American Lutheranism Volume II Part 1

American Lutheranism.

by Friedrich Bente.

Volume 2: The United Lutheran Church (General Synod, General Council, United Synod in the South).

PREFACE.

American Lutheranism will appear in four volumes, this present second volume to be followed by the first, dealing with the early history of Lutheranism in America.

The third volume will present the history of the Ohio, Iowa, Buffalo, and the Scandinavian synods.

The fourth volume will contain the history and doctrinal position of the Missouri, Wisconsin, and other synods connected with the Synodical Conference.

As appears from this second volume, our chief object is to record the facts as to the theological att.i.tude of the various Lutheran bodies in America, with such comment only as we deemed necessary.

As to the quotations from the _Lutheran Observer_ and other English periodicals, we frequently had to content ourselves with retranslations from the German in _Lehre und Wehre_, _Lutheraner_, etc.

Brackets found in pa.s.sages cited contain additions, comments, corrections, etc., of our own, not of the respective periodicals quoted.

If errors, no matter of whatever nature they may be, should have crept in anywhere, we here express our grat.i.tude for corrections made.

Further prefatory and introductory remarks will accompany Vol. I, which, _ Deo volente_, will go to the printers forthwith.

F. Bente, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo.

May 28, 1919.

The United Lutheran Church.

MERGER.

1. Origin of the New Body.--On April 18, 1917, at Philadelphia, the Joint Quadricentennial Committee, appointed by the General Synod, the General Council, and the United Synod in the South to arrange for a union celebration of the Reformation, decided that the merging of the three affiliated general bodies would be "the fittest commemoration and n.o.blest memorial of the four-hundredth Reformation Jubilee." Accordingly, the presidents of these bodies, being present, were requested to form a joint committee, which should prepare a const.i.tution for a united Church and present the same to the three general bodies for their consideration, and, if approved, for submission to the District Synods. The const.i.tution, framed by the committee, was in the same year adopted by all of the three general bodies, the General Synod, which, in 1820, had been founded for the express purpose of uniting all Lutheran synods in America, being the first to a.s.sent to the Merger during its session at Chicago, June 20 to 27, 1917. The various District Synods also having approved of the union and having ratified the const.i.tution, the Merger was consummated at New York City, November 15, 1918. Dr. F. H. Knubel, a member of the General Synod, was elected President of the new body-- "The United Lutheran Church in America." Of the total number of Lutherans in America (63 synods, 15,243 congregations, 9,790 pastors, 2,450,000 confirmed and 3,780,000 baptized members) the United Church embraces 45 synods, 10 theological seminaries with 46 professors and 267 students, 17 colleges, 6 academies, 3,747 congregations and mission-posts, 2,754 pastors, almost 1,000,000 baptized members, and 758,000 confirmed members, the General Synod contributing 364,000, the General Council 340,000, and the United Synod in the South 53,000. The United Church is the second largest Lutheran body in America, the Synodical Conference outnumbering it by only about 50,000 confirmed members. The merged bodies will continue to exist legally until no property rights are imperiled. In 1919 it was decided to consolidate the _ Lutheran_, the _Lutheran Church Work and Observer_, and the _Lutheran Church Visitor_. The new church-paper will be _The Lutheran_, with Dr.

G. W. Sandt as editor-in-chief.

2. Refusing to Enter the Merger.--The United Lutheran Church, according to the _ Lutheran_, "has inaugurated a new era of progress for our beloved Lutheran Church. . . . Three names have gone down, but a new and greater name has arisen from their ashes." This, however, was not the view of the Iowa and Augustana synods, though both indirectly, through their connection with the General Council, had for years been in church-fellows.h.i.+p also with the General Synod, hence, consistently might have entertained scruples to join the Merger no more than the Council.

When, at Philadelphia, October 25, 1917, the General Council pa.s.sed on the Merger, Dr. M. Reu, the representative of the Iowa Synod, was the only delegate (advisory) who voted against it. Pointing especially to the fact that the General Synod, at its last convention in Chicago, had elected as president a man [Dr. Geo. Tressler] who was publicly known to be a Mason of a high degree, Dr. Reu warned against the union, as it would practically mean the abandonment of the Council's position on pulpit- and altar-fellows.h.i.+p, as well as on the lodge-question. The _Kirchenblatt_ of the Iowa Synod: "It is apparent that the influence of the General Synod on the General Council has paralyzed the practical principles of the fathers, and that the contemplated Merger is tantamount to an anulment of these principles, as far as the official practise of this new church-body will come into question. And yet, just this life, the ecclesiastical life and practise of the ministers and congregations, is the mirror in which the real confessional att.i.tude may be seen. We [Iowa] owe much to the General Council, and will always remember this gratefully, but now our roads separate and we must part.

