USA > Washington DC > History of St. Paul's English Lutheran Church : and of the work of the church and Sunday school for the semi-centennial year, including additional reports to June 30, 1893, with a synopsis of the semi-centennial services of the church and Sunday school, April 16 and 17, 1893 > Part 9
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Every man should be honest and consistent. The world demands this, and how much more should the Church of Jesus Christ ! We can be denominational without being bigoted. Liberalismn is a deception and a cloak-an enemy in disguise. It is used by men who endeavor to pose as reformers, but who seek to tear down the buildings which age and experience have reared, and in which our fathers and the generations preceding us have served God, and from them have gone up to that "building not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
The charge that our ereed and confession are old, and belong in origin to the ages of the past, is true. We admit it. The world is old, too. So is the sun. So are the lesser lights which are hung in the archway of heaven. And yet neither of these have lost any of their glory or utility since the hand of Omnipotence gave them being.
The Bible is old, and yet it has stood the test of the centuries, and drawn good and wise men to its inex- haustible fountains, who drank of its cooling streams ; and, invited to roam over its broad fields of pearls, have done so, and have gathered many of those pearls and given them to their ehildren and children's children. This they have done, and we of to-day are the inher- itors of their labors.
Christianity is not of modern creation; nor is our Confession. The demands of our times are not for liber- alism, nor for a laxity in faith and practice. But the
119
ENGLISH LUTHERAN CHURCH.
demand is for a positive religion-a positive declaration and statement of every article of our faith ; a tangible and biblical interpretation of the blessed word of God. Our great Augsburg Confession meets all this demand in every particular. It mnet the special demand for the remarkable occasion for which it was prepared. And as it gained a triumph for Christ and his truth then, on the 25th day of June, 1530, so it meets the demands of our day, and is gaining triumphs everywhere.
Its achievements have made the corridors of the centuries echo and re-echo with the shouts of victory, sung by all its adherents ; and this shout will be kept up until time ends, and it be broken on the shore of eternity, and be lost in the grand anthem of redemption sung around the mediatorial throne of Christ.
The Augsburg Confession has blessed tlie world, be- cause the blessing of Christ has rested and is now resting upon it. It is the foundation of the thirty-nine articles of the Episcopal Church, and the foundation of the Westminster confession of the Presbyterian Church, and the foundation of every other biblical confession written or compiled since June, 1530. It antedates all the great declarations of christian doctrines. What a mighty mission it has had ! What a mighty work it has done, is now doing, and will continue to do, until no more souls are to be saved and educated for heaven !
I congratulate you on being a part of a church that embraces within her fold more than 52,000,000 of 111e111- bers; with more than 7,000,000 adherents in the United States; and that is preaching the gospel, in this country, in twelve different languages, and worships God in every civilized tongue in the world.
I congratulate you on the progress that liistoric, con- servative Lutheranisın is making everywhere. Your record as individuals, and as members of St. Paul's congregation, is a record worthy of public mention ;
120
HISTORY OF ST. PAUL'S
and worthy, as an inheritance, to go down to your children and children's children. It is a fifty years' record not only of earth, but a record placed on the pages of God's Book of Remembrance in heaven. It is a record which you will meet again, and which will rejoice your hearts throughout all eternity.
To all of you-
" Who bear Luther's honored name, God grant you his grand courage, too ! Then what a splendid corps ye'll be, At King Emanuel's grand review."
Remarks of Rev. A. Homrighaus, Pastor of Zion's Church.
"It is not often we have the privilege of witnessing an occasion like this. I rejoice with you in these festivi- ties, because they chronicle an important event in the liistory of the Lutheran Church, the mother of protest- anismn in the world, and a leader of evangelism in this, the capital of the greatest nation of the world.
" During these festivities fathers, sons, and daughters have answered roll call. It now remains for the grand- children to bring their tribute. My church is one of the granddaughters of St. Paul's, and for her, and her name, I bring an anniversary greeting on this occasion to the honored grandmother."
After indulging in a few pleasantries, the speaker con- cluded : "Our purpose to-night is to rejoice with you in a full, solid cubic square, all-around church semi-cen- tennial. Long live St. Paul's, named after the great prince of Apostles ! May she continue to bring forth and foster inany spiritual children. With others we are here to pay our tribute to her, and to say a hearty God bless you. And now may the God of all consolation,
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ENGLISH LUTHERAN CHURCH.
who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceed- ing joy, give you prosperity and peace."
Remarks of Rev. D. E. Wiseman, Church of Our Redeemer.
Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen :
It affords me much pleasure to be present this evening to enjoy with you this mnost pleasant and profitable occasion. I bring you greetings from my little mis- sion, the Church of our Redeemer, just beyond the boundary of our city, and bid you God-speed in your future labors for the Master's Kingdom. I am here, also, to thank you for the interest you have at different times taken in our work, by your acts of kindness and words of encouragement.
While it is true we have not done anything very great in that mission, yet we are gratified to know that we have done a little for the Master's Kingdom. It has often been said to me that I am wasting iny time trying to make Lutherans out of the colored people. This, my friends, is a mistake. The colored people are like all other people-you can make anything out of them under heaven.
In the Danish Islands of the West Indies are to be found many loyal colored sons and daughters of Luther. As an Anglo-West Indian, I pray that you do some- thing for the colored people that are in your midst. Educated, they will prove a blessing and power; un- educated, a shame to the country.
Now, Mr. President, allow me to congratulate you and your people upon this, your fiftieth anniversary. You have doubtless made wonderful progress. I admire the Lutheranismn of the churches of Washington, as also
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HISTORY OF ST. PAUL'S
the class of ministers who serve at the altars. You have shown yourselves men, in the fullest sense of the word. My stay among you has been pleasant. I have been made welcome wherever I have inet with you. On the streets, in the churches, in the synod, in your homes, your recognition has been that of manhood and not of color.
May God's blessings rest richly upon you.
Remarks of Rev. C. H. Butler, of Keller Memorial Church.
In response to your kind invitation, I am present this evening to mingle my congratulations and good wishes with the many already extended. It is in a dual capa- city that I am here : first, as a son and former pupil of St. Paul's, and then as pastor of the youngest Lu- theran Church in the city.
As a son, I bring my wreath of affection and love, and place it upon the brow of St. Paul's, the mother of English Lutheranism in the capital of the nation. It was in the parsonage next door that I was born, and there and in the school and church adjoining my early steps were directed in God's ways. There I lived through childhood and early youth, and those years taken from my life would make a large gap. There, too, it was, I believe, I was born again, though not uniting with the church until several years after the Memorial was organized. Thus, as a son and former pupil, I bring greetings, and wish you God speed.
I rejoice for the inany boys and girls taught and led in the ways of righteousness and pleasantness through your instrumentality during the half century of St. Paul's existence ; for the many sons and daughters who have yielded their hearts to the wooings of the Spirit, and have become sons and daughters of God. May your hold upon the young broaden and strengthen, and your
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ENGLISH LUTHERAN CHURCH.
influence widen, ever remembering that "they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever."
But also as pastor of the Keller Memorial, I greet you. A noteworthy coincidence may be mentioned. When the young preacher, Rev. J. G. Butler, my father, came to Washington in 1849 to assume the pastorate of the struggling St. Paul's, he found a home under the hospitable christian roof of the late Rev. Dr. S. D. Finckel. Mrs. Finckel was a Keller, a niece of Dr. Benjamin Keller, for whom the church I am serving was named. It is also interesting and encouraging to know that the Keller Memorial to-day is stronger than was St. Paul's then, and its outlook brighter than that of the young church of fifty years ago. I bespeak your kindly sympathy and help in our work.
During these years St. Paul's has stood for God, for right, and for humanity. She has wrought and spoken for human liberty and the integrity of the union. We can see for ourselves some of the fruits of these years of labor, of self-sacrifice and devotion to God. But their stin who can reckon ?
May the coming years be even better and greater and richer than those that are gone. Consider the golden age to be still before you. Think not the victory yet won nor the race yet finished. Forget the good and inspiring of your past history, lest you · see no further need for work ; lose sight, also, of the bad and dispiriting, whatever there has been, lest your hands be paralyzed. But strengthening her stakes, and lengthening her cords, and widening her scope, may St. Paul's, with pastor and people, "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Chirist Jesus." And may God give to you wisdom and grace and strength to grasp the future, which is big with promise for Him, for the church, and for humanity.
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HISTORY OF ST. PAUL'S
Remarks of Rev. Ernst Drewitz.
I am honored by the invitation to take a part in these exercises, and am pleased in being present at this anni- versary of St. Paul's English Lutheran Church. My gratification on this occasion has a two-fold explanation: First, I am here as the representative of the inother church, and as such I bring greetings of love and good will to the precious daughter whose history of fifty years has been written out in the Gospel work and ecclesiastical progress which she has accomplished during these years. A mother ought to be proud of her children, and especially so when these children have profited by their home training and in after years reflect the glory and honor of the mother.
