# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_Mai 1857_S160
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

160 Church-Current-Events.

return to the fellowship of the local church. We comfort ourselves with
this, that fellowship in the Holy Supper is a still closer thing than that
of baptism. The former we have with all confessionally faithful
Lutheran churches of our fatherland; with the Lutheran church in
Prussia we also stand in fellowship of ordination. Under the direction
of the reverend O.-K.C. we have not so far, for various reasons, placed
ourselves, chiefly because there has as yet been no occasion for it, and
because our position here would thereby become still more difficult,
especially since it has already been held against us that we turned to
the General Synod in 1852. Besides, several points of your church
constitution do not sit right with us, and — what is more important to
us than this — we would like to carry out in practice the principle of
having the unity of the church not in government but in confession.
And in the faith and blood of Christ we are, thank God, fully one. That
must suffice for now.

Berlin. So writes the Dorfkirchenzeitung: We close with a joyful piece
of news from Berlin, which may move all readers to heartfelt
thanksgiving toward God. The Lutheran congregation has recently held
a fine topping-out ceremony in the building of its church. If the Lord
grants it, the consecration is likewise to follow in the course of next
year. But on the last Sunday of the church year God made a special
festival day for the congregation: Mission Inspector Haag (formerly a
preacher in Baden) was received into our church along with 4 pupils
of the united mission house. How mighty and faithful is the Lord, who
does not forsake His own! The members of Pastor Haag's former
congregation in Baden had already gone before him on this path (of
which we gladly heard reports from there). This withdrawal, however,
is a loud testimony especially for Berlin, where just now an assembly of
the leaders of the Prussian Union is meeting (together with one from
Lutheran Hamburg) to examine the ills of the state church. There the
Lord has not failed to give a sign of what can heal where neither herb
nor poultice heals, namely, honest return to His Word and its full
confession, as the Lutheran church confesses it. Ah, that they too might
no longer have to lament with Jer. 51:9! How desperate the harm must
be one can learn daily from the complaints of the Union papers.

The united Solms mission society. So reports the "Freimund": In the
Grand Duchy of Hesse there lie close together the Principality of
Solms-Lich, part of the Principality of Solms-Braunfels, and the County
of Solms-Laubach. The princes of Solms-Lich have become Reformed.
They succeeded, however, only in turning two village congregations
away from the pure faith. The Braunfels line succeeded in their evil
undertaking everywhere except in the village of Röthges, which,
according to tradition, steadfastly drove off the Reformed pastors and
therefore is still today affiliated with the Lutheran parish of Wetterfeld.
Laubach is devoted to the pure doctrine. Recently a pastor made the
proposal to found a Solms mission society, so as in this way also to
stir up to mission activity the pastors and congregations that had
hitherto abstained from it. This found much approval. A large assembly
was held in Lich. But it then happened that one of the invited pastors
said something like this: that although he too heartily rejoiced over the
newly awakening love for missions which he perceived here, he could
not join the intended society, because he was already a member of the
Lutheran mission society. He was also convinced that so deep a rift
runs through the whole doctrine of the two churches that it could not
be filled up by a united mission society. To this some of those present
assented. And although the statutes were nevertheless presented,
debated, and adopted by a vote of the great majority of the numerous
assembly, the whole matter in the end again collapsed into nothing in
that same assembly, in that those few held firm and everyone in the
end realized that the undertaking was a vain one.

This is the third united mission society known to me in Hesse-
Darmstadt that is attempted, founded, and let fall. And although one of
them spread widely and was even called the general Hessian society,
several of its leaders have nevertheless withdrawn to become members
of the Lutheran mission society. Part of its membership did likewise.
Another part has broken away from it in order, allegedly, to found a
mission society based on the (good Lutheran) liturgy of 1724, which,
however, is not supposed to be Lutheran. This one, then, given such
confusion of concepts, likewise promises no long existence.

The Lutheran mission society, on the other hand, stands firm, has its
orderly organization, and grows by God's grace both inwardly and
outwardly.

Should not those of a union mind now soon grow wise from this? A
Reformed clergyman charged the aforementioned faithful Lutheran
pastor with having bungled the matter. And when he defended himself
against this expression, because he had never been a bungler, the
other said: "Yes, you! You have embittered the whole matter!" To
embitter is a Hessian provincialism meaning roughly to bring plans to
nothing, as Hushai was bidden to do in 2 Sam. 15:34. But if a simple
testimony can embitter a matter otherwise so fine and good, then that
matter must indeed suffer from some serious flaw, like a fine building
that would soon collapse because it was built on hay and stubble.