Church History

Church life

Confessional Lutherans left Germany to keep their faith. In 1838–39 about 700 Saxons (people from the German kingdom of Saxony), led by Pastor Martin Stephan, sailed from Bremen in five ships. One ship, the Amalia, was lost at sea. The rest reached New Orleans and settled in St. Louis and in Perry County, Missouri. They hoped to live and teach by God’s Word, including the Sacraments, without state pressure. P: G. A. Schieferdecker, History of the First German-Lutheran Settlement in Altenburg (1864-65), pp. 5-9 V1: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Lutherans,” on the Saxon emigration of 1838–39 V2: Concordia Historical Institute, Saxon Immigration Collection, scope note. Sources give different head counts: about 665 sailed, and 707 signed up. The Schieferdecker history is a congregation’s own account, written in 1864.
Prussian Lutherans who refused the state union (see Controversy) also left. Pastor Johann Grabau was jailed twice for refusing the union service book. He reached Buffalo, New York, in 1839 with his people. Pastor Johann Kilian went to Texas, and Pastor August Kavel went to Australia. P: Martin Noland, “Walther and the Revival of Confessional Lutheranism,” Concordia Theological Quarterly 75 (2011), pp. 207–208 V1: Concordia Historical Institute, Johann Grabau papers, biographical note V2: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Lutherans,” on the Old Lutherans, Grabau and Kavel. Kilian’s move to Texas is in Birkmann, memorial of Johann Kilian. Kavel’s move to Australia is also in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Kavel.
In 1839 the Saxons removed Stephan from office for sexual misconduct and money abuse. They then asked whether they were still a church. Walther answered at the Altenburg Debate in April 1841. He taught that a church remains a church wherever God’s Word and the Sacraments are present. P: Schieferdecker, pp. 20-24, Walther’s argument at the debate V1: Perry County Lutheran Historical Society, “The Altenburg Debate, Day 2,” April 20, 1841 V2: Mundinger, “Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther, Churchman,” Walther Lecture, Concordia Theological Seminary, on the debate of April 1841. The removal and its grounds are also in New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Lutherans”.
The Saxons opened a log-cabin school in 1839. It grew into Concordia Seminary. The seminary moved to St. Louis in 1849–50 under Walther. P: Schieferdecker, pp. 20–24, the school and its move V1: LCMS, history page, Walther as president of Concordia Seminary from 1850 V2: Concordia Seminary, About, history and timeline.
In 1844 Walther began the magazine Der Lutheraner (“The Lutheran”) in St. Louis. It aimed to show scattered German immigrants that the Lutheran church was still alive and still taught what Luther taught. P: Walther, “Prologue Concerning Reason, Purpose, and Contents of This Publication,” August 1844 V1: LCMS, history page, Walther as editor of Der Lutheraner V2: Pless, “Wilhelm Loehe: His Voice Still Heard in Walther’s Church,” on pastors’ reaction to Der Lutheraner.
Wilhelm Löhe, a pastor at Neuendettelsau in Bavaria, trained men and sent them to serve German settlers in North America. His men helped to found Frankenmuth, Michigan, in 1845. Löhe also began a deaconess work at Neuendettelsau in 1853–1854 (a community of women who serve the sick and poor). P: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, “Löhe, Johann Konrad Wilhelm” V1: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Löhe, Johann Konrad Wilhelm,” on his training of workers for America and the deaconess house V2: Concordia Historical Institute, Frankenmuth (Michigan) Historical Collection, history note.
The Missouri Synod’s founding convention met in 1847. The constitution was signed on April 26 in Chicago. Twelve pastors from 14 congregations joined. The church body first took the name German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and Other States. P: First Synodical Report, 1847 proceedings, 1876 second edition, printed p. 5, Monday April 26 V1: LCMS, history page, founding paragraph V2: John T. Pless, “Wilhelm Loehe: His Voice Still Heard in Walther’s Church,” pp. 313–315. The German text is in the library’s OCR transcription. Class reading: read the April 26 entry on signing and on choosing the first president.
Missouri’s founders bound themselves to the Lutheran Confessions (the Book of Concord). Those texts teach that Christ’s body and blood are truly present in the Lord’s Supper. The 1847 constitution differs from its 1854 revision. P: 1847 constitution, II.2 and II.4, quoted in Martin Noland, pp. 211–212, notes 63–65 V1: Pless, complete loyalty to the Lutheran Confessions, pp. 313–314 V2: LCMS, history page, confessional commitment of the founders. Class reading: II.2 accepts the confessional books. II.4 sets rules for church and school books.
Class activity: look at a hymnal, a schoolbook, and a communion service book. Ask how each one helps a congregation confess the same faith. Read P: Small Catechism, Preface and P: Augsburg Confession XXIV.