The mother church and the daughter church are to- night clasping hands in mutual regard, renewing the associations of former years, and standing together in bonds of love which the spirit of christianity begets and inspires-bonds of love that should last forever. I am gratified for another reason: In this reunion I stand as the representative of the Germans. The Lutheran Church, as everybody knows, is of Germanic origin. In the reformnation of the sixteenth century, Luther, the great Teuton, was called to the front in the great leadership of that movement, which, starting in Ger- many, has spread all over the world. Teutonic in origin, the reformation has become Titanic in power and progress; and as inheritors of the grand legacy of . freedom and of truth, we ought to be proud of the achievements of the fathers of the church. As a Ger- man, and the representative of the Germans, I bring you these greetings of love from the German side of our beloved church, believing that you as an English- speaking congregation will always be ready to acknowl. edge what our church owes in honor and high regard to
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ENGLISH LUTHERAN CHURCH.
the Germans who have been so prominent in the leader- ship of religious and scientific thought in the world, and proud of the Germanic origin which God has given to the Protestantism of the world.
This sort of pride is not self-glorification, nor is it meant to be anything of this sort. It is simply the grateful acknowledgment of unutterable blessings which the great Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ, has been pleased to give to the world through the agency of our fathers in the glorious Fatherland, chosen of God in their age and generation, in His wis- dom and goodness, as the best in time and place and personality to give the new light to the coming genera- tions of mankind. We should be pleased, because it pleased God so to bring the reformation into fact and form and magnificent development.
We need to remember also that Lutheranism is not · merely a naine. It means freedom of thought, as well as freedom from sin. The doctrine of "justification by faitlı alone" is only the keynote of that system which takes the Word of God as "the only infallible rule of faith and practice," and to which it makes its final appeal, as Luther did in the great convention at the city of Worms. The glory of "the truth as it is in Jesus," is the glory for which Luther contended, for which he lived, in which he died; and this glory now shining forth, not in the German language only, but in all the "babbling tongues" of earth-this is the glory for which we are to stand, the glory which we are to magnify, as a church of the Lord Jesus Christ forever.
[As Rev. Mr. Drewitz's address was not written out nor stenographically reported, we can only give this imperfect sketch of it. Although accustomed to speak only in German, yet he delivered his address in the English language with much force and accuracy.]
PART II.
HISTORY
OF
St. Paul's English latheran) SUNDAY SCHOOL,
From the Period of its Organization to the Semi- Centennial in 1893.
Extended to July, 1893, Inclusive.
ENGLISH LUTHERAN SUNDAY SCHOOL.
129
HISTORY OF
St. Paul's English Lutheran Sunday School
FROM THE PERIOD OF ITS ORGANIZATION TO THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL IN 1893.
Prepared by the Pastor to include the year 1877, and by the Superin- tendent for the period from 1878 to Juty, 1893, inclusive.
We speak of the church and Sunday school in a uni- tary sense. The Sunday school is simply an important department of the church, and not a separate and divi- sive organization. In harmony with all the other organi- zations, such as the Ladies' Aid, the Woman's Mis- sionary Society, the Young People's Societies, the Sunday school is an essential and important part of the system which a well-organized church or congregation employs in carrying forward the work which the Master has committed to His people for the extension of His kingdom in the world.
The Sunday school has been called the "church's right arm " for power and usefulness-and justly so, because in this form she reaches out her hand of culture and care, of sympathy and love, of prayer and blessing toward the children of the kingdom, that they may be trained for the Lord's service in the morning of life, and early learn to know Him, whose they are, and to whom they are to belong in time and beyond. A history of a congregation would, consequently, be unpardonably de- fective if it did not give the Sunday school department an important place in its pages. Years ago this depart-
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HISTORY OF ST. PAUL'S
ment of church work was much less emphasized and employed than 110W. Fifty years ago Sunday-school work was in a comparatively primitive condition. The progress of the church is perhaps in no other direction more manifest than in this, of Sunday-school expansion, extension, and evolution. The advancement is almost revolution. Helps, agencies, methods of instruction, church literature, architecture, science, and art, the imultiplied forces, material, social, intellectual, and spiritual, all combine in proof of the importance of the Sunday-school movements of the church, and of the wonderful changes which have marked the ecclesiastical history of the past century-of the past half century.
St. Paul's English Lutheran Sunday School.
