The General Synod.
ORGANIZATION.
11. Discouraging Beginnings.—The oldest Lutheran synods of America are the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, organized 1748; the New York Ministerium, 1786; the Synod of North Carolina, 1803; the Joint Synod of Ohio, 1818; the Synod of Maryland and Virginia, 1820; and the Tennessee Synod, 1820. They embraced about 35,000 members, over one-half of them belonging to the Pennsylvania Synod. On October 22, 1820, at Hagerstown, Md., four of these synods organized as the "General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States of America," with David Kurtz of Baltimore as president. According to its preamble the Constitution was adopted by the following synods: "The German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Pennsylvania and the neighboring States, the German and English Evangelical Lutheran Synod in the State of North Carolina and the bordering States, the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium in the State of New York and the neighboring States and countries, and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Maryland, Va., etc." (Proceedings, 1829, 49; 1839, 47.) The Pennsylvania Synod was represented by 5 pastors and 3 delegates, the New York Ministerium by 2 pastors, the North Carolina Synod by 2 pastors, and the Maryland Synod by 2 pastors and 1 delegate. Since 1811 C. A. Stork (Storch) and especially Gottlieb Shober (Schober, a Moravian, serving Lutheran congregations) of the North Carolina Synod had been prominent among the promoters of the general body. The "Mother Synod" of Pennsylvania, which at the same time was planning a union with the Reformed, took the initiative in the movement. At the convention at Harrisburg, 1818, they declared it "desirable that the various Lutheran synods should stand in closer connection with each other," appointed a committee to prepare a feasible plan of union, and invited the different synods to send representatives to her next meeting in Baltimore, 1819, where the contemplated Lutheran, union was the principal topic of discussion. A tentative constitution, drafted by Shober and a committee of the Pennsylvania Synod, was approved with 42 against 8 votes and published over the signatures of its officers,— the so-called Planentwurf, which, in a somewhat modified form, was adopted 1820 at Hagerstown as the Constitution (Grundverfassung) of the General Synod. At the first regular convention of the new body, held at Frederick (Fredericktown, Friedrichstadt), Md., in October, 1821, twenty delegates were present, representing the synods of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Maryland-Virginia. It was a beginning fraught with discouragements. Owing to religious indifference, the rationalistic New York Ministerium had immediately permitted its connection to lapse, till resumed in 1837. The Tennessee Synod violently condemned the new body as hierarchical, and because its constitution did not so much as mention the Bible and the Augsburg Confession. The Ohio Synod, which, in 1819, after a discussion of the Planentwurf, had approved of the formation of a General Synod, now stood aloof, because a number of her ministers denounced its Constitution, not for confessional reasons, but because of its alleged hierarchical features. (Graebner, Geschichte 1, 701.) In 1823 the Pennsylvania Synod declared her withdrawal on account of the union planned with the Reformed, and because some of her congregations, fearing infringements of their liberties, protested against the connection. It was due chiefly to the exertions of S. S. Schmucker, then but twenty-five years of age, that the second regular convention, 1823, in Frederick, was held, the newly organized West Pennsylvania Synod forming the third body required by the constitution.
12. From the Early Proceedings.—The report of 1823 closes as follows: "On bended knees, and with hearts filled with holy emotion, the brethren then united with the Rev. J. G. Schmucker in a most impressive address to the mercy-seat of Christ, in an acknowledgment of the gratitude for the past blessing of the great Head of the Church, and in humble supplication for the future guidance of His Holy Spirit. And when they had sung an hymn, they separated to return to their several abodes." (8.) Regarding the withdrawal of the Pennsylvania Synod, the resolution was adopted: "Resolved, That it is with feelings of deepest regret that we learn from the minutes of the Synod of Pennsylvania that they were induced by peculiar circumstances, for the present, to recede from an institution which they aided in establishing, and which they still profess to regard as proper and highly beneficial to the interests of the Church; but that this Synod entertain the highest confidence in their brethren of Pennsylvania, and confidently trust that they will without delay resume their connection with the General Synod." (5.)— The "Address of the General Synod to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States," added to the Minutes of 1823, remarks: "Whilst the General Synod, with due deference to the judgment of this respectable Synod, cannot divest themselves of doubt as to the expediency of the temporary recession of the Pennsylvania Synod from the general union of the Lutheran Church, they rejoice that in the very act of withdrawing they declare their unaltered conviction of the propriety and utility of such a union, and intimate that their recession shall continue only until the prejudices against the General Synod shall in some measure have subsided. But, most of all, the General Synod rejoiced in the measures which have already been taken by the brethren west of the Susquehanna, among whose churches these prejudices do not exist, to return to the general union of the Lutheran Church." (11.)The minutes of 1823: "Several delegates were absent in consequence of indisposition, but a representation of a majority of the synods in connection with the General Synod being present, the brethren, in reliance on the guidance of the Holy Spirit, proceeded to business." (4.) With respect to the fears expressed by