DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY DURHAM, N. C.
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REV. G. D. BERNHEIM, I>. D
REV. GEORGE H. COX, D. D.
THE HISTORY
Evangelical Lutheran Synod and Ministerium
NORTH CAROLINA,
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE COMPLETION OF THE FIRST CENTURY OF ITS EXISTENCE.
G.;D. BERNHEIM, D. D., and GEORGE H. COX, D. D.
" Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations : ask thy father, and he will shew thee ; thy elders, and tJiey will tell thee.'1''
(Deuteronomy xxxii. 7. )
1902. PUBLISHED FOR THE SYNOD
BY THE
LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
Copyright, 1902,
BY
G. D. Bernheim and George- H. Cox.
In trust for
The Evangelical Lutheran Synod and Ministerium
of North Carolina.
Universitj I PREFACE.
\i
It was no self-assumed undertaking that the authors of this History of the North Carolina Synod prepared this book for publication. They were appointed so to do by the Synod, as early as 1897, in order that it might be, when completed, an appropriate memorial volume for the Synod's approaching cen- tenary anniversary, in 1903.
It has been a very pleasant, though by no means an easy, task to collect the material and write the history of this, the third oldest Lutheran Synod in America, and the Mother Synod of the Lutheran Church in the South.
Many difficulties presented themselves in the prosecution of the work, chiefly the meagreness of early records, necessitating much searching and extensive correspondence in collecting re- liable facts. Time and labor have been unstintedly employed ; no pains were spared in consulting every book and document available to us that was likely to furnish any desired information on the subject.
We herewith cheerfully acknowledge our indebtedness to "Bernheim's History of the German Settlements and of the Lutheran Church in the Carolinas," " Hazelius' American Lu- theran Church," "Saunders' Colonial Records" in the Wil- mington, N. C, Library, " Mann's Halle Reports," the " Helmstaedt Reports," " Rumple's History of Rowan County," and last, but not least, the entire set of the printed Minutes of the North Carolina Synod, from 1803 to the present time^
With just and generous appreciation of what other Synods have accomplished, we feel assured that all who read these pages will be convinced that, under Divine blessing, the North Caro- lina Synod has been no unimportant factor in carrying on the work of the great Lutheran Church in America.
135634
IV PREFACE.
If, by the reading of this History, the present and future members of the North Carolina Synod will be inspired to carry on the work of ministering at her altars with the pure Word and Sacraments, and extending her church work as faithfully as their predecessors have done, the authors will be fully satisfied that their labor has not been in vain.
May God's blessing rest upon this History of our time-honored Synod, and may we all more and more be enabled to sing :
" My Church, my Church, my dear old Church ; My fathers' and my own."
G. D. Bernheim, George H. Cox.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I. Early Colonial History , 9
CHAPTER II.
The Life and Labors of the First Lutheran Ministers
in North Carolina 12
CHAPTER III.
The Causes That Ted to the Organization of the North
Carolina Synod 21
CHAPTER IV. Confessional History of the Synod 27
CHAPTER V. Territory and Growth of the Synod 35
CHAPTER VI. The Rupture of 1819 and 1820 42
CHAPTER VII. The License System 52
CHAPTER VIII.
The Synod's Connection With the General Bodies of
the Church 58
CHAPTER IX. The Educational Work of the Synod 64
VI CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER X.
The Catechetical and Sunday School Work of the
Synod 75
CHAPTER XI. Miscellaneous Matters of Interest 79
CHAPTER XII. The Missionary Operations of the Synod 85
CHAPTER XIII. Retrospective and Prospective 94
CHAPTER XIV.
Sketches of All Congregations Now Connected With
the Synod 98
CHAPTER XV. Noteworthy Transactions of Synod 155
CHAPTER XVI.
A Tabulated Sketch of Every Minister That Has Ever
Been Connected With the Synod 164
CHAPTER XVII.
The Growth of the Synod in the Number of Its Min- isters 178
CHAPTER XVIII. A Summary of Parochial Reports 180
CHAPTER XIX. A Summary of Financial Reports 182
CONTENTS. Vll
PAGE
CHAPTER XX.
A Table Showing When and Where the Different Syn-
odical Meetings Were Held 184
CHAPTER XXI. The Officers of Synod 188
CHAPTER XXII.
