USA > New York > New York City > The beginnings of Lutheranism in New York, written for the United Lutheran Synod of New York in connection with its celebration of the three hundredth anniversary of the oldest Lutheran Church in America > Part 3
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Further services were sternly forbidden by an order promptly issued by the court "against the congregation of certain persons of the Lutheran sect."9 "98 Lutheran services in Albany were as effec- tively suppressed as they had been in Manhattan.
Lutheran Protests Are Ignored
The Lutherans did not take this high-handed action lying down. They immediately dispatched a letter to the Lutheran Con- sistory in Amsterdam, giving the details of what had happened.99 The Consistory acted promptly. Several of its members "called on and spoke to some of their friends among the directors of the West India Company, and they had been given good hope of ob- taining free exercise of religion" in the colony.100
As soon as this glowing report was received, the Consistory wrote the colonial Lutherans what was to them amazing news.101 The Consistory, the letter stated, had "by God's help" succeeded
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so well with the Directors "that it was resolved and decided by them, according to information given us, that in future in New Netherland our religion of the pure doctrine according to the Unaltered Augsburg Confession shall be tolerated by connivance, in the same way it is at the present time tolerated" in Holland. The Consistory therefore "ventured to advise" the colonial Luther- ans "to look around for a capable person and to call him as [their ] regular preacher and spiritual leader."
The same day, the Directors of the West India Company sent to Stuyvesant a severe rebuke concerning the harsh ordinance of February 1. They had apparently forgotten their own stern reso- lution of a year ago. The rebuke stated that it would have been better if the Governor "had not posted up the edict against the Lutherans, and had not punished them by imprisonment"; that hereafter he was not to permit any more such edicts to be published "without the previous knowledge" of the Directors; furthermore, he was to permit the Lutherans "free worship in their houses."102
The concluding phrase to permit "free worship in their houses" was certain to be interpreted in two contrasting ways. To the Reformed Church authorities it was perfectly clear : it meant simply "freedom to serve God quietly" in one's home, "without instituting any public gatherings."
But the Lutherans were just as determined that it clearly meant freedom of public worship in their homes. Consequently, when they received the Consistory's letter, they struck out boldly. A new petition to Stuyvesant and the New Netherland Council stated that they expected no further interference from the authori- ties. Their Lutheran Consistory in Amsterdam had secured tolera- tion for them from the Directors "in the same manner as in the Fatherland," wherefore they were "not to be hindered in [their] services, until a qualified person shall come next spring from the Fatherland to be [their] minister and teacher, and remain here as such."104
The colonial authorities, however, budged not an inch. They answered that the Lutherans might have in their homes only family
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THE BEGINNINGS OF LUTHERANISM IN NEW YORK
worship, which might include "praying, thanksgivings, and sing- ing according to their faith." But if any attempt were made to include others with the family, then the order of February 1 would be rigidly enforced.105
Amsterdam Consistory Goes Ahead 1 Balked again, the Lutherans wrote the sad news to the Con- sistory.106 By now it appeared without doubt that they would never get any freedom except by a specific order to Stuyvesant from the States General of The Netherlands and the Directors of the West India Company. If a pastor were sent without that order, it was certain that the "governor would send such a person back to Holland."
Schrick took the letter personally to Amsterdam,107 and pre- sented it to the Lutheran Consistory in January of 1657. Some of the members of that body went again to their friends among the Directors, to urge them to work for an order to Stuyvesant to grant freedom of worship to the Lutherans in New Netherland.108
But the Reformed Church authorities in Amsterdam had also been conducting interviews, and they gained their point when the Directors instructed Stuyvesant that they had "by no means the intention to grant the Lutherans any more liberty regarding the exercise of their religion" than they had stated the year previ- ously.109 The Lutherans knew then that nothing more than strictly family worship would be permitted.
The Directors' order was dated April 7, 1657. The Consistory apparently did not learn about it, but was relying upon a report made to it on April 2 that while "there appeared at present to be no chance" of a formal order from the Directors for freedom of worship, nevertheless several of the friendly Directors had "sug- gested in private" that if the Consistory "sent a pastor thither, public worship would doubtless be tolerated by connivance and closing of the eye."110
At any rate, if the Consistory failed to learn of the action of the Directors, the Directors likewise failed to learn of a
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significant action of the Consistory. For at the time the Directors were sending off their order to Stuyvesant to permit no public services, Candidate Johannes Ernestus Gutwasser was being ex- amined by the Consistory in preparation for his ordination as the first Lutheran pastor in New Netherland.