American [?] Lutheranism [?], [tr. note: sic] which the General Synod has always stood for, and which has had its adherents also in the General Council, especially among its nativistic representatives, will control also the new church-body. This, according to our understanding, means that a far-reaching influence of a Reformed nature will manifest itself, especially with respect to church-practise and the att.i.tude toward all manner of societies and antichristian lodges." (_Lehre und Wehre_, 1917, 521. 572.)

3. Withdrawal of the Augustana Synod.--For more than a decade prior to the Merger the current within the Swedish Augustana Synod had been running against the General Council. Accordingly, to the Augustana Synod the contemplated union was an occasion rather than a cause for refusing to join the movement and for severing her connection also with the Council. Indeed, at the convention of the General Council at Philadelphia, October 25, 1917, all of the Augustana representatives had cast their votes for the new organization. At her last convention, June 8, 1918, however, the Synod, in spite of the most strenuous efforts on the part of the delegates of the General Council to draw her into the union, pa.s.sed the resolution: "_Resolved_, That the Augustana Synod does not at this time see its way clear to enter the proposed merger of the United Lutheran Church in America, but declares itself in favor of a federation of Lutheran church-bodies in North America." A subsequent resolution severed her connection with the Council. The reasons advanced by the Augustana Synod for her action were not of a doctrinal or confessional nature, but rather pertained to the interest of her peculiar work among the Swedish population of our country. Yet the course chosen by the Augustana Synod was, at least part, the result also of the secret fear that the new body would rapidly sink to the level of the doctrinal and practical laxism of the General Synod. Warning against the Merger, the _Lutheran Companion_, of the Augustana Synod, wrote: "We must hold ourselves aloof from spiritual fellows.h.i.+p with such churches or denominations, some of whose factors advocate and defend lodgism, dancing as a pastime for the young people under the auspices and sanction of the church, etc." (_L. u. W._, 1917, 522.) Disappointed on account of the withdrawal of the Augustana Synod, the _Lutheran_, of the General Council, commented: "The Augustana Synod has subordinated unity of faith to unity of race. This is as un-American as it is un-Lutheran, and the day of its real Lutheran union is thereby indefinitely postponed.

. . . We are persuaded that this separation was willed by man and not by G.o.d, though we also believe that He will, in the end, overrule it for good. . . . The Augustana Synod has missed its opportunity; it has limited the sphere of its influence; it has placed synodical and social interests as a clog in the wheel of the Lutheran Church's progress as a whole, and set the Church back a generation or more to start afresh on the pathway to its ultimate goal. . . . Lutherans are now to be fenced off into social groups to be known as the Swedish, the Norwegian, the German, and the English divisions of the Lutheran forces in this country." (_L. u. W._, 1917, 522; 1918, 329 ff.)

4. Att.i.tude of the Ohio Synod.--Though representatives also of the Ohio Synod served on the Joint Quadricentennial Committee in order to arrange for a union celebration of the Reformation together with the representatives of the General Synod, the Council and the United Synod South, the official organs of the Ohio Synod were severe in condemning the Merger. The _Lutheran Standard_, August 4, 1917: "There are chiefly two practical differences that keep us apart, namely, that concerning altar- and pulpit-fellows.h.i.+p and that concerning the lodge. Concerning the first point the const.i.tution [of the Merger] has nothing to say whatever. Relative to lodge-members.h.i.+p, the general body will have only advisory power." The _Kirchenzeitung_, of the Ohio Synod, May 12, 1917: "The great and glorious work of Dr. Krauth in the Council has been nullified. The General Synod's practise of fraternizing with the sects will prevail. What is sound and good in the Council will crumble; the proposed union is a great victory for the lax portion of the General Synod and a pitiable defeat for the Council. Indeed, we shall be told about the 'salt' that the Council may be in the new body, but that is an old, old game, which cannot fool people any more. And this to celebrate the Reformation Jubilee! Would that Luther could return and with the thunder of his scorn shatter this celebration of his work! Where unionism has its jubilee, all true Lutherans turn away in sorrow and anger." (_Luth. Witness_, 1918, 406.) However, considering that pulpit- and altar-fellows.h.i.+p, where-ever justified, clears the way for all other external unions, and that Ohio representatives served on the Quadricentennial Committee for a union celebration of the Reformation, the above criticism, warranted though it be, will hardly be viewed as consistent.

CONSt.i.tUTION.

