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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14638 ***
+
+[Transcriber's note: A very few German names appeared in the original
+with umlauts. These have been transcribed as an "e". A few spelling
+errors in the original are indicated with a "[sic]". The original uses
+italics to indicate most of the German and Latin in the text, and all of
+the authors' names in the bibliography. Italics are transcribed with the
+underscore character at the beginning and end. Footnotes in the original
+are transcribed here in a paragraph immediately below the paragraph to
+which the footnote is connected.  The appendix contains a table that is
+102 characters wide.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lutherans
+of
+New York
+
+Their Story and Their Problems
+
+BY
+GEORGE U. WENNER, D.D., L.H.D.
+Pastor of Christ Church
+
+New York
+THE PETERSFIELD PRESS
+819 East Nineteenth Street
+1918
+
+Copyright, 1918
+By GEORGE U. WENNER
+
+
+
+
+TO
+THE LUTHERANS OF NEW YORK
+IN
+THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
+_May you bring forth fruit and may your fruit remain_
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+   Apology
+   Introduction
+Their Story
+   In the Seventeenth Century--1648-1700
+   In the Eighteenth Century--1701-1750
+   In the Eighteenth Century--1751-1800
+   In the Nineteenth Century--1801-1838
+   In the Nineteenth Century--1839-1865
+   In the Nineteenth Century--1866-1900
+   In the Twentieth Century--1900-1918
+Their Problems
+   The Problem of Synods
+   The Problem of Language
+   The Problem of Membership
+   The Problem of Religious Education
+   The Problem of Lapsed Lutherans
+   The Problem of Statistics
+Epilogue
+Appendix--The Churches; Deaconesses; Former Pastors; Sons of the
+Churches; Institutions and Societies; Other Associations; Periodicals;
+Book-stores; Bibliography; Index.
+
+
+
+
+Illustrations
+   Frontispiece [Transcriber's note: a portrait of the author]
+   When New York Was Young
+   A Corner of Broad Street
+   New Amsterdam in 1640
+   In the Eighteenth Century
+   Trinity Church
+   Henry Melchior Muehlenberg
+   The Old Swamp Church
+   Frederick Muehlenberg
+   John Christopher Kunze
+   Kunze's Gravestone
+   Carl F. E. Stohlmann, D.D.
+   Pastor Wilhelm Heinrich Berkemeier
+   The Wartburg
+   G. F. Krotel, D.D., LL.D.
+   Augustus Charles Wedekind, D.D.
+   Pastor J. H. Sieker
+   Charles E. Weltner, D.D.
+
+
+
+
+Apology
+
+Lutherans are not foreigners in New York. Most of us it is true are new
+comers. But with a single exception, that of the Dutch Reformed Church,
+Lutherans were the first to plant the standard of the cross on Manhattan
+Island.
+
+The story of our church runs parallel with that of the city. Our
+problems are bound up with those of New York. Our neighbors ought to be
+better acquainted with us. We ought to be better acquainted with them.
+We have common tasks, and it would be well if we knew more of each
+other's ways and aims.
+
+New York is a cosmopolitan city. It is the gateway through which the
+nations are sending their children into the new world.
+
+Lutherans are a cosmopolitan church. Our pastors minister to their
+flocks in fifteen languages. No church has a greater obligation to "seek
+the peace of the city" than the Lutherans of New York. No church has a
+deeper interest in the problems that come to us with the growth and ever
+changing conditions of the metropolis.
+
+In their earlier history our churches had a checkered career. In recent
+years they have made remarkable progress. In Greater New York we enroll
+this year 160 churches. The Metropolitan District numbers 260
+congregations holding the Lutheran confession. But the extraordinary
+conditions of a rapidly expanding metropolis, with its nomadic
+population, together with our special drawback of congregations divided
+among various races and languages as well as conflicting schools of
+theological definition, make our tasks heavy and confront us with
+problems of grave difficulty.
+
+On the background of a historical sketch a study of some of these
+problems is attempted by the author. After spending what seemed but a
+span of years in the pastorate on the East Side, he awoke one day to
+find that half a century had been charged to his account. While it is a
+distinction, there is no special merit in being the senior pastor of New
+York. As Edward Judson once said to him: "All that you have had to do
+was to outlive your contemporaries."
+
+These fifty years have been eventful ones in the history of our church
+in New York. All of this period the author "has seen and part of it he
+was." But having also known, with four exceptions all the Lutheran
+pastors of the preceding fifty years, he has come into an almost
+personal touch with the events of a century of Lutheran history on this
+island. He has breathed its spirit and sympathized with its aspirations.
+
+This unique experience served as a pretext for putting into print some
+reflections that seemed fitting at a time when our churches were
+celebrating the quadricentennial of the Reformation and were inquiring
+as to the place which they might take in the new century upon which they
+were entering. The manuscript was begun during the celebration, but
+parochial duties intervened and frequent interruptions delayed the
+completion of the book.
+
+Lutherans have their place in Church History. Our doctrinal principles
+differ in certain respects from those of other churches. We believe that
+these principles are an expression of historical, evangelical
+Christianity, worthy of being promulgated, not in a spirit of arrogant
+denominationalism, but in a spirit of toleration and catholicity. Yet
+few in this city, outside of our own kith and kin, understand the
+meaning of our system. We have made but little progress in commending it
+to others or in extending our denominational lines.
+
+We do not even hold the ground that belongs to us. The descendants of
+the Lutherans of the first two centuries are not enrolled in our church
+books. Although of late years we have increased a hundredfold (literally
+ a hundredfold within the memory of men still living), we are far from
+caring effectively for our flocks. The number of lapsed Lutherans is
+larger than that of the enrolled members of our churches. In the
+language of our Palatine forefathers: _Doh is ebbes letz_.
+
+While therefore recent progress affords ground for encouragement, it is
+not a time for boastfulness. It is rather a time for self-examination,
+for an inquiry into our preparedness for new tasks and impending
+opportunities.
+
+We are living in an imperial city. What we plan and what we do here in
+New York projects itself far beyond the walls of our city. Nowhere are
+the questions of the community more complicated and the needs of the
+time more urgent than here. We should therefore ask ourselves whether
+the disjointed sections of our church, arrayed during the
+Quadricentennial as one, for the purposes of a spectacular celebration,
+but each exalting some particularism of secondary value, adequately
+represent the religious ideas which four centuries ago gave a new
+impulse to the life of the world. If not, where does the trouble lie?
+Is it a question of doctrine, of language, of organization or of spirit?
+
+The emphasis we place upon doctrine has given us a reputation for
+exclusiveness. The author believes that the spirit of Lutheranism is
+that of catholicity. He holds that, in our relations with the people of
+this city and with other churches we ought to emphasize the essential
+and outstanding features of the Lutheran Church rather than the minute
+distinctions which only the trained dogmatician can comprehend. He is in
+sympathy with the well known plea of Rupertus Meldenius, an otherwise
+unknown Lutheran theologian of the seventeenth century (about 1623), to
+observe "in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things
+charity."
+
+
+
+Introduction
+
+For the sake of non-Lutheran readers it may be well, in a sketch of the
+story and problems of our churches, to present a short statement of
+their principles and to indicate in what respect these differ from the
+general attitude and beliefs of other churches. In doing so however the
+author does not presume to encroach upon the field belonging to the
+scholars of the church. He is not an expert theologian. What he has to
+say upon this subject can only be taken as the opinion of a workaday
+pastor who, in practical experience, has obtained an acquaintance with
+the teachings of the church which it is his privilege to serve. For a
+clearer understanding of disputed points the reader is referred to the
+books of reference named in the Bibliography.
+
+Many otherwise well-read people, while admitting that Lutherans are
+Protestants, suspect that their system is still imbued with the leaven
+of Romanism. In their classification of churches they are disposed to
+place us among Ritualists, Sacerdotalists and Crypto-Romanists.
+
+We do not expect to reverse at once the preference of most American
+Protestants in favor of the Reformed system. But since we have had no
+inconsiderable share in the shaping of modern history, we are confident
+that our principles will in due time receive the consideration to which
+any historical development is entitled. We would like to be understood,
+or at least not to be misunderstood, by our fellow Christians.
+
+But our chief desire is to inspire our own young people with an
+intelligent devotion to the faith of their fathers and to persuade them
+of its conformity with historical, believing Christianity.
+
+What is Lutheranism? How does it differ from Catholicism? How does it
+differ from other forms of Protestantism?
+
+The origin of Lutheranism we are accustomed to assign to the sixteenth
+century. We associate it with the nailing of the 95 theses to the church
+door at Wittenberg, or with Luther's defence at the Diet of Worms, or
+with the Confession of the Evangelicals at Augsburg in 1530.
+
+These events were indeed dramatic indications of a great change, but
+they were only the culmination of a process that had been going on for
+ages. It was a re-formation of the ancient Catholic Church and a return
+to the original principles of the Gospel.
+
+"The Church had become an enormous labyrinthine structure which included
+all sorts of heterogeneous matters, the Gospel and holy water, the
+universal priesthood and the pope on his throne, the Redeemer and Saint
+Anna, and called it religion. Over against this vast accumulation of the
+ages, against which many times ineffective protest had been made, the
+Lutheran Reformation insisted on reducing religion to its simplest
+terms, faith and the word of God."*
+     *Harnack, Wesen des Christenthums.
+
+The traditional conception of the Church with all its apparatus and
+claims of authority it repudiated, and in the few and simple statements
+of the seventh article of the Augustana, it set forth its doctrine of
+the Church:
+
+"Also they teach, that One holy Church is to continue forever. The
+Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly
+taught and the Sacraments rightly administered. And to the true unity of
+the Church, it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel
+and the administration of the Sacraments."
+
+This was the Lutheran position as against Rome.
+
+But properly to understand our history we must also take account of
+another movement with which our churches had to contend at the same time
+that they were making their protest against Rome. This was a more
+radical form of Protestantism which found its expression among what are
+known as the Reformed Churches. It had its home in Switzerland, and made
+its way along the Rhine to Germany, France and Holland. Through John
+Knox it came to Scotland, and subsequently superseded Lutheranism in
+Holland and in England. It was from these countries that the earliest
+colonists came to America, and thus American Christianity early received
+the impress of the Reformed system. The few and scattered Lutheran
+churches which were established here in the early history of our country
+were brought into contact with a form of Protestantism at variance with
+their own theological principles. The history of our Church in America
+must be studied with this fact in mind, otherwise many of its
+developments will not be understood.
+
+It would lead too far to explain the historical and philosophical
+differences between these two forms of Protestantism. A phrase first
+used by Julius Stahl aptly describes the difference. The Lutheran
+Reformation was the "Conservative Reformation." Its general principle
+was to maintain the historical continuity of the Church, rejecting only
+that which was contrary to the word of God. The irenic character of the
+Augsburg Confession was owing to this principle. The Reformed Churches,
+on the other hand, made a _tabula rasa_ of history, and, ignoring even
+the legitimate contributions of the Christian centuries, professed to
+return to apostolical simplicity, and to accept for their church-life
+only that which was explicitly prescribed by the Holy Scriptures.
+
+Thus the Lutherans retained the churches as they were, with their altars
+and their pictures, the Liturgy and other products of art and of
+history, provided they were not contrary to the word of God. The
+Reformed, on the other hand, would have none of these things because
+they were not prescribed in the Bible. They worshipped in churches with
+bare walls, and dispensed with organs and music, in the interest of a
+return to Scriptural simplicity.
+
+There were other differences, but these indicate the general character
+of the two movements.
+
+History thus placed our Church between two fires, and the training she
+received explains in part the polemical character for which she has been
+distinguished. Sharp theological distinctions had to be made. The
+emphasis which she was compelled to place upon distinctive doctrine as a
+bond of fellowship accounts for the maintenance of standards which were
+not required in the early history of our Church when the seventh article
+of the Augustana was presented.
+
+Those were famous battles which were fought in the sixteenth and
+seventeenth centuries in defence of the Lutheran position. Our Church
+had to contend with two vigorous foes in the statement of her doctrines,
+Rome and Reform. The antinomian and synergistic controversies, Osiander,
+Major and Flacius, the Philippists and the Crypto-Calvinists are names
+that still remind us of the theological carnage of the sixteenth
+century.
+
+In the seventeenth century came the reign of the dogmaticians. The
+eighteenth century was the age of Pietism and this was followed by
+Rationalism. The scope of this Introduction does not require us to
+explain the significance of these movements. Students of Church History
+are familiar with them.
+
+The revival of spiritual life at the beginning of the nineteenth century
+brought with it also a revival of church consciousness and a restoration
+of the confession of the church. Both in Europe and in America the
+attempt has been made to secure the unity of the church on the basis of
+subscription to the various Symbols included in the Book of Concord.
+These Symbols, besides the Ecumenical Creeds and the Augsburg
+Confession, are Melanchthon's Apology, that is Defence of the Augsburg
+Confession, Luther's two Catechisms, the Smalcald Articles and the
+Formula of Concord. The later Confessions supplement and explain the
+statements of the Augsburg Confession. As such they are valuable
+exponents of Lutheran teaching. Many of our churches in Europe as well
+as in America require of their ministers subscription to these
+Confessions. At the same time it is also true that many churches, whose
+Lutheranism cannot be impugned, find in the Augsburg Confession an
+adequate expression of their doctrinal position.
+
+According to the Confessors of Augsburg: "For the true unity of the
+church it is sufficient to agree concerning the doctrines of the
+Gospel."
+
+It would seem, therefore, to be in harmony with the spirit of
+Lutheranism to make "the confession of the churches" rather than "the
+Confessions of the Church" the bond of union. Underneath the Confessions
+there are distinctive principles differentiating us from the sacerdotal
+churches on the one hand and from the Reformed churches on the other
+hand.
+
+The soul of the Confessions is the confession, and this soul we may
+recognize amid all the changes that take place in the course of time
+and the progress of thought. It reveals itself in innumerable forms, in
+sermons and in sacred song, and above all in the sanctified lives of
+those who confess the faith.
+
+In conversation with an eminent teacher in one of our most conservative
+schools, the author not long ago requested a definition of Lutheranism
+from the standpoint of the school which the Professor represented. Of
+course, it was suggested, the acceptance of the Symbolical books must be
+presumed, _sine qua non_.
+
+The reply was: "The Symbolical Books are valuable, but their obligatory
+acceptance is not essential: The same is true even of the Augsburg
+Confession. Any one who accepts the teachings of Luther's Small
+Catechism is a Lutheran. The heart of the Lutheran faith may be
+expressed in the following words: "Man is a sinner who can be saved by
+grace alone."
+
+In view of this statement it would seem to be a legitimate inference
+that even in the straitest sect of Lutherans in America the ultimate
+doctrine of Lutheranism, reduced to a single word, is GRACE.
+
+Churches, however, have their distinguishing marks. In the Lutheran
+Church these are more difficult to find because of her catholic origin
+and spirit. While forms and ceremonies are retained, they play only a
+minor part in the expression of her churchliness. Bishops and
+presbyters, robes and chasubles, liturgies and orders, "helps,
+governments and divers kinds of tongues," in the providence of God all
+of these things have been "set in the church." Lutherans in many lands
+make use of them. An inexperienced observer, taking note only of
+crucifixes and candles sometimes fails to distinguish between Lutherans
+and Catholics. Yet none of these heirlooms of our ancient family belong
+to the essential marks of the church. Their observance or non-observance
+has nothing to do with the substance of Lutheranism.
+
+Lutheranism aimed at reformation and not at revolution. Its initial
+purpose was to bring back the Church to the common faith of Christendom.
+Hence the Lutheran Confession is in its large outlines that of universal
+Christendom. Nevertheless, it received a distinctive trend from the
+problems of soteriology. The ancient Church had developed the doctrines
+of God and of Christ. A beginning, too, had been made in the doctrines
+of sin and grace and the way of salvation. But the development had been
+hindered by hierarchical traditionalism and by the spirit of legalism.
+These were the obstacles that stood in the way. The cry that went up to
+God from the hearts of the people in the days of the Reformation was
+"What must I do to be saved?" This cry found a voice in the experience
+of Luther himself. This is what drove him into the monastery, and this
+was the underlying quest of his life as a monk and as a teacher in the
+university, through monasticism to get to heaven. It was only when he
+had found Christ, and realized that his sins had been taken away through
+the atoning work of the Son of God, that he found peace. It is His
+person and work upon which the doctrine of our Church primarily rests.*
+     *"Luther, when he said that justification by faith was the article
+of a standing or falling Church, stated the exact truth. He meant to
+say, in the terms of the New Testament, especially of Paul, that God in
+Christ is the sole and sufficient Saviour. He affirmed what was in him
+no abstract doctrine, but the most concrete of all realities, Incarnated
+in the person and passion of Jesus Christ, drawing from Him its eternal
+and universal significance."--Fairbairn, "The Place of Christ in Modern
+Theology," page 159.
+
+In the words of the Small Catechism, Luther still teaches our children
+this foundation doctrine of our Church:
+
+"I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from
+eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who
+has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, secured and delivered me
+from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil; not with
+silver and gold, but with His holy and precious blood, and with His
+innocent sufferings and death, in order that I might be His, live under
+Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness,
+innocence and blessedness."
+
+But while we thus find in the Son of God and in His atoning work the
+foundation of the faith of our Church, many obstacles had been placed in
+the way of securing this redemption. Legalistic conditions made it
+impossible for the sinner to know that his sins had been taken away. It
+was here that the Lutheran Reformation pointed the way to a return to
+the simplicity of the Gospel by its Scriptural definition of
+justification. _Sola fide_, by faith alone, was the keynote of the
+Reformation. Be sure that you bring back _sola_ was Luther's admonition
+to his friends, who went to Augsburg while he himself remained at
+Coburg.
+
+Thus justification by faith became the material principle of
+Protestantism and a second foundation stone of Lutheranism. It is true
+that Calvin and the Reformed churches also accepted this principle, but
+they did not begin with it. Their system was based on the idea of the
+absoluteness of God. The Lutheran system emphasizes the love of God to
+all men; the Reformed system emphasizes predestination; which, by
+selecting some, excludes the others. As the theologians describe it,
+Lutheranism is Christocentric, Reform is theocentric.*
+     *Calvin, like Luther, read theology through Augustine and without
+his ecclesiology, but from an altogether opposite point of view. Luther
+started with the anthropology and advanced from below upwards; Calvin
+started with the theology and moved from above downwards. Hence his
+determinative idea was not justification by faith, but God and His
+sovereignty, or the sole and all-efficiency of His gracious will.-Ibid.,
+page 162.
+
+A third principle relates to the means of grace. Here we have less
+difficulty in discerning the line of cleavage which separates us from
+Rome on the one hand and from the rest of Protestantism on the other
+hand.
+
+The Lutheran Confession regards the word of God as the means of grace.
+The Sacraments also are means of grace, not _ex opere operato_, but
+because of the word. They are the visible word, or the individualized
+Gospel. Hence, it is correct to say that the word, in the Lutheran
+system, is the means of grace. This is doubtless news to many of our
+brethren of other faiths, who think of us only as extreme
+sacramentarians, and have looked upon us for centuries as
+Crypto-Romanists. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was only
+by an accident that the emphasis of polemical discussion in the
+sixteenth century was laid upon the sacramental question, where it never
+belonged.
+
+In her doctrine of the means of grace, the Lutheran Church differs _toto
+coelo_ from Rome. It is not the Church which, through its authority and
+its institutions, makes the means of grace effective; but it is through
+the means of grace that the Church is created and made both a product
+and an instrument of the Holy Ghost.
+
+On this doctrine our church differs not only in theory but also in
+practice from many of our Protestant brethren. In some of their original
+confessional statements the Reformed churches declared that the Spirit
+of God required no means of grace, since He worked immediately and
+directly. They claimed that the corporeal could not carry the spiritual,
+and that the finite could not be made the bearer of the infinite. Over
+against these hyperspiritual views our Church believes that through the
+word and the sacraments the Holy Ghost effectively offers to the sinner
+the gifts of salvation.
+
+There are other marks of our Church, but these are its main
+characteristics, and they suffice to indicate our general position in
+relation to Christian thought.
+
+If, now, we should be called upon to define in a single sentence the
+distinctive features of Lutheranism, it might be done in these words of
+an unknown writer:
+
+"Lutheranism is that form of Protestant Christianity which makes Christ
+the only foundation, faith the only condition, and the word of God the
+only means of salvation."
+
+
+
+THEIR STORY
+
+
+In the Seventeenth Century
+1648-1700
+
+Under the administration of the Dutch West India Company the Reformed
+Church was established in New Amsterdam in 1628. The policy of the
+Company was to maintain the Reformed religion to the exclusion of all
+other churches. But the cosmopolitan character of the future metropolis
+was evident even in its earliest history. In 1643 the Jesuit missionary
+Jogues reports that besides the Calvinists, Lutherans and Anabaptists
+were to be found in the colony. In 1644 eighteen languages were spoken
+by its inhabitants.
+
+In 1648 the Lutheran community in the New Netherlands appealed to the
+Consistory of Amsterdam for a minister, but nothing was done for them.
+In 1653 the request was renewed. When the Reformed ministers heard of
+it, they strenuously objected to the admission of a Lutheran minister;
+they said this would open the door for all manner of sects and would
+disturb the province in the enjoyment of its religion. Their attitude
+was supported by Governor Stuyvesant, who indeed went to great lengths
+in the enforcement of these views? [sic] Even the reading services,
+which the Lutherans held among themselves in anticipation of the coming
+of a minister, were forbidden, and fines and imprisonment were inflicted
+upon those who disobeyed.
+
+Candor compels us to admit that this was the spirit of the age. The
+Thirty Years' War was going on at this time, and in a time of war
+ruthless methods are the vogue.
+
+In 1657, to the joy of the Lutherans and the consternation of the
+Reformed, Joannes Ernestus Gutwasser (or Goetwater, as his name is often
+printed) arrived from Amsterdam to minister to the waiting congregation.
+But Governor Stuyvesant had no use for a Lutheran minister and Gutwasser
+was ordered to return forthwith to the place from which he had come.
+However, he succeeded in delaying his departure for nearly two years.
+
+The congregation, unmindful of Stuyvesant's fulminations against all
+who taught contrary to the Acts of the Synod of Dort, secured as their
+minister in 1662 a student by the name of Abelius Zetskoorn, whom the
+authorities soon transported to a charge on the Delaware, without the
+violence, however, shown in the case of Gutwasser.
+
+In 1664 the island was captured by the English and the Lutherans
+succeeded in obtaining a charter with permission to call a minister and
+conduct services in accordance with the teachings of the Augsburg
+Confession. But prior to 1664 or even 1648 there were individual
+Lutherans here, "their charter of salvation one Lord, one faith, one
+birth." In spite of persecution, even to imprisonment, they sang "The
+Lord's song in a strange land," and in simplicity of faith sowed the
+seed from which future harvests were to spring.
+
+[illustration: "When New York Was Young"]
+
+The little trading station at the mouth of the North River now numbered
+about 1,500 people. The church of "The Augustane Confession" was still
+without a pastor. For a generation they had striven under great
+difficulties to maintain their Lutheran faith. They were plain, simple
+people, but they had refused to be cajoled or driven to a denial of
+their convictions. Over against Stuyvesant, the most dominant
+personality of the new world, they waited patiently for the time when
+they might have their own pastor and might worship God according to the
+dictates of their own consciences.
+
+At last, in 1669, they obtained a minister in the person of Magister
+Jacobus Fabritius who served the congregation in New York and also one
+in Albany. The new pastor sorely tried the patience of a longsuffering
+people. In church he manifested a dictatorial and irascible temper. At
+home he was constantly quarreling with his wife. These eccentricities
+interfered somewhat with his usefulness as a pastor. With increasing
+difficulty he administered his office until 1671 when he accepted a call
+to congregations on the Delaware. Here he seems to have repented of his
+ways, for he left an honorable record as a devoted pastor, and the
+historian is glad to forget the infelicities of his career on the North
+River.
+
+His successor was Bernhardus Arensius, who came with a letter of
+recommendation from the Consistory of Amsterdam. He is described as "a
+gentle personage and of a very agreeable behavior."
+
+Those were troublous times in which he conducted his ministry. The war
+between the Dutch and the English caused a repeated change of
+government, but for twenty years he quietly and successfully carried on
+his pastoral work in New York and in Albany. He died in 1691 and the
+Lutheran flock was again without a shepherd. For the rest of the century
+appeals to Amsterdam for a pastor were all in vain.
+
+[illustrations: "A Corner of Broad Street" and "New Amsterdam in 1640"]
+
+
+In the Eighteenth Century
+1701-1750
+
+At the beginning of the eighteenth century the population of Manhattan
+Island had increased to 5,000 souls, chiefly Dutch and English. These
+figures include about 800 negro slaves. The slave trade and piracy were
+at this time perfectly legitimate lines of business.
+
+For ten years the Lutherans had been without a minister. In 1701 they
+invited Andrew Rudmann to become their pastor. He had been sent by the
+Archbishop of Upsala as a missionary to the Swedish settlements on the
+Delaware. Rudmann accepted the call, but after a severe illness, as the
+climate did not agree with him, he returned to Pennsylvania, where in
+1703 he ordained Justus Falckner to be his successor in New York.
+
+Falckner was a graduate of Halle. It was a kind Providence that made him
+pastor of the Lutherans in New York at this time. Events had happened
+and were still happening in Europe that were destined to make history in
+America.
+
+Germany, paralyzed by the results of the Thirty Years' War, and
+hopelessly divided into a multitude of political fragments, had become
+the helpless prey of the spoiler. The valley of the Rhine was ravaged
+from Heidelberg to the Black Forest. To this day, after more than two
+centuries, the ruins may still be traced. Upon the accession of the
+Catholic House of Neuburg to the throne of the Palatinate the
+Protestants were subjected to intolerable persecution. Their churches
+and schools were taken from them. Frequent raids were made upon the
+helpless border lands by the armies of Louis the Fourteenth. In a time
+of peace the Lutheran house of worship in Strassburg was wrested from
+its owners and transformed into a Catholic cathedral.
+
+This devastation of the Rhine Valley caused an extensive emigration by
+way of London to New York. In the winter of 1708 Pastor Kocherthal
+arrived with the first company of Palatine exiles. In succeeding years
+many others followed, most of them settling on the upper Hudson and in
+the Mohawk Valley, but some of them remaining in New York.
+
+The inhuman treatment which they received during the voyage, followed by
+hunger and disease, decimated their ranks. Of the 3,086 persons who set
+sail from London only 2,227 reached New York. Here they were not
+permitted to land, but were detained in tents on Governor's Island,
+where 250 more died soon after their arrival.
+
+One of the men thus detained was destined to take a prominent place in
+the subsequent history of his countrymen, Johann Conrad Weiser. His
+descendants down to our own day have been filling high places in the
+history of their country as ministers, teachers, soldiers and statesmen.
+His great-grandson was the Speaker of the first House of Representatives
+of the United States. Another great-grandson, General Peter Muehlenberg,
+was for a time an assistant minister in Zion Church at New Germantown,
+N. J. He accepted a call to Woodstock, Virginia, where at the outbreak
+of the Revolution he startled his congregation one Sunday by declaring
+that the time to preach was past and the time to fight had come.
+Throwing off his ministerial robe and standing before them in the
+uniform of an American officer, he appealed to them to follow him in the
+defence of the liberties of his country. He became a distinguished
+officer in the army and subsequently rendered good service in the civil
+administration of the new republic.
+
+[illustration: "In the Eighteenth Century"]
+
+A later descendant was Dr. William A. Muhlenberg, born in Philadelphia,
+September 16th, 1796, the venerated founder of St. Luke's Hospital in
+this city.*
+     *Dr. Muhlenberg was the rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church
+of the Holy Communion. He was one of the best beloved ministers in New
+York. He died in 1877. I visited him during his last illness in St.
+Luke's Hospital. As I took my leave he threw his arms about me and
+assured me that he had always been a Lutheran. He evidently conceived of
+Lutheranism in broader terms than merely denominational distinctions.
+
+Among the Palatine immigrants stranded on Governor's Island, unable to
+follow their sturdier companions to the upper part of the Hudson Valley,
+were widows, elderly men and 80 orphans. One of these orphans was Peter
+Zenger, who was apprenticed to William Bradford, at that time the only
+printer in the colony. When he grew up, he became the editor of The
+Weekly Journal, which made its first appearance on November 5th, 1733.
+Washington at this time was not yet two years old. Zenger was one of the
+earliest champions of American liberty. His arrest and imprisonment, his
+heroic defence and final acquittal, are among the milestones of American
+history and are a contribution to the story of New York of which
+Americans of German descent may well be proud.
+
+It was a large parish to which Falckner ministered. There were no Home
+Mission Boards in those days. The New York pastor had therefore to care
+for many outlying stations. His diocese included Hackensack, Raritan,
+Ramapo and Constable Hook in the south, and Albany, Loonenburg and West
+Camp in the north. After the death of Kocherthal he visited regularly,
+not only the Dutch congregations of Claverack, Coxackie and Kinderhook,
+but also such German settlements as East Camp, Rhinebeck, and Schoharie.
+
+New York itself was not neglected during these missionary journeys.
+Readers (Vorleezers) conducted the service while he was away. Such
+notices as "There will be no church today, the minister is out of town,"
+did not appear on his bulletin board.
+
+The care of a parish 150 miles in length left but little time for
+literary work, but in order that his people might be informed on the
+subject of their church's faith as distinguished from that of their
+Calvinistic neighbors, he wrote a book on the essential doctrines of
+the Lutheran confession. It was published by William Bradford, New York,
+1708.
+
+He also wrote a hymn: _"Auf, ihr Christen, Christi Glieder,"_ which
+after two centuries holds a place in German hymnals, and the translation
+is to be found in some of the best collections of the English language.
+To this day, therefore, the churches of London and Berlin alike respond
+to Falckner's rallying call: "Rise, ye children of salvation."
+
+[illustration: "Trinity Church, Broadway and Rector Street, (Southwest
+Corner)"]
+
+He must have been a pious man and a winning personality. The entries in
+the book recording baptisms and other ministerial acts abound in
+accompanying prayers for the spiritual welfare of those to whom he had
+ministered.
+
+For twenty years he served the churches of New York and the Hudson
+Valley. When and where he died we know not. Early in 1723 he was in New
+York and in Hackensack. In September of the same year there is a record
+of a baptism at Phillipsburg (near Yonkers). And then no more. "He was
+not, for God took him."
+
+Falckner's successor, Berkenmeyer, a native of Lueneburg, arrived in
+1725. He brought with him books for a church library and also funds for
+a new building, contributed by friends in Germany, Denmark, and London.
+The "old cattle shed" on the southwest corner of Broadway and Rector
+Street was torn down and a stone building erected which was dedicated in
+1729 and named Trinity church.
+
+The parish which Berkenmeyer inherited from Falckner, extending from New
+York to Albany, and including many Dutch and German settlements on both
+sides of the river, proved to be a larger field than he could cultivate.
+He therefore sent to Germany for another minister, and resigning at New
+York, took charge of the northern and more promising part of the field,
+making his home at Loonenburg (Athens), on the Hudson. For nineteen
+years he labored in this field. He died in 1751.
+
+Berkenmeyer was a scholarly man, a faithful minister, and an impressive
+personality. He belonged to a different school from that of his great
+contemporary, Muehlenberg, and the rest of the Halle missionaries, and
+his correspondence with them frequently savored of theological
+controversy.
+
+His successor in New York was Knoll, a native of Holstein, who spent
+eighteen years of faithful work in Trinity church under trying
+circumstances. He had to preach in Dutch to a congregation that had
+become prevailingly German. There was a growing dissatisfaction among
+the people. During the first half of the century Dutch influence
+gradually declined and German grew stronger. The ministers were all of
+them German, although they preached chiefly in Dutch, with occasional
+ministrations in German. At last the Germans, feeling the need of ampler
+service in their own language, took advantage in 1750 of the presence of
+a peripatetic preacher and instituted the first "split" in the Lutheran
+church of this city by organizing Christ Church. Knoll resigned soon
+after and removed to Loonenburg, where he again became the successor of
+Berkenmeyer.
+
+[illustration: "Henry Melchior Muehlenberg (Otto Schweizer's Heroic
+Stone Figure)"]
+
+
+In the Eighteenth Century
+1751-1800
+
+The resignation of Knoll and the difficulties of the mother congregation
+were the occasion of calling to New York the most distinguished minister
+the American Church has ever had.
+
+Henry Melchior Muehlenberg came to America from Halle in 1742 to
+minister to the congregations in and near Philadelphia. The disordered
+condition of the American churches opened a wide field for his
+administrative ability, and for the rest of his life, in addition to his
+pastoral activity, he accomplished a great task in the planting and
+organization of churches. He is rightly called the Patriarch of the
+Lutheran Church in America.
+
+In response to an urgent appeal, Muehlenberg came over from Pennsylvania
+in 1751 and assumed the pastorate of Trinity church. Although he spent
+but a short time in 1751 and again in 1752 on the ground, he was for two
+years pastor of the mother church. His was a fruitful ministry. He
+succeeded to a considerable extent in reconciling the warring elements
+in the congregation, not only by his gifts as a preacher and spiritual
+leader, but also by his ability to preach in Dutch and in English as
+well as in German.
+
+The Episcopalians, who worshipped in the Trinity Church on the opposite
+corner, complained of the stentorian tones in which he delivered his
+sermons.
+
+Upon Muehlenberg's recommendation, Mr. Weygand of Raritan, was chosen
+pastor of Trinity Church in 1753. In the furtherance of his ministry,
+Weygand performed some literary work. He prepared an English translation
+of the Augsburg Confession, which was printed as a supplement to a
+quarto volume of 414 pages published by one of the elders of his church,
+entitled "The Articles of Faith of the Holy Evangelical Church According
+to the Word of God and the Augsburg Confession. A Translation from the
+Danish. New York, MDCCLIV."
+
+The congregation continued to be Dutch, although Weygand preached also
+in German and in English as occasion required. For the use of his
+English congregations he published in 1756 a translation of German
+hymns that had appeared in England under the title, "Psalmodia
+Germanica."
+
+From 1750 to the time of the American Revolution we had two Lutheran
+churches in New York, the German Christ church, popularly known as "The
+Old Swamp Church," on Frankfort Street, and the Dutch Trinity church on
+Broadway and Rector Street.
+
+In the Swamp church the first preacher, Ries, remained for a year. He
+was followed in quick succession by Rapp, Wiessner, Schaeffer, Kurz,
+Bager and Gerock. Only the last named served long enough to identify
+himself with local history. He was followed by Frederick Muehlenberg,
+a son of Henry Melchior, an ardent patriot, who had expressed himself so
+freely in regard to English rule that when the British army marched into
+New York in 1776 he found it expedient to retire as quickly as possible
+to Pennsylvania. Here he labored in several congregations; as supply or
+as pastor, until 1779, when the exigencies of the times compelled him to
+take an active part in the political affairs of the country.
+
+[illustration: "The Old Swamp Church"]
+
+The partial reconciliation that had been brought about by Muehlenberg
+between the Dutch and the German congregations was occasionally
+disturbed by a pamphletary warfare conducted by their respective
+pastors, Weygand and Gerock.
+
+Weygand died in 1770. He was succeeded by Hausihl (or Houseal, as he
+spelled his name in later years), a native of Heilbronn, who had served
+congregations in Maryland and in eastern Pennsylvania. Tradition reports
+that he was a brilliant preacher of distinguished appearance and of
+courtly manners. He succeeded in maintaining a large congregation.
+
+But a serious change was going on in the church in the matter of
+language. In spite of the secession in 1750 other Germans kept coming
+into the Broadway church to such an extent that they outnumbered the
+Dutch eight to one, and finally the use of the Dutch language in the
+Lutheran Church of New York came to an end. Houseal had the distinction
+of conducting the obsequies at the preparatory service on Saturday,
+November 30, 1771, and at the administration of the Lord's Supper on
+the following day.
+
+But the death of the Dutch language by no means put an end to the
+language difficulties of our Lutheran ancestors. In the midst of the
+original contestants a new set of combatants had sprung up in the
+persons of the children of both parties. These spoke neither Dutch nor
+German. They understood English only and demanded larger consideration
+of their needs.
+
+Events, however, were impending which soon gave the people something
+else to think about and caused a postponement of actual hostilities for
+another generation.
+
+The church on Broadway was destroyed by fire in 1776, and was never
+rebuilt. The congregation worshipped for a time in the Scotch
+Presbyterian Church on Cedar Street.
+
+The American Revolution broke out. On political questions our ancestors
+differed almost as widely as do their successors on synodical questions.
+Some of them were for George the Third, others were for George
+Washington. In this respect, however, they were not unlike other
+inhabitants of New York.
+
+Frederick Muehlenberg, the pastor of the Swamp Church, was an ardent
+patriot. At the beginning of the war, as we have seen, he fled to
+Pennsylvania.
+
+During the war the services were conducted by the chaplains of the
+Hessian troops. The Hessians were good church-goers and also generous
+contributors, so that the financial condition of the congregation at
+this time was greatly improved.
+
+Houseal, the pastor of Trinity Church, was a tory, and when in 1783 the
+American troops marched into New York, he with a goodly number of his
+adherents removed to Nova Scotia and founded a Lutheran church in
+Halifax.
+
+Both churches were now without pastors. Tribulation must have softened
+the spirits of the two contending congregations, for when Dr. Johann
+Christoph Kunze came to this city from Philadelphia in 1784, he became
+pastor of the reunited congregations, worshipping in the Swamp Church.
+
+[illustration: "Frederick Augustus Conrad Muehlenberg; Pastor of the Old
+Swamp Church; subsequently member of the Continental Congress; Speaker
+of the Assembly of Pennsylvania; President of the Convention which in
+1787 ratified the Constitution of the United States; Speaker of the
+first Congress of the United States of America."]
+
+Before closing this chapter and taking up the account of Kunze's
+pastorate, let us follow the steps of Frederick Muehlenberg, the former
+pastor of the Swamp Church. We recall his unceremonious flight from New
+York. We cannot blame him. The British had threatened to hang him if
+they caught him.
+
+We remember too that in Pennsylvania he was called upon to take an
+active part in political affairs. He was a member of the Continental
+Congress, also a member of the legislature of Pennsylvania and Speaker
+of the Assembly. He was President of the Convention which ratified the
+Constitution of the United States.
+
+Thirteen years have passed since he left New York. It is A. D. 1789. New
+York was just beginning to recover from the disastrous years of the
+Revolution during which the British troops occupied the city. The
+population had sunk from 20,000 to 10,000 in 1783, but by this time had
+risen again to 30,000. The people were getting ready to celebrate the
+greatest event in the history of the city, the inauguration of the first
+President of the American Republic. Preparations were made to honor the
+occasion with all possible ceremony. Great men had gathered from all
+parts of the country. But to the older members of the Swamp Church there
+was doubtless no one, not even Washington himself, who stood higher in
+their esteem and affection than the representative from Pennsylvania,
+the Reverend Frederick Muehlenberg. And when a few days later the
+erstwhile German pastor of the Swamp Church was elected Speaker of the
+first House of Representatives of the United States of America, none
+knew better than they that it was only a fitting tribute to the
+character and abilities of their former pastor.
+
+Kunze's is one of the great names on the roll of our ministers. He was
+a scholar, a teacher, a writer, and an administrator of distinction.
+Trained in the best schools of Germany, when he arrived in America in
+1770, he at once took high rank among his colleagues in Philadelphia.
+Besides his work as a minister he filled the chair of Oriental and
+German languages in the University of Pennsylvania.
+
+In 1784 he accepted a call to New York. He did this partly in the hope
+of establishing a Lutheran professorship in Columbia College. He
+accepted a call to the chair of Oriental languages in Columbia. He was
+also a regent of the university.
+
+Kunze was not only an able man, he was also a man of deep piety, a
+qualification not altogether undesirable in a shepherd of souls. His
+writings indicate that in his preaching and catechization he strove not
+to beat the air but to win souls to a personal experience of salvation.
+
+While it is doubtful whether he would find admission to some of the most
+orthodox synods of our own day; he was comparatively free from the
+latitudinarian tendencies which had been brought over from Germany
+during the last quarter of the century.
+
+Along with General Steuben and other influential citizens he founded,
+the German Society, an association which is still an important agency
+in the charitable work of this city.
+
+[illustration: "John Christopher Kunze"]
+
+He was instrumental in 1785 in reorganizing the New York Ministerium.
+This work was begun in 1775 by Frederick Muehlenberg, but had been given
+up for a while, probably on account of the war.
+
+As a writer he is credited in Dr. Morris' Bibliotheca Lutherana with
+eight books of which he was the author or editor, from Hymns and Poems
+to A History of the Lutheran Church and A New Method of Calculating the
+Great Eclipse of 1806.
+
+These and many other things must be set to his credit. For what he
+accomplished he deserves a large place in the history of our Church in
+this city. But with all his gifts he was unable to cope with the chief
+problem which confronted our Church at the close of the eighteenth
+century, that of the English language.
+
+There had been a demand for English services ever since the middle of
+the century. The descendants of the Dutch families had all become
+English. The need of English had been met in part by the elder
+Muehlenberg and his successors, Weygand and Hauseal, in Trinity Church,
+doubtless also by Frederick Muehlenberg in the Swamp Church.
+
+After the, Revolution (1784) the United Congregations certainly made
+some provision for English although it was inadequate. In 1794 the
+younger people petitioned for occasional services in a language which
+they could understand. Dr. Kunze himself made some attempts to handle
+the English, but his faulty pronunciation so amused the young people
+that he gave it up. He appointed a young man by the name of Strebeck to
+assist him in ministering to the English members of the congregation.
+Strebeck at this time was a Methodist, although he had been confirmed
+in a Lutheran Church in Baltimore. Under Kunze's influence he again
+joined the Lutherans.
+
+"A Hymn and Prayer Book for the use of such Lutheran Churches as use the
+English language," published by Kunze in 1795, and another by Streback
+[sic] in 1797, show that serious efforts were made to meet the wants of
+the English-speaking members.
+
+Finally, on June 25th, 1797, a separate congregation was organized
+entitled The English Lutheran Church in the City of New York. (This was
+the corporate name, although it was subsequently known as Zion Church.)
+Strebeck was chosen pastor. Land was rented on Pearl Street opposite
+City Hall Place and a frame church was built.
+
+The incorporation of the church was reported to the Ministerium which
+met at Rhinebeck. The following reply was given under date of September
+1st, 1797:
+
+"Upon reading a letter from New York signed by Henry Heiser, Lucas Van
+Buskirk and L. Hartman, representing that they have erected an English
+Lutheran Church, on account of the inability of their children to
+understand the German language:
+
+RESOLVED, That it is never the practice in an Evangelical Consistory to
+sanction any kind of schism; that if the persons who signed the letter
+wish to continue their children in the Lutheran Church connection in New
+York, they earnestly recommend them the use of the German School, and in
+case there is no probability of any success in this particular, they
+herewith declare that they do not look upon persons who are not yet
+communicants of a Lutheran Church as apostates in case they join an
+English Episcopal Church.
+
+RESOLVED, 2d, That on account of an intimate connection subsisting
+between the English Episcopal Church and the Lutheran Church and the
+identity of their doctrine and near alliance of their Church discipline,
+this Consistory will never acknowledge a new erected Lutheran Church
+merely English, in places where the members may partake of the Services
+of the said Episcopal Church."
+
+From the viewpoint of the ministers in 1797, Lutheranism seems to have
+been a matter of language rather than of religion. It was something to
+be retained among German-speaking people, but could not be effectively
+transmitted except through the medium of the German language.
+
+We have come to the last decade of the 18th century. In the political
+world great men were finding themselves and mighty principles were
+finding expression in the organization of what was destined to become
+one of the great states of the world. Some of our own men were taking a
+large part in the making of American history. In the church they were
+content with a more restricted outlook. Our people, it is true, were of
+humble origin, yet some of them had attained wealth and social standing.
+The Van Buskirks, the Grims, the Beekmans, the Wilmerdings and the
+Lorillards were men of affairs and influence in the growing town of
+30,000 that had begun to extend northward as far as Canal Street and
+even beyond. But we look in vain for any positive contribution to the
+life of the embryo metropolis of the world.
+
+Our church had lost its roots. The Rhinebeck Resolution indicates the
+feeble appreciation of the distinctive confession to which she owed her
+existence. The English hymn books and liturgies of this period are
+equally destitute of any positive confessional character.
+
+But after all, the church in New York only reflected in a small way the
+conditions that existed on the other side of the Atlantic. In the
+Fatherland the national life had been declining ever since the Thirty
+Years' War. In 1806 Germany reached the nadir of her political life at
+the battle of Jena. In the church this was the period of her Babylonian
+Captivity. Alien currents of philosophical and theological thought had
+devitalized the teaching of the Gospel. The old hymns had been replaced
+by pious reflections on subjects of religion and morality. The Lutheran
+Liturgy had disappeared leaf by leaf until little but the cover
+remained. With such conditions in the homeland what could be expected of
+an isolated church on Manhattan Island? Take it all in all, it is not
+surprising that only two congregations survived. It is a wonder that
+there were two.
+
+In "Old New York" Dr. Francis presents a vivid picture of the social and
+religious life of this period and from it we learn that the Lutherans
+were not the only ones whose religion sat rather lightly upon them.
+French infidelity had taken deep root in the community and Paine's Age
+of Reason found enthusiastic admirers.
+
+Fifty years ago I was browsing one afternoon over the books in the
+library of Union Theological Seminary, at that time located in
+University Place. I was all alone until Dr. Samuel Hanson Cox, the
+father of Bishop Arthur Cleveland Coxe, came in. He was then in his
+eighties, but vigorous in mind and body. We easily became acquainted and
+I was an eager listener to the story of his early ministry in New York,
+which fell about the time of which we are speaking. From him I got a
+picture of life in New York closely corresponding with that which is
+given in Dr. Francis' interesting story. There were leaders of the
+church in those days who were not free from the vice of drunkenness.
+Evangelical religion in all denominations had a severe conflict in
+doctrine and in morals with the ultra liberal tendencies of the time.
+
+A marked defect of our church life was the inadequate supply of men for
+the ministry. For 140 years New York Lutherans had been dependent upon
+Europe for their pastors. For 60 years more this dependence was destined
+to continue.
+
+Kunze had long been desirous of providing facilities for theological
+education in this country. Under the bequest of John Christopher
+Hartwig, he organized in 1797 a Theological Seminary. The theological
+department was conducted in New York by himself, the collegiate
+department in Albany and the preparatory department in Otsego County.
+
+One of his students was Strebeck. Another, Van Buskirk, a promising
+young man, died before he could enter the work. The Mayer brothers,
+natives of New York, became eminent pastors of English Lutheran
+churches, Philip in Albany and Frederick in Philadelphia. It was a
+trying time in which Kunze lived, but he planted seed which still bears
+fruit.
+
+One event of the eighteenth century seems worthy of spcial [sic]
+mention, even when seen through the vista of a hundred and fifty years,
+although at the time it may have attracted little attention. Because of
+the side light which it throws upon history we permit it to interrupt
+for a moment the course of our story.
+
+It harks back to the refugees from the Palatinate who emigrated to the
+west coast of Ireland at the same time that their fellow countrymen
+under Kocherthal came to New York. Their principal settlements were at
+Court-Matrix, Ballingran and other places in County Limerick near the
+banks of the river Shannon. As they had no minister and understood
+little or no English, in the course of forty years they lost whatever
+religion they had brought with them from Germany. It came to pass that
+John Wesley visited these villages. He found the people "eminent for
+drunkenness, cursing, swearing, and an utter neglect of religion."
+(Wesley's Journal, II, p. 429.)
+
+Wesley's sermons reminded them of the sermons they used to hear in their
+far-off German home, and a remarkable revival occurred among them.
+Subsequently numbers of them followed their countrymen of the preceding
+generation to New York and some of them joined the Lutheran Church.
+Among the names to be found on the records of our church are those of
+Barbara Heck and Philip Embury.
+
+Now some of our ministers, as far back as Falckner in the beginning of
+the century, belonged to the Halle or Francke school of Lutheranism,
+and the spirit of our church life at this time, as may be seen from the
+letters of Muehlenberg in the "Hallesche Nachrichten," was not alien to
+that which the Palatines had imbibed from John Wesley, himself a product
+of the Pietistic movement of which Halle was the fountain head. One
+would suppose that these Palatine immigrants from the west of Ireland
+might have found a congenial home in the Lutheran Church and contributed
+to the spiritual life of the congregation. But for some reason they did
+not. They withdrew from us and helped to organize in 1766 the first
+Methodist Society in America.
+
+The Methodists of America number seven million communicants. Barbara
+Heck, Philip Embury and other Palatine immigrants were our contribution
+to their incipient church life in America.
+
+
+In the Nineteenth Century
+1801-1838
+
+The history of our churches in the nineteenth century may be divided
+into three periods. The first extends from 1801 to 1838.
+
+At the beginning of the century there were two congregations, the
+German-English Church on Frankfort Street and the English (Zion) on
+Pearl Street.
+
+In 1802 two hundred members of the German church who had not united with
+Zion in 1797 asked for a separate English church. The request was
+declined, but regular services in English were held in the afternoon
+with promises of a new church as soon as possible.
+
+In 1804 Strebeck, the pastor of Zion, joined the Episcopalians and
+subsequently became rector of St. Stephen's Church. Here he was
+followed in the course of years by a constant procession of his former
+parishioners. It will be recalled that Zion had not been received into
+connection with the Ministerium.
+
+In 1805 Ralph Williston was chosen pastor. In 1810 he also became an
+Episcopalian. Not long after, the entire congregation followed him into
+the Episcopal fold. The resolution effecting the change read as follows:
+
+"Whereas, many difficulties attend the upholding of the Lutheran
+religion among us, and whereas, that inasmuch as the doctrine and
+government of the Episcopal Church is so nearly allied to the Lutheran,
+and also on account of the present embarrassment of the finances of this
+church, therefore
+
+"RESOLVED, That the English Lutheran Church with its present form of
+worship and government be dissolved after Tuesday, the 13th day of March
+next, and that this Church do from that day forward become a parish of
+the Protestant Episcopal Church, and the present board of officers of
+this church take every measure to carry this resolve into effect."*
+     *On West Fifty-seventh Street, a few steps from Carnegie Hall, the
+visitor interested fn Lutheran antiquities may find the stately
+Episcopal Church of Zion and St. Timothy. It has a membership of 1,300.
+Its communion vessels still bear the inscription: ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH.
+
+Kunze died in 1807. His successor, Frederick William Geissenhainer of
+New Hanover, Pa., took charge in 1808 and remained till 1814 when the
+state of his health compelled him to return to Pennsylvania.
+
+He was succeeded by Frederick Christian Schaeffer of Harrisburg, a
+gifted man who preached equally well in German and in English. On the
+tercentenary of the Reformation in 1817 he preached a Reformation sermon
+in St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Broadway, which attracted widespread
+attention. A copy is preserved in the New York Public Library.
+
+[illustration: "Fragment of Kunze's Gravestone discovered by the author
+in 1907, in Greenwich Village, where some laborers were digging the
+foundation for a new building. Kunze's ashed repose in the Lorillard
+vault of the churchyard of St. Mark's in the Bowery, Tenth Street and
+Second Avenue."]
+
+After twenty years the promise of a separate English church was
+fulfilled, when in 1822 a large and beautiful structure was erected in
+Walker Street, just east of Broadway, and placed at the disposal of the
+English portion of the congregation. It was called St. Matthew's Church.
+Schaeffer was assigned to the pastorate and Geissenhainer was recalled
+from Pennsylvania to take charge of the German part of the congregation.
+New trouble soon developed. The English congregation demanded
+representation in the Church Council. This the mother church declined to
+concede, although it is claimed they had agreed to do so when the
+English congregation was formed. The new congregation was unable to
+maintain itself, and in 1826 the church was sold for a debt of $14,000,
+and Pastor Schaeffer resigned. The Walker Street building was bought by
+Daniel Birdsall who resold it to the mother church. The legal questions
+at issue in the transaction were taken into court and decided in favor
+of the mother church.
+
+A son of the pastor, Frederick William Geissenhainer, Jr., was called
+from Pennsylvania to minister in St. Matthew's Church in English, so
+long as this could be done without detriment to the German congregation.
+This continued for three years, by which time a deficit of $5,000 had
+accumulated.
+
+In the meantime the congregation of Frankfort Street had grown to such
+an extent that it decided to sell the Old Swamp Church, and move into
+the spacious building on Walker Street, where it also acquired the name
+of the English congregation and was thereafter known as St. Matthew's
+Church. The younger Geissenhainer continued to hold English services in
+the afternoon until 1840. The senior Geissenhainer served the German
+part of the congregation until his death in 1838.
+
+After Pastor Schaeffer resigned in 1826 he collected the salvage of the
+English enterprises and organized a new English church, St. James,
+which he served until his death in 1831.
+
+Among the major happenings in this period were the Burr-Hamilton duel,
+the launching of Fulton's steamboat, the introduction of Croton water,
+the opening of the Erie Canal, the writings of Washington Irving, and
+the organization of the American Bible Society and the American Tract
+Society.
+
+Such things as social service, church extension or confessional
+questions had not yet begun to disturb the churches. Our people had all
+the time they wanted therefore for controversy on the undying question
+of the relative importance of the English and German languages. This,
+as we have seen, led to a lawsuit, the sale of a church and the
+permanent rupture of a historic congregation. We lost one English
+congregation, Zion, disbanded another, St. Matthew's, and sent away
+enough English members besides to constitute St. Stephen's Episcopal
+Church on Chrystie Street.
+
+Such, in brief, is the story of the Lutherans of New York during the
+first third of the nineteenth century. In the Fatherland great events
+were taking place and history was making rapid strides. The war of
+liberation was decided by the battle of Leipzig and the defeat of
+Napoleon. But the hopes for social and political improvement were
+disappointed by reactionary movements and economic distress. A new
+emigration to "the land of unbounded possibilities" began. In 1821-22 it
+amounted to 531, in 1834-35 it was 25,997. Among the immigrants were
+many who in various capacities became empire builders in America. But in
+all that related to the Lutheran church New York at this time took a
+subordinate place. Philadelphia was the first city of the land. The
+construction of railroads and the opening of the Erie Canal carried the
+active and ambitious men far into the interior. The church life of New
+York still flowed in sluggish currents. After 190 years, from 1648, when
+the first appeal for a minister was sent to Amsterdam, to 1838, our
+enrollment consisted of two congregations, the German-English church of
+St. Matthew, and the English church of St. James.
+
+
+In the Nineteenth Century
+1839-1865
+
+Immigration began to assume large proportions. It did not reach its
+climax until the following period, but it was sufficiently large to
+awaken attention. In 1839 21,028 immigrants arrived here from Germany;
+in 1865, at the close of the Civil War, 83,424. Most of these were
+bound for the interior, but many who had only stopped to rest a while
+in New York decided to make this their home.
+
+The East Side became a little Germany and even on the West Side Germans
+began to appear in increasing numbers.
+
+At the beginning of this period an event occurred, unnoticed at the
+time, which proved to be the beginning of a great movement, "a cloud out
+of the sea, as small as a man's hand." In 1839 a thousand exiles arrived
+from Germany under the leadership of Pastor Grabau. Most of them went to
+the interior, some to Buffalo, others, the wealthier members, to the
+neighborhood of Milwaukee. Ten or a dozen families remained in New York
+with a pastor named Maximilian Oertel. Their services were held in a
+hall at the corner of Houston Street and Avenue A. Doubtless none of
+their contemporaries ever dreamed that this insignificant congregation
+was related to one of the larger movements of church history.
