From Edward Kockritz, Memorial Diamond Jubilee: German Evangelical Synod of North America, October, 1915: Eden Publishing House Print, St. Louis.
Seventy-five years ago there met in a little wildwood church in the State of Missouri, at a place nor called Mehlville, a group of six ministers upon what they conceived to be a most important mission. The net result of that meeting was the organization of "The German Evangelical Church Association of the West." This little body has since grown into "The German Evangelical Synod of North America," a denomination with more than one thousand pastors in active service and nearly three hundred thousand communicant members.
The work of these founders was a work of faith - not for the present only but also for the suture. Manifestly it was prompted by the same noble purposes and inspired by the same unfailing promises that have always been such a potential asset in the propagation of Christ's Kingdom on earth; and that the faith of these pioneers of our Church was beautifully rewarded, we see in its growth according to the law uttered by Christ Himself: "First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear."
These six humble disciples of the Master have long since passed from the militant into the triumphant Church. Their work, in growing form passed into other hands, and yet again into other hands, but there was never a lack of loyal servants ready to receive it as a holy charge and sacred duty; and it is thus that we are able to record the steady growth and sustained development of our Church thruout (sic) the first seventy-five years of its existence.
The children of this Church are nor unmindful of the debt that they owe to those who have gone before. One generation is always debtor to another. We live in the present, but we live by grace of the past. No man liveth unto himself, nor only in his own day.
The achievements that lie behind us have been wrought into the life of today and are indissolubly connected with it. The influence exercised upon the world's life is not only a present but a permanent one. What we do for ourselves directly we do for others indirectly, and the result of our living and doing will manifest itself in some form or other for ages to come. When we understand these truths we shall not only be careful of the influence that we set in motion in our own lives, but we shall also be able better to appreciate what others of a past generation have done for us and the period in which we live.
And so, upon the occasion of our Diamond Jubilee, a grateful people will seek the courts of the Almighty, there to render devout thanks for the blessings so freely and abundantly bestowed upon the German Evangelical Synod of North America thruout the period of its existence; to remember those who in its history have labored so faithfully and diligently for its welfare and upbuilding; and to dedicate themselves anew to the task of carrying on this work with unabated zeal and undiminished vigor, in the fervent hope that their share in the building of the greater Church may too meet the approval of Him Who is the Head, even Christ.
Our Synod, while of American origin, had its roots in the old Fatherland. The first pastors had all come over from Germany, as had all of its first members, and this condition obtained for at least the first three or four decades after its organization. In order, therefore, to obtain a clear and comprehensive understanding concerning its antecedents, it is necessary to go back to the Church history of Germany.
Shortly after the beginning of the Reformation several divisions occurred in the Protestant Church. Luther and Melanchthon themselves finally parted company on several doctrines. Among these may be mentioned, the necessity of specific forms of worship, the cooperation of the human will with the Divine in regeneration, and especially the nature of the Lord's Supper. Melanchthon held to the theory of the spiritual presence in the Lord's supper, while Luther held to that of consubstantiation. These controversies waged violently for many years, and finally resulted in the Form of Concord, composed by the prominent Lutheran theologians in 1577 and published by the electors of Saxony in 1580. This confession, however, was in the nature of a compromise, and as such was rejected by some because considered too lenient and by others because too rigid. The consequence was, not that the two factions were brought closer together, but rather that the hurt was made worse.
Then followed the Thirty Years' War, which established Lutheranism firmly, but with it came a period of spiritual reaction and theological reconstruction. The ebb of spiritual life had become so low in 1670 that Philip Jacob Spener organized a system of meetings for the study of the Scriptures and the cultivation of prayer, hoping thereby to revive the drooping spiritual life, but his efforts were violently opposed by the Wittenberg theologians, who ridiculed Spener's followers with the name of Pietists. Zinzendorf, who had colonized the Moravians and settled them on his estate at Herrnhut, was actually banished by the Saxon government because of "introducing dangerous novelties in religion."
These instances of disagreements within the Protestant Church in Germany are noted n order to explain the causes that were soon to bring forth a new movement of tremendous import to both the Lutheran and Reformed bodies. As a matter of fact there was, relatively speaking, very little difference in the views held concerning the fundamentals of the Protestant faith, and while the theological controversies waxed exceedingly hot, they usually revolved around questions of minor significance and in no wise essential to saving faith, such as for instance the manner in which the blessings of the Lord's Supper were bestowed.