5. Doctrinal Basis.--The Const.i.tution of the United Lutheran Church provides: "Article II: Doctrinal Basis. Section 1. The United Lutheran Church in America receives and holds the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of G.o.d and as the only infallible rule and standard of faith and practise, according to which all doctrines and teachers are to be judged.--Section 2. The United Lutheran Church in America accepts the three ec.u.menical creeds; namely, the Apostles', the Nicene, and the Athanasian, as important testimonies drawn from the Holy Scriptures, and rejects all errors which they condemn.--Section 3. The United Lutheran Church in America receives and holds the Unaltered Augsburg Confession as a correct exhibition of the faith and doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, founded upon the Word of G.o.d; and acknowledges all churches that sincerely hold and faithfully confess the doctrines of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession to be ent.i.tled to the name of Evangelical Lutheran.--Section 4. The United Lutheran Church in America recognizes the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles, the Large and Small Catechisms of Luther, and the Formula of Concord as in the harmony of one and the same pure Scriptural faith."--"Article IV. Section 2. Any Evangelical Lutheran synod applying for admission which has accepted the Const.i.tution with its Doctrinal Basis, as set forth in Article II, and whose const.i.tution has been approved by the Executive Board, may be received into members.h.i.+p by a majority vote at any regular convention."

6. Further Confessional Statements.--Among the other sections of the Const.i.tution expressing directly or indirectly the confessional and doctrinal att.i.tude of the new body are the following: "Article VI: Objects. The objects of the United Lutheran Church in America are: . . .

Section 1. To preserve and extend the pure teaching of the Gospel and the right administration of the Sacraments. (Eph. 4, 5, 6; the Augsburg Confession, Art. VII.) Section 2. To conserve the unity of the true faith (Eph.4, 3-16; 1 Cor. 1, 10), to guard against any departure therefrom (Rom. 16, 17), and to strengthen the Church in faith and confession. Section 3. To express outwardly the spiritual unity of the Lutheran congregations and synods, to cultivate cooperation among all Lutherans in the promotion of the general interests of the Church, to seek the unification of all Lutherans in one orthodox faith, and thus to develop and unfold the specific Lutheran principle and practise, and make their strength effective."--"Article VIII: Powers. . . . Section 6: As to the Maintenance of Principle and Practise. The United Lutheran Church in America shall protect and enforce its Doctrinal Basis, secure pure preaching of the Word of G.o.d and the right administration of the Sacraments in all its synods and congregations. It shall also have the right, where it deems that loyalty to the Word of G.o.d requires it, to advise and admonish concerning a.s.sociation and affiliation with non-ecclesiastical and other organizations whose principles or practises appear to be inconsistent with full loyalty to the Christian Church"

[weak and misleading, if Freemasons and similar lodges are meant; the more so, as quite a number of the clergymen in the Merger are lodgemen]; "but the synods alone shall have the power of discipline" [conflicts with principle of unity in doctrine and practise].--"Article III.

Section 7. In the formation and administration of a general body the synods may know and deal with each other only as synods. In all such cases the official record is to be accepted as evidence of the doctrinal position of each synod, and of the principles for which alone the other synods are responsible by connection with it." This section, according to which the new body a.s.sumes responsibility only for the official doctrine and practise of the District Synods as such, but declines to answer for what the congregations, pastors, and laymen may teach and practise, unduly limits the responsibility for false doctrine and practise, conflicts with the Scriptural rule of Christian fellows.h.i.+p, and stamps the United Church as unionistic.--"Article VIII: Powers.

Section 5: As to Doctrine and Conscience. All matters of doctrine and conscience shall be decided according to the Word of G.o.d alone." [What of sections 2, 3, and 4 of Article II on Doctrinal Basis?] "If, on grounds of doctrine or conscience, the question be raised as to the binding character of any action, the said question shall be referred to the Commission of Adjudication. Under no circ.u.mstances shall the right of a minority be disregarded, or the right to record an individual protest on the ground of conscience be refused."--"Article XII: Commission of Adjudication. Section 1. A Commission of Adjudication shall be established, to which shall be referred, for interpretation and decision, all disputed questions of doctrine and practise, and this commission shall const.i.tute a court for decision of all questions of principle or action arising within the United Lutheran Church in America, and which had been properly referred to it by resolution or by appeal of any of the synods. . . . Section 4. The consent of at least six members shall always be necessary for a decision." According to this article, unanimity in questions of doctrine and practise is not required--a violation, once more, of the principle of Christian unity!

7. A Legislative Body.--Among the doubtful paragraphs of the Const.i.tution are also the following: "Article III. . . . . Section 6.

