# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_M rz 1858_S89
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

On Lay Elders or Congregation Presidents. 89

sung, so that the choir and the congregation always answered in unison,
whereupon the people conducted themselves very diligently and devoutly;
and after the service in the church was everywhere concluded, the
Senatores Senatus ecclesiastici went home with me to the parsonage.
Whatever (public?) sin, failing, and evil fault each one knew of that
had occurred, each reported according to his conscience. Those who were
reported had the sexton sent to them, so that they had to appear, and
were then admonished by the Senatus ecclesiasticus to desist from their
offensive life, with the threat that, should they not amend themselves,
they would be denounced and made public before the whole Christian
congregation. And by this admonition such discipline and fear was
brought into the people that the erring amended themselves, and, praise
and thanks be to God, there was never any need of a public denunciation
or of the ban." (Cited in: "J. Jacobi's Versäumte Buße," p. 153.)
Löscher likewise says, in a review of Greher's biography: "Above all,
what is reported of a church senate made up of preachers and
distinguished hearers is worth reading." (Unschuldige Nachrichten,
vol. 1709, p. 807.)

A similar arrangement seems also to have existed in Braunschweig in
Chemnitz's time. For when M. Bergius there, in the year 1581, having two
years before subscribed to the Formula of Concord, revoked this
subscription and accused that confession of many errors, the following
procedure was undertaken, according to Chemnitz's report: "Because it
was found that the matter would fall into troublesome prolixity, one had
to resort to the means that, according to our church order, had been
used several times before in like cases, and so on the 2nd of August
there came together a whole honorable church council, secondly those
appointed by the congregation for such matters, and tertio the whole
ministerium." In what follows Chemnitz writes that he explained to
Magister Bergius, in the colloquy before those named, that he should
"bring forward his opinion most freely and defend it as best he could";
they for their part wished to set against it, with equal freedom,
whatever was owed for the sake of office and conscience — not now only
privately, but also afterward publicly before the whole church, should
need require it, and thereafter to let his and their support, and then
the whole church, judge the matter." Although Bergius allowed himself to
be persuaded, still the whole affair was in the end communicated to the
entire congregation from the pulpit, and the congregation was asked to
forgive the teacher who had fallen into error (who had already entered
into correspondence with Beza and other Calvinists). See Unschuldige
Nachrichten, vol. 1728, p. 216 ff.)

(Conclusion follows.)