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 5

Author: Kreider, Harry Julius, 1896-1961
Publication date: 1949
Publisher: New York
Number of Pages: 102


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 5


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Upon this your sincere confession to God, I, as a Minister of Jesus Christ (by the authority of His words in John, the 20th chapter : Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained) declare unto all who are peni- tent, the entire forgiveness of all their sins, in the Name of God the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : but to the impenitent I declare that their sins are retained until they change for the better, for which God Himself grant them grace, through Jesus Christ, in whose Name we pray : Our Father, etc.


The Lord's Supper


Having prepared themselves, through the service of repent- ance and absolution, the members were now ready to come to the Holy Supper, administered according to their own Lutheran order. We wish that for this service also we might have had preserved an eye-witness account of the group of forty-five people, assembled together in the home of one of the members, reverently and joy- fully participating in this Supper of their Lord.


That nothing may mar the beauty of the order of the service, it is given here in full without additional comments :173


Dearly beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ ! Forasmuch as on this day we administer the gracious and comforting Supper of our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, which He has instituted and in which He gives us His true Body as a heavenly food, and His Blood as a life-giv-


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THE BEGINNINGS OF LUTHERANISM IN NEW YORK


ing drink, wherewith to strengthen our faith; therefore it is right that we should diligently and carefully examine ourselves, so that we do not through unseemly pleasure receive death instead of life, as the Apostle Paul earnestly admonished us:174 Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup; for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. Therefore you who come to the holy Supper should truly know and remember :


First, that the Son of God Himself is here among you, and gives you to eat and to drink His true body and blood, in the same manner in which He took the bread, and said : Eat, this is my body, and took the cup and said : Drink, this is my blood of the New Testament. Where- fore you should worthily receive such food and drink, by true repentance and faith in Him.


Second, that this Holy Sacrament has been insti- tuted and given to us poor sinners for the special comfort of our weak and sorrowing consciences and for the strengthening of our hearts, knowing that we have de- served God's anger and eternal death because of our sins ; for, as St. Paul says, the wages of sin is death. For we find in us, if we examine ourselves carefully, nothing but all manner of grievous sins and the eternal death which we have thereby deserved: from which we can by no means free ourselves.


But our dear Lord Jesus Christ graciously has had mercy upon us, and because of our sins became man, in order that He might fulfill the law and the whole will of God for us and for our good, and has taken upon Him- self our death and all that we by our sins have deserved, making payment for our redemption with His sufferings and death.


And to the end that we may be confident of this, He gives us His true body and blood in this His Holy Supper, as a pledge and assurance, so that we may never doubt that this is done for us because of our sins and for the welfare and redemption of us poor sinful creatures.


Therefore, all who are beloved in Christ should here be mindful of what poor and condemned creatures we


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FIRST COMMUNION SERVICE


are, and how bitter and grievous it has been to the Lord Christ to deliver us from our sins and eternal death: be- cause we are redeemed not by an angel or a patriarch, neither by the blood of goats or of calves ; but by the blood of the Son of God our Lord Jesus Christ: otherwise we should have died and perished, and have been lost and condemned forever. Therefore let us heartily praise and thank the Lord Jesus Christ in this Holy Supper, for He died for us that we might have eternal life.


Third, this Holy Sacrament should exhort us to brotherly love, so that, even as Christ has loved us, we also should love one another : for by this shall men know that we are Christ's disciples, if, says Christ, we love one another.


Therefore, let us remember that in this Holy Supper we are all one bread and one body, even as we are all par- takers of this one Bread and drink of this one Cup.


And just as out of many grains of wheat a loaf of bread is baked : so should we love as brothers, in deed and in truth, for Christ our Saviour's sake, all those who by faith dwell in Christ and who in this Sacrament grow in that indwelling life in Him; and in love should we serve one another.


Finally, let us walk in the footsteps of Christ our Lord, take up our cross gladly and patiently and follow Him : for He suffered for us and left us an example, that we should follow in His steps. To that end may the Al- mighty merciful God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ help us through His Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen.