Tennessee that the establishment of a General Synod would endanger both the Lutheran and American liberties, the "Address" of 1823 states: "The brethren of this Conference [Tennessee], as well as individuals in some other sections of the United States, have heretofore doubted the utility of the General Synod; but it is hoped their apprehensions will be dissipated when a few years of experience shall have demonstrated its utility, and when maturer reflection on the nature of our constitution shall have convinced them that, if ever our Church at large should so far degenerate as that a majority of any future General Synod should not only be so void of common Christian integrity, but so destitute of every sentiment of probity and honor, as to wish those evils which have been feared, still even then the attainments of them would, in our happy government, be physically and civilly impossible." (14.) Repudiating the charge of the Tennessee Synod that the object of the General Synod was an amalgamation with other Protestant denominations, and urging the Carolina and Tennessee Synods to cover their doctrinal differences by charity, the "Address" continues: "Whilst the General Synod disclaim the intention which has perhaps, through want of better knowledge, sometimes been attributed to them, namely, to form a union of different denominations, one object at which they aim certainly is to prevent discord and schism among the different portions of the Lutheran Church. It is therefore with much pleasure that they perceive that the Carolina Synod adopted measures at their last session to bring about, if possible, a reconciliation with several brethren [Tennessee Synod], who had seceded from them. And the General Synod cannot forbear recommending to both parties the exercise of that charity, toleration, and forbearance which were so illustriously exemplified in the life of our divine Redeemer, and urging on them the impressive declaration of His Apostle: 'Follow after charity'; 'Charity suffereth long and is kind,' 'seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked'; 'charity beareth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.' Therefore we beseech you, brethren, by the mime of our Lord Jesus Christ, 'that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.'" (12.)
13. Vigorous Growth Following Disappointments.—During the period of 1831 to 1864 a large number of district Synods joined the General Synod. The Hartwick Synod, organized 1830 in Schoharie Co., N.Y., by seven pastors who had separated from the New York Ministerium in order to satisfy more fully their craving for revivals, was admitted by the General Synod in 1831; in 1908 it merged in the New York Synod. The South Carolina Synod, organized 1824, entered the General Synod in 1835. The New York Ministerium returned 1837. The Synod of Virginia, organized in 1829 by eight ministers and two lay delegates and confessing the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, was admitted by the General Synod in 1839. The Synod of the West, embracing Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, of which Wyneken was a member till 1845, was organized in 1835 and united with the General Synod in 1840. In 1846 this body was divided into three parts; one called the Synod of the Southwest, located in Kentucky and Tennessee, another called the Synod of Illinois, located in the State of Illinois, and the third retaining the name of the Synod of the West, located in Indiana.(Proceedings, 1848, 47.) The East Ohio Synod, since 1836 a separate English branch of the Ohio Synod, united with the General Synod in 1841. The East Pennsylvania Synod, founded 1842 by nine ministers withdrawing from the Pennsylvania Ministerium, who advocated the use of the English language, revivals, and greater liberty in the form of worship, was received by the General Synod in 1842. The Allegheny Synod, organized 1842 by ministers and congregations of Western Pennsylvania, united in 1843. The Southwest Virginia Synod was also admitted in 1843. The Miami Synod was organized 1844 in Ohio and joined the General Synod in 1845. The Illinois Synod, a descendant of the Synod of the West, was organized 1846 and joined the General Synod in 1848. When, in 1867, this Synod was dissolved, the greater part amalgamated with the Illinois District of the Missouri Synod. The Wittenburg Synod, organized 1847 in Ohio, was admitted 1848. This body was led by Ezra Keller and S. Sprecher, professors of Wittenberg College, Springfield, O. The Olive Branch Synod of Indiana and adjacent parts was organized in 1848 and received into the General Synod in 1850. In 1894 the Middle Tennessee Synod united with the Olive Branch Synod. Its device is an olive branch upon an open Bible; its motto: "In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas." The Pennsylvania Synod reunited with the General Synod in 1853. The Texas Synod, organized 1851 by Rev. Braun (sent by Dr. Passavant) and eight ministers from St. Chrischona, joined the General Synod in 1853, the General Council in 1868, and in 1895 the Iowa Synod as its Texas District. The Synod of Northern Illinois, organized 1851 by English, German, Norwegian, and Swedish ministers in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, was also admitted in 1853. The Pittsburgh Synod, the so-called "Mission Synod," whose policy was largely shaped by W. A. Passavant, was organized in 1845 and admitted by the General Synod in 1853. In 1867 it joined the General Council. The Kentucky Synod and the Central Pennsylvania Synod, which was organized in the year 1855, joined the General Synod in 1855. The Synod of Northern Indiana, organized 1855, the Synod of Iowa, organized 1852, and the Synod of Southern Illinois, organized 1856, were received in 1857. In 1897 the Synod of Southern Illinois united with the Synod of Central Illinois as Synod of Central and Southern Illinois. The Melanchthon Synod was admitted in 1859; the Franckean Synod, organized 1837, and the Synod of Minnesota, organized 1860, in 1864. The Minnesota Synod joined the General Council in 1867 and in 1872 the Synodical Conference.
