E-text prepared by Kurt A. T. Bodling, former Assistant Director:
Reference and Information Services at Concordia Historical Institute, St.
Louis, Missouri, USA
by
From the Lutheran Church Review, July, 1887.
Philadelphia:1887.
The Organization of the Congregationin the Early Lutheran Churches in America.
The Lutheran Church in this country has had an opportunity, as neverbefore in its history, to determine for itself the whole form of itsorganization, uncontrolled by any external forces. In the old world theintimate and organic union of the church with the State left littleliberty in this respect. When, therefore, the early Lutheran immigrantsin this country were disposed to form themselves into congregations, toadopt regulations for their own government, to settle their relations toother Lutheran congregations, to determine the order of worship to beobserved, they had to feel their way in the dark. No little time passedbefore all these matters became settled on a permanent basis. To followthem in their efforts to obtain a satisfactory organization of thecongregation, is what I propose now to do.
There is grave reason to doubt whether, prior to the arrival inPennsylvania of Henry Melchior Muehlenberg, any of the German Lutherancongregations in Pennsylvania had a well-developed, clearly defined,written constitution. I have carefully examined all the written recordsof nearly all the congregations which were in existence at that time,and have failed to find evidence of any such constitution. The firstknown written constitution of the church at Philadelphia was introducedin 1746 by Brunnholtz and Muehlenberg, and it was brief and rudimentary.The congregation at the Swamp, New Hanover, was the earliest Germancongregation in America, begun in 1703 by Justus Falckner, but whateverthe form of organization which it may have received from him, or hisimmediate successor, no record of it is known to exist, and the firstwritten constitution now known is in the hand-writing Muehlenberg. TheTulpehocken congregations were established by Palatinates from theHudson and Mohawk, who came to Pennsylvania in 1723 and 1729. They werefamiliar with the congregational organizations in New York underKocherthal and Falckner, which were formed under the counsel of CourtPreacher Boehm, probably after the similitude of the Savoy Church inLondon, and under the influence of the long established Dutch Lutheranconstitution in New York, based on that at Amsterdam. But no writtenconstitution is now known in Tulpehocken earlier than that introduced byMuehlenberg. In all the old congregations the case is the same, so faras any known evidence proves.
In all the German congregations in Pennsylvania, however, anorganization was found when Muehlenberg came, which had arisen out ofthe necessities of the case, and in all of them it had the samecharacter. There were two orders of officers in each congregation,called Elders and Vorsteher, elected by the members for a definite term.The open letter given by the congregations at Philadelphia, Trappe andNew Hanover, to their representatives sent to Europe in 1733, is signedby the Vorsteher and Elders of the congregations, and there were likeofficers in these congregations when Muehlenberg arrived, to whom hepresented his credentials. The form of power of attorney sent by Dr.Francke to be signed by the congregations in 1734, is addressed to theElders and Vorsteher, and the letter sent to Dr. Ziegenhag