USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Germantown > Brief history of Emmanuel's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Germantown, Ohio : for its centennial, A.D. 1809-A.D. 1909 > Part 3
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THE REMODELED CHURCH
CHAPTER XIII.
Church Societies.
N October, 1885, the Young People's Society was organized, which not only met for social and literary purposes, but also to work for the improvement of the church. Many of the older members of the congregation uniting with the or- ganization, its name was subsequently changed to that of "The Church Helpers." This society, up to its disbandment in January, 1909, was instrumental in securing for the church many improvements and much valuable furniture. Its first work was the securing of new pews in May, 1887. These were made and put in place by Mr. Holcomb Snyder at a cost of $284. About the same time that the furnaces were placed in the basement by Mrs. Rohrer, she offered to give $100 toward the purchase of cush- ions for the pews. The Church Helpers then set about securing the balance of the money, and in the fall of 1889 the cushions were purchased of Oster- moor and Company, of New York City, at a cost of $356.63. The pews and cushions are still in use, as good as when first purchased.
The following year the Church Helpers added a veranda to the parsonage, costing $53, and put down a new carpet in the church at an expense of $154.
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In 1891 the high pulpit and altar rail were removed, a new platform for a chancel constructed, the old pulpit was changed into an altar and put in its proper Lutheran position, whilst a new pulpit and lecturn were put in place. This also under the su- pervision of the Church Helpers at a cost of $116.
During the subsequent years we note the fol- lowing of the larger amounts expended by the Help- ers. In 1892, $100 toward painting the church; in 1893 for Church Books, $43; in 1896 for cement walks, $100; in 1899, carpet for the auditorium, $150; in 1907, eagle lecturn, pulpit, altar chairs, and hymn- board, $350, whilst every year smaller sums were given to the Chicago Seminary, to mission work, and to the various needs of the church.
Just prior to the disbandment of the Church Helpers, a Ladies Aid Society was organized. This in some respects is taking the place of the former. During this year it has carpeted the Primary Sun- day-school rooms and put down inlaid linoleum in the vestibule and halls at a cost of nearly $100.
The Luther League.
This was organized in 1897. Its main purpose has been the enlightening of its members in regard to the history, doctrines, mission, and educational work of the Lutheran Church. It holds a devotional meeting each Sunday evening, when it studies the Topics prepared under the supervision of the Na- tional League. It has had the Foreign Mission work
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THE AUDITORIUM AT PRESENT
of the congregation under its direction, and has edu- cated several boys in the school at Rajahmundry, India, by the contributions secured, and contributed also to the General Fund.
The Junior League.
This was started in 1894, even before the organ- ization of the Luther League, and meets every Sun- day afternoon for Bible study. It has been for some years under the supervision of Mrs. Samuel Stiver, the chairman of the Luther League's Christian Cul- ture Committee. In 1896 the then Juniors placed a beautiful marble font in the church. It has not however been their aim to raise monies for any pur- pose, but rather to cultivate a social feeling among the unconfirmed youth and to improve in Bible knowledge. They now use the Topics prepared for Junior Leagues.
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CHAPTER XIV.
Firm in the Faith.
T has been one of the characteristics of Em- manuel's, that from the very beginning she has been true to the doctrines and teachings con- fessed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Her first Constitution being rather Articles of Agree -- ment between her and the Reformed Church, has nothing definite about her doctrinal position. She, however, insisted from the beginning as this Con- stitution states, "that no man shall have permission to preach or perform any other ministerial act in said house of worship unless he be a member of the Lutheran Synod, (that is, the Minis- terium of Pennsylvania,) except in case of funerals." Again, "No strange minister shall be allowed to officiate in this church, with this exception: when one of the congregations invites a minister, with the view of calling him as its pastor." Not only, this Lutheran pulpit for Lutheran pastors only, but for its own Lutheran pastor alone.
As we have said, one of the strongest objections the congregation had to its first pastor was the fact that his preaching was contrary to the Augs- burg Confession. Rev. Simon, as we learn from other sources, held the most erroneous views on
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Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and it is greatly to the credit of the people that they asked the Minis- terium of Pennsylvania to sever the pastoral rela- tion.
Rev. Dill was a man the very opposite in this respect. His "Book of Ministerial Acts," or Agenda, is beautifully written out in Latin, German, and English, even the Pericopes being written out in German, word for word. The form for Infant Bap- tism is almost to the letter that which is found in the Church Book. It contains also several lists of those coming to the confessional services and to the Communion in his early ministry. The first list is of such communicants in the Union Church [in Tem- plo Unionis] on the seventeenth Sunday after Trin- ity, 1802, the year of his ordination to the ministry.