Controversy and heresy

On September 27, 1817, King Frederick William III of Prussia called for a union of the Lutheran and Reformed churches into one “evangelical Christian” church. He wrote that only “external differences” still divided the two churches. The Reformed deny that Christ’s body and blood are given in the Supper. So the claim touches Christ himself. P: royal appeal, complete transcription, paragraphs 1–4 V1: Schaff, History of the Christian Church VII, discussion of the Evangelical Union V2: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Union, Ecclesiastical, in Germany,” section 3.
The king also ordered a shared worship book (an “agenda”). Many Lutherans refused it. Officials fined and jailed some pastors. The state recognized these “Old Lutherans” as a separate church only in 1845. P: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, “Lutherans,” on the Prussian union and the Old Lutherans V1: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Lutherans,” on the Agenda, the Old Lutherans and the concession of July 23, 1845 V2: Concordia Historical Institute, Johann Grabau papers, biographical note on his imprisonment.
Class discussion: the appeal calls the remaining differences external. Compare it with the Confessions. Read P: the 1817 appeal P: Formula, Solid Declaration VII, 35–38, and P: Formula, Solid Declaration VIII, 6–13 and 76–85. Ask why a view of the Supper depends on who Christ is.
In the 1850s Samuel Schmucker pushed “American Lutheranism,” a Lutheranism that fit American Protestant life. In 1855 he published the Definite Synodical Platform, a rewrite of the Augsburg Confession. It dropped or changed parts on the Mass, private confession, and the Sabbath. It also changed parts on baptismal regeneration (the teaching that Baptism gives new birth) and on Christ’s true presence in the Supper. Few Lutherans adopted it. P: Schmucker, American Lutheranism Vindicated (1856), topics V1: CTS lecture, “What Is American Lutheranism?” V2: Britannica 1911, “Lutherans,” General Synod. The 1855 date and the small number of adopters come from histories, not from the 1856 book.
Class discussion: compare the Platform’s omissions with P: Augsburg Confession IX P: Augsburg Confession X, and P: Augsburg Confession XI. Ask what Baptism and the Supper give, because Christ promises them.
Walther and other Lutheran leaders disagreed about the office of pastor and the rights of the congregation. Löhe, Grabau and Walther each took a different view. This split Missouri from Löhe’s followers and Grabau’s Buffalo Synod in the 1850s. P: Löhe’s letter to Walther, September 1847, quoted in Pless, p. 315 V1: Noland, pp. 207–211 V2: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Lutherans,” on Löhe, Missouri and the Iowa Synod. The Löhe letter shows Löhe’s objection to congregational control. It does not give the full argument.
The predestination controversy began in 1877. Walther taught that God chose his people in Christ by grace alone, with no cause in the person. Matthias Loy of the Ohio Synod and Professor F. A. Schmidt of the Norwegian Synod taught that God chose those whose faith he foresaw (“in view of faith,” in Latin intuitu fidei). Schmidt accused Walther of Calvinism. Walther said the Confessions teach election in Christ. P: Walther, The Controversy Concerning Predestination (1881) V1: Concordia Theological Seminary, “Predestination Controversy” (lecture transcript) V2: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Lutherans,” on Schmidt, Walther and Ohio.
The Norwegian Synod’s pastors also answered in 1884. Ulrik Vilhelm Koren wrote An Accounting, signed by 107 pastors. It rejected both Calvinist teaching and the “in view of faith” view. The Norwegian Synod then split. About one third of its pastors and congregations left. P: Koren, An Accounting (November 1884) V1: Evangelical Lutheran Synod, “Our History” V2: Ferkenstad, “A Table in the Wilderness,” 2003 ELS convention essay, on the loss of one third of the pastors and congregations.
Class discussion: read P: Formula, Solid Declaration XI, 8 and 13–28 and P: Epitome XI. Ask how Christ and the Gospel promise (which God reveals) guide the doctrine of election. Ask whether guessing at God’s hidden counsel is allowed. Koren’s Accounting is a study aid for the Norwegian Synod’s own view.
Charles Spurgeon, a Baptist pastor in London, preached against baptismal regeneration on June 5, 1864. P: Spurgeon, Baptismal Regeneration, sermon 573 V1: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, “Spurgeon” V2: Dictionary of National Biography, “Spurgeon”.

