Final questions were asked and answered, Spangenberg’s Commission was delivered to him, and then Bishop Nitschmann “laid his blessing upon” him. In the Lutheran Church, to which he belonged before he joined the Moravians, Spangenberg had been an accredited minister of the Gospel. The Church of England refused to acknowledge the validity of Lutheran ordination, because that Church had no Episcopate, but the Moravians, influenced by Count Zinzendorf, himself a Lutheran by birth, broad-minded, liberal, and devout, did not hesitate to fraternize with the Lutherans, or even to accept the Sacraments at the hands of Pastor Rothe, in charge of the Parish Church of Berthelsdorf. At the same time they prized the Episcopate lately transferred to them from the ancient Unitas Fratrum, and while continuing in free fellowship with Christians of all denominational names, they now intended to so ordain their own ministry that no church could question it. When the three grades were established in 1745, a license to preach granted by the Lutheran Church was considered equivalent to the rank of Deacon, ordination in the Moravian Church making the minister a Presbyter.
Now fully equipped for his mission to the English Colony of Pennsylvania, Spangenberg left Savannah on March 15th, going on Capt. Dunbar’s ship to Port Royal, where he lodged with a man who was born in Europe, his wife in Africa, their child in Asia, and they were all now living in America! From Port Royal he went by land almost to Charlestown, the last short distance being in a chance boat, and from Charlestown he sailed to New York. From there he proceeded to Philadelphia, and to the Schwenkfelders, making his home with Christopher Wiegner on his farm in the Skippack woods, where George Boehnisch was also living. Spangenberg worked on the farm that he might not be a burden to his host, and might meet the neighbors in a familiar way, meanwhile making numerous acquaintances, and gaining much valuable information.
Bishop Nitschmann remained in Savannah until March 26th, when he sailed to Charlestown. There he was detained ten days waiting for a northbound ship, and employed the time in delivering several letters of introduction, and learning all he could about Carolina, and the conditions there. On the 28th of April he reached New York, and left on the 9th of May for Philadelphia, going partly by boat, and partly on foot, reaching there on the 13th. Six weeks he and Spangenberg spent together, visiting many neighborhoods, and informing themselves as to the religious and material outlook in Pennsylvania, and then Nitschmann sailed for Germany.
His report gave a new turn to the American plans, for both he and Spangenberg were much pleased with Pennsylvania. Quite a number of the settlers seemed open to the idea of mutual aid in the spiritual life, material conditions were very different from those in Georgia and better suited to the Moravian needs, the Quaker Governor was not likely to force military service upon people who held the same theories as himself in regard to warfare, and there were large tribes of Indians within easy reach, to whom the Gospel might be preached. As troubles thickened in Savannah, therefore, the heads of the Church at Herrnhut began to look toward Pennsylvania, and ultimately sent thither the larger companies originally destined for Georgia.
In August, Spangenberg went to visit the Moravian Mission on the island of St. Thomas, returning to Pennsylvania in November, where he remained until the following year.
Chapter V. The Second Year in Georgia.
The English Clergymen.
The same day that Bishop Nitschmann left Savannah, John Wesley moved into the parsonage which had just been vacated by his predecessor, Mr. Quincy. A week earlier he had entered upon his ministry at Savannah, being met by so large and attentive an audience that he was much encouraged, and began with zeal to perform his pastoral duties. He was the third Rector of the Savannah Parish, the Rev. Henry Herbert having been the first, and he preached in a rude chapel built on the lot reserved for a house of worship in the original plan of Savannah,—the site of the present Christ Church.
The first word of discouragement was brought by Ingham, who returned from Frederica on April 10th, with a message from Charles Wesley begging his brother to come to his relief. He told a woeful story of persecution by the settlers, and injustice from Oglethorpe to Charles Wesley, all undeserved, as Oglethorpe freely admitted when he threw off the weight of suspicion laid upon his mind by malicious slanderers, and sought an interview with his young secretary, in which much was explained and forgiven. But poor Charles was in great straits when he sent Ingham to Savannah, sick, slighted, and abused, deprived even of the necessaries of life, and so cast down that on one occasion he exclaimed, “Thanks be to God, it is not yet made a capital offence to give me a morsel of bread!”