488 



LUTHERAN CHURCH. 



Synodg not Connede'l with the General Synod. 



Grand Total : 1.543 Ministers ; 2,765 Congregations ; 292,- 

 723 Communicants. 



The following statistics of Lutheran ministers 

 in the several States of the Union will give a 

 view of the strength of the denomination in 

 each State : 



Pennsylvania, 348; Ohio, 232 ; Illinois, 139 ; 

 New York, 133; Indiana, 110 ; Wisconsin, 96 ; 

 Iowa, 62; Virginia, 51; Michigan, 49; Mary- 

 land, 49 ; Missouri, 41 ; South Carolina, 35 ; 

 North Carolina, 33 ; Minnesota, 30 ; Texas, 23 ; 

 Tennessee, 17; Georgia, 9; Mississippi, 6; Dis- 

 trict of Columbia, G ; Nebraska, 5 ; Louisiana, 

 4 ; Kansas, 8 ; Kentucky, 2 ; Massachusetts, 3 ; 

 Delaware, 1 ; California, 1 ; Alabama, 1 ; Flor- 

 ida, 1. Total, 1,485. 



The General Synod of the Lutheran Church 

 of the United States met on the 6th of May, 

 1864, at York, Pennsylvania, and organized by 

 electing Dr. Sprecher, president of "Witten- 

 berg College, president. This body meets every 

 second or third year, and was, in 1864, com- 

 posed of 27 particular synods. Three of these, 

 however those of Virginia, North Carolina, 

 and South Carolina have formally seceded from 

 the general synod, and formed a "General 

 Synod of the Lutheran church of the Confeder- 

 ate States." Besides these, the synods of Texas 

 and West Virginia were not represented at 

 either the general synod of 1862 or that of 1864. 

 At the latter, two of the independent synods 

 applied for admission: that of Minnesota and 

 the Franckean synod. The request of the for- 

 mer was unanimously granted, but the admis- 

 sion of the Franckean synod called forth an 

 animated discussion, because this synod had 

 hitherto not formally acknowledged the Augs- 

 burg confession. Those delegates who favor 

 the strictest possible adherence to the letter of 

 the Augsburg confession, opposed the admission 

 of the Franckean synod, but the majority de- 

 cided (by 93 against 39 votes) in favor of admis- 

 sion after the delegates of the Franckean synod 

 had declared that the latter would adopt, at its 

 next meeting, the constitution of the general 

 synod, which implies a recognition of the Augs- 

 burg confession. A portion of the minority 

 entered a protest against the act, and the entire 

 delegation of the Pennsylvania synod even 

 withdrew from the General Synod. With regard 

 to the composition of the General Synod it 

 was decided to propose to the district synods 



to amend the article in the constitution st 

 that every synod having eight ministers should 

 be entitled to one clerical and one lay dele- 

 gate sixteen to two ; twenty-four to three ; 

 thirty-tyro to four; forty to five; fifty-five to 

 six ; seventy to seven ; eighty-five to eight ; one 

 hundred to nine clerical and nine lay delegates, 

 which shall be the highest number of delegates 

 from any one synod. Strong resolutions, even 

 more decided in their anti-slavery character 

 than those of the last general synod, were 

 offered by Rev. W. A. Passavant, aiid passed. 



The most important event in the history of 

 the Lutheran churches of Europe was the 

 convocation of the first General Synod of 

 the German and Slavic Provinces of Austria. 

 It met at Vienna simultaneously with the 

 first General Synod of the Reformed churches 

 of the same provinces, on May 22d, 1864, 

 and both bodies resolved to discuss such topics 

 as were not of a strictly denominational char- 

 acter in joint session. The meeting of this 

 synod completed the reorganization of the 

 Lutheran church of Austria. An imperial letter 

 of April 8th, 1861, and a church constitution 

 of April 9th, 1861, proclaimed by the Govern- 

 ment, provisionally regulated the affairs of the 

 church. The Lutheran churches of Hungary 

 were to have a constitution of their own, which 

 they, however, refused to accept, claiming the 

 right to retain their former church constitu- 

 tion intact. The Lutheran and the Reformed 

 churches of the combined German and Slavic 

 crownlands were to have each a general synod 

 which was to revise the draft of a church con- 

 stitution prepared by the Government, and 

 take hereafter the chief control of the eccle- 

 siastical affairs of the two churches. 



The convocation of the first General Synod, 

 was delayed by the Austrian Government no 

 less than three years, and did not take place 

 until May 22, 1864. The provisional draft of a 

 church constitution, as prepared by the Aus- 

 trian Government, was adopted in all its essen- 

 tial points by both synods. Their proceedings 

 were very harmonious. An organic union be- 

 tween the Lutheran and Reformed churches, as 

 it has been consummated in several German 

 countries, was not resolved upon, hut both 

 synods will continue to meet simultaneously 

 and at the same place, and to deliberate on all 

 subjects not strictly denominational in joint 

 session. The nationality question, which pro- 

 duces so much trouble in the political life of 

 Austria, led, on some questions, to a disagree- 

 ment between the German majority of the 

 synods and the Slavic minority, as the former 

 did not think it possible to concede all the de- 

 mands made by the latter. The synods also 

 resolved to present, conjointly to the emperor, 

 a memorial containing the following demands 

 of the Protestants of the Empire: "The Gen- 

 eral Synod protests: 1. Against the denomi- 

 nation of non-catholic, which is the term used 

 in the decrees and ordinances of the political 

 authorities to designate the adherents of the 



