USA > Ohio > Richland County > Mansfield > A history of the Wittenberg Synod of the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1847-1916 > Part 2
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#"It was in the winter of 1841-42 and near the close of the term. The new testament was then used in our state schools as a reading book, especially in the country schools. I had, during that term, a class of perhaps a dozen young men and women, who read in the new testament, and it was my custom to ex- plain and make remarks upon such passages as I thought I understood, and to enforce the teaching of such passages as were of a practical nature. In doing this. I had no other object in view, as I now recollect, than simply that of instructing, except it may be that I delighted in teaching the principles of our Holy Christianity. On the occasion referred to, the lesson included the Parable of the Two Men who went up
4 Crouse Autobiog. pp. 100-103.
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into the Temple to pray, 'the one a Pharisee and the other a Publican.' And while I was in the act of making some remarks on these two prayers, and was dwelling on the prayer of the Publican, one of the young ladies in the class, let her book fall to the floor, then she dropped upon her knees and exclaimed, 'God be merciful to me, a poor miserable sinner. Oh, Mr. Crouse, pray for me. Oh, do pray for me.' I re- plied, 'Yes, I will,' and turning to the school, I said 'Please' close your books and be very quiet, while we pray.' I then requested the class before me to kneel down with me and I prayed for the dis- tressed girl as best I could, and as I was in the act of rising, one of the young men, a brother of the young lady just mentioned, cried out, 'Mr. Crouse, pray for me, too.' I offered prayer for him also, and as I said the 'Amen' another asked to be prayed for, and so another, and another, until six or seven of the class requested prayer, before I was permitted to arise to my feet. Meanwhile the school had been moved to weeping and some of the younger pupils even screamed aloud, as if terror stricken, so that it was no small task to restore quiet in the school. I dismissed the school and told the scholars to go di- rectly to their homes and tell their parents to come to the school house that evening, and bring their friends with them, that there would be a prayer meeting that night. When the evening came, the people came also, -the aged and the young,-so that the house was packed and many more could not get in, but stood on the outside and waited until the meeting closed. I proceeded to open the meeting by singing, scripture reading and prayer, after which I gave an account of
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my custom of explaining and enforcing plain and practical portions of God's Word, as they occurred in the lessons of the Testament class and also of what had transpired in the school a few hours before, and remarked that this was not the work of man, but the work of God. That it was a thing quite unexpected on my part, that I had not labored with such an end definitely in view, and that I was fully persuaded that the Lord was about to do wonders among us, that He was here by His spirit, waiting to convert and save the people. I then appealed to the parents present, whether they were ready to encourage the young peo- ple. I then asked that all present who approved of that meeting and were willing to aid by their prayers and efforts the promotion of the good work, to rise to their feet. Behold! all in the house promptly arose. God was there. A deep solemnity pervaded the entire assembly and many were moved to tears. The spirit of God continued its work in a quiet and almost silent manner, going from family to family, and stayed not, until every household in the surround- ing neighborhood, not identified with some church, with but few exceptions, was brought into the fold and every house became a house of prayer."
This work continued in this quiet manner for over two years, conducted altogether by Mr. Crouse, with the exception of a few sermons now and then by Rev. Ruth. "A striking demonstration," says Brother Crouse, "That God can accomplish his purposes of grace among men with very feeble instrumentalities, so far as human agencies are concerned." Up to this time, Mr. Crouse had not attempted to preach a ser- mon. All of his talks had been, as he termed them,
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"off hand talks," mere expositions of scripture texts, which he did not regard as preaching. But just before the close of this second term of school, Rev. Ruth called on him to preach for him at the London Church, near Shelby, on a day that he could not meet his appointment. He felt that he must decline, and yet he dare not. With fear and trem- bling he made the effort. On being asked by some of his brethren to give his text and how he treated the subject, he answered, "I cannot tell how I handled the text., God knows that, I don't. There is one thing I do know, however. That sermon, if it can be called such, rejoiced in having a big text for its foundation, and that was the best feature of the performance, without debate." Such was the success of this at- tempt, however, that he conducted two special services before the close of the winter season: one at Spring Mills, and the other at London. He continued his studies and his work at home, assisting Revs. Ruth and Andrew Kuhn, - another pioneer missionary, - on various occasions, for a year and more, and in April, 1843, he was called to take charge of the Werts Congregation, (now Loss Creek Church) as its regu- lar pastor. Here he entered the settled pastorate, serving this congregation statedly and others near at hand, for nine years. Up to this time, and for ten years thereafter, there were no regular pastorates formed on the territory. The churches and preach- ing places here and there, were formed into pastoral districts and were served by the brethren in an irregu- lar manner, aiming always to afford the best possible service to the churches as special needs might require ;
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for it was impossible to do all the work that needed to be done.