Congregations representatively const.i.tuting the various synods may elect delegates through their synods to represent them in a general body, all decisions of which, when made in accordance with the Const.i.tution, _bind_, so far as the terms of mutual agreement make them binding, those congregations and synods which consent to be represented in the general body."--"Article VIII: Powers. Section 4. If synods have had due and legal opportunity to be represented in the conventions of the United Lutheran Church in America, they are _bound_ by all resolutions that have been pa.s.sed in accordance with this Const.i.tution; but each synod retains every power, right, and jurisdiction in its own internal affairs not expressly delegated to the United Lutheran Church in America."-- "Section 7: As to Books of Devotion and Instruction, etc. The United Lutheran Church in America shall provide books of devotion and instruction, such as liturgies, hymn-books, and catechisms, and no synod _without its sanction_ shall publish or recommend books of this kind other than those provided by the general body."--"Article XIV: Synods.

Section 1. No synod in connection with the United Lutheran Church in America shall alter its geographical boundaries _without the permission_ of the general body." According to the sections quoted, the United Lutheran Church is not a mere advisory, but a legislative body.

8. Relations with Non-Lutherans.--According to the _Lutheran Church Work and Observer_ the question of cooperation with other than Lutheran bodies is left open by the const.i.tution of the United Lutheran Church.

Construed in its historical context, this means that the United Church tolerates, and does not disapprove of, fraternal intercourse with the sects. The Const.i.tution provides: "Article VI: Objects. The objects of the United Lutheran Church in America are. . . . Section 7: To enter into relations with other bodies in the unity of the faith, and to exchange official delegates with them."--"Article VIII: Powers.

Section 1: As to External Relations. The United Lutheran Church in America shall have power to form and dissolve relations with other general bodies, organizations, and movements. To secure uniform and consistent practise, no synod, conference, or board, or any official representative thereof, shall have power to independent affiliation with general organizations and movements." Does this and the preceding section refer also to non-Lutheran movements, organizations, and bodies, such as the Federal Council, of which the General Synod was a member? In the _Lutheran Church Work and Observer_, January 3, 1918, Dr. A. Pohlman suggested that the "Merger idea be enlarged so as to include all Protestant denominations, in order to get better known in America, increase our prestige and influence, and take a more decided interest in the affairs of the world." "We can well afford," says he, "to rub out some of those things which conceded to be secondary." More contact with the other denominations would obliterate much of the "foreign" from our Lutheranism, and make us an "American Lutheran Church."

CHARACTER.

9. Actual Position of the New Union.--The Merger did not come as a surprise, for the uniting bodies, being of a common origin, had for a long period occupied essentially the name position as to doctrine and practise, exchanged delegates, and cooperated in various ways. Nor was it accompanied by any essential change in the doctrinal or practical att.i.tude of any of the synods and congregations now const.i.tuting the new body. Yet it will be admitted that, by merging, the General Synod, const.i.tutionally, made a confessional stride forward, while, as to their official att.i.tude toward Lutheran practise, the United Synod in the South, and especially the General Council, took a step backward. For the level and measure of the new Union will naturally be that of the most liberal of the united bodies, _viz._, the actual present, practical as well as doctrinal, position of the synods which const.i.tute the General Synod. According to the Preamble of the Const.i.tution the object of the Merger was "to make the inner unity, which we" [the official bodies as such] "have with one another manifest in common confession, defense, and maintenance of the faith, and in united efforts for the extension of the Kingdom of G.o.d at home and abroad." However, the new Union was not the result of any discussions of, and subsequent agreements and settlements in, any doctrinal or practical differences. The "inner unity" of the merging bodies themselves, especially of the General Synod, never was a real agreement in the truth, but rather an agreement to disagree with respect to Lutheran doctrines and practise. The United Church was not born of real inner Lutheran unity of the spirit, but of the desire of external union, in spite of the lack of real doctrinal agreement. The Merger is in more than one way a concession to the original unionistic spirit of the General Synod. Especially the absence, in the Const.i.tution, of a paragraph directed against pulpit- and altar-fellows.h.i.+p with non-Lutherans, and of a definite and satisfactory statement pertaining to antichristian societies, cannot but be viewed as an _ex professo_ lowering of the Lutheran standard to the laxism always prevailing in the General Synod. The real doctrinal and confessional position of the United Lutheran Church, apart from the merits and demerits of its Const.i.tution, is, in the last a.n.a.lysis, not so much determined by its official declarations as by the actual conditions prevailing in its synods and congregations. The real standpoint of a Church is not the one written and subscribed to on paper, but which manifests itself in her actual teaching, life, and practise. Judged, then, by what the merging bodies actually were immediately prior to their union, the real United Lutheran Church in America is not nearly on a par with what its doctrinal basis would seem to warrant. G. A. Tressler, the former president of the General Synod, said in the _Lutheran_, November 7, 1918: "My hope and wish is that, as far as the United Lutheran Church is concerned, it may merge our best and submerge the rest." What of this "best"? And what is "the rest"? The history of the three merging bodies will tell.