Now let us call upon the Almighty, merciful God, beseeching Him graciously to sanctify our bodies and souls, that we may long for and receive His Holy Supper in true faith and thankfulness, saying :


Almighty God, merciful heavenly Father, foras- much as we cannot truly please Thee save through Thy beloved Son our Lord Jesus Christ, we therefore pray Thee to sanctify our bodies and souls, and to grant unto us His blessed communion as we long for and re- ceive His Holy Supper in true faith and thankfulness : guard us, O blessed God, that we may not be guilty of the Body and Blood of Thy Son, nor through unseemly


Van 't H. Avondmaal. 29 daar mede onze Heere Jefus Chriftus zulk zyn heylig Avondmaal verordineert en ingeftelt heeft:


Onze HEERE Jefus Chriftus , in de Maturvn nacht doe hy verraden wierd , nam hy het Mare. Invi Brood, dankte ende brak 't, ende gaf't zy- La .. ..... nen Jongeren, enfprak : Neemt, eet, dat 19. I Cor. x1: is myn Lichaam, dat voor u gegeven word ; 13, 24, 25. dat doet tot mynder gedachtenis.


Des zelven gelyken nam hy ook den Kelk na het Avondmaal, dankte, en gaf hun dien, en fprak : Neemt en drinkt alle daar uyt, dat is myn Blocd des Nieuwen Teftaments, 't welk voor u, ende voor veele vergoren word , rot vergevinge der zonden ; zulks doet, zoo dikwils gy dien drinkt, tot my- ner gedachtenis.


Dit zyn onzes Verloffers en Zaligmakers Jefu Chri- fti eygene woorden, die wy fchuldig zyn te gelooven. Daarom die deeze woorden van herten gelooven, ende hun tot dit H. Avondmaal godzaliglyk bereyd hebben , zullen met ganticher aandacht haarer herten hier toe treden en komen.


D 3 [In


30 Van 't H. Avondmaal.


[In de uyt-deylinge des Broods fpreekt de Predikant:]


Neemt en cet, dar is het Lichaam onzes Heeren Jefu Chrifti, voor uwe zonden in den dood gegeven : dat fterke u tot het ecu- wige leven


[In de uyt-dey linge des Kelks :]


Neemt en drinkt, dat is het Bloed onzes Heeren Jefu Chrifti, dat voor uwc zonden is vergoten : dat bewaare u tot het eeuwige leven.


Dankzegging


Laat ons nu den barmhertigen Godt en Heere Jefus Chriftus van grond des herten dank zeggen , dat hy ons zoo rykelyk gefpyft en gedrenkt heeft in dit Avondmaal met zyn heylig Lichaam en Bloed , en bidden , dat zulks tot fterking onzes geloofs mooge gercyken: op dat wy in 't recht geloof volftandig tot aan ons eynde blyven, en het eeuwige leven in Chriftus Jefus verkry- gen mogen, aldus fpreekende :


W/ Y danken u, & Heere Jefu Chrifte, dat gy ons arme zondige menfchen zoo hoog hebt begenadigt, dat gy u niet alleen voor ons in den dood, om ons te verloffen, maar


-


Pages from the Order for the Lord's Supper, showing the Words of Institution and the Words used at the Administration .- From the FORMULIERBOECK, belonging to the United Lutheran Church in America.


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FIRST COMMUNION SERVICE


pleasure receive death instead of life: grant that our souls may all hunger and thirst after this food and drink so rich in grace ; quicken our weary and burdened hearts, and strengthen our weak faith; that we, being assured anew of Thy mercy and love, strengthened in the inner man, and our spirits united more closely to the bride- groom the Lord Jesus Christ, may henceforth live in holi- ness of life in the same, love our fellowmen after His example, be patient in suffering, blessed in death, and joyful in the resurrection from the dead to eternal life through the power of His life giving Body and Blood : for the sake of the same, Thy dear Son Jesus in Whose Name and with Whose Words we pray further: Our Father, etc.


Now let us listen earnestly and attentively to the words of institution, wherewith our Lord Jesus Christ has ordained and established His Holy Supper :


Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the night in which He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He brake it and gave it to His disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is my Body which is given for you; this do in remem- brance of Me.


After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them saying, Drink ye all of it; this cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins ; this do, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.


These are the very words of our Redeemer and Saviour Jesus Christ, which we are in duty bound to believe. Therefore, they who heartily believe these words and who have prepared themselves worthily for this Holy Supper, shall now come forward with heartfelt devotion. (In the distribution of the Bread, the Pastor says :)


Take, and eat, this is the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for your sins: this strengthen you to eternal life.


