He is rightly called the Patriarch of the
Lutheran Church in America.

In response to an urgent appeal, Muehlenberg came over from Pennsylvania
in 1751 and assumed the pastorate of Trinity church. Although he spent
but a short time in 1751 and again in 1752 on the ground, he was for two
years pastor of the mother church. His was a fruitful ministry. He
succeeded to a considerable extent in reconciling the warring elements
in the congregation, not only by his gifts as a preacher and spiritual
leader, but also by his ability to preach in Dutch and in English as
well as in German.

The Episcopalians, who worshipped in the Trinity Church on the opposite
corner, complained of the stentorian tones in which he delivered his
sermons.

Upon Muehlenberg's recommendation, Mr. Weygand of Raritan, was chosen
pastor of Trinity Church in 1753. In the furtherance of his ministry,
Weygand performed some literary work. He prepared an English translation
of the Augsburg Confession, which was printed as a supplement to a
quarto volume of 414 pages published by one of the elders of his church,
entitled "The Articles of Faith of the Holy Evangelical Church According
to the Word of God and the Augsburg Confession. A Translation from the
Danish. New York, MDCCLIV."

The congregation continued to be Dutch, although Weygand preached also
in German and in English as occasion required. For the use of his
English congregations he published in 1756 a translation of German
hymns that had appeared in England under the title, "Psalmodia
Germanica."

From 1750 to the time of the American Revolution we had two Lutheran
churches in New York, the German Christ church, popularly known as "The
Old Swamp Church," on Frankfort Street, and the Dutch Trinity church on
Broadway and Rector Street.

In the Swamp church the first preacher, Ries, remained for a year. He
was followed in quick succession by Rapp, Wiessner, Schaeffer, Kurz,
Bager and Gerock. Only the last named served long enough to identify
himself with local history. He was followed by Frederick Muehlenberg,
a son of Henry Melchior, an ardent patriot, who had expressed himself so
freely in regard to English rule that when the British army marched into
New York in 1776 he found it expedient to retire as quickly as possible
to Pennsylvania. Here he labored in several congregations; as supply or
as pastor, until 1779, when the exigencies of the times compelled him to
take an active part in the p