10. National Lutheran Council.--According to Article VI, Section 3 of the Const.i.tution, it is the object of the United Lutheran Church "to cultivate cooperation among all Lutherans in the promotion of the general interests of the Church; to seek the unification of all Lutherans in one orthodox faith." The ultimate goal of the United Lutheran Church self-evidently is the organic union of all Lutheran synods and congregations of this country as "The Lutheran Church in America," or, at least, "The Federated Lutheran Church in America." "The National Lutheran Council," organized September 6, 1918, in Chicago, is, no doubt, viewed by many as a stepping-stone to, and a means for the attainment of, this end. The United Lutheran Church, says the _Philadelphia Seminary Bulletin_, "is but part of a larger movement in the direction of Lutheran unity and activity for which we thank G.o.d and take courage. Ill.u.s.trations of this are: The National Lutheran Commission for Soldiers' and Sailors' Welfare, The National Lutheran Council, and the proposed Central Lutheran control of all American Lutheran Foreign Missions." (1919, 2, p. 4.) The objects of the National Lutheran Council are: statistical information; publicity in all matters that require common utterance by the Lutheran Church; representation of our Church in its relation to ent.i.ties outside of itself; dealing with the problems arising out of war and other emergencies; the solution of problems arising from social, economic, intellectual, or other conditions, or changes affecting religious life and consciousness; the fostering of true Christian loyalty and the maintenance of a righteous relation between Church and State as separate ent.i.ties with correlated, yet distinctly defined functions; provision through the National Lutheran Commission for the spiritual welfare of the people who are living and working in the 24 "War Production Communities," part of which work is to be done in cooperation with other denominations; to serve in solving the problems of the Lutheran Church in European countries where the war has upset political, social, and religious conditions; to adjust matters on the Home Mission field, in order to restrict and stop destructive compet.i.tive church-work; to discourage, ignore, and abandon public polemics among Lutherans; to prepare a statement defining the essentials of a catholic spirit as viewed by the Lutheran Church. With the exception of the Synodical Conference (always wary of entangling and unionistic alliances), practically all of the Lutheran synods in America are connected with the National Lutheran Council. (_L. u. W._, 1919, 86 ff.) A meeting of the presidents and representatives of various Lutheran bodies, culled by the National Lutheran Council and held in Chicago, March 11 to 13, 1919, adopted a number of statements on reconciliation, absolution, the means of grace, justification, faith, conversion and election. However, these declarations, though, as far as they go, apparently not in dissonance with the Lutheran confessions, cover neither all the doctrines controverted in our Church, nor all of the disputed points involved in the doctrines dealt with at Chicago. With respect to lodgism the Conference resolved: "We promise each other that it shall be our earnest purpose to give a fearless testimony, and do our utmost to place our respective church-bodies in the right Christian position in this matter." (_Lutheran_, March 27, 1919.) The results attained by the Conference will be referred for approval to the bodies represented: United Lutheran Church, Joint Synod of Ohio, Iowa Synod, Buffalo Synod, Augustana Synod, United Danish Synod, Norwegian Church, Free Church.

The General Synod.

ORGANIZATION.

11. Discouraging Beginnings.--The oldest Lutheran synods of America are the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, organized 1748; the New York Ministerium, 1786; the Synod of North Carolina, 1803; the Joint Synod of Ohio, 1818; the Synod of Maryland and Virginia, 1820; and the Tennessee Synod, 1820. They embraced about 35,000 members, over one-half of them belonging to the Pennsylvania Synod. On October 22, 1820, at Hagerstown, Md., four of these synods organized as the "General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States of America," with David Kurtz of Baltimore as president. According to its preamble the Const.i.tution was adopted by the following synods: "The German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Pennsylvania and the neighboring States, the German and English Evangelical Lutheran Synod in the State of North Carolina and the bordering States, the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium in the State of New York and the neighboring States and countries, and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Maryland, Va., etc." (_Proceedings,_ 1829, 49; 1839, 47.) The Pennsylvania Synod was represented by 5 pastors and 3 delegates, the New York Ministerium by 2 pastors, the North Carolina Synod by 2 pastors, and the Maryland Synod by 2 pastors and 1 delegate. Since 1811 C. A. Stork (Storch) and especially Gottlieb Shober (Schober, a Moravian, serving Lutheran congregations) of the North Carolina Synod had been prominent among the promoters of the general body. The "Mother Synod" of Pennsylvania, which at the same time was planning a union with the Reformed, took the initiative in the movement.