(In the distribution of the Cup:)


Take and drink, this is the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, shed for your sins : this keep you to eternal life.


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THE BEGINNINGS OF LUTHERANISM IN NEW YORK


Thanksgiving


Let us now most heartily give thanks to our merciful God and Lord Jesus Christ, who has so richly given us food and drink in this Supper with His holy Body and Blood, and pray that the same may reach out to strengthen our faith: that we may be steadfast in the true faith unto the end, and gain eternal life in Christ Jesus ; saying,


We thank Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, that Thou hast so greatly pardoned us poor sinful creatures, that Thou hast not only died for us for our redemption, but also given unto us Thy holy Body and Blood to eat and to drink unto eternal life. We heartily pray Thee to grant us richly Thy grace and Spirit, that we may never forget the same, but may always grow and increase in faith through deeds of love: that with our whole life we may serve Thee to Thy honor and praise, and to the blessing of our fellowmen; until we are all united in eternal life, when we may honor and praise Thee face to face: Who livest and reignest in eternity with God the Father, in oneness with the Holy Ghost. Amen.


Let us sing our hymn of praise to the Lord: Glory, praise and honor in the highest, etc.


Hereupon receive the blessing of the Lord :


The Lord bless thee, and keep thee : The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee :


The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Amen !'


CHAPTER 10


More Grief and Final Joy


FABRITIUS did good work during the two months he was in New York City. He was esteemed as "both a modest and bold man," with the result that the Reformed leaders did not molest him, and prominent persons of the English "held him in high regard."175


In addition to the church services, he visited the sick and in- structed the youth and adults for reception into the Church's mem- bership. Interestingly enough, the first one to be so received was a fifty-year-old Negro, who was baptized on Palm Sunday, 1669, and given the name Emmanuel.176


Two Congregations Emerge


Fabritius provided for a firmer establishment of the Lutheran Church in the province by reorganizing the members of the "Con- gregation of New Netherland" into two congregations, one in New York City, the other in Albany. In New York City, the reorganiza- tion was completed on the Sunday following the first Communion. Twelve men "who were found suitable" were chosen for the church council, and "with the general approval" of the congregation they were "elected to the offices of elders, deacons and overseers.'


Fabritius ably summarized the needs of the congregation.178 The greatest immediate need was a church building. He pleaded with the Consistory to "have a collection taken up" at Amsterdam and surrounding places "for the building of a small wooden church and the purchase of a couple of small bells and other necessary things." Such necessities included about a hundred hymnals and catechisms. The congregation might get even more in the way of books if there could be sent over a "small collection of type to print ABC books and catechisms."


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THE BEGINNINGS OF LUTHERANISM IN NEW YORK


Fabritius particularly called attention to the precarious situa- tion of the colonial church, in having to depend upon Europe for its pastors. He proposed as a solution that the Consistory send over to the province one or two theological students, "who can easily support themselves here by teaching, in order that they, or one of them, in case of my death, might be proposed to the congregation. Otherwise the cause of our religion, owing to the great distance and the long delay, may again suffer a severe blow."


For a man of such foresight, it is difficult to understand how speedily he wrecked his career through acts that can hardly be termed other than stupid. In the light of the distressing events soon to happen, it would almost seem that he was prophetic when he told the Consistory, in his first report, that "I believe that in Europe such Lutheranism as I intend to plant here hardly exists."179


Fabritius in Much Trouble


After two months in New York City, Fabritius visited Albany on April 20, 1669, and held his first service there on the following Sunday, April 25.180 But in Albany he displayed no such able lead- ership as in New York City.


He got into trouble at his first service. Whether it was his fault or not is not known, but the city magistrates contended that he should have shown them his license to preach before holding the service, and because of his failure to do so they "summoned him to appear before the court" to explain his negligence.181 He did not bother to appear, however, and was reported to have said to the court messenger that he "did not intend to exhibit his license before the honorable court, but is willing to show it privately in his home."


It is not known how long he stayed in Albany after this run-in with the magistrates. The congregation's letter to the Consistory three weeks later mentioned their gratitude at Fabritius' arrival, but intimated nothing about any stoppage of services.18 182 Apparently he never went near the court, for the magistrates made "several complaints" about him to Governor Lovelace, who "thought good


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MORE GRIEF AND FINAL JOY


to suspend his ministerial function at Albany" until he had made his peace with the court.