+
+Connecting links were two men whose names I have never seen associated
+with the story of the Lutherans of New York. One of them was Dr.
+Benjamin Kurtz of Hagerstown, the other was Frederick William III, King
+of Prussia. The king had imposed the Union upon the churches of Prussia
+and imprisoned the pastors who refused to conform. This was the king's
+part in the movement. Dr. Kurtz had visited Berlin in 1826 in the
+interest of his educational schemes and in one of his addresses he
+implanted the microbe of America in the mind of a man who subsequently
+became a leader of one band of these pilgrims to the promised land. This
+was Dr. Kurtz's share in the work. Both Kurtz and the king were
+unconscious instruments in the hands of Providence.
+
+Dr. Kurtz was for a large part of the nineteenth century a distinguished
+leader in the General Synod. He contributed to the establishment of the
+Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and he was the founder of the
+Missionary Institute, now the Susquehanna University, at Selinsgrove. He
+died in 1865. His grave is in the campus of the University of which he
+was the founder.
+
+But who were these immigrants and how did they come to be exiles? This
+is another story; but it has to be told, because in the providence of
+God it is connected with the history of the Lutherans in New York.
+
+In the early years of the nineteenth century there occurred a remarkable
+religious awakening in Germany. This awakening had much to do with a
+revival of Lutheranism. It had been greatly strengthened at least by the
+publication of the Ninety-five Theses of Claus Harms in 1817, on the
+occasion of the tercentenary of the Reformation, and it in turn
+stimulated the Lutheran consciousness of multitudes who had been carried
+away by the rationalistic movement of the eighteenth century. The
+publication of the royal Liturgy in 1822 and the forcible measures of
+the king in ordering a union of the Lutheran and Reformed churches of
+the kingdom called forth the staunch opposition of the Lutherans. This
+ended in a widespread agitation which sent multitudes of families to a
+land where one of the chief fruits of the Lutheran Reformation, that of
+religious liberty, could be enjoyed.
+
+The notable thing about the entrance of a few of these people into our
+New York life was that it injected new ideas into the stagnant mentality
+of the period. That the men who brought them were brusque and exclusive,
+was of small account. When Stohlmann, who had recently been called to
+St. Matthew's Church, visited Pastor Oertel in his attic room, his
+Lutheranism, with a sly allusion perhaps to the stairs, was promptly
+challenged by the remark: "You climbed up some other way."
+
+Nor did it matter that on some points the new comers themselves were not
+agreed? The Prussians, later known as "Buffalonians," led by Grabau, had
+a hierarchical theory of the ministerial office. The Saxons, later known
+as "Missourians," led by Walther, had the congregational theory of
+church government. For a score of years a titanic conflict was waged
+between these two parties. It ended in a decisive victory for
+"Missouri." Today "Buffalo" numbers 49 congregations, "Missouri" 3,689.
+
+The Houston Street party in 1839 held hierarchical views. Subsequently
+they adopted the congregational theory of the church and established in
+1843 the first "Missouri" congregation in New York under Pastor Brohm.
+After several removals the congregation settled at Ninth Street and
+Avenue B, where it still maintains its place of worship.
+
+The chief field of the "Missourians," as their name indicates, is in the
+West. And yet in Greater New York they number 51 churches and many more
+in the suburbs. They maintain numerous missions among special classes.
+At Bronxville they have a college. They alone of all Lutherans make a
+serious effort to conduct parochial schools. More than any other
+variety of Lutherans do they educate their promising young men for the
+ministry.
+
+But, as has already been intimated, the chief significance of their
+entrance into New York history is that thenceforth Lutherans had to give
+an account of their Lutheranism. Whether you agreed with them or not,
+you had to take sides and give a reason for the hope that was in you.
+They brought about that "contiguity of conflicting opinions" which is a
+condition of all progress.
+
+Ten years later a different class of German immigrants came to our city.
+The Revolution of 1848 had resulted unsuccessfully for the friends of
+political freedom, and many were compelled to take refuge in America.
+Some were professional men of ability and high standing, whose
+contribution to the intellectual life of our city was considerable.
+Others were only half educated, young men who had not completed their
+studies in the University, but, intoxicated with the new ideas, had
+thrown themselves with the enthusiasm of youth into the conflict for
+freedom. Here they were like men without a country, aliens from the
+Fatherland, and in America incapable of comprehending a state without a
+church and a church without a state.
+
+Few of these found their way into the Lutheran churches of New York.
+They were the intellectuals of the German community and had outgrown the
+religion of their countrymen who still adhered to the old faith.
+
+Our churches received but little support from this large and influential
+class. Many of them had long since renounced allegiance to Jesus, and in
+the free air of America looked upon churches as anachronisms and
+hearthstones of superstition. Their influence upon the common people and
+upon the social life of the German community was hostile to that of
+Christianity. The churches had to get along without them, or rather, in
+spite of them. There were notable exceptions. But as a rule the
+"Achtundvierziger" did not go to church.
+
+Still, in spite of their unchurchly views, most of them were unable to
+shake off wholly the forms of their ancestral religion. There were too
+many remnants (_superstites_) of the old faith binding them to ancient
+customs. Independent ministers with no synodical relations, with or
+without certificate of ordination, or the endorsement of organized
+congregations, unmindful of the _nisi vocatus_ clause in the Augsburg
+Confession, helped to maintain the forms of an inherited Christianity by
+performing such ministerial acts as were required by the people. At one
+time these free lances were quite numerous. At present no
+representatives survive in New York.
+
+But there was another class of immigrants that came to us from the
+Fatherland. They, too, sought to escape from political and economical
+conditions that had rested like an incubus upon a divided country for
+centuries. But they brought with them a spirit of Christian aspiration
+and the ripe fruit of a traditional Christian culture which became a
+priceless contribution to our own church life. They were men and women
+from all corners of Germany, who had come under the inspiration of the
+religious awakening to which reference has already been made. They
+became leading workers in our congregations and Christian enterprises.
+We, whose privilege it was to minister to them, knew well that we were
+only reaping where others far away and long ago had sown.
+
+The inability of the Lutheran Church to supply an adequate ministry for
+this vast immigrant population left the way open also for other
+Protestant churches to do mission work among the lapsed members of our
+communion.
+
+A number of churches were established where services in the beginning
+were held in the German or Scandinavian languages. Through Sunday
+Schools and other agencies many Lutheran children were gathered into
+their congregations where they and their children are now useful and
+honored members of the church. A goodly number of eminent ministers in
+various non-Lutheran Protestant churches of this city are the children
+or grandchildren of Lutheran parents.
+
+[illustration: "Carl F. E. Stohlmann, D.D."]
+
+With this general outlook over the period, let us take up the thread of
+our story.
+
+On the death of the elder Geissenhainer in 1838, Karl Stohlmann, a
+native of Schaumburg Lippe, was called from Erie, Pennsylvania, to be
+his successor. For thirty years the pastor of the Walker Street Church
+was an important figure among the Lutherans of this city. The scope of
+this book will not permit an adequate account of his labors. He died on
+Sunday morning, May 3d, 1868, just as his congregation was entering a
+larger house of worship at the corner of Broome and Elizabeth Streets.
+
+Dr. Geissenhainer, Jr., retired from the English work of St. Matthew's
+Church in 1840 and organized a German congregation, St. Paul's, on the
+west side, which he served as pastor until his death in 1879 in the 82d
+year of his age.
+
+On the East Side, Trinity was organized in 1843, St. Mark's in 1847, St.
+Peter's in 1862, Immanuel, in Yorkville, in 1863, and St. John's in
+Harlem in 1864. On the West Side St. Luke's was established in 1850, St.
+John's in 1855 and St. Paul's in Harlem in 1864. The first Swedish
+congregation, Gustavus Adolphus, was organized in 1865.
+
+Within the present limits of Brooklyn six German and one English
+churches were established during this period. On the territory of each
+of the other boroughs, Bronx, Queens and Richmond, two German churches
+came into being.
+
+After the Revolution of 1848 in Germany, immigration to America
+increased by leaps and bounds, and within the time under review New York
+was referred to as the fourth German city in the world. But the Germans,
+as we have seen, did not all go to church. The existing churches, it is
+true, were well filled, but a large proportion of the population, torn
+from the stable environment of their homeland life, and transplanted
+into the new conditions of a crowded city, failed to respond to the
+claims of their ancestral religion.
+
+In our church polity there was no adequate provision for the needs of
+such an immense and ever expanding population. Now and then a
+broadminded pastor would encourage the planting of a church in some
+needy field, but too often the establishment of a new mission was looked
+upon as an encroachment on the parochial rights of the older
+congregation. At this point in the congregational polity of our church
+the absence of a directing mind and a unifying force was sorely felt.
+
+The condition of immigrants at the port of New York was for many years a
+public scandal. In 1847 the State of New York appointed Commissioners of
+Immigration. Under the Act of March 3, 1891, the Commissioner was
+appointed by the Federal Government.
+
+Before this was done, the helpless immigrants were the prey of countless
+vampires, chiefly in the form of "runners," agents of boarding houses
+and transportation companies. These pirates of the land exacted a heavy
+toll from all foreigners who ventured to enter our city by way of the
+steerage.
+
+[illustration: "Pastor Wilhelm H. Berkemeier"]
+
+In 1864 Robert Neumann, who had been a co-laborer with Gutzlaff, a
+pioneer missionary in China, established an Immigrant Mission at Castle
+Garden and succeeded in awakening an interest in this cause.
+
+A few years later, in the subsequent period, the churches took up the
+question of providing for the needs of the immigrants.
+
+The Deutsches Emigrantenhaus was incorporated in 1871. Pastor Wilhelm
+Heinrich Berkemeier became the first housefather. His unflagging zeal
+gave strong support to a much-needed work of love. His venerable
+personality was a benediction to his contemporaries.
+
+In the course of the years eight Lutheran Immigrant Houses and Seamen's
+Missions have been established at this port and are doing effective
+Christian work.
+
+Toward the close of this period, in 1864, a seed was planted on the
+Wartburg near Mount Vernon which has grown to be a great tree.
+
+Peter Moller, a wealthy layman, had met with a great sorrow in the death
+of his son. He was planning to expend a large sum for a monument in
+memory of this son, when Dr. Passavant, an eminent worker in behalf of
+invalids and orphans, called upon him, perhaps with the hope of
+obtaining a contribution for some of his numerous charities. To him Mr.
+Moller confided his purpose. It did not take long to outline the plan of
+a nobler memorial than the proposed shaft in Greenwood. With $30,000 a
+hundred acres of land were bought and a house of mercy was established
+which for fifty years has been a blessing not only to the orphans who
+have been sheltered and trained there, but also to the churches of New
+York that have been privileged to contribute to its support.
+
+Its first housefather was George Carl Holls, one of the brethren of
+Wichern's Rauhe Haus near Hamburg. In 1886 he was succeeded by Pastor
+Gottlieb Conrad Berkemeier, who with the help of his wife, Susette
+Kraeling, has brought the institution to a position of great prosperity
+and usefulness.
+
+[illustration: "The Wartburg at Mount Vernon"]
+
+
+In the Nineteenth Century
+1866-1900
+
+Three factors combined to make this period eventful in our history:
+confessionalism, immigration and the transportation facilities that led
+to a Greater New York.
+
+At the close of the Civil War we had 24 Lutheran churches on the
+territory now included in Greater New York. Two of these were English
+and the rest were German. At the close of the century the record stood:
+Yiddish, 1; English, 17; Scandinavian, 19; German and German-English,
+60.
+
+The tide of confessionalism which had been rising in Europe for half a
+century touched America in the forties and reached a high water mark
+during the period under review. The question of subscription to the
+symbols of the Book of Concord became the chief subject of discussion
+among our theologians.
+
+In 1866 a number of pastors and churches, under the leadership of Pastor
+Steimle, severed their connection with the Ministerium for confessional
+reasons. They formed a new synod which adopted all the Confessions and
+took a firm stand in opposition to membership in secret societies.
+
+The "Steimle" Synod, as it was usually called, disbanded in 1872, its
+members going, some to the Missouri Synod, others to the Ministerium.
+Their organ, the Lutherisches Kirchenblatt, was merged with the
+Lutherischer Herold.
+
+Pastor Steimle died in 1880. He was a devout man, a rugged personality,
+beloved by his people and esteemed by his colleagues. His congregation
+in Brooklyn, now served by the pastors Kraeling, father and son, is one
+of the strong churches of the city.
+
+One of the early members of the congregation, whose support meant much
+for his pastor, was Jacob Goedel. He subsequently returned to Germany
+and spent his latter years in the city of Koeln on the Rhine.
+
+In 1888 I spent a memorable week in Koeln. The history of the city
+antedates the Christian era. Its cathedral is a fane of wonderful
+beauty. In the Reformation Koeln joined the Lutheran forces and for
+eighty years two of its archbishops were Lutheran pastors. The
+"Consultation" of Archbishop Hermann is one of the liturgies of the
+Lutheran Church. It played a prominent part in the construction of the
+Anglican Book of Common Prayer. Owing to political jealousies among the
+Protestants, the fortunes of war restored the city and the cathedral to
+the Catholics. Until recent times Protestantism was an almost negligible
+force in Koeln. At the time of my visit the Protestant Churches were
+very efficient in all kinds of religious and social work and had an
+influence in the City Council out of all proportion to their numbers.
+Inquiring into the reason of this change I was told that it was largely
+owing to the labors of a man by the name of Jacob Goedel who had come to
+them from America and had introduced American methods of church work
+into Koeln.
+
+[illustration: "Gottlob Frederick Krotel, D.D., LL.D."]
+
+In 1867 another synodical split took place. The New York Ministerium
+separated from the General Synod on confessional grounds and took part
+in the organization of the General Council. Thereupon most of the
+English-speaking members, occupying a milder confessional basis, left
+the Ministerium, formed the Synod of New York and united with the
+General Synod.*
+     *The author's connection with the work in New York began about this
+time. After graduation at Yale College in 1865, he found employment in a
+New York library, and soon after matriculated as a student in Union
+Theological Seminary. The needs of Protestant Germans on the East Side
+attracted him into mission work which resulted in the formation of a
+congregation of which he took pastoral charge upon his ordination by the
+Synod of New York, October 19th, 1868.
+
+The lines of three synodical bodies, General Council. [sic] General
+Synod and Synodical Conference, that is "Missouri," were now distinctly
+drawn and for the rest of the century the relations of Lutheran
+ministers and churches were sharply defined. Ministers were kept busy
+in explaining the differences, but it is to be feared that some of the
+laymen did not always understand.
+
+In 1868 members of St. James Church, who sympathized with the attitude
+of the General Council in favor of a stricter confessional basis,
+organized a new English congregation, Holy Trinity, of which Dr. Krotel
+became the first pastor. Dr. Wedekind was called to St. James. Both men,
+pastors of English congregations, had come from Germany in their early
+youth, were educated in American schools and were thoroughly acquainted
+with American institutions. For a generation these two men, each in his
+own sphere, on opposite sides of a high synodical fence, contributed
+much to the growth and progress of the churches in this city.
+
+Immigration from Lutheran lands continued to increase and reached its
+high water mark in this period.
+
+Prior to 1867 there were few Swedes in New York. In 1870 they numbered
+less than 3,000. The immigrants were chiefly farmers who settled in the
+West. In 1883 large numbers began to come from the cities of Sweden and
+these settled in the cities of the East. In 1900 the census credited
+New York with 29,000 Swedes. In 1910, including the children, there were
+57,464, of which 56,766 were Protestants.
+
+The first Swedish Lutheran church was organized in 1865 by Pastor
+Andreen who had been sent here for this purpose by the Augustana Synod.
+Among the first trustees was Captain John Ericsson, the inventor of
+the Monitor. Its first pastor was Axel Waetter, a cultured minister of
+the Swedish National Church.
+
+At present there are fourteen Swedish Lutheran churches in New York
+reporting a membership of 8,626 souls.
+
+An Immigrant House in Manhattan, a Home for the Aged and an Orphans'
+Home in Brooklyn, and Upsala College in Kenilworth, N. J., represent
+the institutional work of the Swedish Lutherans.
+
+To Pastor Lauritz Larsen I am indebted for the following sketch of our
+Norwegian churches:
+
+"The Norwegians have always been a sea-faring people and a people
+looking for fields of labor all over the World. The real immigration
+begins about 1849, but there were Scandinavians on Manhattan Island in
+the Sixteenth Century. The Bronx is named after a Danish farmer, Jonas
+Bronck.
+
+"I believe that the first Norwegian Lutheran Church in New York was
+organized by Lauritz Larsen, then Norwegian Professor in Theology at
+Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, who stopped here for a while on his way
+to and from Norway in the early sixties. The first resident pastor was
+Ole Juul, who came to New York in 1866 and labored here until 1876,
+when he was succeeded by Pastor Everson, who was actively engaged as
+pastor in New York and Brooklyn from 1873, until 1917, when failing
+health compelled him to retire.
+
+"At present, the Norwegian Lutheran churches of Greater New York are
+carrying on an active and aggressive work. Their total membership is not
+as large as it might be. Partly because the Norwegians coming here from
+the State Church do not at once realize the importance or necessity of
+becoming members of local congregations, but have the idea that as long
+as they attend services, have their children baptized and confirmed, and
+so forth, they are members of the church. The report of the membership
+of the churches is therefore, hardly a correct indication of the number
+of people reached or even the strength of the Norwegian Lutherans in the
+Metropolis.
+
+"The language question is one of great difficulty. Many of our people
+live, as it were, with one foot in Norway and one in America; and are
+thinking of returning to the old country at some time or other. There is
+also a constant influx of new people from Norway which makes it
+imperative to have Norwegian services constantly. On the other hand, the
+young people are rapidly Americanized and prefer to use the language of
+the country, which necessitates English work, and where this demand is
+made, the young people are, generally speaking, quite loyal to their
+church, but it is no easy matter to satisfy both elements and to keep
+the old and the young together in the same church.
+
+"The Norwegians have been very active in Inner Mission and Social
+Service work. As witness: the organization of the Norwegian Lutheran
+Deaconesses' Home and Hospital about thirty years ago. This institution
+has now grown to be the largest Norwegian charitable institution in the
+country and has a splendidly equipped modern hospital and an excellent
+Sisters' Home, which together represent a value of $500,000. It is not
+owned by a church, but is owned and controlled by a corporation of
+Norwegian Lutherans.
+
+"The churches have directly been engaged in Inner Mission work for a
+number of years, and now have three city missionaries constantly at
+work. The institutions conducted by this branch of the service are the
+Bethesda Rescue Mission at Woodhull St., Brooklyn, the Day Nursery at
+46th St., Brooklyn, and an extensive industrial plant also in Brooklyn.
+Besides the Inner Mission has purchased land on Staten Island and
+erected a cottage there for a summer colony for poor children. The
+Norwegians of New York have also built a modern Children's Home at
+Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. Although this is not owned by the church, but
+by a corporation of Norwegians, its constitution provides that the
+religious instruction should be based upon Luther's Small Catechism. The
+Home is now taking care of sixty children, and is in charge of a
+Deaconess from the local mother house mentioned above. A new Inner
+Mission Agency was started two years ago when the late C. M. Eger
+bequeathed a large sum of money for the establishment of the Old
+People's Home in connection with Our Saviour's Lutheran Church. At
+present it is located in his former home, 112 Pulaski Street, and will,
+no doubt, be of great importance for our church work in the future."
+
+The statistics of the Scandinavian churches are presented in part in
+the following table. The figures of the first and second lines are
+taken from the United States Census of 1910. They include the children
+where one or both parents are of foreign descent. Those of the third
+line are obtained by deducting 10 per cent. from the number of
+Protestants, in the second line. The number of "souls," fourth line, is
+the aggregate number of baptized persons, old or young, connected with
+or related to the respective congregations.
+
+                        Swedes Norwegians Danes  Finns  Total
+     1. Population      53,464 34,733     13,197 10,304 116,698
+     2. Protestants     56,766 33,344     11,996 10,304 112,410
+     3. Lutherans       51,090 30,010     10,797  9,274 101,171
+     4. Souls            8,365 10,433        950  2,540  22,288
+     5. Communicants     3,829  2,152        422    840   7,643
+     6. No. of Churches     13     12          3      3      31
+
+Prior to 1871 Germans were a negligible quantity in the political
+history of Europe. Divided into a multitude of tribes, with divergent
+interests, for centuries they had no political standing and were the
+football of the nations around them. From Louis XIV to the Corsican
+invader, except during the reign of Frederick the Great, their history
+was one of political incohesion and economic poverty.
+
+Even in New York they were looked upon as aliens in the city which they
+had helped to found and where in three centuries their sons had stood in
+the forefront of the battle for freedom. The names of Jacob Leisler, of
+the seventeenth century, Peter Zenger of the eighteenth century, Franz
+Lieber and Karl Schurz of the nineteenth century are indelibly inscribed
+among the champions of freedom in America. Yet fifty years ago "Dutch"
+in New York had almost the same evaluation that "Sheeny" and "Dago" have
+today.
+
+In 1871 the divergent fragments of the German people, after many futile
+experiments in their history, at last attained national unity. The
+Germans of New York celebrated the event with a procession which made a
+deep impression upon the city. From that day forward they were no longer
+held below par in popular estimation. This became manifest in the
+success of their efforts in the field of social and religious work.
+Thirty German churches were added to the roll before the close of the
+century.
+
+The completion of the Elevated Lines in 1879 and the Brooklyn Bridge in
+1883 changed the course of history for our Lutheran congregations. For
+decades the ever-increasing hosts of immigrants had been interned in
+unwholesome tenements on a narrow island. Now ways of escape were found.
+Wide thoroughfares led in every direction. The churches in Brooklyn and
+Bronx grew rapidly in numbers and in strength.
+
+It was hard for those of us who still held the fort on Manhattan Island
+to see the congregations we had gathered with painstaking effort
+scattering in every direction, especially to lose the children and the
+grandchildren of our faithful families. But when we saw them in the
+comfortable homes and open spaces of the suburbs, who could wish them to
+return to the hopeless atmosphere of the tenements? From this time
+forward the churches of the surrounding boroughs grew rapidly, largely
+at the expense, however, of the churches of Manhattan.
+
+From 1881 to the close of the century Bronx added nine churches,
+Richmond five, Brooklyn and Queens thirty-two to the roll. Manhattan, it
+is true, also added eleven churches, but they were all above
+Forty-second Street, most of them far uptown.
+
+The tenth of November, 1883, was a red letter day in our calendar. It
+was the quadricentennial of Luther's birthday. The preparations for the
+celebration met with a hearty response in the city. The large dailies
+gave much space to the occasion. Dr. Seiss delivered a memorable address
+in Steinway Hall. Under the auspices of the Evangelical Alliance a
+distinguished company gathered in the Academy of Music and heard William
+Taylor and Phillips Brooks deliver orations of majestic eloquence.
+
+The celebration gave a marked impulse to our church work. Our
+congregations increased in numbers and in influence. Its chief value was
+in its efeet [sic] upon the young people. Hitherto they hardly
+comprehended the significance of their church. Its services were
+conducted in a language which they understood with difficulty. As they
+grew up and established new homes in the suburbs where there were few
+churches of their faith, they easily drifted out of their communion. A
+great change came over them at this time. They began to take an active
+interest in church questions and in church extension. As they followed
+the inevitable trend to the suburbs they connected themselves with
+churches of their faith or organized new ones and became active workers
+in them. The remarkable increase of congregations in the entire
+Metropolitan District was to a large extent owing to the impulse derived
+from the quadricentennial of 1883.
+
+When Lutherans of various churches and synods were thus brought together
+there was one thing that puzzled them. They could not understand why
+there should be so many kinds of Lutherans and why they should have so
+little to do with one another. This feeling soon found expression in the
+organization of societies of men interested in the larger mission of the
+Church.
+
+In 1883 the Martin Luther Society was organized by such laymen as Arnold
+J. D. Wedemeyer, Jacob F. Miller, John H. Tietjen, Jacob A.
+Geissenhainer, George P. Ockerhausen, Charles A. Schieren, John H.
+Boschen and others, originally for the purpose of preparing a suitable
+celebration of the Luther Quadricentennial. In this effort they were
+successful. In addition to their local work in the interest of the
+celebration they secured the erection of a bronze statue of Luther in
+Washington.
+
+But the chief reason for the organization of the Society was indicated
+in a letter sent to the pastors and church councils of the Lutheran
+churches of New York and vicinity which read in part as follows:
+
+"In view of the efforts made all around us to bring about a closer and
+more harmonious relation between the various Protestant denominations,
+the Martin Luther Society of the City of New York respectfully begs you
+to consider whether the time has not come to make an effort to bring
+about, if not a union, at least a better understanding and more
+fraternal intercourse between the Lutherans themselves. We all deplore
+the divisions that separate us; we believe that the reasons for these
+divisions are more imaginary than real, and we are persuaded that a free
+and frank interchange of opinions will materially help to remove
+whatever obstacles may be in the way.
+
+"We surely recognize the fact that our Lutheran Church does not command
+that influence or maintain that position in this city and vicinity which
+its history, purity of doctrine and conservative policy entitles it to;
+and we may be sure that just so long as our divisions continue, loss of
+membership and prestige, increasing weakness, and final disaster, will
+be our lot.
+
+"Brethren, in unity is strength. Earnestly desiring to do what we can to
+bring it about, we ask the pastors of our Church and their church
+officers to take this important matter into consideration, and to take
+steps to participate in a meeting in this behalf which the Martin Luther
+Society proposes to hold on Tuesday evening, January 22d, 1889, in the
+hall of the Academy of Medicine, No. 12 West 31st Street, in this city."
+
+The annual banquet of the Martin Luther Society was an important
+function. Distinguished speakers lifted high the banner of Lutheranism,
+and good fellowship began to be cultivated among the representatives of
+churches and synods hitherto unacquainted with each other. Nearly all of
+its members have passed on and the Society is only a memory among a few
+survivors of those who shared its genial hospitality and recall the
+kindly fellowship of its meetings. The Martin Luther Society blazed the
+trail for the wider path on which we are walking today, and it deserves
+to be held in honored remembrance.
+
+A few years later, in 1888, the younger men caught the inspiration and
+established The Luther League. The organization soon extended to other
+parts of the State and subsequently to the entire country. It has
+splendidly attained its objective, that of rallying and training the
+young people in the support and service of the church. Its official
+organ, The Luther League Review, is published in this city under the
+editorship of the Hon. Edward F. Eilert. Eleven hundred members are
+enrolled in the local Leagues of New York City.
+
+The first practical attempt of the ministers to get together was in the
+organization of "Koinonia." This took place in the home of the writer in
+1896. The society meets once a month for the purpose of discussing the
+papers which each member in his turn is required to read. Representing
+as it does Lutherans of all kinds, species and varieties, it serves as a
+clearing house for the theological output of the members. It has been
+helpful in removing some of the misunderstandings that are liable to
+arise among men of positive convictions.
+
+On the third Sunday in Advent, 1898, Sister Emma Steen, of Richmond,
+Indiana, the first Lutheran deaconess to engage in parish work in New
+York, was installed in Christ Church. She had received her preparation
+for this ministry in the motherhouse at Kaiserswerth on the Rhine, and
+was one of the first six sisters to enter the motherhouse of the General
+Synod in Baltimore. After four years of faithful service she was
+succeeded by Sister Regena Bowe who has now for fifteen years by her
+devoted work illustrated the value of the female diaconate in the work
+of our churches in New York. Deaconeses are now laboring in seven of
+our churches. They are needed in a hundred congregations.
+
+The revival of this office is due to the genius and zeal of Pastor
+Fliedner who established the first motherhouse at Kaiserswerth on the
+Rhine in 1833. In America there are eight motherhouses with an
+enrollment of 378 sisters.*
+     *In 1885 the author was appointed chairman of a committee of the
+General Synod to report on the practicability of establishing the office
+of deaconess in the parish work of our American churches. In pursuit of
+information he visited the principal Deaconess Houses of Europe. His
+reports were published in the Minutes of the Synod from 1887 to 1897 and
+contributed to the introduction of the office into the Synod's scheme of
+church work.
+
+The years under review, the closing period of the nineteenth century,
+were years of stress and storm in our synodical relations. But the
+questions that divided us did not stop the practical work of the synods.
+Under the stimulus of a generous rivalry some things were accomplished
+and foundations were laid for still larger work in the new century.
+
+
+In the Twentieth Century
+1900-1918
+
+Our churches entered the twentieth century with hope and cheer. With an
+enrollment of 94 congregations in the greater city and an advance patrol
+of many more in the Metropolitan District, it had become an army of
+respectable size among the forces striving for the Christian uplift of
+our city.
+
+What a contrast between this picture and that of our church at the
+beginning of the nineteenth century! Then two moribund congregations
+were feebly holding the fort. One of these soon surrendered, "on account
+of the present embarrassment of finances." Now a compact army had
+already been assembled, while new races and languages were beginning to
+reinforce our ranks. Even the English contingent, which had so long
+maintained an unequal fight, was securely entrenched in four boroughs
+with seventeen congregations on its roll.
+
+At this writing, in May, 1918, we number in Greater New York 160
+churches with an enrollment of sixty thousand communicant members. At
+the close of the nineteenth century, in 1898, we had 90 churches with
+43,691 communicants. The rate of increase in twenty years was 35 per
+cent., not very large but sufficiently so to awaken favorable comment
+from Dr. Laidlaw, an expert observer of church conditions in this city.
+In 1904, in an article in "Federation," on "Oldest New York," he wrote
+as follows:
+
+"There are now over fifty Christian bodies in this city, and "Oldest
+New York's" history shows the fatuity of expecting that the
+heterogeneous population of the present city will all worship in the
+same way within the lifetime of its youngest religious worker. Man's
+thoughts have not been God's thoughts, nor man's ways God's ways, in the
+mingling of races and religions on this island. The Lutheranism that so
+sorely struggled for a foothold in the early days is now the second
+Protestant communion in numbers, and its recent increment throughout
+Greater New York, contributed to by German, Scandinavian, Finnish and
+many English Lutheran churches, has exceeded that of any other
+Protestant body."
+
+The causes which contributed to our progress in the latter part of the
+nineteenth century were still effective. The consolidation of Greater
+New York, bringing together into one metropolis the scattered boroughs,
+marked the advent of a Greater Lutheran Church in New York. The bridges
+and the subways, the telephone and the Catskill Aqueduct, public works
+of unprecedented magnitude, were among the material foundations of the
+new growth of our churches.
+
+We were beginning to reap in the second and third generations the fruits
+of the vast immigration of the nineteenth century.
+
+A new era began for the use of the English language. There had been a
+demand for English services as early as 1750, but in the eighteenth and
+the greater part of the nineteenth centuries it had not been met. Fifty
+years ago, with its two churches, and even twenty-five years ago with
+four churches, English was a forlorn hope. The advance began in the last
+decade of the 19th century when twelve English churches were organized.
+In 1900 there were seventeeen English churches on the roll. Since then
+32 have been added, five in Bronx, fifteen in Brooklyn, eleven in
+Queens, one in Richmond. Besides these forty-nine churches in which the
+English language is used exclusively, almost all of the so-called
+foreign churches use English to a greater or less extent as the needs of
+the people may require.
+
+But there was a deeper reason for the growth of our church. Ever since
+the Luther Centennial of 1883 the young people of our churches had begun
+to understand not only the denominational significance of their church
+but also something of its inner characteristics and life. In various
+groups, in Manhattan, Bronx and Brooklyn, they got together and
+organized English congregations in which an intelligent Lutheran
+consciousness prevailed.
+
+The Home Mission and Church Exension Boards of the General Synod
+recognized the importance of the moment in the metropolis of America and
+gave their effective aid. In Brooklyn and Queens the work received large
+support from Charles A. Schieren and the Missionary Society with which
+he co-operated. Sixteen churches were established through the aid of
+this Society. Schieren was a native of Germany but he early saw the
+importance of reaching the people in the language which they could best
+understand. As a citizen he was public spirited and progressive. From
+1894 to 1895 he was mayor of Brooklyn.
+
+The pastors of these incipient congregations were men of vision who had
+been attracted to the work in New York by its difficulty and its
+opportunity. They came from different seminaries and synodical
+associations and they had to minister to congregations in which all
+varieties of the older churches were represented. But they soon learned
+to cooperate with one another in measures looking to the larger
+interests of the entire field. Team work became possible. A stimulus was
+given to the work such as had never before been felt in the Lutheran
+churches of New York.
+
+A Ministers' Association, to which all Lutheran pastors of the
+Metropolitan District, are eligible, was organized in 1904. Its monthly
+meetings brought about a mutual understanding and fostered a fraternal
+spirit that have been of great value in the promotion of the general
+work of the church.
+
+The synod of New York and New England, composed of the English churches
+of the New York Ministerium was organized in 1902. It found its special
+mission in planting and rearing English missions in the new sections of
+the greater city. It has added nine English churches to the roll.
+
+The Synod of New York, a merger of the New York and New Jersey, the
+Hartwick and the Franckean synods also devoted itself to the special
+task of caring for the English speaking young people. Under its auspices
+thirteen new churches have been organized. To the indefatigable labors
+of its Superintendent of Missions, Dr. Carl Zinssmeister, much credit is
+due for the success of the work.
+
+The Synod of Missouri, although largely a German body, rivals the other
+synods in its fostering care of the English work. At least thirteen
+English congregations in this city have been organized by "Missouri"
+since the beginning of this century.
+
+The relation of the various boroughs to the growth of the church may be
+seen from the following figures in which the number of communicants in
+1918 is compared with that of 1898.
+
+     Boroughs     1898     1918     Increase
+     Manhattan    21,611   15,928   5,683*
+     Bronx         2,048    5,932   3,884
+     Brooklyn     17,405   28,270  10,865
+     Queens        1,671    7,139   5,468
+     Richmond        956    1,948     992
+                  43,691   59,217  15,526
+   *Decrease
+
+The starred figures for Manhattan call attention to the change of
+population that has taken place in New York, particularly as it affects
+Manhattan. While the total increase of population in New York from 1910
+to 1915 was 667,928 there was a decrease in Manhattan of 193,795.
+
+This decrease in numbers, and still more the substitution of Catholic
+and Jewish peoples to an unprecedented extent for those of Protestant
+antecedents, produced a marked change in the membership of Protestant
+churches. The decline in Protestant membership in Manhattan from 1900 to
+1910, according to Dr. Laidlaw, amounted to 74,012.
+
+It is not surprising therefore that the Lutheran churches were called
+upon to bear their share of the loss. As we have seen, it amounted in
+two decades to 5,623 [sic]. Most of this deficit, 4,042, is chargeable
+to the churches south of Fourteenth Street, where Protestants of all
+denominations fail to hold their own. The balance, 1,837, came from
+other churches south of Forty-second Street.
+
+Three churches were added during the past twenty years, Our Saviour
+(English) in 1898, Holy Trinity (Slovak) in 1904 and a mission of the
+Missouri Synod in 1916 in the Spuyten Duyvil neighborhood, the most
+northern point thus far occupied by us on Manhattan.
+
+For three churches gained there is an offset of four churches lost:
+Bethlehem in East Sixty-fifth Street, Christ Church in West Fiftieth
+Street, Immanuel in East Eighty-third Street and the Danish church in
+Yorkville. The Danish church removed to Bronx while the others effected
+mergers with sister congregations.
+
+The present indications are that we have come to a standstill on
+Manhattan Island and that it is no longer a question of how many
+churches we shall build, but how many we shall lose.
+
+Our assets at present may be described as follows: We have thirty
+congregations, twenty-six of them owning their houses of worship. The
+net value of their property, deducting debts, is $3,160,000. The average
+value of each church is $100,000. Besides the thirty organized
+congregations there are seven missions in which services are maintained
+in the following languages: Finnish, Lettish, Esthonian, Polish, Italian
+and Yiddish.
+
+The number of communicants is 15,978. The number of pupils in the Sunday
+Schools is 7,245. The number of children in eight parochial schools is
+669. The number attending instruction in religion on weekdays, including
+catechumens, is 1,580.
+
+But although our churches in Manhattan are declining in numbers while
+those of the other boroughs are growing, Manhattan still holds the key
+to the city. For generations it will be the community in which the most
+serious problems of church and society will have to be studied and
+solved. Manhattan has strategical value not merely for Greater New York
+but for every city in the land where similar problems must be solved.
+If our churches run away from such a field, we shall never gain a
+victory else where. If we win here, we shall be entitled to a place in
+the legion of honor.
+
+Four higher schools connected with the churches of New York have
+endeared themselves to the hearts of their friends and are giving
+promise of growing usefulness.
+
+Concordia College originated in St. Matthew's Academy, in 1881. After
+years of struggle and sacrifice it was moved to Bronxville in 1908,
+where it occupies a valuable property. It has 110 students.
+
+Wagner College was called into being in 1883 in Rochester. It belongs to
+the New York Ministerium. Numerous pastors in this city are alumni of
+Wagner College. In 1916 it was decided to move the college to New York.
+A splendid property of 38 acres was purchased on Grymes Hill near
+Stapleton, Staten Island, and in the Fall of 1918 it will take up its
+work within the precincts of Greater New York.
+
+Upsala College began as an academy in Brooklyn in 1893. It belongs to
+the Swedish Augustana Synod. It was moved to Kenilworth, N. J., in 1898,
+and became a college in 1904. Within ten years it has contributed more
+than forty pastors, missionaries and teachers to the work of the church.
+
+Hartwick Seminary is on the headwaters of the Susquehanna in Otsego
+County. It is a product of the eighteenth century and not of the
+twentieth. But since Johann Christopher Kunze, pastor of the Old Swamp
+Church, was one of its founders, and since it still contributes pastors
+to the work of the churches in New York, in spite of its distance from
+the city it must not be overlooked in our mention of the schools of New
+York.
+
+Under the auspices of the Inner Mission Society Pastor Buermeyer has
+developed a much-needed work among our brothers and sisters who in their
+old age or by reason of sickness, loneliness or poverty are not reached
+by the ordinary ministrations of the congregation. It is known its the
+City Mission and it will doubtless receive the continued support of all
+who read carefully the 25th chapter of St. Matthew.
+
+The Hospice for Young Men is another form of Inner Mission work in which
+a good beginning has been made.
+
+The Lutheran Society was organized in 1914. "Its object is to promote
+the general interests of the Lutheran Church by encouraging a friendly
+intercourse among its members." At this writing, in 1918, it numbers
+over four hundred members. By bringing together in friendly intercourse
+active churchmen of otherwise widely separately congregations and synods
+it has contributed materially to a better understanding of the aims and
+the tasks of our entire communion.
+
+Under its auspices the quadricentennial anniversary of the Reformation
+was celebrated in this city in a manner worthy of the occasion. The
+executive secretary of the committee, Pastor O. H. Pannkoke, reports as
+follows on the general results of the celebration:
+
+"Two facts are of considerable interest, such as to class them as worthy
+of recording as a permanent accomplishment. In the first place we have
+had the cooperation in this undertaking of every Lutheran synod
+represented in New York, and I believe we have succeeded in carrying
+through the undertaking without violating the confidence placed in us by
+any section of the Lutheran Church.
+
+"In the second place, our Committee has injected into the general
+Reformation influence the question of the wider influence of the
+Reformation. Practically every section of the country has taken up the
+discussion of the religious influence of the Reformation, also of the
+influence of the Reformation on every side of life."
+
+On the roll of Former Pastors, in the Appendix, are recorded the names
+of men who laid the foundations of the present congregations. Their
+labors and their sacrifices entitle them to a place in a book of
+remembrance. Some names are missing. We tried hard to obtain them. For
+these lacunae we offer our apologies to the historians of the next
+centennial. In 1918 we were still struggling with the problem of
+statistics.
+
+Nowhere are ministers forgotten so soon as here in New York. The
+congregations themselves are rapidly engulphed in the ceaseless tides
+of humanity that sweep over the island. Now and then some beloved
+pastor is remembered by some faithful friends, but in a few years the
+very names of the men who built the churches are forgotten. Like the
+knights of old:
+  "Their swords are rust,
+   Their steeds are dust.
+   Their souls are with the saints we trust."
+
+Before ending the story of which a faint outline has here been given, we
+recall with affection and reverence some of the men whose outstanding
+personality has not yet faded from our memory. Their labors prepared the
+ground for the harvests which a younger generation is now permitted to
+reap.
+
+Stohlmann was the connecting link with the earlier periods. He was an
+able preacher, a warm hearted pastor and a conscientious man.
+
+Geissenhainer, the pastor of St. Paul's, which he organized in 1841
+after having been an assistant of his father in St. Matthew's since
+1826, was another connecting link with the past.
+
+Held of St. John's was a pupil of Claus Harms. His eloquent sermons
+attracted great congregations to Christopher Street.
+
+After fourteen fruitful years in St. James' Church, Wedekind was called
+to Christopher Street in November, 1878, to succeed Pastor Held. Here he
+labored for twelve years, edifying the church and inspiring St. John's
+to bcome one of our most efficient congregations. Under his direction at
+least four young men of the congregation were led into the ministry. He
+died April 8, 1897.
+
+[illustration: "Augustus Charles Wedekind, D.D."]
+
+Under a quiet exterior Krotel concealed a forceful personality. He was a
+born leader and took a large part in the development of the General
+Council. As editor of the Lutherischer Herold for three years and of The
+Lutheran for many years his writings had a wide influence. From 1868 to
+1895 he was pastor of Holy Trinity Church. In 1896, in the 71st year of
+his age, he accepted a call to the newly organized Church of the Advent,
+which he served until his death on May 17th, 1907. Under the pen name of
+Insulanus he delighted the readers of The Lutheran for forty years with
+his reflections on men and things in New York. Among his published works
+are a Life of Melanchthon, Meditations on the Beatitudes and
+Explanations of Luther's Catechism.
+
+Julius Ehrhardt was an unassuming, lovable and scholarly Suabian. He
+laid the foundations of St. Paul's in Harlem, when the little wooden
+church stood among the truck gardens. He died in 1899.
+
+Moldenke was a descendant of Salzburg exiles who settled in East Prussia
+in 1731. He came to us from Wisconsin, organized Zion Church which was
+subsequently merged with St. Peter's after he had accepted a call to
+succeed Hennicke in that church. He was an able preacher and a scholarly
+writer. Under his leadership St. Peter's became a strong congregation.
+In 1872 he contributed a series of articles on _Die Lutheraner des
+Ostens_ to Der Pilger of Reading. A reprint of these articles in book
+form would be a valuable contribution to the story of the Lutherans of
+New York and a fitting memorial of a minister of mark and influence.
+
+Johann Heinrich Sieker was born in Schweinfurth, Bavaria, October 23d,
+1839. He received his theological education at Gettysburg. His early
+ministry was in connection with the Wisconsin Synod. In 1876, when
+Ruperti resigned at St. Matthew's, Sieker was called from St. Paul,
+Minnesota, to become his successor. For 28 years he was the pastor of
+St. Matthew's and a leading minister of the Missouri Synod. In
+synodical matters he was an uncompromising defender of the faith as he
+understood it. He left the record of a singularly devoted and successful
+ministry. At least thirty young men were led into the ministry under his
+influence. Roesner's "Ehrendenkmal," a sketch of his life and character,
+ought to be read by every Lutheran minister in this city. He died in
+1904.
+
+John Jacob Young was a native of the Rhenish Palatinate, born at
+Langenkandel, September 13th, 1846. He came to America in his boyhood.
+He served in the Union army during the Civil War. When the war was over
+he studied for the ministry at Gettysburg. He served a number of
+congregations in Maryland and Indiana till 1893, when he was called to
+the pastorate of St. John's in Christopher Street. Here for 21 years he
+faithfully followed his calling as a shepherd of souls.
+
+Charles Armand Miller came to us from the South. He was born in
+Sheperdstown, West Virginia, March 7, 1864. He was educated at Roanoke
+College and after his ordination he was for a time pastor of the College
+Church. He succeeded Dr. Krotel in Holy Trinity Church in 1896 and gave
+twelve years of devoted and successful service to this congregation. His
+subsequent fields of labor were in Charleston, South Carolina, and in
+Philadelphia. He was a scholarly writer, an able preacher, a sympathetic
+pastor and a loyal friend. Among his published writings were The Perfect
+Prayer, The Sacramental Feast, The Way to the Cross and a volume of
+poems entitled Ad Astra.
+
+[illustration: "Pastor J. H. Sieker"]
+
+He died in the prime of his life, September 9th, 1917. Who that knew him
+will ever forget the genial spirit of Charles Armand Miller?
+
+It would be a congenial task to give a fuller account of these men and
+of Ruperti, Vorberg, Raegener, Hennicke, Waetter, Foehlinger, Koenig,
+Halfmann, Frey, Weissel, Beyer and others whose names and lives a few of
+the older preachers will recall. Perhaps some who read this book will
+accept the suggestion and write accounts of these pioneer workmen. What
+a Ministers' Association they would have formed if we could have gotten
+them together into a conference to discuss the terms of agreement. But
+that was impossible thirty years ago.
+
+A singularly interesting career came to a close just as I was concluding
+these memorial paragraphs. Dr. Charles E. Weltner died in Brunswick,
+Georgia, December 22d, 1917.
+
+He was born in Wilhelmshoehe, January 28th, 1860, where his father
+commanded a company of soldiers in the royal castle. In his early youth
+he was sent to New York to meet a relative whom he never found. One
+Sunday morning, homeless and friendless, he accosted me after service at
+the door of the church. I offered him employment in my office and for
+several years he was an efficient helper in the educational and mission
+work of my parish. Although he was already suffering from defective
+eyesight, which not long afterward resulted in total blindness, he
+expressed an ardent desire to enter the ministry. Under the
+circumstances this seemed to be impossible, but his earnest pleas
+overcame every objection. In 1884 he entered Hartwick Seminary where he
+was graduated with honor in 1888. Unable himself to read the text books,
+his friends read them for him. Especially helpful to him in his studies
+were Professor Hiller and his wife, the daughter of the sainted Dr.
+George B. Miller.
+
+Upon the completion of his course in 1888 he was ordained to the Gospel
+ministry and for the next four years rendered faithful service as the
+assistant of his pastor in Christ Church. Few that heard him would have
+suspected his blindness. His remarkable memory enabled him in conducting
+the Service to use the Bible and the Liturgy as though he could see. In
+the library he could go to the shelves and place his hands upon the
+books that he needed. His reader then supplied him with the material
+needed for study.
+
+In 1893 he took temporary charge of St. John's Church in Christopher
+Street.
+
+In the Fall of 1893 he accepted a call to St. Matthew's Church in
+Augusta, Georgia. His retirement in 1896 to take charge of a mission
+among the cotton mill operatives of Columbia, S. C., was deeply
+regretted not only by his congregation but by the entire city.
+
+Thus far his ministry, however useful it had been, was only a
+preparation for the remarkable work he was called upon to do in South
+Carolina and adjoining states. The mountain whites who had been drawn
+into the cotton mill work of the South were illiterate and but ill
+prepared for their new conditions.
+
+[illustration: "Charles E. Weltner, D.D."]
+
+With the help of his devoted wife, a night school was established.
+Additional schools became necessary. The Columbia Board of Education
+became interested and supplied the teachers while the mill company
+provided for the equipment. Mrs. Weltner helped the girls by creating an
+interest in good housekeeping and in beautifying the homes and their
+surroundings.
+
+The movement extended to other parts of the state and into adjoining
+states, and Dr. Weltner was called upon to explain and direct it. The
+blind man had seen a vision. The homeless youth of New York's East Side
+became the prophet of a new era who turned many to righteousness. His
+eyes now see the King in His beauty.
+
+
+
+THEIR PROBLEMS
+
+
+The Problem of Synods
+
+A synod is an assembly of delegates organized for the purpose of
+administering the affairs of the churches they represent.
+
+Fourteen synods are represented in Greater New York. Some are based on
+differences of doctrine. A volume published in 1893, entitled
+"Distinctive Doctrines and Usages" (See Bibliography), treats of these
+differences. Others are due to differences of language and race.
+
+In some countries a hyperchurchly trend of the national or state church
+is responsible for dissenting movements which, left to themselves,
+finally take the form of separatistic churches. Although these movements
+temporarily persist in America there is no permanent need for them in
+our atmosphere of freedom. Our church has room for many men of many
+minds so long as the essentials of belief are held and respected.
+
+Finns are represented in three synods, Scandinavians in four. These
+nations therefore account for one-half of our fourteen synods. The
+history of the Missouri Synod is one of struggle, sacrifice and
+remarkable growth. For seventy-five years other Lutherans have sought
+fellowship with them, but they decline to hold fellowship with churches
+that are not in full accord with their doctrinal position.
+
+Each of these divisions has some historical reason for its existence
+which cannot be ignored or lightly pushed aside. For various reasons
+each synod emphasizes some phase of church life which in its opinion
+warrants a separate organization. Perhaps some of the progress of the
+last half century may be credited to a wholesome rivalry between these
+various schools of Lutheranism.
+
+On the other hand these synodical divisions among churches holding the
+same substance of doctrine, even when they do not provoke downright
+hostility, are an effective bar to the fraternal alliance so greatly
+needed in our polyglot communion. Our neighbors, too, of other
+Denominations, when they try to understand our meticulous divisions, are
+not unnaturally disposed to look upon us as a conglomerate of sectarian
+religionists rather than as a Church or even as a distinct Denomination.
+In lists of denominational activities our churches figure as G. C.
+Lutherans, G. S. Lutherans, Missouri Lutherans, etc., while all of us
+are frequently called upon to explain whether we belong to the
+Evangelical branch of the Lutherans or not.
+
+Absorbed as we are in the local interests of our individual
+congregations and in the questions that divide us among ourselves, we
+seldom have an opportunity to give expression to outstanding principles
+of our church in such a way as to impress the public mind with a sense
+of their importance.
+
+The question therefore continually recurs, why should these divisions be
+perpetuated among brethren who are agreed on the essentials of Lutheran
+teaching even though they may not have completely assimilated each
+other's minute definitions of theological dogmas. Laymen, more
+interested in practical results, find it hard to understand why there
+should be so many different kinds of Lutherans. Even ministers,
+accustomed as they are to sharp distinctions, sometimes deplore these
+divisions and wonder when they can be healed. They long for the time
+when the adherents of the Augsburg Confession may unite in one great
+body, "beautiful as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army
+with banners."
+
+Alluring as such a prospect may seem, it is not of highest importance in
+a communion which from the beginning emphasized the right of private
+judgment and acquired for the world the right to think for itself in
+matters of conscience and religion. The Church of the Reformation
+derives its strength from unity rather than from union. Theoretically at
+least, it is a communion, a fellowship of believers. Its earliest
+designation was not "The Lutheran Church," but "Churches of the Augsburg
+Confession."
+
+It is consonant therefore with our historic principles to respect the
+gifts and calling of the existing divisions in our churches without
+insisting upon an artificial union which could contribute little to the
+true unity of the church. There are "many members, yet but one body....
+There are differences of administrations, but the same Lord." In our
+mutual relations therefore it behooves us to recognize the rights of the
+individual.
+
+This, however, need not prevent our working and praying for union. If it
+be possible, as much as lieth in us (unless this involves synergistic
+heresy), let us cultivate tolerance and live peaceably with all men,
+especially with all Lutherans.
+
+We have in this city a great field in which there is work for us all. In
+friendly co-operation, rather than in hostile competition, we may escape
+some of the perils of our past history and perform with credit the tasks
+with which at present we seem to be struggling in vain.
+
+The Metropolitan District includes the urban communities within ten
+miles of the boundary line of Greater New York. This territory of a
+hundred and fifty square miles now holds a population of over seven
+millions of people. Our churches in Greater New York minister to a
+baptized membership of 141,642 souls. If we include in our estimates of
+parochial responsibility, not merely enrolled members, but the entire
+Lutheran population of the District, Russians, Poles, Slovaks,
+Bohemians, Hungarians, Letts, Esthonians, Lithuanians, Dutch, Germans,
+Swedes, Norwegians, Finns and Danes, to say nothing of the multitudes of
+American birth from the Hudson and Mohawk valleys, from Pennsylvania,
+Virginia, Ohio and the West, the number of people claiming to be
+Lutherans amounts to more than five hundred thousand souls.
+
+To minister as we should to such a constituency, we need co-operation in
+place of competition. The work of cultivating effectively such a field
+can never be done by churches so hopelessly divided as ours.
+
+Other churches, Protestant and Catholic, with a centralized
+ecclesiastical organization, are able to work together as one body and
+make plans for their work covering the entire Metropolitan District. We,
+with our strong individualism, cannot vie with them. In our polity we
+are extreme congregationalists and must pay for our freedom.
+
+But there is much that our churches have in common. Our flocks are not
+alienated from each other as much as are the shepherds. The formation of
+local groups throughout the greater city, co-operating in common causes,
+or at least refraining from a polemical policy, would pave the way for a
+better understanding of our mutual needs and opportunities for service.
+
+Three things, at least, might be done without compromising the faith or
+violating the spirit of our church life:
+
+1. We might meet for the purpose of forming each other's acquaintance
+and for the discussion of practical questions. Perhaps none of us is
+quite so heretical as the synodical divergence would lead a layman to
+suppose.
+
+2. We might meet for the discussion of vital questions of religion and
+morals. It is one thing to read about these things in books. It is quite
+another thing to listen to a spoken presentation warm with the sympathy
+of a living experience.
+
+3. We might recognize each other's spheres of influence and federate our
+forces in meeting the needs of our vast community.
+
+In the meantime we are slowly learning that the aspirations and
+convictions that unite us are greater than the things that separate us.
+The clearer comprehension of the principles we hold and of the work we
+have to do, and the sense of our responsibility as one of the larger
+communions of the metropolis, compel us more and more to emphasize not
+the unessential details of our theological system but rather the larger
+truths and principles for which we stand and which we hold in common.
+
+A hundred years ago, on the tercentenary of the Reformation, after a
+period of political humiliation and economic distress in the Fatherland,
+the Ninety-five Theses of Claus Harms sounded a call for a Lutheran
+awakening throughout the world. The result of that revival is felt in
+the churches to this day.
+
+The quadricentenary of the Reformation was celebrated amid the
+convulsions of a World War. Is it too much to hope that after this war
+also the ground may be prepared for a spiritual sowing and reaping when
+the unnecessary dissensions of sectarian controversy will give place to
+fraternal co-operation in the service of a common Lord and in the
+promotion of a common faith?*
+     *Since the foregoing paragraphs were written an unexpected change
+in the outlook has taken place. Steps were taken a year ago toward
+bringing together three of the general bodies of the Church in America.
+Should this hope be realized, it will bring into closer union a majority
+of the churches of Greater New York.
+     On May 7th, 1918, at a meeting of nearly one hundred Lutheran
+pastors, members of nearly all of the synods represented on this
+territory, there was organized a "Conference of the Lutheran pastors of
+the Metropolitan District for the discussion of all questions of
+doctrine and practice to the end of effecting unity." This, too, is a
+harbinger of an approaching era of reconstruction and peace.
+
+
+The Problem of Language
+
+It was a Lutheran demand in the sixteenth century to preach the Gospel
+in the vernacular. It would be un-Lutheran in the twentieth century to
+conduct public worship in a language which the people do not understand.
+
+This lesson is written so plainly in the history of our churches in
+America that "he may run that readeth." The Swedish churches on the
+Delaware, planted by Gustavus Adolphus for the very purpose of
+propagating the faith in America, were all of them lost to the Lutheran
+church because the persistent use of the Swedish language, and the
+inability of the pastors to preach in English, proved an insuperable
+obstacle to the bringing up of the children in the Lutheran communion.
