# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1847 10 13_S145
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Edited by C. F. W. Walther.

Der Lutheraner.

"God's Word and Luther's teaching shall now and nevermore pass away."

Published by the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States.

Volume 4.

St. Louis, Mo., May 16, 1848.

No. 19.

Terms: Der Lutheraner appears once every two weeks, at the annual subscription price of one dollar for out-of-town subscribers, who are to pay this in advance and bear the postage. — In St. Louis each individual number is sold for 5 cents. Only letters containing contributions for the paper are to be sent to the editor; all others, containing business matters — orders, cancellations, money, etc. — are to be sent to this address: Mr. F. W. Barthel, care of C. F. W. Walther, St. Louis, Mo.

(Submitted by Dr. Sihler.)
A German Unionist on Us Poor Lutherans.
(Conclusion.)

Finally, Mr. H. reports the following:

"The writer (namely he himself) wishes to add further that the democratic spirit so prevailing here in this country is found nowhere so strong as among these Old Lutheran congregations. The preachers, Grabau excepted, are everywhere subjected to the most painful oversight on the part of the congregation members, who wish to govern themselves; they are hindered, plagued, led about, and oppressed on every side, and withal wretchedly paid. The pastor of the Old Lutheran congregation in New York, a truly zealous man, of gentle, tender disposition, and yet at the same time so thoroughly a Lutheran that he must wear pointed shoes in the pulpit — this man is under the guardianship of his bread-masters, who measure out his bread to him so stingily that he must literally suffer hunger — a true cross-bearer; and so it is, more or less, in all the congregations."

As regards the first part of Mr. H.'s statement, it has happened to him here, as in quite a few other places, that he either at once drew conclusions about the whole from individual observations of his own, or hastily patched together supposed facts from mere hearsay of people who were by no means well informed or impartial.

That the democratic spirit here does indeed exercise no small influence upon church government wherever ecclesiastical and political matters touch upon one another in various ways, or that individual preachers, through their personal disposition, are men-pleasers and hirelings, is readily and willingly conceded. But this twofold evil is to be found far more among a good many English and other German churches than among us so-called Old Lutherans, who have now joined together into a synod. There it is, for example, quite customary and usual for congregations to hire and engage their spiritual "speechmakers" for a year or half a year at a certain sum; and not only spiritual vagabonds but even members of ecclesiastical bodies enter without hesitation into such shameful and disgraceful conditions, letting themselves be hired like cattle-herders; the reverend synods find this altogether excellently American and in the best order, and thereby prove, to be sure, that they have not a trace of churchly sense of honor in their bodies. Such synods, preachers, and congregations are worthy of one another, and it is then indeed no wonder that here the preachers are regarded by the congregations not as servants of the church, as ambassadors in Christ's stead, as fellow workers of the Holy Spirit, as fathers in Christ, but rather as their paid and hired spiritual "speakers." And from this it follows quite naturally that such preachers frequently allow themselves, in cowardly fashion, to be deprived of the share of church government that is properly theirs, that they exercise the holy office of rebuke neither publicly nor privately with the wholesome severity required by God's ordinance, that they admit all sorts of people to the holy Lord's Supper without any careful examination of their spiritual state, that in congregational meetings they are mere ciphers or yes-men to the majority — indeed, that, moreover in keeping with their own inclination, they end up preaching whatever makes the people's ears itch. In sum, these congregations regard their preachers not as their servants for Jesus' sake, but as their hired men for wages' sake, and the reverend hirelings, especially if these happen to be "good congregations" — that is, ones that pay tolerably well — then gladly turn a blind eye and bend and accommodate themselves as best they can, so that they remain "popular" and are always hired anew.

But such a shameful and unworthy condition, such a pernicious encroachment of worldly democracy upon the administration of the church, is, if I may say so, not found precisely in our so-called Old Lutheran Synod, as Mr. H. falsely reports. Among us there is not a single one who would ever have let himself be hired and engaged for a time;*) but in this respect too a proper call takes place among us, and each of us would, it is hoped, rather perform day-laborer's work than submit to such contemptible conditions and thereby already introduce over the church a kind of popular papacy, which would naturally do the greatest harm to those subjected to it.

In our synodical district our congregations, God willing, do not regard us as their hired servants, although they provide us, according to God's ordinance, with the nourishment and necessities of the body, but rather as servants of Christ and stewards over the mysteries of God; and even though there are, here and there, individuals who would gladly regard us as their hirelings and would deal with us arrogantly or contemptuously if they could, this is by no means the prevailing tone and character of the congregations.

And so it comes about, by God's grace, that we of the Old Lutheran Synod do not, out of fear of men or desire to please men, out of fleshly regard for the democratic spirit and the like, allow our hands to be bound in any way from administering our office according to God's ordinance — to rebuke, to warn, to admonish, publicly and privately, as the matter and the person may require, even should the latter be a rich upstart, a great democrat, and a respected windbag.

To be sure, we do not wish to, nor can we, deny that a good number of us have no small struggle with unteachable, distrustful, and obstinate people, in order partly to establish and partly to maintain a sound congregational order in which the authority of church government is, according to God's Word, rightly divided and at the same time joined between preacher and congregation — but it is not impossible on that account; for

*) It is true that, since the congregations are on average poor, and since the number of members changes almost yearly through people moving away or new arrivals, annual assessments for the preachers' support do take place in several cases; but this by no means implies any new annual term of hire.