USA > Pennsylvania > The German Pietists of provincial Pennsylvania : 1694-1708 > Part 25
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398 Literally, congregation,
357
The Invocation.
of the Word of God." At this point, Rev. Biorck stepped forward and read out the following parts of Scripture :
Matt. xxviii, 18-20; St. John ii, 15-17, XX, 21-23 ; Matt. x, 32-33 ; 2 Cor. v, 17-20 ; Jeremiah xv, 19 ; Matt. v, 13-16; I Tim. iv, 7-8, 12-14, 16; 2 Tim. ii, 15-16, 22-25; I Peter v, 2-4.
When this reading was concluded, Vice-Bishop Rudman advanced and said : "May God give you grace that you may faithfully guard these sayings in your heart. May they be a guide for your conversation, and remind you of your responsibility. May it increase your watchfulness, uphold your zeal, and now and forever consecrate you to the service of Heaven.
" The Church of Jesus Christ expects of you that, being sensible of the weight of the ministerial office, you your- self shall consider the important duties which this office lays upon your shoulders. The Church of Jesus Christ expects of you that, in believing prayers in the name of Jesus Christ, you implore God for grace and power worthily to exercise it. The Church of Jesus Christ expects of you that you fight a good and faithful fight, lay hold of eternal life and make a good confession. Confess therefore your faith before God and this congregation."
Sandel, as secretary, now advanced and slowly read the Apostolic Creed, each word being carefully repeated by the candidate before the next following one was uttered by the secretary.399 When this important feature of the ritual was concluded the suffragan said :
" May the Lord God grant unto you grace to stand fast in this faith to the end, and to strengthen those who are your brethern in the faith."
399 The original states that the confession was spelled out letter for letter, word for word.
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
Advancing to the kneeling candidate, the suffragan asked the following questions :
"Do you, Justus Falkner, declare yourself willing to undertake this holy ministerial office in the name of the holy Trinity ?"
To which the candidate answered a clear " Yes."
" Will you solemnly promise that this office shall be worthily and rightly administered in all its parts, to the glory of God and the salvation of souls ?"
Again the same clear response " Yes."
"Will you always continue in the pure Word of God, flee all false and heretical teaching, preach Jesus Christ according to the Word of God, and administer the Holy Sacraments according to his institution ? "
Response, "I will."
" Will you so regulate your life that it may be an example to the faithful, and shall scandalize no one ? "
The kneeling man again answered in the affirmative.
The suffragan continuing, said :
"You acknowledge therefore your obligations. You have declared it to be your purpose to fulfill them. Con- firm it now with your oath of office."
The obligation was then administered upon the Holy Evangels by the acting secretary.400
After which the suffragan continued :
" May the Almighty God strengthen you and help you to keep all this, and according to the power given to mne in God's stead by the Church, I hereby confer upon you tlie ministerial dignity in the name of God the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen."
The candidate here again kneeled, while the Brother-
400 Text of obligation is missing.
359
The Consecration.
hood intoned, to the soft strains of instrumental music, the hymn :
" Veni Sancto Spirit, Reple tuorum corda fidelium."
During the singing of this hymn, the suffragan, assisted by the two clergymen, invested the candidate with the chasuble and stole. When this ceremony was completed and the hymn sung, the suffragan repeated the Lord's Prayer, while he imparted the Apostolic succession 401 by the laying on of hands. He then returned to the altar, and said, " Let us pray." Then, turning once more to the east, he read the following invocation :
" O everlasting merciful God ; dear heavenly Father, who through thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, hast said unto us, the harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few ; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he send forth laborers into his harvest, and who by these words hast made us understand that we cannot procure rightininded and faithful teachers except only of thy merciful hand: we pray thee therefore of our whole heart that thou wouldst mercifully look upon this thy servant who is now ordained to thy service and to the holy office of thy Ministry, and give him thy Holy Spirit, so that he may go forth under watching and be strengthened by thy Word, and be able to stand fast in the fight for thy kingdom, and to execute thy work, teach and reprove men with all humility and learning ; in order that thy Holy Gospel may continue among us pure and unadulterated, and bear for us the fruits of salvation and of eternal life. Through thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
Here the sufragan, turning to the kneeling postulant, said : "Bow down your heart to God and receive the benediction."
401 This was according to the Swedish ritual.
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
After this was given the impressive liturgy was at an end. The Theosophists then intoned the 115th Psalm : " Non Nobis Dominie," during which the little procession reformed and as the last verse was sung slowly left the church, and the solemn and impressive ceremonial which marked the first regular ordination of a Protestant clergy- man in America was at an end.