A Table Showing the Work of the Board of Church
Extension 190
CHAPTER XXIII.
A Table Showing the Statistics of the Woman's Home
and Foreign Missionary Society 191
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Rev. G. D. Bernheim, D. D Frontispiece
Rev. George H. Cox, D. D Facing frontispiece
Julia Carolina University, Helmstedt, Germany, where
Rev. C. A. G. Storch was Educated 17
Rev. Daniel J. Hauer, D. D 55
Rev. Daniel I. Dreher 61
Rev. S. Rothrock, D. D 67
North Carolina College, Mt. Pleasant, N. C 71
Mont Amoena Female Seminary, Mt. Pleasant, N. C . . . . 72
Rev. Jacob Scherer 87
Rev. Paul Henkel and Wife 88-
Organ Evangelical Lutheran Church, Rowan County,
N. C 119
St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Salisbury, N. C. 126
St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Cabarrus
County, N. C 129
St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Wilmington,
N.C 134
St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church and Parson- age, Charlotte, N. C 143
St. James' Evangelical Lutheran Church, Concord, N. C. 146
HISTORY
Evangelical Lutheran Synod
NORTH CAROLINA.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY COLONIAL HISTORY.
The history of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of North Carolina naturally begins with the history of the first Lutheran settlements in that wilderness, then but recently vacated by the Indians, now known as the Piedmont section of North Carolina.
Early records of colonization are few, difficult to find, and, when found, meagre in the narrative of facts that we most desire to know. But careful research makes it tolerably certain that the first German settlements in the Piedmont section were made in those localities now known as Rowan and Cabarrus Counties, about the year 1747. "Saunders' Colonial Records" state that, in the year 1755, Governor Arthur Dobbs visited these localities and found twenty-two families of Germans and Swiss, who had settled there some seven or eight years previously, that is, about 1747.
This antedates the settlement of the Moravians in that part of the State now known as Forsythe and other counties, as we learn from the life of their bishop, Spangenberg, who began the first
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IO HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA SYNOD.
survey of the Wachovia tract in 1752, preparatory to the settle- ment of the Moravian colony, in 1753.
These families, the children and descendants of the original German settlers of Pennsylvania, had left their homes and their kindred in search of farm lands that could be more easily ac- quired than in the older settlements. No doubt news of their success had been carried back to their relatives, friends, and neighbors, and very soon, during the years that immediately followed, the emigrant wagon train of these hardy Germans wound its way down the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania, through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, over the rugged steeps of the Blue Ridge Mountains, into the inviting forest lands of North Carolina.
" These German settlers were all industrious, economical, and thrifty farmers, not afraid nor ashamed of hard labor, and were soon blessed with an abundance of everything which the fertile soil and temperate climate of that portion of North Carolina could furnish them. As they were all agriculturists, they gen- erally avoided settling themselves in towns ; uninformed in the ways of the world, ignorant of the English language, and un- acquainted with the shrewdness necessary for merchandising, yet well informed in their own language and well read in their Bibles and other devotional German books, they remained at their own country homes, and enriched themselves with the pro- ductions of the soil." *
The country to which they had come was an unexplored and almost impenetrable wilderness, in which many wild animals still were found, and which had but very recently been inhab- ited by none but the wild red man of the forest.
The new colonists had before them very much hard work to be done, with nothing but their own strength and skill to ac- complish it. Forests were to be felled ; the wilderness of nature to be subdued ; the ground to be cultivated ; the wild animals of the forest to be conquered ; homes, school-houses, and churches to be reared ; and all the many things necessary to make a home in the wilderness.
* Bernheim's History.
EARLY COLONIAL HISTORY. II
Prominent among their noble qualities was their religion ; and hence, amidst their homes, they built their churches and organized their congregations. St. John's, in Salisbury ; Zion, commonly called Organ Church, on Second Creek, Rowan County; and St. John's, on Buffalo Creek, in Cabarrus County, were the original mother-churches. These congregations were organized and their primitive houses of worship were erected very nearly about the same time. Their people Avere as one family. With the exception of Rev. Nussman, who died in 1794, their first pastors were the original organizers of the Synod, and the members of these congregations its bone and sinew.