The annual Special Conferences of ministers over the state had no definite supervision over churches nor over the work of preachers, but were held for mutual encouragement, for the better understanding of each other and the possible unification of their ser- vice to the churches, nor did the first Synods assume such a prerogative as fixing the boundaries of any one's operations. The ministers preached for a time, some of them at least, without license, and after li- censure for a number of years, without ordination. The Synods in their earlier years maintained several grades or orders in the ministry, viz., catechists, can- didates and pastors. The first two were under the care of one of the older pastors, by whose direction they pursued their study until their ordination as pas- tors. This practice was continued in Wittenberg Synod for several years after its organization, when this distinction no longer appears in the printed minutes. The pastors were called Bishops at the first, but after the Fourth Convention, of Wittenberg Synod in 1850, this being the first Convention of which the minutes were printed, the name "Bishop" disappears and the title of "Reverend" is used.
We have said that the first Synodical organiza- tion in Ohio was in the form of a Special Conference, formed by a dozen or more Lutheran ministers, lo- cated in several counties in Eastern Ohio and that this organization subsequently came to be the Joint Synod oof Ohio and adjacent States. This Synod held its first session at Somerset, O., in 1818. To this Synod belongs the credit of having made the Lutheran
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Church one of the commanding religious forces of West Pennsylvania and Ohio. It being composed of a large number of German ministers and congrega- tions, permission was given at its convention in Lan- caster, Ohio, on Trinity Sunday, in 1836, to form an English Synod within its bounds. Accordingly the English members present convened and organized the English Synod of Ohio. It was composed of fourteen members, ten clerical and four lay-members. Rev. Jas. Manning was chosen President, Rev. E. Green- wald, Secretary and Rev. Chas. Henkel, Treasurer. The others were, - Clerical: Rev. John B. Reck, Francis J. Ruth, Elihu Rathburn, Amos Bartholomew, Joseph A. Roof, Andrew Kuhn and Abraham Weil. Lay: Charles Manning, John Judy, William F. Moeller and Jacob Smyser. Its first session was held in Somerset, Ohio, November 6, 1836. This is identi- cal with the East Ohio Synod of today. Eight years later, the Miami Synod of Ohio was formed by min- isters who were affiliated with several Synods, - the Synod of the West, the English Synod of Ohio, the Joint Synod of Ohio, and the Synod of Maryland. Dr. A. J. Imhoff in his history of Miami Synod. page II, says : "The leaders in these movements for new Synods were intelligent men, looking with prophetic vision to the future of a great Luther- an Church in this country. They were liberal
minded men who rose above the narrow preju- (lices which always control extremists. They sought to found a high-toned church with a dig- nified worship and a pure Christian morality. They had no sympathy with a dead formality, which
3
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knew nothing but orthodoxy and they were not willing to affiliate with an ignorant fanaticism, which ignored orthodoxy and reveled in a play of religious fancies and animal feelings. They had been broadened by their experience with these extremes, and were now able to apprehend the truth and lay the foundations of a coming church upon a basis that would secure permanent results and extensive usefulness." It will not be just, here, to entirely omit reference to the work of the Rev. Henry Lang especially, brother of the late Judge Lang of Tiffin, Ohio, who, with Revs. Adolph A. Konrad, and J. J. Beilharz laid the founda- tions of Lutheranism in the counties of Sandusky, Seneca, and Wyandot. Rev. Konrad came to Tiffin from Pennsylvania in 1836 and missionised in nine places in Seneca and Wyandot Counties visiting Fre- mont and as far as to Woodville, fifteen miles west. Konrad died in 1841 and was succeeded by Rev. Beil- harz, who came from New York and actively furthered the work and plans of his predecessor. Henry Lang came to Tiffin with his father and other members of the family, arriving in August, 1883, and was engaged for a few years at his trade in a hat factory. He turned aside to study Theology in the Theological Seminary of the Joint Synod of Ohio at Columbus, and entered the ministry in 1843. He ac- cepted the charge at Fremont that Konrad had marked out for him before his death, and, in true missionary activity emulated the zeal of his predecessors, laboring for some time in eight different localities in Sandusky and Seneca Counties. He endeared himself to his people as pastor and rose in honors and in welcome, socially, among the cultured of his city among whom