The reader may ask : Did the newly ordained pastor keep his sacred ordination vows ? This the sequel of our sketch will show. It may, however, be permitted here to say without anticipation that no more active, disinterested or pious clergyman ever labored among the Germans and Dutch during the trying Colonial period than this same Justus Falkner.
On the next day, after the certificate of ordination had been engrossed in due form by Johann Seelig, it was laid upon the altar before which the ordination had taken place, and there was signed by the three officiating clergymen.
And Rupman Ericus Tob. Björk Aniscas Sandel
SIGNATURES OF THE THREE OFFICIATING CLERGYMEN.
It was dated November 25, 1703, and bore the signature of Andreas Rudman as vice-bishop.402
402 Rudman and Sandel.
PIETISTS OF PROVINCIAL PENNSYLVANIA.
GLORIA DEI (OLD SWEDES) WICACOA,
AFTER ETCHING BY LUDWIG E. FABER.
The Old " Kercken-boeck." 361
Thus the new dominie was sent out to minister in the adjoining Provinces ; and to the Orthodox Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania is due the honor of having ordained and sent out the first man, a native of Saxony, for missionary purposes in the Western World; who was to labor, not among those of his own kith and kin, but among people who used a tongue foreign to his own.
Pastor Justus Falkner at once made preparations to enter upon his new field of labor. He arrived in New York city on Thursday, the second of December, or just eight days after his ordination. After preaching on the third and fourth Sundays in Advent, he was accepted as their regular pastor by the oldest Lutheran congregation in America.
The first record made by him in the Kercken-Boeck, or church register, shortly after his arrival sets forth the facts of his call in Dutch, with a short prayer in classical Latin.
[In the name of Jesus. In the year of Christ, 1703, on the second of December, I, Justus Falckner, born in Saxony, Germany, at Langen-Reinsdorff, in the district of Zwickau, came to Philadelphia, thence to New York, after previous invitation. On the third Sunday after Advent I delivered two sermons in the Lutheran Church here. I did the same on the fourth Sunday after Advent. Thereupon I was received by the Consistorium of the Christian Protestant Lutheran Congregation as their regular pastor and teacher.] Then followes the invocation :
" Deus Ter Optimus Maximo qui intrusit me hanc in messem, adsit speciali sua gratia mihi operaio abjecto et ad- modum infirmo, sine qua percundum mihi est sub mole tenta- tionum, quae me saepius obrunt. In Te, Domine, speravi, non sinas me confundi ! Redde me ad vocationem meam aptum ; non cucurri, sed misisti, intrusisti ; interim quic-
46
In Nomine Jefu?
TONNO CHRISTI & 7 0 3. Jen z' Decenty. ben Ik Justus Falkner geboren in Saffer in Germania tof Langen-Reins dorf onver het Somit Zwickau, van Phila= Delphia Rier m Newyorck nar Voorgaande. Beroepinge, denge Komen, en herbe Sen Serien Advents- Soniagh twee Praircatien in De Lutherifche Kercke allhier gehouden ; Diesgelycken ovik Den vierten Events Sontagh : Daerop ben ick van het Confittorium der Chriftelycken Protestantischen Lutherifchen geneene, tot haer ortentlycke Paltor en Leraer aangenomen worden. Deus Ter Optimus Maxing qui intrufit me hane in meffen. aufit Speciali qua gratia mihri operario abjecto et amodum infirmo fine qui perenntun mihi eff, Sub mole tentationum, quae me Lapins obruunt. In Te Domine Meravi, non finas me congiunti! helse me. a vocatistem mean attum; non cucurri; fer mififfi, intrufifti: Interim queque no me micro corrupta admiferent natura, remit de da veniam humiliter deprecauti, per Dominum nostrum mo. menn JEsum CHRISTUM ' Somer!
FAC-SIMILE OF JUSTUS FALKNER'S FIRST ENTRY IN THE CHURCH REGISTER AT NEW YORK.
362
The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
363
Dowinie Falkner.
quid in me inscio corrupta admiscuerit natura remitte ; da veniam humiliter deprecanti, per Dominum nostrum, imo meum Jesum Christum. Amen."
[God, the Father of all inercy, and Lord of great majesty, who hast sent me into this harvest, be with me, thy lowly and ever-feeble laborer, with thy special grace, without which I should perish under the burden of temptation which often overcomes me with its might. In thee, O Lord, have I trusted ; let me not be confounded. Strengthen me in my calling. I did not seek it, but thou hast sent ine, yea, placed me in the office. Meanwhile wouldst thou grant remission for whatsoever, without my knowledge, a corrupt nature has introduced within me, and forgive and pardon me upon my humble supplication, through our Lord, yea, my Jesus Christ. Amen. ]
A fac-simile of this interesting entry is also reproduced ; it was photographed from the original by the present writer.
