USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > Hempfield > History of old Zion Evangelical Lutheran church in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Near Harrold's > Part 8
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1. The name of this Union shall be: The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Eastern District of the Ev. Luth. Synod of Ohio.
2. The object of this Society shall be to preach the Gos- pel to the heathen and especially to assist those brethren of our household of faith, the German missionaries Rhenius, Schaffter, Mueller and Lechler in Palamcottah, East India.
3. Its officers shall be one President, one Secretary and one Treasurer. The officers of the District shall be its officers.
4. The Society shall choose at its yearly meeting (at the time when Synod sits) seven directors who in connection with the officers shall form the Executive Committee, six of which shall be a quorum.
5. Every person who contributes something can become a member. The amount of the yearly contribution shall be optional.
6. Whoever pays ten dollars shall be a member for life.
Upon the formation of the Pittsburg Synod of the Evan- gelical Lutheran Church, Rev. Steck became its first president.
Of the 26 congregations and 2255 members, constituting the Pittsburg Synod, Rev. Steck and his parish constituted 7 congregations and 1,005 members. Just about one-half of the membership of the Pittsburg Synod at its foundation was from Rev. Steck's parish. Jacob S. Steck was the layman representing the parish at the formation of the Synod.
The Synodical "Plan of Union" involved little more than a federation of independent churches for the purpose of supplying vacant places. It furnished no Confession of faith beyond the name "Lutheran" and no basis of co-operation.
It is as follows :
"We, the undersigned ministers and delegates of the Evangelical Lutheran Churches in the western counties of
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Pennsylvania, being painfully sensible of the great destitu- tion of the preached word and the ordinances of the gospel in our midst, and fully persuaded of the necessity of uniting our efforts for their supply, hereby form ourselves into a Synodical body, with the express understanding that each minister and church or churches shall be at perfect liberty to support such literary, theological or benevolent institutions, without the limits of our Synod, as may best accord with their own views of duty; and also that, as a Synodical body, we recognize no such distinctions among us as those commonly known by the terms of old and new measures, the Synod to be known by the name of The Pittsburgh Synod of the Evange- lical Lutheran Church."
This "Plan of Union" was regarded only as a starting point. Beyond the words Lutheran and Evangelical there is no statement of faith or doctrinal position; in fact, faith in Christ or dependence upon the Bible is not stated, but the whole conception of the Christian faith and doctrine as held and taught by the Lutheran Church is implied and indeed is the incentive and spirit of action.
The founders may have had varying conception of what the Lutheran Church really did stand for, and this may be implied in the determination to not recognize old and new measures, but there was no doubt of the doctrinal position of the first president. He was soundly Lutheran according to the Lutheran Confessions.
The "old measures" named in the Plan of Union referred, principally, to catechetical instruction and the doctrine of re- generation in Infant Baptism. The "new measures" referred to "revivals" and the use of the "mourners' bench" in some Lutheran Churches, to the consequent neglect and omission of infant baptism, catechization, and confirmation.
Many English Lutheran Churches of that day were for- saking the ways of the old historic Lutheran faith and prac-
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tice and were introducing revivals and the mourners' bench with their fanatical extremes.
The new Synod was not prepared to take up this ques- tion at this time. We shall see how it solved the problem later.
In the midst of his usefulness Rev. Steck, departed this life September 1, 1848, at the age of 57 years.
Rev. W. A. Passavant, D.D., preached the funeral ser- mon in the German church, Greensburg, from Acts 8:2. The burial was made in the Church Cemetery, Greensburg. Dr. Passavant had this to say of Rev. Steck in the "Missionary :"
Pastor Michael J. Steck
"The first President of the Pittsburg Synod, born in Greensburg, Pa., May 1, 1791, and died at the same place September 1, 1848. He was an extraordinary gifted man. During his time of service he won for himself the title of the most distinguished pastor in Western Pennsylvania. Without him, the Pittsburg Synod could hardly have been founded."
Rev. Jonas Mechling, 1849-1868
In the spring of 1849, Rev. Jonas Mechling was called to be pastor. He labored here until his death in 1868.