It is not strange that in these circumstances a common ground was urgently sought upon which both sides might meet in fellowship and union. It was clear that neither the Lutherans nor the Reformed would give up any of their tenets; but the hope had nevertheless frequently been expressed that in some manner these two bodies might be brought together upon the basis of the Augustinian motto: "In necessariis unitas, in dubiis liberatas, in omnibus caritas." - "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity."
This union became a reality at a most auspicious and happy time, namely i 1817, the third centennial of the inauguration of the Reformation through Martin Luther. It was established through the efforts of King Frederick William III of Prussia, who had called to his aid the most prominent theologians of his kingdom to formulate a basis of union. The result was that a book of worship was prepared which proved satisfactory to both branches of the church and which was accepted by a great majority of both. The people themselves, wearied by the strife and controversies of the past three hundred years, in which the theologians had always unduly emphasized the question of doctrine, very often to the utter exclusion of the deeper needs of the soul, gave full and hearty approval to this great project of their sovereign, and considered the time providential for carrying into effect a great Protestant union. Soon the union in Prussia was followed by similar unions in other German states and principalities, and the result was - The Evangelical Church of Germany.
It was not presumed, however, that this union would receive the unanimous endorsement of all who were affected by it; that would be asking rather too much. Above all, there was a certain class of Lutherans who refused to enter into any kind of union, and who much preferred to keep alive the fires of doctrinal discussions an eternal discord. People of such strong religious convictions would thereafter not feel altogether at home in the old surrounding, especially as the government unwisely sought to compel them to yield to the new order. Some felt that their liberties had been circumscribed, others that they were actually being persecuted. Many decided to emigrate to America, and it is to this cause that the large influx of Lutherans from Germany in the third and fourth decades of the last century may be attributed. By far the larger number of them settled in the West, with St. Louis as the center, and it is from this nucleus that Missouri Lutheranism has largely sprung.
The German Evangelical Synod of North America may be characterized as the daughter of the Evangelical Church in Germany, but this relationship is one of spirit rather than of body. The doctrinal affinity has always been maintained, but the two bodies are, and always have been, absolutely independent of each other. Splendid services in many ways have been rendered by the mother Church in Germany to the daughter Church in America, but only in order that the daughter church might establish its existence and insure its success in the land of its adoption.
The immediate and direct reason for the coming of the Evangelical Church to America is to be found in the large immigration of Germans during the early part of the past century. Many of these people, as we have seen, were of the Lutheran type who came prompted largely by religious motives. Others, however, has been members of the Evangelical Church in Germany, and it would appear very natural for them to desire the establishment of the Church of their own faith in their new home. Thus we find isolated churches of the Evangelical faith scattered through the country as early as the third decade of the nineteenth century, some in the East and some in the North, nut most of those with which we are concerned, in the West. Moreover, among these Germans in the West there were quite a number who were either sadly indifferent to all religion or openly hostile to it. The Evangelical Church had a duty to perform to Germans of both classes in these Western communities: to those who wanted the Gospel and to those who did not want it, but needed it nevertheless. It was these considerations that prompted various mission societies in Germany, upon the urgent solicitation of interested people in America, to undertake the work that was afterwards to produce such a splendid fruitage.
The condition existing in Missouri and the neighboring region about 1830 and after are of special interest to us, since it is there that our Synod really had its beginnings. The first impetus to the settlement of Germans in the Missouri Valley was given by Dr. Gottfried Duden, who spent three years in what is known today as Warren county. His descriptions concerning the possibilities of that country, written in the most lurid and captivating style, induced many immigrants to seek this paradise of the West. The first people to settle there was a company of small farmers and farm hands, who had come over from Westphalia and Hanover. They were followed by a body of men of different type and character, men of larger means and of greater intelligence.
The former were mostly a pious folk in whose life religion was a vital factor. In their humble way they tried to translate their faith into their manner of living and doping, but the latter, composed for the most part of noblemen, teachers and professional men, in their own superior knowledge, had outgrown all need of religion and its restraints. It is not to be wondered at that under such circumstances there was continual friction between the two factions and that comity in any form between them was unthinkable.