Justus Falckner, Saxo-Gorman rf. Eccla OMwigx. Lutherin, Melyic. Kov- Elvraci in America_ Zapar.
OFFICIAL SIGNATURE OF DOMINIE FALKNER.
The time when Pastor Falkner arrived in New York was far from being a propitious one, as the settlers were in con- stant fear of attack by both sea and land. 403
The Hudson Valley from one end to the other was inen- anced by the enemy. All residents were forced to be con- stantly prepared to defend their life and property by water as well as land.
403 This was during the war of the Spanish succession, in which England was engaged against France.
364
The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
Two members of the church council, Church Warden (Eldeste) Jan Hendrick and Vestryman (Vorsteher) Pieter van Woglom, with whom the new pastor inade his home, were military officers. The former was a major of infantry, a highly respected man, who well appreciated the serious aspect of the general situation.
In addition to the above, Church Warden Andreas van Boskerk ; Vorsteher and Overseer (kirch-meister) Laur van Boskerk ; the sacristans Hanns La Grangie and Jol. Viet, with Samuel Beekman, reader and sexton, all were liable to mili SIG occasion required tary duty when the their services. LVM : PROVINC At the other C.IN: A ded territory, were, if anything, ebb. Pastor Falk first visit to Al DIEV. ET MONGRONT EBOR : ET AON ULCON congregation there ded. A small and di 1 called by courtesy a bership scattered with end of his exten- church affairs at a still lower ner, upon his bany, found the virtually disban- lapidated house was church, and the mein- SEAL OF NEW YORK, A.D. 1703. out officers or organ- ization. It was not until June, 1705, that he succeeded in effecting a permanent organization.
As for any regular stipend in either place, none was in prospect. Church finances were at so low an ebb that bare promises were not even made looking towards the pastor's sustenance. A reliable account that has come down to our time informs us that the situation for a time was even worse in New York than elsewhere.
Dominie Falkner must indeed have been a courageous man as well as a pious one to enter upon this extended field, which he eventually enlarged by serving all the Ger- mans along the Hudson and in East Jersey, from the
365
The Situation in New York.
Hackensack in Bergan County to the valley of the Raritan, without any prospect of renumeration. Another fact to be taken into consideration, and one that proves inore than anything else how earnest, faithful and diligent he was, is that he came here an entire stranger, among people whose tongue was somewhat different from his own, and in the face of the direct opposition of the resident Reformed clergy and laity, who where then numerically in the majority, and received their sustenance from the Amster- dam Classis.
One of the first things done by our pious evangelist was to issue a call for a meeting at the house of his landlord, of the " Protestant Christian Congregation 401 adhering to the unaltered Augsburg Confession," 405 to take into considera- tion the dire necessities of the church. At this meeting, after some desultory discussion, it was resolved to send out circular letters asking for assistance. These letters were signed by Falkner and the church officers. Three were sent to the Swedish Lutheran brethern in the South1. 406 A fourth circular was addressed personally to Magister Rud- inan, asking his intercession in their behalf with the Ger- mans and English in Pennsylvania. Still later a similar circular, with special reference to the ruinous condition of the church, was sent to the Dutch Lutherans on the Island of St. Thomas in the West Indies.
Subsequently a sum of money was received in response to this last appeal, but unfortunately with the proviso that it was to be used only towards building a new church. 407
404 Christliche Protestantischen Gemeinde, der ungeänderten Augsburg- ischen Confession zugethan.
405 Vide page 66, supra.
406 On the Delaware river, viz., at Wicacoa, Christiana and Penn's Neck in New Jersey.
366
The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
Here a new complication arose : the money was badly needed for congregational purposes, and so was a new church building, but during the prevailing financial strin- gency there was no way of suplementing the amount received so as to make it available.
In this dilemma another congregational meeting was convened by Dominie Falkner at the house of Reader Beekman, where it was resolved that the old building should be made tenantable with moneys to be collected by the cliurch-wardens, while the St. Thomas funds were to remain intact and be kept as the nucleus of a building fund for a future church. 408
The Dutch Reformed congregation in New York was in far better shape, and at first it seems strange that 10 assist- ance was offered by them to the Lutherans. At this time there was considerable friction in the colony between the Dutch Lutheran and Reformed congregations. The es-
407 The first Lutheran church in New York was built outside of the Cit- adel about where Bowling Green now is. When New York came once more into the possession of the Dutch, this building was razed for military reasons, in lieu of which a lot was given the congregation at what is now the S. W. Cor. Broadway and Rector Street. The first church upon this site served the congregation until 1729, when a new building was erected, partly by the efforts of Daniel Falkner.