Councils and major events

The First Vatican Council opened on December 8, 1869, and adjourned on October 20, 1870. On July 18, 1870, it issued Pastor Aeternus. The decree teaches papal primacy. That is the pope’s authority over the whole church. It also teaches papal infallibility. That means the pope’s formal definitions for the whole church are free of error. Set conditions apply. The council ties both to the pope’s role as Christ’s representative. P: Pastor Aeternus, chapters III and IV, dated conclusion V1: Sergio Centofanti, “Primacy and infallibility: 150 years after Vatican I” V2: Catholic Encyclopedia, “Vatican Council,” dates of opening and adjournment. Rome counts Vatican I as the 20th ecumenical council. Its other decree, Dei Filius, was adopted on April 24, 1870.
- Lutheran classification: Spurious. The Confessions reject the claim that the pope rules the whole church by divine right and binds consciences. The council also repeats the Trinity and the incarnation, which the Confessions share, but that does not make its authority binding on Lutherans. Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, 1–4, Smalcald Articles II.IV.
Pope Pius IX defined the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 1854. This doctrine says Mary was kept free from original sin from the first moment of her life. The pope said this was “in view of the merits of Jesus Christ.” It was a papal definition, not a council decision. P: Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, “Immaculate Conception” V2: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, “Immaculate Conception”. Confessional judgment of this curriculum: the Confessions teach that all people born in the natural way carry original sin, and that Christ alone is the sinless Savior. See Augsburg Confession II and Smalcald Articles II.I.
Pastors in Wisconsin organized a synod (a church body) for shared church work. The plan took shape on December 8, 1849. The synod was founded in 1850 at Granville, near Milwaukee. John Muehlhaeuser wrote its constitution and became its first president. The body is now the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). P: founding resolution of December 8, 1849, and Muehlhaeuser’s recollection, quoted in “A Synod Is Born,” pp. 1–2 V1: WELS, history page, foundation and early mission V2: WELS Historical Institute, History of WELS, 1850. The 1849 excerpts show the founders’ purpose. The later WELS histories give the 1850 date, the Granville place and the first president. So does Braun, “The Reception of Walther’s Theology in the Wisconsin Synod,” Concordia Theological Quarterly 77 (2013). The original constitution is still an unread gap.
In February 1853 Norwegian immigrants met at East Koshkonong, Wisconsin, and organized the Norwegian Synod. Its first regular convention met at Luther Valley, Wisconsin, in October 1853. Herman Preus was among its first pastors, and Ulrik Koren came to America that year and became a leader. This church body is the root of today’s Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS). P: Evangelical Lutheran Synod, “Our History” (the synod’s own account) V1: Ferkenstad, “A Table in the Wilderness,” 2003 ELS convention essay, on the meetings of 1853 V2: Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, Evangelical Lutheran Synod, member church page.
Conservative synods formed the General Council in 1867. Its first convention met at Fort Wayne, Indiana, on November 20, 1867. It began as a reaction against Schmucker’s “Americanized” Lutheranism in the General Synod. The Council held to the “unaltered” Augsburg Confession. In 1872 it adopted the Akron-Galesburg rule. The rule reserves Lutheran pulpits for Lutheran pastors and Lutheran altars for Lutheran communicants. P: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, “Lutherans,” on the General Council and General Synod V1: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Lutherans,” on the General Council, the four points and the rule V2: Concordia University Chicago, hymnal collection index, “General Council”. Sources differ on whether Akron (1872) or Galesburg (1875) first adopted the rule. The Ohio and Iowa synods asked the Council for clear answers on four points: pulpit and altar fellowship, secret societies, and the end times. Ohio declined to join without them. Iowa joined only as a non-voting associate.
Several confessional synods formed the Synodical Conference in Milwaukee in July 1872. Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, Illinois and the Norwegian Synod formed it. The conference required full agreement with the Book of Concord. P: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, “Lutherans,” on the Synodical Conference’s subscription to the Book of Concord V1: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Lutherans,” on the Synodical Conference and the Joint Synod of Ohio V2: Schroeder, “150 years of fellowship,” Forward in Christ, June 2022. The Ohio Synod left in 1881 and the Norwegian Synod in 1883 (some sources say 1884) because of the predestination controversy.
Class discussion: assess Vatican I with P: Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, 1–4 and P: Augsburg Confession XXVIII, 5–9. Separate church administration from power to bind consciences.