In the Holy Communion the invitation is "to those who have examined themselves and have pre- pared themselves in true repentance and faith." The bread is given with the words, "Take and eat, this is the true Body of our Lord Jesus Christ given unto death for you; may it strengthen and preserve you in the true faith and unto everlasting life." The wine is given with words equally like those in the Church Book. He stood up steadfastly for the doctrines of the church in conflict with the errorists and sectarians by whom he was surrounded, and his congregation stood with him.
Shortly after the beginning of Rev. Andrew Henkel's pastorate, the second Constitution was adopted. In it our Lutheran faith rings clear and
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true. "No synod, congregation, or church member is to be considered as truly Evangelical Lutheran that does not hold, teach, and believe implicitly the twenty-eight Articles of the Augsburg Confession." "The pastor must be a member in good and regular standing in the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod."
The Constitution as altered in 1831 leaves these statements practically the same, and in 1901 the alteration simply makes the confessional basis stronger stating it to be "The 28 Articles of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession of Faith and Lu- ther's Small Catechism, as a correct and faithful ex- position of the Divine Word."
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CHAPTER XV.
Synodical Connection.
HIS congregation at its organization consid- ered itself as belonging to the Ministerium of Pennsylvania. By this body Rev. Andrew Simon was sent as pastor, probably in 1810, and from its officers permission was sought to have this pastoral relation dissolved in 1812. Rev. John Cas- par Dill came to the congregation as a member in good standing in the Ministerium and remained therein until 1818. In that year the Joint Synod of Ohio was organized, and in its organization Rev. Dill participated, as also did Rev. Andrew Simon, the first pastor, and Rev. Andrew Henkel, who became the third one. The congregation and its pastors were always active in the Synod, and took a prominent part in its work. Rev. Andrew Henkel, in fact, became almost too prominent, his connection with secret societies being the cause of many a debate. In 1857 the English District of the Joint Synod was organized, and the congrega- tion having a larger proportion of its membership speaking the English language, Rev. Henkel par- ticipated in its organization. When the General Council was organized in 1866 and 1867 the Eng- lish District sent delegates, as did also the Joint
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Synod. But when the decision of the General Coun- cil on the four points, Chiliasm, Pulpit Fellowship, Mixed Communion, and Secret Societies was not stringent enough to suit the Joint Synod, and that body withdrew, the English District remained in the General Council. The pastor and congregation of Emmanuel's were heartily in accord with the position taken by the new General Body and hence remained with the English District. The Joint Synod refusing longer to recognize the District Synod in connection with the General Council, as its English District, this body now became simply the District Synod of Ohio, and Emmanuel's and its pastors have been among its most active mem- bers.
While the English District was in connection with the Joint Synod, it met in this church in an- nual convention in 1865. The secret society ques- tion, and above all, the pastor, Rev. Henkel's, con- nection with such societies was the "burning ques- tion" at that convention. In 1874 the District Synod but now of the General Council, again met with us, the matter of public and parochial schools being to the fore, and the steps were taken to establish the Germantown Institute. The Synod met with us again in 1891, and now for the fourth time in this our Centennial year. When the Synod was organ- ized in 1857 it was very small. We have not the minutes of the First Convention at hand, but those of the Fifth in 1861 show nineteen pastors, but only fourteen were serving parishes, composed of forty-
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six congregations scattered over Indiana, Ohio, and Western Pennsylvania. After the losses by the dis- missal of some to form the Indiana Synod, the with- drawal of others to organize a new English District of the Joint Synod, and the going into the Pittsburg Synod of some on its territory, there were left in the District Synod in 1880, thirty pastors serving sixty-four congregations, with about six thousand communicants. In 1908 there were fifty pastors serving eighty-two congregations with 14,500 com- municants, so that the Synod has more than doubled in communicant membership in the twenty-eight years.
The increase in benevolences is much more marked. In 1880 these were not over $150; in 1908 over $11,000. In 1880 the apportionments were $1,650; at the Convention just closed they were nearly $7,000.
In 1880 Emmanuel's paid on apportionment $15 ; for benevolence, nothing ; in 1908 on apportion- ment, $120; for benevolences, $324.
Synod is thus blessing the congregation, whilst the congregation is increasingly aiding Synod and the General Council.
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CHAPTER XVI.
Our Boys in the Ministry.
HETHER any of the boys of the congre- gation entered the ministry during the pastorates of Revs. Dill and Henkel, we have no means of ascertaining. The first one of whom we know is Christian H. Eckhardt. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. George Eckhardt, members of the congregation, and was confirmed by Rev. Julius Stirewalt on the ninth day of June, 1867. He began his preparation for the ministry at Capital University, Columbus, and in 1873 became one of those under the case of the District Synod of Ohio. He spent one year at Capital University and one- half year at Thiel College under Synod's super- vision. After January 1, 1876, he continued his studies privately and became one of the teachers of Germantown Institute. He received his theological education at Capital University and was ordained by the English District of the Joint Synod of which he is still a member. He has served for many years congregations near Lima, Ohio, where he resides. He took an active part in the founding of Lima College for whose success he has labored long and earnestly. He cherishes the kindest feelings toward the church of which he is a son, and the Synod to which she belongs.