Candidate Johannes Gutwasser
On the strength of the report brought to it on April 2, the Consistory determined not to waste any time. It resolved that it "would at the first opportunity try to secure a capable and pious person" and in the name of the New Netherland congregation to "extend a call to him."111
Then an extraordinary thing happened. The next day, April 3, there appeared before the Consistory Candidate Johannes Ernestus Gutwasser,112 who, "with the approval of Mr. Paulus Schrick, was offered the call of New Netherland, to go thither and hold the charge of pastor there."113
Just how did it all happen ? One day the Consistory determines to seek a pastor, and the very next day the candidate presents him- self. The only inference to be drawn is that Paulus Schrick had continuously remembered the Consistory's advice of three years ago that "he should quietly seek to contract with someone" to go to New Netherland as the pastor.114 In that search he must have come upon Gutwasser, either in the latter's home town, or perhaps at the home of his brother in Amsterdam.115
So little, unfortunately, is known of Johannes Gutwasser. His home was in Schneeberg, near Meissen in Saxony (now in the Russian sector of Germany, behind the iron curtain).116 His mother lived there; it appears that his father was dead. He had a married brother, Andreas, thirty-one years of age, living in Am- sterdam. Early in 1657 he visited his brother, and that may have been the occasion when he became known to Schrick.
When Gutwasser expressed his willingness to accept the call, he took the regular examination for ordination. As a university man-he held the degree of Mastor of Theology117-he would
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THE BEGINNINGS OF LUTHERANISM IN NEW YORK
not be required to take a theological examination in Amsterdam, but, like every other candidate, he would have to satisfy the Con- sistory as to his soundness in the faith, and also as to his capability. Part of the latter examination was the preaching of a "trial ser- mon" in the church.118
The examination over, arrangements were speedily made that he be "ordained and inducted into the holy ministry."119 This took place on Tuesday morning, April 10, in the Old Lutheran Church in Amsterdam. Obviously there was no publicity because of the Reformed hostility, and since the service was held on a week-day morning there were probably few people present in addition to Andreas Gutwasser, his wife Margaretha, and Paulus Schrick. The ordination doubtless was performed by the senior minister of the Church, Pastor Paulus Cordes, assisted by several or all of the three associate ministers.120
The order for Gutwasser's ordination, in Dutch, was recently found in the Library of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Amsterdam,121 and is given in the next chapter. We wish it were possible to make the momentous occasion come fully alive by means of an eye-witness account of the service-whether there was a procession of ministers and candidate; how the candidate was presented; how the service was conducted; and especially how the laying on of hands proceeded. But unfortunately no such de- scription appears to exist, and there are no rubrics relating to the above questions in the Order for Ordination. We do know the vestments worn by the officiating ministers, as seen from the repro- duction of the portrait of Pastor Cordes.122
M. PAULUS CORDES HAMBURGENSIS. Dienaer van het H. Evangelium in de Gemecute der Augsb. Confelsie tot Amfterdam Geboren in't Jaer jeg Beroepen 1641.Geltorven 16 ..
Pastor Paulus Cordes, Senior pastor of the Old Lutheran Church in Amsterdam when Johannes Ernestus Gutwasser was ordained the first Lutheran pastor to New Netherland. -From etching received from the Church by courtesy Simon Hart, its present Archivist.