Major people

Walther was the first president of the Missouri Synod. P: 1847 report, printed p. 23 (scan 27), election for the first three-year term V1: LCMS, history page, founding leadership V2: Concordia Historical Institute, President Walther, first presidency paragraph. He led the synod from 1847 to 1850 and again from 1864 to 1878. He also taught at Concordia Seminary and edited Der Lutheraner.
Martin Stephan (1777 to 1846) was a Dresden pastor who led the Saxon emigration. The emigrants made him “bishop.” They removed him from office in 1839. P: Schieferdecker, p. 10 ff., Stephan’s role and fall V1: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Lutherans,” on Stephan and the Saxon emigration V2: Concordia Historical Institute, Saxon Immigration Collection, scope note.
Walther argued that slavery itself was not sinful. He separated it from abuses of enslaved people. This reports Walther’s argument. It does not show that slavery was morally acceptable. It does not describe every Missouri congregation. P: Walther, 1863 Lehre und Wehre selections, translated by Erika Bullmann Flores V1: Cameron MacKenzie, The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Public Square in the Era of C. F. W. Walther, printed pp. 97-99 V2: CHI, Historical Footnotes, Winter 2011, printed p. 5.
Class discussion: compare P: Walther’s argument P: the Emancipation Proclamation, and P: Large Catechism, Fifth Commandment, 182 to 193. Ask how Christians must treat enslaved neighbors. Ask where appeals to obey the government stop. Keep the class’s moral judgment apart from its account of the history.
Wilhelm Löhe (1808–1872) was the Bavarian pastor who sent missionary pastors to North America. He disagreed with Missouri’s 1847 constitution on the pastoral office. P: Löhe’s letter to Walther, September 1847, quoted in Pless, p. 315 V1: Noland, church and ministry disputes, pp. 207–211 V2: CHI archival biography, 1847 constitution disagreement. The finding aid names the dispute’s subject. It does not give the letter’s full argument. His birth and death dates are in New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Löhe, Johann Konrad Wilhelm”.
Johann Grabau (1804–1879) led Prussian Old Lutherans to Buffalo in 1839. He helped found the Buffalo Synod in 1845. Sources give the date as June 25 or July 15. P: Noland, pp. 207–208 V1: Concordia Historical Institute, Johann Grabau papers, biographical note V2: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Lutherans,” on Grabau and the Buffalo Synod.
Samuel Simon Schmucker (1799–1873) taught at Gettysburg Seminary from 1826 to 1864. He helped found the General Synod in 1820 and wrote the Definite Synodical Platform. P: Schmucker, American Lutheranism Vindicated V1: American Battlefield Trust, Samuel Simon Schmucker, biography V2: Concordia Theological Seminary, “What Is American Lutheranism?”.
Charles Porterfield Krauth (1823–1883) taught at the Lutheran seminary in Philadelphia. He wrote The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology and led the General Council. P: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, “Lutherans,” on the General Council V1: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Krauth, Charles Porterfield” V2: University of Pennsylvania Archives, Charles Porterfield Krauth.
Ulrik Vilhelm Koren wrote An Accounting (1884) for the Norwegian Synod. P: Koren, An Accounting V1: Ferkenstad, “A Table in the Wilderness,” 2003 ELS convention essay, on Koren as a leader of the Norwegian Synod V2: Evangelical Lutheran Synod, “Our History”. Class reading: P: Koren’s An Accounting, I to IV with P: Formula XI. Part I teaches that Christ redeemed all people and that God’s call is earnest to all. Use it to ask what gives a Christian certainty of salvation.
Dwight L. Moody and Ira Sankey began British revival campaigns in 1873. Moody preached and Sankey led the hymn singing. P: J. Wilbur Chapman, The Life and Work of D. L. Moody V1: Moody Bible Institute, D. L. Moody biography V2: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, “Moody”.