14. Secessions and Accessions.—The title "General Synod" was for the greater part of her history descriptive of, not what the General Synod was, but what she desired to become. In a letter to Solomon Henkel, dated January 23, 1826, Henry Muhlenberg remarks: "Of the seven Lutheran synods only three belong to the General Synod, and yet its representatives assume the name 'The General Synod of the Lutheran Church in the United States'!" In 1829 there were 74 ministers in the synods connected, and 123 in the synods not connected, with the General Synod. In 1834, of 60,971 Lutheran communicants the General Synod had 20,249 and the Ministerium of Pennsylvania 26,882. In 1860 the Lutherans in America numbered 245,000 communicants, about two-thirds of whom belonged to the General Synod, then embracing 26 district synods with 1,313 pastors and 164,000 communicants. The following decade, however, marked a heavy decrease. Owing to unguarded resolutions with respect to the Civil War, the Southern Synods withdrew, and in 1863 organized the General Synod South. In 1866 the oldest and strongest synods seceded and immediately formed the General Council. The consequent numerical loss was more than 200 pastors and 76,000 communicants. After these reverses a number of smaller synods acceded to the General Synod. In 1867 the Susquehanna Conference, formed in 1845 and belonging to the East Pennsylvania Synod, organized as Susquehanna Synod and resolved to unite with the General Synod. Susquehanna University, at Selinsgrove, is located in her bounds. The Synod of Kansas, organized in 1868 by ministers and laymen in Kansas and Missouri, was received 1869. Midland College and the Western Theological Seminary are upon its territory. The German Wartburg Synod united 1877. It had been organized 1875 by the German Conference of the Synod of Central Illinois formed at the dissolution of the Illinois Synod in 1866 by ministers who remained loyal to the General Synod, among them Severinghaus, the editor of the Lutherischer Kirchenfreund. The Kirchenfreund was succeeded by the Lutherischer Zionsbote, established in 1896 as a joint organ of the German Wartburg and Nebraska Synods, representing at the same time the German interests of the entire General Synod. The German Nebraska Synod was organized in 1890 and admitted by the General Synod in 1891. Its congregations are located in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, and the Dakotas. The Wartburg and Nebraska Synods received a part of their ministers from Breklum and Chrischona. As to pulpit- and altar-fellowship and lodge-membership, the Wartburg and Nebraska Synods have not been as liberal as the English Districts of the General Synod. The Rocky Mountain Synod, embracing the territory of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, was organized in 1891; the California Synod in 1892. The New York Synod was admitted in 1908. In 1859 seven English pastors, withdrawing from the New York Ministerium, formed the Synod of New Jersey. Again in 1866, on account of the withdrawal of the Ministerium of New York from the General Synod, fifteen ministers separated and organized the Synod of New York. In 1872 both united as Synod of New York and New Jersey. This body, in 1908, merged with the Hartwick, Franckean, and Melanchthon Synods, thus forming the present Synod of New York. Prior to the Merger in 1918, when the whole Lutheran Church in America embraced 2,450,000 confirmed and 3,780,000 baptized members, the General Synod ranked third in size among the general bodies. It reported 474,740 baptized members, 364,000 communicants, 1,857 congregations, with 1,426 pastors. Apart from a number of benevolent institutions and colleges, the General Synod maintained theological seminaries in Hartwick, N.Y.; in Gettysburg, Pa.; in Springfield, O.; in Selinsgrove, Pa.; in Atchison, Kans.; in Lincoln, Nebr.; in Breklum, Germany. In 1825 S. S. Schmucker was elected professor of Gettysburg Seminary. He served till 1864. The school was opened in September, 1826, with ten students. In 1830 E. L. Hazelius entered as second professor. In 1833 he was succeeded by Charles Philip Krauth, who served till 1867. Among the succeeding professors were H. I. Schmidt, 1839-43, Hay, Brown, C. F. Schaeffer, C. A. Stork, Valentine, Richard, Singmaster. The General Synod supported foreign missions in Liberia and India. "Father" Heyer, a scholar of Helmuth, was the pioneer American Lutheran missionary in India. The chief periodicals are The Lutheran Quarterly (now Vol. 42) and the Lutheran Church Work and Observer. The Lutheran Observer, which merged into the last named organ in 1916, was established in 1831 by Morris and edited by B. Kurtz from 1833 till 1861.