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were ex-President Hayes and his estimable lady. His congregation at Fremont, which he served in both the English and German languages rose during his min- istry of forty-six years to one of the most flourishing and influential in all that section. He was a repre- sentative man in his Synod, and also prominently identified with the public educational interests of his own city, and an active member of the Sandusky County Pioneer and Historical Society. During his ministry at Fremont and vicinity he baptized 3,639 persons, confirmed 1,849, officiated at 1,253 funerals, married 1,152 couples, and administered the Holy Supper to a sum total of 20,340 communicants. He died in 1890 at the age of 71. On the occasion of his funeral the business houses of Fremont closed, the public schools were suspended, and the school buildings were draped in mourning. His body rests in Oakwood Cemetery at Fremont, Ohio.
It is proper to observe here as may have been already suggested by the appearance of additional names in this record, and also by the frequent or- ganization of new Synods, that the church was in these years, especially since 1838 and 1839, passing through a period of great religious interest. Thou- sands and even tens of thousands, were being added to the churches every year. Communities, churches and colleges, from New England to the far west, and in every state, were profoundly moved. A revival, not so much like the great awakening under the Ed- wardses, the Tennents, and Whitefield, in the Colonial days, and later under Griffin, Hooker, and Hallock, or still later under Finney, and Moody and Sankey, - a movement, in which one man, who laid special stress
1169804
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on some one or more of the leading doctrines of revelation was the distinguished leader, - but rather an awakening in which the Holy Spirit was moving upon the sleepy religionism of the churches and quick- ening the clergy and the laity alike; - when every pastor became his own evangelist and among his own people year after year, by the intensified use and ap- plication of the sterner truths of the Gospel, revived and quickened the spiritual life of the churches.
The methods used in this movement were not always of the sanest and safest kind, it must be said, nor were they historic in the Lutheran Church, not even copied after the practices of pietism in the times of Spener and Francke, but were more of an imitation of the practices and usages of other denominations of the ultra Puritan type, some of which were organized as a re- sult of the revivalistic movement in its beginning. It must be said also to the credit of our church that the adoption of these "new measures", as they were called, never became general among our Lutheran Churches. Many of our pastors energetically resisted these ex- travagances and were able to present strong reasons for their opposition. It will appear also from the testimony of the pioneers on the territory of our Synod - in the autobiographies of Revs. Ruth and Crouse especially, - that although they with more or less faithfulness used these methods in their evan- gelistic work, they used every reasonable check to control their outbreak. Here is one paragraph from Dr. Crouse's autobiography directly to the point. Having narrated an incident in which he had stilled the noisiness of some emotional outbreak by singing
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a verse of "'Tis Midnight and on Olive's Brow," as he often did, he says,5 "The quieting effect of the sing- ing of a single stanza of such a hymn on an occasion like this was simply wonderful. It was like oil on troubled waters. It was not an easy thing in those days to carry on revival efforts, especially in some communities, because of conflicting views among the people respecting the manner in which they should be conducted, and for the reason also that when such meetings were held by any church whatever, all pro- fessing Christians in the vicinity, without regard to denominational affiliations, would attend, and with as much interest apparently as if they were conducted by their own pastor, and it was only a natural result that those well meaning people would be inclined to take the same liberties as they enjoyed under their own pastor. Hence, to allow as much freedom of spirit and activity as was consistent with the best results in such efforts on the one hand, and to hold in check the tendencies to excess and confusion on the other hand, and with all, not to offend weak consciences that were found on either extreme touching the things about which they honestly differed, was the end to be secured by the judicious minister in conducting these meetings."
