LUTHERANS. 



413 



number of the " Lutheran Church Review," with 

 articles bearing on the history, position and activity 

 of the Ministerium; the "History of the Wilkes- 

 barre Conference," an illustrated volume of 250 

 pages, presenting historical sketches of its congre- 

 gations ; and the " Danville Conference Memorial 

 Volume," of 372 pages, presenting a history of the 

 conference, histories of its congregations, sketches 

 of the lives of its pastors and pioneer missionaries, 

 and a report of the sesquicentennial celebration 

 with the addresses delivered on that occasion. 



The sesquicentennial celebration, with its inter- 

 esting services, brought together thousands of Lu- 

 therans, and the addresses brought out facts of 

 great historical interest and importance, recalling 

 the feeble beginnings of the Church in this country, 

 the heroic and self-denying labors of the early pio- 

 neers, the providential guidance of the Church in 

 the past and the important results accomplished in 

 the line of missionary work, the establishment of 

 congregations, and the founding of institutions of 

 leartiing and mercy. 



When, on Nov. 25, 1742, Henry Melchior Muhlen- 

 berg arrived in Philadelphia as a missionary among 

 the scattered German Lutherans in Pennsylvania 

 and the adjoining provinces, he found the people 

 in an unorganized condition. Organized congrega- 

 tions existed in New York, consisting of emigrants 

 from Holland and Germany, and along the Dela- 

 ware, consisting of Swedish settlers. Though nu- 

 merous settlements of Germans had been effected 

 in the newly opened province of Penn in the be- 

 ginning of the eighteenth century, there were only 

 a few Lutheran congregations, between which there 

 was no bond of union except a common name and 

 faith which had been brought from the fatherland. 

 The arrival of Muhlenberg was the direct result of 

 the missionary activity of Lutherans in Germany 

 and England ; and it was the beginning of a new 

 era in the history of the Church in this country, the 

 first members of which had arrived not later than 

 1623. The Ministerium of Pennsylvania was organ- 

 ized in Philadelphia, Aug. 26, 1748. There were 

 present and took part in the organization five Ger- 

 man and one Swedish ministers Henry Melchior 

 Muhlenberg, Peter Brunnholtz, John Fr. Handschuh, 

 John Christian Hartwig, provost John Sandin, of 

 the Swedish Church, and John Nicolaus Kurtz, or- 

 dained at this meeting, and lay delegates from the 

 widely separated congregations of these pastors, 

 representing a communicant membership of several 

 thousand, scattered over the provinces of Pennsyl- 

 vania, New York, and New Jersey. The Ministe- 

 rium is the oldest synodical organization of the 

 Lutheran Church in America, and therefore the 

 " mother " synod of numerous similar organizations 

 in Pennsylvania and other States, and has always 

 occupied a prominent position in the Church. Up 

 to the time of organization of the synod the pas- 

 tors had provided for the interests of the congrega- 

 tions which appealed to them for assistance, by con- 

 sulting with one another and with the congrega- 

 tions. For some time previously they had felt the 

 necessity of a closer bond of union among them- 

 selves and their congregations, in order to carry on 

 successfully the arduous work intrusted to them. 

 They realized that the individual congregations 

 must be made to feel that they were organic parts 

 of the Church, and that through their lay represent- 

 atives they had a voice in the management of af- 

 fairs. This union of pastors and congregations was 

 felt to be a necessity, for the purpose of maintain- 

 ing order and exercising discipline ; for providing 



for the common necessities of the scattered people ; 

 as well as preserving the Church against dangerous 

 influences from without and disturbing forces from 

 within. They inquired carefully into the condition 

 of the congregations, adopted measures for the gov- 

 ernment of the same, and provided an order of serv- 

 ice based on the consensus of the best liturgies of 

 the Lutheran Church of the sixteenth century^ 



The history of the Ministerium for nearly half a 

 century afterward is the history of the Lutheran 

 Church in North America. The work of the synod 

 for many years was missionary work in Pennsyl- 

 vania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Vir- 

 ginia. From year to year, too, its work extended 

 throughout these States and beyond, reaching Nova 

 Scotia in the north and Georgia in the south. 

 Twenty-five synods have directly or indirectly 

 grown out of the original organization and are now 

 occupying the territory formerly embraced in the 

 territorial bounds of the mother synod. The Minis- 

 terium of Pennsylvania took a leading part in the 

 organization of the General Synod in 1821 and the 

 establishment of the educational institutions at 

 Gettysburg. When, for doctrinal reasons, it with- 

 drew from that body in 1866, it again took a lead- 

 ing part in the organization of the General Council, 

 in 1867, on a thoroughly Lutheran basis. It has 

 established and maintains the Theological Seminary 

 at Mount Airy, Philadelphia, with property valued 

 at $150,000 and endowment amounting to nearly 

 $200,000, and Muhlenberg College, at Allentowii, 

 Pa., with property valued at $100,000 and endow- 

 ment of $154,000. It controls two orphanages and 

 the mother house of deaconesses in Philadelphia. 

 The Ministerium was the prime mover in the estab- 

 lishment of the mission in India, in 1841, and is 

 still the largest contributor to the support of that 

 work. Early in the present century it began mis- 

 sionary work in the West, which has resulted in 

 the establishment of large and flourishing congre- 

 gations, institutions, and synods in Ohio, Michigan, 

 Wisconsin, Minnesota, and other Western- States, 

 and in Maryland, Virgina, the Carolines, and other 

 States in the South. 



General Conference of Lutherans. This con- 

 vention was held in Philadelphia, Dec. 27-29, 1898, 

 and was called by authority of the three general 

 bodies General Synod, General Council, and 

 United Synod of the South embracing more than 

 half the membership of the Church in this country. 

 The convention was called for the purpose of com- 

 paring views, with the aim of ultimate union among 

 the bodies represented, and the subjects discussed 

 was intended to bring out the unanimity of senti- 

 ment among the representatives. The convention 

 was attended by 163 clergymen and a large number 

 of laymen. The meetings were held in St. John's 

 Church, on Race Street, the oldest English Luther- 

 eran church in the United States, in St. Matthew's 

 Church, on North Broad Street, and in the chapel 

 of the Mary J. DrexelHome of Deaconesses. Ihe 

 sessions were presided over by the three members of 

 the joint committee the Rev. Drs. Henry E. Jacobs, 

 of Mount Airy, Philadelphia ; Samuel W. Owen, of 

 Hagerstown, Md. ; and H. Frank Scheele, of Staun- 

 ton, Va. The secretaries were the Rev. Drs. Wil- 

 liam S. Freas, of Baltimore, Md., and S. E. Ochsen- 

 ford, of Selinsgrove, Pa. The treasurer was Wil- 

 liam H. Staake, Esq., of Philadelphia. The 23 pa- 

 pers read were of an exceptionally high order and 

 clearly set forth many of the fundamental princi- 

 ples of the Church, concerning which there ap- 

 peared to be no disagreement. 