+When the New York Ministerium at its meeting in Rhinebeck, September
+1st, 1797, resolved that it would "never acknowledge a newly-erected
+Lutheran Church merely English in places where the members may partake
+of the services of the Episcopal Church, it halted for a century the
+growth of the Lutheran Church in New York. [Tr. note: no close quotation
+marks in original.]
+
+The same experience greets us in London. There the Lutheran Church was
+established in 1669, only five years later than in New York. For more
+than two centuries it had the recognition of royalty. As late as the
+Victorian era Prince Albert, the Queen and the royal family, in their
+personal relations, were connected with the Lutheran Church. To this day
+Queen Alexandra is a communicant in the Lutheran church. There exist
+therefore no social barriers to its growth. Yet not a single English
+Lutheran church is to be found in London.
+
+With one exception the dozen Lutheran churches of other tongues
+recognize no responsibility to propagate the faith of the Augsburg
+Confession in the language of the city in which they live. The exception
+is that of the German "Missouri" congregation. Here English as well as
+German is used in the services. Here alone it would seem that "religion
+is the chief concern."
+
+The language problem confronted us early in our local history. In the
+first hundred years three languages, Dutch, German and English,
+contended for the mastery. In their pastoral work some ministers used
+all three.
+
+Dutch was the first to surrender. The children of Dutch families adopted
+the language of their English conquerors, and when immigration from
+Holland ceased, the use of Dutch in worship became obsolete. The last
+use of Dutch at a Lutheran service was at the communion on the First
+Sunday in Advent in 1771. It had maintained itself for 114 years.
+
+After the use of Dutch in worship had ceased, German and English came
+into collision. It was a fight to a finish. When it was over there was
+little left for which to contend. When Pastor Kunze died, in 1807, the
+congregation had declined almost to the point of extinction. Many of the
+English-speaking families had left us and we thus lost some of our
+leading members, people whose ancestors had for five generations
+belonged to our communion. The Germans remained, but during the lull in
+the tide of immigration the use of German declined to such an extent as
+to imperil the existence even of the German congregation. When Kunze's
+successor arrived he had difficulty in finding members of the church who
+could speak German. Even in the German congregation English had become
+the language of every-day life.
+
+German thrives in German soil. Elsewhere it is an exotic not easily
+cultivated. From their earliest history Germans have had the
+_Wanderlust_ and have sought for new homes as it pleased them. But
+wherever they go they amalgamate with their surroundings.
+
+The Franks settled in Gaul, but, excepting its German name, the language
+retains but few indications of the German ancestry of a large part of
+the French people.
+
+The Goths settled in Spain. Physical traits, blue eyes and blonde
+complexion, persist in some districts, but their descendants speak
+Spanish.
+
+The Longobards crossed the Alps and settled in Italy where their
+children speak Italian, although Lombardy is just across the mountains,
+not far from the early home of their immigrant ancestors.
+
+A notable exception to this tendency of the Germans to amalgamate with
+other nations was when the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain. The island had
+been deserted by the Romans, and the Germans refused for centuries to
+ally themselves with the British inhabitants. They retained their own
+language and customs with but a slight admixture of alien elements.* To
+this day after twelve centuries they prefer to call themselves
+Anglo-Saxons rather than British. (_Nomen a potiori fit._)
+     *"Philologically, English, considered with reference to its
+original form, Anglo-Saxon, and to the grammatical features which it
+retains of Anglo-Saxon origin, is the most conspicuous member of the
+Low German group of the Teutonic family, the other Low German languages
+being Old Saxon, Old Friesic, Old Low German, and other extinct forms,
+and the modern Dutch, Flemish, Friesic, and Low German (Platt Deutsch).
+These, with High German, constitute the 'West Germanic' branch, as
+Gothic and the Scandinavian tongues constitute the 'East Germanic'
+branch, of the Teutonic family. (Century Dictionary under the word
+'English.')"
+
+In the ninth and eleventh centuries the island was invaded by other
+Germanic tribes, directly by way of the North Sea or indirectly by the
+Channel from Normandy, and so the language was developed still further
+along English, that is Germanic lines. (According to the Century
+Dictionary the historical pronunciation of the word is eng'-glish and
+not ing'glish).
+
+Low Germans, (Nether Saxons or Platt Deutsch) who have settled in New
+York in such large numbers, enjoy a distinct advantage over other
+nationalities. In the vernacular of America they discover simply another
+dialect of their native tongue. Hence they acquire the new dialect with
+little difficulty. The simpler words and expressions of the common
+people are almost the same as those which they used on the shores of the
+North Sea and the Baltic. For example: _Wo is min Vader?_ Where is my
+father? _He is in the Hus._ He is in the house. English and German
+sailors from opposite shores of the North Sea, using the simpler words
+of their respective languages, have no trouble in making themselves
+understood when they meet.
+
+The High Germans learn English more slowly, but they, too, find many
+points of contact, not only in the words but also in the grammatical
+construction of the language.
+
+In the United States the descendants of Germans number seventeen
+millions. They have made no inconsiderable contributions to the sum
+total of American civilization. For philological reasons, as we have
+seen, no people are more ready than the Germans to adopt English for
+every-day use. None amalgamate more easily with the political and social
+life of the country of their choice. In normal times we do not think of
+them as foreigners.
+
+English has the right of way. Its composite character makes it the
+language for every-day use. Thirty-five languages are spoken in this
+city, but the assimilative power of English absorbs them all. The Public
+School is the effective agent in the process. This is the melting pot
+for all diversities of speech. Children dislike to be looked upon as
+different from their companions, and so it rarely happens that the
+language of the parents is spoken by the second generation of immigrant
+families. Their elders, even when their "speech bewrayeth" them, make
+strenuous efforts to use the language of their neighbors.
+
+Seeing, then, that Anglicization is inevitable, why should we not cut
+the Gordian knot, and conduct our ministry wholly in the English
+language? This would greatly simplify our tasks, besides removing from
+us the stigma of foreignism.
+
+We are often advised to do so, especially by our monoglot brethren.
+There are those who go so far as to say that the use of any language
+other than the English impairs the Americanism of the user.
+
+Some of the languages at present used in our church services may be of
+negligible importance. The Slovak, Magyar and Finnish for example, as
+well as the Lettish, Esthonian and Lithuanian of the Baltic Provinces,
+will never have more than a restricted use in this city. The
+Scandinavians and those whose vernacular is the Low German easily
+substitute English for their mother tongue. Scandinavian is kindred to
+English, while Low German is the very group of which, philologically
+speaking, English is the most conspicuous member. Upon these tongues it
+will not be necessary to do summary execution.
+
+It is a different matter, however, when we come to High German, or,
+properly speaking, New High German, the language of German literature
+since the sixteenth century, of which Luther, through his version of the
+Bible, may be called the creator. He at least gave it universal
+currency. This is a language which we could not lose if we would, and
+would not if we could.
+
+Scholars are compelled to learn it because it is the indispensable
+medium for scientific and philosophical study. Formerly Latin was this
+medium, today it is German.
+
+Lovers of literature learn it because it is the language of Goethe and
+Schiller, the particular stars of a galaxy that for the modern world at
+least outshines the productions of the ancient classics. Lutherans
+enshrine it in their inmost souls because it is the receptacle of
+treasures of meditation and devotion with which their forms of worship
+have been enriched for four hundred years. To ignore Angelus Silesius,
+Paul Gerhardt, Albert Knapp, Philip Spitta and their glorious compeers,
+would be to silence a choir that sang the praises of the Lord "in notes
+almost divine."
+
+We need the literature in which the ideas of our church have for
+centuries been expressed. Language is the medium of ideas. The thirty
+denominations that constitute the bulk of Protestantism in this country
+derive the spirit of their church life for the most part from
+non-Lutheran sources through the medium of English literature. This is
+as it should be. But when Lutherans no longer understand the language of
+their fathers or the literature in which the ideas of their confession
+have found their fullest expression, they lose an indispensable
+condition of intellectual and spiritual growth. They can never
+understand as they should the spirit of the church to which they belong.
+They are doomed sooner or later to share the fate of the Lutherans of
+New York of the eighteenth century.
+
+When we have forgotten our German we shall be out of touch with the
+Lutherans who come to us from the Fatherland. For the time being the
+World War has put an end to German immigration, but this will not last
+forever. Some time certainly immigration will be resumed, and as in
+former periods will be an unfailing source of supply for the Lutheran
+churches of New York.
+
+In the nineteenth century the "Americanized" Lutherans did not
+understand the Germans who came over in such overwhelming numbers, and
+were unprepared to shepherd them in Lutheran folds. The work had to be
+done by immigrant pastors who, on their part, did not understand the
+American life well enough to accomplish the best results. For the sake
+of the Lutherans who come to us from foreign lands we cannot afford to
+lose touch with the historical languages of their churches.
+
+At the beginning of the nineteenth century the use of German had sunk
+almost to zero. The minutes of the German Society had to be written in
+English because no one was sufficiently versed in German to write them
+in this language. There was nothing to interfere with the supremacy of
+English. Yet the English Lutheran church was unable to "propagate the
+faith of the fathers in the language of the children." Down to the
+beginning of the twentieth century, the English churches were dependent
+for their growth upon accessions from the German and Scandinavian
+churches. They were unable to retain even the families they had
+inherited from their Dutch and German ancestors. We search in vain for
+descendants of the New York Lutherans of the eighteenth century in any
+of our churches.
+
+Not until a new contribution of immigrants from Lutheran lands had been
+made to America did our church begin to rise to a position of influence.
+
+When in the second quarter of the nineteenth century the first
+self-sustaining English Lutheran church was established, the
+Ockershausens and other children of immigrants were the strong pillars
+of its support. From that day to the present time not a single English
+Lutheran church has been established and maintained in this city where
+the Schierens, the Mollers and scores of others, immigrants or the
+children of immigrants, were not the chief supporters of the work.
+Without their effective aid the English Lutherans of the nineteenth
+century would have been swallowed up by "the denominations that are
+around us" as were their predecessors of the eighteenth century.
+
+Some of our Anglo-American neighbors are concerned about our political
+welfare. They advise us to drop the German in order that we may become
+"Americanized."
+
+Many of us are the children of Germans who tilled the soil of America
+before there was a United States of America.
+
+The Germans of the Mohawk Valley won at Oriskany, according to
+Washington, the first battle of importance in the American Revolution.*
+[Tr. note: original has no footnote to go with this asterisk]
+
+The Germans of Pennsylvania, long a neutral colony on account of its
+large English population, obtained the right of suffrage in May, 1776,
+and turned the scale in favor of liberty. Through their vote
+Pennsylvania was brought by a narrow margin into line with Virginia and
+Massachusetts which would otherwise have remained separated and unable
+to make effective resistance against the armies of King George.
+
+The Germans of Virginia followed their Lutheran pastor, Peter
+Muehlenberg, and made memorable the loyalty of American Lutherans.
+Steuben, the drillmaster of the Revolution, transformed the untrained
+and helpless troops of Washington into an effective force capable of
+meeting the seasoned soldiers of Cornwallis and Burgoyne.
+
+Our German ancestors were peasants, unable to write history, but they
+helped to make history. Without their timely aid there would not have
+been a United States of America. Their children do not need to be
+"Americanized." Nor have later immigrants from Germany and Scandinavia,
+at any period of our history, shown less loyalty to American ideals.
+
+We may concede the hegemony of English in the political and intellectual
+life of America, but in a great country like America there is room for
+others also. It is a narrow view of our civilization to make "American"
+synonymous with English. America is not the dumping ground of the
+nations. It is a land where the best ideals of all nations may be
+reproduced and find room for expansion and growth.
+
+The German and Scandinavian churches of New York are not ignorant of the
+importance of the English language in the maintenance of their church
+work. (See table of Churches in the Appendix.) With scarcely an
+exception they make all possible use of English in their services. This
+they are compelled to do in order to reach their children. In this way,
+and by making generous contributions of their members to the English
+churches, they are doing their full share in the general work of church
+extension in the English language.
+
+They send their sons into the ministry to an extent that has not been
+approached by our English churches. (See Appendix under Sons of the
+Church.) Nearly all of these are bi-lingual in their ministerial work
+and many of them serve exclusively English churches. There is a proverb
+about killing the goose that lays the golden egg, which we would do well
+to bear in mind.
+
+Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, founded by Dr. Walther and the Germans
+of Missouri, numbers 344 students. Candidates for graduation must be
+able to minister in at least two languages. In a polyglot church such as
+ours this would seem to be a policy worthy of imitation.
+
+The fifteen languages in which we minister to our people confer upon us
+an honorable distinction. Each one represents an individuality which
+cannot be ignored, some spiritual gift which is worth exercising and
+preserving. By keeping in touch with this many-sided life we enrich our
+own lives, obtain broader conceptions of the church's mission, and fit
+ourselves for more effective service in this most cosmopolitan city of
+the world. Instead of trying to exterminate these languages, let us
+cultivate a closer acquaintance with them and let us pray for that
+pentecostal spirit which will enable us to say "we do hear them speak in
+our tongues the wonderful works of God."
+
+
+The Problem of Membership
+
+Three classes of members are recognized in our churches: 1, Those who
+have been baptized. 2, Those who have been confirmed-that is, those who
+after the prescribed course of instruction and examination have been
+admitted to the communion. 3, Communicants-that is, those who are in
+active fellowship with the church in the use of the word and the
+sacrament.*
+     *The temporal affairs of the congregation as a civic corporation
+are regulated by the State and the qualifications of a voting member are
+defined in the laws of the State. This chapter deals only with the
+question of membership in the church as a spiritual body. In general
+the State readily acquiesces in the polity of the various churches so
+long as it does not interfere with the civic rights of the individual.
+
+There is a fourth class of which no note is taken in our church records.
+It is the class of lapsed Lutherans-that is, of those who have been
+admitted to full communion but who have slipped away and are no longer
+in active connection with the church.
+
+Of these we shall speak in a separate chapter.
+
+It is sometimes charged that the Lutheran communion does not hold clear
+views of the church. On the one hand her confessions abound in
+definitions of the church as a spiritual kingdom, as a fellowship of
+believers. On the other hand her practice frequently reminds our brother
+Protestants of the Catholics, and they are disposed to look upon us as
+Romanists, _minorum gentium_. "Like a will-of-the-wisp," says Delitzsch,
+"the idea of the church eludes us. It seems impossible to find the safe
+middle ground between a false externalism on the one hand and a false
+internalism on the other hand."
+
+The Lutheran position can only be understood when we recall the
+situation that confronted the Reformers in the sixteenth century. They
+had first of all to interpret the teachings of Scripture over against
+Rome, and hence in their earlier confessions they emphasized the points
+on which they differed from the Pope.
+
+According to Romish doctrine a man became a member of the church, not
+by an _interna virtus,_ but solely through an external profession of
+faith and an external use of the sacraments. The church is as visible
+and perceptible an organization as is "the kingdom of France or the
+republic of Venice." The church is an institution rather than a
+communion.
+
+For thirteen centuries, from Cyprian to Bellarmin, this doctrine held
+almost undisputed sway.
+
+The Reformers demonstrated the significance of faith, and showed the
+untenableness of Rome's conception of the church as a mere institution.
+Thomasius calls this a central epoch in the history of the world. But at
+the same time the Reformers had to take a stand against the
+hyperspiritual positions of the fanatics, as well as the teachings of
+the Zwinglians who denied the efficacy of the means of grace. The
+confessions, therefore, as well as the subsequent writings of
+Melanchthon and the dogmaticians, and the entire history and development
+of the Lutheran churches must be read in the light of this two-fold
+antagonism.
+
+The system which the Reformers controverted must have had features
+acceptable to the natural man or it would not have prevailed for so
+many centuries. Hence it is not surprising when Romanism creeps back
+into nominally Protestant churches. It behooves us, therefore, to be on
+our guard and to purge out the old leaven. And the opposite tendency
+which undervalues the visible church, must also be corrected by a
+Scriptural doctrine of the ordinances.
+
+The practice of our churches is a resultant mainly of three forces:
+
+1. Doctrine, defined in the Confessions, modified by Melanchthon's
+later writings and by the dogmaticians of the 17th century, considerably
+influenced also by Spener and the Pietists, while not a little has come
+to us from the Rationalistic period.
+
+2. Tradition, from the civil and social arrangements of the national
+churches from which we are descended, inherited through generations of
+our predecessors in this country. We follow in the old ruts, and "the
+way we have always been doing" puts an end to controversy.
+
+3. Environment. Consciously or unconsciously we are influenced by the
+practice of neighboring denominations.
+
+The object of this chapter is to ascertain the historic principles of
+the Lutheran Church in regard to church membership, to test their
+validity by Scriptures and to apply them to present conditions.
+
+The Church is primarily the communion of saints. Thus in the Small
+Catechism: "even as He (the Holy Ghost) ... sanctifies the whole
+Christian Church on earth." In the Large Catechism the same thought,
+that the Church is the product of the Holy Ghost, is expressed in ample
+terms. Rome's doctrine of the Church, as essentially an external
+organism, was answered in the 7th Article of the Augustana with the
+statement that the Church is the "congregation of saints," and this
+Article was the object of special attack in the Confutation. In the
+Apologia the Church is the congregation of those who confess one Gospel,
+have a knowledge of Christ and a Holy Spirit who renews, sanctifies and
+governs their hearts (Mueller 153, 8). In the Smalcald Articles: "Thank
+God, a child of seven years knows what the Church is, namely the holy
+believers and the lambs who hear their Shepherd's voice." The Formula of
+Concord has no special article on the Church, but touches the question
+incidentally and confirms the statements of the other symbols. (See
+Rohnert, Dogmatik, p. 505.)
+
+These teachings are in harmony with New Testament doctrine. Jesus said:
+"Upon this rock will I build my church," the congregation of God's
+children, the spiritual house which in the years to come "I will build."
+This Church was founded through the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on
+Pentecost. When the Epistles were written Ecclesia had become the
+established term. In Acts 2, 42, we find that Koinonia was one of the
+essential characteristics of the Church. John uses the same term in his
+first letter. This is the very truth repeated in the 7th Article of the
+Augustana. Paul, in his letter to Titus, refers to Christians as those
+who have believed in God; Romans 8, "God's elect;" also in Colossians 3,
+1, "elect of God;" I. Peter 2, "holy nation, peculiar people;" I. Cor.
+1, "Sanctified in Christ Jesus," etc., etc. They form a "spiritual
+house," I. Peter, 2; "God's building," I. Cor, 3; "body of Christ" in
+process of edification, Eph. 4. This body of Christ is an organic unity
+in which the Holy Ghost dwells as in a temple, I. Cor., 3 ; and of which
+Christ is the head, Eph. 1, 22. The Church is the "bride of Christ," II.
+Cor, 11, 2; destined to be "holy and without blemish," Eph., 5, 27.
+
+The Romish doctrine of the Church began with Cyprian in the third
+century. When the Puritans of that day, the Montanists, Novatians and
+Donatists unduly emphasized the ideal character of the Church, there was
+justification for the answer of Cyprian, emphasizing its empiric
+character, its actual condition. When after thirteen centuries of abuse
+of this position a Reformation occurred, it was to be expected that the
+Reformers would first of all emphasize the ideal, the inner character of
+the Church.
+
+But while this movement, which Julius Stahl felicitously termed the
+Conservative Reformation, was going on, there was also a radical
+Reformation which repudiated the idea of a visible church. The
+Romanists, in their confutation of the Augustana, called attention to
+this view, and wrongfully charged the Lutherans with holding it. In
+controverting this position, the Romanists very properly quoted the
+parable of the tares and the parable of the net with all kinds of
+fishes. The Apologia replied by showing that the 8th Article of the
+Augustana had repudiated this position, and that bad men and hypocrites
+were not excluded _ab externa societate_.
+
+Thus the Romanists regard the Church as essentially visible, the
+Reformed, as essentially invisible, while Lutherans hold that she is
+both. The invisible Church is contained within the visible just as the
+soul is contained within the body. The Church is not merely a
+congregation of believers, but also an institution for the promotion of
+the Kingdom of God.
+
+In their controversy with Rome Lutherans held that the Church did not
+exist merely in participation of external rites, but chiefly in the
+possession of the inward life, the heavenly gifts. As yet the kingdom of
+Christ is not revealed, and the visible Church is a _corpus mixtum_.
+Thus the Apologia distinguishes clearly between the _ecclesia proprie et
+large dicta_ (church in the proper and church in the wider sense of the
+term).
+
+Nevertheless this Kingdom of Christ has a visible existence. "We are not
+dreaming of a Platonic commonwealth," says the Apologia, "for it has
+external marks, the preaching of the pure Gospel and the administration
+of the sacraments." And this Church is the "pillar and ground of the
+truth," for she is built upon the true foundation, Christ, and upon this
+foundation Christians are built up.
+
+Subsequently, in his Loci, Melanchthon developed still further the idea
+of the Church as an _institutum_. This may have been because of the
+fanatics, or it may have been because of his entire disposition as a
+teacher and pedagogue. Followed as he was in support of his views by the
+dogmaticians, the Lutheran Church acquired that distinctive character
+which has marked her history as an educating and training force. This
+position is still further explained from the fact that the Lutherans,
+unlike the Reformed, were placed in charge of nations and peoples, and
+had to be responsible for their Christian guidance and training. As a
+national church, her relations to the people were different from those
+of the Reformed, who, on the continent, existed mainly in smaller
+communities and congregations where it was comparatively easy to enforce
+church discipline.
+
+In this relation the Church is not only the product, but also the organ
+of the Holy Ghost. It is her duty to nourish the life of its members
+(_parturit et alit_), and to spread the blessings of the Church to
+others. According to the Large Catechism, she is the spiritual mother
+of the faithful. Her pedagogic duty is pointed out. (See Rohnert,
+Dogmatik, pp. 508 and 487.)
+
+This visible character of the Church is recognized in the New Testament
+in the various commands and promises given to her: the power of the
+keys, the duty to confess before men, to serve one another in love, of
+united intercession, of contending against the kingdom of darkness. In
+the Epistles the presence of sinful men is everywhere recognized,
+nevertheless the members of the Church are termed "the called" of Jesus
+Christ.
+
+Lutheranism of the 16th century stood between two opposite errors, Rome
+on the one hand with its exaggerated ideas of the Church as an
+institution, and Reform on the other hand with its one-sided notions of
+the invisible church. The Lutheran Church took the _via media_,
+declaring that the Church, _proprie_, was spiritual, but that it was
+also an institution. The question for us is whether we Lutherans of the
+twentieth century have remained on the _via media_ or whether we have
+not slipped too far to the right or to the left.
+
+To find the answer one would naturally consult our church formulas and
+constitutions. According to Dr. Walther's "Pastorale," the candidate for
+admission to a "Missouri" church must be a truly converted and
+regenerated Christian. The General Council requires that the candidate
+shall have been admitted to the Lord's Supper and shall accept the
+constitution. The Synod of New York requires that candidates be
+confirmed, accept the Augsburg Confession, lead a Christian life, obey
+the constitution and any other regulations that may hereafter be
+adopted.
+
+From this it seems that "Missouri" is the only body that emphasizes the
+_interna virtus_. The others place the emphasis upon conformity with
+certain outward forms and requirements.
+
+But we cannot always judge from the printed constitution. To bring the
+information up to date, and to ascertain the actual usage of the
+churches, the author obtained from forty pastors of this city an account
+of their practice. Some of their replies will be embodied in this
+chapter.
+
+Theoretically we enter the church through baptism. Practically, for most
+Lutherans, confirmation is the door of admission.
+
+This rite is a comparatively new measure among us. Prior to the
+eighteenth century it had only a limited use in the Lutheran Church, and
+it has attained an inordinately prominent place. Spener was among the
+first to recognize its practical value, and its beautiful ritual made a
+strong appeal to the popular imagination. It is one of the ancient
+ceremonies to which we do not object if it is properly used.
+
+Now tell us, you who make so much of confirmation and so little of
+catechization, seeing that you are content with six months of the
+latter, in adopting a rite which Spener and the Pietists introduced into
+the church, have you also adopted the principles which governed Spener
+and the Pietists in the practice of confirmation? Their object in
+catechization and confirmation was conversion. "A stranger visited my
+class one day," says Spener. "The next day he called to see me and
+expressed his great pleasure with my instruction. 'But,' said he, 'this
+instruction is for the head. The question is how to bring the head to
+the heart.' And these words he repeated three times. I will not deny
+that they made such an impression upon me that for the rest of my days
+I shall not forget them."
+
+We are not advocating extravagant ideas of conversion, or requiring a
+religious experience from children of fourteen years which in the nature
+of the case they cannot have. But have we a right in this crisis in the
+history of the child to overlook that infinitely important experience
+which our dogmaticians termed _regressus ad baptismum?_ Said Professor
+Kaftan, in an address to a Ministers' Conference: "The word conversion
+is the appropriate term for expressing the way in which a man becomes a
+Christian and a believer. Most Christians can tell you something about
+how it happened that they sought a new aim and chose another path in
+life. Even among those who have had a peaceful and gradual development,
+there came a time when they reached a conscious and decisive resolution
+to belong no more to the world but to God. _"Man wird nicht von selbst
+ein Christ, man muss sich bekehren um ein Christ zu werden."_ We do not
+repudiate the doctrine of baptismal regeneration as it is held in the
+Lutheran Church. On this point we are in accord with our Confessions.
+But before we adopt without reservation the idea that baptized children
+are regenerate, we must revise our practice in the matter of baptizing
+infants. So long as we practice the _Winkeltaufe_ and baptize
+indiscriminately the children of people who give us no guarantee that
+the children will be brought up in the Christian faith, so long as the
+Church fails to recognize her obligation to these baptized children and
+does not take them under her nourishing care from the time when they
+emerge from the family and enter into the larger life of the street and
+the school, we have no right to place such an emphasis upon baptismal
+regeneration. It is to be feared that the Lutheran doctrine of baptismal
+grace has in many minds been supplanted by a mechanical, thaumaturgiel
+conception which differs from the Roman doctrine only in being far more
+dangerous. Rome at least enforces the claims of tthe [sic] Church
+recognized in baptism. We baptize them and let them run. We corral a few
+of them for a few months just before confirmation and then let them run
+again. So does not Rome." [tr. note: original has no close quotation mark
+for Kaftan quotation]
+
+Dr. Cremer, of Greifswald, an able defender of the Lutheran faith, in
+his reply to Dr. Lepsius on the subject of Baptismal Regeneration, says:
+
+"It is sad indeed that in the use of the sacraments there is generally
+more of superstition than of faith. This must be openly confessed, for
+only then can conditions be improved when faults are recognized and made
+known. . . . We may continue to baptize chiildren [sic] of
+_Gewohnheitschristen_ (formal Christians), but it is a question whether
+we ought to continue to baptize the children of those who have given up
+the faith and among whom there is no guarantee of a Christian training.
+This means also a reformation in our confirmation practice. Does
+confirmation mean a family party, or mark the time to leave school, or
+has it something to do with baptism? These are rocks of offense which
+must be cleared out of the way if the Church is to be restored to
+health."
+
+Among the questions proposed to the pastors were the following:
+
+1. Do you have a personal interview with each candidate prior to
+confirmation with the view of ascertaining his fitness for the act?
+
+2. Do you at that interview inquire as to the candidate's repentance,
+faith, conversion, new life?
+
+3. Is the confirmation of the candidate dependent upon the satisfactory
+result of this examination?
+
+Among the answers were the following: "Not, individually." "No, except
+before the congregation." "Not formally so." "For at least six months."
+"Only with certain ones," etc., etc.
+
+A goodly number of pastors speak to the candidates _"unter vier Augen,"_
+but they are the exceptions. The ordinary practice knows nothing of such
+a course. The public examination is little more than an exhibition.
+
+In other words, we have strayed over to the Roman side of the road. The
+difference between us and the Roman priest being this: he will see them
+again at the confessional, but those whom we confirm in this superficial
+way, many of them, we shall never see again. Or, if perchance we should
+see some of them, it will be at long range, the same as when we first
+admitted them to confirmation. Imagine a doctor curing his patients in
+this way, getting them together in a room and prescribing for their
+diseases from what he sees of them in a crowd. The care of souls cannot
+be performed in bulk, it is the care of _a_ soul.
+
+Besides what a privilege the pastor loses, the opportunity of a
+lifeline, not only to explain to an inquiring heart the mysteries of our
+faith in the light of his personal need, but also to put himself in such
+a relation to the individual that he may become a beloved _Beichvater_.
+But alas, we have to a great extent lost the confessional. Instead of it
+we have a hybrid combination of Lutheran doctrine and Reformed practice,
+and we distribute our absolution _ore rotundo_ over mixed congregations
+on Sunday mornings and at the Preparatory Service. But the real
+confession we seldom hear and a valid absolution therefore we cannot
+pronounce. The Keys have indeed been committed to us, but we seem to
+have lost them, for the door of the sheepfold hangs very loose in our
+churches and the sheep run in and out pretty much as they please.
+
+But while some of our churches are thus leaning toward Rome, there is
+need of caution also against the opposite error. A false and exaggerated
+spirituality will lead to standards of holiness which are not warranted
+by the New Testament. Of these Luther himself somewhere said, "May the
+God of mercy preserve me from belonging to a congregation of holy
+people. I desire to belong to a church of poor sinners who constantly
+need forgiveness and the help of a good physician."*
+     *Methods of receiving candidates into active membership vary. Some
+synods, as we have seen, make no distinction whatever in their
+statistical reports between occasional communicants and actual members
+of the congregation. Admission to membership should take place by vote
+of the congregation or at least of the Church Council. There should
+likewise be some rite of initiation. In the case of adults who come from
+other congregations it need not and should not be a confirmation
+service, but it should at least be a public introduction of the
+candidate into the fellowship of the congregation with which he desires
+to become identified. (Matthew 10, 32).
+
+Rome's position was a protest against Montanism. Without question there
+is a great truth in Cyprian's position as developed by Rome, and the
+Reformers, particularly Melanchthon, guarded it. How often do we hear in
+our day the declaration: "I do not need to go to church. I can be just
+as good a Christian without." This position Lutheranism rebukes by
+making preaching and the sacraments the pillars on which the church
+rests. Thus is conserved what was best in the institutional theory of
+the ancient church, so that in spite of her many defects both as a
+national church and in her transplanted condition, the Lutheran church
+will remain an important factor in the development of Protestant
+Christianity.
+
+When our Reformed neighbors charge us with Romanism, it is either
+because they do not understand our theory and have overlooked the
+historical development, or because they judge of us by the Romish
+practice of our own ministers who have thoughtlessly slipped over too
+far toward the institutional theory. In the present condition of
+religious flux we have a mission not only in the field of doctrine, but
+also in practical theology, on the question of the Church. For we are
+still standing between two antagonists. Catholics on the one hand
+attract the masses by the definiteness of their external organization.
+Over against them we emphasize the essentially spiritual nature of the
+Church. There are Protestants on the other hand who, while placing the
+emphasis on the inner life, ignore the importance of the ordinances.
+They maintain public worship, it is true, but do so in combination with
+secular entertainment or by appealing to the intellectual or esthetic
+needs of the community. Others, more spiritually minded, base their
+hopes on the evangelist and the revival. But when the evangelist has
+taken his leave, and the people have to listen to the same voice they
+have heard so long before, having been thoroughly indoctrinated with the
+idea that it is not the Church that makes a man a Christian, that
+sacraments and ordinances are merely human devices, is it any wonder
+that many of them ignore the church altogether?
+
+It is here that the Lutheran Church, with her catholic spirit and her
+evangelical doctrine, has a message for our times. Her doctrine of
+baptism, of Christian instruction as its corrollary, of repentance,
+faith, and the new life, of the Lord's Supper, of church attendance, of
+the sanctification of the Lord's Day, and a practical application of
+these doctrines to the life in the care of souls, establishes a standard
+of membership that ought to make our churches sources of spiritual
+power.
+
+
+The Problem of Religious Education
+
+Historically and doctrinally the Lutheran Church is committed to
+week-day instruction in religion. Historically, because in establishing
+the public school her chief purpose was to provide instruction in
+religion; doctrinally, because from her point of view life is a unit and
+cannot be divided into secular and spiritual compartments.
+
+American Christians are confronted with two apparently contradictory
+propositions. One is that there can be no true education without
+religion. The other is that we must have a public school, open to all
+children without regard to creed.
+
+When our country was young, and Protestantism was the prevailing type of
+religion, these two ideas dwelt peacefully together. The founders of the
+Republic had no theory of education from which religion was divorced.
+But the influx of millions of people of other faiths compels us to
+revise our methods and to test them by our principles, the principles of
+a free Church within a free State. Roman Catholics and Jews object to
+our traditions and charge us with inconsistency. If temporarily we
+withstand their objections, we feel that a great victory has been won
+for religion when a psalm is read and the Lord's Prayer said at the
+opening of the daily session of school. We still have "religion" in the
+publie school.
+
+But the problem remains. On the one hand, those who doubt the propriety
+of introducing any religious instruction, however attenuated, into the
+public school, are not satisfied with the compromise. There are judicial
+decisions which place even the reading of the Bible under the head of
+sectarian instruction.
+
+On the other hand, those who believe that religion has a supreme place
+in the education of a child, and that provision should therefore be made
+for it in its school life, realize the inadequacy of the present
+methods.
+
+As Herbert Spencer says: "To prepare us for complete living is the
+function which education has to discharge." Character rather than
+acquirement is the chief aim of education. Hence we cannot ignore the
+place of religion in education without doing violence to the ultimate
+purpose of education.
+
+The importance of the question is admitted on all sides. But it remains
+a complex and difficult problem. Thus far, with all our talent for
+practical measures, we have not succeeded in reaching a solution.
+
+In New York, in common with other churches, we have the Sunday School.
+We do not undervalue its influence and cannot dispense with its aid. But
+does the Sunday School meet the requirement of an adequate system of
+religious instruction? It is an institution that has endeared itself to
+the hearts of millions. Originally intended for the waifs of an English
+manufacturing town, it has become among English-speaking people an
+important agency of religion. Apart from the instruction which it gives,
+we could not dispense with it as a field for the cultivation of lay
+activity, and a practical demonstration of the priesthood of all
+believers. Nevertheless its best friends concede its limitations. From a
+pedagogical standpoint, no one thinks of comparing it with the secular
+school. With but half an hour a week for instruction, even the best of
+teachers could not expect important results. Its chief value lies in the
+personal influence of the teacher. But instruction in religion involves
+more than this.
+
+Nor does the Sunday School reach all the children. Attendance is
+voluntary, and hence there is no guarantee that all the children of
+school age will obtain any instruction, to say nothing of graded and
+systematic instruction, taking account of the entire school life, and
+holding in mind the ultimate object of instruction, the preparation of
+children for full membership in the church. But this is one of the first
+duties of the churches, to look after all their children with this end
+in view.
+
+As a supplement and an aid the Sunday School has untold possibilities of
+usefulness. But all its merits and advantages cannot close our eyes to
+the fact that it does not and cannot meet the chief requirement of the
+Christian school, the systematic preparation of all the children for the
+duties of church membership. In this work the church cannot shirk her
+responsibility. Her very existence depends upon it.
+
+Recognizing this obligation some of our churches maintain the Parochial
+School. Thirty churches out of one hundred and fifty are making a heroic
+effort to be loyal to their ideals. The total number of pupils is 1,612.
+In other words, out of 42,106 children in attendance at Sunday School
+only 4 per cent. get instruction in religion through the Parochial
+School. So far as numbers show it would seem to be a failure. But one
+cannot always judge from the outward appearance. Eight of these
+parochial-school churches report fifty of their sons in the ministry.*
+     *Some of the pastors failed to send me reports on this point, but I
+have been credibly informed that within twelve years, ten of these
+churches sent sixty of their sons into the ministry.
+
+In view of such a result who would dare to say anything in disparagement
+of the Parochial School? Perhaps its friends may some time see their way
+clear to secure greater efficiency by establishing three or four schools
+in place of the thirty, and thus relieve the individual congregations of
+a serious tax upon their resources.
+
+Some of our churches have Saturday schools and classes in religion on
+other week days. The total number of pupils reported in these classes,
+including the members of confirmation classes, is 5,711. Add to these
+the 1,612 pupils of the parochial schools, some of whom have already
+been counted in the confirmation classes, and we have at most 7,323
+children obtaining instruction in religion on week days, 17 per cent. of
+the number of those in attendance at Sunday School.
+
+So far as may be learned therefore from such statistics as are
+available, it follows that 83 per cent. of our children receive no
+public instruction in religion except such as is given in the Sunday
+School and in the confirmation class.
+
+Our churches do not take kindly to the so-called evangelistic methods of
+reaching unchurched masses, claiming that our methods, in particular the
+catechization of the young, are more effective. In view of the figures
+presented above, it is open to question whether our churches practice
+catechization in the historical sense of the word. It is a question
+whether our method of imparting instruction in the catechism for a few
+months preliminary to confirmation does justice to the spirit and
+principles of the Lutheran Church? Many of our pastors sigh under the
+yoke of a custom which promises so much and yields so little.
+
+To postpone the catechization of more than 80 per cent. of the children
+until they are twelve or thirteen years of age, and to complete the
+course of preparation for communicant membership within six months,
+contributes but little to the upbuilding of strong and healthy Lutheran
+churches. An examination of our church rolls shows that such a system is
+a large contributor to the class of lapsed Lutherans. We get the
+children too late and we lose them too early.
+
+This is "an hard saying" and may offend many. But among all the problems
+we are considering there is none to equal it in importance. Can we find
+a solution?
+
+Wherever the churches are prepared to utilize the time in giving
+adequate instruction in religion, the curriculum of the public school
+should be modified to meet this need. Competent authorities see no
+objection to this, and there is a very large movement which seeks to
+further this idea.*
+     *At the meeting of the Inter-Church Conference In Carnegie Hall,
+New York, in November, 1905, at which twentynine Protestant Churches of
+America were represented the author presented a paper on Week-day
+Religious Instruction. Its main propositlon was favorably received, and
+the following resolution was adopted by the Conference:
+     "Resolved, that in the need of more systematic education in
+religion, we recommend for the favorable consideration of the Public
+School authorities of the country the proposal to allow the children to
+absent themselves without detriment from the public schools on Wednesday
+or on some other afternoon of the school week for the purpose of
+attending religious instruction in their own churches; and we urge upon
+the churches the advisability of availing themselves of the opportunity
+so granted to give such instruction in addition to that given on Sunday.
+     "The further consideration of the subject was referred to the
+Executive Committee. By direction of this Committee a report on Week-day
+Instruction in Religion was presented at the First Meeting of the
+Federal Council of the Churches of Christ In America, held in
+Philadelphia in 1905. After an earnest discussion, resolutions were
+adopted indicating the importance which the representatives of the
+churches of America attached to the general question.
+     At the Second Meeting of the Federal Council, held in Chicago in
+December, 1912, the Special Committee of the Federal Council presented a
+report recognizing the difficulties confronting an adequate solution of
+the question and providing for a more thorough investigation and
+discussion of the entire subject."
+     In his report for 1909 (Vol. I, page 5), the United States
+Commissioner of Education, Dr. Elmer Ellsworth Brown, refers to this
+subject in the following words:
+     "Those who would maintain that the moral life has other rootings
+than that in religion, would, for the most part, admit that it is deeply
+rooted in religion, and that for many of our people its strongest
+motives are to be found in their religious convictions; that many, in
+fact, would regard it as insufficiently grounded and nourished without
+such religious convictions. The teaching of religious systems is no
+longer under serious consideration as far as our public schools are
+concerned. Historical and social influences have drawn a definite line
+in this country between the public schools and the churches, leaving the
+rights and responsibilities of religious instruction to the latter. It
+would be futile, even if it were desirable, to attempt to revise this
+decision of the American people. There has been, however, within the
+past two or three years, a widespread discussion of the proposal that
+arrangements be made between the educational authorities and
+ecclesiastical organizations, under which pupils should be excused from
+the schools for one half-day in the week-Wednesday afternoon has been
+uggested-in order that they may in that time receive religious and moral
+instruction in their several churches. This proposal has been set forth
+in detail in a volume entitled "Religious Education and the Public
+School," and has been under consideration by a representative committee
+during, the past two or three years."
+
+An interdenominational committee, consisting of Evangelical Protestants
+only, was organized in 1914 for the purposing of securing week-day
+instruction in religion for the children of New York. A similar
+committee consisting of representatives of all churches, Protestant,
+Catholic and Jewish, was organized in 1915 which is giving effective
+study to the same question. The Lutheran Minister's Association is
+represented on both these committees.
+
+The Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, representing
+thirty denominations and a communicant membership of eighteen millions,
+through its Commission on Christian Education is making a large
+contribution to the study of the problem.
+
+The Protestant Episcopal Church in its General Convention and the
+Methodist Episcopal Church in its General Conference have made provision
+through appropriate committees for the study and promotion of the
+subject of week-day instruction in religion.
+
+The Jewish Community (Kehillah) is doing work far exceeding anything
+that Christians have done in the way of religious education. It has
+established 181 schools of religion, for children in attendance at the
+public schools, in which 40,000 children are enrolled. In other forms
+instruction in religion is given to 25,000 children. Thus out of 275,000
+Jewish children in the public schools 23.5 per cent. receive week-day
+instruction in religion. Energetic efforts are made to reach the
+remaining 210,000. The pupils have from one to four periods each week,
+after school hours, each period lasting from one to two hours. The total
+sum annually expended by the Jews for week-day instruction in religion
+is approximately $1,400,000.
+
+From "The Jewish Communal Register of New York City, 1917-1918, [tr.
+note: no close quote for title in original] we quote as follows:
+
+"In the typical week day school, the number of hours of instruction
+given to each child varies from 6 1/2 hours in the lowest grade to 9
+1/2 hours in the seventh or highest grade. . . . The total teaching
+staff consists of 615 teachers, of whom about 23 per cent. are women.
+The salary of teachers ranges from $300 to $1,200 per year. The average
+salary is $780 annually for 22 hours' work during the week."
+
+The Jews ask for no concession of time from the public school. They seem
+to have physical and intellectual vigor enabling them to utilize, for
+the study of religion, hours which Christian children require for rest
+and recreation.
+
+Lutherans hold that it is the function of the church to provide
+instruction in religion for its children. What are the Lutherans of New
+York doing to maintain this thesis? Over 40,000 children of enrolled
+Lutheran families obtain no instruction in religion except that which is
+given in the Sunday School and in the belated and abbreviated hours of
+catechetical instruction.
+
+A movement is now going on in this city and throughout the United States
+aiming at a restoration of religious education to the functions of the
+church. For the sake of our children ought we not heartily to cooperate
+with a movement which so truly represents the principles for which we
+stand? It will require a considerable addition to the teaching force of
+our churches. It will mean an expensive reconstruction of our
+schoolrooms. It will cost money. But it will be worth while.
+
+
+The Problem of Lapsed Lutherans
+
+There are four hundred thousand lapsed Lutherans in New York, nearly
+three times as many as enrolled members of the churches.
+
+A lapsed Lutheran is one who was once a member, but for some reason has
+slipped the cable that connected him with the church. He still claims to
+be a Lutheran but he is not enrolled as a member of a particular
+congregation.
+
+Most lapsed Lutherans are of foreign origin. From figures compiled by
+Dr. Laidlaw (see "Federation," Vol. 6, No. 4), we obtain the number of
+Protestants of foreign origin, enumerated according to the country of
+birth of parents, one parent or both. The number of Lutherans we obtain
+by subtracting from the "Protestants" the estimated number of
+non-Lutherans. Thus:
+
+                       Protestants         Lutherans
+     Norway .......... 33,344  -    10%  =  30,010
+     Sweden .......... 56,766  -    10%  =  51,090
+     Denmark ......... 11,996  -    10%  =  10,797
+     Finland ......... 10,304  -    10%  =   9,274
+     Germany .........486,252  -    20%  = 389,002
+     Austria-Hungary . 27,680  -    80%  =   5,535
+     Russia* ......... 15,000  -    20%  =  12,000
+                                           507,708
+
+     *Many of the Lutherans who have come to us of late years from
+Russia, Austro-Hungary and other countries of South Eastern Europe, are
+the descendants of German Lutherans who in the eighteenth century
+accepted the invitation of Katharine the Second and Marie Theresia to
+settle in their dominions. Others are members of various races from the
+Baltic Provlnces.
+
+That is, the estimated number of Lutherans of foreign origin, counting
+only the chief countries from which they emigrate to America, is
+507,708.
+
+But we also have Lutherans here who are not of foreign origin. Lutherans
+have lived in New York from the beginning of its history. Its first
+houses were built by Heinrich Christiansen, who certainly had a Lutheran
+name. The Lutherans of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it is
+true, left no descendants to be enrolled in our church books. These are
+to be found in goodly numbers in the Protestant Episcopal and other
+churches where they occupy the seats of the mighty. It is too late to
+get them back.
+
+But in the nineteenth century we collected new congregations. There are
+many Lutherans whose grandparents at least were born in New York.
+Besides, there has been a large influx from the Hudson and Mohawk
+valleys, from Pennsylvania, Ohio, the South and the West. A moderate
+estimate of these immigrants from the country and of those who under the
+grandfather clause claim to be unhyphenated Americans, members or
+non-members of our churches, is 40,000.
+
+Add to these the Lutherans of foreign origin and we have in round
+numbers a Lutheran population of more than 547,000 souls.
+
+Turning now to the statistical tables in the Appendix we find that the
+number of souls reported in our churches is 140,957. Subtract these from
+the total Lutheran population and we have a deficit of over 400,000
+souls, lapsed Lutherans, the subject of the present chapter. _Quod erat
+demonstrandum_. While this is a large number, it is a moderate estimate.
+An addition of 20 per cent. would not be excessive.
+
+How shall we account for this deficit?
+
+Of the Americans a large number are the children of our New York
+churches, the product of our superficial catechetical system. No study
+of the subject is complete that does not take account of this serious
+defect. No cure will be effective until we have learned to take better
+care of our children.
+
+Native Americans from the country, members of Lutheran churches in their
+former homes, have no excuse if they do not find a Lutheran church when
+they come to New York. In years gone by English churches were scarce,
+but now they are to be found in every part of the city. In part at
+least, the home pastors are responsible. When their people remove to New
+York they ought to be supplied with letters, and the New York pastors
+should be notified. In fifty years I have not received twenty-five
+letters from my country brethren asking me to look after their wandering
+sheep.
+
+For the foreign Lutherans who have failed to comnect with the church,
+three reasons may be given: 1. Ignorance. Not ignorance in general, but
+ignorance in regard to church conditions in America. They come from
+National churches where their relation to the church does not require
+much personal initiative. They belong to the church by virtue of their
+baptism and confirmation. Their contributions to its maintenance are
+included in the general tax levy.
+
+Arrived in New York where Church and State are separate, a long time may
+pass before any one cares for the soul of the immigrant. Our pastors are
+busy with their routine work and seldom look after the new comers,
+unless the new comers look after them. The latter soon become reconciled
+to a situation which accords with the inclinations of the natural man.
+Ignorance of American church conditions accounts for the slipping away
+of many of our foreign brethren from the fellowship of the church.
+
+2. Indifference. Many foreigners who come here are merely indifferent to
+the claims of religion. Others are distinctly hostile toward the church.
+Most of the Socialistic movements of continental Europe, because of the
+close association of Church and State, fail to discriminate between
+their respective ideas. Thy condemn the former for the sins of the
+latter.
+
+3. Infidelity. A materialistic philosophy has undermined the Christian
+conception of life and the world, and multitudes of those who were
+nominally connected with the church have long since repudiated the
+teachings of Christianity.
+
+It is a tremendous problem that confronts us, the evangelization of four
+hundred thousand Lutherans. If for no other reason, because of its
+magnitude and because of its appeal to our denominational
+responsibility, it is a problem worth solving. But it is a challenge to
+our Christianity and it should stimulate us to an intense study of its
+possible solution.
+
+Ministers can contribute much toward its solution. It is true our hands
+are full and more than full with the ordinary care of our flocks. But
+our office constantly brings us into association with this large outer
+fringe of our congregations at times when their hearts are responsive to
+anything that we may have to say. We meet them at weddings and at
+funerals. We baptize their children and we bury their dead. Once in a
+while some of them even come to church. In spite of all their wanderings
+and intellectual idiosyncrasies they still claim to be Christians. And
+whatever their own attitude toward Christianity may be, there are few
+who do not desire to have their children brought up in the Christian
+faith. We have before us an open door.
+
+The churches can do more than they are doing now to win these lapsed
+Lutherans. Some people are kept out of church through no fault of their
+own. For example, the rented pew system, still in vogue in some
+congregations, is an effective means of barring out visitors. Few care
+to force themselves into the precincts of a private club even if it
+bears the name of a church.
+
+A pecuniary method of effecting friendly relations is not without its
+merits. In this city of frequent removals there are many families who
+have lost all connection with the congregation to which they claim to
+belong. An opportunity to contribute to the church of their new
+neighborhood might be for them a secondary means of grace. They become
+as it were proselytes of the gate. Having taken the first step, many may
+again enter into full communion with the church.
+
+A Lutheran church, however, does not forget the warning of the prophet:
+"They have healed the hurt of my daughter slightly." The evangelization
+of this great army of lapsed Lutherans is not to be accomplished by such
+a simple expedient as taking up a collection. What most of them need is
+a return to the faith. Somebody must guide them.
+
+For this no societies or new ecclesiastical machinery will be required.
+The force to do this work is already enlisted in the communicant
+membership of our one hundred and fifty organized congregations. We have
+approximately 60,000 communicants. These are our under-shepherds whose
+business it is to aid the pastor in searching for "the lost sheep of the
+house of Israel." Shall we not have a concerted effort on the part of
+all the churches?
+
+We may certainly win back again into our communion many of whom the Good
+Shepherd was speaking when He said: "them also I must bring and they
+shall hear my voice, and they shall become one flock, one shepherd."
+
+To accomplish such a task, however, an orderly system must be adopted.
+
+When our Lord fed the five thousand, He first commanded them to sit down
+by companies. "And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties."
+These 400,000 souls may first of all be grouped in families. Let us say
+90,000 families. These are scattered all over the greater city, most of
+them in close proximity to some one of our 150 churches. To each church
+may be given an average assignment of 600 families.
+
+The average number of communicants in each of our churches is nearly
+400. Some churches have less, others more. To an average company of 400
+communicants is committed the task of evangelizing 600 families, not
+aliens or strangers, but members of our own household of faith, people
+who in many eases will heartily welcome the invitation. Some of these
+400 potential evangelists will beg to be excused. Let us make a
+selective draft of 300 to do the work. The task required of each member
+of this army is to visit two families.
+
+Whatever else may be said of such a computation it certainly does not
+present an insuperable task. It can be done in one year, in one month,
+in one week, in one day.
+
+Without presuming to insist upon a particular method of solving this
+problem, is it not incumbent upon the Lutheran churches of New York to
+face it with the determination to accomplish an extraordinary work if
+need be in an extraordinary manner? "The kingdom of heaven suffereth
+violence and the violent take it by force."
+
+Seventy years ago a great company of Christian men met in the old Luther
+town of Wittenberg to consider the needs of the Fatherland. It was the
+year of the Revolution. It was a time of political confusion and of
+desperate spiritual need. It was then that Wichern, in an address of
+impassioned eloquence, pointed the way toward the mobilization of all
+Christians in a campaign of spiritual service.
+
+He was directed to prepare the program. It appeared in 1849 under the
+title "Die Innere Mission."
+
+It was a clarion call to personal service and it met with an immediate
+and remarkable response. The movement marked an epoch in the history of
+the church.
+
+Because the Inner Mission lends itself in a peculiar way to works of
+charity it is often regarded as synonymous with the care of the helpless
+and afflicted. In this use of the term we lose sight of the larger
+meaning and scope of the work which has made it one of the great
+religious forces of the nineteenth century. It should therefore be more
+accurately described as that movement of the nineteenth century which,
+recognizing the alienation of multitudes within the church from the
+Christian faith and life appeals [sic] to all disciples of Christ by
+all means to carry the Gospel to men of all classes who have strayed
+away and to gather them into the communion and confession of the church.
+It is a mission within the church and hence bears the name of Inner
+Mission.
+
+Such a call comes to us at a time when we are confronted with a problem
+which almost staggers the imagination and when we are offered an
+opportunity such as no other Protestant church enjoys.
+
+
+The Problem of Statistics
+
+The word statistics, according to the Century Dictionary, refers not
+merely to a collection of numbers, but it comprehends also "all those
+topics of inquiry which interest the statesman." The dignity thus given
+to the subject is enhanced by a secondary definition which calls it "the
+science of human society, so far as deduced from enumerations."
+
+No branch of human activity can be studied in our day without the use of
+statistics. Statesmen and sociologists make a careful study of figures
+before they attempt to formulate laws or policies.
+
+For church statistics we are chiefly dependent upon the tables of the
+Synodical Minutes. The original source of our information is the
+pastor's report of his particular congregation. Unfortunately the value
+of these tables is greatly impaired by the absence of a common standard
+of membership.
+
+The New York Ministerium has no column for "communicant" members. There
+is a column for "contributing" members, but these do not necessarily
+mean communicants. Among the records of Ministerial Acts, such as
+marriages and funerals, there is also a column for "Kommuniziert." But
+even if the Holy Communion were to be classed among Ministerial Acts, it
+sometimes happens that others besides members partake of the communion.
+The term "Kommuniziert" therefore does not convey definite information
+on the subject of communicant membership. For example, a congregation
+with 160 "contributing members" reports 770 "Kommuniziert." It is hardly
+conceivable that out of 770 communicant members only 160 are
+contributing members and that 610 communicants are non-contributors.
+Otherwise there would seem to be room for improvement in another
+direction besides statistics.
+
+The New York Ministerium also has no column for "souls," that is, for
+all baptized persons, including children, connected with the
+congregation. There are also many blanks, and many figures that look
+like "round numbers." For thirty years I have tried in vain to
+comprehend its statistics. _Hinc illae lacrymae_.
+
+The Missouri Synod has three membership rubrics: souls, communicant
+members, voting members. When however, a congregation of 900
+communicants reports only 80 voting members, one wonders whether some of
+the 820 non-voters ought not be admitted to the right of suffrage. The
+congregational system favors democracy. It should be remembered also
+that the laws of the State define the right to vote at a church
+election.
+
+The Synod of New York has three membership rubrics: Communicants,
+Confirmed, Baptized. The first includes all members who actually commune
+within a year. The second adds to the communicants all others who are
+entitled to commune even if they neglect the privilege. The third adds
+to the preceding class baptized children and all other baptized persons
+in any way related to the congregation, provided they have not been
+formally excommunicated.
+
+The Swedish Augustana Synod has three rubrics: Communicants, Children,
+Total. "Communicants" may or may not be enrolled members of the
+congregation. This classification therefore is neither comprehensive nor
+exhaustive and may account in part, for the discrepancy between the
+number of Lutheran Swedes in New York and the number enrolled in the
+Swedish Lutheran Churches.
+
+None of the synodical reports take note of "families." Pastors seldom
+speak of their membership in terms of families. In the book of Jeremiah
+(31, 1) we are told: "At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the
+God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people." The
+captions of the five parts of Luther's Small Catechism proceed upon the
+assumption of the family as a unit. It is true we are living in an age
+of disrupted families, but it would seem that some recognition of the
+family should be made in the statistical tables of the Christian Church,
+especially when in the families with which we have to do, most of the
+individuals are baptized members of the church and have not been
+formally excommunicated. Until, therefore, we agree upon a common
+standard, our figures will be the despair of the statisticians. A
+reformation must come. Without it, we shall not be able to formulate
+needed policies of church extension.