Rev. Jonas Mechling, son of Philip Mechling, was born in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, on the 14th of August 1798. He was baptized in infancy by Rev. Wm. Weber, and confirmed by pastor John M. Steck. He received his early education in the church schools of Westmoreland County and studied theology under Rev. J. Schnee of Pitts- burg and Rev. John M. Steck. He was licensed to preach by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio on September 19th, 1820.
He then took charge of a number of congregations of Father Steck's parish ; St. James and Hankeys, Hope, Zion's
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and St. John's and the Churches of Ligonier Valley. Later he served St. Paul's Ridge St. James, Youngstown, and Christ Church West. Newton. Upon the death of Father Steck he was called to the Herold-Greensburg parish, which consisted then of the following congregations : Herold's, Brush-Creek, Greensburg, Manor, Hill's and several other preaching sta- tions. He also preached in the Churches on this side of the Ridge until 1855. He died on the 2nd day of April, 1868 in the 70th year of his age and the 48th of his ministry.7
"Rev. Mechling was a man of persevering energy and re- markable endurance. As a testimony to his earnestness and fidelity as a minister of Christ, we need only to give a few items of the record of his ministerial acts. During his ministry of 48 years, he preached 6,327 sermons, baptized 6,286 children, confirmed 2,039 adults, married 890 couples, and buried thousands."8
7List of congregations served by pastors in 1826-Pastor Mechling (8 cong.) Kintigo, Henkes, Jacobs, Schwobs, Hoffmans, Salems, Brandts and Donegals in Westmoreland County, Pa. History of the Ev. Luth. Joint Synod of Ohio.
BUllery, History of Southern Conference.
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CHAPTER X
Property Affairs and Relations with the Reformed Church
During the pastorate of Rev. Luetge, Michael Rugh and Anthony Altman, trustees of the congregation procured a warrant for the tract known as "Good Purpose" on the twen- ty-second of August, 1785, and on the twenty-third of May, 1789, a patent was granted. In 1793 the trustees, by the ad- vice, and with the approbation of the leading members of the congregation, sold 100 acres and allowances of said land, granted them by patent, to Rev. A. Ulrich Luetge for the bene- fit of the congregation. No deed was made for this land un- til several years after the death of Rev. Luetge, as the trustees had no authority to sell or give title for this land, for they held it in trust for the congregation. Hence, they applied to the legislature for power to sell and convey said land to the heirs of Rev. Luetge. In February, 1801, an act was passed authorizing them to sell and make a deed to the executors of Rev. Luetge, for the benefit of his heirs; the deed was made in 1805. The price agreed on was 60 pounds.1
"The remaining fifty-eight acres, with Church and School- house, by agreement mutually signed September. 24th, 1791, between the two denominations, was to remain from that day, forever, the joint property of both the Lutheran and Reformed organizations, to be used for church and school purposes till the "end of the world."2
1 Ullery, History of Southern Conference.
2History of the Reformed Church, 1877.
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As we have seen, the title to the land was vested in the trustees for the Lutheran congregation alone. In an agree- ment on Nov. 29, 1793, it appears that the Lutheran trustees Valentine Steiner, William Altman, Anthony Altman, and Jacob Seanor gave a bond for three hundred pounds sterling, to Jacob Painter and Nicholas Alleman, in trust for the German Reformed Church. Under these bonds and agree- ments the property was held from November 29th, 1793, until November 28th, 1819, when the deed was executed for the half of the property, by Jacob Haines and Jacob Miller, to Barnet Thomas and Peter Baum, trustees for the Reformed Congregation.
The agreement on September 24th, 1791 also included certain relations between the two congregations. The officers of both congregations were to examine, every year, the state of the common funds in the hands of the "manager," and pass upon the receipts and bills for expenses. (See Appendix E).
Each congregation was free to choose its own pastor and officers, and change them when necessary, without interference from the other side. No one shall have the right to introduce a strange minister without the consent of the officers of the Church to which he belongs. The minister of either side has power to baptize all such children as may be presented, with- out distinction of religion,-except only when the officers ob- ject.
The officers of both congregations unite in the choosing of a school-master; who shall instruct the children in such Catechism as the parents desire, whether Lutheran or Re- formed.
This agreement involved no internal change in either congregation but formed a written working basis between the two. It was kept for nearly a century, until the property interests were divided, and now, as then, each congregation attends to its own internal affairs.