The life history of Rev. Ruth also testifies to the most careful and orderly manner in which he always conducted his special services. Both of these pioneers, who with others came into the field later on, faithfully maintained child baptism, catechetical instruction, and confirmation, with these special revival methods, in
5 Crouse Autobiog., p. 121.
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laying the foundation of the churches of Wittenberg Synod. Here is a paragraph from Dr. Crouse's auto- biography :
6 "During the winters of 1846 and 1847 I left home many times before daylight on Saturday morn- ings and rode to Mt. Zion, 28 miles distant, and met a class of catechumens at 2 P. M., then preached in the evening of the same day, and three times on Sun- day and returned to my home again on Monday."
The following quotation from the biography of Rev. F. J. Ruth also clearly indicates his belief and practice :
" "I wish here to record my testimony in favor of well conducted prayer meetings and meetings for Christian testimony, and Sabbath schools. I intro- duced all these forms of worship and work and ex- ercise early in my ministry, and have always found them to be of great benefit alike to individuals and congregations. I wish also to endorse the utility of protracted meetings or special efforts for the purpose of securing the revival of believers and the awakening and conversion of sinners. But I do believe that more substantial and lasting good can be accomplished by the regular catechization of the young, by instructing them carefully in the doctrine and duties of our Holy Christianity, as has been the time honored custom in the Lutheran Church. I am deeply impressed with the thought that the time is rapidly approaching when the churches whose origin dates back to the Reforma- tion, will retrace their proceedings in regard to
6 Crouse Autobiog., p. 173.
Ruth Autobiog., pp. 91 and 92.
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methods employed for the purpose of bringing souls to Christ, and will do all in their power to make prominent the catechetical methods of teaching and preparing men, the young particularly, for member- ship in the Church of Christ."
It is due to these devoted servants of God and His Church, to say, that they not only made Witten- berg Synod what it was at the time of its organization, but they effectually placed the stamp of their godly and consecrated lives and personality on the Christian people of these Churches. Whatever we may have thought of their methods of work, -their faithful and forceful preaching of the word and devoted pas- toral care of the people, and their Christ-like lives, are among the precious memories of all who ever knew them or heard of them. These men were not only wisely conservative in their sentiments and in their convictions as to methods of church work, as we have fully shown, but they were also strictly loyal to the recognized standards of the Lutheran Church in a true denominational spirit. In proof of this we are glad to be able to quote from a Sunday-school address delivered by Rev. Dr. Joshua Crouse, - easily recognized as one of the most liberal of our pioneer missionaries, - before the Wittenberg Synod at Tiffin, Ohio, in 1876. (See Minutes, Page 23.)
In speaking of the changing of the old-time "Union" Sunday-schools into Lutheran Sunday- schools, he says: "Viewing the subject, then, from the denominational standpoint, we have succeeded in the last twenty years in changing a number of our union, into Lutheran Sabbath-schools, the ratio of the former to the number of the latter, being only about one-
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seventh, now. We apprehend, however, that this cir- cumstance may be regarded by some as an indication of retrogression rather than of prosperity in our Sab- bath-school interests. Be it so; but we take it as an evidence of real growth, of genuine progress.
Personally, I hold that the evangelical believers and congregations of each locality should aim to mani- fest to the world their essential unity in faith and spirit ; should most carefully avoid, in language and in life, everything that would be calculated to hinder ; and they should observe and do all they possibly can that would be adapted to promote and cherish a true scriptural oneness among Christians of all names everywhere. Still, I do not believe that denomina- tional plans and efforts for promoting the Redeemer's Kingdom on the earth necessarily contravenes the most happy realization of that much-desired end.