For many long years they were without regular pastors, having only the services of such preachers as might happen to pass through the country. In the older settlements, from which they had emigrated, there were but few Lutheran ministers, and none at all to spare. In America, at that early period, there were no schools or seminaries for the education and training of min- isters of their faith, and hence the only source from which to obtain pastors was the mother-church, in Germany, necessitat- ing a tedious and dangerous voyage in a sailing vessel across the ocean. Thither they turned, and with blessed results, for in 1773 came their first regular pastor, the Rev. Adolphus Nuss- man. Accompanying him was the school teacher, J. Gottfried Arends (Arndt), who, two years later, was ordained to the Gospel ministry.
Then again, in 1788, came the Rev. Carl August Gottlieb Storch, in response to a call from Nussman for help in his work. These labored sedulously, in season and out of season, not only in the congregations of which they were pastors, but reaching out in all directions, traveling thousands of miles, through mountains and valleys, in all seasons of the year, covering an immense territory, organizing congregations wherever it was possible ; selecting, fitting, and preparing young men for the Gospel ministry, ordaining them to the same, and thus laying the foundations of the great work that has followed them, and that stands to-day as a lasting monument to their ability, wisdom, and faithfulness.
CHAPTER II.
THE LIFE AND LABORS OF THE FIRST LUTHERAN MINISTERS IN NORTH CAROLINA.
The immigration of German Lutherans to America began about the year 1680 ; the account of the Swedish and Dutch Lutherans not being included in this history. In a few years they made permanent settlements in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware, and North Carolina. Most of them had left the old Fatherland because of religious persecutions, and had come to the newly colonized country in search of freedom to worship God. They were, generally, very destitute in the things of this world, many of them being so impoverished by the war of the Spanish Succession as to be dependent upon the charity of Queen Anne of England, and the liberality of others, for both their passage across the ocean and for their sustenance for a time after arriving in America.
Very few pastors of their own faith came with them, so that for long and wearisome years most of them were without any religious privileges, and their children without the opportunities of securing an education.
The beginnings of the Lutheran Church in America were very small. The few pastors that were located here were men of ability, of strong faith and much physical endurance, but they could not cultivate the immense field, "White to the harvest," that was spread out before them. The demands upon them were greater than they could possibly meet, and hence constant ap- peals were sent to the mother-church in the Fatherland, the only source from which help could come. But it was a long, weari- some, and hazardous journey across the ocean in those days, and pastors who were willing to leave home and friends and sever the ties of relationship, and then undertake the long journey to labor in the wilderness of America, were not easily to be found.
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LIFE AND LABORS OF THE FIRST LUTHERAN MINISTERS. 1 3
Hence, although the population of the newly established col- onies rapidly increased, both by natural growth and by immi- gration, the increase of pastors was not in like proportion.
Before the Revolutionary War there were in the whole terri- tory now occupied by the United States very few Lutheran ministers, probably not more than twenty-five, serving congre- gations that were scattered all the way from Maine to Georgia. In North Carolina, for more than a quarter of a century, the German settlers were without any regular pastors, and were de- pendent for the occasional administration of the Word and sacra- ments upon any preacher who might happen to pass through the country.
Their school teachers would occasionally read a sermon for them, bury their dead, and, in extreme cases, baptize their chil- dren, but the congregations were wholly without regular pastoral care during all those years.
Then, in 1772, after careful and, no doubt, prayerful consid- eration, Organ Church, of Rowan County, and St. John's Church, of Mecklenburg (now Cabarrus) County, after having unsuccessfully tried to secure a pastor from the older settlements in Pennsylvania, determined to send a delegation to the Father- land to appeal to their countrymen and brethren in the faith to send them a pastor, school teacher, and such pecuniary assist- ance as they needed to sustain them in order that they might have the Bread of Life broken to them in their own language, and by a pastor of their own faith, and also that their children might be instructed in the ways of righteousness, as well as to be taught, at least, the rudiments of a literary education.
Accordingly, Christopher Rintleman of Organ Church, and Christopher Layerly of St. John's Church, two brave, honest, and consecrated men of God, representing sixty families, un- dertook the long and hazardous journey, at their own expense. Leaving their homes in 1772, they traveled, on horseback, to Charleston, S. C, and there took passage to Europe in an ordi- nary sailing vessel.