+
+In view of the complicated character of our membership it will not be an
+easy task to reconstruct our statistical methods. But it is evident that
+our missionary and evangelistic work will be greatly furthered when we
+have exact information in regard to our parochial material. Our figures
+should include every soul, man, woman and child, in any way related to
+our congregations, classified in such a way as to show clearly in what
+relation they stand to the church. A church that does not count its
+members as carefully as a bank counts its dollars is in danger of
+bankruptcy.
+
+Church bookkeeping ought to be taught in the Theological Seminary. But
+if the pastor himself is not a good bookkeeper, almost every
+congregation has young men or young women who are experts in this art,
+who could render good service to the church by keeping its membership
+rolls.
+
+Complete records are especially necessary in our great city with its
+constant removals and changes of population. The individual is like the
+proverbial needle in the haystack, unless we adopt a method of
+accounting not only for each family but for each individual down to the
+latest-born child.*
+     *In order that I may not be as one that beateth the air, I venture
+to suggest a method of laying the foundation of records that has been
+helpful in my own work. I send to each family a "Family Register" blank
+with spaces for the name, birthday and place of birth of each member of
+the family. The information thus obtained is transferred to a card
+catalogue in which the additional relation of each individual to the
+church and its work is noted. In this way, or by means of a loose-leaf
+record book, available and up-to-date information can easily be kept.
+
+When important records, such as synodical minutes, are printed, several
+copies at least should be printed on durable paper and deposited in
+public libraries where they may be consulted by the historian. Ordinary
+paper is perishable. Within a few years it will crumble to dust. The
+records might as well be written on sand so far as their value for
+future historians is concerned.
+
+Congregational histories, pamphlets or bound volumes, jubilee volumes
+and similar contributions to local church history should be sent to the
+publlic libraries of the city and of the denominational schools.
+
+In search of recent information the author consulted the card index of
+the New York Public Library. He found only nine cards relating to
+Lutheran churches. And yet we wonder why our church is not better known
+in this city.
+
+
+
+EPILOGUE
+
+One seldom finds an epilogue in a book nowadays. Its purpose in the
+drama was to explain to the audience the meaning of the play. It does
+not speak well for a writer if the people miss the point of his essay.
+But it is just like a preacher to say something "in conclusion" to
+secure, if possible, the hesitating assent of some hearer.
+
+We have reached the 20th century. We are looking back upon 270 years of
+history on Manhattun Island. What we have done and what we have left
+undone is recorded in the stereotyped pages of an unchanging past. Our
+successes and our failures are the chapters from which we may learn
+lessons for the future. The gates of that future are open to us now.
+
+Where Arensius and Falckner ministered to a feeble flock under
+inconceivable difficulties, there is built the greatest, certainly the
+largest, city of the world. From all the races and tongues of the earth
+men are gathering here to solve the problems of their lives. From
+Lutheran lands fifty myriads have already come and are living within our
+walls. Consciously or otherwise they appeal to us, their brethren in the
+faith, for that religious fellowship for which every man sometimes
+longs. If we do not respond, who shall interpret for them the religious
+life and questions of the new world?
+
+From these Lutheran lands, from Scandinavia to the Balkan peninsula,
+from the Rhine to the Ural Mountains, other myriads will come in the
+long years that will follow the war. New history is sure to be written
+for Europe and America. What shall be our contribution to its unwritten
+pages?
+
+In solving the problems that confront us we shall at the same time help
+to solve the problems of our city and of our country. The simple faith
+and the catholic principles of our church should secure far us a wide
+field of useful and effective service.
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+Abbreviations
+
+Synods - Min., Ministerium of New York; Mo., Missouri; N. Y., New York;
+N. E., New York and New England; Aug., Swedish Augustana; Nor.,
+Norwegian; Fin., National Church of Finland; Pa., Pennsylvania; O.,Ohio;
+D., Danish; Suo., Suomi (Finnish); U.D., United Danish; Ap., Apostolic
+(Finnish); NN., National Church of Norway.
+
+Languages - G., German; E., English; S., Swedish; N., Norwegian; F.,
+Finnish; D., Danish; Sl., Slovak, Bohemian and Magyar; Let., Lettish;
+Est., Esthonian; Pol., Polish; Y,, Yiddish; It., Italian; Lith.,
+Lithuanian.
+
+Heads of Statistical Columns - Lang., Language; Date, Date of
+Organization; Syn., Synodical connection of congregation or pastor;
+Comm., Number of communicants; Souls, Number of baptized persons related
+to the congregation; Syn., Synodical connection of pastor or
+congregation; P. S., Pupils in Parochial School; S. S., Pupils in Sunday
+School; W. S., Pupils receiving instruction in religion on weekdays [tr.
+note: in the table, this column is headed "R.H."]; Prop., Net value of
+real estate in terms of a thousand dollars.
+
+Signs - * Missions; ( ) Estimated number; -- No report or nothing to
+report.
+
+
+The Lutheran Churches of New York
+Manhattan
+   Name and Location                   Pastor             Lang. Org. Syn.   Comm. Souls  P.S.  S.S.  R.H.  Prop.
+
+   1. St. Matthew, 421 W. 145th....... 0. Sieker ........ G. E. 1669 Mo.     500  1,122  126   365    40  (100)
+   2. St. James, 904 Madison Av....... J. B. Remensnyder. E.    1827 N. Y.   205   (331) ...    80    12   380
+   3. St. Paul, 313 W. 22nd........... L. Koenig......... G.    1841 Min.    300   (375) ...    75    40   140
+   4. Trinity, 139 Av. B.............. O. Graesser....... G.    1843 Mo.     525    674   33    41    34    75
+   5. St. Mark, 327 Sixth St.......... G. C. F. Haas..... G.    1847 Min.    200   (500) ...    55    55    70
+   6. St. Luke, 233 W. 42nd........... W. Koepchen....... G. E. 1850 Mo.   1,012 (2,000) ...   350   172   340
+   7. St. John, 81 Christopher........ F. E. Oberlander.. G. E. 1855 N. Y.   350  1,000  ...   333    39    85
+   8. St. Peter, 54th at Lex. Av...... A. B. Moldenke.... G. E. 1862 Min.    911  3,000   92   556    47   250
+   9. Immanuel, 88th at Lex. Av....... W. F. Schoenfeld.. G. E. 1863 Mo.   1,500  6,000   85   500    6l   178
+  10. St. John, 219 E. 119th.......... H. C. Steup....... G. E. 1864 Mo.     750  1,500  115   254    41    40
+  11. St. Paul, 147 W. 123rd.......... F. H. Bosch....... G. E. 1864 Min.  1,000  1,500   75   500   130   120
+  12. Gustavus Adolphus, 151 E. 22nd.. M. Stolpe......... S. E. 1865 Aug.  1,015  2,000  ...   250    37   172
+  13. Holy Trinity, 1 W. 65th......... C. J. Smith....... E.    1868 N. E.   450   (800) ...   150    12   275
+  14. Christ, 400 E. 19th............. G. U. Wenner...... G. E. 1868 N. Y.   250    817  ...   152   100    65
+  15. Epiphany, 72 E. 128th........... M. L. Canup....... E.    1880 N. E.   400    700  ...   190    24    39
+  16. Grace, 123 W. 71st.............. J. A. Weyl........ G. E. 1886 Min.    803  1,000  ...   260    54    80
+  17. Trinity, 164 W. 100th........... E. Brennecke...... G. E. 1888 Min.    785  2,500  ...   422   112    85
+  18. Zion, 341 E. 84th............... W. Popcke......... G. E. 1892 N. Y. 1,250  4,807  ... 1,120   124   112
+  19. Harlem, 32 W. 126th............. A. F. Borgendahl.. S. E. 1894 Aug.    233    336  ...   125    21    10
+  20. Washington Heights, W. 153rd.... C. B. Rabbow...... G. E. 1895 Min.    700  1,100   55   250    30    75
+  21. Redeemer, 422 W. 44th........... F. C. G. Schumm... E.    1895 Mo.     260    400  ...   120    22   (20)
+  22. Our Saviour, 237 E. 123rd....... J. C. Gram........ N. E. 1896 Nor.    210    300  ...    62     5    35
+  23. Atonement, Edgecombe at 140th... F. H. Knubel...... E.    1896 N. Y.   410  3,500  ...   544   250   125
+  24. Advent, Broadway at 93rd........ A. Steimle........ E.    1897 N. E.   503    962   88   163    22   218
+  25. Our Saviour, Audubon at 179th... A. S. Hardy....... E.    1898 N. Y.   106    554  ...   194    24    26
+  26. Finnish, 72 E.128th............. K. Maekinen....... F.    1903 Fin.    450  2,000  ...    40    25   ...
+  27. Holy Trinity, 334 E. 20th....... L. A. Engler...... Sl.   1904 -       700  1,000  ...   ...    40    45
+  28. Esthonian, 217 E. 119th......... C. Klemmer........ Est.  1904 Mo.      50    200  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  29. Polish, 233 W. 42nd............. S. Nicolaiski..... Pol.  1907 Mo.     100    300  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  30. Messiah, 10th Av. at 207th...... F. W. Hassenflug.. E. G. 1916 Mo.     ...    120  ...    65     7   ...
+  31. Lettish,* 327 Sixth St.......... P. E. Steik....... Let.  .... Pa.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  32. Italian,* ...................... A. Bongarzone..... It.   .... Mo.      10     27  ...     9   ...   ...
+  33. Yiddish,* 250 E. 101st.......... N. Friedmann...... Y.    .... Mo.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  34. Deaf,* 233 W. 42nd.............. A. Boll........... E. G. .... Mo.      40     60  ...    20   ...   ...
+                            Totals.....                                   15,978 41,485  669 7,245 1,580 3,160
+
+Bronx
+   Name and Location                   Pastor             Lang. Org. Syn.   Comm. Souls  P.S.  S.S.  R.H.  Prop.
+
+   1. St. John, 1343 Fulton Av........ T. O. Posselt. ... G. E. 1860 Min.    758  1,800   50   523    69    70
+   2. St. Matthew, 376 E. 156th....... W. T. Junge....... G.    1862 Min.   (200)  (500)  46   730    67    37
+   3. St. Paul, 796 E. 156th.......... G. H. Tappert..... G. E. 1882 Min.    550  2,100  ...   503   103    45
+   4. St. Peter, 439 E. 140th......... 0. C. Mees........ E. G. 1893 0.      625  1,100  ...   412    64    75
+   5. St. Stephen, 1001 Union Av...... P. Roesener....... G.    1893 Mo.     280    670   70   200   (20)   42
+   6. St. Peter, 739 E. 219th......... F. Noeldeke....... G.    1894 Min.    200    400  ...   165    35    10
+   7. Immanuel, 1410 Vyse Av.......... I. Tharaldsen..... N.    1895 Nor.     50    100  ...    50    (5)    6
+   8. Bethany, 582 Teasdale Pl........ J. Gruver......... E.    1896 N. Y.   284    612  ...   240   (24)   14
+   9. St. Luke, 1724 Adams............ W. Rohde.......... G. E. 1898 Min.    346    560  ...   140    32     5
+  10. St. Paul, LaFontaine at 178th... K. Kretzmann...... E. G. 1898 Mo.     375    811  ...   312    68    20
+  11. Holy Trinity, 881 E. 167th...... F. Lindemann...... E.    1899 Mo.     197    400  ...   143   (15)   17
+  12. Emmanuel, Brown Pl. at 137th.... P. M. Young....... E.    1901 N. Y.   205    400  ...   301    27    26
+  13. Trinity, 1179 Hoe Av............ A. C. Kildegaard.. D.    1901 Dan.    125    250  ...    35    10    15
+  14. Grace, 239 E. 199th............. A. Koerber........ E.    1904 Mo.     320    550  ...   280    22    25
+  15. Heiland, 187th & Valentine Av... H. von Hollen..... G.    1905 -       160    250  ...    60    30   ...
+  16. Concordia, Oak Terrace.......... H. Pottberg....... G. E. 1906 Mo.     260    500  ...   230    45    10
+  17. Messiah, Brook Av. at 144th..... J. Johnson........ S.    1906 Aug.    155    230  ...   150   (15)   17
+  18. St. Thomas, Topping at 175th.... A. J. Traver...... E.    1908 N. Y.   200    350    8   250    25    15
+  19. Holy Comforter, 1060 Woodycrest. J. H. Dudde....... E.    1912 N. Y.   120    500  ...   175    15     5
+  20. St. Mark, Martha at 242nd....... O. H. Trinklein .. E.    1913 Mo.     104    300  ...   125     5    15
+  21. St. John, Oak Terrace........... J. Gullans........ S. E. 1913 Aug.    170    251  ...    83     6     2
+  22. Trinity, 1519 Castle Hill Av.... Paul G. Sander.... E. G. 1913 Mo.      70    225  ...   108    10     3
+  23. Fordham, 2430 Walton Av......... F. H. Meyer....... E. G. 1915 0.      178    382  ...   145    20    10
+                            Totals.....                                    5,932 13,241  174 5,360   732   484
+
+Brooklyn
+   Name and Location                   Pastor             Lang. Org. Syn.   Comm. Souls  P.S.  S.S.  R.H.  Prop.
+
+   1. Evangelical, Schermerhorn St.... J. W. Loch........ G. E. 1841 Min.  1,000  2,500  ...   500    80   200
+   2. S. John, Maujer St.............. A. Beyer.......... G. E. 1844 Mo.     900  2,500  119   400    64    80
+   3. St. John, New Jersey Av......... C. J. Lucas....... G. E. 1847 Min.    700  1,005  ...   500    56    80
+   4. St. Paul, Rodney St............. H. C. Wasmund..... G. E. 1853 Min.  1,000  1,500  ...   665    25   150
+   5. Zion, Henry St.................. E. G. Kraeling.... G. E. 1855 Min.  1,200  2,000   75   250    75   100
+   6. St. Matthew, Sixth Av. at 3rd .. G. B. Young....... E.    1859 N. Y.   250  1,200  ...   300    25    66
+   7. St. Matthew, 197 N. 5th......... G. Sommer......... G. E. 1864 N. Y.   600    700   26   158    50    25
+   8. St. Peter, Bedford Av........... J. J. Heischmann.. G. E. 1864 Min.  2,200 (4,000)  20 1,391   110   100
+                                       and J. G. Blaesi
+   9. Our Saviour, 632 Henry St....... C. S. Everson..... N.    1866 Nor.    305    650  ...   351    18    35
+                                       and S. Turmo
+  10. St. John, Milton St............. F. W. Oswald...... G. E. 1867 Min.  1,200  2,500  ...   475    51    75
+  11. St. John, 283 Prospect Av....... F. B. Clausen..... G. E. 1868 Min.  1,000  3,000   45   800   (80)   50
+  12. St. Mark, Bushwick Av........... S. Frey & P. Woy.. G. E. 1868 Mo.   1,200  2,500  125   550    67   140
+  13. St. Luke, Washington n. De Kalb. W. A. Snyder...... G. E. 1869 Min.    700  1,000  ...   330    30   125
+  14. St. Paul, Henry n. Third Pl..... J. Huppenbauer.... G.    1872 Min.    400    800  ...   175   (20)   30
+  15. Bethlehem, 3rd Av. & Pacific ... F. Jacobson ...... S.    1874 Aug.    883  1,496   42   600   (60)  121
+  16. Immanuel, 179 S. 9th............ J. Holthusen...... G. E. 1875 Mo.     860  1,900   50   210    80    80
+  17. Wartburg, Georgia n. Fulton..... O. Hanser......... G. E. 1875 Mo.      80     80  ...   ...   ...     5
+  18. Our Saviour, 193 Ninth ......... R. Andersen ...... D.    1878 D.      200   (300) ...    40    (5)   18
+  19. Seamen's,* 111 Pioneer ......... J. Ekeland........ Nor.  1879 N. N.   ...    ...  ...   ...   ...    30
+  20. St. Matthew, Canarsie........... T. A. Petersen.... G. E. 1880 Mo.     180    315  ...    80    30    16
+  21. Emmanuel, 417 Seventh........... E. Roth........... G. E. 1884 Min.    750  1,000  ...   500    40    61
+  22. Trinity, 249 Degraw............. G. F. Schmidt..... G. E. 1886 Mo.     385    729  ...   257    24    28
+  23. St. Paul, Knickerbocker Av...... J. P. Riedel...... G. E. 1887 Mo.     650  2,000  ...   450    60   (40)
+  24. Finnish, 529 Clinton............ K. Maekinen....... F.    1887 Fin.    240    240  ...   ...   ...    25
+  25. Zion, Bedford Av................ P. F. Jubelt...... G.    1887 Min.    300    500  ...   200   ...    30
+  26. Bethlehem, Marion............... W. Kandelhart .... G. E. 1888 Min.    700 (1,200)  60   400    60    28
+  27. St. James, 4th Av. n. 54th...... H. C. A. Meyer.... G. E. 1889 Min.    650  2,000  ...   500    75    50
+  28. St. Paul, 392 McDonough......... J. Eastlund....... S.    1889 Aug.    346    442  ...   182   (18)   36
+  29. St. John, 84th at 16th Av....... L. Happ........... G.    1890 Min.   (400)  (500) ...   375   (38)   40
+  30. Trinity, 4th Av. at 46th........ S. O. Sigmond..... N.    1890 Nor.    400  5,000  ... 1,000   100    50
+  31. Finnish, 752 44th............... S. Ilmonen........ F. E. 1890 Suo.    150    300  ...   135   135    16
+  32. Immanuel, 521 Leonard .......... J. E. Nelson ..... S. E. 1894 Aug.    175    350   35   105   105    16
+  33. Scandinavian, 150 Russell....... E. Risty.......... E. N. 1894 Nor.    112    175  ...    70    15     6
+  34. Redeemer, Lenox Road............ S. G. Weiskotten.. E.    1894 N. E.   400    600  ...   225   (23)   70
+  35. Christ, 1084 Lafayette Av....... C. B. Schuchard... E.    1895 N. E.   550  1,000  ...   425    45    25
+  36. Salem, 128 Prospect Av.......... J. J. Kildsig..... D.    1896 U. D.    97    400   26    85    20    10
+  37. St. Peter, 94 Hale Av........... A. Brunn.......... E. G. 1897 Mo.     503    973  ...   378    39    19
+  38. Zion, 1068 59th................. J. D. Danielson... S.    1897 Aug.    150    400  ...   160    16    10
+  39. Calvary, 788 Herkimer........... 0. L. Yerger ..... E.    1898 N. Y.    97    235  ...   200   (20)   15
+  40. Reformation, Barbey n. Arl'tn... J. C. Fisher...... E.    1898 N. E.   500  1,000  ...   450   (40)   30
+  41. St. Stephen, Newkirk Av......... L. D. Gable ...... E.    1898 N. E.   503  3,800  ...   975    41    35
+  42. Messiah, 129 Russell ........... J. H. Worth ...... E.    1899 N. E.   438    900  ...   563    40    25
+  43. Our Saviour, 21 Covert ......... A. R. G. Hanser... E.    1901 Mo.     450    900  ...   360    74    20
+  44. Incarnation, 4th Av. at 54th.... H. S. Miller ..... E.    1901 N. E.   275    400  ...   290    26    20
+  45. Grace, Bushwick Av.............. C. F. Intemann.... E.    1902 N. E.   425    525  ...   325    20    45
+  46. Bethesda, 22 Woodhull........... J. C. Herre....... N. E. 1902 Nor.    120    300  ...    93   (10)   40
+  47. Bethlehem, 51st & 6th Av........ F. W. Schuermann.. G. E. 1903 Mo.     180    330  ...   160    22     7
+  48. Salem, 414 46th................. J. A. Anderson ... S. E. 1904 Aug.    320  2,500  ...   500    36    15
+  49. St. Andrew, St. Nicholas Av..... .................. E.    1906 N. E.   374  1,000  ...   867    60    10
+  50. Good Shepherd, 4th Av. at 75th.. C. D. Trexler..... E.    1906 N. E.   525  1,200  ...   700    36    30
+  51. St. Paul, Coney Island.......... J. F. W. Kitzmeyer E. G. 1907 N. Y.   242    850  ...   248   (25)   18
+  52. St. John, 145 Skillman Av....... G. Matzat......... Lith. 1907 Mo.      73    103   17    17    (5)    5
+  53. Ascension, 13th Av. & 51st...... C. P. Jensen...... E.    1907 N. E.    61    100  ...   105     7     7
+  54. Epiphany, 831 Sterling Pl....... W. H. Stutts...... E.    1908 N. Y.   150    388  ...   201    24    21
+  55. Zion, 4th Av. at 63rd........... L. Larsen......... N. E. 1908 Nor.    400  3,000  ...   650    75    15
+  56. St. Mark, 26 E. 5th............. W. Hudaff......... E. G. 1908 Min.    150    250  ...   125   (13)    6
+  57. Advent, Av. P. & E. 12th........ A. F. Walz........ E. G. 1909 N. Y.   143    400  ...   230    12    10
+  58. Good Shepherd, 315 Fenimore..... G. Hagemann....... E.    1909 Mo.     100    300  ...   133    12     4
+  59. Saron, East New York............ J. Eastlund ...... S.    1909 Aug.     30     55  ...    32    (5)    6
+  60. Bethany, 12th Av. at 60th....... C. O. Pedersen.... N. E. 1912 Nor.    150    275  ...   125   125     8
+  61. Redeemer, 991 Eastern Pky....... E. J. Flanders.... E.    1912 N. Y.    80    200  ...   150    12    20
+  62. Mediator, Bay Pky. at 68th...... H. Wacker......... E.    1912 N. E.    65    160  ...   130     7     7
+  63. St. John, 44th n. 8th Av........ J. Gullans........ S.    1913 Aug.    200    298  ...   110     8     3
+  64. St. Philip, 287 Magenta......... A. Wuerstlin...... E.    1913 N. Y.    40    175  ...   130     8     4
+  65. Mission to Deaf,* 177 S. 9th.... A. Boll........... E. G. 1913 Mo.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  66. Trinity,* Coney Island.......... G. Koenig......... ...   1913 Mo.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  67. Immanuel,* 1524 Bergen.......... W. O. Hill........ ...   1913 Mo.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  68. Holy Trinity, Jefferson Av...... C. H. Dort........ E.    1914 N. Y.    90    297  ...   163    15   ...
+  69. Trinity,* Erie Basin............ G. Koenig......... ...   1915 Mo.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  70. Finnish, 844 42nd............... E. Aho............ F.    .... Ap.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+                            Totals.....                                   27,997 67,696 670 21,254 2,517 2,532
+
+Queens
+   Name and Location                   Pastor             Lang. Org. Syn.   Comm. Souls  P.S.  S.S.  R.H.  Prop.
+
+   1. St. John, College Point......... A. Halfmann....... G.    1857 Mo.     360    500  ...   400   ...    40
+   2. Trinity, Middle Village ........ D. W. Peterson.... G. E. 1863 Min.    600  1,000   11   700    62    68
+   3. St. James, Winfield............. F. E. Tilly....... G.    1867 Mo.     310    729   10   385   ...    25
+   4. Christ, Woodhaven............... H. E. Meyer....... G.    1880 Min.    350  1,000  ...   400    20    30
+   5. Emanuel, Corona ................ E. G. Holls....... G.    1887 Mo.     250    500  ...   200   ...     3
+   6. Trinity, Long Island City....... C. Merkel......... E. G. 1890 Mo.     500  1,000  ...   550   105    40
+   7. Salem, Long Island City ........ H. L. Wilson...... S.    1893 Aug.     89    134   11    50   ...     6
+   8. St. John, Flushing ............. G. Kaestner....... G.    1893 Mo.     171    250  ...    70    10    10
+   9. Immanuel, Whitestone............ H. C. Wolk........ E. G. 1895 Mo.     180    375  ...   108    20    15
+  10. Christ, Woodside................ H. Bunke.......... G.    1896 Mo.     144    450  ...    90    18   ...
+  11. Trinity, Maspeth................ W. H. Pretzsch.... G.    1899 Min.    500  1,000  ...   500    35    10
+  12. Emmaus, Ridgewood............... T. S. Frey........ G. E. 1900 Mo.     582  1,104  ...   305    30     7
+  13. St. Paul, Richmond Hill......... P. B. Frey........ G.    1902 Mo.     325    650   30   235   ...    12
+  14. St. John. Richmond Hill......... A. L. Benner ..... E.    1903 N. E.   390  1,000  ...   465    40    26
+  15. St. Luke, Woodhaven............. E. R. Jaxheimer... E.    1908 N. E.   350  1,200  ...   550   103    18
+  16. Holy Trinity, Hollis............ A. L. Dillenbeck.. E.    1908 N. Y.    85    150  ...    96     6     6
+  17. St. Mark, Jamaica .............. W. C. Nolte....... G. E. 1909 N. Y.   156    272  ...   197    19     8
+  18. Redeemer, Glendale.............. T. O. Kuehn....... G. E. 1909 Mo.     260    600  ...   300    37     9
+  19. Covenant, 2402 Catalpa ......... G. U. Preuss...... E.    1909 N. E.   400  1,179  ...   679    48   ...
+  20. St. John, E. Williamsburg....... 0. Graesser, Jr... G. E. 1910 Mo.      50    130  ...    60     3     1
+  21. Good Shepherd, S. Ozone Park.... C. H. Thomsen..... E.    1911 N. Y.    85    568  ...   224     9    10
+  22. Christ, Rosedale................ G. L. Kieffer..... E.    1913 N. Y.    47    200  ...    41    21    10
+  23. St. Paul, Richmond Hill......... C. G. Toebke...... E.    1914 N. E.   100    250  ...   185    15     1
+  24. Chapel,* Bayside................ F. J. Muehlhaeuser E.    1915 Mo.      25     80  ...    55     4   ...
+  25. Chapel,* Port Washington........ F. J. Muehlhaeuser E.    1915 Mo.     ...     35  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  26. St. Andrew,* Glen Morris........ .................. E.    1915 N. Y.    15     30  ...    40   ...    15
+  27. Mission,* Elmhurst.............. E. G. Holls....... G.    .... Mo.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  28. Grace,* Queens.................. C. Romoser........ E.    .... Mo.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  29. Gustavus Adolphus, Rich. Hill... .................. S.    .... Aug.     10     29  ...    12   ...   ...
+                            Totals.....                                    6,634 14,415   62 6,897   635   370
+
+Richmond
+   Name and Location                   Pastor             Lang. Org. Syn.   Comm. Souls  P.S.  S.S.  R.H.  Prop.
+
+   1. St. John, Port Richmond......... John C. Borth..... G. E. 1852 Mo.     400    700  ...   175    35    32
+   2. Evangelical, Stapleton.......... Frederic Sutter... G. E. 1856 Min.    750  2,000  ...   560   (56)   95
+   3. Zion, Port Richmond............. R. O. Sigmond..... N.    1893 Nor.    160    280  ...   200   (20)   12
+   4. Our Saviour, Port Richmond...... S. R. Christensen. N.    1893 Nor.    175    283  ...   100    30     5
+   5. St. Paul, West New Brighton..... Wm. Euchler....... G. E. 1899 Min.    116   (200)  21    70    (7)   17
+   6. Wasa, Port Richmond............. L. F. Nordstrom... S.    1905 Aug.     75   (120) ...    41    (5)    7
+   7. German, Tompkinsville........... A. Krause......... G.    1907 Min.     90   (150)  16    50    (5)  ...
+   8. Scandinavian, New Brighton ..... J. C. Hougum...... N.    1908 Nor.     70   (150) ...    45    (9)    7
+   9. Immanuel, New Springville....... H. A Meyer........ G. E. 1911 Min.     58   (100) ...    36    75     6
+  10. St. Matthew, Dongan Hills....... Hugo H. Burgdorf.. E. G. 1915 Mo.      54   (137) ...    73     5     1
+                            Totals.....                                    1,948  4,120   37 1,350   247   182
+
+Recapitulation
+  Boroughs         Comm.  Souls   P.S.   S.S.  R.H.  Prop.
+
+  Manhattan......15,978  41,485   669  7,245 1,580  3,160
+  Bronx...........5,932  13,241   174  5,360   732    484
+  Brooklyn.......27,997  67,696   670 21,254 2,517  2,532
+  Queens .........6,334  14,415    62  6,897   635    370
+  Richmond....... 1,948   4,120    37  1,350   247    182
+  Total..........58,494 140,597 1,612 42,106 5,711  6,728
+
+
+Deaconesses
+
+Manhattan
+Christ Church: Sister Regena Bowe, Sister Maude Hafner.
+Atonement: Sister Jennie Christ.
+St. Paul, Harlem: Sister Rose Dittrich.
+St. John, Christopher Street: Sister Louise Moeller.
+
+Brooklyn
+St. Matthew: Sister Clara Smyre.
+Zion, Norwegian: Sister Marie Olsen.
+Trinity, Norwegian: Sister Ingeborg Neff.
+
+
+Former Pastors [tr. note: the numbers in this section correlate to the
+numbers of the congregations in the statistical section, but are not
+consecutive in the original]
+
+Manhattan
+
+1. St. Matthew: (Since 1807) F. W. Geissenhainer, Sr., F. C. Schaeffer,
+C. F. E. Stohlmann, George Vorberg, Justus Ruperti, J. H. Sieker,
+Martin Walker, Otto Ungemach.
+
+2. St. James: F. C. Schaeffer, W. D. Strobel, Charles Martin, J. L.
+Schock, A. C. Wedekind, S. A. Ort.
+
+3. St. Paul: F. W. Geissenhainer, Jr., C. Hennicke.
+
+4. Trinity: Theodor Brohm, F. W. Foehlinger, F. Koenig.
+
+5. St. Mark: A. H. M. Held, H. Raegener.
+
+6. St. Luke: Wm. Drees, Wm. Buettner, Wm. Busse.
+
+7. St. John: A. H. M. Held, A. C. Wedekind, J. J. Young.
+
+8. St. Peter: C. Hennicke, E. F. Moldenke.
+
+9. Immanuel: J. C. Renz, L. Halfmann.
+
+10. St. John: F. T. Koerner, L. A. C. Detzer, H. W. Diederich, W. F.
+Seeger.
+
+11. St. Paul: Julius Ehrhart, G. H. Tappert, J. A. W. Haas.
+
+12. Gustavus Adolphus: Axel Waetter, Johann Princell, Emil Lindberg.
+
+13. Holy Trinity: G. F. Krotel, C. Armand Miller.
+
+14. Epiphany: D. H. Geissinger, F. F. Buermeyer, J. W. Knapp, F. C.
+Clausen.
+
+15. Grace: J. Miller, J. Gruepp, J. A. W. Haas.
+
+16. Trinity: C. R. Tappert.
+
+17. Zion: H. Hebler.
+
+18. Washington Heights: E. A. Tappert.
+
+19. Our Saviour: C. Hovde, P. A. Dietrichson, J. G. Nilson, K. Kvamme.
+
+20. Redeemer: W. F. Schoenfeld, W. Dallmann.
+
+21. Advent: G. F. Krotel, W. M. Horn.
+
+22. Our Saviour: W. H. Feldmann.
+
+23. Finnish: M. Kiyi, J. Haakana.
+
+24. Esthonian: H. Rebane.
+
+25. Polish: C. Mikulski, F. Sattelmeier.
+
+Bronx
+
+4. St. Peter: H. Richter, H. A. Steininger.
+
+6. St. Peter: H. Reumann, O. Rappolt.
+
+8. Bethany: J. F. W. Kitzmeyer, W. Freas.
+
+9. St. Luke: W. Eickmann.
+
+10. St. Paul: J. Heck, G. Bohm, O. H. Restin, W. Proehl.
+
+12. Emmanuel: A. A. King, F. Christ.
+
+13. Trinity: A. V. Andersen.
+
+14. Grace: J. Schiller.
+
+18. St. Thomas: F. J. Baum.
+
+19. Holy Comforter: H. F. Muller.
+
+22. Trinity: O. H. Trinklein.
+
+Brooklyn
+
+1. Evangelical: F. T. Winkelmann, Ludwig Mueller, Hermann Garlichs,
+Johannes Bank, Carl F. Haussmann, Theo. H. Dresel.
+
+4. St. Paul: E. H. Buehre, E. J. Schlueter, August Schmidt, A. Schubert,
+H. Hennicke, F. T. Koerner, H. D. Wrage, George F. Behringer, H. B.
+Strodach, Hugo W. Hoffmann.
+
+5. Zion: F. W. T. Steimle, Chr. Hennicke.
+
+6. St. Matthew: William Hull, Edward J. Koons, Isaac K. Funk, A. S.
+Hartman, J. Ilgen Burrell, M. W. Hamma, J. C. Zimmerman, J. A.
+Singmaster, T. T. Everett, W. E. Main, A. H. Studebaker.
+
+7. St. Matthaeus: A. Schubert, H. Helfer, G. H. Vosseler.
+
+9. St. Peter: A. Schubert, Philip Zapf, Robert C. Beer, Carl Goehling.
+
+10. St. John: O. E. Kaselitz, Theo. Heischmann.
+
+12. St. Mark: J. F. Flath, G. A. Schmidt, A. E. Frey, J. Frey.
+
+13. St. Luke: J. H. Baden, Wm. Ludwig, C. B. Schuchard.
+
+14. St. Paul: Robert Neumann.
+
+16. Immanuel: F. T. Koerner.
+
+17. Wartburg Chapel: F. W. Richmann, C. A. Graeber, C. H. Loeber, B.
+Herbst.
+
+19. Norwegian Seamen's Mission: O. Asperheim, A. Mortensen, C. B.
+Hansteen, Kristen K. Saarheim, Jakob K. Bo, Tycho Castberg.
+
+20. St. Matthew: Kuefer, Comby, Steinhauer, Wagner, Graepp, Abele, Frey,
+Wuerstlin, Geist, Fritz.
+
+22. Trinity: George Koenig, John Holthusen, Paul Lindemann.
+
+23. St. Paul: H. C. Luehr, Theo. Gross.
+
+25. Bethlehem: Theodor Heischmann.
+
+26. Zion: E. Kraeling, J. Kirsch.
+
+27. St. James: C. F. Dies.
+
+30. Trinity: M. H. Hegge, J. Tanner, P. R. Syrdal, O. E. Eide.
+
+31. Finnish: N. Korhonen.
+
+32. Immanuel: G. Nelsenius, J. O. Cornell.
+
+33. Scandinavian: M. C. Tufts, A. Dietrichson, J. J. Nilson, K. Kvamme,
+G. J. Breivik, T. K. Thorvilden, Doeving, Risty.
+
+35. Christ: H. S. Knabenschuh.
+
+36. Salem: L. H. Kjaer, T. Beck, N. H. Nyrop.
+
+37. St. Peter: Emil Isler, R. Herbst, V. Geist.
+
+38. Zion: J. G. Danielson, J. C. Westlund, G. Anderson.
+
+39. Calvary: H. E. Clare, W. H. Hetrick, E. T. Hoshour, E. J. Flanders,
+G. Blessin.
+
+40. Reformation: H. P. Miller.
+
+42. Messiah: S. G. Trexler, E. A. Trabert.
+
+43. Our Saviour: J. H. C. Fritz.
+
+44. Incarnation: W. H. Steinbicker, G. J. Miller.
+
+47. Bethlehem: P. Lindemann, A. Halfmann, W. Arndt.
+
+48. Salem: J. G. Danielson, G. Nelsenius.
+
+53. Ascension: J. H. Strenge, E. W. Schaefer, W. H. Steinbicker, E. F.
+Stuckert, C. P. Jensen.
+
+55. Zion: J. Ellertsen.
+
+57. Advent: E. E. Hoshour, H. M. Schroeder.
+
+58. Good Shepherd: R. Baehre.
+
+52. Mediator: M. E. Walz.
+
+54. St. Philip: Carl Zinssmeister.
+
+Queens
+
+2. Middle Village: Schnurrer, F. W. Ernst, T. Koerner, G. A. W. Quern.
+
+4. Woodhaven: H. S. Kuever, W. P. Krope, Th. Heischmann, P. Kabis, G. A.
+Baetz.
+
+5. Corona: J. H. Berkemeier, E. Brennecke, A. E. Schmitthenner, E.
+Zwinger, F. Ruge, H. Eyme, C. Boehner, F. G. Wyneken.
+
+6. Long Island City: W. Schoenfeld, Ad. Sieker.
+
+8. Flushing: A. E. Schmitthenner, R. J. W. Mekler, J, Rathke.
+
+9. Whitestone: F. Kroencke, G. Thomas, H. F. Bunke, W. Koenig, Theo.
+Kuhn.
+
+10. Woodside: A. H. Winter, M. T. Holls.
+
+11. Maspeth : August Wuerstlin.
+
+12. Ridgewood : Wm. Pretzsch, P. B. Frey, Arthur Brunn.
+
+16. Woodhaven : E. J. Keuhling.
+
+18. Jamaica: Wm. Popcke, Max Hering.
+
+19. Glendale : John Baur.
+
+17. Hollis: H. M. Schroeder, Carl Yettru, Stephen Traver.
+
+21. South Ozone Park: P. J. Alberthus, J. B. Lau.
+
+20. Catalpa Avenue: G. C. Loos, E. Trafford, J. H. Stelljes.
+
+22. Maspeth: A. H. Meili.
+
+24. Rosedale: W. A. Sadtler.
+
+25. Dunton : Wm. Steinbicker.
+
+Richmond
+
+1. Port Richmond: F. Boehling, H. Roell, C. Hennicke, H. Goehling, M.
+Tirmenstein, J. E. Gottlieb, E. F. T. Frincke, J. P. Schoener, H.
+Schroeder.
+
+2. Stapleton: C. Hennicke, C. Goehling, R. C. Beer, E. Hering, A.
+Kuehne, A. Krause.
+
+3. Port Richmond: H. E. Rue, J. Tolefsen, O. Silseth, O. E. Eide, V. E.
+Boe.
+
+
+Sons of the Churches
+Who Have Entered the Lutheran Ministry [tr. note: the numbers in this
+section correlate to the numbers of the congregations in the statistical
+section, but are not consecutive in the original]
+
+Manhattan
+
+1. St. Matthew: Otto Sieker, Adolf Sieker, Henry Sieker, Christian
+Boehning, F. W. Oswald, John Timm, Theophilus Krug, Frederick Sacks,
+John Albohm, H. S. Knabenschuh, Wegner, Wm. Schmidt, Ed. Fischer, Wm.
+Fischer, R. Heintze.
+
+2. St. James: Edmund Belfour, D.D.
+
+4. Trinity: H. Birkner, F. Koenig, G. Koenig, F. T. Koerner, A.
+Kirchhoefer, H. Koenig, H. Voltz, E. Nauss, O. Graesser, C. Hassold, A.
+Poppe.
+
+5. St. Mark: J. Schultz, H. C. Meyer, E. Meyer.
+
+6. St. Luke: J. Timm, W. Krumwiede.
+
+7. St. John: E. E. Neudewitz, F. H. Knubel, W. H. Feldmann, J. H. Meyer,
+P. M. Young.
+
+8. St. Peter: H. Kuever, A. Stuckert, F. Hoffman, C. E. Moldenke, A. B.
+Moldenke.
+
+9. Immanuel: A. Menkens, F. Loose, J. Loose, H. C. Steinhoff, H.
+Pottberg, H. Zoller, J. Biehusen, H. Beckmann, E. Beckmann, P. Heckel,
+A. Halfmann, J. C. Boschen, P. Woy, H. Hamann.
+
+10. St. John: A. G. Steup, B. Weinlader, G. C. Kaestner, H. F. Bunke, M.
+L. Steup, F. J. Boehling, H. Wehrenberg, P. G. Steup, R. B. Steup, H.
+Tietjen.
+
+11. St. Paul: H. D. Wacker.
+
+14. Christ: C. E. Weltner, D.D., J. H. Dudde.
+
+21. Redeemer: R. C. Ressmeyer, W. Becker.
+
+22. Our Saviour: H. Gudmundsen, O. Brevik.
+
+Bronx
+
+10. St. Paul: H. W. Siebern.
+
+Brooklyn
+
+3. St. John: O. Werner.
+
+4. St. Paul: J. Koop, H. B. Krusa.
+
+5. Zion: Goedel, A. Steimle, D.D., C. Intemann, O. Mikkelson, E.
+Kraeling, Ph.D., H. Kropp.
+
+6. St. Matthew: J. Arnold.
+
+7. St. Matthew: F. Bastel.
+
+8. St. Peter: C. B. Rabbow, F. H. Bosch, F. A. Ravendam, B. Mehrtens.
+
+10. St. John: J. H. Stelljes.
+
+13. St. Luke: E. W. Hammer.
+
+15. Bethlehem: F. N. Swanberg, N. Ebb, A. Ebb, O. Ebb, B. J. Hattin, P.
+Froeberg, O. N. Olsen, O. Eckhardt.
+
+19. Seamans: O. Amdalsrud, S. Folkestad, J. Skagen, N. Nielsen.
+
+22. Trinity: H. Hamann, P. Seidler, G. C. Koenig.
+
+23. St. Paul: G. Steinert, W. C. Schrader.
+
+27. St. James; H. A. Meyer, G. J. Schorling.
+
+30. Trinity: J. J. Tadum, A. Nilsen, S. O. Sande, C. Munson, M. Brekke,
+N. Fedde.
+
+34. Redeemer: C. Toebke.
+
+35. Christ: C. H. Dort.
+
+40. Reformation: P. Rudh.
+
+Queens
+
+2. Trinity: A. E. Schmitthenner, F. Sutter.
+
+6. Trinity: H. H. Koppelmann, Wm. Knoke, G. Hageman.
+
+11. Trinity: L. Hause.
+
+12. Emmaus: C. Werberig.
+
+Richmond
+
+2. Evangelical: P. E. Weber.
+
+3. Zion: S. Saude, J. Frohlen, O. Alfsen, A. Stansland.
+
+
+Institutions and Societies
+
+Colleges
+
+Concordia, 1881, Bronxville. Faculty: Professors Heintze,
+Heinrichsmeyer, Feth, Stein, Schwoy and Romoser.
+
+Wagner Memorial, 1883, Grymes Hill, Stapleton, Staten Island. Director:
+Rev. A. H. Holthusen.
+
+Upsala, 1893, Kenilworth, N. J. Director: Rev. Peter Froeberg, B.D.
+
+
+Orphans' Homes
+
+Wartburg Farm School, 1864, Mount Vernon.
+
+Bethlehem, 1886, Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island.
+
+Children's Home, 1915, Brooklyn, 45 Third Place.
+
+
+Homes for the Aged
+
+Wartburg, 1875, Brooklyn, 2598 Fulton Avenue.
+
+Maria Louise Memorial, 1898, Mount Vernon.
+
+Marien-Heim, 1898, Brooklyn, 18th Avenue at 64th Street.
+
+Old People's Home (Norwegian), 112 Pulaski Street.
+
+Swedish Augustana, 1907, Brooklyn, 1680 Sixtieth Street.
+
+
+Deaconess Motherhouse
+
+Norwegian, 1880, Brooklyn, Fourth Ave. at 46th Street.
+
+
+Hospitals and Relief Work
+
+Norwegian, 1880, Brooklyn, Fourth Ave. at 46th Street.
+
+Lutheran, 1881, Brooklyn, East New York Ave. at Junius St.
+
+Lutheran of Manhattan, 1911, Convent Ave. at 144th Street.
+
+Lutheran Hospital Association: Twenty congregations of the Missouri
+Synod are represented in this Association.
+
+Inner Mission Society, 2040 Fifth Avenue. Missionary: Rev. Ferdinand F.
+Buermeyer, D.D.
+
+Inner Mission and Rescue Work, 56 Pine Street, Manhattan. Rev. V. A. M.
+Mortensen.
+
+Association for the Relief of Indigent Germans on Blackwell's Island.
+
+German Home for Recreation of Women and Children, 1895, Brooklyn, Harway
+Avenue, Gravesend Beach.
+
+
+Immigrant and Seamen's Missions
+
+Norwegian, 1867, Manhattan, 45 Whitehall St. Pastor Petersen.
+
+Emigrant House, 1869, Manhattan, 147 West Twenty-third Street. Pastor
+Haas.
+
+Danish Mission, 1878, Brooklyn, 197 Ninth Street. Pastor Anderson.
+
+Norwegian Seamen, 1879, Brooklyn, 115 Pioneer St. Pastor Ekeland.
+
+Finnish Mission, 1887, Brooklyn, 197 Ninth Street. Pastor Maekinen.
+
+Seamen's Mission, 1907, Hoboken, 64 Hudson Street. Pastor Brueckner.
+
+Swedish Immigrant Home, 1895, Manhattan, 5 Water Street. Pastor
+Helander.
+
+Immigrant Society, Inc., 1869, Manhattan, 234 East 62d Street. Pastor
+Restin.
+
+
+Other Associations
+
+Lutheran Education Society of New York. For the promotion of higher
+education within the Atlantic and Eastern Districts of the Evangelical
+Lutheran Synod of Missouri. Pastor Karl Kretzmann, Secretary.
+
+Manhattan Sunday School Institute, 1908. 15 schools. Enrollment, 495
+teachers.
+
+English Lutheran Missionary Society of Brooklyn, 1898. Reports
+establishment of 16 churches in Brooklyn and Long Island.
+
+Luther League of New York City. Enrollment, 1,100 members.
+
+American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, 234 East 62d Street.
+
+Lutheran Bureau, Inc., A National Medium for Information and Service.
+
+The Bureau grew out of the celebration of the Reformation
+Quadricentennial. Its lines of activity embrace a lecture bureau, a news
+service and an information service.
+
+In the last it offers information on the best methods of doing church
+work, culling the best experience in the field of service and placing it
+at the disposal of anyone desiring it.
+
+In the lecture bureau and the news service it is stimulating Lutherans
+to study the problems of the hour and it is creating opportunities for
+them to be heard.
+
+The office is located in the Bank of the Metropolis Building, Union
+Square, New York. President, George D. Boschen; Treasurer, Theodore H.
+Lamprecht; Executive Secretary, O. H. Pannkoke.
+
+National Lutheran Commission for Soldiers' and Sailors' Welfare, 437
+Fifth Avenue, New York. Chairman, Rev. Frederick H. Knubel, D.D.
+
+
+Periodicals
+
+Der Lutherische Herold, founded in 1852, by Henry Ludwig.
+
+Der Sonntagsgast, founded 1872. Editor: Pastor Wenner.
+
+The New York Lutheran, founded 1903. Editor: Pastor Brunn.
+
+Der Deutsche Lutheraner, founded 1909. Continuation of Der Lutherische
+Herold. Editor: Pastor Berkemeier.
+
+The Luther League Review. Editor, E. F. Eilert.
+
+The American Lutheran. Editor: Pastor Lindemann.
+
+Inner Missions. Inner Mission Society.
+
+
+Bookstores
+
+Lutheran Publication Society, 150 Nassau Street.
+
+Ernst Kaufmann, 22 North William Street.
+
+Augustana Book Concern, 132 Nassau Street.
+
+
+Bibliography *
+     *_Many of the books to which reference is here made may be found in
+the Public Library of New York. Others are obtainable in college and
+seminary libraries_.
+
+_Morris_, Bibliotheca Lutherana.
+
+_Jacobs and Haas_, Lutheran Cyclopedia.
+
+Distinctive Doctrines and Usages of the Lutheran Church.
+
+_Neve_, Die wichtigsten Unterscheidungsmerkmale der lutherischen Synoden
+Amerikas.
+
+_Richard_, Confessional History of the Lutheran Church.
+
+_Schmauk_ and _Benze_, The Confessional Principle and the Confessions of
+the Lutheran Church.
+
+_Kolde_, Historische Einleitung in die Symbolische Buecher.
+
+_Krauth_, The Conservative Reformation.
+
+_Stahl_, Die lutherische Kirche und die Union.
+
+Book of Concord. In German and Latin: _Mueller_. In English: _Jacobs_.
+
+_Walther_, Amerikanisch-Lutherische Pastoral Theologie.
+
+_Rohnert_, Dogmatik.
+
+_Gerberding_, The Way of Salvation.
+
+_Remensnyder_, The Lutheran Manual.
+
+Ecclesiastical Records State of New York.
+
+(Hallesche) Nachrichten.
+
+Colonial Documents of New York.
+
+Brodhead, History of New Netherland.
+
+O'Callaghan, Documentary History of the State of New York.
+
+Memorial Volume of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of Hartwick Seminard,
+[sic] held August 21, 1866. Albany, 1867.
+
+_Lamb_, History of the City of New York.
+
+_Booth_, History of the City of New York.
+
+_Greenleaf_, History of the Churches of New York.
+
+_Graebner_, Geschichte der Lutherischen Kirche in America.
+
+_Haeberle_, Auswanderung der Pfaelzer im 18. Jahrhundert.
+Kaiserslautern, 1909.
+
+_Eichhorn_, In der neuen Heimath.
+
+_Kapp_, Geschichte der Deutschen im Staate New York.
+
+_Gotwald_, The Teutonic Factor in American History. (Lutheran Church
+Review, 1902.)
+
+_Graebner_, Half a Century of Sound Lutheranism in America.
+
+_Nicum_, Geschichte des New York Ministeriums.
+
+_Lenker_, Lutherans in All Lands.
+
+_Jacobs_, A History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United
+States.
+
+_Schmucker, B. M._, The Lutheran Church in New York during the First
+Century of its History. (Lutheran Church Review, 1884-1885.)
+
+_Francis_, Old New York.
+
+_Disosway_, Earliest Churches of New York.
+
+_Sachse_: Justus Falckner.
+
+_Mann_: H. M. Muehlenberg.
+
+_Roesener_: Johann Heinrich Sieker.
+
+_Sprague_: Annals of the American Lutheran Pulpit.
+
+_Bendixen_: Bilder aus der letzten religioesen Erweckung in
+Deutschland. Leipzig, 1897.
+
+_Schaefer_: Wilhelm Loehe. (Also other lives of Loehe).
+
+_Baur_: Geschichts-und Lebensbilder aus der Erneuerung des
+religioesen Lebins in den deutschen Befreiungskriegen.
+
+_Stevenson_: Praying and Working.
+
+(_Rocholl_): Einsame Wege.
+
+_Wichern_, Die innere Mission.
+
+_Ohl_, The Inner Mission.
+
+_Kretzmann_, Oldest Lutheran Church in America.
+
+(_Clarkson_), Church of Zion and St. Timothy.
+
+(_Young_), St. John's Church in Christopher Street.
+
+_Kraeling_, Unser Zion (Brooklyn), 1905.
+
+(_Merkel_), Dreieinigkeits-Gemeinde, Long Island City.
+
+_Kandelhart_, Bethlehems-Gemeinde, Brooklyn, 1913.
+
+_Beyer_, St. Johannes-Gemeinde, Brooklyn, 1894.
+
+_Borth_, St. Johannes-Gemeinde, Port Richmond, 1902.
+
+Jubilee of the Church of St. James, 1877.
+
+Geschichte der Kirche zu St. Markus, 1897. (Manh.)
+
+Zum Fuenfzigjaehrigem Jubilaeum der St. Lukas Gemeinde, 1900. (Manh.)
+
+Zum Goldenen Jubilaeum. (St. Peter's Church, Manhattan), 1912.
+
+Geschichtliche Skizze zum Goldenen Jubilaeum der Immanuelskirche zu
+Yorkville, 1913.
+
+_Steup_, Geschichtliche Skizze der St. Johannes-Gemeinde zu Harlem, New
+York, 1889.
+
+(_Peterson_), Zum Goldenen Jubilaeum, Dreieinigkeits-Gemeinde, Middle
+Village, 1913.
+
+Statistisches Jahrbuch. (Missouri Synod).
+
+Lutheran Church Year Book.
+
+Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac.
+
+Federation. New York Federation of Churches.
+
+Charities Directory. Charity Organization Society.
+
+
+Index
+
+"Achtundvierziger" .....35
+Arensius ...............39
+Athens .................99
+Baptismal Regeneration..101
+Berkemeier, G. C........40
+Berkemeier, W. H........39
+Berkenmeyer.............9
+Book of Concord.........XI, 41
+Brohm, Pastor...........34
+"Buffalonians"..........33
+Catechization ..........109
+Concordia College.......61
+Confirmation............98
+Cox, Dr. S. H...........20
+Church Bookkeeping......124
+Church Defined..........94
+Deaconesses.............52
+Dutch Language..........80
+Ehrhardt, Julius........65
+Embury, Philip..........22
+English Language........83
+Episcopalians...........25
+Ericsson, Captain John..44
+Fabritius...............3
+Falckner................5
+Francis, Dr.............20
+Geissenhainer, Sr.......26
+Geissenhainer, Jr.......27, 64
+German Language.........81
+Goedel, Jacob...........42
+Grabau, Pastor..........31
+Gutwasser...............3
+Hartwick Seminary.......62
+Hartwig.................21
+Hausihl.................13
+Heck, Barbara...........22
+Held, A. H. M...........64
+Hessians................14
+High German.............84
+Holls, G. C.............40
+Hospice.................62
+Inner Mission...........120
+Inner Mission Society...62
+Jewish Schools..........111
+Jogues..................1
+Justification by Faith..XIV, XV
+Knoll...................10
+Kocherthal..............6
+Koinonia................51
+Krotel..................65
+Kunze...................16
+Kurtz, Dr. B............32
+Laidlaw.................56
+London..................79
+Loonenburg..............9
+Louis the Fourteenth....6
+Lutheran Society........62
+Lutheranism.............VIII
+Luther League...........51
+Manhattan...............61
+Martin Luther Society...50
+Mayer, P. and F.........21
+Means of Grace..........XVI
+Meldenius, Rupertus.....IV
+Methodists..............23
+Metropolitan District...76
+Merger..................78
+Miller, C. Armand.......66
+Ministers' Association..58
+"Missourians"...........33
+Moldenke................65
+Moller, Peter...........39
+Muehlenberg, F..........12
+Muehlenberg, H. M.......11
+Muehlenberg, P..........6
+Muhlenberg, W. A........7
+Neumann, R..............38
+Norwegians..............45
+Oertel, Maximilian......31
+Old Swamp Church........12
+Palatines...............6
+Parochial School........107
+Passavant...............39
+Pennsylvania Dutch......87
+Person of Christ........XIV
+Platt Deutsch...........82
+Prussia, King of........32
+Psalmodia Germanica.....12
+Public Library..........125
+Russian Lutherans.......114
+Rhinebeck...............18
+Rudmann, A..............5
+Scandinavians...........47
+Schaeffer, F. C.........26
+Schieren, Chas. A.......57
+Sieker, J. H............65
+Steimle Synod...........41
+St. Stephen's Church....25
+St. James' Church.......27
+St. Matthew's Church....26
+Stohlmann...............37, 64
+Strebeck................18
+Sunday School...........106
+Swedes..................41
+Trinity Church..........9
+Upsala College..........61
+Vorleezers..............8
+Wagner College..........61
+Week-Day Instruction....110
+Wedekind................64
+Weiser..................6
+Weltner.................67
+Wesley, John............23
+Weygand.................12
+Williston...............25
+Winkeltaufe.............100
+Young, J. J.............66
+Zenger, Peter...........7
+Zion Church.............18
+
+
+Printed by
+MANGER, HUGHES & MANGER
+New York
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Lutherans of New York, by George Wenner
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14638 ***
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+eBook #14638 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14638)
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lutherans of New York, by George Wenner
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Lutherans of New York
+       Their Story and Their Problems
+
+Author: George Wenner
+
+Release Date: January 8, 2005 [EBook #14638]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LUTHERANS OF NEW YORK ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Prof. Kurt A. Bodling, Ganser Library, Millersville
+University, Millersville, PA, USA
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's note: A very few German names appeared in the original
+with umlauts. These have been transcribed as an "e". A few spelling
+errors in the original are indicated with a "[sic]". The original uses
+italics to indicate most of the German and Latin in the text, and all of
+the authors' names in the bibliography. Italics are transcribed with the
+underscore character at the beginning and end. Footnotes in the original
+are transcribed here in a paragraph immediately below the paragraph to
+which the footnote is connected.  The appendix contains a table that is
+102 characters wide.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lutherans
+of
+New York
+
+Their Story and Their Problems
+
+BY
+GEORGE U. WENNER, D.D., L.H.D.
