The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Organization of the Congregation in the
Early Lutheran Churches in America, by Beale M. Schmucker

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Title: The Organization of the Congregation in the Early Lutheran Churches in America

Author: Beale M. Schmucker

Release Date: October 1, 2006 [eBook #19422]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ORGANIZATION OF THE
CONGREGATION IN THE EARLY LUTHERAN CHURCHES IN AMERICA***

E-text prepared by Kurt A. T. Bodling, former Assistant Director:
Reference and Information Services at Concordia Historical Institute, St.
Louis, Missouri, USA

THE
ORGANIZATION OF THE CONGREGATION
IN THE
EARLY LUTHERAN CHURCHES
IN AMERICA.

by

BEALE M. SCHMUCKER, D.D.

From the Lutheran Church Review, July, 1887.

Philadelphia:
1887.

The Organization of the Congregation
in the Early Lutheran Churches in America.

The Lutheran Church in this country has had an opportunity, as never
before in its history, to determine for itself the whole form of its
organization, uncontrolled by any external forces. In the old world the
intimate and organic union of the church with the State left little
liberty in this respect. When, therefore, the early Lutheran immigrants
in this country were disposed to form themselves into congregations, to
adopt regulations for their own government, to settle their relations to
other Lutheran congregations, to determine the order of worship to be
observed, they had to feel their way in the dark. No little time passed
before all these matters became settled on a permanent basis. To follow
them in their efforts to obtain a satisfactory organization of the
congregation, is what I propose now to do.

There is grave reason to doubt whether, prior to the arrival in
Pennsylvania of Henry Melchior Muehlenberg, any of the German Lutheran
congregations in Pennsylvania had a well-developed, clearly defined,
written constitution. I have carefully examined all the written records
of nearly all the congregations which were in existence at that time,
and have failed to find evidence of any such constitution. The first
known written