In the execution of their commission they first visited Lon- don, in England, and then went to Hannover, in Germany, and
s
14 HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA SYNOD.
so earnestly and successfully did they present the petition of their constituents that they returned in 1773, bringing with them the Rev. Adolphus Nussman, as their pastor, and Mr. John Gott- fried Arends, as their school teacher, besides numerous and valuable gifts to their congregations, and promises of continued financial aid. Thus the Rev. Adolphus Nussman became their first pastor, and the pioneer minister of the Lutheran Church in the province of North Carolina.
Born in Germany, in 1737, he was just in the prime of life. A convert from Roman Catholicism, a ripe and thorough scholar, a devoted and consecrated Christian, and an earnest and faithful preacher of the Gospel, he soon became very popular, winning the praise, admiration, and love of all who knew him. For twenty-one years, reaching through the stormy period of the Revolutionary War, he was instant in season and out of season, toiling amidst untold trials and difficulties, until God called him up higher. He was buried at St. John's Church, where, for twenty years, he had been the zealous and faithful pastor.
Two years after their arrival, that is, in 1775, the school teacher, Arends, was examined and publicly ordained by Rev. Joachim Buelow, of South Carolina. The ordination took place in Organ Church, August 2 2d, 1775. Thus we learn that the Rev. Arends was the first Lutheran minister ever ordained in North Carolina.
These two, Nussman and Arends, for twelve long years, labored together throughout the territory now known as the counties of Rowan, Cabarrus, Lincoln, Catawba, Iredell, Stokes, Davidson, Guilford, and other sections of the country.
Arends was the second pastor of Organ Church, succeeding Nussman immediately upon his ordination, and serving the con- gregation for ten years. He was a native of Gottingen, in Ger- many, and when he came to America was about thirty-two years old. He was fully prepared for his work of teaching, as is at- tested by the credentials, which he brought, of which the follow- ing is a translation :
LIFE AND LABORS OF THE FIRST LUTHERAN MINISTERS. 1 5.
" Certificate of John Gottfried Arends as School Teacher to North Carolina, October i6th, 1772.
" Of his most serene Highness, most mighty Prince and Lord, Lord George the Third, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Liineburg, Arch Treasurer of the Holy Roman Empire, and Elector, etc., real Privy Counselor and authorized President of the Royal and Electoral Consistory of this place, also of the Counselors of the Church Consistory, certifies herewith that the bearer of this, John Gottfried Arends, of Gottingen, in compliance with the desire of the Evangelical Lutheran congre- gation in North Carolina, namely, in Rowan County, to have a capable school teacher ; and to this end, according to the at- testation of the Governor, has sent deputies, and his royal Majesty and Electoral and serene Highness, our most gracious Lord, has commanded us to be serviceable to them ; after due examination for such an office, found him to be experienced, he also having promised, according to the custom of this country and the published appointment for a future school teacher, to conduct his office with all fidelity and diligence, and manifest obedience toward his pastor, modesty toward the congregation, and love for the children.
" On the other hand, we do not doubt that the congregation will amply remunerate his serviceable labor, and make his stay, as well as that of the pastor, agreeable.
" However, should he desire to return, and be able to do so, then we promise him a proportional school service in this country according to the measure of his deportment and the time of his service, provided he has labored six years, at least.
" In testimony whereof we have affixed the royal and elec- toral seal and signature of the Consistory.
•' Given in Hannover, the sixteenth day of October, 1772.
" Respectfully,
" Kauff."
f LARGE I
(_ SEAL. j
For two years he taught the children of the congregation, and then, upon the request of the congregation and with the ap- proval of Pastor Nussman, was ordained to the Gospel ministry,.
1 6 HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA SYNOD.
on the eleventh Sunday after Trinity, 1775, as is attested by his ordination certificate, of which the following is a translation :
" Second Creek, Rowan County, N. C.
"August 28, Anno Christi, 1775, "Being the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity.
" The Rev. Mr. John Gottfried Arends has been examined by me, the Inspector over South and North Carolina, in the presence of several deacons, and thereupon ordained before the whole congregation, at their request.