The endeavor to give the history of our Sunday school is met with serious embarrassment. The begin- nings were of course small ; but the want of records, except in incidental forms, makes it impossible to arrive at complete accuracy in our review of those early years. We are compelled to be satisfied with such facts as we can gather from the meager sources that are at our com- mand. The first organization was formed in the au- tumn or early winter of 1842 in the city hall. The pastor, Dr. Muller, appears as superintendent. The first teachers were David Fowble, Frederick S. Kern, Mrs. Roemmele, and Miss Mary Woodward. Mr. Fowble seems to have been the first treasurer, as well as one of the first teachers. At a later period, March, 1843, we find the same general organization, with the addition of Mr. Henry Grieb as a teacher, and Mr. Andrew Noerr, then a boy of fourteen years of age, as librarian. The enrollment of the Sunday school at this time was about 45 or 50.
From 1843 to 1846 the following additional names were added to the teaching force as reported by Mr.
.
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ENGLISH LUTHERAN SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Graeff when he became pastor : Miss Adelaide De Saules, now Mrs. Boothinan; Miss Annie Miller, now Mrs. Spier; Miss Louise Moore, now Mrs. McCreary; Miss Mary Woodward, now Mrs. Linkins, continued from the first. The officers of the school, as far as we can learn, were about as follows:
First superintendent at organization, Rev. Mr. Muller; second superintendent, from 1846 to 1848, Rev. J. E. Graeff, the second pastor. Following the Rev. Mr. Graeff, the succession is approximately the following: Mr. J. G. Weaver, from 1848 to 1858; Mr. George W. Sharretts, from 1858 to 1860; Mr. Lewis Heyl, from 1860 to 1863; Mr. A. S. Pratt, from 1863 to 1873; Mr. Joseph Enderle, from 1873 to 1874; Mr. George W. Linkins, acting superintendent in 1875 and 1877 ; Mr. Thomas F. Pendel, superintendent in 1877 and IS78 ; Mr. Lucius D. Alden, from July 1, 1878, to the present time.
The secretaries of the school have been as follows : Capt. S. E. Thomason, Fred. W. Pratt, Albert F. Fox, Harry C. Davis, Clarence B. Rheem, B. Frank Meyers, Wm. A. Domer, and J. Granville Meyers, present sec- retary.
Treasurers: David Fowble, Andrew Noerr, J. Henry Kuehling, George Ryneal, Jr., from 1863 to 1873 ; Albert F. Fox, from 1873 to 1893, the present treas- 11rer.
Librarians: Andrew Noerr, Samuel Davis, Alonzo Weaver, Luther E. Burkett, George F. Muth, Charles Webel, Charles S. Domer, Charles H. Onrand, William P. Belt, and George R. Linkins.
The organists of the school since 1874 have been the following : Miss Rebecca Noerr, to 1875; Miss Delia Irene Domer, fiom 1875 to 1881; afterward, Miss Eulalie Domer, Miss Annie Onrand, Mrs. Mary Hazard, Miss Grace E. Fox, and Miss Margaret R. Fox, with Mr, Edward Muth, assistant,
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HISTORY OF ST. PAUL'S
Of teachers we have no written record beyond 1864, but Mrs. J. G. Butler was teacher of the primary class from 1851 up to the time of her death in January, 1862. Miss Jennie Wyndham then became the teacher, and in 1863, under Mr. A. S. Pratt, Miss Mary Butler was also appointed, and two primary (or infant) classes were in operation and so continued for a number of years.
From 1864 to 1871, we find that the following per- sons appear as teachers for various periods during the int- tervening years: Mr. N. Acker, Mrs. Bright, Miss E. Hines, Miss Annie M. Finckel, Mrs. Rose Taylor, Miss E. Berline, Mr. George Ritz, Miss M. Arnold, Rev. J. N. Burkett, Mr. James C. Pratt, Mr. George Ryneal, Mr. M. M. Rohrer, Miss Kate Pratt, Rev. J. G. Butler, Mr. William Day, Miss Mary Butler; Misses Mary Butler, and Jennie Wyndham, primary teachers; Mr. W. H. Fry, Mr. Martin, Mrs. Morris, Mrs. McCaffrey, Mrs. Gibson, Mr. A. D. Miller, Mr. Frank Weaver, Miss Ani Haywood, Mrs. C. A. Davis, Mr. Joseph L. Enderle, Miss Lizzie Reiss, Mr. Albert M. Seip, Mr. John A. Wiedersheim, Mrs. S. M. Pratt, Mr. S. C. Thomason, Miss H. E. Finckel, Mr. J. C. Slater, Miss M. Farquhar, Mrs. M. A. Linkins, Mr. A. N. West, M. A. E. Keene, Miss C. A. Noerr, Mr. John Shaw, Mr. E. P. Rankin, Miss Emma Eckloff, Miss Mary Tilton, Miss M. E. McLelland, Miss Helen Schreiner, Mrs. J. A. Wieder- sheim, Miss H. Linkins, Mrs. D. D. Tilton, Mr. D. D. Tilton, Mr. Thomas F. Pendel, Mr. William H. Finckel, Mr. J. Weigle, Mr. C. F. Kuhnle, Mrs. A. B. Nodine, Miss Rebecca Noerr, Mr. Lucius D. Alden, Mr. C. G. Lombardy, Mr. George W. Callahan, Mr. G. W. Linkins, and Mr. J. H. Kuehling.