At the convention at Harrisburg, 1818, they declared it "desirable that the various Lutheran synods should stand in closer connection with each other," appointed a committee to prepare a feasible plan of union, and invited the different synods to send representatives to her next meeting in Baltimore, 1819, where the contemplated Lutheran, union was the princ.i.p.al topic of discussion. A tentative const.i.tution, drafted by Shober and a committee of the Pennsylvania Synod, was approved with 42 against 8 votes and published over the signatures of its officers,-- the so-called _Planentwurf_, which, in a somewhat modified form, was adopted 1820 at Hagerstown as the Const.i.tution (_Grundverfa.s.sung_) of the General Synod. At the first regular convention of the new body, held at Frederick (Fredericktown, Friedrichstadt), Md., in October, 1821, twenty delegates were present, representing the synods of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Maryland-Virginia. It was a beginning fraught with discouragements. Owing to religious indifference, the rationalistic New York Ministerium had immediately permitted its connection to lapse, till resumed in 1837. The Tennessee Synod violently condemned the new body as hierarchical, and because its const.i.tution did not so much as mention the Bible and the Augsburg Confession. The Ohio Synod, which, in 1819, after a discussion of the _Planentwurf_, had approved of the formation of a General Synod, now stood aloof, because a number of her ministers denounced its Const.i.tution, not for confessional reasons, but because of its alleged hierarchical features. (Graebner, _Geschichte_ 1, 701.) In 1823 the Pennsylvania Synod declared her withdrawal on account of the union planned with the Reformed, and because some of her congregations, fearing infringements of their liberties, protested against the connection. It was due chiefly to the exertions of S. S. Schmucker, then but twenty-five years of age, that the second regular convention, 1823, in Frederick, was held, the newly organized West Pennsylvania Synod forming the third body required by the const.i.tution.

12. From the Early Proceedings.--The report of 1823 closes as follows: "On bended knees, and with hearts filled with holy emotion, the brethren then united with the Rev. J. G. Schmucker in a most impressive address to the mercy-seat of Christ, in an acknowledgment of the grat.i.tude for the past blessing of the great Head of the Church, and in humble supplication for the future guidance of His Holy Spirit. And when they had sung an hymn, they separated to return to their several abodes."

(8.) Regarding the withdrawal of the Pennsylvania Synod, the resolution was adopted: "Resolved, That it is with feelings of deepest regret that we learn from the minutes of the Synod of Pennsylvania that they were induced by peculiar circ.u.mstances, for the present, to recede from an inst.i.tution which they aided in establis.h.i.+ng, and which they still profess to regard as proper and highly beneficial to the interests of the Church; but that this Synod entertain the highest confidence in their brethren of Pennsylvania, and confidently trust that they will without delay resume their connection with the General Synod." (5.)-- The "Address of the General Synod to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States," added to the Minutes of 1823, remarks: "Whilst the General Synod, with due deference to the judgment of this respectable Synod, cannot divest themselves of doubt as to the expediency of the temporary recession of the Pennsylvania Synod from the general union of the Lutheran Church, they rejoice that in the very act of withdrawing they declare their unaltered conviction of the propriety and utility of such a union, and intimate that their recession shall continue only until the prejudices against the General Synod shall in some measure have subsided. But, most of all, the General Synod rejoiced in the measures which have already been taken by the brethren west of the Susquehanna, among whose churches these prejudices do not exist, to return to the general union of the Lutheran Church." (11.)The minutes of 1823: "Several delegates were absent in consequence of indisposition, but a representation of a majority of the synods in connection with the General Synod being present, the brethren, in reliance on the guidance of the Holy Spirit, proceeded to business." (4.) With respect to the fears expressed by Tennessee that the establishment of a General Synod would endanger both the Lutheran and American liberties, the "Address"