Wider world

Louisiana Purchase, 1803: the United States bought about 828,000 square miles west of the Mississippi River from France for $15 million. The treaty was signed on April 30. Lutheran and other German settlers later filled much of this land. P: Louisiana Purchase Treaty, National Archives milestone document V1: U.S. State Department, Office of the Historian, “Louisiana Purchase, 1803” V2: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, “Louisiana Purchase”. The remark about German settlers is a summary, not a claim from these pages.
Darwin’s Origin of Species, 1859: Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species on November 24, 1859. It argued for natural selection and set off wide debate about science and Scripture. P: Darwin, On the Origin of Species (1859 first edition) V1: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, “Darwin, Charles Robert” V2: Linda Hall Library, Charles Darwin, Scientist of the Day.
American Civil War and emancipation, 1863: Lincoln’s proclamation of January 1 declared enslaved people free in areas still in rebellion. P: Emancipation Proclamation, operative paragraphs V1: National Archives, The EP at the National Archives V2: National Park Service, Freedom at Antietam, final proclamation and exemptions.
Appomattox, 1865: Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant on April 9. P: Grant’s terms and Lee’s acceptance, dated letters V1: National Park Service, surrender meeting V2: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, “Robert Edward Lee,” Appomattox paragraph.
Telephone, 1876: Alexander Graham Bell received U.S. patent 174,465 on March 7. P: Bell’s patent, dated specification and claim 5 V1: Smithsonian, Hear My Voice, Bell and his experimental telephone V2: National Inventors Hall of Fame, Bell biography.

Confessional Lutheran connection

The Son of God became a true man and died for human sins. Lutherans confess this in the Book of Concord. P: Formula, Solid Declaration III.14–17 V1: Augsburg Confession III.1–6 V2: Smalcald Articles II, first and chief article. Class reading: Formula III.14–17 on the obedience of Christ’s whole person.
Baptism offers God’s grace, and the Supper gives Christ’s true body and blood. The curriculum’s confessional judgment uses this teaching to assess the Definite Platform and revival preaching. P: Small Catechism, Baptism and Sacrament of the Altar V1: Large Catechism, Baptism 17-30 and Sacrament 8-32 V2: Augsburg Confession IX and X. Class application: read the catechisms on the Word, the promise and forgiveness. Then judge parish customs and revival preaching by them.
Election: the curriculum’s confessional judgment is that the Formula teaches election as God’s gracious choice in Christ, made known through the Gospel. P: Formula, Solid Declaration XI.8 and 13–28 V1: Epitome XI V2: Walther, The Controversy Concerning Predestination. Walther and Koren each claim the Confessions for their side. Hold the historical report apart from the doctrinal judgment.
Ministry: the curriculum’s confessional judgment is that Christ gives the office of preaching the Gospel and giving the Sacraments. Christians are free to arrange its outward form. P: Augsburg Confession V V1: Augsburg Confession XIV V2: Augsburg Confession XXVIII. Walther, Löhe and Grabau each claimed this ground.
Class comparison: read Spurgeon’s Baptismal Regeneration, Mark 16:16, and the Small Catechism, Baptism IV. Ask how each text connects water, God’s Word, faith and salvation. State Spurgeon’s own argument fairly before comparing it with Lutheran teaching.
Class comparison: read Chapman, chapter 10. Ask what this later account proves about the meetings. Separate it from claims about each person’s conversion. Compare the invitation methods with AC IV and V and with the Catechism’s promises in Baptism and the Supper.