It was not until July in 1670, more than a year after his first visit to Albany, that Fabritius finally appeared before "the full court" at Albany and admitted that he had "committed an offense against the gentlemen of the court and that he was sorry; he fur- ther promised to take care that in future he will not give cause for discontent." He stayed on to minister to his congregation, and was there at least a month.183


Fabritius got into much more serious trouble in New York City. By October of 1669, eight months after coming to the province, his conduct had become so offensive that the elders of the congregation had to write about it to the Consistory in Amsterdam. 184


There were many charges made against him, none of which he apparently took the trouble to refute. He exhibited too much fondness for wine and brandy. His language was embroidered with epithets most people do not expect a clergyman to show knowl- edge of. He married the widow of the Lutheran tavern-keeper Lucas Dircksen185 and, for a reason not disclosed, decked out her five children "all in red."


He himself went around in public in "apparel like a soldier, red from head to foot, having his coat and hat made like the pastors at Hamburg wear." It is not difficult to understand the sad con- clusion of the letter, that people had "nothing else to talk about but the Lutheran pastor." The leaders pleaded with the Consistory to send a worthy pastor to the members, for "one cannot let them perish again."


The distressing situation retarded the development of both congregations, but did not prevent them from becoming per- manently located. The New York City congregation, early in 1670, purchased a dwelling house with sufficient land for a burial ground. The house had belonged originally to the Lutheran leader Christian Barentsen Van Hoorn, and its value may be gauged by the fact that he had sold it in 1657 for $1140. It was in the form of an L,


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THE BEGINNINGS OF LUTHERANISM IN NEW YORK


located at the southwest intersection of Broadway and the city wall.186 186 It is claimed that it occupied the exact site of the tower of the present Trinity Episcopal Church, at Broadway off Wall Street.187


The Albany congregation secured property about the same time, and certainly by 1672, on the present South Pearl Street between Howard and Beaver Streets. Title was not taken until about ten years later, when there was conveyed "a certain house and lot to the south of the First Kill, on which lot the Lutheran Church now stands; likewise the house for the domine (Dutch for minister ), being bought and paid for by the whole congregation."188


The dissension in the New York City congregation was so acute by 1671 that Governor Lovelace had to appoint a commission, headed by one of the city aldermen, to "examine into the present difference between the persons of the Lutheran profession, and en- deavor a peaceable composure amongst them." At the same time the congregation was threatened with the loss of its church-house because many of its members refused to pay their subscriptions as long as Fabritius remained in charge.


A New Pastor Arrives


This forced the elders to take summary action against Fabri- tius, and they petitioned the Governor to oust him because of con- duct "unfitting one of his profession." But fortunately it was not necessary to take that step.


While the troubles had been mounting in New York, the Con- sistory had been busy looking for a successor to Fabritius. This time the Consistory was fortunate beyond measure, for it secured a genuine pastor and spiritual leader, in the person of Bernhard Arnzius, from North Holland. He arrived in Manhattan in the summer of 1671, whereupon Fabritius preached a "valedictory sermon," installed his successor, and left the colony.


Arnzius entered sympathetically into the sorrowful experi-


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MORE GRIEF AND FINAL JOY


ences of his New York City congregation, doubtless because he himself knew what long-suffering was. He had experienced that in his congregation in North Holland, where he had not received his salary for a year and a half. Moreover, his ocean voyage to America had been a perilous one of nearly three months, his ship having encountered three severe storms, by one of which the "bowsprit was cracked and the entire bow rent." And no sooner had he arrived in New York City than his wife "came down with a mortal illness for six weeks," but from which she eventually recovered.189


Arnzius had doubtless been apprised by the Consistory of the troubles in New York, but when he saw them for himself he re- ported that the congregation was in a "very dangerous condition." By his judicious guidance, however, he soon "settled the differences and disputes between the congregation and Fabritius, so that after- ward both sides respected him."190


The Congregations Firmly Established


His wise and sympathetic leadership was no flash in the pan like that of his predecessor. Four months after his arrival the con- gregation in New York City gratefully acknowledged to the Con- sistory that he was not only capable, but was one "whose life con- forms to his preaching, so that now, God be praised and thanked, the mouths of our neighbors are closed, and we live together in peace and harmony." Nor did the congregation have occasion to alter its judgment. Six years later, when it reported again to the Consistory, it stated joyfully that both congregations live in "Christian harmony, concord and peace."


