of these parish schools. Zion Church, Philadelphia, for instance, maintained four , and their grand work was at one time recognized by the donation on the part of the State of Pennsylvania of five thousand acres of land. These early German parochial schools in Pennsylva- nia, as well as those in North Carolina, Virginia, and other British colonies, diffused a vast amount of religious in- telligence among the settlers and their descendants. The Lutherans of that time held that education should be in the hands of Christian teachers, and that it is a function worthy of, and incumbent upon, the pastor, who, in- deed, often was the main, if not the sole, teacher of the parish school, where the teaching of religion was com- bined with elementary instruction in secular branches. The decline of parochial schools was, at the same time, not only due to the spread of the public-school system. There were also other reasons. The struggle for inde- pendence which was maintained for so many years ren- dered it impossible for many schools to continue their peaceful work, and others were swept away by the storms of the Revolution. The decline was, furthermore, aided by the decrease of the number of immigrants from Ger- many. The principal cause, however, must be ascribed to the lack of sufficient interest in the support of elemen- tary schools in the country districts and the premature formation of a college for the education of young Ger- 8 — mans at Philadelphia. Besides, it was quite impossible to secure men necessary for, and capable of, instructing the young. The decline of the elementary schools, as a consequence, was followed by the failure to establish col- leges and seminaries, the colonists relying upon the help and assistance which, for a time, they had received from abroad. Naturally, then, it was not the Lutheran Church of the Colonial period which was destined to establish the system of Lutheran parochial schools in this country. While a small number of parish schools maintained their existence in the East, new colonists began to arrive and to settle in that part of our country included in the Loui- siana Purchase, and it was principally within this newly acquired territory where the principles of Luther’s Ref- ormation were destined to be applied for the benefit of Church and State. Within the bounds of the Louisiana Purchase was to bud forth that glorious branch of a free church in a free country — the parochial school. Over 3500 German Lutheran congregations and 810 substa- tions report 2500 parochial schools attended by more than 100,000 children. But here begins a new chapter in the history of Lu- theran parochial schools in this country. II. In the months of January and February, 1839, four New Orleans steamers landing at the St. Louis levee brought to this city a number of German immigrants from Saxony aggregating about 750. St. Louis was then a city of about 16,000 inhabitants. The greater number of these immigrants soon left St. Louis again to settle in Perry Co., Mo. Those remaining in St. Louis, together 9 with a few that returned from Perry County, soon after organized the first German Evangelical Lutheran con- gregation, and at once established a parochial school. When, in 1842, Trinity Church, the first Lutheran house of worship, was erected, the basement of the church was utilized as a schoolroom. Soon afterwards a new school was built in another part of town. Trinity congregation now had 2 parochial schools, 4 teachers, and 310 pupils. There are to-day in this city 39 teachers instructing 2200 children in parochial schools, all of which sprang from the one founded in 1839. In the mean time, the Saxons in Perry County had also founded elementary schools in their settlements, even venturing, in the face of all their hardships and much poverty, to organize a college. In a log-cabin, erected by the professors and their friends, this school of learn- ing was opened in 1839. The log cabin has been pre- served to this day, and a picture of it will be found among the exhibits of the Synod. Whilst these German Lutheran congregations in Mis- souri took the lead in providing for the proper instruc- tion of their children, a Lutheran missionary had begun to labor amid hardships and privations in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. This untiring laborer in the Lord’s vine- yard was F. C. D. Wyneken, who had landed at Balti- more about half a year before the Saxons set foot on the banks of the Mississippi. Filled with a burning zeal to carry the Gospel of Christ to his countrymen in the Western solitudes, he traversed the forests and prairies both afoot and on horseback, in fair and foul weather, by day and by night, preaching and teaching the young as well as circumstances would permit. When, in 1841, a painful disease of the throat inter- rupted his labors, he went to Germany for a treatment — 10 — of his trouble, but as soon as his health was restored, he began to plead the cause of the German Lutherans in America with his brethren in Germany. By personal solicitations he engaged the sympathies of a number of prominent men, and by public addresses, as well as by means of a brilliant pamphlet, he inspired into thou- sands of hearts a feeling of responsibility for the scat- tered German Lutherans in this country. It was by the endeavors of this man that, in 1845, a