of 1823 states: "The brethren of this Conference [Tennessee], as well as individuals in some other sections of the United States, have heretofore doubted the utility of the General Synod; but it is hoped their apprehensions will be dissipated when a few years of experience shall have demonstrated its utility, and when maturer reflection on the nature of our const.i.tution shall have convinced them that, if ever our Church at large should so far degenerate as that a majority of any future General Synod should not only be so void of common Christian integrity, but so dest.i.tute of every sentiment of probity and honor, as to wish those evils which have been feared, still even then the attainments of them would, in our happy government, be physically and civilly impossible." (14.) Repudiating the charge of the Tennessee Synod that the object of the General Synod was an amalgamation with other Protestant denominations, and urging the Carolina and Tennessee Synods to cover their doctrinal differences by charity, the "Address" continues: "Whilst the General Synod disclaim the intention which has perhaps, through want of better knowledge, sometimes been attributed to them, namely, to form a union of different denominations, one object at which they aim certainly is to prevent discord and schism among the different portions of the Lutheran Church. It is therefore with much pleasure that they perceive that the Carolina Synod adopted measures at their last session to bring about, if possible, a reconciliation with several brethren [Tennessee Synod], who had seceded from them. And the General Synod cannot forbear recommending to both parties the exercise of that charity, toleration, and forbearance which were so ill.u.s.triously exemplified in the life of our divine Redeemer, and urging on them the impressive declaration of His Apostle: 'Follow after charity'; 'Charity suffereth long and is kind,' 'seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked'; 'charity beareth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.' Therefore we beseech you, brethren, by the mime of our Lord Jesus Christ, 'that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.'"

(12.)

13. Vigorous Growth Following Disappointments.--During the period of 1831 to 1864 a large number of district Synods joined the General Synod.

The Hartwick Synod, organized 1830 in Schoharie Co., N.Y., by seven pastors who had separated from the New York Ministerium in order to satisfy more fully their craving for revivals, was admitted by the General Synod in 1831; in 1908 it merged in the New York Synod. The South Carolina Synod, organized 1824, entered the General Synod in 1835.

The New York Ministerium returned 1837. The Synod of Virginia, organized in 1829 by eight ministers and two lay delegates and confessing the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, was admitted by the General Synod in 1839.

The Synod of the West, embracing Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, of which Wyneken was a member till 1845, was organized in 1835 and united with the General Synod in 1840. In 1846 this body was divided into three parts; one called the Synod of the Southwest, located in Kentucky and Tennessee, another called the Synod of Illinois, located in the State of Illinois, and the third retaining the name of the Synod of the West, located in Indiana.(_Proceedings_, 1848, 47.) The East Ohio Synod, since 1836 a separate English branch of the Ohio Synod, united with the General Synod in 1841. The East Pennsylvania Synod, founded 1842 by nine ministers withdrawing from the Pennsylvania Ministerium, who advocated the use of the English language, revivals, and greater liberty in the form of wors.h.i.+p, was received by the General Synod in 1842. The Allegheny Synod, organized 1842 by ministers and congregations of Western Pennsylvania, united in 1843. The Southwest Virginia Synod was also admitted in 1843. The Miami Synod was organized 1844 in Ohio and joined the General Synod in 1845. The Illinois Synod, a descendant of the Synod of the West, was organized 1846 and joined the General Synod in 1848. When, in 1867, this Synod was dissolved, the greater part amalgamated with the Illinois District of the Missouri Synod. The Wittenburg Synod, organized 1847 in Ohio, was admitted 1848. This body was led by Ezra Keller and S. Sprecher, professors of Wittenberg College, Springfield, O. The Olive Branch Synod of Indiana and adjacent parts was organized in 1848 and received into the General Synod in 1850.

In 1894 the Middle Tennessee Synod united with the Olive Branch Synod.

Its device is an olive branch upon an open Bible; its motto: "In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas." The Pennsylvania Synod reunited with the General Synod in 1853. The Texas Synod, organized 1851 by Rev. Braun (sent by Dr. Pa.s.savant) and eight ministers from St. Chrischona, joined the General Synod in 1853, the General Council in 1868, and in 1895 the Iowa Synod as its Texas District. The Synod of Northern Illinois, organized 1851 by English, German, Norwegian, and Swedish ministers in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, was also admitted in 1853. The Pittsburgh Synod, the so-called "Mission Synod," whose policy was largely shaped by W. A.

Pa.s.savant, was organized in 1845 and admitted by the General Synod in 1853. In 1867 it joined the General Council. The Kentucky Synod and the Central Pennsylvania Synod, which was organized in the year 1855, joined the General Synod in 1855. The Synod of Northern Indiana, organized 1855, the Synod of Iowa, organized 1852, and the Synod of Southern Illinois, organized 1856, were received in 1857. In 1897 the Synod of Southern Illinois united with the Synod of Central Illinois as Synod of Central and Southern Illinois. The Melanchthon Synod was admitted in 1859; the Franckean Synod, organized 1837, and the Synod of Minnesota, organized 1860, in 1864. The Minnesota Synod joined the General Council in 1867 and in 1872 the Synodical Conference.