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We might inquire what was the chief distinguishing factor that preserved these congregations as distinctive de- nominational Churches? It is conceded that in the earlier times, especially during the days of the German language, the two congregations used the same church building, alternately ; they attended the services of both congregations; used the same hymns; often, where the family was divided, they com- muned at both communions, the husband communing with the wife and the wife with the husband; often some of the chil- dren of a family would attend the Reformed "Kinderlehre," and others, the Lutheran; children were baptized by either pastor; the whole settlement attended funerals; and all alike were buried in the same "God's acre," with almost identical burial service.
Having so many things in common, one would think there would be a confusion and mixture, but such was not the re- sult, although the denominational consciousness was dulled and almost deadened; the missionary fires burned low ; and in some cases "custom" had as much force as "thus saith the Lord." Those were good old days,-but-not-all-good. Dur- ing the period of about 1820 to 1860 the spiritual life burned low. The children were no longer gathered in "Kinderlehre" on the Lord's Day regularly nor were there Sunday schools of much consequence.
Education was not supported as diligently as by the earlier pioneers. We do not know of a single normal adult among the early pioneers that could not read and write, but we have known many of their descendants who were illiterate; and only recently have some awakened to the importance of education.
The main factor in preserving the two denominations in- tact was and is the Catechetical System. A child might be baptized by either the Lutheran or Reformed minister; and not change its denomination; but when catechized and con-
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firmed, then the child became a member of the denomination whose minister catechized and confirmed the child. The min- isters of both the Reformed and Lutheran Churches have been great Catechists. The great sweep of frontier Revivalism never abated the regular Catechetical instruction in this settlement. However, in the anglisizing movement, before the English denominational hymn books were introduced, the congregations used to sing many of the "Gospel Hymns," but the more intelligent members always realized the emptiness of these jingles and when the worshipful service and hymns of the denominational hymn books came to them in the Eng- lish language, they forsook the empty straw and chaff of the "Gospel Hymn" and fed upon the rich wheat of worship ac- cording to God's Word, as given in the authorized hymn books.
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CHAPTER XI Synodical Relations
This period was the time of storm and stress within the nation and within the church. The passions of the Civil War were reflected in the church for years afterward.
We have spoken of the formation of the Pittsburg Synod and the "Plan of Union" which, being a union of Evangelical Lutherans, did not state a definite confession of faith; as we have said before, it was little more than a loose federation to supply vacant preaching places. There was no basis of co- operation ; besides, it was definitely stated that each Pastor and Congregation was at liberty to support institutions and missions anywhere they saw fit to do so. But it is evident that such a loose federation could not do the work of a Synod.
New congregations were being formed and in 1847 the Synod adopted the following in the Preamble for the "Form of Constitution for the Government and Discipline of Churches," "we receive the Augsburg Confession, the great Symbol of the Reformation, as the bond of union."
In 1852 when the Pittsburg Synod united with the Gen- eral Synod, there was a hesitancy on the part of many (the vote standing 17 to 12) because they did not regard the General Synod's position as a clear confession of the Lutheran faith. Many leaders in the General Synod had repudiated parts of the Augsburg Confession. Whereupon the Pittsburg Synod resolved "that-the above action be in no wise re- garded as an approval of the construction which has been put
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upon any of its writings (i. e., of the General Synod) recom- mendations or acts, as though it had rejected any part of the faith of the Church as contained in the Augsburg Confession."
In 1855 a proposition called the "Definite Platform" com- monly ascribed to Rev. S. S. Schmucker, D. D., made its ap- pearance.1 This "Definite Platform" was intended as a sub- stitute for the Augsburg Confession. In place of the Augs- burg Confession, the "Definite Platform" should be the stand- ard of the Lutheran Church, and all ministers entering Con- ference and Synod, must receive it before becoming members.