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REV. J. J. S. RUMBARGER
REV. CHRISTIAN H. ECKHARDT
John Julius Stirewalt Rumbarger was the sec- ond of our boys to enter the ministry. He was bap- tized by the pastor, whose name he bears, and was confirmed by Rev. Siebert on the twenty-fifth of March, 1888. In September of the following year he entered Thiel College, under the care of Synod, graduating in 1893. In October of that year he entered the Chicago Seminary, where he received his theological training. He was ordained to the Ministry by the District Synod at its Convention in Versailles in June, 1896. His first parish was Ash- ville, where he took with him, as a bride, Miss Oma Grimes, one of the daughters of the congregation. He remained in Ashville until February, 1902, when he took charge of the Paulding Mission and suc- ceeded in having its church built. After laboring earnestly there for four years, he followed a call to Adamsville parish in March, 1906, where he is now laboring most successfully.
Franklin Wilbur Bussard. He was a son of one of the old families of the congregation, and was brought up in the Sunday School and Church. He was baptized by Rev. Siebert, and was confirmed by him, March 22, 1891. He received his academic training in the Germantown high school from which he graduated in 1896. He entered Wittenberg Col- lege, September, 1899, and graduated in June, 1903. His theological training was received at Chicago Seminary from which he graduated in 1906. He was then sent by the English Home Mission Board of the General Council to take charge of the Wom-
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en's Memorial Church at Salt Lake City, where he is laboring with some success, having succeeded in paying off a good part of a heavy debt that was handicapping the mission in its work. He is Secre- tary of the Pacific Synod, by which he was ordained in 1906.
Paul Reed Siebert. This second son of the pas- tor was born in Germantown in 1885, and was bap- tized by Rev. C. Albrecht, January 20, 1886. He was confirmed in Emmanuel's, March 26, 1899 under his father. His early school training he received in the public schools of Germantown, leaving the high school at the close of the Junior year in 1903 to enter the Freshman class of Wittenberg College the fol- lowing September. He graduated in 1907, and in October of that year entered the Chicago Seminary. Although not yet a graduate and ordained, we count him as among "our boys in the ministry," for he has done mission work in Detroit in the early summer of 1908, and this summer has charge of the Emmaus Mission of Cleveland, Ohio. He will D. V. grad- uate from the Seminary next spring and be ordained in Miamisburg at the next Convention of Synod.
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PAUL R. SIEBERT
REV. F. W. BUSSARD
CHAPTER XVII.
The Church Council.
MMANUEL'S has always had "men given to her by the Heavenly Father, willing to serve it for His sake." With His help they have discharged the duties of their office so that the work of the congregation has gone steadily forward. They have labored together unitedly, and although differ- ences of opinion have naturally manifested them- sevlse, yet never has there been any strife. All have wrought together for the peace and harmony of the congregation, for the furtherance of the Gospel of Christ at home and abroad, and for the maintaining of sound doctrine and practice among us.
The present Council is seen on the opposite page. Those composing it, reading from left to right, are: Rear row, standing, Hiram Emrick, Ed- ward Rott, Treasurer., Chas. T. Eminger, Secretary, John W. Sigel [Sexton], H. Earl Smith, Ira A. Clark, Charles Immel, and Edwin Chryst. Front row, seated, Henry Kinkle, Samuel Stiver, the Pas- tor, Henry C. Moses, and Peter Heller. J. H. Grimes was unable to be present, hence his face is missing.
It would be interesting if we could give a list of the members of the Church Council from the be-
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ginning of the church's organization. This we can- not do, but there follows a list of those whose names we have been able to learn :
Frederick Kimmerling
William McKean
Conrad Wagner
Peter Dechant
Charles O. Wolpers
Leonard Dechant
John L. Stump
F. Ebert
Samuel Billmire
H. Immel
David Coleman
M. Mogle
Philip Coleman
C. L. Stump
John Henny
Philip E. Bechtolt
Daniel Sharrett
Lewis Bechtolt
David Wagner
D. B. Schaeffer
Samuel Stiver, Sr.
Harrison Wolpers
Elias Stiver
Adam McCallay
Jeremiah Rowe
John P. Shuey
Christian Eshelman
Tobias Kuhnle
Thomas Lindenmuth
Chas. H. Boehme
Michael Emrick
Dietrich Schriver
Jacob Boyer
Jacob Bruner
William Stein
Frederick Brixner
Leonard Sharritt
Christian Brixner
David Eminger
George F. Dechant
George Eckhardt
William Flinspach T. M. Trout
Joseph Hiester
Michael Trout, M. D.
Charles E. Emrick
Henry Kneisley
Lewis Huber
George I. Coleman Joseph Spring
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*
THE CHURCH COUNCIL
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