small band of Lutheran immigrants settled in Michigan, who, at Frankenmuth, Mich., at once established schools, not only for their own children, but for their Indian neigh- bors as well. They built a schoolhouse on Pine River and founded Bethany Mission. On July 4, 1848, seven- teen of these Lutheran settlers founded what is now Frankenlust, others Amelith, and more settlements of the kind. These events had occurred, and these three different movements had progressed separately and far apart, not according to a common agreement or plan of action, the promoters of each not even being personally acquainted with one another. It pleased God, however, to unite these strenuous promoters of true Lutheranism by bringing them to- gether in the German Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio , and other States, which was founded at Chicago, 111., in 1847. Twelve congregations, twenty -two pastors, and two candidates of the ministry organized themselves into that church body which from the very first has cham- pioned the cause of Lutheran elementary and common schools in this country. In its Constitution, among the conditions governing admission to the Synod and con- trolling a continuance of association, this body expressly mentions and emphasizes, “To provide for Christian in- — 11 — struction at school of the children of the congregation.’ ’ At the same time Synod exhorts “all German Lutheran parents to afford their children every possible oppor- tunity to acquire a sufficient knowledge of our beloved mother tongue by sending them to German schools and by speaking the German language at home.” In accordance herewith, Synod, from the very start, has made it a rule to open schools for the young wher- ever the Gospel is preached to the old. As soon as the means of the congregation permit, a schoolmaster is called to relieve the minister of the work at school. Ministers and teachers both have been educated at Lutheran colleges and seminaries in charge of the Synod. The Teachers ’ Seminary , founded in 1854, and located at Addison , III., since 1864, has, within the last twenty years, graduated 719 teachers. Two Preparatory De- partments, one at Seward, Nebr ., the other at St. Paul, Minn., supply students for the Seminary course at Ad- dison. Demanding to have their children not merely instructed but educated in the proper sense of the word, the congregations forming this Synod, and also others that have not joined this body, but are served by its min- isters, continue to make great sacrifices towards main- taining parochial schools of their own. Although they do not consider this the only way of bringing up their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, they have found this the best and proper means, under exist- ing circumstances and conditions, to join in establishing and maintaining common schools, the congregation, as a community of Lutherans, executing what would be im- practicable, if not impossible, for a single family. In consequence thereof these Lutheran parochial or church schools present a system in themselves with dis- tinctive features. One of these features is the corps of teachers employed. They are men properly prepared for their vocation. At the institutions where they receive their training they have been instructed in the ordinary branches taught in normal schools, and in music besides. Their profes- sional training has been in accordance with the tenets of the Lutheran Church and the teachings of pronounced pedagogues. Every graduate from these institutions is expected to be competent to teach in English as well as in German, receiving his diploma after having under- gone a course of studies prescribed by Synod. Another feature of the Lutheran parochial - school system is the fact that the teachers make their profession a life’s calling. They receive a regular call from the con- gregation requiring their services, and enter upon their vocation as a permanent occupation, the congregation, on the other hand, pledging itself to support its teachers and to assist them in their .work. — Female teachers are employed as assistants only, never being “ called ” to their position, but serving temporarily, as a rule, so long as cir- cumstances prevent the installation of a male teacher. Still another distinguishing feature is that these teachers do not simply intend to instruct, but also to edu- cate. They hold that it is their duty not merely to lead out and train the mental powers, nor merely to inform and enlighten the understanding, but also to form and regu- late the principles and character of the child. It is an education of the heart as well as of the intellect that they seek, thus tending to the individual welfare as well as to that of the community. The plan of instruction in these Lutheran parochial schools includes, besides formal instruction in the Cate- chism and Bible History, all the common-school branches. The children are taught reading and writing in German — 13 — and English, besides the rudiments of grammar of both languages, composition, and kindred branches, arith- metic, geography, and history of the United States. The instruction in the three latter branches is given in Eng- lish. Every school also practices singing, and nearly all of them teach drawing. In order to form a correct opinion of the attainments of these schools, it must be