14. Secessions and Accessions.--The t.i.tle "General Synod" was for the greater part of her history descriptive of, not what the General Synod was, but what she desired to become. In a letter to Solomon Henkel, dated January 23, 1826, Henry Muhlenberg remarks: "Of the seven Lutheran synods only three belong to the General Synod, and yet its representatives a.s.sume the name 'The General Synod of the Lutheran Church in the United States'!" In 1829 there were 74 ministers in the synods connected, and 123 in the synods not connected, with the General Synod. In 1834, of 60,971 Lutheran communicants the General Synod had 20,249 and the Ministerium of Pennsylvania 26,882. In 1860 the Lutherans in America numbered 245,000 communicants, about two-thirds of whom belonged to the General Synod, then embracing 26 district synods with 1,313 pastors and 164,000 communicants. The following decade, however, marked a heavy decrease. Owing to unguarded resolutions with respect to the Civil War, the Southern Synods withdrew, and in 1863 organized the General Synod South. In 1866 the oldest and strongest synods seceded and immediately formed the General Council. The consequent numerical loss was more than 200 pastors and 76,000 communicants. After these reverses a number of smaller synods acceded to the General Synod. In 1867 the Susquehanna Conference, formed in 1845 and belonging to the East Pennsylvania Synod, organized as Susquehanna Synod and resolved to unite with the General Synod. Susquehanna University, at Selinsgrove, is located in her bounds. The Synod of Kansas, organized in 1868 by ministers and laymen in Kansas and Missouri, was received 1869. Midland College and the Western Theological Seminary are upon its territory. The German Wartburg Synod united 1877. It had been organized 1875 by the German Conference of the Synod of Central Illinois formed at the dissolution of the Illinois Synod in 1866 by ministers who remained loyal to the General Synod, among them Severinghaus, the editor of the _Lutherischer Kirchenfreund_. The _Kirchenfreund_ was succeeded by the _Lutherischer Zionsbote_, established in 1896 as a joint organ of the German Wartburg and Nebraska Synods, representing at the same time the German interests of the entire General Synod. The German Nebraska Synod was organized in 1890 and admitted by the General Synod in 1891. Its congregations are located in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, and the Dakotas. The Wartburg and Nebraska Synods received a part of their ministers from Breklum and Chrischona. As to pulpit- and altar-fellows.h.i.+p and lodge-members.h.i.+p, the Wartburg and Nebraska Synods have not been as liberal as the English Districts of the General Synod.

The Rocky Mountain Synod, embracing the territory of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, was organized in 1891; the California Synod in 1892. The New York Synod was admitted in 1908. In 1859 seven English pastors, withdrawing from the New York Ministerium, formed the Synod of New Jersey. Again in 1866, on account of the withdrawal of the Ministerium of New York from the General Synod, fifteen ministers separated and organized the Synod of New York. In 1872 both united as Synod of New York and New Jersey. This body, in 1908, merged with the Hartwick, Franckean, and Melanchthon Synods, thus forming the present Synod of New York. Prior to the Merger in 1918, when the whole Lutheran Church in America embraced 2,450,000 confirmed and 3,780,000 baptized members, the General Synod ranked third in size among the general bodies. It reported 474,740 baptized members, 364,000 communicants, 1,857 congregations, with 1,426 pastors. Apart from a number of benevolent inst.i.tutions and colleges, the General Synod maintained theological seminaries in Hartwick, N.Y.; in Gettysburg, Pa.; in Springfield, O.; in Selinsgrove, Pa.; in Atchison, Kans.; in Lincoln, Nebr.; in Breklum, Germany. In 1825 S. S. Schmucker was elected professor of Gettysburg Seminary. He served till 1864. The school was opened in September, 1826, with ten students.

In 1830 E. L. Hazelius entered as second professor. In 1833 he was succeeded by Charles Philip Krauth, who served till 1867. Among the succeeding professors were H. I. Schmidt, 1839-43, Hay, Brown, C. F.

Schaeffer, C. A. Stork, Valentine, Richard, Singmaster. The General Synod supported foreign missions in Liberia and India. "Father" Heyer, a scholar of Helmuth, was the pioneer American Lutheran missionary in India. The chief periodicals are _The Lutheran Quarterly_ (now Vol. 42) and the _Lutheran Church Work and Observer_. The _Lutheran Observer_, which merged into the last named organ in 1916, was established in 1831 by Morris and edited by B. Kurtz from 1833 till 1861.