+Pastor of Christ Church
+
+New York
+THE PETERSFIELD PRESS
+819 East Nineteenth Street
+1918
+
+Copyright, 1918
+By GEORGE U. WENNER
+
+
+
+
+TO
+THE LUTHERANS OF NEW YORK
+IN
+THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
+_May you bring forth fruit and may your fruit remain_
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+   Apology
+   Introduction
+Their Story
+   In the Seventeenth Century--1648-1700
+   In the Eighteenth Century--1701-1750
+   In the Eighteenth Century--1751-1800
+   In the Nineteenth Century--1801-1838
+   In the Nineteenth Century--1839-1865
+   In the Nineteenth Century--1866-1900
+   In the Twentieth Century--1900-1918
+Their Problems
+   The Problem of Synods
+   The Problem of Language
+   The Problem of Membership
+   The Problem of Religious Education
+   The Problem of Lapsed Lutherans
+   The Problem of Statistics
+Epilogue
+Appendix--The Churches; Deaconesses; Former Pastors; Sons of the
+Churches; Institutions and Societies; Other Associations; Periodicals;
+Book-stores; Bibliography; Index.
+
+
+
+
+Illustrations
+   Frontispiece [Transcriber's note: a portrait of the author]
+   When New York Was Young
+   A Corner of Broad Street
+   New Amsterdam in 1640
+   In the Eighteenth Century
+   Trinity Church
+   Henry Melchior Muehlenberg
+   The Old Swamp Church
+   Frederick Muehlenberg
+   John Christopher Kunze
+   Kunze's Gravestone
+   Carl F. E. Stohlmann, D.D.
+   Pastor Wilhelm Heinrich Berkemeier
+   The Wartburg
+   G. F. Krotel, D.D., LL.D.
+   Augustus Charles Wedekind, D.D.
+   Pastor J. H. Sieker
+   Charles E. Weltner, D.D.
+
+
+
+
+Apology
+
+Lutherans are not foreigners in New York. Most of us it is true are new
+comers. But with a single exception, that of the Dutch Reformed Church,
+Lutherans were the first to plant the standard of the cross on Manhattan
+Island.
+
+The story of our church runs parallel with that of the city. Our
+problems are bound up with those of New York. Our neighbors ought to be
+better acquainted with us. We ought to be better acquainted with them.
+We have common tasks, and it would be well if we knew more of each
+other's ways and aims.
+
+New York is a cosmopolitan city. It is the gateway through which the
+nations are sending their children into the new world.
+
+Lutherans are a cosmopolitan church. Our pastors minister to their
+flocks in fifteen languages. No church has a greater obligation to "seek
+the peace of the city" than the Lutherans of New York. No church has a
+deeper interest in the problems that come to us with the growth and ever
+changing conditions of the metropolis.
+
+In their earlier history our churches had a checkered career. In recent
+years they have made remarkable progress. In Greater New York we enroll
+this year 160 churches. The Metropolitan District numbers 260
+congregations holding the Lutheran confession. But the extraordinary
+conditions of a rapidly expanding metropolis, with its nomadic
+population, together with our special drawback of congregations divided
+among various races and languages as well as conflicting schools of
+theological definition, make our tasks heavy and confront us with
+problems of grave difficulty.
+
+On the background of a historical sketch a study of some of these
+problems is attempted by the author. After spending what seemed but a
+span of years in the pastorate on the East Side, he awoke one day to
+find that half a century had been charged to his account. While it is a
+distinction, there is no special merit in being the senior pastor of New
+York. As Edward Judson once said to him: "All that you have had to do
+was to outlive your contemporaries."
+
+These fifty years have been eventful ones in the history of our church
+in New York. All of this period the author "has seen and part of it he
+was." But having also known, with four exceptions all the Lutheran
+pastors of the preceding fifty years, he has come into an almost
+personal touch with the events of a century of Lutheran history on this
+island. He has breathed its spirit and sympathized with its aspirations.
+
+This unique experience served as a pretext for putting into print some
+reflections that seemed fitting at a time when our churches were
+celebrating the quadricentennial of the Reformation and were inquiring
+as to the place which they might take in the new century upon which they
+were entering. The manuscript was begun during the celebration, but
+parochial duties intervened and frequent interruptions delayed the
+completion of the book.
+
+Lutherans have their place in Church History. Our doctrinal principles
+differ in certain respects from those of other churches. We believe that
+these principles are an expression of historical, evangelical
+Christianity, worthy of being promulgated, not in a spirit of arrogant
+denominationalism, but in a spirit of toleration and catholicity. Yet
+few in this city, outside of our own kith and kin, understand the
+meaning of our system. We have made but little progress in commending it
+to others or in extending our denominational lines.
+
+We do not even hold the ground that belongs to us. The descendants of
+the Lutherans of the first two centuries are not enrolled in our church
+books. Although of late years we have increased a hundredfold (literally
+ a hundredfold within the memory of men still living), we are far from
+caring effectively for our flocks. The number of lapsed Lutherans is
+larger than that of the enrolled members of our churches. In the
+language of our Palatine forefathers: _Doh is ebbes letz_.
+
+While therefore recent progress affords ground for encouragement, it is
+not a time for boastfulness. It is rather a time for self-examination,
+for an inquiry into our preparedness for new tasks and impending
+opportunities.
+
+We are living in an imperial city. What we plan and what we do here in
+New York projects itself far beyond the walls of our city. Nowhere are
+the questions of the community more complicated and the needs of the
+time more urgent than here. We should therefore ask ourselves whether
+the disjointed sections of our church, arrayed during the
+Quadricentennial as one, for the purposes of a spectacular celebration,
+but each exalting some particularism of secondary value, adequately
+represent the religious ideas which four centuries ago gave a new
+impulse to the life of the world. If not, where does the trouble lie?
+Is it a question of doctrine, of language, of organization or of spirit?
+
+The emphasis we place upon doctrine has given us a reputation for
+exclusiveness. The author believes that the spirit of Lutheranism is
+that of catholicity. He holds that, in our relations with the people of
+this city and with other churches we ought to emphasize the essential
+and outstanding features of the Lutheran Church rather than the minute
+distinctions which only the trained dogmatician can comprehend. He is in
+sympathy with the well known plea of Rupertus Meldenius, an otherwise
+unknown Lutheran theologian of the seventeenth century (about 1623), to
+observe "in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things
+charity."
+
+
+
+Introduction
+
+For the sake of non-Lutheran readers it may be well, in a sketch of the
+story and problems of our churches, to present a short statement of
+their principles and to indicate in what respect these differ from the
+general attitude and beliefs of other churches. In doing so however the
+author does not presume to encroach upon the field belonging to the
+scholars of the church. He is not an expert theologian. What he has to
+say upon this subject can only be taken as the opinion of a workaday
+pastor who, in practical experience, has obtained an acquaintance with
+the teachings of the church which it is his privilege to serve. For a
+clearer understanding of disputed points the reader is referred to the
+books of reference named in the Bibliography.
+
+Many otherwise well-read people, while admitting that Lutherans are
+Protestants, suspect that their system is still imbued with the leaven
+of Romanism. In their classification of churches they are disposed to
+place us among Ritualists, Sacerdotalists and Crypto-Romanists.
+
+We do not expect to reverse at once the preference of most American
+Protestants in favor of the Reformed system. But since we have had no
+inconsiderable share in the shaping of modern history, we are confident
+that our principles will in due time receive the consideration to which
+any historical development is entitled. We would like to be understood,
+or at least not to be misunderstood, by our fellow Christians.
+
+But our chief desire is to inspire our own young people with an
+intelligent devotion to the faith of their fathers and to persuade them
+of its conformity with historical, believing Christianity.
+
+What is Lutheranism? How does it differ from Catholicism? How does it
+differ from other forms of Protestantism?
+
+The origin of Lutheranism we are accustomed to assign to the sixteenth
+century. We associate it with the nailing of the 95 theses to the church
+door at Wittenberg, or with Luther's defence at the Diet of Worms, or
+with the Confession of the Evangelicals at Augsburg in 1530.
+
+These events were indeed dramatic indications of a great change, but
+they were only the culmination of a process that had been going on for
+ages. It was a re-formation of the ancient Catholic Church and a return
+to the original principles of the Gospel.
+
+"The Church had become an enormous labyrinthine structure which included
+all sorts of heterogeneous matters, the Gospel and holy water, the
+universal priesthood and the pope on his throne, the Redeemer and Saint
+Anna, and called it religion. Over against this vast accumulation of the
+ages, against which many times ineffective protest had been made, the
+Lutheran Reformation insisted on reducing religion to its simplest
+terms, faith and the word of God."*
+     *Harnack, Wesen des Christenthums.
+
+The traditional conception of the Church with all its apparatus and
+claims of authority it repudiated, and in the few and simple statements
+of the seventh article of the Augustana, it set forth its doctrine of
+the Church:
+
+"Also they teach, that One holy Church is to continue forever. The
+Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly
+taught and the Sacraments rightly administered. And to the true unity of
+the Church, it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel
+and the administration of the Sacraments."
+
+This was the Lutheran position as against Rome.
+
+But properly to understand our history we must also take account of
+another movement with which our churches had to contend at the same time
+that they were making their protest against Rome. This was a more
+radical form of Protestantism which found its expression among what are
+known as the Reformed Churches. It had its home in Switzerland, and made
+its way along the Rhine to Germany, France and Holland. Through John
+Knox it came to Scotland, and subsequently superseded Lutheranism in
+Holland and in England. It was from these countries that the earliest
+colonists came to America, and thus American Christianity early received
+the impress of the Reformed system. The few and scattered Lutheran
+churches which were established here in the early history of our country
+were brought into contact with a form of Protestantism at variance with
+their own theological principles. The history of our Church in America
+must be studied with this fact in mind, otherwise many of its
+developments will not be understood.
+
+It would lead too far to explain the historical and philosophical
+differences between these two forms of Protestantism. A phrase first
+used by Julius Stahl aptly describes the difference. The Lutheran
+Reformation was the "Conservative Reformation." Its general principle
+was to maintain the historical continuity of the Church, rejecting only
+that which was contrary to the word of God. The irenic character of the
+Augsburg Confession was owing to this principle. The Reformed Churches,
+on the other hand, made a _tabula rasa_ of history, and, ignoring even
+the legitimate contributions of the Christian centuries, professed to
+return to apostolical simplicity, and to accept for their church-life
+only that which was explicitly prescribed by the Holy Scriptures.
+
+Thus the Lutherans retained the churches as they were, with their altars
+and their pictures, the Liturgy and other products of art and of
+history, provided they were not contrary to the word of God. The
+Reformed, on the other hand, would have none of these things because
+they were not prescribed in the Bible. They worshipped in churches with
+bare walls, and dispensed with organs and music, in the interest of a
+return to Scriptural simplicity.
+
+There were other differences, but these indicate the general character
+of the two movements.
+
+History thus placed our Church between two fires, and the training she
+received explains in part the polemical character for which she has been
+distinguished. Sharp theological distinctions had to be made. The
+emphasis which she was compelled to place upon distinctive doctrine as a
+bond of fellowship accounts for the maintenance of standards which were
+not required in the early history of our Church when the seventh article
+of the Augustana was presented.
+
+Those were famous battles which were fought in the sixteenth and
+seventeenth centuries in defence of the Lutheran position. Our Church
+had to contend with two vigorous foes in the statement of her doctrines,
+Rome and Reform. The antinomian and synergistic controversies, Osiander,
+Major and Flacius, the Philippists and the Crypto-Calvinists are names
+that still remind us of the theological carnage of the sixteenth
+century.
+
+In the seventeenth century came the reign of the dogmaticians. The
+eighteenth century was the age of Pietism and this was followed by
+Rationalism. The scope of this Introduction does not require us to
+explain the significance of these movements. Students of Church History
+are familiar with them.
+
+The revival of spiritual life at the beginning of the nineteenth century
+brought with it also a revival of church consciousness and a restoration
+of the confession of the church. Both in Europe and in America the
+attempt has been made to secure the unity of the church on the basis of
+subscription to the various Symbols included in the Book of Concord.
+These Symbols, besides the Ecumenical Creeds and the Augsburg
+Confession, are Melanchthon's Apology, that is Defence of the Augsburg
+Confession, Luther's two Catechisms, the Smalcald Articles and the
+Formula of Concord. The later Confessions supplement and explain the
+statements of the Augsburg Confession. As such they are valuable
+exponents of Lutheran teaching. Many of our churches in Europe as well
+as in America require of their ministers subscription to these
+Confessions. At the same time it is also true that many churches, whose
+Lutheranism cannot be impugned, find in the Augsburg Confession an
+adequate expression of their doctrinal position.
+
+According to the Confessors of Augsburg: "For the true unity of the
+church it is sufficient to agree concerning the doctrines of the
+Gospel."
+
+It would seem, therefore, to be in harmony with the spirit of
+Lutheranism to make "the confession of the churches" rather than "the
+Confessions of the Church" the bond of union. Underneath the Confessions
+there are distinctive principles differentiating us from the sacerdotal
+churches on the one hand and from the Reformed churches on the other
+hand.
+
+The soul of the Confessions is the confession, and this soul we may
+recognize amid all the changes that take place in the course of time
+and the progress of thought. It reveals itself in innumerable forms, in
+sermons and in sacred song, and above all in the sanctified lives of
+those who confess the faith.
+
+In conversation with an eminent teacher in one of our most conservative
+schools, the author not long ago requested a definition of Lutheranism
+from the standpoint of the school which the Professor represented. Of
+course, it was suggested, the acceptance of the Symbolical books must be
+presumed, _sine qua non_.
+
+The reply was: "The Symbolical Books are valuable, but their obligatory
+acceptance is not essential: The same is true even of the Augsburg
+Confession. Any one who accepts the teachings of Luther's Small
+Catechism is a Lutheran. The heart of the Lutheran faith may be
+expressed in the following words: "Man is a sinner who can be saved by
+grace alone."
+
+In view of this statement it would seem to be a legitimate inference
+that even in the straitest sect of Lutherans in America the ultimate
+doctrine of Lutheranism, reduced to a single word, is GRACE.
+
+Churches, however, have their distinguishing marks. In the Lutheran
+Church these are more difficult to find because of her catholic origin
+and spirit. While forms and ceremonies are retained, they play only a
+minor part in the expression of her churchliness. Bishops and
+presbyters, robes and chasubles, liturgies and orders, "helps,
+governments and divers kinds of tongues," in the providence of God all
+of these things have been "set in the church." Lutherans in many lands
+make use of them. An inexperienced observer, taking note only of
+crucifixes and candles sometimes fails to distinguish between Lutherans
+and Catholics. Yet none of these heirlooms of our ancient family belong
+to the essential marks of the church. Their observance or non-observance
+has nothing to do with the substance of Lutheranism.
+
+Lutheranism aimed at reformation and not at revolution. Its initial
+purpose was to bring back the Church to the common faith of Christendom.
+Hence the Lutheran Confession is in its large outlines that of universal
+Christendom. Nevertheless, it received a distinctive trend from the
+problems of soteriology. The ancient Church had developed the doctrines
+of God and of Christ. A beginning, too, had been made in the doctrines
+of sin and grace and the way of salvation. But the development had been
+hindered by hierarchical traditionalism and by the spirit of legalism.
+These were the obstacles that stood in the way. The cry that went up to
+God from the hearts of the people in the days of the Reformation was
+"What must I do to be saved?" This cry found a voice in the experience
+of Luther himself. This is what drove him into the monastery, and this
+was the underlying quest of his life as a monk and as a teacher in the
+university, through monasticism to get to heaven. It was only when he
+had found Christ, and realized that his sins had been taken away through
+the atoning work of the Son of God, that he found peace. It is His
+person and work upon which the doctrine of our Church primarily rests.*
+     *"Luther, when he said that justification by faith was the article
+of a standing or falling Church, stated the exact truth. He meant to
+say, in the terms of the New Testament, especially of Paul, that God in
+Christ is the sole and sufficient Saviour. He affirmed what was in him
+no abstract doctrine, but the most concrete of all realities, Incarnated
+in the person and passion of Jesus Christ, drawing from Him its eternal
+and universal significance."--Fairbairn, "The Place of Christ in Modern
+Theology," page 159.
+
+In the words of the Small Catechism, Luther still teaches our children
+this foundation doctrine of our Church:
+
+"I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from
+eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who
+has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, secured and delivered me
+from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil; not with
+silver and gold, but with His holy and precious blood, and with His
+innocent sufferings and death, in order that I might be His, live under
+Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness,
+innocence and blessedness."
+
+But while we thus find in the Son of God and in His atoning work the
+foundation of the faith of our Church, many obstacles had been placed in
+the way of securing this redemption. Legalistic conditions made it
+impossible for the sinner to know that his sins had been taken away. It
+was here that the Lutheran Reformation pointed the way to a return to
+the simplicity of the Gospel by its Scriptural definition of
+justification. _Sola fide_, by faith alone, was the keynote of the
+Reformation. Be sure that you bring back _sola_ was Luther's admonition
+to his friends, who went to Augsburg while he himself remained at
+Coburg.
+
+Thus justification by faith became the material principle of
+Protestantism and a second foundation stone of Lutheranism. It is true
+that Calvin and the Reformed churches also accepted this principle, but
+they did not begin with it. Their system was based on the idea of the
+absoluteness of God. The Lutheran system emphasizes the love of God to
+all men; the Reformed system emphasizes predestination; which, by
+selecting some, excludes the others. As the theologians describe it,
+Lutheranism is Christocentric, Reform is theocentric.*
+     *Calvin, like Luther, read theology through Augustine and without
+his ecclesiology, but from an altogether opposite point of view. Luther
+started with the anthropology and advanced from below upwards; Calvin
+started with the theology and moved from above downwards. Hence his
+determinative idea was not justification by faith, but God and His
+sovereignty, or the sole and all-efficiency of His gracious will.-Ibid.,
+page 162.
+
+A third principle relates to the means of grace. Here we have less
+difficulty in discerning the line of cleavage which separates us from
+Rome on the one hand and from the rest of Protestantism on the other
+hand.
+
+The Lutheran Confession regards the word of God as the means of grace.
+The Sacraments also are means of grace, not _ex opere operato_, but
+because of the word. They are the visible word, or the individualized
+Gospel. Hence, it is correct to say that the word, in the Lutheran
+system, is the means of grace. This is doubtless news to many of our
+brethren of other faiths, who think of us only as extreme
+sacramentarians, and have looked upon us for centuries as
+Crypto-Romanists. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was only
+by an accident that the emphasis of polemical discussion in the
+sixteenth century was laid upon the sacramental question, where it never
+belonged.
+
+In her doctrine of the means of grace, the Lutheran Church differs _toto
+coelo_ from Rome. It is not the Church which, through its authority and
+its institutions, makes the means of grace effective; but it is through
+the means of grace that the Church is created and made both a product
+and an instrument of the Holy Ghost.
+
+On this doctrine our church differs not only in theory but also in
+practice from many of our Protestant brethren. In some of their original
+confessional statements the Reformed churches declared that the Spirit
+of God required no means of grace, since He worked immediately and
+directly. They claimed that the corporeal could not carry the spiritual,
+and that the finite could not be made the bearer of the infinite. Over
+against these hyperspiritual views our Church believes that through the
+word and the sacraments the Holy Ghost effectively offers to the sinner
+the gifts of salvation.
+
+There are other marks of our Church, but these are its main
+characteristics, and they suffice to indicate our general position in
+relation to Christian thought.
+
+If, now, we should be called upon to define in a single sentence the
+distinctive features of Lutheranism, it might be done in these words of
+an unknown writer:
+
+"Lutheranism is that form of Protestant Christianity which makes Christ
+the only foundation, faith the only condition, and the word of God the
+only means of salvation."
+
+
+
+THEIR STORY
+
+
+In the Seventeenth Century
+1648-1700
+
+Under the administration of the Dutch West India Company the Reformed
+Church was established in New Amsterdam in 1628. The policy of the
+Company was to maintain the Reformed religion to the exclusion of all
+other churches. But the cosmopolitan character of the future metropolis
+was evident even in its earliest history. In 1643 the Jesuit missionary
+Jogues reports that besides the Calvinists, Lutherans and Anabaptists
+were to be found in the colony. In 1644 eighteen languages were spoken
+by its inhabitants.
+
+In 1648 the Lutheran community in the New Netherlands appealed to the
+Consistory of Amsterdam for a minister, but nothing was done for them.
+In 1653 the request was renewed. When the Reformed ministers heard of
+it, they strenuously objected to the admission of a Lutheran minister;
+they said this would open the door for all manner of sects and would
+disturb the province in the enjoyment of its religion. Their attitude
+was supported by Governor Stuyvesant, who indeed went to great lengths
+in the enforcement of these views? [sic] Even the reading services,
+which the Lutherans held among themselves in anticipation of the coming
+of a minister, were forbidden, and fines and imprisonment were inflicted
+upon those who disobeyed.
+
+Candor compels us to admit that this was the spirit of the age. The
+Thirty Years' War was going on at this time, and in a time of war
+ruthless methods are the vogue.
+
+In 1657, to the joy of the Lutherans and the consternation of the
+Reformed, Joannes Ernestus Gutwasser (or Goetwater, as his name is often
+printed) arrived from Amsterdam to minister to the waiting congregation.
+But Governor Stuyvesant had no use for a Lutheran minister and Gutwasser
+was ordered to return forthwith to the place from which he had come.
+However, he succeeded in delaying his departure for nearly two years.
+
+The congregation, unmindful of Stuyvesant's fulminations against all
+who taught contrary to the Acts of the Synod of Dort, secured as their
+minister in 1662 a student by the name of Abelius Zetskoorn, whom the
+authorities soon transported to a charge on the Delaware, without the
+violence, however, shown in the case of Gutwasser.
+
+In 1664 the island was captured by the English and the Lutherans
+succeeded in obtaining a charter with permission to call a minister and
+conduct services in accordance with the teachings of the Augsburg
+Confession. But prior to 1664 or even 1648 there were individual
+Lutherans here, "their charter of salvation one Lord, one faith, one
+birth." In spite of persecution, even to imprisonment, they sang "The
+Lord's song in a strange land," and in simplicity of faith sowed the
+seed from which future harvests were to spring.
+
+[illustration: "When New York Was Young"]
+
+The little trading station at the mouth of the North River now numbered
+about 1,500 people. The church of "The Augustane Confession" was still
+without a pastor. For a generation they had striven under great
+difficulties to maintain their Lutheran faith. They were plain, simple
+people, but they had refused to be cajoled or driven to a denial of
+their convictions. Over against Stuyvesant, the most dominant
+personality of the new world, they waited patiently for the time when
+they might have their own pastor and might worship God according to the
+dictates of their own consciences.
+
+At last, in 1669, they obtained a minister in the person of Magister
+Jacobus Fabritius who served the congregation in New York and also one
+in Albany. The new pastor sorely tried the patience of a longsuffering
+people. In church he manifested a dictatorial and irascible temper. At
+home he was constantly quarreling with his wife. These eccentricities
+interfered somewhat with his usefulness as a pastor. With increasing
+difficulty he administered his office until 1671 when he accepted a call
+to congregations on the Delaware. Here he seems to have repented of his
+ways, for he left an honorable record as a devoted pastor, and the
+historian is glad to forget the infelicities of his career on the North
+River.
+
+His successor was Bernhardus Arensius, who came with a letter of
+recommendation from the Consistory of Amsterdam. He is described as "a
+gentle personage and of a very agreeable behavior."
+
+Those were troublous times in which he conducted his ministry. The war
+between the Dutch and the English caused a repeated change of
+government, but for twenty years he quietly and successfully carried on
+his pastoral work in New York and in Albany. He died in 1691 and the
+Lutheran flock was again without a shepherd. For the rest of the century
+appeals to Amsterdam for a pastor were all in vain.
+
+[illustrations: "A Corner of Broad Street" and "New Amsterdam in 1640"]
+
+
+In the Eighteenth Century
+1701-1750
+
+At the beginning of the eighteenth century the population of Manhattan
+Island had increased to 5,000 souls, chiefly Dutch and English. These
+figures include about 800 negro slaves. The slave trade and piracy were
+at this time perfectly legitimate lines of business.
+
+For ten years the Lutherans had been without a minister. In 1701 they
+invited Andrew Rudmann to become their pastor. He had been sent by the
+Archbishop of Upsala as a missionary to the Swedish settlements on the
+Delaware. Rudmann accepted the call, but after a severe illness, as the
+climate did not agree with him, he returned to Pennsylvania, where in
+1703 he ordained Justus Falckner to be his successor in New York.
+
+Falckner was a graduate of Halle. It was a kind Providence that made him
+pastor of the Lutherans in New York at this time. Events had happened
+and were still happening in Europe that were destined to make history in
+America.
+
+Germany, paralyzed by the results of the Thirty Years' War, and
+hopelessly divided into a multitude of political fragments, had become
+the helpless prey of the spoiler. The valley of the Rhine was ravaged
+from Heidelberg to the Black Forest. To this day, after more than two
+centuries, the ruins may still be traced. Upon the accession of the
+Catholic House of Neuburg to the throne of the Palatinate the
+Protestants were subjected to intolerable persecution. Their churches
+and schools were taken from them. Frequent raids were made upon the
+helpless border lands by the armies of Louis the Fourteenth. In a time
+of peace the Lutheran house of worship in Strassburg was wrested from
+its owners and transformed into a Catholic cathedral.
+
+This devastation of the Rhine Valley caused an extensive emigration by
+way of London to New York. In the winter of 1708 Pastor Kocherthal
+arrived with the first company of Palatine exiles. In succeeding years
+many others followed, most of them settling on the upper Hudson and in
+the Mohawk Valley, but some of them remaining in New York.
+
+The inhuman treatment which they received during the voyage, followed by
+hunger and disease, decimated their ranks. Of the 3,086 persons who set
+sail from London only 2,227 reached New York. Here they were not
+permitted to land, but were detained in tents on Governor's Island,
+where 250 more died soon after their arrival.
+
+One of the men thus detained was destined to take a prominent place in
+the subsequent history of his countrymen, Johann Conrad Weiser. His
+descendants down to our own day have been filling high places in the
+history of their country as ministers, teachers, soldiers and statesmen.
+His great-grandson was the Speaker of the first House of Representatives
+of the United States. Another great-grandson, General Peter Muehlenberg,
+was for a time an assistant minister in Zion Church at New Germantown,
+N. J. He accepted a call to Woodstock, Virginia, where at the outbreak
+of the Revolution he startled his congregation one Sunday by declaring
+that the time to preach was past and the time to fight had come.
+Throwing off his ministerial robe and standing before them in the
+uniform of an American officer, he appealed to them to follow him in the
+defence of the liberties of his country. He became a distinguished
+officer in the army and subsequently rendered good service in the civil
+administration of the new republic.
+
+[illustration: "In the Eighteenth Century"]
+
+A later descendant was Dr. William A. Muhlenberg, born in Philadelphia,
+September 16th, 1796, the venerated founder of St. Luke's Hospital in
+this city.*
+     *Dr. Muhlenberg was the rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church
+of the Holy Communion. He was one of the best beloved ministers in New
+York. He died in 1877. I visited him during his last illness in St.
+Luke's Hospital. As I took my leave he threw his arms about me and
+assured me that he had always been a Lutheran. He evidently conceived of
+Lutheranism in broader terms than merely denominational distinctions.
+
+Among the Palatine immigrants stranded on Governor's Island, unable to
+follow their sturdier companions to the upper part of the Hudson Valley,
+were widows, elderly men and 80 orphans. One of these orphans was Peter
+Zenger, who was apprenticed to William Bradford, at that time the only
+printer in the colony. When he grew up, he became the editor of The
+Weekly Journal, which made its first appearance on November 5th, 1733.
+Washington at this time was not yet two years old. Zenger was one of the
+earliest champions of American liberty. His arrest and imprisonment, his
+heroic defence and final acquittal, are among the milestones of American
+history and are a contribution to the story of New York of which
+Americans of German descent may well be proud.
+
+It was a large parish to which Falckner ministered. There were no Home
+Mission Boards in those days. The New York pastor had therefore to care
+for many outlying stations. His diocese included Hackensack, Raritan,
+Ramapo and Constable Hook in the south, and Albany, Loonenburg and West
+Camp in the north. After the death of Kocherthal he visited regularly,
+not only the Dutch congregations of Claverack, Coxackie and Kinderhook,
+but also such German settlements as East Camp, Rhinebeck, and Schoharie.
+
+New York itself was not neglected during these missionary journeys.
+Readers (Vorleezers) conducted the service while he was away. Such
+notices as "There will be no church today, the minister is out of town,"
+did not appear on his bulletin board.
+
+The care of a parish 150 miles in length left but little time for
+literary work, but in order that his people might be informed on the
+subject of their church's faith as distinguished from that of their
+Calvinistic neighbors, he wrote a book on the essential doctrines of
+the Lutheran confession. It was published by William Bradford, New York,
+1708.
+
+He also wrote a hymn: _"Auf, ihr Christen, Christi Glieder,"_ which
+after two centuries holds a place in German hymnals, and the translation
+is to be found in some of the best collections of the English language.
+To this day, therefore, the churches of London and Berlin alike respond
+to Falckner's rallying call: "Rise, ye children of salvation."
+
+[illustration: "Trinity Church, Broadway and Rector Street, (Southwest
+Corner)"]
+
+He must have been a pious man and a winning personality. The entries in
+the book recording baptisms and other ministerial acts abound in
+accompanying prayers for the spiritual welfare of those to whom he had
+ministered.
+
+For twenty years he served the churches of New York and the Hudson
+Valley. When and where he died we know not. Early in 1723 he was in New
+York and in Hackensack. In September of the same year there is a record
+of a baptism at Phillipsburg (near Yonkers). And then no more. "He was
+not, for God took him."
+
+Falckner's successor, Berkenmeyer, a native of Lueneburg, arrived in
+1725. He brought with him books for a church library and also funds for
+a new building, contributed by friends in Germany, Denmark, and London.
+The "old cattle shed" on the southwest corner of Broadway and Rector
+Street was torn down and a stone building erected which was dedicated in
+1729 and named Trinity church.
+
+The parish which Berkenmeyer inherited from Falckner, extending from New
+York to Albany, and including many Dutch and German settlements on both
+sides of the river, proved to be a larger field than he could cultivate.
+He therefore sent to Germany for another minister, and resigning at New
+York, took charge of the northern and more promising part of the field,
+making his home at Loonenburg (Athens), on the Hudson. For nineteen
+years he labored in this field. He died in 1751.
+
+Berkenmeyer was a scholarly man, a faithful minister, and an impressive
+personality. He belonged to a different school from that of his great
+contemporary, Muehlenberg, and the rest of the Halle missionaries, and
+his correspondence with them frequently savored of theological
+controversy.
+
+His successor in New York was Knoll, a native of Holstein, who spent
+eighteen years of faithful work in Trinity church under trying
+circumstances. He had to preach in Dutch to a congregation that had
+become prevailingly German. There was a growing dissatisfaction among
+the people. During the first half of the century Dutch influence
+gradually declined and German grew stronger. The ministers were all of
+them German, although they preached chiefly in Dutch, with occasional
+ministrations in German. At last the Germans, feeling the need of ampler
+service in their own language, took advantage in 1750 of the presence of
+a peripatetic preacher and instituted the first "split" in the Lutheran
+church of this city by organizing Christ Church. Knoll resigned soon
+after and removed to Loonenburg, where he again became the successor of
+Berkenmeyer.
+
+[illustration: "Henry Melchior Muehlenberg (Otto Schweizer's Heroic
+Stone Figure)"]
+
+
+In the Eighteenth Century
+1751-1800
+
+The resignation of Knoll and the difficulties of the mother congregation
+were the occasion of calling to New York the most distinguished minister
+the American Church has ever had.
+
+Henry Melchior Muehlenberg came to America from Halle in 1742 to
+minister to the congregations in and near Philadelphia. The disordered
+condition of the American churches opened a wide field for his
+administrative ability, and for the rest of his life, in addition to his
+pastoral activity, he accomplished a great task in the planting and
+organization of churches. He is rightly called the Patriarch of the
+Lutheran Church in America.
+
+In response to an urgent appeal, Muehlenberg came over from Pennsylvania
+in 1751 and assumed the pastorate of Trinity church. Although he spent
+but a short time in 1751 and again in 1752 on the ground, he was for two
+years pastor of the mother church. His was a fruitful ministry. He
+succeeded to a considerable extent in reconciling the warring elements
+in the congregation, not only by his gifts as a preacher and spiritual
+leader, but also by his ability to preach in Dutch and in English as
+well as in German.
+
+The Episcopalians, who worshipped in the Trinity Church on the opposite
+corner, complained of the stentorian tones in which he delivered his
+sermons.
+
+Upon Muehlenberg's recommendation, Mr. Weygand of Raritan, was chosen
+pastor of Trinity Church in 1753. In the furtherance of his ministry,
+Weygand performed some literary work. He prepared an English translation
+of the Augsburg Confession, which was printed as a supplement to a
+quarto volume of 414 pages published by one of the elders of his church,
+entitled "The Articles of Faith of the Holy Evangelical Church According
+to the Word of God and the Augsburg Confession. A Translation from the
+Danish. New York, MDCCLIV."
+
+The congregation continued to be Dutch, although Weygand preached also
+in German and in English as occasion required. For the use of his
+English congregations he published in 1756 a translation of German
+hymns that had appeared in England under the title, "Psalmodia
+Germanica."
+
+From 1750 to the time of the American Revolution we had two Lutheran
+churches in New York, the German Christ church, popularly known as "The
+Old Swamp Church," on Frankfort Street, and the Dutch Trinity church on
+Broadway and Rector Street.
+
+In the Swamp church the first preacher, Ries, remained for a year. He
+was followed in quick succession by Rapp, Wiessner, Schaeffer, Kurz,
+Bager and Gerock. Only the last named served long enough to identify
+himself with local history. He was followed by Frederick Muehlenberg,
+a son of Henry Melchior, an ardent patriot, who had expressed himself so
+freely in regard to English rule that when the British army marched into
+New York in 1776 he found it expedient to retire as quickly as possible
+to Pennsylvania. Here he labored in several congregations; as supply or
+as pastor, until 1779, when the exigencies of the times compelled him to
+take an active part in the political affairs of the country.
+
+[illustration: "The Old Swamp Church"]
+
+The partial reconciliation that had been brought about by Muehlenberg
+between the Dutch and the German congregations was occasionally
+disturbed by a pamphletary warfare conducted by their respective
+pastors, Weygand and Gerock.
+
+Weygand died in 1770. He was succeeded by Hausihl (or Houseal, as he
+spelled his name in later years), a native of Heilbronn, who had served
+congregations in Maryland and in eastern Pennsylvania. Tradition reports
+that he was a brilliant preacher of distinguished appearance and of
+courtly manners. He succeeded in maintaining a large congregation.
+
+But a serious change was going on in the church in the matter of
+language. In spite of the secession in 1750 other Germans kept coming
+into the Broadway church to such an extent that they outnumbered the
+Dutch eight to one, and finally the use of the Dutch language in the
+Lutheran Church of New York came to an end. Houseal had the distinction
+of conducting the obsequies at the preparatory service on Saturday,
+November 30, 1771, and at the administration of the Lord's Supper on
+the following day.
+
+But the death of the Dutch language by no means put an end to the
+language difficulties of our Lutheran ancestors. In the midst of the
+original contestants a new set of combatants had sprung up in the
+persons of the children of both parties. These spoke neither Dutch nor
+German. They understood English only and demanded larger consideration
+of their needs.
+
+Events, however, were impending which soon gave the people something
+else to think about and caused a postponement of actual hostilities for
+another generation.
+
+The church on Broadway was destroyed by fire in 1776, and was never
+rebuilt. The congregation worshipped for a time in the Scotch
+Presbyterian Church on Cedar Street.
+
+The American Revolution broke out. On political questions our ancestors
+differed almost as widely as do their successors on synodical questions.
+Some of them were for George the Third, others were for George
+Washington. In this respect, however, they were not unlike other
+inhabitants of New York.
+
+Frederick Muehlenberg, the pastor of the Swamp Church, was an ardent
+patriot. At the beginning of the war, as we have seen, he fled to
+Pennsylvania.
+
+During the war the services were conducted by the chaplains of the
+Hessian troops. The Hessians were good church-goers and also generous
+contributors, so that the financial condition of the congregation at
+this time was greatly improved.
+
+Houseal, the pastor of Trinity Church, was a tory, and when in 1783 the
+American troops marched into New York, he with a goodly number of his
+adherents removed to Nova Scotia and founded a Lutheran church in
+Halifax.
+
+Both churches were now without pastors. Tribulation must have softened
+the spirits of the two contending congregations, for when Dr. Johann
+Christoph Kunze came to this city from Philadelphia in 1784, he became
+pastor of the reunited congregations, worshipping in the Swamp Church.
+
+[illustration: "Frederick Augustus Conrad Muehlenberg; Pastor of the Old
+Swamp Church; subsequently member of the Continental Congress; Speaker
+of the Assembly of Pennsylvania; President of the Convention which in
+1787 ratified the Constitution of the United States; Speaker of the
+first Congress of the United States of America."]
+
+Before closing this chapter and taking up the account of Kunze's
+pastorate, let us follow the steps of Frederick Muehlenberg, the former
+pastor of the Swamp Church. We recall his unceremonious flight from New
+York. We cannot blame him. The British had threatened to hang him if
+they caught him.
+
+We remember too that in Pennsylvania he was called upon to take an
+active part in political affairs. He was a member of the Continental
+Congress, also a member of the legislature of Pennsylvania and Speaker
+of the Assembly. He was President of the Convention which ratified the
+Constitution of the United States.
+
+Thirteen years have passed since he left New York. It is A. D. 1789. New
+York was just beginning to recover from the disastrous years of the
+Revolution during which the British troops occupied the city. The
+population had sunk from 20,000 to 10,000 in 1783, but by this time had
+risen again to 30,000. The people were getting ready to celebrate the
+greatest event in the history of the city, the inauguration of the first
+President of the American Republic. Preparations were made to honor the
+occasion with all possible ceremony. Great men had gathered from all
+parts of the country. But to the older members of the Swamp Church there
+was doubtless no one, not even Washington himself, who stood higher in
+their esteem and affection than the representative from Pennsylvania,
+the Reverend Frederick Muehlenberg. And when a few days later the
+erstwhile German pastor of the Swamp Church was elected Speaker of the
+first House of Representatives of the United States of America, none
+knew better than they that it was only a fitting tribute to the
+character and abilities of their former pastor.
+
+Kunze's is one of the great names on the roll of our ministers. He was
+a scholar, a teacher, a writer, and an administrator of distinction.
+Trained in the best schools of Germany, when he arrived in America in
+1770, he at once took high rank among his colleagues in Philadelphia.
+Besides his work as a minister he filled the chair of Oriental and
+German languages in the University of Pennsylvania.
+
+In 1784 he accepted a call to New York. He did this partly in the hope
+of establishing a Lutheran professorship in Columbia College. He
+accepted a call to the chair of Oriental languages in Columbia. He was
+also a regent of the university.
+
+Kunze was not only an able man, he was also a man of deep piety, a
+qualification not altogether undesirable in a shepherd of souls. His
+writings indicate that in his preaching and catechization he strove not
+to beat the air but to win souls to a personal experience of salvation.
+
+While it is doubtful whether he would find admission to some of the most
+orthodox synods of our own day; he was comparatively free from the
+latitudinarian tendencies which had been brought over from Germany
+during the last quarter of the century.
+
+Along with General Steuben and other influential citizens he founded,
+the German Society, an association which is still an important agency
+in the charitable work of this city.
+
+[illustration: "John Christopher Kunze"]
+
+He was instrumental in 1785 in reorganizing the New York Ministerium.
+This work was begun in 1775 by Frederick Muehlenberg, but had been given
+up for a while, probably on account of the war.
+
+As a writer he is credited in Dr. Morris' Bibliotheca Lutherana with
+eight books of which he was the author or editor, from Hymns and Poems
+to A History of the Lutheran Church and A New Method of Calculating the
+Great Eclipse of 1806.
+
+These and many other things must be set to his credit. For what he
+accomplished he deserves a large place in the history of our Church in
+this city. But with all his gifts he was unable to cope with the chief
+problem which confronted our Church at the close of the eighteenth
+century, that of the English language.
+
+There had been a demand for English services ever since the middle of
+the century. The descendants of the Dutch families had all become
+English. The need of English had been met in part by the elder
+Muehlenberg and his successors, Weygand and Hauseal, in Trinity Church,
+doubtless also by Frederick Muehlenberg in the Swamp Church.
+
+After the, Revolution (1784) the United Congregations certainly made
+some provision for English although it was inadequate. In 1794 the
+younger people petitioned for occasional services in a language which
+they could understand. Dr. Kunze himself made some attempts to handle
+the English, but his faulty pronunciation so amused the young people
+that he gave it up. He appointed a young man by the name of Strebeck to
+assist him in ministering to the English members of the congregation.
+Strebeck at this time was a Methodist, although he had been confirmed
+in a Lutheran Church in Baltimore. Under Kunze's influence he again
+joined the Lutherans.
+
+"A Hymn and Prayer Book for the use of such Lutheran Churches as use the
+English language," published by Kunze in 1795, and another by Streback
+[sic] in 1797, show that serious efforts were made to meet the wants of
+the English-speaking members.
+
+Finally, on June 25th, 1797, a separate congregation was organized
+entitled The English Lutheran Church in the City of New York. (This was
+the corporate name, although it was subsequently known as Zion Church.)
+Strebeck was chosen pastor. Land was rented on Pearl Street opposite
+City Hall Place and a frame church was built.
+
+The incorporation of the church was reported to the Ministerium which
+met at Rhinebeck. The following reply was given under date of September
+1st, 1797:
+
+"Upon reading a letter from New York signed by Henry Heiser, Lucas Van
+Buskirk and L. Hartman, representing that they have erected an English
+Lutheran Church, on account of the inability of their children to
+understand the German language:
+
+RESOLVED, That it is never the practice in an Evangelical Consistory to
+sanction any kind of schism; that if the persons who signed the letter
+wish to continue their children in the Lutheran Church connection in New
+York, they earnestly recommend them the use of the German School, and in
+case there is no probability of any success in this particular, they
+herewith declare that they do not look upon persons who are not yet
+communicants of a Lutheran Church as apostates in case they join an
+English Episcopal Church.
+
+RESOLVED, 2d, That on account of an intimate connection subsisting
+between the English Episcopal Church and the Lutheran Church and the
+identity of their doctrine and near alliance of their Church discipline,
+this Consistory will never acknowledge a new erected Lutheran Church
+merely English, in places where the members may partake of the Services
+of the said Episcopal Church."
+
+From the viewpoint of the ministers in 1797, Lutheranism seems to have
+been a matter of language rather than of religion. It was something to
+be retained among German-speaking people, but could not be effectively
+transmitted except through the medium of the German language.
+
+We have come to the last decade of the 18th century. In the political
+world great men were finding themselves and mighty principles were
+finding expression in the organization of what was destined to become
+one of the great states of the world. Some of our own men were taking a
+large part in the making of American history. In the church they were
+content with a more restricted outlook. Our people, it is true, were of
+humble origin, yet some of them had attained wealth and social standing.
+The Van Buskirks, the Grims, the Beekmans, the Wilmerdings and the
+Lorillards were men of affairs and influence in the growing town of
+30,000 that had begun to extend northward as far as Canal Street and
+even beyond. But we look in vain for any positive contribution to the
+life of the embryo metropolis of the world.
+
+Our church had lost its roots. The Rhinebeck Resolution indicates the
+feeble appreciation of the distinctive confession to which she owed her
+existence. The English hymn books and liturgies of this period are
+equally destitute of any positive confessional character.
+
+But after all, the church in New York only reflected in a small way the
+conditions that existed on the other side of the Atlantic. In the
+Fatherland the national life had been declining ever since the Thirty
+Years' War. In 1806 Germany reached the nadir of her political life at
+the battle of Jena. In the church this was the period of her Babylonian
+Captivity. Alien currents of philosophical and theological thought had
+devitalized the teaching of the Gospel. The old hymns had been replaced
+by pious reflections on subjects of religion and morality. The Lutheran
+Liturgy had disappeared leaf by leaf until little but the cover
+remained. With such conditions in the homeland what could be expected of
+an isolated church on Manhattan Island? Take it all in all, it is not
+surprising that only two congregations survived. It is a wonder that
+there were two.
+
+In "Old New York" Dr. Francis presents a vivid picture of the social and
+religious life of this period and from it we learn that the Lutherans
+were not the only ones whose religion sat rather lightly upon them.
+French infidelity had taken deep root in the community and Paine's Age
+of Reason found enthusiastic admirers.
+
+Fifty years ago I was browsing one afternoon over the books in the
+library of Union Theological Seminary, at that time located in
+University Place. I was all alone until Dr. Samuel Hanson Cox, the
+father of Bishop Arthur Cleveland Coxe, came in. He was then in his
+eighties, but vigorous in mind and body. We easily became acquainted and
+I was an eager listener to the story of his early ministry in New York,
+which fell about the time of which we are speaking. From him I got a
+picture of life in New York closely corresponding with that which is
+given in Dr. Francis' interesting story. There were leaders of the
+church in those days who were not free from the vice of drunkenness.
+Evangelical religion in all denominations had a severe conflict in
+doctrine and in morals with the ultra liberal tendencies of the time.
+
+A marked defect of our church life was the inadequate supply of men for
+the ministry. For 140 years New York Lutherans had been dependent upon
+Europe for their pastors. For 60 years more this dependence was destined
+to continue.
+
+Kunze had long been desirous of providing facilities for theological
+education in this country. Under the bequest of John Christopher
+Hartwig, he organized in 1797 a Theological Seminary. The theological
+department was conducted in New York by himself, the collegiate
+department in Albany and the preparatory department in Otsego County.
+
+One of his students was Strebeck. Another, Van Buskirk, a promising
+young man, died before he could enter the work. The Mayer brothers,
+natives of New York, became eminent pastors of English Lutheran
+churches, Philip in Albany and Frederick in Philadelphia. It was a
+trying time in which Kunze lived, but he planted seed which still bears
+fruit.
+
+One event of the eighteenth century seems worthy of spcial [sic]
+mention, even when seen through the vista of a hundred and fifty years,
+although at the time it may have attracted little attention. Because of
+the side light which it throws upon history we permit it to interrupt
+for a moment the course of our story.
+
+It harks back to the refugees from the Palatinate who emigrated to the
+west coast of Ireland at the same time that their fellow countrymen
+under Kocherthal came to New York. Their principal settlements were at
+Court-Matrix, Ballingran and other places in County Limerick near the
+banks of the river Shannon. As they had no minister and understood
+little or no English, in the course of forty years they lost whatever
+religion they had brought with them from Germany. It came to pass that
+John Wesley visited these villages. He found the people "eminent for
+drunkenness, cursing, swearing, and an utter neglect of religion."
+(Wesley's Journal, II, p. 429.)
+
+Wesley's sermons reminded them of the sermons they used to hear in their
+far-off German home, and a remarkable revival occurred among them.
+Subsequently numbers of them followed their countrymen of the preceding
+generation to New York and some of them joined the Lutheran Church.
+Among the names to be found on the records of our church are those of
+Barbara Heck and Philip Embury.
+
+Now some of our ministers, as far back as Falckner in the beginning of
+the century, belonged to the Halle or Francke school of Lutheranism,
+and the spirit of our church life at this time, as may be seen from the
+letters of Muehlenberg in the "Hallesche Nachrichten," was not alien to
+that which the Palatines had imbibed from John Wesley, himself a product
+of the Pietistic movement of which Halle was the fountain head. One
+would suppose that these Palatine immigrants from the west of Ireland
+might have found a congenial home in the Lutheran Church and contributed
+to the spiritual life of the congregation. But for some reason they did
+not. They withdrew from us and helped to organize in 1766 the first
+Methodist Society in America.
+
+The Methodists of America number seven million communicants. Barbara
+Heck, Philip Embury and other Palatine immigrants were our contribution
+to their incipient church life in America.
+
+
+In the Nineteenth Century
+1801-1838
+
+The history of our churches in the nineteenth century may be divided
+into three periods. The first extends from 1801 to 1838.
+
+At the beginning of the century there were two congregations, the
+German-English Church on Frankfort Street and the English (Zion) on
+Pearl Street.
+
+In 1802 two hundred members of the German church who had not united with
+Zion in 1797 asked for a separate English church. The request was
+declined, but regular services in English were held in the afternoon
+with promises of a new church as soon as possible.
+
+In 1804 Strebeck, the pastor of Zion, joined the Episcopalians and
+subsequently became rector of St. Stephen's Church. Here he was
+followed in the course of years by a constant procession of his former
+parishioners. It will be recalled that Zion had not been received into
+connection with the Ministerium.
+
+In 1805 Ralph Williston was chosen pastor. In 1810 he also became an
+Episcopalian. Not long after, the entire congregation followed him into
+the Episcopal fold. The resolution effecting the change read as follows:
+
+"Whereas, many difficulties attend the upholding of the Lutheran
+religion among us, and whereas, that inasmuch as the doctrine and
+government of the Episcopal Church is so nearly allied to the Lutheran,
+and also on account of the present embarrassment of the finances of this
+church, therefore
+
+"RESOLVED, That the English Lutheran Church with its present form of
+worship and government be dissolved after Tuesday, the 13th day of March
+next, and that this Church do from that day forward become a parish of
+the Protestant Episcopal Church, and the present board of officers of
+this church take every measure to carry this resolve into effect."*
+     *On West Fifty-seventh Street, a few steps from Carnegie Hall, the
+visitor interested fn Lutheran antiquities may find the stately
+Episcopal Church of Zion and St. Timothy. It has a membership of 1,300.
+Its communion vessels still bear the inscription: ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH.
+
+Kunze died in 1807. His successor, Frederick William Geissenhainer of
+New Hanover, Pa., took charge in 1808 and remained till 1814 when the
+state of his health compelled him to return to Pennsylvania.
+
+He was succeeded by Frederick Christian Schaeffer of Harrisburg, a
+gifted man who preached equally well in German and in English. On the
+tercentenary of the Reformation in 1817 he preached a Reformation sermon
+in St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Broadway, which attracted widespread
+attention. A copy is preserved in the New York Public Library.
+
+[illustration: "Fragment of Kunze's Gravestone discovered by the author
+in 1907, in Greenwich Village, where some laborers were digging the
+foundation for a new building. Kunze's ashed repose in the Lorillard
+vault of the churchyard of St. Mark's in the Bowery, Tenth Street and
+Second Avenue."]
+
+After twenty years the promise of a separate English church was
+fulfilled, when in 1822 a large and beautiful structure was erected in
+Walker Street, just east of Broadway, and placed at the disposal of the
+English portion of the congregation. It was called St. Matthew's Church.
+Schaeffer was assigned to the pastorate and Geissenhainer was recalled
+from Pennsylvania to take charge of the German part of the congregation.
+New trouble soon developed. The English congregation demanded
+representation in the Church Council. This the mother church declined to
+concede, although it is claimed they had agreed to do so when the
+English congregation was formed. The new congregation was unable to
+maintain itself, and in 1826 the church was sold for a debt of $14,000,
+and Pastor Schaeffer resigned. The Walker Street building was bought by
+Daniel Birdsall who resold it to the mother church. The legal questions
+at issue in the transaction were taken into court and decided in favor
+of the mother church.
+
+A son of the pastor, Frederick William Geissenhainer, Jr., was called
+from Pennsylvania to minister in St. Matthew's Church in English, so
+long as this could be done without detriment to the German congregation.
+This continued for three years, by which time a deficit of $5,000 had
+accumulated.
+
+In the meantime the congregation of Frankfort Street had grown to such
+an extent that it decided to sell the Old Swamp Church, and move into
+the spacious building on Walker Street, where it also acquired the name
+of the English congregation and was thereafter known as St. Matthew's
+Church. The younger Geissenhainer continued to hold English services in
+the afternoon until 1840. The senior Geissenhainer served the German
+part of the congregation until his death in 1838.
+
+After Pastor Schaeffer resigned in 1826 he collected the salvage of the
+English enterprises and organized a new English church, St. James,
+which he served until his death in 1831.
+
+Among the major happenings in this period were the Burr-Hamilton duel,
+the launching of Fulton's steamboat, the introduction of Croton water,
+the opening of the Erie Canal, the writings of Washington Irving, and
+the organization of the American Bible Society and the American Tract
+Society.
+
+Such things as social service, church extension or confessional
+questions had not yet begun to disturb the churches. Our people had all
+the time they wanted therefore for controversy on the undying question
+of the relative importance of the English and German languages. This,
+as we have seen, led to a lawsuit, the sale of a church and the
+permanent rupture of a historic congregation. We lost one English
+congregation, Zion, disbanded another, St. Matthew's, and sent away
+enough English members besides to constitute St. Stephen's Episcopal
+Church on Chrystie Street.
+
+Such, in brief, is the story of the Lutherans of New York during the
+first third of the nineteenth century. In the Fatherland great events
+were taking place and history was making rapid strides. The war of
+liberation was decided by the battle of Leipzig and the defeat of
+Napoleon. But the hopes for social and political improvement were
+disappointed by reactionary movements and economic distress. A new
+emigration to "the land of unbounded possibilities" began. In 1821-22 it
+amounted to 531, in 1834-35 it was 25,997. Among the immigrants were
+many who in various capacities became empire builders in America. But in
+all that related to the Lutheran church New York at this time took a
+subordinate place. Philadelphia was the first city of the land. The
+construction of railroads and the opening of the Erie Canal carried the
+active and ambitious men far into the interior. The church life of New
+York still flowed in sluggish currents. After 190 years, from 1648, when
+the first appeal for a minister was sent to Amsterdam, to 1838, our
+enrollment consisted of two congregations, the German-English church of
+St. Matthew, and the English church of St. James.
+
+
+In the Nineteenth Century
+1839-1865
+
+Immigration began to assume large proportions. It did not reach its
+climax until the following period, but it was sufficiently large to
+awaken attention. In 1839 21,028 immigrants arrived here from Germany;
+in 1865, at the close of the Civil War, 83,424. Most of these were
+bound for the interior, but many who had only stopped to rest a while
+in New York decided to make this their home.
+
+The East Side became a little Germany and even on the West Side Germans
+began to appear in increasing numbers.
+
+At the beginning of this period an event occurred, unnoticed at the
+time, which proved to be the beginning of a great movement, "a cloud out
+of the sea, as small as a man's hand." In 1839 a thousand exiles arrived
+from Germany under the leadership of Pastor Grabau. Most of them went to
+the interior, some to Buffalo, others, the wealthier members, to the
+neighborhood of Milwaukee. Ten or a dozen families remained in New York
+with a pastor named Maximilian Oertel. Their services were held in a
+hall at the corner of Houston Street and Avenue A. Doubtless none of
+their contemporaries ever dreamed that this insignificant congregation
+was related to one of the larger movements of church history.