CHAPTER 6 First Pastor Ordained
IN THE presence of the little congregation which was assembled in the ancient Lutheran Church in Amsterdam, Candidate Johan- nes Ernestus Gutwasser presented himself before the officiating ministers, to be ordained to the holy ministry according to the "Or- der which is used at the Admission and Consecration of Pastors" in the "Christian Congregations adhering to the Unaltered Augs- burg Confession in these Netherlands."123
The Ordination Service Begins
In the stillness of that grand old church, one of the Ministers began the stately service with the exhortation and prayer :
Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ. Forasmuch as no one may be saved without believing; no one can believe unless he hears the Gospel; no one can hear the Gospel unless he has it preached to him; no one can preach un- less he is sent : Therefore we are in duty bound always to pray fervently to the Most High God, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, beseeching Him, as Lord of the harvest, that He would send faithful laborers into His harvest and give capable pastors and teachers to His Church, so that His people may not be like sheep without a shepherd, but that by the work of this office the saints may be edified and the body of Jesus Christ may be estab- lished and extended.
And forasmuch as in this age God the Lord deals with us through intermediaries, therefore the leaders of the congregation are bound to see that the Office of Pastor be conferred and bestowed only upon those who are trust- worthy witnesses and qualified to teach others.
In harmony with this, the God-fearing brother here
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present, Johannes Ernestus Gutwasser, has been regu- larly called to the Office of Pastor, and we are requested to ordain and induct him into that office. In order now to fulfill this Christian request, we are here assembled, in the name and before the face of the Most High, to conse- crate our beloved brother to the Office of Pastor, and to induct him into the same. But that everything may be done fittingly, let us first humbly and with our whole heart pray to the God of Mercy, in the name of Jesus Christ, saying :
O Almighty, eternal God, most heartily we beseech Thee to enlighten us in this hour of Thy Holy Spirit, and to strengthen us through the same, so that we may per- form this act in Thine own Name with all due reverence and devotion. Grant, O Lord, that our brother bear in mind that his consecration to the Holy Ministry comes from Thee, through us only as intermediaries ; grant also that the members of the congregation in New Nether- land will receive him as Thy messenger. Gracious Father, so direct all things, that they may redound to the glory of Thy holy Name, to the extension of Thy dearly pur- chased church, and to the eternal salvation of many men, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Directly addressing the candidate, the Minister called upon him to "give heed unto certain precepts from the Word of God concerning the office of the Holy Ministry." Thereupon he read six passages of Scripture, five from the New Testament and the sixth from the Prophet Ezekiel, all relating to the responsibilities of the pastor.124
The reading having ended, the Minister asked the candidate to "take note of three things":
First. That you acknowledge that your consecration to this office is of God Himself. ... Wherefore, you are to be a steward of God, a servant of Christ, a watchman whose appointment is from the Lord.
Second. That you acknowledge the duties required of your office, namely, to preach the Word of God and
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to administer the Holy Sacraments, to have the super- vision of the congregation, to teach those who need to learn, to comfort those who need comforting, to admon- ish those who need admonition, to discipline those who need disciplining. ... You are to perform the duties of your office with your whole heart; . .. You are to be blameless and an example to the congregation.
Third. That you acknowledge that for your reward there will be no great riches; ... you are to look for your reward from the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ, ... you are to be found faithful, for if you become slothful or unfaithful in the work of the Lord, the curse shall over- take you.
Gutwasser's Solemn Declarations
The Minister then asked the candidate to answer, "before the face of God," certain questions concerning his faith and life, as well as his intentions in assuming the pastoral office :
First, I ask you, do you acknowledge the writings of the Prophets and Apostles of the Old and New Testa- ments to be inspired by God; and do you believe that the same are the sole and infallible rule according to which all doctrines are rightly to be judged?
Second, I ask you, do you hold the three ecumenical creeds, the Apostles', the Nicene, and the Athanasian, to . be sacred and well-founded confessions of faith; do you heartily embrace the doctrines expressed therein, and do you reject all heresies and doctrines which are opposed to the same or which at any time may worm their way into the Church?
Third, I ask you, do you regard the doctrines em- braced in the Unaltered Augsburg Confession of the year 1530, delivered into the hands of the Emperor Charles V, in the Apology of the same, in the Smalkald Articles, in the two Catechisms of Luther, and in the Christian Formula of Concord, as in harmony with God's Holy Word : do you heartily adhere to the same, and do you reject all errors which are condemned therein?
Fourth, I ask you, will you faithfully proclaim to
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your hearers the pure doctrines set forth for us in the Holy Scriptures and repeated in the writings which are mentioned above and which our Churches join to the Scriptures ; and will you warn them earnestly against all erroneous opinions and heresies, which are at variance. with the Holy Scriptures and the Confessions embraced by our Churches ?