Lutheran developments

Most Lutheran growth in this century came in North America through German and Scandinavian immigration. Several church bodies formed: the General Synod (1820), Buffalo (1845), Missouri (1847), Wisconsin (1850), the Norwegian Synod (1853), Iowa (1854), the General Council (1867), and the Synodical Conference (1872). P: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, “Lutherans,” on the American church bodies V1: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Lutherans,” on the Buffalo, Missouri, Norwegian, Iowa, General Council and Synodical Conference bodies V2: WELS, history page, Wisconsin Synod in 1850 and Synodical Conference in 1872. The Buffalo Synod’s date comes from Concordia Historical Institute, Johann Grabau papers.
Missouri organized in 1847 and chose a confessional course. It kept Lutheran worship, schools and catechism central. P: first convention proceedings, printed p. 5 V1: LCMS, history page, founding paragraph V2: Pless, founding account, pp. 313–315.
Wisconsin’s early organizers sought shared work for the Lutheran church in Wisconsin. P: founding resolution and Muehlhaeuser recollection excerpts in A Synod Is Born, pp. 1–2 V1: WELS, history page V2: WELS Historical Institute, History of WELS, 1850. Class exercise: build separate timelines from these records. Trace pastors, schools, and common confession.
Missouri and Wisconsin reached fellowship in 1868 and both joined the Synodical Conference in 1872. This union rested on agreement in the Confessions, not on a state order like the Prussian union. P: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, “Lutherans,” on the Synodical Conference’s subscription to the Book of Concord V1: Braun, “The Reception of Walther’s Theology in the Wisconsin Synod,” Concordia Theological Quarterly 77 (2013), on the meeting of October 21–22, 1868 V2: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Lutherans,” on the Synodical Conference.
The Schmucker party and the confessional party split in the 1850s and 1860s. Schmucker’s General Synod accepted the Augsburg Confession with broad freedom. Krauth’s General Council (1867) and the Synodical Conference (1872) held to the Book of Concord. Each church body must be judged by its own documents, not by one body’s policy. P: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911, “Lutherans” V1: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Lutherans,” on the General Synod, the Definite Platform and the General Council V2: Concordia Theological Seminary, “What Is American Lutheranism?”.
The predestination controversy (1877 to the 1880s) broke the Synodical Conference. Ohio left in 1881 and the Norwegian Synod in 1883 (some sources say 1884). Some Ohio pastors sided with Missouri and formed the Concordia Synod of Pennsylvania. P: Walther, The Controversy Concerning Predestination (1881) V1: New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, “Lutherans,” on the withdrawal of Ohio and the Norwegian Synod V2: Concordia Theological Seminary, “Predestination Controversy”. The Concordia Synod of Pennsylvania is named in Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Petersen, “The Synodical Conference — A Champion of True Lutheranism”.
Class discussion: compare Löhe’s P: September 1847 letter excerpt, Pless p. 315 with P: Augsburg Confession V, XIV, and XXVIII. Ask what Christ institutes and what Christians are free to arrange.