And furthermore, our Sabbath-schools, instead of remaining as they had been, - non-contributors to the benevolent enterprizes of our Lutheran Zion,-bene- ficiaries rather than contributing powers,-have be- come valuable and important auxiliaries to the various benevolent operations of the Church. This improve- ment is a matter of rejoicing and gratitude to the great Head of the Church, next in importance to lead- ing the soul to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus."
CHAPTER II
Organization and Constitution
1 HREE years after the organization of the Miami Synod, in 1844, Wittenberg Synod was organized. Concerning this step, Dr. Crouse in his autobiography says, $ "A desire, on the part of ministers living in Richland, Crawford, Seneca, Wyandot, and Hancock Counties, to form a new Synod for their convenience and for the better development of the Kingdom of Christ, had existed for several years. The subject of
such an organization was brought up at the meeting of the District Synod of Ohio, in Wash- ingtonville, Ohio, and after a full discussion in all its aspects and bearings, permission was granted to these more western brethren to withdraw and constitute a new body which should embrace the northwestern counties of Ohio." Accordingly these brethren with- drew to the home of Rev. George Leiter and there proceeded at once to organize the new body. This took place on the 8th of June, 1847, by the election of Rev. F. J. Ruth, President, Rev. J. H. Hoffman, Secretary, as officers pro tem. A committee appointed to present a constitution at this first session offered as its report the constitution proposed by the General Synod of the Lutheran Church for District Synods, which, with one or more required amendments was
8 Crouse Autobiog., p. 174.
(41)
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adopted. The temporary officers already chosen were made permanent and this with the choice of Rev. J. Seidel as Treasurer, completed the formal and permanent organization of Wittenberg Synod. The new body then proceeded to adjust itself to its new relations by uniting with the General Synod, adopting its formula of Government and Discipline and its Hymnal, approving the charter and constitution of Wittenberg College and electing directors. It chose delegates to corresponding District Synods and made pledges to missionary and educational purposes. After pledging over $100 to these objects, and fixing the time and place of the second convention of the Synod, it adjourned, bright with the hopes of a year of increased usefulness in the work of the Master's kingdom. The other brethren present and participat- ing in the organization were Revs. Andrew Kuhn, Geo. Hammer, J. Livengood, J. J. Hoffman, and Joshua Crouse. Rev. Joshua Crouse did not unite with the new Synod at the time of its organization because on the evening of that day, his ordination was to take place in the presence of the old Synod. He however was present taking part in the organization, and suggested the name "Wittenberg" for the new body in honor of Wittenberg College at Springfield, Ohio, which suggestion was unanimously adopted. He was appointed to report this action to the old body, which he did, and was granted, at his own request, a letter of honorable dismission and recommendation to the new body and was received together with a number of other ministers at its next and second regular con- vention at Tiffin, Ohio, June 17, 1848.
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SYNODICAL BOUNDARIES
The boundaries of the new Synod were not definitely fixed at this first convention, but it was determined that the "Division Line" commence at Cleveland, running from thence south to Ashland, thence south again to Mt. Vernon, and thence west to Springfield, and to the Indiana State Line. No more definite boundaries were determined upon until in 1900 when Wittenberg Synod appointed a commit- tee of three,-Rev. Drs. W. H. Dolbeer, H. L. Wiles and G. M. Grau,- requesting a similar committee from each of the sister Synods of Ohio to act conjointly with this committee in the work of fixing definite and permanent boundary lines between the three synods of Ohio. This joint committee met in session at Mans- field, O., June 25, 1901, in the First Lutheran Church, Rev. Dr. Wiles, Pastor. The committee from Miami Synod was Drs. J. F. Shafer, and F. J. Gotwald, and Mr. L. C. Smith. From East Ohio Synod Revs. J. H. Zinn, G. C. Smith, and C. F. Floto. The following is their report which was adopted by each of these synods :
9"Whereas the growth of the Synods of the Gen- eral Synod of the Lutheran Church of the United States on the territory of the state of Ohio, has made necessary clearly defined boundary lines, therefore Resolved that we, the joint committee of Miami, East Ohio and Wittenberg Synods in joint session, at Mans- field, Ohio, this 25th day of June, 1901, do agree to the following Synodical boundary lines with appended regulations governing the same :
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