Fifth, I ask you, will you uphold the Church Order and rites adopted by us, and not change anything in the same rashly or without general approval?
Sixth, I ask you, will you faithfully perform the ministrations of your office, strive to live a blameless life, set yourself as an example before the congregation, and adorn your doctrine with an honest, upright and godly life?
Seventh, I ask you, should it happen (which God forbid) that you should be at fault in doctrine or in life, will you place yourself willingly under ecclesiastical dis- cipline, and not oppose anything which the Consistory or the General Ministerium shall lay upon you ?
Finally, I ask you, have you made your answers to the present proposed questions thoughtfully, uprightly, and without dissimulation, remembering that God, by Whom this congregation is commended to you, is Him- self present, that He hears your affirmations and prom- ises, fathoms your heart and soul, and is a stern Judge against all falsehood and deceitfulness ?
Having received the candidate's "solemn declarations and promises," the Minister prayed that God through His Holy Spirit would enable the candidate to remain faithful in that which he had just declared and promised. The congregation joined in the Lord's Prayer which followed.
Gutwasser Is Ordained
Approaching the solemn moment when the candidate was to be "admitted and consecrated" to his holy office, the Minister declared :
The time has now come for the laying on of hands, which is an ancient custom in the Old Testament as well
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as in the New. But that you may know and keep in re- membrance why we do this, I shall declare briefly the meaning of the laying on of hands.
Whereupon the Minister explained that the "laying on of hands has a four-fold significance":
First, dear brother, you will be mindful that by the laying on of hands you are set apart and ordained of God to the office of Pastor.
Whenever in old times any oxen or sheep were chosen for sacrifice, a hand was laid on their heads: In like manner hands are laid upon you to show that you are set apart, chosen and ordained of God, to feed the Church of Jesus Christ with the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Holy Sacraments.
Second, dear brother, know that by the laying on of hands a great burden is laid upon you. The world thinks lightly of the office of the Word, and there are some who assume that office thoughtlessly : but just as the hands when laid upon the head are heavy, so is the pastoral office a burden, filled with griefs and troubles; wherefore Paul wrote in II Corinthians 2, Who is sufficient for these things?
Third, you are assured, dear brother, by the laying on of hands, that God will strengthen you with His sup- porting hand, and preserve you from all who set them- selves against you.
Fourth, you are warned, dear brother, by the laying on of hands, that you must be on your guard against all negligence and unfaithfulness. The hands laid upon your head are heavy, but far heavier upon you would be the hand of an angry God if you should neglect or disperse the Church which God has bought so dearly and re- deemed with his own blood. You must watch over the souls of your hearers, for you shall give an account thereof ; if you are negligent and unfaithful, the Lord of these lost souls will require their blood at your hands.
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The candidate having been ordained, a beautiful prayer was offered on his behalf by the Minister :
O Father of Light! from Whom cometh every good and every perfect gift, with Whom is no variation of light and darkness: most heartily we beseech Thee, on behalf of our brother here present, whom Thou has guided by Thy counsel and set apart and called to the Office of the Ministry, and upon whom Thou hast laid the burden of the same : guide him by Thy mighty hand, and strengthen and preserve him in all the ministrations of his office, to the greater glory of Thy Name, to the extension of Thy Church, and to the salvation of many people, through Jesus Christ, Thine only begotten Son, our Lord. Amen.
The Minister thereupon "commended" the newly ordained pastor to the congregation to which he had been called, and charged him to
see to it that you give heed unto yourself, and unto the congregation over which God has placed you as a bishop and overseer; watch over the souls of the believers, re- membering that you will have to give an account thereof.
The Service Comes to a Close
The service was coming now to a close. A general prayer was offered to "praise and thank our beloved God, and call upon Him to increase His heavenly grace," particularly to the newly ordained "brother and co-laborer."
The congregation united in the singing of the Sixty-seventh Psalm, and with the solemn benediction, "The Lord bless thee and keep thee," the glorious service became a memory. It was doubtless a blessing that the young pastor did not know that the glory of his hour was not unlike that of his Master on the Mount of Trans- figuration,125 for he too was soon to walk up to a cross, and it was not a light one.