These "learned gentlemen" in 1834 organized what was known as a German society. Its headquarters were in the "Latin settlement" and its object was stated to be the cultivation of sociability. But little sociability, except perhaps among their own coterie, was cultivated. On the other hand, however, the cleavage with the other faction became much greater because the spirit of free thought was assiduously fostered by this society. The result of such conditions upon the religious life of the community can easily be imagined. The progress of the Gospel was so hampered that religious activity sank to a very low ebb and in some regions a religious service had not been held in fifteen years.
These conditions gradually became known to the Church in Germany and were also brought to the attention of sympathetic Christian men in the East. One of these, Mr. Richard Bigelow of New York City, deserves especial mention in this connection. It was he who, with other prominent Americans, sent an urgent appeal to the missionary societies of Basel and Barmen for men to minister to the pressing needs of these pioneer Christians, and it was in response to this appeal that the Basel Missionary Society in 1836 sent two young pastors, George W. Wall and Joseph Rieger to St. Louis.
Brief reference should here be made to the men whom we honor as the founders of our Synod.
The first of these to reach America was Herman Garlichs, who, although only a layman, preached the Gospel among the Germans in St. Charles and Warren counties in Missouri as early as 1833. Shortly after he returned to Germany, finished his theological course, received his ordination and returned to Missouri in 1835. He settled on Femme Osage creek, where he gathered a congregation and built a blockhouse, which now has the distinction of being our oldest parsonage.
John Jacob Riess was the first ordained man among the founders of the Synod to step upon American soil. He found his first field of labor in St. Clair county, Ill., and was the pioneer of our Synod in South Illinois.
Wall and Rieger, to whom reference has already been made, proved themselves worthy representatives of the great institution from which they had been sent out, and performed a pioneer work that will stand for all time as a memorial to them in the history of our Church.
Wall began his labors in St. Louis, at that time a small city of 11,000 inhabitants. There he toiled, often amid great difficulties and trials, preaching the plan and simple Gospel message to doubters, scoffers and unbelievers. With the exception of a period of three years, he labored in St. Louis until 1876, when he was called to his reward.
Rieger, during his first years in America, was a kind of traveling evangelist. He visited the scattered German communities in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, preaching, distributing Christian literature and organizing congregations. Later he filled the pastorate at Holstein, Mo., for thirteen years and spent the last years of his life at Jefferson City, Mo., where he died in 1869.
In the year 1837 the Rhenish Missionary Society sent over two young men, Philip Jacob Heyer and Tilman Nies, both of whom were intended as missionaries among the Indian tribes of Oregon. Nies, however, soon after his arrival suffered a complete breakdown in health and died near St. Charles, Mo. in 1838.
His companion, Heyer, instead of proceeding to the field of missionary operations as had been planned, now remained in Missouri, and later became associated with other pastors in organizing the Synod. However, his connection with that body was of but short duration.
In the meantime another pastor, Edward Louis Nollau, had been sent from the Barmen Mission House in 1837 to aid Nies in his work among the Indians, but the illness and subsequent death of Nies prevented the carrying out of this plan, and in 1838 Nollau took charge of the congregation in Gravois Settlement, Mo., twelve miles from St. Louis, where two years later the Synod was born.
To these names must be added another, that of Karl Louis Daubert, who in 1840 came to Quincy, Ill., from Pittsburg, Pa., where he had served a congregation organized in 1837. He also is numbered among the founders of the Synod, although his connection with it was soon severed. He stayed in Quincy only until 1841, when he assumed charge of St. Paul's Church in Louisville, Ky., organized in 1836, which he served to thirty years. He died in Louisville in 1875.
Finally mention must be made of John Gerber, who had come over to America in 1834 and who was associated with these other men in the founding of the Synod. His connection, however, was severed in a very short time and eventually he drifted into other folds.
The men whom we have names were the fathers of our Evangelical Synod. There were men of a common faith, came from the same land abroad, and were engaged in the same kind of work here. It would seem natural, therefore, that a feeling of fellowship would spring up among them, and that, considering the very trying circumstances under which they were laboring, the need of closer affiliation would suggest itself to them as a means of giving strength to their cause. Each and all of them has the same mission - to build and develop the Evangelical Church through the preaching of the Gospel, and they wisely concluded that this could best be done by organizing their forces and rendering such aid to one another as could consistently be given. The same perplexing and disturbing questions confronted all; the experiences of one might be utilized with profit by the others; a closer bond of fellowship between them could not but strengthen their faith and increase their courage.