+
+Connecting links were two men whose names I have never seen associated
+with the story of the Lutherans of New York. One of them was Dr.
+Benjamin Kurtz of Hagerstown, the other was Frederick William III, King
+of Prussia. The king had imposed the Union upon the churches of Prussia
+and imprisoned the pastors who refused to conform. This was the king's
+part in the movement. Dr. Kurtz had visited Berlin in 1826 in the
+interest of his educational schemes and in one of his addresses he
+implanted the microbe of America in the mind of a man who subsequently
+became a leader of one band of these pilgrims to the promised land. This
+was Dr. Kurtz's share in the work. Both Kurtz and the king were
+unconscious instruments in the hands of Providence.
+
+Dr. Kurtz was for a large part of the nineteenth century a distinguished
+leader in the General Synod. He contributed to the establishment of the
+Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and he was the founder of the
+Missionary Institute, now the Susquehanna University, at Selinsgrove. He
+died in 1865. His grave is in the campus of the University of which he
+was the founder.
+
+But who were these immigrants and how did they come to be exiles? This
+is another story; but it has to be told, because in the providence of
+God it is connected with the history of the Lutherans in New York.
+
+In the early years of the nineteenth century there occurred a remarkable
+religious awakening in Germany. This awakening had much to do with a
+revival of Lutheranism. It had been greatly strengthened at least by the
+publication of the Ninety-five Theses of Claus Harms in 1817, on the
+occasion of the tercentenary of the Reformation, and it in turn
+stimulated the Lutheran consciousness of multitudes who had been carried
+away by the rationalistic movement of the eighteenth century. The
+publication of the royal Liturgy in 1822 and the forcible measures of
+the king in ordering a union of the Lutheran and Reformed churches of
+the kingdom called forth the staunch opposition of the Lutherans. This
+ended in a widespread agitation which sent multitudes of families to a
+land where one of the chief fruits of the Lutheran Reformation, that of
+religious liberty, could be enjoyed.
+
+The notable thing about the entrance of a few of these people into our
+New York life was that it injected new ideas into the stagnant mentality
+of the period. That the men who brought them were brusque and exclusive,
+was of small account. When Stohlmann, who had recently been called to
+St. Matthew's Church, visited Pastor Oertel in his attic room, his
+Lutheranism, with a sly allusion perhaps to the stairs, was promptly
+challenged by the remark: "You climbed up some other way."
+
+Nor did it matter that on some points the new comers themselves were not
+agreed? The Prussians, later known as "Buffalonians," led by Grabau, had
+a hierarchical theory of the ministerial office. The Saxons, later known
+as "Missourians," led by Walther, had the congregational theory of
+church government. For a score of years a titanic conflict was waged
+between these two parties. It ended in a decisive victory for
+"Missouri." Today "Buffalo" numbers 49 congregations, "Missouri" 3,689.
+
+The Houston Street party in 1839 held hierarchical views. Subsequently
+they adopted the congregational theory of the church and established in
+1843 the first "Missouri" congregation in New York under Pastor Brohm.
+After several removals the congregation settled at Ninth Street and
+Avenue B, where it still maintains its place of worship.
+
+The chief field of the "Missourians," as their name indicates, is in the
+West. And yet in Greater New York they number 51 churches and many more
+in the suburbs. They maintain numerous missions among special classes.
+At Bronxville they have a college. They alone of all Lutherans make a
+serious effort to conduct parochial schools. More than any other
+variety of Lutherans do they educate their promising young men for the
+ministry.
+
+But, as has already been intimated, the chief significance of their
+entrance into New York history is that thenceforth Lutherans had to give
+an account of their Lutheranism. Whether you agreed with them or not,
+you had to take sides and give a reason for the hope that was in you.
+They brought about that "contiguity of conflicting opinions" which is a
+condition of all progress.
+
+Ten years later a different class of German immigrants came to our city.
+The Revolution of 1848 had resulted unsuccessfully for the friends of
+political freedom, and many were compelled to take refuge in America.
+Some were professional men of ability and high standing, whose
+contribution to the intellectual life of our city was considerable.
+Others were only half educated, young men who had not completed their
+studies in the University, but, intoxicated with the new ideas, had
+thrown themselves with the enthusiasm of youth into the conflict for
+freedom. Here they were like men without a country, aliens from the
+Fatherland, and in America incapable of comprehending a state without a
+church and a church without a state.
+
+Few of these found their way into the Lutheran churches of New York.
+They were the intellectuals of the German community and had outgrown the
+religion of their countrymen who still adhered to the old faith.
+
+Our churches received but little support from this large and influential
+class. Many of them had long since renounced allegiance to Jesus, and in
+the free air of America looked upon churches as anachronisms and
+hearthstones of superstition. Their influence upon the common people and
+upon the social life of the German community was hostile to that of
+Christianity. The churches had to get along without them, or rather, in
+spite of them. There were notable exceptions. But as a rule the
+"Achtundvierziger" did not go to church.
+
+Still, in spite of their unchurchly views, most of them were unable to
+shake off wholly the forms of their ancestral religion. There were too
+many remnants (_superstites_) of the old faith binding them to ancient
+customs. Independent ministers with no synodical relations, with or
+without certificate of ordination, or the endorsement of organized
+congregations, unmindful of the _nisi vocatus_ clause in the Augsburg
+Confession, helped to maintain the forms of an inherited Christianity by
+performing such ministerial acts as were required by the people. At one
+time these free lances were quite numerous. At present no
+representatives survive in New York.
+
+But there was another class of immigrants that came to us from the
+Fatherland. They, too, sought to escape from political and economical
+conditions that had rested like an incubus upon a divided country for
+centuries. But they brought with them a spirit of Christian aspiration
+and the ripe fruit of a traditional Christian culture which became a
+priceless contribution to our own church life. They were men and women
+from all corners of Germany, who had come under the inspiration of the
+religious awakening to which reference has already been made. They
+became leading workers in our congregations and Christian enterprises.
+We, whose privilege it was to minister to them, knew well that we were
+only reaping where others far away and long ago had sown.
+
+The inability of the Lutheran Church to supply an adequate ministry for
+this vast immigrant population left the way open also for other
+Protestant churches to do mission work among the lapsed members of our
+communion.
+
+A number of churches were established where services in the beginning
+were held in the German or Scandinavian languages. Through Sunday
+Schools and other agencies many Lutheran children were gathered into
+their congregations where they and their children are now useful and
+honored members of the church. A goodly number of eminent ministers in
+various non-Lutheran Protestant churches of this city are the children
+or grandchildren of Lutheran parents.
+
+[illustration: "Carl F. E. Stohlmann, D.D."]
+
+With this general outlook over the period, let us take up the thread of
+our story.
+
+On the death of the elder Geissenhainer in 1838, Karl Stohlmann, a
+native of Schaumburg Lippe, was called from Erie, Pennsylvania, to be
+his successor. For thirty years the pastor of the Walker Street Church
+was an important figure among the Lutherans of this city. The scope of
+this book will not permit an adequate account of his labors. He died on
+Sunday morning, May 3d, 1868, just as his congregation was entering a
+larger house of worship at the corner of Broome and Elizabeth Streets.
+
+Dr. Geissenhainer, Jr., retired from the English work of St. Matthew's
+Church in 1840 and organized a German congregation, St. Paul's, on the
+west side, which he served as pastor until his death in 1879 in the 82d
+year of his age.
+
+On the East Side, Trinity was organized in 1843, St. Mark's in 1847, St.
+Peter's in 1862, Immanuel, in Yorkville, in 1863, and St. John's in
+Harlem in 1864. On the West Side St. Luke's was established in 1850, St.
+John's in 1855 and St. Paul's in Harlem in 1864. The first Swedish
+congregation, Gustavus Adolphus, was organized in 1865.
+
+Within the present limits of Brooklyn six German and one English
+churches were established during this period. On the territory of each
+of the other boroughs, Bronx, Queens and Richmond, two German churches
+came into being.
+
+After the Revolution of 1848 in Germany, immigration to America
+increased by leaps and bounds, and within the time under review New York
+was referred to as the fourth German city in the world. But the Germans,
+as we have seen, did not all go to church. The existing churches, it is
+true, were well filled, but a large proportion of the population, torn
+from the stable environment of their homeland life, and transplanted
+into the new conditions of a crowded city, failed to respond to the
+claims of their ancestral religion.
+
+In our church polity there was no adequate provision for the needs of
+such an immense and ever expanding population. Now and then a
+broadminded pastor would encourage the planting of a church in some
+needy field, but too often the establishment of a new mission was looked
+upon as an encroachment on the parochial rights of the older
+congregation. At this point in the congregational polity of our church
+the absence of a directing mind and a unifying force was sorely felt.
+
+The condition of immigrants at the port of New York was for many years a
+public scandal. In 1847 the State of New York appointed Commissioners of
+Immigration. Under the Act of March 3, 1891, the Commissioner was
+appointed by the Federal Government.
+
+Before this was done, the helpless immigrants were the prey of countless
+vampires, chiefly in the form of "runners," agents of boarding houses
+and transportation companies. These pirates of the land exacted a heavy
+toll from all foreigners who ventured to enter our city by way of the
+steerage.
+
+[illustration: "Pastor Wilhelm H. Berkemeier"]
+
+In 1864 Robert Neumann, who had been a co-laborer with Gutzlaff, a
+pioneer missionary in China, established an Immigrant Mission at Castle
+Garden and succeeded in awakening an interest in this cause.
+
+A few years later, in the subsequent period, the churches took up the
+question of providing for the needs of the immigrants.
+
+The Deutsches Emigrantenhaus was incorporated in 1871. Pastor Wilhelm
+Heinrich Berkemeier became the first housefather. His unflagging zeal
+gave strong support to a much-needed work of love. His venerable
+personality was a benediction to his contemporaries.
+
+In the course of the years eight Lutheran Immigrant Houses and Seamen's
+Missions have been established at this port and are doing effective
+Christian work.
+
+Toward the close of this period, in 1864, a seed was planted on the
+Wartburg near Mount Vernon which has grown to be a great tree.
+
+Peter Moller, a wealthy layman, had met with a great sorrow in the death
+of his son. He was planning to expend a large sum for a monument in
+memory of this son, when Dr. Passavant, an eminent worker in behalf of
+invalids and orphans, called upon him, perhaps with the hope of
+obtaining a contribution for some of his numerous charities. To him Mr.
+Moller confided his purpose. It did not take long to outline the plan of
+a nobler memorial than the proposed shaft in Greenwood. With $30,000 a
+hundred acres of land were bought and a house of mercy was established
+which for fifty years has been a blessing not only to the orphans who
+have been sheltered and trained there, but also to the churches of New
+York that have been privileged to contribute to its support.
+
+Its first housefather was George Carl Holls, one of the brethren of
+Wichern's Rauhe Haus near Hamburg. In 1886 he was succeeded by Pastor
+Gottlieb Conrad Berkemeier, who with the help of his wife, Susette
+Kraeling, has brought the institution to a position of great prosperity
+and usefulness.
+
+[illustration: "The Wartburg at Mount Vernon"]
+
+
+In the Nineteenth Century
+1866-1900
+
+Three factors combined to make this period eventful in our history:
+confessionalism, immigration and the transportation facilities that led
+to a Greater New York.
+
+At the close of the Civil War we had 24 Lutheran churches on the
+territory now included in Greater New York. Two of these were English
+and the rest were German. At the close of the century the record stood:
+Yiddish, 1; English, 17; Scandinavian, 19; German and German-English,
+60.
+
+The tide of confessionalism which had been rising in Europe for half a
+century touched America in the forties and reached a high water mark
+during the period under review. The question of subscription to the
+symbols of the Book of Concord became the chief subject of discussion
+among our theologians.
+
+In 1866 a number of pastors and churches, under the leadership of Pastor
+Steimle, severed their connection with the Ministerium for confessional
+reasons. They formed a new synod which adopted all the Confessions and
+took a firm stand in opposition to membership in secret societies.
+
+The "Steimle" Synod, as it was usually called, disbanded in 1872, its
+members going, some to the Missouri Synod, others to the Ministerium.
+Their organ, the Lutherisches Kirchenblatt, was merged with the
+Lutherischer Herold.
+
+Pastor Steimle died in 1880. He was a devout man, a rugged personality,
+beloved by his people and esteemed by his colleagues. His congregation
+in Brooklyn, now served by the pastors Kraeling, father and son, is one
+of the strong churches of the city.
+
+One of the early members of the congregation, whose support meant much
+for his pastor, was Jacob Goedel. He subsequently returned to Germany
+and spent his latter years in the city of Koeln on the Rhine.
+
+In 1888 I spent a memorable week in Koeln. The history of the city
+antedates the Christian era. Its cathedral is a fane of wonderful
+beauty. In the Reformation Koeln joined the Lutheran forces and for
+eighty years two of its archbishops were Lutheran pastors. The
+"Consultation" of Archbishop Hermann is one of the liturgies of the
+Lutheran Church. It played a prominent part in the construction of the
+Anglican Book of Common Prayer. Owing to political jealousies among the
+Protestants, the fortunes of war restored the city and the cathedral to
+the Catholics. Until recent times Protestantism was an almost negligible
+force in Koeln. At the time of my visit the Protestant Churches were
+very efficient in all kinds of religious and social work and had an
+influence in the City Council out of all proportion to their numbers.
+Inquiring into the reason of this change I was told that it was largely
+owing to the labors of a man by the name of Jacob Goedel who had come to
+them from America and had introduced American methods of church work
+into Koeln.
+
+[illustration: "Gottlob Frederick Krotel, D.D., LL.D."]
+
+In 1867 another synodical split took place. The New York Ministerium
+separated from the General Synod on confessional grounds and took part
+in the organization of the General Council. Thereupon most of the
+English-speaking members, occupying a milder confessional basis, left
+the Ministerium, formed the Synod of New York and united with the
+General Synod.*
+     *The author's connection with the work in New York began about this
+time. After graduation at Yale College in 1865, he found employment in a
+New York library, and soon after matriculated as a student in Union
+Theological Seminary. The needs of Protestant Germans on the East Side
+attracted him into mission work which resulted in the formation of a
+congregation of which he took pastoral charge upon his ordination by the
+Synod of New York, October 19th, 1868.
+
+The lines of three synodical bodies, General Council. [sic] General
+Synod and Synodical Conference, that is "Missouri," were now distinctly
+drawn and for the rest of the century the relations of Lutheran
+ministers and churches were sharply defined. Ministers were kept busy
+in explaining the differences, but it is to be feared that some of the
+laymen did not always understand.
+
+In 1868 members of St. James Church, who sympathized with the attitude
+of the General Council in favor of a stricter confessional basis,
+organized a new English congregation, Holy Trinity, of which Dr. Krotel
+became the first pastor. Dr. Wedekind was called to St. James. Both men,
+pastors of English congregations, had come from Germany in their early
+youth, were educated in American schools and were thoroughly acquainted
+with American institutions. For a generation these two men, each in his
+own sphere, on opposite sides of a high synodical fence, contributed
+much to the growth and progress of the churches in this city.
+
+Immigration from Lutheran lands continued to increase and reached its
+high water mark in this period.
+
+Prior to 1867 there were few Swedes in New York. In 1870 they numbered
+less than 3,000. The immigrants were chiefly farmers who settled in the
+West. In 1883 large numbers began to come from the cities of Sweden and
+these settled in the cities of the East. In 1900 the census credited
+New York with 29,000 Swedes. In 1910, including the children, there were
+57,464, of which 56,766 were Protestants.
+
+The first Swedish Lutheran church was organized in 1865 by Pastor
+Andreen who had been sent here for this purpose by the Augustana Synod.
+Among the first trustees was Captain John Ericsson, the inventor of
+the Monitor. Its first pastor was Axel Waetter, a cultured minister of
+the Swedish National Church.
+
+At present there are fourteen Swedish Lutheran churches in New York
+reporting a membership of 8,626 souls.
+
+An Immigrant House in Manhattan, a Home for the Aged and an Orphans'
+Home in Brooklyn, and Upsala College in Kenilworth, N. J., represent
+the institutional work of the Swedish Lutherans.
+
+To Pastor Lauritz Larsen I am indebted for the following sketch of our
+Norwegian churches:
+
+"The Norwegians have always been a sea-faring people and a people
+looking for fields of labor all over the World. The real immigration
+begins about 1849, but there were Scandinavians on Manhattan Island in
+the Sixteenth Century. The Bronx is named after a Danish farmer, Jonas
+Bronck.
+
+"I believe that the first Norwegian Lutheran Church in New York was
+organized by Lauritz Larsen, then Norwegian Professor in Theology at
+Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, who stopped here for a while on his way
+to and from Norway in the early sixties. The first resident pastor was
+Ole Juul, who came to New York in 1866 and labored here until 1876,
+when he was succeeded by Pastor Everson, who was actively engaged as
+pastor in New York and Brooklyn from 1873, until 1917, when failing
+health compelled him to retire.
+
+"At present, the Norwegian Lutheran churches of Greater New York are
+carrying on an active and aggressive work. Their total membership is not
+as large as it might be. Partly because the Norwegians coming here from
+the State Church do not at once realize the importance or necessity of
+becoming members of local congregations, but have the idea that as long
+as they attend services, have their children baptized and confirmed, and
+so forth, they are members of the church. The report of the membership
+of the churches is therefore, hardly a correct indication of the number
+of people reached or even the strength of the Norwegian Lutherans in the
+Metropolis.
+
+"The language question is one of great difficulty. Many of our people
+live, as it were, with one foot in Norway and one in America; and are
+thinking of returning to the old country at some time or other. There is
+also a constant influx of new people from Norway which makes it
+imperative to have Norwegian services constantly. On the other hand, the
+young people are rapidly Americanized and prefer to use the language of
+the country, which necessitates English work, and where this demand is
+made, the young people are, generally speaking, quite loyal to their
+church, but it is no easy matter to satisfy both elements and to keep
+the old and the young together in the same church.
+
+"The Norwegians have been very active in Inner Mission and Social
+Service work. As witness: the organization of the Norwegian Lutheran
+Deaconesses' Home and Hospital about thirty years ago. This institution
+has now grown to be the largest Norwegian charitable institution in the
+country and has a splendidly equipped modern hospital and an excellent
+Sisters' Home, which together represent a value of $500,000. It is not
+owned by a church, but is owned and controlled by a corporation of
+Norwegian Lutherans.
+
+"The churches have directly been engaged in Inner Mission work for a
+number of years, and now have three city missionaries constantly at
+work. The institutions conducted by this branch of the service are the
+Bethesda Rescue Mission at Woodhull St., Brooklyn, the Day Nursery at
+46th St., Brooklyn, and an extensive industrial plant also in Brooklyn.
+Besides the Inner Mission has purchased land on Staten Island and
+erected a cottage there for a summer colony for poor children. The
+Norwegians of New York have also built a modern Children's Home at
+Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. Although this is not owned by the church, but
+by a corporation of Norwegians, its constitution provides that the
+religious instruction should be based upon Luther's Small Catechism. The
+Home is now taking care of sixty children, and is in charge of a
+Deaconess from the local mother house mentioned above. A new Inner
+Mission Agency was started two years ago when the late C. M. Eger
+bequeathed a large sum of money for the establishment of the Old
+People's Home in connection with Our Saviour's Lutheran Church. At
+present it is located in his former home, 112 Pulaski Street, and will,
+no doubt, be of great importance for our church work in the future."
+
+The statistics of the Scandinavian churches are presented in part in
+the following table. The figures of the first and second lines are
+taken from the United States Census of 1910. They include the children
+where one or both parents are of foreign descent. Those of the third
+line are obtained by deducting 10 per cent. from the number of
+Protestants, in the second line. The number of "souls," fourth line, is
+the aggregate number of baptized persons, old or young, connected with
+or related to the respective congregations.
+
+                        Swedes Norwegians Danes  Finns  Total
+     1. Population      53,464 34,733     13,197 10,304 116,698
+     2. Protestants     56,766 33,344     11,996 10,304 112,410
+     3. Lutherans       51,090 30,010     10,797  9,274 101,171
+     4. Souls            8,365 10,433        950  2,540  22,288
+     5. Communicants     3,829  2,152        422    840   7,643
+     6. No. of Churches     13     12          3      3      31
+
+Prior to 1871 Germans were a negligible quantity in the political
+history of Europe. Divided into a multitude of tribes, with divergent
+interests, for centuries they had no political standing and were the
+football of the nations around them. From Louis XIV to the Corsican
+invader, except during the reign of Frederick the Great, their history
+was one of political incohesion and economic poverty.
+
+Even in New York they were looked upon as aliens in the city which they
+had helped to found and where in three centuries their sons had stood in
+the forefront of the battle for freedom. The names of Jacob Leisler, of
+the seventeenth century, Peter Zenger of the eighteenth century, Franz
+Lieber and Karl Schurz of the nineteenth century are indelibly inscribed
+among the champions of freedom in America. Yet fifty years ago "Dutch"
+in New York had almost the same evaluation that "Sheeny" and "Dago" have
+today.
+
+In 1871 the divergent fragments of the German people, after many futile
+experiments in their history, at last attained national unity. The
+Germans of New York celebrated the event with a procession which made a
+deep impression upon the city. From that day forward they were no longer
+held below par in popular estimation. This became manifest in the
+success of their efforts in the field of social and religious work.
+Thirty German churches were added to the roll before the close of the
+century.
+
+The completion of the Elevated Lines in 1879 and the Brooklyn Bridge in
+1883 changed the course of history for our Lutheran congregations. For
+decades the ever-increasing hosts of immigrants had been interned in
+unwholesome tenements on a narrow island. Now ways of escape were found.
+Wide thoroughfares led in every direction. The churches in Brooklyn and
+Bronx grew rapidly in numbers and in strength.
+
+It was hard for those of us who still held the fort on Manhattan Island
+to see the congregations we had gathered with painstaking effort
+scattering in every direction, especially to lose the children and the
+grandchildren of our faithful families. But when we saw them in the
+comfortable homes and open spaces of the suburbs, who could wish them to
+return to the hopeless atmosphere of the tenements? From this time
+forward the churches of the surrounding boroughs grew rapidly, largely
+at the expense, however, of the churches of Manhattan.
+
+From 1881 to the close of the century Bronx added nine churches,
+Richmond five, Brooklyn and Queens thirty-two to the roll. Manhattan, it
+is true, also added eleven churches, but they were all above
+Forty-second Street, most of them far uptown.
+
+The tenth of November, 1883, was a red letter day in our calendar. It
+was the quadricentennial of Luther's birthday. The preparations for the
+celebration met with a hearty response in the city. The large dailies
+gave much space to the occasion. Dr. Seiss delivered a memorable address
+in Steinway Hall. Under the auspices of the Evangelical Alliance a
+distinguished company gathered in the Academy of Music and heard William
+Taylor and Phillips Brooks deliver orations of majestic eloquence.
+
+The celebration gave a marked impulse to our church work. Our
+congregations increased in numbers and in influence. Its chief value was
+in its efeet [sic] upon the young people. Hitherto they hardly
+comprehended the significance of their church. Its services were
+conducted in a language which they understood with difficulty. As they
+grew up and established new homes in the suburbs where there were few
+churches of their faith, they easily drifted out of their communion. A
+great change came over them at this time. They began to take an active
+interest in church questions and in church extension. As they followed
+the inevitable trend to the suburbs they connected themselves with
+churches of their faith or organized new ones and became active workers
+in them. The remarkable increase of congregations in the entire
+Metropolitan District was to a large extent owing to the impulse derived
+from the quadricentennial of 1883.
+
+When Lutherans of various churches and synods were thus brought together
+there was one thing that puzzled them. They could not understand why
+there should be so many kinds of Lutherans and why they should have so
+little to do with one another. This feeling soon found expression in the
+organization of societies of men interested in the larger mission of the
+Church.
+
+In 1883 the Martin Luther Society was organized by such laymen as Arnold
+J. D. Wedemeyer, Jacob F. Miller, John H. Tietjen, Jacob A.
+Geissenhainer, George P. Ockerhausen, Charles A. Schieren, John H.
+Boschen and others, originally for the purpose of preparing a suitable
+celebration of the Luther Quadricentennial. In this effort they were
+successful. In addition to their local work in the interest of the
+celebration they secured the erection of a bronze statue of Luther in
+Washington.
+
+But the chief reason for the organization of the Society was indicated
+in a letter sent to the pastors and church councils of the Lutheran
+churches of New York and vicinity which read in part as follows:
+
+"In view of the efforts made all around us to bring about a closer and
+more harmonious relation between the various Protestant denominations,
+the Martin Luther Society of the City of New York respectfully begs you
+to consider whether the time has not come to make an effort to bring
+about, if not a union, at least a better understanding and more
+fraternal intercourse between the Lutherans themselves. We all deplore
+the divisions that separate us; we believe that the reasons for these
+divisions are more imaginary than real, and we are persuaded that a free
+and frank interchange of opinions will materially help to remove
+whatever obstacles may be in the way.
+
+"We surely recognize the fact that our Lutheran Church does not command
+that influence or maintain that position in this city and vicinity which
+its history, purity of doctrine and conservative policy entitles it to;
+and we may be sure that just so long as our divisions continue, loss of
+membership and prestige, increasing weakness, and final disaster, will
+be our lot.
+
+"Brethren, in unity is strength. Earnestly desiring to do what we can to
+bring it about, we ask the pastors of our Church and their church
+officers to take this important matter into consideration, and to take
+steps to participate in a meeting in this behalf which the Martin Luther
+Society proposes to hold on Tuesday evening, January 22d, 1889, in the
+hall of the Academy of Medicine, No. 12 West 31st Street, in this city."
+
+The annual banquet of the Martin Luther Society was an important
+function. Distinguished speakers lifted high the banner of Lutheranism,
+and good fellowship began to be cultivated among the representatives of
+churches and synods hitherto unacquainted with each other. Nearly all of
+its members have passed on and the Society is only a memory among a few
+survivors of those who shared its genial hospitality and recall the
+kindly fellowship of its meetings. The Martin Luther Society blazed the
+trail for the wider path on which we are walking today, and it deserves
+to be held in honored remembrance.
+
+A few years later, in 1888, the younger men caught the inspiration and
+established The Luther League. The organization soon extended to other
+parts of the State and subsequently to the entire country. It has
+splendidly attained its objective, that of rallying and training the
+young people in the support and service of the church. Its official
+organ, The Luther League Review, is published in this city under the
+editorship of the Hon. Edward F. Eilert. Eleven hundred members are
+enrolled in the local Leagues of New York City.
+
+The first practical attempt of the ministers to get together was in the
+organization of "Koinonia." This took place in the home of the writer in
+1896. The society meets once a month for the purpose of discussing the
+papers which each member in his turn is required to read. Representing
+as it does Lutherans of all kinds, species and varieties, it serves as a
+clearing house for the theological output of the members. It has been
+helpful in removing some of the misunderstandings that are liable to
+arise among men of positive convictions.
+
+On the third Sunday in Advent, 1898, Sister Emma Steen, of Richmond,
+Indiana, the first Lutheran deaconess to engage in parish work in New
+York, was installed in Christ Church. She had received her preparation
+for this ministry in the motherhouse at Kaiserswerth on the Rhine, and
+was one of the first six sisters to enter the motherhouse of the General
+Synod in Baltimore. After four years of faithful service she was
+succeeded by Sister Regena Bowe who has now for fifteen years by her
+devoted work illustrated the value of the female diaconate in the work
+of our churches in New York. Deaconeses are now laboring in seven of
+our churches. They are needed in a hundred congregations.
+
+The revival of this office is due to the genius and zeal of Pastor
+Fliedner who established the first motherhouse at Kaiserswerth on the
+Rhine in 1833. In America there are eight motherhouses with an
+enrollment of 378 sisters.*
+     *In 1885 the author was appointed chairman of a committee of the
+General Synod to report on the practicability of establishing the office
+of deaconess in the parish work of our American churches. In pursuit of
+information he visited the principal Deaconess Houses of Europe. His
+reports were published in the Minutes of the Synod from 1887 to 1897 and
+contributed to the introduction of the office into the Synod's scheme of
+church work.
+
+The years under review, the closing period of the nineteenth century,
+were years of stress and storm in our synodical relations. But the
+questions that divided us did not stop the practical work of the synods.
+Under the stimulus of a generous rivalry some things were accomplished
+and foundations were laid for still larger work in the new century.
+
+
+In the Twentieth Century
+1900-1918
+
+Our churches entered the twentieth century with hope and cheer. With an
+enrollment of 94 congregations in the greater city and an advance patrol
+of many more in the Metropolitan District, it had become an army of
+respectable size among the forces striving for the Christian uplift of
+our city.
+
+What a contrast between this picture and that of our church at the
+beginning of the nineteenth century! Then two moribund congregations
+were feebly holding the fort. One of these soon surrendered, "on account
+of the present embarrassment of finances." Now a compact army had
+already been assembled, while new races and languages were beginning to
+reinforce our ranks. Even the English contingent, which had so long
+maintained an unequal fight, was securely entrenched in four boroughs
+with seventeen congregations on its roll.
+
+At this writing, in May, 1918, we number in Greater New York 160
+churches with an enrollment of sixty thousand communicant members. At
+the close of the nineteenth century, in 1898, we had 90 churches with
+43,691 communicants. The rate of increase in twenty years was 35 per
+cent., not very large but sufficiently so to awaken favorable comment
+from Dr. Laidlaw, an expert observer of church conditions in this city.
+In 1904, in an article in "Federation," on "Oldest New York," he wrote
+as follows:
+
+"There are now over fifty Christian bodies in this city, and "Oldest
+New York's" history shows the fatuity of expecting that the
+heterogeneous population of the present city will all worship in the
+same way within the lifetime of its youngest religious worker. Man's
+thoughts have not been God's thoughts, nor man's ways God's ways, in the
+mingling of races and religions on this island. The Lutheranism that so
+sorely struggled for a foothold in the early days is now the second
+Protestant communion in numbers, and its recent increment throughout
+Greater New York, contributed to by German, Scandinavian, Finnish and
+many English Lutheran churches, has exceeded that of any other
+Protestant body."
+
+The causes which contributed to our progress in the latter part of the
+nineteenth century were still effective. The consolidation of Greater
+New York, bringing together into one metropolis the scattered boroughs,
+marked the advent of a Greater Lutheran Church in New York. The bridges
+and the subways, the telephone and the Catskill Aqueduct, public works
+of unprecedented magnitude, were among the material foundations of the
+new growth of our churches.
+
+We were beginning to reap in the second and third generations the fruits
+of the vast immigration of the nineteenth century.
+
+A new era began for the use of the English language. There had been a
+demand for English services as early as 1750, but in the eighteenth and
+the greater part of the nineteenth centuries it had not been met. Fifty
+years ago, with its two churches, and even twenty-five years ago with
+four churches, English was a forlorn hope. The advance began in the last
+decade of the 19th century when twelve English churches were organized.
+In 1900 there were seventeeen English churches on the roll. Since then
+32 have been added, five in Bronx, fifteen in Brooklyn, eleven in
+Queens, one in Richmond. Besides these forty-nine churches in which the
+English language is used exclusively, almost all of the so-called
+foreign churches use English to a greater or less extent as the needs of
+the people may require.
+
+But there was a deeper reason for the growth of our church. Ever since
+the Luther Centennial of 1883 the young people of our churches had begun
+to understand not only the denominational significance of their church
+but also something of its inner characteristics and life. In various
+groups, in Manhattan, Bronx and Brooklyn, they got together and
+organized English congregations in which an intelligent Lutheran
+consciousness prevailed.
+
+The Home Mission and Church Exension Boards of the General Synod
+recognized the importance of the moment in the metropolis of America and
+gave their effective aid. In Brooklyn and Queens the work received large
+support from Charles A. Schieren and the Missionary Society with which
+he co-operated. Sixteen churches were established through the aid of
+this Society. Schieren was a native of Germany but he early saw the
+importance of reaching the people in the language which they could best
+understand. As a citizen he was public spirited and progressive. From
+1894 to 1895 he was mayor of Brooklyn.
+
+The pastors of these incipient congregations were men of vision who had
+been attracted to the work in New York by its difficulty and its
+opportunity. They came from different seminaries and synodical
+associations and they had to minister to congregations in which all
+varieties of the older churches were represented. But they soon learned
+to cooperate with one another in measures looking to the larger
+interests of the entire field. Team work became possible. A stimulus was
+given to the work such as had never before been felt in the Lutheran
+churches of New York.
+
+A Ministers' Association, to which all Lutheran pastors of the
+Metropolitan District, are eligible, was organized in 1904. Its monthly
+meetings brought about a mutual understanding and fostered a fraternal
+spirit that have been of great value in the promotion of the general
+work of the church.
+
+The synod of New York and New England, composed of the English churches
+of the New York Ministerium was organized in 1902. It found its special
+mission in planting and rearing English missions in the new sections of
+the greater city. It has added nine English churches to the roll.
+
+The Synod of New York, a merger of the New York and New Jersey, the
+Hartwick and the Franckean synods also devoted itself to the special
+task of caring for the English speaking young people. Under its auspices
+thirteen new churches have been organized. To the indefatigable labors
+of its Superintendent of Missions, Dr. Carl Zinssmeister, much credit is
+due for the success of the work.
+
+The Synod of Missouri, although largely a German body, rivals the other
+synods in its fostering care of the English work. At least thirteen
+English congregations in this city have been organized by "Missouri"
+since the beginning of this century.
+
+The relation of the various boroughs to the growth of the church may be
+seen from the following figures in which the number of communicants in
+1918 is compared with that of 1898.
+
+     Boroughs     1898     1918     Increase
+     Manhattan    21,611   15,928   5,683*
+     Bronx         2,048    5,932   3,884
+     Brooklyn     17,405   28,270  10,865
+     Queens        1,671    7,139   5,468
+     Richmond        956    1,948     992
+                  43,691   59,217  15,526
+   *Decrease
+
+The starred figures for Manhattan call attention to the change of
+population that has taken place in New York, particularly as it affects
+Manhattan. While the total increase of population in New York from 1910
+to 1915 was 667,928 there was a decrease in Manhattan of 193,795.
+
+This decrease in numbers, and still more the substitution of Catholic
+and Jewish peoples to an unprecedented extent for those of Protestant
+antecedents, produced a marked change in the membership of Protestant
+churches. The decline in Protestant membership in Manhattan from 1900 to
+1910, according to Dr. Laidlaw, amounted to 74,012.
+
+It is not surprising therefore that the Lutheran churches were called
+upon to bear their share of the loss. As we have seen, it amounted in
+two decades to 5,623 [sic]. Most of this deficit, 4,042, is chargeable
+to the churches south of Fourteenth Street, where Protestants of all
+denominations fail to hold their own. The balance, 1,837, came from
+other churches south of Forty-second Street.
+
+Three churches were added during the past twenty years, Our Saviour
+(English) in 1898, Holy Trinity (Slovak) in 1904 and a mission of the
+Missouri Synod in 1916 in the Spuyten Duyvil neighborhood, the most
+northern point thus far occupied by us on Manhattan.
+
+For three churches gained there is an offset of four churches lost:
+Bethlehem in East Sixty-fifth Street, Christ Church in West Fiftieth
+Street, Immanuel in East Eighty-third Street and the Danish church in
+Yorkville. The Danish church removed to Bronx while the others effected
+mergers with sister congregations.
+
+The present indications are that we have come to a standstill on
+Manhattan Island and that it is no longer a question of how many
+churches we shall build, but how many we shall lose.
+
+Our assets at present may be described as follows: We have thirty
+congregations, twenty-six of them owning their houses of worship. The
+net value of their property, deducting debts, is $3,160,000. The average
+value of each church is $100,000. Besides the thirty organized
+congregations there are seven missions in which services are maintained
+in the following languages: Finnish, Lettish, Esthonian, Polish, Italian
+and Yiddish.
+
+The number of communicants is 15,978. The number of pupils in the Sunday
+Schools is 7,245. The number of children in eight parochial schools is
+669. The number attending instruction in religion on weekdays, including
+catechumens, is 1,580.
+
+But although our churches in Manhattan are declining in numbers while
+those of the other boroughs are growing, Manhattan still holds the key
+to the city. For generations it will be the community in which the most
+serious problems of church and society will have to be studied and
+solved. Manhattan has strategical value not merely for Greater New York
+but for every city in the land where similar problems must be solved.
+If our churches run away from such a field, we shall never gain a
+victory else where. If we win here, we shall be entitled to a place in
+the legion of honor.
+
+Four higher schools connected with the churches of New York have
+endeared themselves to the hearts of their friends and are giving
+promise of growing usefulness.
+
+Concordia College originated in St. Matthew's Academy, in 1881. After
+years of struggle and sacrifice it was moved to Bronxville in 1908,
+where it occupies a valuable property. It has 110 students.
+
+Wagner College was called into being in 1883 in Rochester. It belongs to
+the New York Ministerium. Numerous pastors in this city are alumni of
+Wagner College. In 1916 it was decided to move the college to New York.
+A splendid property of 38 acres was purchased on Grymes Hill near
+Stapleton, Staten Island, and in the Fall of 1918 it will take up its
+work within the precincts of Greater New York.
+
+Upsala College began as an academy in Brooklyn in 1893. It belongs to
+the Swedish Augustana Synod. It was moved to Kenilworth, N. J., in 1898,
+and became a college in 1904. Within ten years it has contributed more
+than forty pastors, missionaries and teachers to the work of the church.
+
+Hartwick Seminary is on the headwaters of the Susquehanna in Otsego
+County. It is a product of the eighteenth century and not of the
+twentieth. But since Johann Christopher Kunze, pastor of the Old Swamp
+Church, was one of its founders, and since it still contributes pastors
+to the work of the churches in New York, in spite of its distance from
+the city it must not be overlooked in our mention of the schools of New
+York.
+
+Under the auspices of the Inner Mission Society Pastor Buermeyer has
+developed a much-needed work among our brothers and sisters who in their
+old age or by reason of sickness, loneliness or poverty are not reached
+by the ordinary ministrations of the congregation. It is known its the
+City Mission and it will doubtless receive the continued support of all
+who read carefully the 25th chapter of St. Matthew.
+
+The Hospice for Young Men is another form of Inner Mission work in which
+a good beginning has been made.
+
+The Lutheran Society was organized in 1914. "Its object is to promote
+the general interests of the Lutheran Church by encouraging a friendly
+intercourse among its members." At this writing, in 1918, it numbers
+over four hundred members. By bringing together in friendly intercourse
+active churchmen of otherwise widely separately congregations and synods
+it has contributed materially to a better understanding of the aims and
+the tasks of our entire communion.
+
+Under its auspices the quadricentennial anniversary of the Reformation
+was celebrated in this city in a manner worthy of the occasion. The
+executive secretary of the committee, Pastor O. H. Pannkoke, reports as
+follows on the general results of the celebration:
+
+"Two facts are of considerable interest, such as to class them as worthy
+of recording as a permanent accomplishment. In the first place we have
+had the cooperation in this undertaking of every Lutheran synod
+represented in New York, and I believe we have succeeded in carrying
+through the undertaking without violating the confidence placed in us by
+any section of the Lutheran Church.
+
+"In the second place, our Committee has injected into the general
+Reformation influence the question of the wider influence of the
+Reformation. Practically every section of the country has taken up the
+discussion of the religious influence of the Reformation, also of the
+influence of the Reformation on every side of life."
+
+On the roll of Former Pastors, in the Appendix, are recorded the names
+of men who laid the foundations of the present congregations. Their
+labors and their sacrifices entitle them to a place in a book of
+remembrance. Some names are missing. We tried hard to obtain them. For
+these lacunae we offer our apologies to the historians of the next
+centennial. In 1918 we were still struggling with the problem of
+statistics.
+
+Nowhere are ministers forgotten so soon as here in New York. The
+congregations themselves are rapidly engulphed in the ceaseless tides
+of humanity that sweep over the island. Now and then some beloved
+pastor is remembered by some faithful friends, but in a few years the
+very names of the men who built the churches are forgotten. Like the
+knights of old:
+  "Their swords are rust,
+   Their steeds are dust.
+   Their souls are with the saints we trust."
+
+Before ending the story of which a faint outline has here been given, we
+recall with affection and reverence some of the men whose outstanding
+personality has not yet faded from our memory. Their labors prepared the
+ground for the harvests which a younger generation is now permitted to
+reap.
+
+Stohlmann was the connecting link with the earlier periods. He was an
+able preacher, a warm hearted pastor and a conscientious man.
+
+Geissenhainer, the pastor of St. Paul's, which he organized in 1841
+after having been an assistant of his father in St. Matthew's since
+1826, was another connecting link with the past.
+
+Held of St. John's was a pupil of Claus Harms. His eloquent sermons
+attracted great congregations to Christopher Street.
+
+After fourteen fruitful years in St. James' Church, Wedekind was called
+to Christopher Street in November, 1878, to succeed Pastor Held. Here he
+labored for twelve years, edifying the church and inspiring St. John's
+to bcome one of our most efficient congregations. Under his direction at
+least four young men of the congregation were led into the ministry. He
+died April 8, 1897.
+
+[illustration: "Augustus Charles Wedekind, D.D."]
+
+Under a quiet exterior Krotel concealed a forceful personality. He was a
+born leader and took a large part in the development of the General
+Council. As editor of the Lutherischer Herold for three years and of The
+Lutheran for many years his writings had a wide influence. From 1868 to
+1895 he was pastor of Holy Trinity Church. In 1896, in the 71st year of
+his age, he accepted a call to the newly organized Church of the Advent,
+which he served until his death on May 17th, 1907. Under the pen name of
+Insulanus he delighted the readers of The Lutheran for forty years with
+his reflections on men and things in New York. Among his published works
+are a Life of Melanchthon, Meditations on the Beatitudes and
+Explanations of Luther's Catechism.
+
+Julius Ehrhardt was an unassuming, lovable and scholarly Suabian. He
+laid the foundations of St. Paul's in Harlem, when the little wooden
+church stood among the truck gardens. He died in 1899.
+
+Moldenke was a descendant of Salzburg exiles who settled in East Prussia
+in 1731. He came to us from Wisconsin, organized Zion Church which was
+subsequently merged with St. Peter's after he had accepted a call to
+succeed Hennicke in that church. He was an able preacher and a scholarly
+writer. Under his leadership St. Peter's became a strong congregation.
+In 1872 he contributed a series of articles on _Die Lutheraner des
+Ostens_ to Der Pilger of Reading. A reprint of these articles in book
+form would be a valuable contribution to the story of the Lutherans of
+New York and a fitting memorial of a minister of mark and influence.
+
+Johann Heinrich Sieker was born in Schweinfurth, Bavaria, October 23d,
+1839. He received his theological education at Gettysburg. His early
+ministry was in connection with the Wisconsin Synod. In 1876, when
+Ruperti resigned at St. Matthew's, Sieker was called from St. Paul,
+Minnesota, to become his successor. For 28 years he was the pastor of
+St. Matthew's and a leading minister of the Missouri Synod. In
+synodical matters he was an uncompromising defender of the faith as he
+understood it. He left the record of a singularly devoted and successful
+ministry. At least thirty young men were led into the ministry under his
+influence. Roesner's "Ehrendenkmal," a sketch of his life and character,
+ought to be read by every Lutheran minister in this city. He died in
+1904.
+
+John Jacob Young was a native of the Rhenish Palatinate, born at
+Langenkandel, September 13th, 1846. He came to America in his boyhood.
+He served in the Union army during the Civil War. When the war was over
+he studied for the ministry at Gettysburg. He served a number of
+congregations in Maryland and Indiana till 1893, when he was called to
+the pastorate of St. John's in Christopher Street. Here for 21 years he
+faithfully followed his calling as a shepherd of souls.
+
+Charles Armand Miller came to us from the South. He was born in
+Sheperdstown, West Virginia, March 7, 1864. He was educated at Roanoke
+College and after his ordination he was for a time pastor of the College
+Church. He succeeded Dr. Krotel in Holy Trinity Church in 1896 and gave
+twelve years of devoted and successful service to this congregation. His
+subsequent fields of labor were in Charleston, South Carolina, and in
+Philadelphia. He was a scholarly writer, an able preacher, a sympathetic
+pastor and a loyal friend. Among his published writings were The Perfect
+Prayer, The Sacramental Feast, The Way to the Cross and a volume of
+poems entitled Ad Astra.
+
+[illustration: "Pastor J. H. Sieker"]
+
+He died in the prime of his life, September 9th, 1917. Who that knew him
+will ever forget the genial spirit of Charles Armand Miller?
+
+It would be a congenial task to give a fuller account of these men and
+of Ruperti, Vorberg, Raegener, Hennicke, Waetter, Foehlinger, Koenig,
+Halfmann, Frey, Weissel, Beyer and others whose names and lives a few of
+the older preachers will recall. Perhaps some who read this book will
+accept the suggestion and write accounts of these pioneer workmen. What
+a Ministers' Association they would have formed if we could have gotten
+them together into a conference to discuss the terms of agreement. But
+that was impossible thirty years ago.
+
+A singularly interesting career came to a close just as I was concluding
+these memorial paragraphs. Dr. Charles E. Weltner died in Brunswick,
+Georgia, December 22d, 1917.
+
+He was born in Wilhelmshoehe, January 28th, 1860, where his father
+commanded a company of soldiers in the royal castle. In his early youth
+he was sent to New York to meet a relative whom he never found. One
+Sunday morning, homeless and friendless, he accosted me after service at
+the door of the church. I offered him employment in my office and for
+several years he was an efficient helper in the educational and mission
+work of my parish. Although he was already suffering from defective
+eyesight, which not long afterward resulted in total blindness, he
+expressed an ardent desire to enter the ministry. Under the
+circumstances this seemed to be impossible, but his earnest pleas
+overcame every objection. In 1884 he entered Hartwick Seminary where he
+was graduated with honor in 1888. Unable himself to read the text books,
+his friends read them for him. Especially helpful to him in his studies
+were Professor Hiller and his wife, the daughter of the sainted Dr.
+George B. Miller.
+
+Upon the completion of his course in 1888 he was ordained to the Gospel
+ministry and for the next four years rendered faithful service as the
+assistant of his pastor in Christ Church. Few that heard him would have
+suspected his blindness. His remarkable memory enabled him in conducting
+the Service to use the Bible and the Liturgy as though he could see. In
+the library he could go to the shelves and place his hands upon the
+books that he needed. His reader then supplied him with the material
+needed for study.
+
+In 1893 he took temporary charge of St. John's Church in Christopher
+Street.
+
+In the Fall of 1893 he accepted a call to St. Matthew's Church in
+Augusta, Georgia. His retirement in 1896 to take charge of a mission
+among the cotton mill operatives of Columbia, S. C., was deeply
+regretted not only by his congregation but by the entire city.
+
+Thus far his ministry, however useful it had been, was only a
+preparation for the remarkable work he was called upon to do in South
+Carolina and adjoining states. The mountain whites who had been drawn
+into the cotton mill work of the South were illiterate and but ill
+prepared for their new conditions.
+
+[illustration: "Charles E. Weltner, D.D."]
+
+With the help of his devoted wife, a night school was established.
+Additional schools became necessary. The Columbia Board of Education
+became interested and supplied the teachers while the mill company
+provided for the equipment. Mrs. Weltner helped the girls by creating an
+interest in good housekeeping and in beautifying the homes and their
+surroundings.
+
+The movement extended to other parts of the state and into adjoining
+states, and Dr. Weltner was called upon to explain and direct it. The
+blind man had seen a vision. The homeless youth of New York's East Side
+became the prophet of a new era who turned many to righteousness. His
+eyes now see the King in His beauty.
+
+
+
+THEIR PROBLEMS
+
+
+The Problem of Synods
+
+A synod is an assembly of delegates organized for the purpose of
+administering the affairs of the churches they represent.
+
+Fourteen synods are represented in Greater New York. Some are based on
+differences of doctrine. A volume published in 1893, entitled
+"Distinctive Doctrines and Usages" (See Bibliography), treats of these
+differences. Others are due to differences of language and race.
+
+In some countries a hyperchurchly trend of the national or state church
+is responsible for dissenting movements which, left to themselves,
+finally take the form of separatistic churches. Although these movements
+temporarily persist in America there is no permanent need for them in
+our atmosphere of freedom. Our church has room for many men of many
+minds so long as the essentials of belief are held and respected.
+
+Finns are represented in three synods, Scandinavians in four. These
+nations therefore account for one-half of our fourteen synods. The
+history of the Missouri Synod is one of struggle, sacrifice and
+remarkable growth. For seventy-five years other Lutherans have sought
+fellowship with them, but they decline to hold fellowship with churches
+that are not in full accord with their doctrinal position.
+
+Each of these divisions has some historical reason for its existence
+which cannot be ignored or lightly pushed aside. For various reasons
+each synod emphasizes some phase of church life which in its opinion
+warrants a separate organization. Perhaps some of the progress of the
+last half century may be credited to a wholesome rivalry between these
+various schools of Lutheranism.
+
+On the other hand these synodical divisions among churches holding the
+same substance of doctrine, even when they do not provoke downright
+hostility, are an effective bar to the fraternal alliance so greatly
+needed in our polyglot communion. Our neighbors, too, of other
+Denominations, when they try to understand our meticulous divisions, are
+not unnaturally disposed to look upon us as a conglomerate of sectarian
+religionists rather than as a Church or even as a distinct Denomination.
+In lists of denominational activities our churches figure as G. C.
+Lutherans, G. S. Lutherans, Missouri Lutherans, etc., while all of us
+are frequently called upon to explain whether we belong to the
+Evangelical branch of the Lutherans or not.
+
+Absorbed as we are in the local interests of our individual
+congregations and in the questions that divide us among ourselves, we
+seldom have an opportunity to give expression to outstanding principles
+of our church in such a way as to impress the public mind with a sense
+of their importance.
+
+The question therefore continually recurs, why should these divisions be
+perpetuated among brethren who are agreed on the essentials of Lutheran
+teaching even though they may not have completely assimilated each
+other's minute definitions of theological dogmas. Laymen, more
+interested in practical results, find it hard to understand why there
+should be so many different kinds of Lutherans. Even ministers,
+accustomed as they are to sharp distinctions, sometimes deplore these
+divisions and wonder when they can be healed. They long for the time
+when the adherents of the Augsburg Confession may unite in one great
+body, "beautiful as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army
+with banners."
+
+Alluring as such a prospect may seem, it is not of highest importance in
+a communion which from the beginning emphasized the right of private
+judgment and acquired for the world the right to think for itself in
+matters of conscience and religion. The Church of the Reformation
+derives its strength from unity rather than from union. Theoretically at
+least, it is a communion, a fellowship of believers. Its earliest
+designation was not "The Lutheran Church," but "Churches of the Augsburg
+Confession."
+
+It is consonant therefore with our historic principles to respect the
+gifts and calling of the existing divisions in our churches without
+insisting upon an artificial union which could contribute little to the
+true unity of the church. There are "many members, yet but one body....
+There are differences of administrations, but the same Lord." In our
+mutual relations therefore it behooves us to recognize the rights of the
+individual.
+
+This, however, need not prevent our working and praying for union. If it
+be possible, as much as lieth in us (unless this involves synergistic
+heresy), let us cultivate tolerance and live peaceably with all men,
+especially with all Lutherans.
+
+We have in this city a great field in which there is work for us all. In
+friendly co-operation, rather than in hostile competition, we may escape
+some of the perils of our past history and perform with credit the tasks
+with which at present we seem to be struggling in vain.
+
+The Metropolitan District includes the urban communities within ten
+miles of the boundary line of Greater New York. This territory of a
+hundred and fifty square miles now holds a population of over seven
+millions of people. Our churches in Greater New York minister to a
+baptized membership of 141,642 souls. If we include in our estimates of
+parochial responsibility, not merely enrolled members, but the entire
+Lutheran population of the District, Russians, Poles, Slovaks,
+Bohemians, Hungarians, Letts, Esthonians, Lithuanians, Dutch, Germans,
+Swedes, Norwegians, Finns and Danes, to say nothing of the multitudes of
+American birth from the Hudson and Mohawk valleys, from Pennsylvania,
+Virginia, Ohio and the West, the number of people claiming to be
+Lutherans amounts to more than five hundred thousand souls.
+
+To minister as we should to such a constituency, we need co-operation in
+place of competition. The work of cultivating effectively such a field
+can never be done by churches so hopelessly divided as ours.
+
+Other churches, Protestant and Catholic, with a centralized
+ecclesiastical organization, are able to work together as one body and
+make plans for their work covering the entire Metropolitan District. We,
+with our strong individualism, cannot vie with them. In our polity we
+are extreme congregationalists and must pay for our freedom.
+
+But there is much that our churches have in common. Our flocks are not
+alienated from each other as much as are the shepherds. The formation of
+local groups throughout the greater city, co-operating in common causes,
+or at least refraining from a polemical policy, would pave the way for a
+better understanding of our mutual needs and opportunities for service.
+
+Three things, at least, might be done without compromising the faith or
+violating the spirit of our church life:
+
+1. We might meet for the purpose of forming each other's acquaintance
+and for the discussion of practical questions. Perhaps none of us is
+quite so heretical as the synodical divergence would lead a layman to
+suppose.
+
+2. We might meet for the discussion of vital questions of religion and
+morals. It is one thing to read about these things in books. It is quite
+another thing to listen to a spoken presentation warm with the sympathy
+of a living experience.
+
+3. We might recognize each other's spheres of influence and federate our
+forces in meeting the needs of our vast community.
+
+In the meantime we are slowly learning that the aspirations and
+convictions that unite us are greater than the things that separate us.
+The clearer comprehension of the principles we hold and of the work we
+have to do, and the sense of our responsibility as one of the larger
+communions of the metropolis, compel us more and more to emphasize not
+the unessential details of our theological system but rather the larger
+truths and principles for which we stand and which we hold in common.
+
+A hundred years ago, on the tercentenary of the Reformation, after a
+period of political humiliation and economic distress in the Fatherland,
+the Ninety-five Theses of Claus Harms sounded a call for a Lutheran
+awakening throughout the world. The result of that revival is felt in
+the churches to this day.
+
+The quadricentenary of the Reformation was celebrated amid the
+convulsions of a World War. Is it too much to hope that after this war
+also the ground may be prepared for a spiritual sowing and reaping when
+the unnecessary dissensions of sectarian controversy will give place to
+fraternal co-operation in the service of a common Lord and in the
+promotion of a common faith?*
+     *Since the foregoing paragraphs were written an unexpected change
+in the outlook has taken place. Steps were taken a year ago toward
+bringing together three of the general bodies of the Church in America.
+Should this hope be realized, it will bring into closer union a majority
+of the churches of Greater New York.
+     On May 7th, 1918, at a meeting of nearly one hundred Lutheran
+pastors, members of nearly all of the synods represented on this
+territory, there was organized a "Conference of the Lutheran pastors of
+the Metropolitan District for the discussion of all questions of
+doctrine and practice to the end of effecting unity." This, too, is a
+harbinger of an approaching era of reconstruction and peace.
+
+
+The Problem of Language
+
+It was a Lutheran demand in the sixteenth century to preach the Gospel
+in the vernacular. It would be un-Lutheran in the twentieth century to
+conduct public worship in a language which the people do not understand.
+
+This lesson is written so plainly in the history of our churches in
+America that "he may run that readeth." The Swedish churches on the
+Delaware, planted by Gustavus Adolphus for the very purpose of
+propagating the faith in America, were all of them lost to the Lutheran
+church because the persistent use of the Swedish language, and the
+inability of the pastors to preach in English, proved an insuperable
+obstacle to the bringing up of the children in the Lutheran communion.
