26
August 1748 A.D. Rev. Henry Muhlenberg & 1st
Lutheran Synod in Colonies—Lutheran Synod of Philadelphia
Graves, Dan. “First Lutheran Synod in the
Colonies.” Christianity.com. April 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/first-lutheran-synod-in-the-colonies-11630251.html. Accessed 19 May 2014.
The German Lutherans started arriving in
Pennsylvania in 1683 under the leadership of Frank Pastorius, and many more
followed. The Lutheran colonists built two new churches, including one in
Trappe, Pennsylvania, near whose walls their famous leader Henry Melchior
Mühlenberg was later buried. In 1741, Mühlenberg accepted the call to come to
Pennsylvania. He reached Philadelphia on November 15, 1742. Upon arrival in the
City of Brotherly Love, Mühlenberg proceeded to New Hanover and New Providence
Pennsylvania. He was back in Philadelphia in time to preach his first sermon
there on December 5.
The most important work Mühlenberg undertook was
the founding of the Lutheran Synod of Pennsylvania. This was officially
established on this date, August 26, 1748. Although rather informal, with no
constitution in the beginning, the Synod gave form and focus to the Lutheran
communities throughout the state. Mühlenberg was in an undeniable position of
leadership. It was a significant moment in the long and illustrious history of
Lutheranism in America but Mühlenberg could easily have been distracted by
current events.
In 1748 it seemed France and Spain might assault
Pennsylvania. Religious groups took sides on the issue: the Quakers and their
friends rejecting any defense at all, the Episcopalians and Presbyterians
preaching sermons and holding lotteries to build a coastal fortification.
"We said, however," wrote Mühlenberg, "that we had been sent to
preach to our people repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus, and
hence we could not mix in political affairs unless we had express orders from
our highest or provincial government; accordingly we remained silent."
From 1754 to 1760 no regular synods were held, but
in 1760, primarily through the influence of Mühlenberg's friend, Provost Karl
Magnus Wrangel, the meetings were revived. Mühlenberg wrote the constitution
for the mother congregation in Philadelphia, St. Michael's, which was adopted
in 1762. It became a model for many Lutheran congregations. By 1781 the
constitution of the Evangelical Ministerium of North America was completed.
Bibliography:
1. Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg
Patriarch lutherischen kirke Nordamerika. Allentown, Pennsylvania, 1881.
2. Lagerquist, L. DeAne. The
Lutherans. Westport, Connecticutt: Praeger, 1999.
3. "Mühlenberg, Henry
Melchior." Dictionary of American Biography. New York : Scribner, 1958 -
1964.
4. "Mühlenberg, Henry
Melchior." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L.
Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
5. Nelson, E. Clifford, et al
editors. The Lutherans in North America. Philadelphia : Fortress Press, c1975.
6. Rubincam, Milton. "Henry
Melchior Muhlenberg's Early Labors in Pennsylvania: 1742 - 1760. Pennsylvania
History, a Journal of mid-Atlantic studies. Volume 10, No. 3 (July 1943) 178 -
192.
7. Various encyclopedia and internet
articles.
Last updated April, 2007.
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