" The above-mentioned John Gottfried Arends is now, from this date, a regular Evangelical Lutheran pastor and minister. We recommend him, therefore, to the kind reception of all Christians at the North, and heartily wish that he may, as a friend of the Bridegroom, bring many souls to the marriage sup- per of the Lamb, and wait faithfully upon his office ; also, with exemplary life and pure doctrine, bring all the straying and de- ceived back to the fold.
" This witnesseth out of love for the truth and its undoubted attestation.
"Signed, Joachim Buelow,
" Missionary and Inspector over South and North Carolina.'1''
During his ten years' service as pastor of Organ Church, he made numerous missionary tours, visiting scattered Lutherans, preaching the Word to them, baptizing their children, confirm- ing their young people, and organizing congregations wherever it was practicable. But his chief work was in Rowan County, until the close of the Revolutionary War, when, in 17S5, he re- moved to Lincoln' County and became the founder of the Lutheran Church in all of that territory lying west of the Catawba River. There he labored unceasingly until July 9th, 1807, when, being sixty-six years, six months, and twenty-eight days of age, worn and weary and blind, he passed triumphantly over into the land of eternal bliss, leaving as legacy, to the Church and his posterity, an enduring reputation for piety, humility, and zeal.
He was buried beneath the old "Dutch Meeting-house," in Lincolnton. A tombstone marks the sacred spot, upon which is carved an eagle, thirteen stars, and the motto of the then new
JULIA CAROLINA UNIVERSITY, HELMSTEDT, GERMANY, WHERE REV. C. A. G. STORCH WAS EDUCATED.
LIFE AND LABORS OF THE FIRST LUTHERAN MINISTERS. I 7
Republic, "E. PluribusUnum," and the following inscription, in ' ' old German : ' '
" Here rests the body of the Rev. John Gottfried Arends. Having been a true Evangelical Preacher, and died July 9th, 1807, at the age of sixty-six years, six months, and twenty-eight days, of a kind of consumptive disease, after faithfully ad- ministering the office of preacher for thirty-two years.
" ' Blessed are all those who die, like thou : They, to the rest of heaven, shall come.'
" ' Remember, man, as you pass by, As you are now, so once was I ; As I am now you soon shall be, Therefore prepare to follow me.' "
The Rev. Charles Augustus Gottlieb Storch was born, edu- cated, and ordained in Germany. In response to repeated calls from Nussman, at length, in 1788, the Helmstaedt Missionary Society sent the Rev. Storch to his assistance. He was a man of remarkable ability, having a thorough university training, a close and painstaking student, and was well versed in all ques- tions of doctrine and Church polity then claiming the at- tention of the Church. For forty-three years he was the recog- nized leader of the Church in the South, and also exerted a strong influence in other parts of the country. Such was his scholarship that it was said he could converse fluently in five or six different languages. His life was full of labors for the Mas- ter, and men bestowed high honors upon him. In 1814 he was called to St. John's Church, in Charleston, S. C, but he de- clined the call, thereby endearing him all the more to his con- gregation in Rowan County. He died March 27th, 183 1, in the full triumphs of a living faith, and was buried in Organ Church graveyard.
In the language of Dr. Rumple, a Presbyterian minister, in his " History of Rowan County," N. C, "His long service of more than forty years, including the critical period of his people's transition from the use of the German to the use of the English language, did much to preserve Lutheranism from decay and extinction in Rowan County. It is because of his labors,
1 8 HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA SYNOD.
doubtless, that the Lutherans are, at the present day, equal in numbers to all other denominations together in this county."
In the year 1787 Rev. Nussman's heart was gladdened in be- ing permitted to welcome another laborer into the mission field of the Lutheran Church in North Carolina. This was the Rev. Christian Eberhard Bernhardt, a native of Stuttgart, in the kingdom of Wiirtemberg. He was ordained in Wiirtemberg, about 1785, and came to America in the year 1786. He landed at Savannah, and then proceeded to Ebenezer, Ga., where he remained twelve months. In 1787 he went to Rowan County, N. C, and labored among the churches there one year, doubt- less in that part of the county east of the Yadkin River, now known as Davidson County. In 1788 he took charge of the congregations in Stokes and Forsythe Counties, which had been organized and frequently visited by Rev. Nussman. Here Rev. Bernhardt was married, but the records do not mention the name of his wife. One year later he removed to Guilford County, where he remained to the close of the year 1800, when he accepted the call to become the pastor of Zion's and several other Lutheran churches in Lexington District, S. C. There he served until August 27th, 1809, when he passed over the river of death and entered into the land of eternal rest. He was a good and true servant of the Lord and did faithful work in His vineyard.