+When the New York Ministerium at its meeting in Rhinebeck, September
+1st, 1797, resolved that it would "never acknowledge a newly-erected
+Lutheran Church merely English in places where the members may partake
+of the services of the Episcopal Church, it halted for a century the
+growth of the Lutheran Church in New York. [Tr. note: no close quotation
+marks in original.]
+
+The same experience greets us in London. There the Lutheran Church was
+established in 1669, only five years later than in New York. For more
+than two centuries it had the recognition of royalty. As late as the
+Victorian era Prince Albert, the Queen and the royal family, in their
+personal relations, were connected with the Lutheran Church. To this day
+Queen Alexandra is a communicant in the Lutheran church. There exist
+therefore no social barriers to its growth. Yet not a single English
+Lutheran church is to be found in London.
+
+With one exception the dozen Lutheran churches of other tongues
+recognize no responsibility to propagate the faith of the Augsburg
+Confession in the language of the city in which they live. The exception
+is that of the German "Missouri" congregation. Here English as well as
+German is used in the services. Here alone it would seem that "religion
+is the chief concern."
+
+The language problem confronted us early in our local history. In the
+first hundred years three languages, Dutch, German and English,
+contended for the mastery. In their pastoral work some ministers used
+all three.
+
+Dutch was the first to surrender. The children of Dutch families adopted
+the language of their English conquerors, and when immigration from
+Holland ceased, the use of Dutch in worship became obsolete. The last
+use of Dutch at a Lutheran service was at the communion on the First
+Sunday in Advent in 1771. It had maintained itself for 114 years.
+
+After the use of Dutch in worship had ceased, German and English came
+into collision. It was a fight to a finish. When it was over there was
+little left for which to contend. When Pastor Kunze died, in 1807, the
+congregation had declined almost to the point of extinction. Many of the
+English-speaking families had left us and we thus lost some of our
+leading members, people whose ancestors had for five generations
+belonged to our communion. The Germans remained, but during the lull in
+the tide of immigration the use of German declined to such an extent as
+to imperil the existence even of the German congregation. When Kunze's
+successor arrived he had difficulty in finding members of the church who
+could speak German. Even in the German congregation English had become
+the language of every-day life.
+
+German thrives in German soil. Elsewhere it is an exotic not easily
+cultivated. From their earliest history Germans have had the
+_Wanderlust_ and have sought for new homes as it pleased them. But
+wherever they go they amalgamate with their surroundings.
+
+The Franks settled in Gaul, but, excepting its German name, the language
+retains but few indications of the German ancestry of a large part of
+the French people.
+
+The Goths settled in Spain. Physical traits, blue eyes and blonde
+complexion, persist in some districts, but their descendants speak
+Spanish.
+
+The Longobards crossed the Alps and settled in Italy where their
+children speak Italian, although Lombardy is just across the mountains,
+not far from the early home of their immigrant ancestors.
+
+A notable exception to this tendency of the Germans to amalgamate with
+other nations was when the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain. The island had
+been deserted by the Romans, and the Germans refused for centuries to
+ally themselves with the British inhabitants. They retained their own
+language and customs with but a slight admixture of alien elements.* To
+this day after twelve centuries they prefer to call themselves
+Anglo-Saxons rather than British. (_Nomen a potiori fit._)
+     *"Philologically, English, considered with reference to its
+original form, Anglo-Saxon, and to the grammatical features which it
+retains of Anglo-Saxon origin, is the most conspicuous member of the
+Low German group of the Teutonic family, the other Low German languages
+being Old Saxon, Old Friesic, Old Low German, and other extinct forms,
+and the modern Dutch, Flemish, Friesic, and Low German (Platt Deutsch).
+These, with High German, constitute the 'West Germanic' branch, as
+Gothic and the Scandinavian tongues constitute the 'East Germanic'
+branch, of the Teutonic family. (Century Dictionary under the word
+'English.')"
+
+In the ninth and eleventh centuries the island was invaded by other
+Germanic tribes, directly by way of the North Sea or indirectly by the
+Channel from Normandy, and so the language was developed still further
+along English, that is Germanic lines. (According to the Century
+Dictionary the historical pronunciation of the word is eng'-glish and
+not ing'glish).
+
+Low Germans, (Nether Saxons or Platt Deutsch) who have settled in New
+York in such large numbers, enjoy a distinct advantage over other
+nationalities. In the vernacular of America they discover simply another
+dialect of their native tongue. Hence they acquire the new dialect with
+little difficulty. The simpler words and expressions of the common
+people are almost the same as those which they used on the shores of the
+North Sea and the Baltic. For example: _Wo is min Vader?_ Where is my
+father? _He is in the Hus._ He is in the house. English and German
+sailors from opposite shores of the North Sea, using the simpler words
+of their respective languages, have no trouble in making themselves
+understood when they meet.
+
+The High Germans learn English more slowly, but they, too, find many
+points of contact, not only in the words but also in the grammatical
+construction of the language.
+
+In the United States the descendants of Germans number seventeen
+millions. They have made no inconsiderable contributions to the sum
+total of American civilization. For philological reasons, as we have
+seen, no people are more ready than the Germans to adopt English for
+every-day use. None amalgamate more easily with the political and social
+life of the country of their choice. In normal times we do not think of
+them as foreigners.
+
+English has the right of way. Its composite character makes it the
+language for every-day use. Thirty-five languages are spoken in this
+city, but the assimilative power of English absorbs them all. The Public
+School is the effective agent in the process. This is the melting pot
+for all diversities of speech. Children dislike to be looked upon as
+different from their companions, and so it rarely happens that the
+language of the parents is spoken by the second generation of immigrant
+families. Their elders, even when their "speech bewrayeth" them, make
+strenuous efforts to use the language of their neighbors.
+
+Seeing, then, that Anglicization is inevitable, why should we not cut
+the Gordian knot, and conduct our ministry wholly in the English
+language? This would greatly simplify our tasks, besides removing from
+us the stigma of foreignism.
+
+We are often advised to do so, especially by our monoglot brethren.
+There are those who go so far as to say that the use of any language
+other than the English impairs the Americanism of the user.
+
+Some of the languages at present used in our church services may be of
+negligible importance. The Slovak, Magyar and Finnish for example, as
+well as the Lettish, Esthonian and Lithuanian of the Baltic Provinces,
+will never have more than a restricted use in this city. The
+Scandinavians and those whose vernacular is the Low German easily
+substitute English for their mother tongue. Scandinavian is kindred to
+English, while Low German is the very group of which, philologically
+speaking, English is the most conspicuous member. Upon these tongues it
+will not be necessary to do summary execution.
+
+It is a different matter, however, when we come to High German, or,
+properly speaking, New High German, the language of German literature
+since the sixteenth century, of which Luther, through his version of the
+Bible, may be called the creator. He at least gave it universal
+currency. This is a language which we could not lose if we would, and
+would not if we could.
+
+Scholars are compelled to learn it because it is the indispensable
+medium for scientific and philosophical study. Formerly Latin was this
+medium, today it is German.
+
+Lovers of literature learn it because it is the language of Goethe and
+Schiller, the particular stars of a galaxy that for the modern world at
+least outshines the productions of the ancient classics. Lutherans
+enshrine it in their inmost souls because it is the receptacle of
+treasures of meditation and devotion with which their forms of worship
+have been enriched for four hundred years. To ignore Angelus Silesius,
+Paul Gerhardt, Albert Knapp, Philip Spitta and their glorious compeers,
+would be to silence a choir that sang the praises of the Lord "in notes
+almost divine."
+
+We need the literature in which the ideas of our church have for
+centuries been expressed. Language is the medium of ideas. The thirty
+denominations that constitute the bulk of Protestantism in this country
+derive the spirit of their church life for the most part from
+non-Lutheran sources through the medium of English literature. This is
+as it should be. But when Lutherans no longer understand the language of
+their fathers or the literature in which the ideas of their confession
+have found their fullest expression, they lose an indispensable
+condition of intellectual and spiritual growth. They can never
+understand as they should the spirit of the church to which they belong.
+They are doomed sooner or later to share the fate of the Lutherans of
+New York of the eighteenth century.
+
+When we have forgotten our German we shall be out of touch with the
+Lutherans who come to us from the Fatherland. For the time being the
+World War has put an end to German immigration, but this will not last
+forever. Some time certainly immigration will be resumed, and as in
+former periods will be an unfailing source of supply for the Lutheran
+churches of New York.
+
+In the nineteenth century the "Americanized" Lutherans did not
+understand the Germans who came over in such overwhelming numbers, and
+were unprepared to shepherd them in Lutheran folds. The work had to be
+done by immigrant pastors who, on their part, did not understand the
+American life well enough to accomplish the best results. For the sake
+of the Lutherans who come to us from foreign lands we cannot afford to
+lose touch with the historical languages of their churches.
+
+At the beginning of the nineteenth century the use of German had sunk
+almost to zero. The minutes of the German Society had to be written in
+English because no one was sufficiently versed in German to write them
+in this language. There was nothing to interfere with the supremacy of
+English. Yet the English Lutheran church was unable to "propagate the
+faith of the fathers in the language of the children." Down to the
+beginning of the twentieth century, the English churches were dependent
+for their growth upon accessions from the German and Scandinavian
+churches. They were unable to retain even the families they had
+inherited from their Dutch and German ancestors. We search in vain for
+descendants of the New York Lutherans of the eighteenth century in any
+of our churches.
+
+Not until a new contribution of immigrants from Lutheran lands had been
+made to America did our church begin to rise to a position of influence.
+
+When in the second quarter of the nineteenth century the first
+self-sustaining English Lutheran church was established, the
+Ockershausens and other children of immigrants were the strong pillars
+of its support. From that day to the present time not a single English
+Lutheran church has been established and maintained in this city where
+the Schierens, the Mollers and scores of others, immigrants or the
+children of immigrants, were not the chief supporters of the work.
+Without their effective aid the English Lutherans of the nineteenth
+century would have been swallowed up by "the denominations that are
+around us" as were their predecessors of the eighteenth century.
+
+Some of our Anglo-American neighbors are concerned about our political
+welfare. They advise us to drop the German in order that we may become
+"Americanized."
+
+Many of us are the children of Germans who tilled the soil of America
+before there was a United States of America.
+
+The Germans of the Mohawk Valley won at Oriskany, according to
+Washington, the first battle of importance in the American Revolution.*
+[Tr. note: original has no footnote to go with this asterisk]
+
+The Germans of Pennsylvania, long a neutral colony on account of its
+large English population, obtained the right of suffrage in May, 1776,
+and turned the scale in favor of liberty. Through their vote
+Pennsylvania was brought by a narrow margin into line with Virginia and
+Massachusetts which would otherwise have remained separated and unable
+to make effective resistance against the armies of King George.
+
+The Germans of Virginia followed their Lutheran pastor, Peter
+Muehlenberg, and made memorable the loyalty of American Lutherans.
+Steuben, the drillmaster of the Revolution, transformed the untrained
+and helpless troops of Washington into an effective force capable of
+meeting the seasoned soldiers of Cornwallis and Burgoyne.
+
+Our German ancestors were peasants, unable to write history, but they
+helped to make history. Without their timely aid there would not have
+been a United States of America. Their children do not need to be
+"Americanized." Nor have later immigrants from Germany and Scandinavia,
+at any period of our history, shown less loyalty to American ideals.
+
+We may concede the hegemony of English in the political and intellectual
+life of America, but in a great country like America there is room for
+others also. It is a narrow view of our civilization to make "American"
+synonymous with English. America is not the dumping ground of the
+nations. It is a land where the best ideals of all nations may be
+reproduced and find room for expansion and growth.
+
+The German and Scandinavian churches of New York are not ignorant of the
+importance of the English language in the maintenance of their church
+work. (See table of Churches in the Appendix.) With scarcely an
+exception they make all possible use of English in their services. This
+they are compelled to do in order to reach their children. In this way,
+and by making generous contributions of their members to the English
+churches, they are doing their full share in the general work of church
+extension in the English language.
+
+They send their sons into the ministry to an extent that has not been
+approached by our English churches. (See Appendix under Sons of the
+Church.) Nearly all of these are bi-lingual in their ministerial work
+and many of them serve exclusively English churches. There is a proverb
+about killing the goose that lays the golden egg, which we would do well
+to bear in mind.
+
+Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, founded by Dr. Walther and the Germans
+of Missouri, numbers 344 students. Candidates for graduation must be
+able to minister in at least two languages. In a polyglot church such as
+ours this would seem to be a policy worthy of imitation.
+
+The fifteen languages in which we minister to our people confer upon us
+an honorable distinction. Each one represents an individuality which
+cannot be ignored, some spiritual gift which is worth exercising and
+preserving. By keeping in touch with this many-sided life we enrich our
+own lives, obtain broader conceptions of the church's mission, and fit
+ourselves for more effective service in this most cosmopolitan city of
+the world. Instead of trying to exterminate these languages, let us
+cultivate a closer acquaintance with them and let us pray for that
+pentecostal spirit which will enable us to say "we do hear them speak in
+our tongues the wonderful works of God."
+
+
+The Problem of Membership
+
+Three classes of members are recognized in our churches: 1, Those who
+have been baptized. 2, Those who have been confirmed-that is, those who
+after the prescribed course of instruction and examination have been
+admitted to the communion. 3, Communicants-that is, those who are in
+active fellowship with the church in the use of the word and the
+sacrament.*
+     *The temporal affairs of the congregation as a civic corporation
+are regulated by the State and the qualifications of a voting member are
+defined in the laws of the State. This chapter deals only with the
+question of membership in the church as a spiritual body. In general
+the State readily acquiesces in the polity of the various churches so
+long as it does not interfere with the civic rights of the individual.
+
+There is a fourth class of which no note is taken in our church records.
+It is the class of lapsed Lutherans-that is, of those who have been
+admitted to full communion but who have slipped away and are no longer
+in active connection with the church.
+
+Of these we shall speak in a separate chapter.
+
+It is sometimes charged that the Lutheran communion does not hold clear
+views of the church. On the one hand her confessions abound in
+definitions of the church as a spiritual kingdom, as a fellowship of
+believers. On the other hand her practice frequently reminds our brother
+Protestants of the Catholics, and they are disposed to look upon us as
+Romanists, _minorum gentium_. "Like a will-of-the-wisp," says Delitzsch,
+"the idea of the church eludes us. It seems impossible to find the safe
+middle ground between a false externalism on the one hand and a false
+internalism on the other hand."
+
+The Lutheran position can only be understood when we recall the
+situation that confronted the Reformers in the sixteenth century. They
+had first of all to interpret the teachings of Scripture over against
+Rome, and hence in their earlier confessions they emphasized the points
+on which they differed from the Pope.
+
+According to Romish doctrine a man became a member of the church, not
+by an _interna virtus,_ but solely through an external profession of
+faith and an external use of the sacraments. The church is as visible
+and perceptible an organization as is "the kingdom of France or the
+republic of Venice." The church is an institution rather than a
+communion.
+
+For thirteen centuries, from Cyprian to Bellarmin, this doctrine held
+almost undisputed sway.
+
+The Reformers demonstrated the significance of faith, and showed the
+untenableness of Rome's conception of the church as a mere institution.
+Thomasius calls this a central epoch in the history of the world. But at
+the same time the Reformers had to take a stand against the
+hyperspiritual positions of the fanatics, as well as the teachings of
+the Zwinglians who denied the efficacy of the means of grace. The
+confessions, therefore, as well as the subsequent writings of
+Melanchthon and the dogmaticians, and the entire history and development
+of the Lutheran churches must be read in the light of this two-fold
+antagonism.
+
+The system which the Reformers controverted must have had features
+acceptable to the natural man or it would not have prevailed for so
+many centuries. Hence it is not surprising when Romanism creeps back
+into nominally Protestant churches. It behooves us, therefore, to be on
+our guard and to purge out the old leaven. And the opposite tendency
+which undervalues the visible church, must also be corrected by a
+Scriptural doctrine of the ordinances.
+
+The practice of our churches is a resultant mainly of three forces:
+
+1. Doctrine, defined in the Confessions, modified by Melanchthon's
+later writings and by the dogmaticians of the 17th century, considerably
+influenced also by Spener and the Pietists, while not a little has come
+to us from the Rationalistic period.
+
+2. Tradition, from the civil and social arrangements of the national
+churches from which we are descended, inherited through generations of
+our predecessors in this country. We follow in the old ruts, and "the
+way we have always been doing" puts an end to controversy.
+
+3. Environment. Consciously or unconsciously we are influenced by the
+practice of neighboring denominations.
+
+The object of this chapter is to ascertain the historic principles of
+the Lutheran Church in regard to church membership, to test their
+validity by Scriptures and to apply them to present conditions.
+
+The Church is primarily the communion of saints. Thus in the Small
+Catechism: "even as He (the Holy Ghost) ... sanctifies the whole
+Christian Church on earth." In the Large Catechism the same thought,
+that the Church is the product of the Holy Ghost, is expressed in ample
+terms. Rome's doctrine of the Church, as essentially an external
+organism, was answered in the 7th Article of the Augustana with the
+statement that the Church is the "congregation of saints," and this
+Article was the object of special attack in the Confutation. In the
+Apologia the Church is the congregation of those who confess one Gospel,
+have a knowledge of Christ and a Holy Spirit who renews, sanctifies and
+governs their hearts (Mueller 153, 8). In the Smalcald Articles: "Thank
+God, a child of seven years knows what the Church is, namely the holy
+believers and the lambs who hear their Shepherd's voice." The Formula of
+Concord has no special article on the Church, but touches the question
+incidentally and confirms the statements of the other symbols. (See
+Rohnert, Dogmatik, p. 505.)
+
+These teachings are in harmony with New Testament doctrine. Jesus said:
+"Upon this rock will I build my church," the congregation of God's
+children, the spiritual house which in the years to come "I will build."
+This Church was founded through the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on
+Pentecost. When the Epistles were written Ecclesia had become the
+established term. In Acts 2, 42, we find that Koinonia was one of the
+essential characteristics of the Church. John uses the same term in his
+first letter. This is the very truth repeated in the 7th Article of the
+Augustana. Paul, in his letter to Titus, refers to Christians as those
+who have believed in God; Romans 8, "God's elect;" also in Colossians 3,
+1, "elect of God;" I. Peter 2, "holy nation, peculiar people;" I. Cor.
+1, "Sanctified in Christ Jesus," etc., etc. They form a "spiritual
+house," I. Peter, 2; "God's building," I. Cor, 3; "body of Christ" in
+process of edification, Eph. 4. This body of Christ is an organic unity
+in which the Holy Ghost dwells as in a temple, I. Cor., 3 ; and of which
+Christ is the head, Eph. 1, 22. The Church is the "bride of Christ," II.
+Cor, 11, 2; destined to be "holy and without blemish," Eph., 5, 27.
+
+The Romish doctrine of the Church began with Cyprian in the third
+century. When the Puritans of that day, the Montanists, Novatians and
+Donatists unduly emphasized the ideal character of the Church, there was
+justification for the answer of Cyprian, emphasizing its empiric
+character, its actual condition. When after thirteen centuries of abuse
+of this position a Reformation occurred, it was to be expected that the
+Reformers would first of all emphasize the ideal, the inner character of
+the Church.
+
+But while this movement, which Julius Stahl felicitously termed the
+Conservative Reformation, was going on, there was also a radical
+Reformation which repudiated the idea of a visible church. The
+Romanists, in their confutation of the Augustana, called attention to
+this view, and wrongfully charged the Lutherans with holding it. In
+controverting this position, the Romanists very properly quoted the
+parable of the tares and the parable of the net with all kinds of
+fishes. The Apologia replied by showing that the 8th Article of the
+Augustana had repudiated this position, and that bad men and hypocrites
+were not excluded _ab externa societate_.
+
+Thus the Romanists regard the Church as essentially visible, the
+Reformed, as essentially invisible, while Lutherans hold that she is
+both. The invisible Church is contained within the visible just as the
+soul is contained within the body. The Church is not merely a
+congregation of believers, but also an institution for the promotion of
+the Kingdom of God.
+
+In their controversy with Rome Lutherans held that the Church did not
+exist merely in participation of external rites, but chiefly in the
+possession of the inward life, the heavenly gifts. As yet the kingdom of
+Christ is not revealed, and the visible Church is a _corpus mixtum_.
+Thus the Apologia distinguishes clearly between the _ecclesia proprie et
+large dicta_ (church in the proper and church in the wider sense of the
+term).
+
+Nevertheless this Kingdom of Christ has a visible existence. "We are not
+dreaming of a Platonic commonwealth," says the Apologia, "for it has
+external marks, the preaching of the pure Gospel and the administration
+of the sacraments." And this Church is the "pillar and ground of the
+truth," for she is built upon the true foundation, Christ, and upon this
+foundation Christians are built up.
+
+Subsequently, in his Loci, Melanchthon developed still further the idea
+of the Church as an _institutum_. This may have been because of the
+fanatics, or it may have been because of his entire disposition as a
+teacher and pedagogue. Followed as he was in support of his views by the
+dogmaticians, the Lutheran Church acquired that distinctive character
+which has marked her history as an educating and training force. This
+position is still further explained from the fact that the Lutherans,
+unlike the Reformed, were placed in charge of nations and peoples, and
+had to be responsible for their Christian guidance and training. As a
+national church, her relations to the people were different from those
+of the Reformed, who, on the continent, existed mainly in smaller
+communities and congregations where it was comparatively easy to enforce
+church discipline.
+
+In this relation the Church is not only the product, but also the organ
+of the Holy Ghost. It is her duty to nourish the life of its members
+(_parturit et alit_), and to spread the blessings of the Church to
+others. According to the Large Catechism, she is the spiritual mother
+of the faithful. Her pedagogic duty is pointed out. (See Rohnert,
+Dogmatik, pp. 508 and 487.)
+
+This visible character of the Church is recognized in the New Testament
+in the various commands and promises given to her: the power of the
+keys, the duty to confess before men, to serve one another in love, of
+united intercession, of contending against the kingdom of darkness. In
+the Epistles the presence of sinful men is everywhere recognized,
+nevertheless the members of the Church are termed "the called" of Jesus
+Christ.
+
+Lutheranism of the 16th century stood between two opposite errors, Rome
+on the one hand with its exaggerated ideas of the Church as an
+institution, and Reform on the other hand with its one-sided notions of
+the invisible church. The Lutheran Church took the _via media_,
+declaring that the Church, _proprie_, was spiritual, but that it was
+also an institution. The question for us is whether we Lutherans of the
+twentieth century have remained on the _via media_ or whether we have
+not slipped too far to the right or to the left.
+
+To find the answer one would naturally consult our church formulas and
+constitutions. According to Dr. Walther's "Pastorale," the candidate for
+admission to a "Missouri" church must be a truly converted and
+regenerated Christian. The General Council requires that the candidate
+shall have been admitted to the Lord's Supper and shall accept the
+constitution. The Synod of New York requires that candidates be
+confirmed, accept the Augsburg Confession, lead a Christian life, obey
+the constitution and any other regulations that may hereafter be
+adopted.
+
+From this it seems that "Missouri" is the only body that emphasizes the
+_interna virtus_. The others place the emphasis upon conformity with
+certain outward forms and requirements.
+
+But we cannot always judge from the printed constitution. To bring the
+information up to date, and to ascertain the actual usage of the
+churches, the author obtained from forty pastors of this city an account
+of their practice. Some of their replies will be embodied in this
+chapter.
+
+Theoretically we enter the church through baptism. Practically, for most
+Lutherans, confirmation is the door of admission.
+
+This rite is a comparatively new measure among us. Prior to the
+eighteenth century it had only a limited use in the Lutheran Church, and
+it has attained an inordinately prominent place. Spener was among the
+first to recognize its practical value, and its beautiful ritual made a
+strong appeal to the popular imagination. It is one of the ancient
+ceremonies to which we do not object if it is properly used.
+
+Now tell us, you who make so much of confirmation and so little of
+catechization, seeing that you are content with six months of the
+latter, in adopting a rite which Spener and the Pietists introduced into
+the church, have you also adopted the principles which governed Spener
+and the Pietists in the practice of confirmation? Their object in
+catechization and confirmation was conversion. "A stranger visited my
+class one day," says Spener. "The next day he called to see me and
+expressed his great pleasure with my instruction. 'But,' said he, 'this
+instruction is for the head. The question is how to bring the head to
+the heart.' And these words he repeated three times. I will not deny
+that they made such an impression upon me that for the rest of my days
+I shall not forget them."
+
+We are not advocating extravagant ideas of conversion, or requiring a
+religious experience from children of fourteen years which in the nature
+of the case they cannot have. But have we a right in this crisis in the
+history of the child to overlook that infinitely important experience
+which our dogmaticians termed _regressus ad baptismum?_ Said Professor
+Kaftan, in an address to a Ministers' Conference: "The word conversion
+is the appropriate term for expressing the way in which a man becomes a
+Christian and a believer. Most Christians can tell you something about
+how it happened that they sought a new aim and chose another path in
+life. Even among those who have had a peaceful and gradual development,
+there came a time when they reached a conscious and decisive resolution
+to belong no more to the world but to God. _"Man wird nicht von selbst
+ein Christ, man muss sich bekehren um ein Christ zu werden."_ We do not
+repudiate the doctrine of baptismal regeneration as it is held in the
+Lutheran Church. On this point we are in accord with our Confessions.
+But before we adopt without reservation the idea that baptized children
+are regenerate, we must revise our practice in the matter of baptizing
+infants. So long as we practice the _Winkeltaufe_ and baptize
+indiscriminately the children of people who give us no guarantee that
+the children will be brought up in the Christian faith, so long as the
+Church fails to recognize her obligation to these baptized children and
+does not take them under her nourishing care from the time when they
+emerge from the family and enter into the larger life of the street and
+the school, we have no right to place such an emphasis upon baptismal
+regeneration. It is to be feared that the Lutheran doctrine of baptismal
+grace has in many minds been supplanted by a mechanical, thaumaturgiel
+conception which differs from the Roman doctrine only in being far more
+dangerous. Rome at least enforces the claims of tthe [sic] Church
+recognized in baptism. We baptize them and let them run. We corral a few
+of them for a few months just before confirmation and then let them run
+again. So does not Rome." [tr. note: original has no close quotation mark
+for Kaftan quotation]
+
+Dr. Cremer, of Greifswald, an able defender of the Lutheran faith, in
+his reply to Dr. Lepsius on the subject of Baptismal Regeneration, says:
+
+"It is sad indeed that in the use of the sacraments there is generally
+more of superstition than of faith. This must be openly confessed, for
+only then can conditions be improved when faults are recognized and made
+known. . . . We may continue to baptize chiildren [sic] of
+_Gewohnheitschristen_ (formal Christians), but it is a question whether
+we ought to continue to baptize the children of those who have given up
+the faith and among whom there is no guarantee of a Christian training.
+This means also a reformation in our confirmation practice. Does
+confirmation mean a family party, or mark the time to leave school, or
+has it something to do with baptism? These are rocks of offense which
+must be cleared out of the way if the Church is to be restored to
+health."
+
+Among the questions proposed to the pastors were the following:
+
+1. Do you have a personal interview with each candidate prior to
+confirmation with the view of ascertaining his fitness for the act?
+
+2. Do you at that interview inquire as to the candidate's repentance,
+faith, conversion, new life?
+
+3. Is the confirmation of the candidate dependent upon the satisfactory
+result of this examination?
+
+Among the answers were the following: "Not, individually." "No, except
+before the congregation." "Not formally so." "For at least six months."
+"Only with certain ones," etc., etc.
+
+A goodly number of pastors speak to the candidates _"unter vier Augen,"_
+but they are the exceptions. The ordinary practice knows nothing of such
+a course. The public examination is little more than an exhibition.
+
+In other words, we have strayed over to the Roman side of the road. The
+difference between us and the Roman priest being this: he will see them
+again at the confessional, but those whom we confirm in this superficial
+way, many of them, we shall never see again. Or, if perchance we should
+see some of them, it will be at long range, the same as when we first
+admitted them to confirmation. Imagine a doctor curing his patients in
+this way, getting them together in a room and prescribing for their
+diseases from what he sees of them in a crowd. The care of souls cannot
+be performed in bulk, it is the care of _a_ soul.
+
+Besides what a privilege the pastor loses, the opportunity of a
+lifeline, not only to explain to an inquiring heart the mysteries of our
+faith in the light of his personal need, but also to put himself in such
+a relation to the individual that he may become a beloved _Beichvater_.
+But alas, we have to a great extent lost the confessional. Instead of it
+we have a hybrid combination of Lutheran doctrine and Reformed practice,
+and we distribute our absolution _ore rotundo_ over mixed congregations
+on Sunday mornings and at the Preparatory Service. But the real
+confession we seldom hear and a valid absolution therefore we cannot
+pronounce. The Keys have indeed been committed to us, but we seem to
+have lost them, for the door of the sheepfold hangs very loose in our
+churches and the sheep run in and out pretty much as they please.
+
+But while some of our churches are thus leaning toward Rome, there is
+need of caution also against the opposite error. A false and exaggerated
+spirituality will lead to standards of holiness which are not warranted
+by the New Testament. Of these Luther himself somewhere said, "May the
+God of mercy preserve me from belonging to a congregation of holy
+people. I desire to belong to a church of poor sinners who constantly
+need forgiveness and the help of a good physician."*
+     *Methods of receiving candidates into active membership vary. Some
+synods, as we have seen, make no distinction whatever in their
+statistical reports between occasional communicants and actual members
+of the congregation. Admission to membership should take place by vote
+of the congregation or at least of the Church Council. There should
+likewise be some rite of initiation. In the case of adults who come from
+other congregations it need not and should not be a confirmation
+service, but it should at least be a public introduction of the
+candidate into the fellowship of the congregation with which he desires
+to become identified. (Matthew 10, 32).
+
+Rome's position was a protest against Montanism. Without question there
+is a great truth in Cyprian's position as developed by Rome, and the
+Reformers, particularly Melanchthon, guarded it. How often do we hear in
+our day the declaration: "I do not need to go to church. I can be just
+as good a Christian without." This position Lutheranism rebukes by
+making preaching and the sacraments the pillars on which the church
+rests. Thus is conserved what was best in the institutional theory of
+the ancient church, so that in spite of her many defects both as a
+national church and in her transplanted condition, the Lutheran church
+will remain an important factor in the development of Protestant
+Christianity.
+
+When our Reformed neighbors charge us with Romanism, it is either
+because they do not understand our theory and have overlooked the
+historical development, or because they judge of us by the Romish
+practice of our own ministers who have thoughtlessly slipped over too
+far toward the institutional theory. In the present condition of
+religious flux we have a mission not only in the field of doctrine, but
+also in practical theology, on the question of the Church. For we are
+still standing between two antagonists. Catholics on the one hand
+attract the masses by the definiteness of their external organization.
+Over against them we emphasize the essentially spiritual nature of the
+Church. There are Protestants on the other hand who, while placing the
+emphasis on the inner life, ignore the importance of the ordinances.
+They maintain public worship, it is true, but do so in combination with
+secular entertainment or by appealing to the intellectual or esthetic
+needs of the community. Others, more spiritually minded, base their
+hopes on the evangelist and the revival. But when the evangelist has
+taken his leave, and the people have to listen to the same voice they
+have heard so long before, having been thoroughly indoctrinated with the
+idea that it is not the Church that makes a man a Christian, that
+sacraments and ordinances are merely human devices, is it any wonder
+that many of them ignore the church altogether?
+
+It is here that the Lutheran Church, with her catholic spirit and her
+evangelical doctrine, has a message for our times. Her doctrine of
+baptism, of Christian instruction as its corrollary, of repentance,
+faith, and the new life, of the Lord's Supper, of church attendance, of
+the sanctification of the Lord's Day, and a practical application of
+these doctrines to the life in the care of souls, establishes a standard
+of membership that ought to make our churches sources of spiritual
+power.
+
+
+The Problem of Religious Education
+
+Historically and doctrinally the Lutheran Church is committed to
+week-day instruction in religion. Historically, because in establishing
+the public school her chief purpose was to provide instruction in
+religion; doctrinally, because from her point of view life is a unit and
+cannot be divided into secular and spiritual compartments.
+
+American Christians are confronted with two apparently contradictory
+propositions. One is that there can be no true education without
+religion. The other is that we must have a public school, open to all
+children without regard to creed.
+
+When our country was young, and Protestantism was the prevailing type of
+religion, these two ideas dwelt peacefully together. The founders of the
+Republic had no theory of education from which religion was divorced.
+But the influx of millions of people of other faiths compels us to
+revise our methods and to test them by our principles, the principles of
+a free Church within a free State. Roman Catholics and Jews object to
+our traditions and charge us with inconsistency. If temporarily we
+withstand their objections, we feel that a great victory has been won
+for religion when a psalm is read and the Lord's Prayer said at the
+opening of the daily session of school. We still have "religion" in the
+publie school.
+
+But the problem remains. On the one hand, those who doubt the propriety
+of introducing any religious instruction, however attenuated, into the
+public school, are not satisfied with the compromise. There are judicial
+decisions which place even the reading of the Bible under the head of
+sectarian instruction.
+
+On the other hand, those who believe that religion has a supreme place
+in the education of a child, and that provision should therefore be made
+for it in its school life, realize the inadequacy of the present
+methods.
+
+As Herbert Spencer says: "To prepare us for complete living is the
+function which education has to discharge." Character rather than
+acquirement is the chief aim of education. Hence we cannot ignore the
+place of religion in education without doing violence to the ultimate
+purpose of education.
+
+The importance of the question is admitted on all sides. But it remains
+a complex and difficult problem. Thus far, with all our talent for
+practical measures, we have not succeeded in reaching a solution.
+
+In New York, in common with other churches, we have the Sunday School.
+We do not undervalue its influence and cannot dispense with its aid. But
+does the Sunday School meet the requirement of an adequate system of
+religious instruction? It is an institution that has endeared itself to
+the hearts of millions. Originally intended for the waifs of an English
+manufacturing town, it has become among English-speaking people an
+important agency of religion. Apart from the instruction which it gives,
+we could not dispense with it as a field for the cultivation of lay
+activity, and a practical demonstration of the priesthood of all
+believers. Nevertheless its best friends concede its limitations. From a
+pedagogical standpoint, no one thinks of comparing it with the secular
+school. With but half an hour a week for instruction, even the best of
+teachers could not expect important results. Its chief value lies in the
+personal influence of the teacher. But instruction in religion involves
+more than this.
+
+Nor does the Sunday School reach all the children. Attendance is
+voluntary, and hence there is no guarantee that all the children of
+school age will obtain any instruction, to say nothing of graded and
+systematic instruction, taking account of the entire school life, and
+holding in mind the ultimate object of instruction, the preparation of
+children for full membership in the church. But this is one of the first
+duties of the churches, to look after all their children with this end
+in view.
+
+As a supplement and an aid the Sunday School has untold possibilities of
+usefulness. But all its merits and advantages cannot close our eyes to
+the fact that it does not and cannot meet the chief requirement of the
+Christian school, the systematic preparation of all the children for the
+duties of church membership. In this work the church cannot shirk her
+responsibility. Her very existence depends upon it.
+
+Recognizing this obligation some of our churches maintain the Parochial
+School. Thirty churches out of one hundred and fifty are making a heroic
+effort to be loyal to their ideals. The total number of pupils is 1,612.
+In other words, out of 42,106 children in attendance at Sunday School
+only 4 per cent. get instruction in religion through the Parochial
+School. So far as numbers show it would seem to be a failure. But one
+cannot always judge from the outward appearance. Eight of these
+parochial-school churches report fifty of their sons in the ministry.*
+     *Some of the pastors failed to send me reports on this point, but I
+have been credibly informed that within twelve years, ten of these
+churches sent sixty of their sons into the ministry.
+
+In view of such a result who would dare to say anything in disparagement
+of the Parochial School? Perhaps its friends may some time see their way
+clear to secure greater efficiency by establishing three or four schools
+in place of the thirty, and thus relieve the individual congregations of
+a serious tax upon their resources.
+
+Some of our churches have Saturday schools and classes in religion on
+other week days. The total number of pupils reported in these classes,
+including the members of confirmation classes, is 5,711. Add to these
+the 1,612 pupils of the parochial schools, some of whom have already
+been counted in the confirmation classes, and we have at most 7,323
+children obtaining instruction in religion on week days, 17 per cent. of
+the number of those in attendance at Sunday School.
+
+So far as may be learned therefore from such statistics as are
+available, it follows that 83 per cent. of our children receive no
+public instruction in religion except such as is given in the Sunday
+School and in the confirmation class.
+
+Our churches do not take kindly to the so-called evangelistic methods of
+reaching unchurched masses, claiming that our methods, in particular the
+catechization of the young, are more effective. In view of the figures
+presented above, it is open to question whether our churches practice
+catechization in the historical sense of the word. It is a question
+whether our method of imparting instruction in the catechism for a few
+months preliminary to confirmation does justice to the spirit and
+principles of the Lutheran Church? Many of our pastors sigh under the
+yoke of a custom which promises so much and yields so little.
+
+To postpone the catechization of more than 80 per cent. of the children
+until they are twelve or thirteen years of age, and to complete the
+course of preparation for communicant membership within six months,
+contributes but little to the upbuilding of strong and healthy Lutheran
+churches. An examination of our church rolls shows that such a system is
+a large contributor to the class of lapsed Lutherans. We get the
+children too late and we lose them too early.
+
+This is "an hard saying" and may offend many. But among all the problems
+we are considering there is none to equal it in importance. Can we find
+a solution?
+
+Wherever the churches are prepared to utilize the time in giving
+adequate instruction in religion, the curriculum of the public school
+should be modified to meet this need. Competent authorities see no
+objection to this, and there is a very large movement which seeks to
+further this idea.*
+     *At the meeting of the Inter-Church Conference In Carnegie Hall,
+New York, in November, 1905, at which twentynine Protestant Churches of
+America were represented the author presented a paper on Week-day
+Religious Instruction. Its main propositlon was favorably received, and
+the following resolution was adopted by the Conference:
+     "Resolved, that in the need of more systematic education in
+religion, we recommend for the favorable consideration of the Public
+School authorities of the country the proposal to allow the children to
+absent themselves without detriment from the public schools on Wednesday
+or on some other afternoon of the school week for the purpose of
+attending religious instruction in their own churches; and we urge upon
+the churches the advisability of availing themselves of the opportunity
+so granted to give such instruction in addition to that given on Sunday.
+     "The further consideration of the subject was referred to the
+Executive Committee. By direction of this Committee a report on Week-day
+Instruction in Religion was presented at the First Meeting of the
+Federal Council of the Churches of Christ In America, held in
+Philadelphia in 1905. After an earnest discussion, resolutions were
+adopted indicating the importance which the representatives of the
+churches of America attached to the general question.
+     At the Second Meeting of the Federal Council, held in Chicago in
+December, 1912, the Special Committee of the Federal Council presented a
+report recognizing the difficulties confronting an adequate solution of
+the question and providing for a more thorough investigation and
+discussion of the entire subject."
+     In his report for 1909 (Vol. I, page 5), the United States
+Commissioner of Education, Dr. Elmer Ellsworth Brown, refers to this
+subject in the following words:
+     "Those who would maintain that the moral life has other rootings
+than that in religion, would, for the most part, admit that it is deeply
+rooted in religion, and that for many of our people its strongest
+motives are to be found in their religious convictions; that many, in
+fact, would regard it as insufficiently grounded and nourished without
+such religious convictions. The teaching of religious systems is no
+longer under serious consideration as far as our public schools are
+concerned. Historical and social influences have drawn a definite line
+in this country between the public schools and the churches, leaving the
+rights and responsibilities of religious instruction to the latter. It
+would be futile, even if it were desirable, to attempt to revise this
+decision of the American people. There has been, however, within the
+past two or three years, a widespread discussion of the proposal that
+arrangements be made between the educational authorities and
+ecclesiastical organizations, under which pupils should be excused from
+the schools for one half-day in the week-Wednesday afternoon has been
+uggested-in order that they may in that time receive religious and moral
+instruction in their several churches. This proposal has been set forth
+in detail in a volume entitled "Religious Education and the Public
+School," and has been under consideration by a representative committee
+during, the past two or three years."
+
+An interdenominational committee, consisting of Evangelical Protestants
+only, was organized in 1914 for the purposing of securing week-day
+instruction in religion for the children of New York. A similar
+committee consisting of representatives of all churches, Protestant,
+Catholic and Jewish, was organized in 1915 which is giving effective
+study to the same question. The Lutheran Minister's Association is
+represented on both these committees.
+
+The Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, representing
+thirty denominations and a communicant membership of eighteen millions,
+through its Commission on Christian Education is making a large
+contribution to the study of the problem.
+
+The Protestant Episcopal Church in its General Convention and the
+Methodist Episcopal Church in its General Conference have made provision
+through appropriate committees for the study and promotion of the
+subject of week-day instruction in religion.
+
+The Jewish Community (Kehillah) is doing work far exceeding anything
+that Christians have done in the way of religious education. It has
+established 181 schools of religion, for children in attendance at the
+public schools, in which 40,000 children are enrolled. In other forms
+instruction in religion is given to 25,000 children. Thus out of 275,000
+Jewish children in the public schools 23.5 per cent. receive week-day
+instruction in religion. Energetic efforts are made to reach the
+remaining 210,000. The pupils have from one to four periods each week,
+after school hours, each period lasting from one to two hours. The total
+sum annually expended by the Jews for week-day instruction in religion
+is approximately $1,400,000.
+
+From "The Jewish Communal Register of New York City, 1917-1918, [tr.
+note: no close quote for title in original] we quote as follows:
+
+"In the typical week day school, the number of hours of instruction
+given to each child varies from 6 1/2 hours in the lowest grade to 9
+1/2 hours in the seventh or highest grade. . . . The total teaching
+staff consists of 615 teachers, of whom about 23 per cent. are women.
+The salary of teachers ranges from $300 to $1,200 per year. The average
+salary is $780 annually for 22 hours' work during the week."
+
+The Jews ask for no concession of time from the public school. They seem
+to have physical and intellectual vigor enabling them to utilize, for
+the study of religion, hours which Christian children require for rest
+and recreation.
+
+Lutherans hold that it is the function of the church to provide
+instruction in religion for its children. What are the Lutherans of New
+York doing to maintain this thesis? Over 40,000 children of enrolled
+Lutheran families obtain no instruction in religion except that which is
+given in the Sunday School and in the belated and abbreviated hours of
+catechetical instruction.
+
+A movement is now going on in this city and throughout the United States
+aiming at a restoration of religious education to the functions of the
+church. For the sake of our children ought we not heartily to cooperate
+with a movement which so truly represents the principles for which we
+stand? It will require a considerable addition to the teaching force of
+our churches. It will mean an expensive reconstruction of our
+schoolrooms. It will cost money. But it will be worth while.
+
+
+The Problem of Lapsed Lutherans
+
+There are four hundred thousand lapsed Lutherans in New York, nearly
+three times as many as enrolled members of the churches.
+
+A lapsed Lutheran is one who was once a member, but for some reason has
+slipped the cable that connected him with the church. He still claims to
+be a Lutheran but he is not enrolled as a member of a particular
+congregation.
+
+Most lapsed Lutherans are of foreign origin. From figures compiled by
+Dr. Laidlaw (see "Federation," Vol. 6, No. 4), we obtain the number of
+Protestants of foreign origin, enumerated according to the country of
+birth of parents, one parent or both. The number of Lutherans we obtain
+by subtracting from the "Protestants" the estimated number of
+non-Lutherans. Thus:
+
+                       Protestants         Lutherans
+     Norway .......... 33,344  -    10%  =  30,010
+     Sweden .......... 56,766  -    10%  =  51,090
+     Denmark ......... 11,996  -    10%  =  10,797
+     Finland ......... 10,304  -    10%  =   9,274
+     Germany .........486,252  -    20%  = 389,002
+     Austria-Hungary . 27,680  -    80%  =   5,535
+     Russia* ......... 15,000  -    20%  =  12,000
+                                           507,708
+
+     *Many of the Lutherans who have come to us of late years from
+Russia, Austro-Hungary and other countries of South Eastern Europe, are
+the descendants of German Lutherans who in the eighteenth century
+accepted the invitation of Katharine the Second and Marie Theresia to
+settle in their dominions. Others are members of various races from the
+Baltic Provlnces.
+
+That is, the estimated number of Lutherans of foreign origin, counting
+only the chief countries from which they emigrate to America, is
+507,708.
+
+But we also have Lutherans here who are not of foreign origin. Lutherans
+have lived in New York from the beginning of its history. Its first
+houses were built by Heinrich Christiansen, who certainly had a Lutheran
+name. The Lutherans of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it is
+true, left no descendants to be enrolled in our church books. These are
+to be found in goodly numbers in the Protestant Episcopal and other
+churches where they occupy the seats of the mighty. It is too late to
+get them back.
+
+But in the nineteenth century we collected new congregations. There are
+many Lutherans whose grandparents at least were born in New York.
+Besides, there has been a large influx from the Hudson and Mohawk
+valleys, from Pennsylvania, Ohio, the South and the West. A moderate
+estimate of these immigrants from the country and of those who under the
+grandfather clause claim to be unhyphenated Americans, members or
+non-members of our churches, is 40,000.
+
+Add to these the Lutherans of foreign origin and we have in round
+numbers a Lutheran population of more than 547,000 souls.
+
+Turning now to the statistical tables in the Appendix we find that the
+number of souls reported in our churches is 140,957. Subtract these from
+the total Lutheran population and we have a deficit of over 400,000
+souls, lapsed Lutherans, the subject of the present chapter. _Quod erat
+demonstrandum_. While this is a large number, it is a moderate estimate.
+An addition of 20 per cent. would not be excessive.
+
+How shall we account for this deficit?
+
+Of the Americans a large number are the children of our New York
+churches, the product of our superficial catechetical system. No study
+of the subject is complete that does not take account of this serious
+defect. No cure will be effective until we have learned to take better
+care of our children.
+
+Native Americans from the country, members of Lutheran churches in their
+former homes, have no excuse if they do not find a Lutheran church when
+they come to New York. In years gone by English churches were scarce,
+but now they are to be found in every part of the city. In part at
+least, the home pastors are responsible. When their people remove to New
+York they ought to be supplied with letters, and the New York pastors
+should be notified. In fifty years I have not received twenty-five
+letters from my country brethren asking me to look after their wandering
+sheep.
+
+For the foreign Lutherans who have failed to comnect with the church,
+three reasons may be given: 1. Ignorance. Not ignorance in general, but
+ignorance in regard to church conditions in America. They come from
+National churches where their relation to the church does not require
+much personal initiative. They belong to the church by virtue of their
+baptism and confirmation. Their contributions to its maintenance are
+included in the general tax levy.
+
+Arrived in New York where Church and State are separate, a long time may
+pass before any one cares for the soul of the immigrant. Our pastors are
+busy with their routine work and seldom look after the new comers,
+unless the new comers look after them. The latter soon become reconciled
+to a situation which accords with the inclinations of the natural man.
+Ignorance of American church conditions accounts for the slipping away
+of many of our foreign brethren from the fellowship of the church.
+
+2. Indifference. Many foreigners who come here are merely indifferent to
+the claims of religion. Others are distinctly hostile toward the church.
+Most of the Socialistic movements of continental Europe, because of the
+close association of Church and State, fail to discriminate between
+their respective ideas. Thy condemn the former for the sins of the
+latter.
+
+3. Infidelity. A materialistic philosophy has undermined the Christian
+conception of life and the world, and multitudes of those who were
+nominally connected with the church have long since repudiated the
+teachings of Christianity.
+
+It is a tremendous problem that confronts us, the evangelization of four
+hundred thousand Lutherans. If for no other reason, because of its
+magnitude and because of its appeal to our denominational
+responsibility, it is a problem worth solving. But it is a challenge to
+our Christianity and it should stimulate us to an intense study of its
+possible solution.
+
+Ministers can contribute much toward its solution. It is true our hands
+are full and more than full with the ordinary care of our flocks. But
+our office constantly brings us into association with this large outer
+fringe of our congregations at times when their hearts are responsive to
+anything that we may have to say. We meet them at weddings and at
+funerals. We baptize their children and we bury their dead. Once in a
+while some of them even come to church. In spite of all their wanderings
+and intellectual idiosyncrasies they still claim to be Christians. And
+whatever their own attitude toward Christianity may be, there are few
+who do not desire to have their children brought up in the Christian
+faith. We have before us an open door.
+
+The churches can do more than they are doing now to win these lapsed
+Lutherans. Some people are kept out of church through no fault of their
+own. For example, the rented pew system, still in vogue in some
+congregations, is an effective means of barring out visitors. Few care
+to force themselves into the precincts of a private club even if it
+bears the name of a church.
+
+A pecuniary method of effecting friendly relations is not without its
+merits. In this city of frequent removals there are many families who
+have lost all connection with the congregation to which they claim to
+belong. An opportunity to contribute to the church of their new
+neighborhood might be for them a secondary means of grace. They become
+as it were proselytes of the gate. Having taken the first step, many may
+again enter into full communion with the church.
+
+A Lutheran church, however, does not forget the warning of the prophet:
+"They have healed the hurt of my daughter slightly." The evangelization
+of this great army of lapsed Lutherans is not to be accomplished by such
+a simple expedient as taking up a collection. What most of them need is
+a return to the faith. Somebody must guide them.
+
+For this no societies or new ecclesiastical machinery will be required.
+The force to do this work is already enlisted in the communicant
+membership of our one hundred and fifty organized congregations. We have
+approximately 60,000 communicants. These are our under-shepherds whose
+business it is to aid the pastor in searching for "the lost sheep of the
+house of Israel." Shall we not have a concerted effort on the part of
+all the churches?
+
+We may certainly win back again into our communion many of whom the Good
+Shepherd was speaking when He said: "them also I must bring and they
+shall hear my voice, and they shall become one flock, one shepherd."
+
+To accomplish such a task, however, an orderly system must be adopted.
+
+When our Lord fed the five thousand, He first commanded them to sit down
+by companies. "And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties."
+These 400,000 souls may first of all be grouped in families. Let us say
+90,000 families. These are scattered all over the greater city, most of
+them in close proximity to some one of our 150 churches. To each church
+may be given an average assignment of 600 families.
+
+The average number of communicants in each of our churches is nearly
+400. Some churches have less, others more. To an average company of 400
+communicants is committed the task of evangelizing 600 families, not
+aliens or strangers, but members of our own household of faith, people
+who in many eases will heartily welcome the invitation. Some of these
+400 potential evangelists will beg to be excused. Let us make a
+selective draft of 300 to do the work. The task required of each member
+of this army is to visit two families.
+
+Whatever else may be said of such a computation it certainly does not
+present an insuperable task. It can be done in one year, in one month,
+in one week, in one day.
+
+Without presuming to insist upon a particular method of solving this
+problem, is it not incumbent upon the Lutheran churches of New York to
+face it with the determination to accomplish an extraordinary work if
+need be in an extraordinary manner? "The kingdom of heaven suffereth
+violence and the violent take it by force."
+
+Seventy years ago a great company of Christian men met in the old Luther
+town of Wittenberg to consider the needs of the Fatherland. It was the
+year of the Revolution. It was a time of political confusion and of
+desperate spiritual need. It was then that Wichern, in an address of
+impassioned eloquence, pointed the way toward the mobilization of all
+Christians in a campaign of spiritual service.
+
+He was directed to prepare the program. It appeared in 1849 under the
+title "Die Innere Mission."
+
+It was a clarion call to personal service and it met with an immediate
+and remarkable response. The movement marked an epoch in the history of
+the church.
+
+Because the Inner Mission lends itself in a peculiar way to works of
+charity it is often regarded as synonymous with the care of the helpless
+and afflicted. In this use of the term we lose sight of the larger
+meaning and scope of the work which has made it one of the great
+religious forces of the nineteenth century. It should therefore be more
+accurately described as that movement of the nineteenth century which,
+recognizing the alienation of multitudes within the church from the
+Christian faith and life appeals [sic] to all disciples of Christ by
+all means to carry the Gospel to men of all classes who have strayed
+away and to gather them into the communion and confession of the church.
+It is a mission within the church and hence bears the name of Inner
+Mission.
+
+Such a call comes to us at a time when we are confronted with a problem
+which almost staggers the imagination and when we are offered an
+opportunity such as no other Protestant church enjoys.
+
+
+The Problem of Statistics
+
+The word statistics, according to the Century Dictionary, refers not
+merely to a collection of numbers, but it comprehends also "all those
+topics of inquiry which interest the statesman." The dignity thus given
+to the subject is enhanced by a secondary definition which calls it "the
+science of human society, so far as deduced from enumerations."
+
+No branch of human activity can be studied in our day without the use of
+statistics. Statesmen and sociologists make a careful study of figures
+before they attempt to formulate laws or policies.
+
+For church statistics we are chiefly dependent upon the tables of the
+Synodical Minutes. The original source of our information is the
+pastor's report of his particular congregation. Unfortunately the value
+of these tables is greatly impaired by the absence of a common standard
+of membership.
+
+The New York Ministerium has no column for "communicant" members. There
+is a column for "contributing" members, but these do not necessarily
+mean communicants. Among the records of Ministerial Acts, such as
+marriages and funerals, there is also a column for "Kommuniziert." But
+even if the Holy Communion were to be classed among Ministerial Acts, it
+sometimes happens that others besides members partake of the communion.
+The term "Kommuniziert" therefore does not convey definite information
+on the subject of communicant membership. For example, a congregation
+with 160 "contributing members" reports 770 "Kommuniziert." It is hardly
+conceivable that out of 770 communicant members only 160 are
+contributing members and that 610 communicants are non-contributors.
+Otherwise there would seem to be room for improvement in another
+direction besides statistics.
+
+The New York Ministerium also has no column for "souls," that is, for
+all baptized persons, including children, connected with the
+congregation. There are also many blanks, and many figures that look
+like "round numbers." For thirty years I have tried in vain to
+comprehend its statistics. _Hinc illae lacrymae_.
+
+The Missouri Synod has three membership rubrics: souls, communicant
+members, voting members. When however, a congregation of 900
+communicants reports only 80 voting members, one wonders whether some of
+the 820 non-voters ought not be admitted to the right of suffrage. The
+congregational system favors democracy. It should be remembered also
+that the laws of the State define the right to vote at a church
+election.
+
+The Synod of New York has three membership rubrics: Communicants,
+Confirmed, Baptized. The first includes all members who actually commune
+within a year. The second adds to the communicants all others who are
+entitled to commune even if they neglect the privilege. The third adds
+to the preceding class baptized children and all other baptized persons
+in any way related to the congregation, provided they have not been
+formally excommunicated.
+
+The Swedish Augustana Synod has three rubrics: Communicants, Children,
+Total. "Communicants" may or may not be enrolled members of the
+congregation. This classification therefore is neither comprehensive nor
+exhaustive and may account in part, for the discrepancy between the
+number of Lutheran Swedes in New York and the number enrolled in the
+Swedish Lutheran Churches.
+
+None of the synodical reports take note of "families." Pastors seldom
+speak of their membership in terms of families. In the book of Jeremiah
+(31, 1) we are told: "At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the
+God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people." The
+captions of the five parts of Luther's Small Catechism proceed upon the
+assumption of the family as a unit. It is true we are living in an age
+of disrupted families, but it would seem that some recognition of the
+family should be made in the statistical tables of the Christian Church,
+especially when in the families with which we have to do, most of the
+individuals are baptized members of the church and have not been
+formally excommunicated. Until, therefore, we agree upon a common
+standard, our figures will be the despair of the statisticians. A
+reformation must come. Without it, we shall not be able to formulate
+needed policies of church extension.