Considerations such as these must have moved these men to meet for the purpose of discussing their problems and to consider the advisability of organizing a "church association." The invitation to this conference, issued by Pastor Nollau, reads along the following lines: "Our purpose is that as pastors of the same Church we should learn to know each other better and strive in common to further the welfare of the Evangelical Church in this country. Through brotherly intercourse we should encourage and strengthen one another in the work for the glory of God and the Saviour Jesus Christ as also for the salvation and blessing of the congregations in our care."
This call was followed by a meeting held in Gravois settlement, now known as
Mehlville, Mo., on October 15th, 1840, which date has since been correctly
observed as the birthday of the Synod. Six pastors were present at this meeting,
as follows:
Karl Louis Daubert, Quincy, Ill.
Edward L. Nollau, Gravois Settlement,
Mo.
John Jacob Riess, Centerville, Ill.
Herman Garlichs, Femme Osage, Mo.
Philip Jacob Heyer, St. Charles, Mo.
George W. Wall, St. Louis, Mo.
After mature and prayerful consideration, it was decided by these men to organize themselves as "The German Evangelical Church Association of the West." Pastor Daubert was chosen president and Pastor Nollau secretary of the association. Twenty-four resolutions were adopted defining the scope and objects of the association, and the following doctrinal statement formulated and subscribed to by those present:
"The German Evangelical Church Association of the West, as a part of the Evangelical Church, defines the term 'Evangelical Church' as denoting that branch of the Christian Church which acknowledges the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God, the sole and infallible guide of faith and life, and accepts the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures as given in the symbolic books of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches, the most important being the Augsburg confession, Luther's and the Heidelberg catechisms, insofar as they agree, but where they disagree, the German Evangelical Association of the West adheres strictly to the passages of Holy Scripture bearing on the subject, and avails itself of the liberty of conscience prevailing in the Evangelical Church."
This doctrinal statement and the resolution adopted by the Association were later approved and subscribed to also by Pastor Joseph Rieger and Pastor John Gerber, neither of whom could be present at the organization meeting, the former, because absent in Germany, and the latter, because hindered by unavoidable causes.
During the first eight or ten years of its life this new Association may be said to have led a precarious existence, and no doubt hopes and fears were entertained concerning its future. Meetings were held semi-annually with a fair degree of regularity, but for a long time it was impossible to muster more men together than had attended the original meeting. Pastor Nollau shortly after returned to Europe and later entered mission service in South Africa, where he remained for three years, Pastor Garlichs accepted a call in the East; Pastor Daubert went to Louisville, while Pastor Heyer devoted himself to private pursuits and Pastor Gerber withdrew from the association. These losses, coming just during the first years of the association's existence could not but seriously menace its future usefulness and power, and would indeed have proved so had not new members, even tho in small numbers, been added from time to time. The first of these gains was recorded in 1844, when a young pastor was sent over from the Basel Mission House. Five others followed in the next year. In this same year, 1845, there came two young men sent out by the Bremen Missionary Society, who in later years were to prove a tower of strength to the Association. These two young men were William Binner and Adolph Baltzer, the latter the father of our present President General.
Baltzer's first charge was in Long Prairie, Ill.; his second in St. Louis, from whence he went to St. Charles, where he remained for eight years. He next became connected with our Seminary, serving as a professor for a term of years and was then elected the first General President of the Association, which office he held up to the time of his death, in1880.
Binner found his first field of labor in Waterloo, Ill. In 1850 he became the first instructor at the theological seminary which had just been founded. He was also the first editor of the Friedensbote, serving in that capacity from 1850 until 1857.
Dating from this time, there was a distinct progress to be recorded in the affairs of the association, and at the eleventh conference, held in June 1847, the records showed the names of nine pastors with twenty congregations. At the meeting held in October, 1847 the revised catechism, prepared by Pastor Baltzer, was finally accepted and ordered printed, and everybody felt that a new epoch had dawned in the history of the little German Evangelical Church Association of the West.