CHAPTER 7
Crushed
IMMEDIATELY upon his ordination, Gutwasser received from the Lutheran Consistory in Amsterdam a letter addressed to his con- gregation in New Netherland, calling upon all its members to "accept, honor, and respect him" as their pastor. Upon taking leave of the Consistory, he was gladdened by its generous gift of $24 "for his journey" to the new world.126
Shortly after Gutwasser had left Holland in the ship The Golden Mill, the Reformed authorities in Amsterdam learned about it, and suspected that he had been "ordained as a preacher and sent to New Netherland in that capacity." They lost no time, therefore, in getting reassurance from the Directors of the West India Com- pany that there would be no approval of his mission.127 Gutwasser, meanwhile, was sailing steadily westward, blissfully ignorant both of the maneuvering behind him and of the storm awaiting him.
Gutwasser Is Rejected
On Friday, July 6, 1657, his ship arrived in Manhattan, "to the great joy of the Lutherans, but to the special displeasure and uneasiness of the [Reformed] congregation."128 Then things hap- pened. And fast.
The Reformed leaders protested vigorously to the City Coun- cil against the Lutherans for "obstinately prosecuting their object against the known and declared will of the government." The City Council summoned Gutwasser, who stated frankly that "he had been sent on behalf of the [Lutheran] Consistory [at Amster- dam], to occupy the position of a preacher here, as far as it would be allowed." But the Council had no intention of "allowing" any- thing, and ordered Gutwasser "not to hold public or private exer-
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CRUSHED
cise in this city," and even commanded him "not to deliver to the congregation the letter from the Consistory until further notice."129
The next day the New Netherland Council made the prohi- bition effective for the whole colony, by ordering Gutwasser "not to hold any conventicles (meetings) within this province, either directly or indirectly, nor within the same to perform any manner of religious services, whether by preaching or by administering the sacraments." 130
Gutwasser soon recognized the hopelessness of his mission. His congregation had been cowed by the threat of heavy fines. His own movements had been severely circumscribed by several ordi- nances directed at himself. In short, he knew that the authorities just did not want him under any circumstances, and unless specific orders for freedom of worship came quickly from the Holland authorities "there was no hope whatever." Such orders, of course, never arrived, for the simple reason that they were never issued. Consequently, a month later, Gutwasser was first "requested," then bluntly "ordered," to leave the colony at once.131
It was a severe ordeal for the young pastor. He was then two months in the colony, and because the authorities kept hounding him and his congregation, he had not "thus far held any meeting or religious services." He was distressed also that some of his members, fearful of "loss of favor or property," were turning away from his congregation. He had personal worries too, because there were so few Manhattan members who contributed to his support. If the Albany members, whom he apparently never did get to visit, had not "helped to bear the expense, he could hardly have been supported."132 And now he was ordered to get out of the colony.
The deportation order brought the issue to a head. What were the Lutherans going to do now? They could have taken the easy way out by telling Gutwasser to return to Holland, temporarily at least, since they were helpless. But they chose rather to oppose the order.
They presented a petition to the Governor signed by twenty-
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four leaders, requesting the deportation order to be held in abey- ance until orders arrived from the Holland authorities, especially since Gutwasser had "behaved himself as an honest man and had never refused obedience" to the government, and since the mem- bers of the congregation, too, had "behaved quietly and obediently." Several days later, Gutwasser presented a personal petition, along the same lines. 133
The New Netherland Council brushed both petitions aside, stating that two ships had already sailed since Gutwasser had been ordered to get out, and that since he had "treated the order of the provincial government with contempt, he is hereby once again com- manded to leave with one of the ships now ready to sail." This, the intolerant officials piously added, was "necessary for the glory of God, the success of the Reformed Religion, and the common quiet, peace and harmony of this province."134
Gutwasser Goes Into Hiding
Four days later, Gutwasser disappeared from sight. The Lu- therans, apparently not so pious as the government officials, felt that the glory of God might still be advanced without deporting their pastor, so they "sent him quietly away to a farm." Shortly afterward, his bedding and books disappeared also.1
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