It is to be hoped that the pastor was also in a state of peace, for the congregation acknowledged in the latter report that it was behind in his salary in the amount of $800, which was hardly a small sum in those times. With salaries so pitifully inadequate, the members must have owed their pastor more than they had paid him in his first six years. A saintly, long-suffering man indeed- and he remained with them for twenty years, until his death !


66 THE BEGINNINGS OF LUTHERANISM IN NEW YORK


But what is of supreme importance is the fact that after twenty-two years of every kind of anguish, bitterness and dis- appointment imaginable, the heroic group which constituted the Lutheran Church in the province of New York had at last acquired a pastor of such saintly qualities that it could have a genuine confi- dence in its own future, in "Christian harmony, concord and peace."


Notes


CHAPTER 1-OLDEST LUTHERAN CHURCH


1 Julius F. Sachse, Justus Falckner, Phila. 1903, pp. 60-62 note 15.


2 "The Oldest Lutheran Church in America" by the present author, in The Lutheran Church Quarterly, January, 1945, 18:58, note 5, wherein the citations are given in full.


3 Report of the United Lutheran Board of American Missions, which has oversight


of the Lutheran churches in the Virgin Islands, in Minutes, United Lutheran Church in America, 1940, p. 225.


4 Minutes, United Lutheran Synod of New York, 1944, pp. 152-153, 227. Prior to 1921, First Church Albany used the year 1669. Minutes, Synod of New York of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1920, p. 6.


5 Karl Kretzmann, The Oldest Lutheran Church in America, New York, 1914, title page.


6 The Albany Church date of 1644 is based upon a date erroneously endorsed on a document dated 1643, written by the French missionary to Canada, Isaac Jogues. In the narration of various items relating to Manhattan, Jogues noted the religious condi- tions there, stating: "No religion is publicly exercised but the Calvinist, and orders are to admit none but Calvinists, but this is not observed; for besides the Calvinists there are in the colony Catholics, English Puritans, Lutherans, Anabaptists, here called Mnistes (Mennonites), etc." See "The Oldest Lutheran Church in America" in The Lutheran Church Quarterly, cited above, p. 59, especially note 10. The New York City Church date of 1664 is taken from the formal permit of freedom of worship granted by Governor Nichols, after the English conquered New Netherland from the Dutch.


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THE BEGINNINGS OF LUTHERANISM IN NEW YORK


7 THE OLDEST LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA, 1649-1949


1649-1669 The Lutheran Church In the Colony of New Netherland, later New York


1669 The Lutheran Church in New York City


1669 The Lutheran Church in Albany


1729 Nas Named Trinity Church


1749-


Schism of German mem- bers, who organized Christ Church


1784


Incorporated as the "Lutheran Church at Albany," but it was commonly known as Ebenezer Church


1784


Reunited. Named "The United German Lutheran Churches." Trinity Church building having been destroyed by fire, Christ Church building was used.


1822


Christ Church for German members


St. Matthew's Church organized for English members. (No schism)


1831


Christ Church building sold; both congregations used St. Matthew's building. St. Matthew's was even- tually the only name used.


1871 Name changed to First Church


1949


St. Matthew's Church located at Sherman Avenue and West 204 Street


1949 First Church located at Western Avenue and Cortland Place


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NOTES


8 The principal source was the published records in the Ecclesiastical Records of the State of New York, nearly all the originals of which were secured from the Dutch Re- formed archives in Holland. The earliest Lutheran records therein is dated 1653, which is four years after the Lutherans organized.


9 The story is in the Introduction by the present author to The Lutheran Church in New York, 1649-1772, Records in The Lutheran Church Archives at Amsterdam, Holland, translated by Arnold J. H. (sic; correct initial is F.) vanLaer, New York: The New York Public Library, 1946 (sic; actually published in 1948), pp. 5-10. The Records were previously published serially in the Bulletin of The New York Public Library, beginning January, 1944, Vol. 48, No. 1.


10 A more detailed study is given in "The Oldest Lutheran Church in America" in The Lutheran Church Quarterly, cited above, pp. 57-69.




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