Now, what was this "Definite Platform?" "The 'Definite Platform' was offered as a more specific expression of the General Synod's doctrinal basis, being surrounded by Ger- man Churches, which profess the entire mass of former sym- bols." The thought underlying it was that confessions of faith should declare with such explicitness the faith of those who subscribe them, that all ambiguity and room for variety of interpretations should be excluded; and that the General Synod, no longer holding to certain articles in the Augsburg Confession in the sense in which they were understood by its authors, should, without hesitation or reservation, say so. It charges the Augsburg Confession with five errors, viz .: "Ap- proval of the Ceremonies of the Mass; Private Confession and Absolution; Denial of the Divine Obligation of the Christian
1"The errors are not on the side of the Augsburg Confession, but on the side of those who agitate our Lutheran Church with the intro- duction of a fatherless and motherless child, the Definite Platform, Rev. W. J. Mann."
"To this we reply, the Platform was publically adopted by three or four Synods in the West within a few weeks after its publication. As to its authorship, we never denied having prepared it, at the urgent request of some of those brethren on the plan agreed on by them, and some Eastern brethren of the very first respectability. It was carefully revised by ourselves and Dr. B. Kurtz, and we have not yet found a single one of its positions refuted." Dr. S. S. Schmucker in Lutheran Symbols or American Lutheranism Vindicated, page 26.
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Sabbath; Baptismal Regeneration; and the Real Presence (in the Lord's Supper)."2
Dr. Schmucker had personally advised that the "Plat- form" be adopted by the Conferences, preliminary to its adop- tion by the Synod.3 Accordingly, it was presented for adop- tion, by Rev. George F. Ehrenfeld at the meeting of the Middle Conference Synod at the Worthington Church. After a hot debate, the "Platform" was adopted by this Conference.
In the fall of 1855, in the same Conference the "Platform" failed of adoption because the vote was made a tie vote by the vote of the president.
Accordingly, the action of the Conference came before the Pittsburg Synod at its next meeting, whereupon Dr. Charles Porterfield Krauth presented his famous "Testimony of the Pittsburg Synod" at Zelienople, 1856.
"Whereas, Our Church has been agitated by proposed changes in the Augsburg Confession-changes whose neces- sity has been predicted upon alleged errors of that Confes- sion; and
Whereas, These changes and the charges connected with them, though set forth by individual authority, have been en- dorsed by some Synods of the Lutheran Church, are urged upon others for approval, and have been noticed by most of the Synods which have met since they have been brought be- fore the Church; and
Whereas, Amid conflicting statements, many, who are sin- cerely desirous of knowing the truth, are distracted, knowing not what to believe, and the danger of internal conflict and of schism is incurred, etc.
1-Resolved, That by the Augsburg Confession, we mean that document which was framed by Melancthon, with the
2Lutheran Cyclopaedia. Lutheran Symbols or American Luther- anism Vindicated. Schmucker, page 5.
3Burgess, etc.
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advice, aid and concurrence of Luther and the other great evangelical theologians, and presented by the Protestant Princes and Free Cities of Germany at the Diet of Augsburg in 1530.
5-Resolved, That now, as we have ever done, we regard the Augsburg Confession lovingly and reverently as the good confession of our Fathers witnessed before heaven, earth, and hell."
As this action was taken just eleven years after the forma- tion of the Synod, it throws light upon the attitude of the fathers in regard to the confessions. Nearly all of the founders of the Synod were alive and they voted for this resolution "That now, as we have ever done, we regard the Augsburg Confession lovingly and reverently as the good con- fession of our Fathers, etc. This shows, then, that the Pitts- burg Synod always received and acknowledged the unaltered Augsburg Confession.
In 1853 when the Pittsburg Synod entered the General Synod, other Synods were received also, namely, the Minis- terium of Pennsylvania, Texas and Northern Illinois. These Synods were conservative and it is to these that Dr. Schmuck- er refers above when he states concerning the "Definite Platform" in 1855. It was offered "as a more specific ex- pression of the General Synod's doctrinal basis, being sur- rounded by German churches, which profess the entire mass of former symbols."
This accession of conservative Synods to the General Synod alarmed the adherents of a loose Lutheranism, hence, the "Definite Platform" was put forth, but it failed to stem the tide of growing adherence to the Augsburg Confession.
"It could no longer be doubted that there were two parties in the General Synod, the one siding with and acting in the spirit of the Platform, the other strongly and persistently de- fending the pure faith of the Confession.
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"When, therefore, the Platform party endeavored to strengthen their side by receiving, in 1859, the Melanchthon Synod-an extremely radical body-the conservative party solemnly protested and tried to prevent the action by voting against the reception of the Synod.
