The Lutherans of New York, Their Story and Their Problems

by George Unangst Wenner

Dr. Kurtz was for a large part of the nineteenth century a distinguished leader in the General Synod. He contributed to the establishment of the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and he was the founder of the Missionary Institute, now the Susquehanna University, at Selinsgrove. He died in 1865. His grave is in the campus of the University of which he was the founder.

But who were these immigrants and how did they come to be exiles? This is another story; but it has to be told, because in the providence of God it is connected with the history of the Lutherans in New York.

In the early years of the nineteenth century there occurred a remarkable religious awakening in Germany. This awakening had much to do with a revival of Lutheranism. It had been greatly strengthened at least by the publication of the Ninety-five Theses of Claus Harms in 1817, on the occasion of the tercentenary of the Reformation, and it in turn stimulated the Lutheran consciousness of multitudes who had been carried away by the rationalistic movement of the eighteenth century. The publication of the royal Liturgy in 1822 and the forcible measures of the king in ordering a union of the Lutheran and Reformed churches of the kingdom called forth the staunch opposition of the Lutherans. This ended in a widespread agitation which sent multitudes of families to a land where one of the chief fruits of the Lutheran Reformation, that of religious liberty, could be enjoyed.

The notable thing about the entrance of a few of these people into our New York life was that it injected new ideas into the stagnant mentality of the period. That the men who brought them were brusque and exclusive, was of small account. When Stohlmann, who had recently been called to St. Matthew's Church, visited Pastor Oertel in his attic room, his Lutheranism, with a sly allusion perhaps to the stairs, was promptly challenged by the remark: "You climbed up some other way."

Nor did it matter that on some points the new comers themselves were not agreed? The Prussians, later known as "Buffalonians," led by Grabau, had a hierarchical theory of the ministerial office. The Saxons, later known as "Missourians," led by Walther, had the congregational theory of church government. For a score of years a titanic conflict was waged between these two parties. It ended in a decisive victory for "Missouri." Today "Buffalo" numbers 49 congregations, "Missouri" 3,689.

The Houston Street party in 1839 held hierarchical views. Subsequently they adopted the congregational theory of the church and established in 1843 the first "Missouri" congregation in New York under Pastor Brohm. After several removals the congregation settled at Ninth Street and Avenue B, where it still maintains its place of worship.

The chief field of the "Missourians," as their name indicates, is in the West. And yet in Greater New York they number 51 churches and many more in the suburbs. They maintain numerous missions among special classes. At Bronxville they have a college. They alone of all Lutherans make a serious effort to conduct parochial schools. More than any other variety of Lutherans do they educate their promising young men for the ministry.

But, as has already been intimated, the chief significance of their entrance into New York history is that thenceforth Lutherans had to give an account of their Lutheranism. Whether you agreed with them or not, you had to take sides and give a reason for the hope that was in you. They brought about that "contiguity of conflicting opinions" which is a condition of all progress.

Ten years later a different class of German immigrants came to our city. The Revolution of 1848 had resulted unsuccessfully for the friends of political freedom, and many were compelled to take refuge in America. Some were professional men of ability and high standing, whose contribution to the intellectual life of our city was considerable. Others were only half educated, young men who had not completed their studies in the University, but, intoxicated with the new ideas, had thrown themselves with the enthusiasm of youth into the conflict for freedom. Here they were like men without a country, aliens from the Fatherland, and in America incapable of comprehending a state without a church and a church without a state.

Few of these found their way into the Lutheran churches of New York. They were the intellectuals of the German community and had outgrown the religion of their countrymen who still adhered to the old faith.