July 6, 1784, the congregation having substituted the German for the Dutch tongue, united with the German Lutheran Church, known as the Swamp congregation, and assumed the name "The Corporation of the United German Lutheran Churches of New York," the services were trans- ferred to the church at Frankfort and William Streets. About 1826 the united congregation moved to Walker Street near Broadway.
By a special act of the legislature, passed March 29, 1866, the name was changed to "The German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Mat- thew." A spacious church was secured at the N. E. Cor. of Broome and Elizabetlı Streets, where the congregation now worship.
408 The second church was not built until some years after Justus Falk- ner's death, and then only by the personal efforts of his brother Daniel. Vide page 326-7, supra.
367
The First Lutheran Text Book.
trangement was partly caused by the orthodoxy of the Lutheran pastor and his close adherence to the unaltered Augsburg Confession.409 Discussions were indulged in, not only by the rival pastors, but by the individual members as well, and heated arguments often resulted.
To place his people in a position the better to uphold their faith and controvert the arguments of the Reformed, Dominie Falkner prepared a little book in the colloquial style of the period, in which he attempted to fortify his readers by quotations from the Scriptures against what he designated " Calvinistic errors."
This book, published by William Bradford, was in the low Dutch language, and was the first Orthodox Lutheran text-book published in America. Falkner was the second Lutheran clergyman to avail himself of the Bradford press ; his predecessor having been Heinrich Bernhard Köster, in 1695.410
The title of this work reads as follows :
" Fundamental Instruction | upon | certain chief | promi- nent articles of the | Veritable, undefiled, Beatifical | Chris- tian Doctrine, || founded upon the basis of the Apostles and Prophets of which || Jesus Christus || is the corner-stone, || expounded in plain, but edifying || Questions and Answers. || By | Justus Falckner, Saxo | Germanus, Minister of the Christian | Protestant so-called Lutheran | Congregation at N. York and Albany. | Printed in New York by W. Brad- fordt, || 1708.
A fac-simile of this title page is also reproduced. The original is in the collection of the Pennsylvania Historical Society.
In the preface, which is also in Dutch, the compiler
409 Vide foot-note, page 66.
410 Page 266, supra.
368
The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
GRONDLYCKE ONDERRICHT VAN Sekere Voorname Hoofd-ftucken, der Waren, Loutern, Saligmakendon, Chriftelycken Leere,
Gegrondet op den Grondt van de Apo- fteled en Propheten, daer
Jefus Chaltus de HOECK - STEEN.
I S. Angewefen in eenvoudige, dog ftigtlycke Vragen en Antwoorden,
Door JUSTUS FALCKNER , Sara Germanus, Minifter der Chriftelycken Protestantfon Gennemten Lutherischen Gemeente te N. Tork en Alban en, &c. Pfal. 119. v. 104. (Cod) , Woors marcks not Kloeck ; doctors bare ick alle valfche Wegen.
Gedruckt to Nieuw- York by W. Bradfordt. 1708
TITLE OF FIRST LUTHERAN TEXT-BOOK PRINTED IN AMERICA.
369
Falkner's Orthodoxy.
cominits himself absolutely to the symbolisin of the Lutli- eran Church, the confession of the Fathers ; " which confes- sion," he continues, "and faith by the grace of God, and the conviction of his Word and Spirit, lives also in me, and shall remain there until my blissful end."
He further states that it is to be distinctly understood that the contents of this book are to be taken in strict con- formnity with the teachings, confession and faith of the Lutheran Church, to which his parents and grandparents belonged. He continues : "Both my grandfathers, paternal and maternal, as well as my father, were found worthy by the grace of God to serve in the holy priesthood of his aggressive church."
The body of the book consists, as before stated, of a series of questions and answers. The last two pages are taken up with hymns. The first, of three stanzas of ten lines each, is a Dutch translation of Luther's hymn, " Wir glauben all an einem Gott." This is followed by a hymn to be sung before the serinon, which has four stanzas of four lines each. The last one is a hymn of two stanzas of twelve lines each. These are evidently of his own com- position and without doubt are the first original hymns published in the Western Hemisphere. 411
The whole book is remarkable for its orthodoxy, and it attracted the attention of leading divines in Germany. The celebrated Löscher, in his "Continuations " for 1726, designates this text-book as a "Compendium Doctrinae Anti-Calvinianum.