While, as we have seen, the efforts of the German Evangelical Church Association had to do especially with the religious work among the Germans in the West, similar activities had been carried on in other sections of the country. These sections had perhaps had an experience much like those observed in Missouri and Illinois and had received aid in a similar way, thru one or the other missionary society in Germany. As these various communities sprang up their attention was naturally directed to those already in existence, and because of their similar aims and objects they gravitated toward a common fellowship. Such movements resulted in the absorption by our body of a number of smaller church bodies, organized independently, but later uniting their forces with us in forming a larger denomination.
The first of these associations to unite with us was "The German Evangelical Association of Ohio," organized in 1850. This union was effected in 1858 at Cincinnati, O., and was followed in 1860 by a union with "The United Evangelical Synod of the East." In neither case was the resultant increase in the number of pastors large, but these unions with smaller bodies were important nevertheless because they gave our synod a widening field for the establishment of its work.
Two further unions were accomplished shortly afterwards, one in 1872 with "The United Evangelical Synod of the Northwest," and the other with a second "United Evangelical Synod of the East" in 1866. By the first of these unions forty-eight pastors were added to the membership of the association, and it was at this time that a change of name was decided upon, and the title, "German Evangelical Synod of the West" selected. Twenty-five pastors were added thru the union effected in 1872. By reason of these further acquisitions, the Synod now had its pastors distributed over a considerable portion of the country, and it was felt that the name "Synod of the West" was rather too limited a designation. Another change in name was therefore determined upon, and in 1977 our Synod became officially known as "The German Evangelical Synod of North America," which name it has since borne.
At the time of its organization the Church Association held semi-annual meetings, but with the increase in membership and the distance separating the pastors from one another, many changes became necessary and had to be gradually introduced. The first division into Districts occurred in the year 1857 at Evansville, Ind., when an Eastern, a Central, and a Northern District were organized. At this meeting it was also decided to hold a General Conference every two years, to be composed of delegates elected by these several Districts.
This arrangement was satisfactory until 1872, when further changes and additions were required, caused by the increase of our membership thru the affiliation of other synods. Thus at the General Conference held in Quincy, Ill., in that year a Northeast and Northwest District were formed. Two years later, at Indianapolis, Ind., two further Districts were formed and the names of all Districts designated by serial numbers, first, second, etc. Later the number of Districts was increased to eleven, and again to thirteen. With the growth of the Synod new Districts were continually added, until today we have seventeen Districts, two Mission Districts and two Mission Territories.
It has already been stated that in the beginning a General Conference was held every two years. This conference was composed of one delegate for every six pastors and one for every six affiliated congregations. In 1874 triennial meetings of the General Conference were decided upon, and in 1877 the number of delegates reduced to one representative for each nine pastors and one for each like number of congregations affiliated with the Synod. A further change was made in 1898, when the number of delegates was again reduced, this time to one in twelve, and in 1901 it was decided that thereafter the General Conference should meet quadrienially.
From the date of its organization until the present time our Synod has been able to record a steady increase in the number of its pastors and congregations from year to year. It has never aimed at phenomenal growth or sensational activity, but has rather sought spiritual achievement and normal development along the lines of service most needed by the people it aimed to reach. The exclusive use of the German language until a comparatively recent date and the different methods of church work brought over from Germany are causes that limited our field and restricted our influence against forming a closer relationship with our American sister denominations, while their earlier arrival has given them the start in numbers, recourses and opportunities. But like them we are impelled by the spirit of Jesus Christ to preach the Gospel of Christ and Him crucified and therefore lay claim to a share of the vast work in which they are engaged. In the firm conviction that in the idea to which we owe our existence we have a definite and valuable contribution to offer to the development of American Christianity we are ready to serve and to labor with all who trust in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Saviour and Lord of men. As the years have passed our denomination has secured for itself a place among the Churches in our land; and it is becoming more evident that it has a work to perform, and that it is going about it in a thoro fashion.
The following table will show at a glance the growth of our Synod during the first seventy-five years of its existence:
Year
Pastors Churches
1847
9
20 (Affiliated only)
1866
122
68
" "
1874
304
204
" "
1883
427
535 (Affiliated and independent)
1895
839
1075
"
" "
1905
912
1198
"
" "
1915
1074
1381
"
" "