Rev. Arnold Roschen was born, educated, ordained, and married in the city of Bremen, Germany. He came to America in 1788, arriving at Charleston, S. C, on the twenty-eighth day of November. He remained in Charleston ten weeks and then spent two weeks in his overland trip to North Carolina, arriving February 20th, 1789. His work was in Davidson County and his home was near Beck's Church, now belonging to the Ten- nessee Synod. Very little is known of him, except that he re- mained here but about eleven years, returning to Germany some time in 1800.
Rev. Robert Johnson Miller was born and educated in Scot- land. He came to America in 1774, one year after the arrival of Revs. Nussman and Arends. He located in Charlestown,
LIFE AND LABORS OF THE FIRST LUTHERAN MINISTERS. 1 9
Mass., engaging in mercantile business until the opening of the Revolutionary War, when he enlisted in the American army. The close of the war found him in Virginia, where, in 1784, he joined the Methodist Church and was licensed as a Methodist preacher. Laboring as such, he eventually came to North Caro- lina and preached in some of the western counties. About the year 1786 he became lay reader for the Whitehaven congrega- tion of Lincoln, County. This was an Episcopal congregation, composed of Episcopalians, Lutherans, and, possibly, German Reformed. The congregation had been dependent upon Rev. Arends for the administration of the Word and sacraments, but now, as related in another chapter, Miller was ordained, upon the petition from this congregation. For twenty -two years he labored as a Lutheran pastor, faithfully serving several Lutheran congregations. Once he was elected President and thrice as Secretary of the Synod, and in 1S21, when he withdrew from the Lutheran Church, the President of Synod, Rev. G. Schober, in the name of the whole Lutheran Church, tendered him thanks for his many years of faithful service. He died in 1834, having lived a long and useful life in the service of the Master.
The Rev. Paul Henkel was a great-grandson of Rev. Gerhard Henkel, who was one among the very first Lutheran ministers to come to America. He was born near where Salisbury now stands, in 1754, or about seven years after the first German set- tlements, and forty-nine years before the organization of the North Carolina Synod. In 1760 the family removed to Vir- ginia. When a young man, about twenty-two years old, he- began preparing for the Gospel ministry, under the instruction of the Rev. J. A. Krug, of Fredericktown, Md. He was ex- amined and licensed by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, and afterward ordained by the same body, in Philadelphia, Pa., June 6th, 1792. He labored zealously, faithfully, and accept- ably in different parts of Virginia until 1800, when he accepted a call to work in his native State. For five years he labored in Rowan and adjoining counties and then returned to Virginia, where he died on November 27th, 1825, loved and lamented by all who knew him.
20 HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA SYNOD.
Such were the men who, under God, were the pastors and leaders of the churches in North Carolina, prior to and reaching up to the organization of the Synod, in 1803. In intellectual attainments and culture they were giants in their day and gen- eration ; in their pastoral aptitude and faithfulness they have never been excelled ; and their pulpit eloquence and power were such that vast congregations gathered to hear them, and many hundreds of souls were brought, under their ministration, to the saving knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus.
They were not confined, in their labors, to any geographical limits ; the whole country, destitute of the means of grace, was their pastorate, and all needy souls their care. Broadly, deeply, and firmly they laid the foundations of many congregations in different States : some in North Carolina, South Carolina, Vir- ginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and even in Indiana and Ohio. Their business was hunting for perishing, lost souls ; feeding them upon the blessed word and sacraments ; and instructing and confirming the young and old in the glorious faith " Once delivered to the saints."
Long years ago their earthly toils were ended and they entered into that " Rest that remains to the people of God." Their blessed memory is with us, and the fruits of their labor we see all around us. God help us to follow them in their zeal and fidelity.
CHAPTER III.
THE CAUSES THAT LED TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE NORTH CAROLINA SYNOD.