It certainly is greatly to the credit of Dominie Falkner, with his widespread field of labor, that he should have found time to compile the above book. How earnestly he
411 No traces of these hymns are to be found in the older Lutheran hymnals accessible to the writer.
47
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
Beer Betu Chatt, Che Cores Lash Wiesen Herfattat in ulben farm : Kleed Can in 't minden ban ons,. heer. En geeft eag arntacht tot ut Leer.
3. Berl'ge Bert, ons in marthepo lepues its Dienaars mondt en long beteget : Heet't trooper roos D'oopen 't hast ingarny En help ons born na uts bermeen.
4. Weer, ont' Godt boben af bermstre An Drie Drrfcanen elopenbsert ; We bloden Il bert lyck t'amen, Merhoort borb bess onfe bred' ! Amts
H Teer Coor Ben rrodts met q'nato' berlerd En frhits Den hegt gen Geett must sem Die ong de matrheydt leete ;
En geoff VarBande. hert, fia, Daer Dans Dat ong u'w TRootor niet zy ren foot, Waar Bantich for Ul Dekeere.
M Bos, um g'nasd' daet arn brings,
Dat bem bel fthick sof atere pres, al onfe torn mn faren ; . What bint'ren math, bat felbe menet:
Clar books'ren wach, var cesti begreb's
Lo mand'ien ine traten.
2, On tuur ong wel' Herr by cen tyot: Guly weten nist bor fett fubpt Bafferren onfe Magea.
Lucht, good, bites, breve liefdes to fronts rer ong um Cret, Die ons nient boats Wat toil Mp niet of : Dagen.
The whord altede Unos beinthe ther, MDs boofe torr'I. doch troum'Ipre mir Wat fp ong niet berblinde : He vert upt ten Warmhretighsyds,
Foon ens nare voor be ballgheyny
FAC-SIMILE OF THE FIRST ORIGINAL HYMN PRINTED IN AMERICA.
37I
Extent of the Missionary Field.
felt for the charges under his care is shown by the fact that he invited his elder brother Daniel to leave Pennsylvania and take charge of the scattered German and Dutch con- gregations in East Jersey.
Although the chief centers of his activity were Albany and New York, we find this untiring missionary establishing preaching stations at various widely distant points in the Hudson Valley. Geographically speaking, his charge was divided into two parts : one south, the other north of the Highlands of the Hudson. Falkner was wont to serve the former in the summer season, and the latter during the winter months. During the summer, in addition to his city charge, he served the congregations at Hackensack, Raritan, Remmerspach, Piscataway, Elizabethtown and Phillipsburg.
In the north his activity extended from Albany to Loonenburg (Athens), Klickenberg, Four Mile Point, Cox- sackie, Kinderhook and Calverack. Wherever Dutch Luth- erans settled there Dominie Falkner was found plying his sacred calling. To the above must be added the German congregations founded after the large immigration had set in during the early years of Queen Anne's reign, which were served in their native tongue by the zealous evangelist.
This latter duty became especially onerous during the absence of the German Pastor, Rev. Josua Kocherthial, and his subsequent death in 1719, when the German Lutheran congregations at Quassaik, Rosenthal, Schawanggunk, Langen Rack, Newtown, Tarbush, Queensbury, Rhinebeck and Schoharie were all visited by Falkner at more or less regular intervals.
Among the papers relating to the Palatines, published in vol. iii. of the "Documentary History of New York," is found the following notice: "Litra B. In the Books by
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
our Church,412 Fol. 28, is to be found that our then minister Justus Falkenier has baptized Ao 1710 Ye 19th April in the house of one of the Trustees, of which Time he has continued to serve the People there every year without any Profit of the Glebe."
That these stations were not merely small hamlets or isolated farin-houses, is shown by the entries in his register, as he frequently upon the same occasion baptized five, six, eight, nine or ten children. A personal account of his ministrations has fortunately been preserved to us in Biörck's Dissertatic Gradualis, before mentioned, published in Sweden, 1731.
Biörck there states: "The care of these churches [the Dutch Lutheran Churches in New York] was therefore [after the illness of Dominie Rudman] committed to Magister Justus Falkner, a German, and the planting of them brought forth, after some time, so plentiful a harvest that seven churches successively ordained in the same way might be enumerated, as Falkner intimates in a letter to Magister Sandel, dated New York, September 28, 1715.
"In the Jerseys, there I visit three small Lutheran con- "gregations 413 living a great distance one from the other, all " these three consist of about one hundred communicants, " the most poor people and poor settlers.
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