An examination of the old records fromn 1864 to the organization of the Memorial enterprise in 1868, gives an interesting revelation of the condition and prosperity of the Sunday school during those years. Mr. A. S.
3
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ENGLISH LUTHERAN SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Pratt, the veteran Sunday-school worker, was the effi- cient superintendent, and wrought with much success. We present the monthly statements for several years, the most successful years in the history of the school prior to the organization of the Memorial Sunday school. The statements will afford interesting data for compari- son with the condition and work of the school now, in the semi-centennial year:
December, 1864. Highest number
206
Average ..
165
Class offerings $16 93
Classes 18
January aud February, 1865, about the same.
March, 1865.
Average number in attendance.
190
April, 1865.
Highest number 218
Average 210
Class offerings $26 57
April 9, 1865, Rev. Morris Officer, the founder of the African Mission, addressed the school. Contributed for the mission, $25.
1865-May.
Highest number, 228; average .€
181
June.
232;
220
July.
200;
189
August.
208;
IS2
September.
168
October.
231;
186
November.
256;
238
December.
275;
194
Class offerings ..
$40 00
1866-January.
Highest number, 236; average.
219
February.
..
242;
226
March.
256;
236
April.
268;
196
May.
250;
227
June.
215;
171
July.
207;
180
August.
215;
IS7
October.
231;
224
November.
256;
228
December.
251;
66
219
1867-January
251;
216
February.
66
262;
234
March.
268;
221
196
178
September.
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HISTORY OF ST. PAUL'S
1867-April.
Highest number, 290; average
279
May,
* 322;
* 288
June.
262;
251
July
251;
231
August.
227;
2:8
September.
256;
240
October.
249;
238
November.
(no record.)
December. Highest number, 263;
260
1868-January.
¥
260;
237
February.
240;
206
March.
244;
223
April.
16
275;
250
May.
304;
248
June.
285;
270
July
235;
209
August.
217;
197
September.
235;
219
October.
235;
220
The enrollment December, 1865, was 331 -- officers, 6; teachers, 22, and scholars, 303, in 22 classes. The two primary classes contained 110 scholars.
Rev. Albert Ebeling, scholar, teacher, and later assist- ant superintendent, died in the early part of 1865.
The records of the treasurer, Mr. Geo. Ryneal, Jr., for the period above noted, were destroyed by fire somne years since, and no full statement as to the collections and otlier receipts can be given, but large sums were :
raised and used in the operations of the school.
The Memorial Sunday school was organized in July, 1868, with officers and teachers largely from St. Paul's, and with an enrollment of scholars also largely taken from the school. Some depletion in numbers would naturally result to the parent school from the new movement and interest until reconstructive efforts should re-people the ranks and classes thus reduced. The record shows that "high-water mark " was reached under the superintendency of Mr. A. S. Pratt, in May, 1867, when the school had highest attendance, 322, and
.
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ENGLISH LUTHERAN SUNDAY SCHOOL.
an average of 288. This was the "star " month of the greatest prosperity the school had ever attained before the period of colonization and separation which marks the history of St. Paul's since 1868. Our semi-centen- nial record shows that St. Paul's Sunday school, not- withstanding all withdrawals in the several new organi- zations which have gone out since 1868, at this time, in this year of jubilee, and as we pass into the opening year of another semi-centenary, has quite surpassed all of its former history, and marks the semi-centennial year as "the star year " of the church and the school. It is "the star year " in every factor of strength and prosperity, in numbers, in equipment, in class offerings, and in general efficiency and strength. The equation of our joy must be found in our gratitude to God for the prosperity given.
The percentages of St. Paul's Sunday school as to its present condition must be estimated, however, from its enfeebled condition in 1874. The various influences which had been operative against its prosperity, influ- ences of various kinds and degrees that can not now be fully traced nor recounted, had reduced the school down to very "low-water mark " when the fifth pastorate commenced. As indicative of its enfeebled condition and needs, the following action was taken by the little band of teachers that remained in the school, and who were earnestly solicitous for something better. A com- munication was addressed to members of the church and friends of the school, which reads thus:
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