CHARACTER.
15. Object Not Unity, But Union.—In the Lutheran Observer, January 2, 1863, H. Harkey wrote: "Some say that unity must precede union. But the Bible demands that we unite. Hence those who magnify these differences [among Lutherans] and endeavor to keep us separate are the greatest sinners in the Church." This has always been the view of the General Synod: union, irrespective of doctrinal differences. But, while striving after true unity in the Spirit is always and everywhere of divine obligation, external organic union is not an end per se divine. And while efforts at organic union, even at their best, always remain a matter, not of Christian duty, but of Christian wisdom and liberty, all endeavors at union which disregard the divine norm of Christian fellowship are anti-Scriptural. At the organization of the General Synod, however, the sole ambition was to unite the whole Lutheran Church in the United States in a well-organized and imposing body. The object was not unity, but governmental union. Dr. Valentine said in 1905: "Though the primary object of its organization was not confessional, but practical, looking to fellowship and cooperation on the basis of acknowledged Lutheran standing, the General Synod at once placed a positive Lutheran basis under its practical work." (Luth. Cycl., 193.) The fact is that the question whether the uniting bodies were truly Lutheran and in doctrinal agreement was neither asked, nor investigated, nor presupposed, but simply ignored. W. M. Reynolds said in 1850: "The constitution of the General Synod does not present a system of doctrine, a confession of faith. On the contrary, this constitution itself confesses that it was drafted 'only for purposes of government and discipline,' and expressly denies the right 'to any General Synod to make changes in matters of faith which in any way might burden the consciences of brethren.'" (Lutheraner, April 30, 1850.)
16. Conceived in Indifferentism.—Unionism and indifferentism mark the character of the General Synod from its very beginning. And how could this have been otherwise? The un-Lutheran spirit of the General Synod was not so much acquired as inherited. The Pennsylvania Synod, while promoting the Pan-Lutheran union, was at the same time planning a union with the Reformed! In 1819 and 1822 resolutions were passed to this effect. And before this, in 1792, the same Synod had adopted a constitution in which the Lutheran Symbols were not even mentioned. One of the reasons for severing her connection in 1823 was the fear that the General Synod might prove an obstacle in the way of the contemplated Lutheran and Reformed union. In the New York Ministerium Socinianism ruled supreme. Quitman, for twenty-one years its president, permitted rationalists only in his pulpit, and in 1814, with the consent of his synod, he published a catechism denying the deity and atonement of Christ. F. C. Schaeffer, of New York, in a letter to the convention at Baltimore, 1819, urged the Pennsylvania Synod "to leave nothing undone that might serve, in a proper way, to bring about a union of the different Lutheran synods in the United States." But in the same breath he proceeds: "It is also desirable that another object, of gravest importance, should be duly considered—a closer union between the Lutheran and Reformed churches in our States. In this laudable and truly evangelical cause our brethren in Germany [Prussian Union, 1817] have set us an excellent example . . . as the Lutherans and Reformed in Germany are united in one Evangelical Church, and are no longer separated as different churches, but form one fold, the true Germans in America will, in this respect, try to imitate the Germans in Germany." (Spaeth, C.P.Krauth, 1, 323.) In North Carolina, where the rationalistic Catechism of Velthusen was used, conditions were no better. Shober, of the North Carolina Synod, who served on the committee appointed for the drafting of the Planentwurf, and exerted himself to the utmost in the interest of the Lutheran union, was a Moravian, who, though serving Lutheran congregations, harbored Reformed views and reveled in the prospective dawn of the grand union of all Protestant denominations, to which, according to his views, the General Synod was to serve as a stepping-stone. Accordingly, the aim of the General Synod neither was, nor could be, confessional unity, but, ad intra, a mere external organic union, irrespective of doctrinal differences, and ad extra, a unionistic intercourse with the Reformed and other Protestant denominations. And throughout its history this has remained the paramount object of the General Synod. In accordance with this policy she has made concessions in both directions, as required by expedience and the circumstances, to doctrinal laxism as well as to Lutheran confessionalism, the latter especially during the last decades. Union was always the primary, true unity hardly ever even a secondary consideration. The plan, however, of sacrificing, in a merger with the Reformed, its own identity as an independent Lutheran body was never directly adopted by the General Synod. It was, partly, in this interest that, in 1862, at Lancaster, the General Synod resolved "that as the erection of Union Churches is not always productive of Christian union and brotherly love, but rather of strife and contention, we recommend to all our ministers and people to build no more such churches." (18.) In its address of 1823 the General Synod "disclaimed the intention to form a union of different denominations." (12.) If by "union" they meant a merger, then the General Synod throughout its history has remained true to the declaration of 1823. For, though always encouraging some sort of union with all evangelical denominations, the General Synod as such has never taken a stand in favor of an amalgamation with these bodies.