460 



LUTHERANS. 



' Of the above synods twenty-foul * were, at 

 the beginning of the year 1866, in connection 

 with the "General Synod of the Lutheran 

 Church in the United States ; " but the largest 

 of all the Lutheran Synods, that of Pennsyl- 

 vania and the adjoining States, withdrew from 

 the "General Synod" in 1866, and several other 

 synods took the same step. Together the twen- 

 ty-four synods connected with the General 

 Synod had 824 ministers, 1,421 churches, and 

 158,258 communicants. Five synods in the 

 Southern States t belong to the "Evangelical 

 Lutheran General Synod in North America," 

 and it was expected that this body would also 

 be joined by the " Tennessee Synod " and the 

 "Holston Synod of Tennessee." There were 

 published in the United States, in 18G6, twenty- 

 nine Lutheran Church, school, and missionary 

 periodicals, namely, nine English, fourteen Ger- 

 man, two Swedish, three Norwegian. The 

 number of the theological seminaries or the- 

 ological departments in connection with col- 

 leges was fifteen ; that of colleges and uni- 

 versities seventeen (situated at Gettysburg, 

 Selinsgrove, and Allentown, Pennsylvania ; 

 Fort Wayne, Indiana; Columbus and Spring- 

 field, Ohio ; Springfield and Paxton, Illinois ; 

 Watertown, "Wisconsin ; Buffalo and Hartwick, 

 New York ; Fairfield, Albion, and Decorah, 

 Iowa ; Ne wherry, South Carolina ; Salem, 

 Virginia ; Mount Pleasant, North Carolina) ; 

 that of female seminaries, nine. Lutheran 

 Orphans' Homes and Christian Hospitals for 

 the sick have been established in various parts 

 of the country. In 1865 such institutions were 

 in operation at Pittsburg, Zelienople, Roches- 

 ter, Germantown, Middletown, Pennsylvania; 

 Buffalo, New York; Toledo, Ohio; Milwaukee, 

 "Wisconsin ; New York City, and other places. 

 There is a school-teachers' seminary at Addi- 

 son, Illinois.! 



The twenty-second convention of the " Gen- 

 eral Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran 

 Church" met at Fort "Wayne, Indiana, on 

 May 16th. Representatives of all the synods 

 connected with the General Synods were in at- 

 tendance, except from the synods of Southern 

 Illinois and Texas. From the president of the 

 latter synod, a report was subsequently re- 

 ceived, professing on behalf of the Synod of 

 Texas, strong attachment to the General Synod, 

 heartily deploring the unjustifiable event 

 which suspended the relations of the two or- 

 ganizations, expressing sincere regret that 

 straitened circumstances rendered it imprac- 

 ticable to send delegates to Fort Wayne, and 

 indulging the hope that active relations would 



town, Pa,, and In the " Lutheran Almanac " for 1867, pub- 

 lished at Baltimore, Md., and at Newburg, 8. C. ; also, in 

 " Proceedings of the Twenty-second Convention of tha 

 Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States" (Phila- 

 delphia, 1866). The latter volume contains the Constitution 

 of the General Synods, with all the amendments to it passed 

 p to 1866. 



* They are marked (*) in the above list 



t They are marked (t) in the above list. 



$ For ii full account of the Theological Seminaries, see AN- 

 KUAL CYCLOP J DIA for 1S65. 



soon be again enjoyed. The convention was 

 opened by the president of the preceding con- 

 vention, Dr. Sprecher. The roll of synods 

 being called, the president ruled the Pennsyl- 

 vania Synod out of " governing relation " to 

 the General Synod, and taking the ground that 

 the withdrawal of its delegates from the sessions 

 of the Synod of York, was the act of the Penn- 

 sylvania Synod itself, and that consequently 

 that synod, if received at all, could not be re- 

 ceived until after the complete organization of 

 the General Synod by the election of its offi- 

 cers. On an appeal to the convention, the 

 decision of the president was sustained by 

 vote of 77 to 24. In consequence of this action 

 three synods ("Ministerium of New York," 

 "Pittsburg Synod," and "English Synod of 

 Ohio), " refused to take part in the election of 

 officers. Of the votes cast, a majority was 

 given to Dr. Brown, Professor at Gettysburg. 

 The relation of the Pennsylvania Synod to the 

 General Synod formed the most prominent part 

 of the proceedings of the Convention. After a 

 long debate the following resolutions were 

 adopted : 



Resolved, That this synod regard the condition an- 

 nexed by the Philadelphia Synod to the appointment 

 of their delegates as contrary to that equality among 

 the synods composing this body provided for in its 

 constitution, and as derogatory to its dignity. 



Jteeolved, That whatever motives of Christian for- 

 bearance may have induced this synod to receive 

 the Pennsylvania delegation in 1853, with this con- 

 dition, the unfavorable influence since exerted by it, 

 renders it very desirable that said condition be re- 

 scinded by the Synod of Pennsylvania. 



Resolved, That the General Synod hereby express 

 its entire willingness to receive the delegates of the 

 Synod of Pennsylvania. 



In reply to these resolutions, Dr. Ivrotcl read 

 the answer of the delegation of the Pennsylvania 

 Synod, which was substantially as follows : 



The Pennsylvania Synod claims that the with- 

 drawal of its delegates at the meeting at York, two 

 years ago, did not sever their connection with the 

 General Synod, and was made in strict accordance 

 with the conditions upon which they reunited with it 

 tn!853; that, as no official action has severed that 

 connection, the 'Pennsylvania Synod is yet an in- 

 tegral part of the General Synod, and that its del- 

 egates were denied their constitutional rights in not 

 being allowed to take part in the organization of the 

 present convention. The paper concluded with a 

 statement of the conditions on which the Pennsyl- 

 vania delegates would resume their practical rela- 

 tions to the General Synod, namely : That the Gen- 

 eral Synod should declare that they had a constitu- 

 tional right to take part in its organization, and 

 should not require a.ny change in the condition upon 

 which they hold their connection with it. 



After hearing this reply, the Convention, on 

 motion of Prof. Swartz, declared (by 7G against 

 32 votes) that it could not conscientiously 

 recede from the action taken, reasserting, how- 

 ever, at the same time, its readiness to receive 

 the delegates of the Pennsylvania Synod as 

 soon as they should present their credentials in 

 due form. The chairman of the Pennsylvania 

 delegation hereupon declared that the Penn- 

 sylvania delegates took the resolution jus* 