"The same spirit was again manifested, as that of 1859, in the action of the General Synod in regard to the admis- sion of the Frankean Synod, at the convention at York in 1864. This was an un-Lutheran Synod, which not only did not endeavor to hide its variance with the Confession of the Lutheran Church, but openly boasted of it.
Article 5 of the Charter of the Western Conference of the Frankean Synod, contains the following "- - therefore, no minister or candidate for the ministry who advocates a subscription to the Augsburg Confession as a test of minis- terial office, or church membership, shall be received into our connection" - - - Notwithstanding all this, known to many, if not to all the members of the General Synod, the Frankean Synod was received, in 1864, as an integral part of the General Synod."4
When the Frankean Synod was admitted, the delegates of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania protested and withdrew to report to their Synod.
At the Fort Wayne Convention in May, 1866, the dele- gates of the Ministerium were present and presented their credentials but the president, Rev. Dr. S. Sprecher ruled as follows: "The Chair regards the acts of the delegates of the Pennsylvania Synod, by which they severed their practical re- lations with the General Synod, and withdrew from the part- nership of the Synods in the governing functions of the General Synod, as an act of the Synod of Pennsylvania." Therefore, it would be necessary for this Synod to be received anew.
4Documentary History of the General Council.
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After much debate, the delegation withdrew and Dr. W. A. Passavant read a protest against the action of the General Synod, signed by 28 delegates belonging to eight Synods.
Dr. Walther of the Missouri Synod said, "Scarcely any event within the bounds of the Lutheran Church of North America has ever afforded us greater joy than the withdrawal of the Synod of Pennsylvania from the unionistic so-called General Synod. - - They (the General Synodists) know right well what a blow it would give them if it were known that the oldest and largest Synod of their connection with- drew because the General Synod had departed from the true doctrine of the Lutheran Church."
In 1866, the Ministerium of Pennsylvania instructed a committee "to prepare and issue a fraternal address to all Evangelical Lutheran Synods, ministers and congregations in the United States and Canadas, which confess the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, inviting them to unite in a convention for the purpose of forming a union of Lutheran Synods."
On Dec. 11, 1866, delegates from thirteen Synods met in Reading, Pa., and organized the General Council. The Pitts- burg Synod was represented by Revs. G. Bassler, W. A. Passavant, G. A. Wenzel, and H. W. Roth; Laymen A. L. Thiel, John F. Duff. Rev. Bassler became the first president and Rev. H. W. Roth the first English Secretary of the General Council.
The call for a convention of all Synods which confess the Unaltered Augsburg Confession was laid before the Pitts- burg Synod at Rochester, Pa., in 1866 and it was
Resolved 3-That we cordially accept the invitation ex- tended through the "Fraternal Address" of the Synod of Pennsylvania, and during the present convention, elect dele- gates to represent this body in the proposed Convention.
Resolved 5-And inasmuch as a trial of thirteen years fully satisfied us that the object sought in our connection with
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the General Synod have not been and cannot be accomplished through that organization ; and, inasmuch as your committee is firmly persuaded that the General Synod, by its recent and previous actions, has shown itself unfaithful both to its own Constitution and also to the Confession of the Church of our Fathers;
Resolved 6-That the action which, in 1852, resulted in our connection with the General Synod, be, and hereby is revoked.
At the following convention at Greenville, Pa., in October, 1867, "The Fundamental Principles of Faith and Church Polity" of the General Council were adopted by an overwhelm- ing majority of 63 to 21.
Whereupon 10 ministers and 7 laymen withdrew and later formed the Pittsburg Synod of the General Synod. We find among their number those who had advocated the "Definite Platform." At a meeting at Worthington, Pa., Dec. 1867, they organized their Synod, styling it the Pittsburg Synod. "Legally, the minority party was not entitled to the name of 'The Pittsburg Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.' The fact that they had withdrawn from the con- vention of the majority party and elected new officers, de- prived them of all legal rights to the name of the incorporated body."5
Judge Trunkey, of Crawford County ruled that "The Pittsburg Synod had a right to connect itself with whatever general body of the Lutheran Church it chose, provided it did not make a radical change in points of doctrine.
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