remembered that the teachers are required to employ two languages, and that a large amount of their time is given to religious instruction, while in the common pub- lic school only one language is taught and the time re- quired for religious instruction in the parochial school can be made use of by the public-school teacher in some other way. The character, standard, and efficiency of these parish schools necessarily differ according to local- ity and condition of the congregation supporting them. Some congregations have as many as nine teachers, while others must be content with what schooling their pastor can give to their children. Every congregation must furnish the means necessary, but all schools are sup- ported without compulsion whatever, each congregation being at liberty to support its school either by volun- tary and common contributions of each member to the school fund, or by charging a nominal tuition fee to those whose children attend school. All schools are open to children of non-members, and are therefore attended not by children of the congregation only. The business management of the schools is placed into the hands of a school board chosen by the congre- gation, the pastor acting as supervisor of the school. Although each school is practically independent un- der the jurisdiction of its respective congregation, all the congregations forming the Synod make it incumbent on certain officials of Synod to inspect and visit the schools — 14 — of their proper district and to regularly report to Synod as to their respective conditions. It certainly is a fact worthy of due consideration that such a large number of Lutheran congregations, scat- tered abroad this wide country, has been willing, with- out any compulsory law, to furnish the means of sus- taining parochial schools of their own, besides cheerfully paying their taxes for the support of the public school. The growth of the parochial-school system of this Lu- theran Synod may be seen from the following table : — Instructors. Year. Schools. Pastors. Teachers. Pupils. 1848 14 9 5 508 1858 113 62 51 4974 1868 367 171 196 22687 1872* 475 224 251 Fifty years after the founding of Synod the num- ber of schools had increased to 1600, and the number of teachers , pastors not included, to 830. According to the latest reports (1904), the school statistics of the Synod are as follows : — Schools. Teachers. Pupils. 1888 857 male, 176 female. 96193 1061 pastors. Some cities and country districts form school centers, according to the percentage of German Lutherans dwell- ing there. The following cities represent some of the localities where parochial schools have been in existence for years and still are improving in number and attain- ments. The parochial-school system of the five German Synods belonging to the Synodical Conference is shown by the following table : — v. ♦ Twenty -fifth anniversary. I — 15 — Instructors. Teachers. Synod. Schools. Pastors. Male. Female. Pupils. Missouri: 1888 1061 857 176 96193 Wisconsin : 244 116 100 35 12160 Minnesota : 66 43 24 2 2654 Michigan: 14 8 4 1 514 Nebraska: 13 8 2 1 295 2225 1236 987 215 111816 The number of parochial schools of the Missouri Synod only in some of the principal cities is shown in the fol- lowing : — Teachers. Schools. Pupils. Chicago : 118 50 8755 St. Louis: 39 19 2652 Cleveland : 36 9 3000 Milwaukee : 33 13 3021 Detroit : 30 11 2164 Fort Wayne: 25 7 1618 The number of teachers indicates the number of classes in each city. From the number of schoolchildren it can be inferred that some of the classes are very large, too numerous for one teacher. This is one of the many disadvantages some parochial teachers must put up with, though they may expect to have them remedied as time advances. A From the school work placed on exhibition an opinion may be formed of the standard of these parochial schools within the bounds of Synod, although the number of schools exhibiting is only 261. They represent school work from all parts of the country, executed under a great variety of conditions and circumstances, and very often under restrictions and difficulties unknown to any system of public instruction. The exhibit contains regular class work from 27 dif- ferent States. The number of teachers exhibiting is 460 — 16 — (401 male and 37 female teachers, besides 22 pastors). The following branches are represented: 1. English Language Work. 2. United States History. 3. Geography. 4. Arithmetic. 5. Religion. 7. Physiology. 8. Zoology. 9. Botany. 10. General History. 11. Penmanship. 6. German Language Work. 12. Drawing. Besides there are on exhibition over 800 photographic views of school buildings and classes. In connection with this school exhibit the Teachers’ Seminary in Addison, 111., places on exhibition regular class work and some examination papers illustrating the course of instruction at this institution. The branches represented are as follows : — 1. English Language Work. 2. United States History. 3. Geography. 4. Physiology. 5. Chemistry. 6. Zoology. 7. Botany. 8. Arithmetic. 9. Catechetical Exercises. 10. German Language Work. 11. General History. 12. Penmanship. 13. Harmony. 14. Drawing. May this Exhibit of Lutheran parochial schools bring home to most of its visitors the firm conviction that the Lutheran Church in this country still champions the cause of true education . ««♦