+
+In view of the complicated character of our membership it will not be an
+easy task to reconstruct our statistical methods. But it is evident that
+our missionary and evangelistic work will be greatly furthered when we
+have exact information in regard to our parochial material. Our figures
+should include every soul, man, woman and child, in any way related to
+our congregations, classified in such a way as to show clearly in what
+relation they stand to the church. A church that does not count its
+members as carefully as a bank counts its dollars is in danger of
+bankruptcy.
+
+Church bookkeeping ought to be taught in the Theological Seminary. But
+if the pastor himself is not a good bookkeeper, almost every
+congregation has young men or young women who are experts in this art,
+who could render good service to the church by keeping its membership
+rolls.
+
+Complete records are especially necessary in our great city with its
+constant removals and changes of population. The individual is like the
+proverbial needle in the haystack, unless we adopt a method of
+accounting not only for each family but for each individual down to the
+latest-born child.*
+     *In order that I may not be as one that beateth the air, I venture
+to suggest a method of laying the foundation of records that has been
+helpful in my own work. I send to each family a "Family Register" blank
+with spaces for the name, birthday and place of birth of each member of
+the family. The information thus obtained is transferred to a card
+catalogue in which the additional relation of each individual to the
+church and its work is noted. In this way, or by means of a loose-leaf
+record book, available and up-to-date information can easily be kept.
+
+When important records, such as synodical minutes, are printed, several
+copies at least should be printed on durable paper and deposited in
+public libraries where they may be consulted by the historian. Ordinary
+paper is perishable. Within a few years it will crumble to dust. The
+records might as well be written on sand so far as their value for
+future historians is concerned.
+
+Congregational histories, pamphlets or bound volumes, jubilee volumes
+and similar contributions to local church history should be sent to the
+publlic libraries of the city and of the denominational schools.
+
+In search of recent information the author consulted the card index of
+the New York Public Library. He found only nine cards relating to
+Lutheran churches. And yet we wonder why our church is not better known
+in this city.
+
+
+
+EPILOGUE
+
+One seldom finds an epilogue in a book nowadays. Its purpose in the
+drama was to explain to the audience the meaning of the play. It does
+not speak well for a writer if the people miss the point of his essay.
+But it is just like a preacher to say something "in conclusion" to
+secure, if possible, the hesitating assent of some hearer.
+
+We have reached the 20th century. We are looking back upon 270 years of
+history on Manhattun Island. What we have done and what we have left
+undone is recorded in the stereotyped pages of an unchanging past. Our
+successes and our failures are the chapters from which we may learn
+lessons for the future. The gates of that future are open to us now.
+
+Where Arensius and Falckner ministered to a feeble flock under
+inconceivable difficulties, there is built the greatest, certainly the
+largest, city of the world. From all the races and tongues of the earth
+men are gathering here to solve the problems of their lives. From
+Lutheran lands fifty myriads have already come and are living within our
+walls. Consciously or otherwise they appeal to us, their brethren in the
+faith, for that religious fellowship for which every man sometimes
+longs. If we do not respond, who shall interpret for them the religious
+life and questions of the new world?
+
+From these Lutheran lands, from Scandinavia to the Balkan peninsula,
+from the Rhine to the Ural Mountains, other myriads will come in the
+long years that will follow the war. New history is sure to be written
+for Europe and America. What shall be our contribution to its unwritten
+pages?
+
+In solving the problems that confront us we shall at the same time help
+to solve the problems of our city and of our country. The simple faith
+and the catholic principles of our church should secure far us a wide
+field of useful and effective service.
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+Abbreviations
+
+Synods - Min., Ministerium of New York; Mo., Missouri; N. Y., New York;
+N. E., New York and New England; Aug., Swedish Augustana; Nor.,
+Norwegian; Fin., National Church of Finland; Pa., Pennsylvania; O.,Ohio;
+D., Danish; Suo., Suomi (Finnish); U.D., United Danish; Ap., Apostolic
+(Finnish); NN., National Church of Norway.
+
+Languages - G., German; E., English; S., Swedish; N., Norwegian; F.,
+Finnish; D., Danish; Sl., Slovak, Bohemian and Magyar; Let., Lettish;
+Est., Esthonian; Pol., Polish; Y,, Yiddish; It., Italian; Lith.,
+Lithuanian.
+
+Heads of Statistical Columns - Lang., Language; Date, Date of
+Organization; Syn., Synodical connection of congregation or pastor;
+Comm., Number of communicants; Souls, Number of baptized persons related
+to the congregation; Syn., Synodical connection of pastor or
+congregation; P. S., Pupils in Parochial School; S. S., Pupils in Sunday
+School; W. S., Pupils receiving instruction in religion on weekdays [tr.
+note: in the table, this column is headed "R.H."]; Prop., Net value of
+real estate in terms of a thousand dollars.
+
+Signs - * Missions; ( ) Estimated number; -- No report or nothing to
+report.
+
+
+The Lutheran Churches of New York
+Manhattan
+   Name and Location                   Pastor             Lang. Org. Syn.   Comm. Souls  P.S.  S.S.  R.H.  Prop.
+
+   1. St. Matthew, 421 W. 145th....... 0. Sieker ........ G. E. 1669 Mo.     500  1,122  126   365    40  (100)
+   2. St. James, 904 Madison Av....... J. B. Remensnyder. E.    1827 N. Y.   205   (331) ...    80    12   380
+   3. St. Paul, 313 W. 22nd........... L. Koenig......... G.    1841 Min.    300   (375) ...    75    40   140
+   4. Trinity, 139 Av. B.............. O. Graesser....... G.    1843 Mo.     525    674   33    41    34    75
+   5. St. Mark, 327 Sixth St.......... G. C. F. Haas..... G.    1847 Min.    200   (500) ...    55    55    70
+   6. St. Luke, 233 W. 42nd........... W. Koepchen....... G. E. 1850 Mo.   1,012 (2,000) ...   350   172   340
+   7. St. John, 81 Christopher........ F. E. Oberlander.. G. E. 1855 N. Y.   350  1,000  ...   333    39    85
+   8. St. Peter, 54th at Lex. Av...... A. B. Moldenke.... G. E. 1862 Min.    911  3,000   92   556    47   250
+   9. Immanuel, 88th at Lex. Av....... W. F. Schoenfeld.. G. E. 1863 Mo.   1,500  6,000   85   500    6l   178
+  10. St. John, 219 E. 119th.......... H. C. Steup....... G. E. 1864 Mo.     750  1,500  115   254    41    40
+  11. St. Paul, 147 W. 123rd.......... F. H. Bosch....... G. E. 1864 Min.  1,000  1,500   75   500   130   120
+  12. Gustavus Adolphus, 151 E. 22nd.. M. Stolpe......... S. E. 1865 Aug.  1,015  2,000  ...   250    37   172
+  13. Holy Trinity, 1 W. 65th......... C. J. Smith....... E.    1868 N. E.   450   (800) ...   150    12   275
+  14. Christ, 400 E. 19th............. G. U. Wenner...... G. E. 1868 N. Y.   250    817  ...   152   100    65
+  15. Epiphany, 72 E. 128th........... M. L. Canup....... E.    1880 N. E.   400    700  ...   190    24    39
+  16. Grace, 123 W. 71st.............. J. A. Weyl........ G. E. 1886 Min.    803  1,000  ...   260    54    80
+  17. Trinity, 164 W. 100th........... E. Brennecke...... G. E. 1888 Min.    785  2,500  ...   422   112    85
+  18. Zion, 341 E. 84th............... W. Popcke......... G. E. 1892 N. Y. 1,250  4,807  ... 1,120   124   112
+  19. Harlem, 32 W. 126th............. A. F. Borgendahl.. S. E. 1894 Aug.    233    336  ...   125    21    10
+  20. Washington Heights, W. 153rd.... C. B. Rabbow...... G. E. 1895 Min.    700  1,100   55   250    30    75
+  21. Redeemer, 422 W. 44th........... F. C. G. Schumm... E.    1895 Mo.     260    400  ...   120    22   (20)
+  22. Our Saviour, 237 E. 123rd....... J. C. Gram........ N. E. 1896 Nor.    210    300  ...    62     5    35
+  23. Atonement, Edgecombe at 140th... F. H. Knubel...... E.    1896 N. Y.   410  3,500  ...   544   250   125
+  24. Advent, Broadway at 93rd........ A. Steimle........ E.    1897 N. E.   503    962   88   163    22   218
+  25. Our Saviour, Audubon at 179th... A. S. Hardy....... E.    1898 N. Y.   106    554  ...   194    24    26
+  26. Finnish, 72 E.128th............. K. Maekinen....... F.    1903 Fin.    450  2,000  ...    40    25   ...
+  27. Holy Trinity, 334 E. 20th....... L. A. Engler...... Sl.   1904 -       700  1,000  ...   ...    40    45
+  28. Esthonian, 217 E. 119th......... C. Klemmer........ Est.  1904 Mo.      50    200  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  29. Polish, 233 W. 42nd............. S. Nicolaiski..... Pol.  1907 Mo.     100    300  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  30. Messiah, 10th Av. at 207th...... F. W. Hassenflug.. E. G. 1916 Mo.     ...    120  ...    65     7   ...
+  31. Lettish,* 327 Sixth St.......... P. E. Steik....... Let.  .... Pa.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  32. Italian,* ...................... A. Bongarzone..... It.   .... Mo.      10     27  ...     9   ...   ...
+  33. Yiddish,* 250 E. 101st.......... N. Friedmann...... Y.    .... Mo.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  34. Deaf,* 233 W. 42nd.............. A. Boll........... E. G. .... Mo.      40     60  ...    20   ...   ...
+                            Totals.....                                   15,978 41,485  669 7,245 1,580 3,160
+
+Bronx
+   Name and Location                   Pastor             Lang. Org. Syn.   Comm. Souls  P.S.  S.S.  R.H.  Prop.
+
+   1. St. John, 1343 Fulton Av........ T. O. Posselt. ... G. E. 1860 Min.    758  1,800   50   523    69    70
+   2. St. Matthew, 376 E. 156th....... W. T. Junge....... G.    1862 Min.   (200)  (500)  46   730    67    37
+   3. St. Paul, 796 E. 156th.......... G. H. Tappert..... G. E. 1882 Min.    550  2,100  ...   503   103    45
+   4. St. Peter, 439 E. 140th......... 0. C. Mees........ E. G. 1893 0.      625  1,100  ...   412    64    75
+   5. St. Stephen, 1001 Union Av...... P. Roesener....... G.    1893 Mo.     280    670   70   200   (20)   42
+   6. St. Peter, 739 E. 219th......... F. Noeldeke....... G.    1894 Min.    200    400  ...   165    35    10
+   7. Immanuel, 1410 Vyse Av.......... I. Tharaldsen..... N.    1895 Nor.     50    100  ...    50    (5)    6
+   8. Bethany, 582 Teasdale Pl........ J. Gruver......... E.    1896 N. Y.   284    612  ...   240   (24)   14
+   9. St. Luke, 1724 Adams............ W. Rohde.......... G. E. 1898 Min.    346    560  ...   140    32     5
+  10. St. Paul, LaFontaine at 178th... K. Kretzmann...... E. G. 1898 Mo.     375    811  ...   312    68    20
+  11. Holy Trinity, 881 E. 167th...... F. Lindemann...... E.    1899 Mo.     197    400  ...   143   (15)   17
+  12. Emmanuel, Brown Pl. at 137th.... P. M. Young....... E.    1901 N. Y.   205    400  ...   301    27    26
+  13. Trinity, 1179 Hoe Av............ A. C. Kildegaard.. D.    1901 Dan.    125    250  ...    35    10    15
+  14. Grace, 239 E. 199th............. A. Koerber........ E.    1904 Mo.     320    550  ...   280    22    25
+  15. Heiland, 187th & Valentine Av... H. von Hollen..... G.    1905 -       160    250  ...    60    30   ...
+  16. Concordia, Oak Terrace.......... H. Pottberg....... G. E. 1906 Mo.     260    500  ...   230    45    10
+  17. Messiah, Brook Av. at 144th..... J. Johnson........ S.    1906 Aug.    155    230  ...   150   (15)   17
+  18. St. Thomas, Topping at 175th.... A. J. Traver...... E.    1908 N. Y.   200    350    8   250    25    15
+  19. Holy Comforter, 1060 Woodycrest. J. H. Dudde....... E.    1912 N. Y.   120    500  ...   175    15     5
+  20. St. Mark, Martha at 242nd....... O. H. Trinklein .. E.    1913 Mo.     104    300  ...   125     5    15
+  21. St. John, Oak Terrace........... J. Gullans........ S. E. 1913 Aug.    170    251  ...    83     6     2
+  22. Trinity, 1519 Castle Hill Av.... Paul G. Sander.... E. G. 1913 Mo.      70    225  ...   108    10     3
+  23. Fordham, 2430 Walton Av......... F. H. Meyer....... E. G. 1915 0.      178    382  ...   145    20    10
+                            Totals.....                                    5,932 13,241  174 5,360   732   484
+
+Brooklyn
+   Name and Location                   Pastor             Lang. Org. Syn.   Comm. Souls  P.S.  S.S.  R.H.  Prop.
+
+   1. Evangelical, Schermerhorn St.... J. W. Loch........ G. E. 1841 Min.  1,000  2,500  ...   500    80   200
+   2. S. John, Maujer St.............. A. Beyer.......... G. E. 1844 Mo.     900  2,500  119   400    64    80
+   3. St. John, New Jersey Av......... C. J. Lucas....... G. E. 1847 Min.    700  1,005  ...   500    56    80
+   4. St. Paul, Rodney St............. H. C. Wasmund..... G. E. 1853 Min.  1,000  1,500  ...   665    25   150
+   5. Zion, Henry St.................. E. G. Kraeling.... G. E. 1855 Min.  1,200  2,000   75   250    75   100
+   6. St. Matthew, Sixth Av. at 3rd .. G. B. Young....... E.    1859 N. Y.   250  1,200  ...   300    25    66
+   7. St. Matthew, 197 N. 5th......... G. Sommer......... G. E. 1864 N. Y.   600    700   26   158    50    25
+   8. St. Peter, Bedford Av........... J. J. Heischmann.. G. E. 1864 Min.  2,200 (4,000)  20 1,391   110   100
+                                       and J. G. Blaesi
+   9. Our Saviour, 632 Henry St....... C. S. Everson..... N.    1866 Nor.    305    650  ...   351    18    35
+                                       and S. Turmo
+  10. St. John, Milton St............. F. W. Oswald...... G. E. 1867 Min.  1,200  2,500  ...   475    51    75
+  11. St. John, 283 Prospect Av....... F. B. Clausen..... G. E. 1868 Min.  1,000  3,000   45   800   (80)   50
+  12. St. Mark, Bushwick Av........... S. Frey & P. Woy.. G. E. 1868 Mo.   1,200  2,500  125   550    67   140
+  13. St. Luke, Washington n. De Kalb. W. A. Snyder...... G. E. 1869 Min.    700  1,000  ...   330    30   125
+  14. St. Paul, Henry n. Third Pl..... J. Huppenbauer.... G.    1872 Min.    400    800  ...   175   (20)   30
+  15. Bethlehem, 3rd Av. & Pacific ... F. Jacobson ...... S.    1874 Aug.    883  1,496   42   600   (60)  121
+  16. Immanuel, 179 S. 9th............ J. Holthusen...... G. E. 1875 Mo.     860  1,900   50   210    80    80
+  17. Wartburg, Georgia n. Fulton..... O. Hanser......... G. E. 1875 Mo.      80     80  ...   ...   ...     5
+  18. Our Saviour, 193 Ninth ......... R. Andersen ...... D.    1878 D.      200   (300) ...    40    (5)   18
+  19. Seamen's,* 111 Pioneer ......... J. Ekeland........ Nor.  1879 N. N.   ...    ...  ...   ...   ...    30
+  20. St. Matthew, Canarsie........... T. A. Petersen.... G. E. 1880 Mo.     180    315  ...    80    30    16
+  21. Emmanuel, 417 Seventh........... E. Roth........... G. E. 1884 Min.    750  1,000  ...   500    40    61
+  22. Trinity, 249 Degraw............. G. F. Schmidt..... G. E. 1886 Mo.     385    729  ...   257    24    28
+  23. St. Paul, Knickerbocker Av...... J. P. Riedel...... G. E. 1887 Mo.     650  2,000  ...   450    60   (40)
+  24. Finnish, 529 Clinton............ K. Maekinen....... F.    1887 Fin.    240    240  ...   ...   ...    25
+  25. Zion, Bedford Av................ P. F. Jubelt...... G.    1887 Min.    300    500  ...   200   ...    30
+  26. Bethlehem, Marion............... W. Kandelhart .... G. E. 1888 Min.    700 (1,200)  60   400    60    28
+  27. St. James, 4th Av. n. 54th...... H. C. A. Meyer.... G. E. 1889 Min.    650  2,000  ...   500    75    50
+  28. St. Paul, 392 McDonough......... J. Eastlund....... S.    1889 Aug.    346    442  ...   182   (18)   36
+  29. St. John, 84th at 16th Av....... L. Happ........... G.    1890 Min.   (400)  (500) ...   375   (38)   40
+  30. Trinity, 4th Av. at 46th........ S. O. Sigmond..... N.    1890 Nor.    400  5,000  ... 1,000   100    50
+  31. Finnish, 752 44th............... S. Ilmonen........ F. E. 1890 Suo.    150    300  ...   135   135    16
+  32. Immanuel, 521 Leonard .......... J. E. Nelson ..... S. E. 1894 Aug.    175    350   35   105   105    16
+  33. Scandinavian, 150 Russell....... E. Risty.......... E. N. 1894 Nor.    112    175  ...    70    15     6
+  34. Redeemer, Lenox Road............ S. G. Weiskotten.. E.    1894 N. E.   400    600  ...   225   (23)   70
+  35. Christ, 1084 Lafayette Av....... C. B. Schuchard... E.    1895 N. E.   550  1,000  ...   425    45    25
+  36. Salem, 128 Prospect Av.......... J. J. Kildsig..... D.    1896 U. D.    97    400   26    85    20    10
+  37. St. Peter, 94 Hale Av........... A. Brunn.......... E. G. 1897 Mo.     503    973  ...   378    39    19
+  38. Zion, 1068 59th................. J. D. Danielson... S.    1897 Aug.    150    400  ...   160    16    10
+  39. Calvary, 788 Herkimer........... 0. L. Yerger ..... E.    1898 N. Y.    97    235  ...   200   (20)   15
+  40. Reformation, Barbey n. Arl'tn... J. C. Fisher...... E.    1898 N. E.   500  1,000  ...   450   (40)   30
+  41. St. Stephen, Newkirk Av......... L. D. Gable ...... E.    1898 N. E.   503  3,800  ...   975    41    35
+  42. Messiah, 129 Russell ........... J. H. Worth ...... E.    1899 N. E.   438    900  ...   563    40    25
+  43. Our Saviour, 21 Covert ......... A. R. G. Hanser... E.    1901 Mo.     450    900  ...   360    74    20
+  44. Incarnation, 4th Av. at 54th.... H. S. Miller ..... E.    1901 N. E.   275    400  ...   290    26    20
+  45. Grace, Bushwick Av.............. C. F. Intemann.... E.    1902 N. E.   425    525  ...   325    20    45
+  46. Bethesda, 22 Woodhull........... J. C. Herre....... N. E. 1902 Nor.    120    300  ...    93   (10)   40
+  47. Bethlehem, 51st & 6th Av........ F. W. Schuermann.. G. E. 1903 Mo.     180    330  ...   160    22     7
+  48. Salem, 414 46th................. J. A. Anderson ... S. E. 1904 Aug.    320  2,500  ...   500    36    15
+  49. St. Andrew, St. Nicholas Av..... .................. E.    1906 N. E.   374  1,000  ...   867    60    10
+  50. Good Shepherd, 4th Av. at 75th.. C. D. Trexler..... E.    1906 N. E.   525  1,200  ...   700    36    30
+  51. St. Paul, Coney Island.......... J. F. W. Kitzmeyer E. G. 1907 N. Y.   242    850  ...   248   (25)   18
+  52. St. John, 145 Skillman Av....... G. Matzat......... Lith. 1907 Mo.      73    103   17    17    (5)    5
+  53. Ascension, 13th Av. & 51st...... C. P. Jensen...... E.    1907 N. E.    61    100  ...   105     7     7
+  54. Epiphany, 831 Sterling Pl....... W. H. Stutts...... E.    1908 N. Y.   150    388  ...   201    24    21
+  55. Zion, 4th Av. at 63rd........... L. Larsen......... N. E. 1908 Nor.    400  3,000  ...   650    75    15
+  56. St. Mark, 26 E. 5th............. W. Hudaff......... E. G. 1908 Min.    150    250  ...   125   (13)    6
+  57. Advent, Av. P. & E. 12th........ A. F. Walz........ E. G. 1909 N. Y.   143    400  ...   230    12    10
+  58. Good Shepherd, 315 Fenimore..... G. Hagemann....... E.    1909 Mo.     100    300  ...   133    12     4
+  59. Saron, East New York............ J. Eastlund ...... S.    1909 Aug.     30     55  ...    32    (5)    6
+  60. Bethany, 12th Av. at 60th....... C. O. Pedersen.... N. E. 1912 Nor.    150    275  ...   125   125     8
+  61. Redeemer, 991 Eastern Pky....... E. J. Flanders.... E.    1912 N. Y.    80    200  ...   150    12    20
+  62. Mediator, Bay Pky. at 68th...... H. Wacker......... E.    1912 N. E.    65    160  ...   130     7     7
+  63. St. John, 44th n. 8th Av........ J. Gullans........ S.    1913 Aug.    200    298  ...   110     8     3
+  64. St. Philip, 287 Magenta......... A. Wuerstlin...... E.    1913 N. Y.    40    175  ...   130     8     4
+  65. Mission to Deaf,* 177 S. 9th.... A. Boll........... E. G. 1913 Mo.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  66. Trinity,* Coney Island.......... G. Koenig......... ...   1913 Mo.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  67. Immanuel,* 1524 Bergen.......... W. O. Hill........ ...   1913 Mo.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  68. Holy Trinity, Jefferson Av...... C. H. Dort........ E.    1914 N. Y.    90    297  ...   163    15   ...
+  69. Trinity,* Erie Basin............ G. Koenig......... ...   1915 Mo.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  70. Finnish, 844 42nd............... E. Aho............ F.    .... Ap.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+                            Totals.....                                   27,997 67,696 670 21,254 2,517 2,532
+
+Queens
+   Name and Location                   Pastor             Lang. Org. Syn.   Comm. Souls  P.S.  S.S.  R.H.  Prop.
+
+   1. St. John, College Point......... A. Halfmann....... G.    1857 Mo.     360    500  ...   400   ...    40
+   2. Trinity, Middle Village ........ D. W. Peterson.... G. E. 1863 Min.    600  1,000   11   700    62    68
+   3. St. James, Winfield............. F. E. Tilly....... G.    1867 Mo.     310    729   10   385   ...    25
+   4. Christ, Woodhaven............... H. E. Meyer....... G.    1880 Min.    350  1,000  ...   400    20    30
+   5. Emanuel, Corona ................ E. G. Holls....... G.    1887 Mo.     250    500  ...   200   ...     3
+   6. Trinity, Long Island City....... C. Merkel......... E. G. 1890 Mo.     500  1,000  ...   550   105    40
+   7. Salem, Long Island City ........ H. L. Wilson...... S.    1893 Aug.     89    134   11    50   ...     6
+   8. St. John, Flushing ............. G. Kaestner....... G.    1893 Mo.     171    250  ...    70    10    10
+   9. Immanuel, Whitestone............ H. C. Wolk........ E. G. 1895 Mo.     180    375  ...   108    20    15
+  10. Christ, Woodside................ H. Bunke.......... G.    1896 Mo.     144    450  ...    90    18   ...
+  11. Trinity, Maspeth................ W. H. Pretzsch.... G.    1899 Min.    500  1,000  ...   500    35    10
+  12. Emmaus, Ridgewood............... T. S. Frey........ G. E. 1900 Mo.     582  1,104  ...   305    30     7
+  13. St. Paul, Richmond Hill......... P. B. Frey........ G.    1902 Mo.     325    650   30   235   ...    12
+  14. St. John. Richmond Hill......... A. L. Benner ..... E.    1903 N. E.   390  1,000  ...   465    40    26
+  15. St. Luke, Woodhaven............. E. R. Jaxheimer... E.    1908 N. E.   350  1,200  ...   550   103    18
+  16. Holy Trinity, Hollis............ A. L. Dillenbeck.. E.    1908 N. Y.    85    150  ...    96     6     6
+  17. St. Mark, Jamaica .............. W. C. Nolte....... G. E. 1909 N. Y.   156    272  ...   197    19     8
+  18. Redeemer, Glendale.............. T. O. Kuehn....... G. E. 1909 Mo.     260    600  ...   300    37     9
+  19. Covenant, 2402 Catalpa ......... G. U. Preuss...... E.    1909 N. E.   400  1,179  ...   679    48   ...
+  20. St. John, E. Williamsburg....... 0. Graesser, Jr... G. E. 1910 Mo.      50    130  ...    60     3     1
+  21. Good Shepherd, S. Ozone Park.... C. H. Thomsen..... E.    1911 N. Y.    85    568  ...   224     9    10
+  22. Christ, Rosedale................ G. L. Kieffer..... E.    1913 N. Y.    47    200  ...    41    21    10
+  23. St. Paul, Richmond Hill......... C. G. Toebke...... E.    1914 N. E.   100    250  ...   185    15     1
+  24. Chapel,* Bayside................ F. J. Muehlhaeuser E.    1915 Mo.      25     80  ...    55     4   ...
+  25. Chapel,* Port Washington........ F. J. Muehlhaeuser E.    1915 Mo.     ...     35  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  26. St. Andrew,* Glen Morris........ .................. E.    1915 N. Y.    15     30  ...    40   ...    15
+  27. Mission,* Elmhurst.............. E. G. Holls....... G.    .... Mo.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  28. Grace,* Queens.................. C. Romoser........ E.    .... Mo.     ...    ...  ...   ...   ...   ...
+  29. Gustavus Adolphus, Rich. Hill... .................. S.    .... Aug.     10     29  ...    12   ...   ...
+                            Totals.....                                    6,634 14,415   62 6,897   635   370
+
+Richmond
+   Name and Location                   Pastor             Lang. Org. Syn.   Comm. Souls  P.S.  S.S.  R.H.  Prop.
+
+   1. St. John, Port Richmond......... John C. Borth..... G. E. 1852 Mo.     400    700  ...   175    35    32
+   2. Evangelical, Stapleton.......... Frederic Sutter... G. E. 1856 Min.    750  2,000  ...   560   (56)   95
+   3. Zion, Port Richmond............. R. O. Sigmond..... N.    1893 Nor.    160    280  ...   200   (20)   12
+   4. Our Saviour, Port Richmond...... S. R. Christensen. N.    1893 Nor.    175    283  ...   100    30     5
+   5. St. Paul, West New Brighton..... Wm. Euchler....... G. E. 1899 Min.    116   (200)  21    70    (7)   17
+   6. Wasa, Port Richmond............. L. F. Nordstrom... S.    1905 Aug.     75   (120) ...    41    (5)    7
+   7. German, Tompkinsville........... A. Krause......... G.    1907 Min.     90   (150)  16    50    (5)  ...
+   8. Scandinavian, New Brighton ..... J. C. Hougum...... N.    1908 Nor.     70   (150) ...    45    (9)    7
+   9. Immanuel, New Springville....... H. A Meyer........ G. E. 1911 Min.     58   (100) ...    36    75     6
+  10. St. Matthew, Dongan Hills....... Hugo H. Burgdorf.. E. G. 1915 Mo.      54   (137) ...    73     5     1
+                            Totals.....                                    1,948  4,120   37 1,350   247   182
+
+Recapitulation
+  Boroughs         Comm.  Souls   P.S.   S.S.  R.H.  Prop.
+
+  Manhattan......15,978  41,485   669  7,245 1,580  3,160
+  Bronx...........5,932  13,241   174  5,360   732    484
+  Brooklyn.......27,997  67,696   670 21,254 2,517  2,532
+  Queens .........6,334  14,415    62  6,897   635    370
+  Richmond....... 1,948   4,120    37  1,350   247    182
+  Total..........58,494 140,597 1,612 42,106 5,711  6,728
+
+
+Deaconesses
+
+Manhattan
+Christ Church: Sister Regena Bowe, Sister Maude Hafner.
+Atonement: Sister Jennie Christ.
+St. Paul, Harlem: Sister Rose Dittrich.
+St. John, Christopher Street: Sister Louise Moeller.
+
+Brooklyn
+St. Matthew: Sister Clara Smyre.
+Zion, Norwegian: Sister Marie Olsen.
+Trinity, Norwegian: Sister Ingeborg Neff.
+
+
+Former Pastors [tr. note: the numbers in this section correlate to the
+numbers of the congregations in the statistical section, but are not
+consecutive in the original]
+
+Manhattan
+
+1. St. Matthew: (Since 1807) F. W. Geissenhainer, Sr., F. C. Schaeffer,
+C. F. E. Stohlmann, George Vorberg, Justus Ruperti, J. H. Sieker,
+Martin Walker, Otto Ungemach.
+
+2. St. James: F. C. Schaeffer, W. D. Strobel, Charles Martin, J. L.
+Schock, A. C. Wedekind, S. A. Ort.
+
+3. St. Paul: F. W. Geissenhainer, Jr., C. Hennicke.
+
+4. Trinity: Theodor Brohm, F. W. Foehlinger, F. Koenig.
+
+5. St. Mark: A. H. M. Held, H. Raegener.
+
+6. St. Luke: Wm. Drees, Wm. Buettner, Wm. Busse.
+
+7. St. John: A. H. M. Held, A. C. Wedekind, J. J. Young.
+
+8. St. Peter: C. Hennicke, E. F. Moldenke.
+
+9. Immanuel: J. C. Renz, L. Halfmann.
+
+10. St. John: F. T. Koerner, L. A. C. Detzer, H. W. Diederich, W. F.
+Seeger.
+
+11. St. Paul: Julius Ehrhart, G. H. Tappert, J. A. W. Haas.
+
+12. Gustavus Adolphus: Axel Waetter, Johann Princell, Emil Lindberg.
+
+13. Holy Trinity: G. F. Krotel, C. Armand Miller.
+
+14. Epiphany: D. H. Geissinger, F. F. Buermeyer, J. W. Knapp, F. C.
+Clausen.
+
+15. Grace: J. Miller, J. Gruepp, J. A. W. Haas.
+
+16. Trinity: C. R. Tappert.
+
+17. Zion: H. Hebler.
+
+18. Washington Heights: E. A. Tappert.
+
+19. Our Saviour: C. Hovde, P. A. Dietrichson, J. G. Nilson, K. Kvamme.
+
+20. Redeemer: W. F. Schoenfeld, W. Dallmann.
+
+21. Advent: G. F. Krotel, W. M. Horn.
+
+22. Our Saviour: W. H. Feldmann.
+
+23. Finnish: M. Kiyi, J. Haakana.
+
+24. Esthonian: H. Rebane.
+
+25. Polish: C. Mikulski, F. Sattelmeier.
+
+Bronx
+
+4. St. Peter: H. Richter, H. A. Steininger.
+
+6. St. Peter: H. Reumann, O. Rappolt.
+
+8. Bethany: J. F. W. Kitzmeyer, W. Freas.
+
+9. St. Luke: W. Eickmann.
+
+10. St. Paul: J. Heck, G. Bohm, O. H. Restin, W. Proehl.
+
+12. Emmanuel: A. A. King, F. Christ.
+
+13. Trinity: A. V. Andersen.
+
+14. Grace: J. Schiller.
+
+18. St. Thomas: F. J. Baum.
+
+19. Holy Comforter: H. F. Muller.
+
+22. Trinity: O. H. Trinklein.
+
+Brooklyn
+
+1. Evangelical: F. T. Winkelmann, Ludwig Mueller, Hermann Garlichs,
+Johannes Bank, Carl F. Haussmann, Theo. H. Dresel.
+
+4. St. Paul: E. H. Buehre, E. J. Schlueter, August Schmidt, A. Schubert,
+H. Hennicke, F. T. Koerner, H. D. Wrage, George F. Behringer, H. B.
+Strodach, Hugo W. Hoffmann.
+
+5. Zion: F. W. T. Steimle, Chr. Hennicke.
+
+6. St. Matthew: William Hull, Edward J. Koons, Isaac K. Funk, A. S.
+Hartman, J. Ilgen Burrell, M. W. Hamma, J. C. Zimmerman, J. A.
+Singmaster, T. T. Everett, W. E. Main, A. H. Studebaker.
+
+7. St. Matthaeus: A. Schubert, H. Helfer, G. H. Vosseler.
+
+9. St. Peter: A. Schubert, Philip Zapf, Robert C. Beer, Carl Goehling.
+
+10. St. John: O. E. Kaselitz, Theo. Heischmann.
+
+12. St. Mark: J. F. Flath, G. A. Schmidt, A. E. Frey, J. Frey.
+
+13. St. Luke: J. H. Baden, Wm. Ludwig, C. B. Schuchard.
+
+14. St. Paul: Robert Neumann.
+
+16. Immanuel: F. T. Koerner.
+
+17. Wartburg Chapel: F. W. Richmann, C. A. Graeber, C. H. Loeber, B.
+Herbst.
+
+19. Norwegian Seamen's Mission: O. Asperheim, A. Mortensen, C. B.
+Hansteen, Kristen K. Saarheim, Jakob K. Bo, Tycho Castberg.
+
+20. St. Matthew: Kuefer, Comby, Steinhauer, Wagner, Graepp, Abele, Frey,
+Wuerstlin, Geist, Fritz.
+
+22. Trinity: George Koenig, John Holthusen, Paul Lindemann.
+
+23. St. Paul: H. C. Luehr, Theo. Gross.
+
+25. Bethlehem: Theodor Heischmann.
+
+26. Zion: E. Kraeling, J. Kirsch.
+
+27. St. James: C. F. Dies.
+
+30. Trinity: M. H. Hegge, J. Tanner, P. R. Syrdal, O. E. Eide.
+
+31. Finnish: N. Korhonen.
+
+32. Immanuel: G. Nelsenius, J. O. Cornell.
+
+33. Scandinavian: M. C. Tufts, A. Dietrichson, J. J. Nilson, K. Kvamme,
+G. J. Breivik, T. K. Thorvilden, Doeving, Risty.
+
+35. Christ: H. S. Knabenschuh.
+
+36. Salem: L. H. Kjaer, T. Beck, N. H. Nyrop.
+
+37. St. Peter: Emil Isler, R. Herbst, V. Geist.
+
+38. Zion: J. G. Danielson, J. C. Westlund, G. Anderson.
+
+39. Calvary: H. E. Clare, W. H. Hetrick, E. T. Hoshour, E. J. Flanders,
+G. Blessin.
+
+40. Reformation: H. P. Miller.
+
+42. Messiah: S. G. Trexler, E. A. Trabert.
+
+43. Our Saviour: J. H. C. Fritz.
+
+44. Incarnation: W. H. Steinbicker, G. J. Miller.
+
+47. Bethlehem: P. Lindemann, A. Halfmann, W. Arndt.
+
+48. Salem: J. G. Danielson, G. Nelsenius.
+
+53. Ascension: J. H. Strenge, E. W. Schaefer, W. H. Steinbicker, E. F.
+Stuckert, C. P. Jensen.
+
+55. Zion: J. Ellertsen.
+
+57. Advent: E. E. Hoshour, H. M. Schroeder.
+
+58. Good Shepherd: R. Baehre.
+
+52. Mediator: M. E. Walz.
+
+54. St. Philip: Carl Zinssmeister.
+
+Queens
+
+2. Middle Village: Schnurrer, F. W. Ernst, T. Koerner, G. A. W. Quern.
+
+4. Woodhaven: H. S. Kuever, W. P. Krope, Th. Heischmann, P. Kabis, G. A.
+Baetz.
+
+5. Corona: J. H. Berkemeier, E. Brennecke, A. E. Schmitthenner, E.
+Zwinger, F. Ruge, H. Eyme, C. Boehner, F. G. Wyneken.
+
+6. Long Island City: W. Schoenfeld, Ad. Sieker.
+
+8. Flushing: A. E. Schmitthenner, R. J. W. Mekler, J, Rathke.
+
+9. Whitestone: F. Kroencke, G. Thomas, H. F. Bunke, W. Koenig, Theo.
+Kuhn.
+
+10. Woodside: A. H. Winter, M. T. Holls.
+
+11. Maspeth : August Wuerstlin.
+
+12. Ridgewood : Wm. Pretzsch, P. B. Frey, Arthur Brunn.
+
+16. Woodhaven : E. J. Keuhling.
+
+18. Jamaica: Wm. Popcke, Max Hering.
+
+19. Glendale : John Baur.
+
+17. Hollis: H. M. Schroeder, Carl Yettru, Stephen Traver.
+
+21. South Ozone Park: P. J. Alberthus, J. B. Lau.
+
+20. Catalpa Avenue: G. C. Loos, E. Trafford, J. H. Stelljes.
+
+22. Maspeth: A. H. Meili.
+
+24. Rosedale: W. A. Sadtler.
+
+25. Dunton : Wm. Steinbicker.
+
+Richmond
+
+1. Port Richmond: F. Boehling, H. Roell, C. Hennicke, H. Goehling, M.
+Tirmenstein, J. E. Gottlieb, E. F. T. Frincke, J. P. Schoener, H.
+Schroeder.
+
+2. Stapleton: C. Hennicke, C. Goehling, R. C. Beer, E. Hering, A.
+Kuehne, A. Krause.
+
+3. Port Richmond: H. E. Rue, J. Tolefsen, O. Silseth, O. E. Eide, V. E.
+Boe.
+
+
+Sons of the Churches
+Who Have Entered the Lutheran Ministry [tr. note: the numbers in this
+section correlate to the numbers of the congregations in the statistical
+section, but are not consecutive in the original]
+
+Manhattan
+
+1. St. Matthew: Otto Sieker, Adolf Sieker, Henry Sieker, Christian
+Boehning, F. W. Oswald, John Timm, Theophilus Krug, Frederick Sacks,
+John Albohm, H. S. Knabenschuh, Wegner, Wm. Schmidt, Ed. Fischer, Wm.
+Fischer, R. Heintze.
+
+2. St. James: Edmund Belfour, D.D.
+
+4. Trinity: H. Birkner, F. Koenig, G. Koenig, F. T. Koerner, A.
+Kirchhoefer, H. Koenig, H. Voltz, E. Nauss, O. Graesser, C. Hassold, A.
+Poppe.
+
+5. St. Mark: J. Schultz, H. C. Meyer, E. Meyer.
+
+6. St. Luke: J. Timm, W. Krumwiede.
+
+7. St. John: E. E. Neudewitz, F. H. Knubel, W. H. Feldmann, J. H. Meyer,
+P. M. Young.
+
+8. St. Peter: H. Kuever, A. Stuckert, F. Hoffman, C. E. Moldenke, A. B.
+Moldenke.
+
+9. Immanuel: A. Menkens, F. Loose, J. Loose, H. C. Steinhoff, H.
+Pottberg, H. Zoller, J. Biehusen, H. Beckmann, E. Beckmann, P. Heckel,
+A. Halfmann, J. C. Boschen, P. Woy, H. Hamann.
+
+10. St. John: A. G. Steup, B. Weinlader, G. C. Kaestner, H. F. Bunke, M.
+L. Steup, F. J. Boehling, H. Wehrenberg, P. G. Steup, R. B. Steup, H.
+Tietjen.
+
+11. St. Paul: H. D. Wacker.
+
+14. Christ: C. E. Weltner, D.D., J. H. Dudde.
+
+21. Redeemer: R. C. Ressmeyer, W. Becker.
+
+22. Our Saviour: H. Gudmundsen, O. Brevik.
+
+Bronx
+
+10. St. Paul: H. W. Siebern.
+
+Brooklyn
+
+3. St. John: O. Werner.
+
+4. St. Paul: J. Koop, H. B. Krusa.
+
+5. Zion: Goedel, A. Steimle, D.D., C. Intemann, O. Mikkelson, E.
+Kraeling, Ph.D., H. Kropp.
+
+6. St. Matthew: J. Arnold.
+
+7. St. Matthew: F. Bastel.
+
+8. St. Peter: C. B. Rabbow, F. H. Bosch, F. A. Ravendam, B. Mehrtens.
+
+10. St. John: J. H. Stelljes.
+
+13. St. Luke: E. W. Hammer.
+
+15. Bethlehem: F. N. Swanberg, N. Ebb, A. Ebb, O. Ebb, B. J. Hattin, P.
+Froeberg, O. N. Olsen, O. Eckhardt.
+
+19. Seamans: O. Amdalsrud, S. Folkestad, J. Skagen, N. Nielsen.
+
+22. Trinity: H. Hamann, P. Seidler, G. C. Koenig.
+
+23. St. Paul: G. Steinert, W. C. Schrader.
+
+27. St. James; H. A. Meyer, G. J. Schorling.
+
+30. Trinity: J. J. Tadum, A. Nilsen, S. O. Sande, C. Munson, M. Brekke,
+N. Fedde.
+
+34. Redeemer: C. Toebke.
+
+35. Christ: C. H. Dort.
+
+40. Reformation: P. Rudh.
+
+Queens
+
+2. Trinity: A. E. Schmitthenner, F. Sutter.
+
+6. Trinity: H. H. Koppelmann, Wm. Knoke, G. Hageman.
+
+11. Trinity: L. Hause.
+
+12. Emmaus: C. Werberig.
+
+Richmond
+
+2. Evangelical: P. E. Weber.
+
+3. Zion: S. Saude, J. Frohlen, O. Alfsen, A. Stansland.
+
+
+Institutions and Societies
+
+Colleges
+
+Concordia, 1881, Bronxville. Faculty: Professors Heintze,
+Heinrichsmeyer, Feth, Stein, Schwoy and Romoser.
+
+Wagner Memorial, 1883, Grymes Hill, Stapleton, Staten Island. Director:
+Rev. A. H. Holthusen.
+
+Upsala, 1893, Kenilworth, N. J. Director: Rev. Peter Froeberg, B.D.
+
+
+Orphans' Homes
+
+Wartburg Farm School, 1864, Mount Vernon.
+
+Bethlehem, 1886, Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island.
+
+Children's Home, 1915, Brooklyn, 45 Third Place.
+
+
+Homes for the Aged
+
+Wartburg, 1875, Brooklyn, 2598 Fulton Avenue.
+
+Maria Louise Memorial, 1898, Mount Vernon.
+
+Marien-Heim, 1898, Brooklyn, 18th Avenue at 64th Street.
+
+Old People's Home (Norwegian), 112 Pulaski Street.
+
+Swedish Augustana, 1907, Brooklyn, 1680 Sixtieth Street.
+
+
+Deaconess Motherhouse
+
+Norwegian, 1880, Brooklyn, Fourth Ave. at 46th Street.
+
+
+Hospitals and Relief Work
+
+Norwegian, 1880, Brooklyn, Fourth Ave. at 46th Street.
+
+Lutheran, 1881, Brooklyn, East New York Ave. at Junius St.
+
+Lutheran of Manhattan, 1911, Convent Ave. at 144th Street.
+
+Lutheran Hospital Association: Twenty congregations of the Missouri
+Synod are represented in this Association.
+
+Inner Mission Society, 2040 Fifth Avenue. Missionary: Rev. Ferdinand F.
+Buermeyer, D.D.
+
+Inner Mission and Rescue Work, 56 Pine Street, Manhattan. Rev. V. A. M.
+Mortensen.
+
+Association for the Relief of Indigent Germans on Blackwell's Island.
+
+German Home for Recreation of Women and Children, 1895, Brooklyn, Harway
+Avenue, Gravesend Beach.
+
+
+Immigrant and Seamen's Missions
+
+Norwegian, 1867, Manhattan, 45 Whitehall St. Pastor Petersen.
+
+Emigrant House, 1869, Manhattan, 147 West Twenty-third Street. Pastor
+Haas.
+
+Danish Mission, 1878, Brooklyn, 197 Ninth Street. Pastor Anderson.
+
+Norwegian Seamen, 1879, Brooklyn, 115 Pioneer St. Pastor Ekeland.
+
+Finnish Mission, 1887, Brooklyn, 197 Ninth Street. Pastor Maekinen.
+
+Seamen's Mission, 1907, Hoboken, 64 Hudson Street. Pastor Brueckner.
+
+Swedish Immigrant Home, 1895, Manhattan, 5 Water Street. Pastor
+Helander.
+
+Immigrant Society, Inc., 1869, Manhattan, 234 East 62d Street. Pastor
+Restin.
+
+
+Other Associations
+
+Lutheran Education Society of New York. For the promotion of higher
+education within the Atlantic and Eastern Districts of the Evangelical
+Lutheran Synod of Missouri. Pastor Karl Kretzmann, Secretary.
+
+Manhattan Sunday School Institute, 1908. 15 schools. Enrollment, 495
+teachers.
+
+English Lutheran Missionary Society of Brooklyn, 1898. Reports
+establishment of 16 churches in Brooklyn and Long Island.
+
+Luther League of New York City. Enrollment, 1,100 members.
+
+American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, 234 East 62d Street.
+
+Lutheran Bureau, Inc., A National Medium for Information and Service.
+
+The Bureau grew out of the celebration of the Reformation
+Quadricentennial. Its lines of activity embrace a lecture bureau, a news
+service and an information service.
+
+In the last it offers information on the best methods of doing church
+work, culling the best experience in the field of service and placing it
+at the disposal of anyone desiring it.
+
+In the lecture bureau and the news service it is stimulating Lutherans
+to study the problems of the hour and it is creating opportunities for
+them to be heard.
+
+The office is located in the Bank of the Metropolis Building, Union
+Square, New York. President, George D. Boschen; Treasurer, Theodore H.
+Lamprecht; Executive Secretary, O. H. Pannkoke.
+
+National Lutheran Commission for Soldiers' and Sailors' Welfare, 437
+Fifth Avenue, New York. Chairman, Rev. Frederick H. Knubel, D.D.
+
+
+Periodicals
+
+Der Lutherische Herold, founded in 1852, by Henry Ludwig.
+
+Der Sonntagsgast, founded 1872. Editor: Pastor Wenner.
+
+The New York Lutheran, founded 1903. Editor: Pastor Brunn.
+
+Der Deutsche Lutheraner, founded 1909. Continuation of Der Lutherische
+Herold. Editor: Pastor Berkemeier.
+
+The Luther League Review. Editor, E. F. Eilert.
+
+The American Lutheran. Editor: Pastor Lindemann.
+
+Inner Missions. Inner Mission Society.
+
+
+Bookstores
+
+Lutheran Publication Society, 150 Nassau Street.
+
+Ernst Kaufmann, 22 North William Street.
+
+Augustana Book Concern, 132 Nassau Street.
+
+
+Bibliography *
+     *_Many of the books to which reference is here made may be found in
+the Public Library of New York. Others are obtainable in college and
+seminary libraries_.
+
+_Morris_, Bibliotheca Lutherana.
+
+_Jacobs and Haas_, Lutheran Cyclopedia.
+
+Distinctive Doctrines and Usages of the Lutheran Church.
+
+_Neve_, Die wichtigsten Unterscheidungsmerkmale der lutherischen Synoden
+Amerikas.
+
+_Richard_, Confessional History of the Lutheran Church.
+
+_Schmauk_ and _Benze_, The Confessional Principle and the Confessions of
+the Lutheran Church.
+
+_Kolde_, Historische Einleitung in die Symbolische Buecher.
+
+_Krauth_, The Conservative Reformation.
+
+_Stahl_, Die lutherische Kirche und die Union.
+
+Book of Concord. In German and Latin: _Mueller_. In English: _Jacobs_.
+
+_Walther_, Amerikanisch-Lutherische Pastoral Theologie.
+
+_Rohnert_, Dogmatik.
+
+_Gerberding_, The Way of Salvation.
+
+_Remensnyder_, The Lutheran Manual.
+
+Ecclesiastical Records State of New York.
+
+(Hallesche) Nachrichten.
+
+Colonial Documents of New York.
+
+Brodhead, History of New Netherland.
+
+O'Callaghan, Documentary History of the State of New York.
+
+Memorial Volume of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of Hartwick Seminard,
+[sic] held August 21, 1866. Albany, 1867.
+
+_Lamb_, History of the City of New York.
+
+_Booth_, History of the City of New York.
+
+_Greenleaf_, History of the Churches of New York.
+
+_Graebner_, Geschichte der Lutherischen Kirche in America.
+
+_Haeberle_, Auswanderung der Pfaelzer im 18. Jahrhundert.
+Kaiserslautern, 1909.
+
+_Eichhorn_, In der neuen Heimath.
+
+_Kapp_, Geschichte der Deutschen im Staate New York.
+
+_Gotwald_, The Teutonic Factor in American History. (Lutheran Church
+Review, 1902.)
+
+_Graebner_, Half a Century of Sound Lutheranism in America.
+
+_Nicum_, Geschichte des New York Ministeriums.
+
+_Lenker_, Lutherans in All Lands.
+
+_Jacobs_, A History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United
+States.
+
+_Schmucker, B. M._, The Lutheran Church in New York during the First
+Century of its History. (Lutheran Church Review, 1884-1885.)
+
+_Francis_, Old New York.
+
+_Disosway_, Earliest Churches of New York.
+
+_Sachse_: Justus Falckner.
+
+_Mann_: H. M. Muehlenberg.
+
+_Roesener_: Johann Heinrich Sieker.
+
+_Sprague_: Annals of the American Lutheran Pulpit.
+
+_Bendixen_: Bilder aus der letzten religioesen Erweckung in
+Deutschland. Leipzig, 1897.
+
+_Schaefer_: Wilhelm Loehe. (Also other lives of Loehe).
+
+_Baur_: Geschichts-und Lebensbilder aus der Erneuerung des
+religioesen Lebins in den deutschen Befreiungskriegen.
+
+_Stevenson_: Praying and Working.
+
+(_Rocholl_): Einsame Wege.
+
+_Wichern_, Die innere Mission.
+
+_Ohl_, The Inner Mission.
+
+_Kretzmann_, Oldest Lutheran Church in America.
+
+(_Clarkson_), Church of Zion and St. Timothy.
+
+(_Young_), St. John's Church in Christopher Street.
+
+_Kraeling_, Unser Zion (Brooklyn), 1905.
+
+(_Merkel_), Dreieinigkeits-Gemeinde, Long Island City.
+
+_Kandelhart_, Bethlehems-Gemeinde, Brooklyn, 1913.
+
+_Beyer_, St. Johannes-Gemeinde, Brooklyn, 1894.
+
+_Borth_, St. Johannes-Gemeinde, Port Richmond, 1902.
+
+Jubilee of the Church of St. James, 1877.
+
+Geschichte der Kirche zu St. Markus, 1897. (Manh.)
+
+Zum Fuenfzigjaehrigem Jubilaeum der St. Lukas Gemeinde, 1900. (Manh.)
+
+Zum Goldenen Jubilaeum. (St. Peter's Church, Manhattan), 1912.
+
+Geschichtliche Skizze zum Goldenen Jubilaeum der Immanuelskirche zu
+Yorkville, 1913.
+
+_Steup_, Geschichtliche Skizze der St. Johannes-Gemeinde zu Harlem, New
+York, 1889.
+
+(_Peterson_), Zum Goldenen Jubilaeum, Dreieinigkeits-Gemeinde, Middle
+Village, 1913.
+
+Statistisches Jahrbuch. (Missouri Synod).
+
+Lutheran Church Year Book.
+
+Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac.
+
+Federation. New York Federation of Churches.
+
+Charities Directory. Charity Organization Society.
+
+
+Index
+
+"Achtundvierziger" .....35
+Arensius ...............39
+Athens .................99
+Baptismal Regeneration..101
+Berkemeier, G. C........40
+Berkemeier, W. H........39
+Berkenmeyer.............9
+Book of Concord.........XI, 41
+Brohm, Pastor...........34
+"Buffalonians"..........33
+Catechization ..........109
+Concordia College.......61
+Confirmation............98
+Cox, Dr. S. H...........20
+Church Bookkeeping......124
+Church Defined..........94
+Deaconesses.............52
+Dutch Language..........80
+Ehrhardt, Julius........65
+Embury, Philip..........22
+English Language........83
+Episcopalians...........25
+Ericsson, Captain John..44
+Fabritius...............3
+Falckner................5
+Francis, Dr.............20
+Geissenhainer, Sr.......26
+Geissenhainer, Jr.......27, 64
+German Language.........81
+Goedel, Jacob...........42
+Grabau, Pastor..........31
+Gutwasser...............3
+Hartwick Seminary.......62
+Hartwig.................21
+Hausihl.................13
+Heck, Barbara...........22
+Held, A. H. M...........64
+Hessians................14
+High German.............84
+Holls, G. C.............40
+Hospice.................62
+Inner Mission...........120
+Inner Mission Society...62
+Jewish Schools..........111
+Jogues..................1
+Justification by Faith..XIV, XV
+Knoll...................10
+Kocherthal..............6
+Koinonia................51
+Krotel..................65
+Kunze...................16
+Kurtz, Dr. B............32
+Laidlaw.................56
+London..................79
+Loonenburg..............9
+Louis the Fourteenth....6
+Lutheran Society........62
+Lutheranism.............VIII
+Luther League...........51
+Manhattan...............61
+Martin Luther Society...50
+Mayer, P. and F.........21
+Means of Grace..........XVI
+Meldenius, Rupertus.....IV
+Methodists..............23
+Metropolitan District...76
+Merger..................78
+Miller, C. Armand.......66
+Ministers' Association..58
+"Missourians"...........33
+Moldenke................65
+Moller, Peter...........39
+Muehlenberg, F..........12
+Muehlenberg, H. M.......11
+Muehlenberg, P..........6
+Muhlenberg, W. A........7
+Neumann, R..............38
+Norwegians..............45
+Oertel, Maximilian......31
+Old Swamp Church........12
+Palatines...............6
+Parochial School........107
+Passavant...............39
+Pennsylvania Dutch......87
+Person of Christ........XIV
+Platt Deutsch...........82
+Prussia, King of........32
+Psalmodia Germanica.....12
+Public Library..........125
+Russian Lutherans.......114
+Rhinebeck...............18
+Rudmann, A..............5
+Scandinavians...........47
+Schaeffer, F. C.........26
+Schieren, Chas. A.......57
+Sieker, J. H............65
+Steimle Synod...........41
+St. Stephen's Church....25
+St. James' Church.......27
+St. Matthew's Church....26
+Stohlmann...............37, 64
+Strebeck................18
+Sunday School...........106
+Swedes..................41
+Trinity Church..........9
+Upsala College..........61
+Vorleezers..............8
+Wagner College..........61
+Week-Day Instruction....110
+Wedekind................64
+Weiser..................6
+Weltner.................67
+Wesley, John............23
+Weygand.................12
+Williston...............25
+Winkeltaufe.............100
+Young, J. J.............66
+Zenger, Peter...........7
+Zion Church.............18
+
+
+Printed by
+MANGER, HUGHES & MANGER
+New York
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Lutherans of New York, by George Wenner
+
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