During the fifty-six years that intervened between 1747, the time of the first German settlements in the Piedmont section of North Carolina, and 1803, the time of the organization of the North Carolina Synod, many important events and changes had taken place, both in Church and State. Many of these events were fraught with deep interest and vital consequences.
When we read of the trials and difficulties, labors and sacri- fices, privations and sufferings of those few pioneer pastors of our Church in North Carolina, it seems hardly credible that they could have endured so much and accomplished such really °reat things as they did.
Suppose, for example, that Nussman and Arends and Storch, like some others, had become discouraged and disheartened, and had abandoned the field, what would have been the conse- quences? Certainly the progress of our Church would have been retarded for years, and, possibly, her destruction accom- plished by her members being carried over into other folds, as was the case, in some instances, in other parts of the United States.
Among the causes leading up to the organization of the Synod was the Revolutionary War, with its attendant influences and results upon Church and State. The period just preceding the outbreak of the war was full of encouragement and hope to the German settlers. They had had many and severe struggles during the first years of their settlement in North Carolina, but at length, under the blessings of the Almighty, temporal success had crowned their efforts ; peace, prosperity, and happiness were theirs to a greater extent, and in a higher degree, than ever before. So, too, the conditions and prospects of the Church of
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2 2 HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA SYNOD.
their love were brighter and more promising than they had ever been. Under the energetic, persevering, and faithful labors of their pastors, congregations had been organized and churches were being erected wherever there were Lutherans suf- ficient to justify the step, and, notwithstanding the immense amount of labor necessary to do so, these congregations were being faithfully served, and were growing in numbers, works, and fruits. True, there still were only a few pastors to occupy and cultivate the wide and growing field ; but, few as they were, they made up for the lack in numbers in their faith, zeal, and perseverance.
Through the instrumentality of their pastors, an interest in the colony, and especially in their churches, had been created in the parent Church in Germany. And, as a result, men and means had already been sent over, and there were prospects and promise of continued assistance in the near future, so that the colonists confidently and joyfully looked forward to the time when they would be fully provided with pastors and teachers to supply all their spiritual needs. But, alas ! how soon were all these bright prospects blasted ! The colonies were plunged into a bloody and heroic struggle for liberty, that lasted for eight long years ; and that, when ended, although liberty and inde- pendence were secured, it left behind evil results, from which it took them many more years to recover.
No matter how grand and inspiring the end contemplated, nor how glorious the final results, war is always a calamity. It inevitably brings death and destruction to both life and property. To the colonists in North Carolina, just emerging from their long and severe struggle, it came with blasting effects. Divi- sions were created between neighbors and friends, and even in families ; their hard-earned and closely husbanded means were, in a measure, swept away ; all progress and improvements ceased ; and the bright prospects, so lately theirs, disappeared like mist before the rising sun. Not only so, but under the baneful in- fluences of the war, the faith and morals of the people became unsettled ; the means of grace were partially, and, in some ocalities, wholly neglected ; resulting in apostasy, skepticism,
CAUSES THAT LED 'TO THE ORGANIZATION. 23
and reckless infidelity. Rationalism also reared aloft its ser- pent head until, as a natural result, there was a breaking away from the old moorings of faith, and a corresponding godlessness and immorality of life. Our Lutheran colonists were not an â– exception to the general rule ; and hence the old Lutheran faith suffered, and the old symbols of that faith were set aside by many as old and effete ; or, if acknowledged at all, with such mental reservations as would eventually, if allowed to continue, have completely undermined and destroyed them ; while under the alluring name of liberty, church discipline was ignored and despised until the Rev. Storch was forced to admit that " Party spirit has risen to a fearful height. The prevalence of infidelity, the contempt of the best of all religions, its usages and servants, the increase of irreligion and crime, have occasioned me many sad hours. ' '
Another consequence of the war, already telling so heavily upon our colonists and the Church, was the withdrawal of pecu- niary aid and the furnishing of pastors by the Consistory of Hanover, in Germany, under whose supervision the churches in North Carolina had been, ever since the commissioners from •Organ and St. John's congregations had laid their needs before it, in 1772.
During the eight years of the war, all communication with Germany was, of course, interrupted. And after the war, the Consistory of Hanover became indifferent to the necessities of the churches in North Carolina, because George III., of the house of Hanover, was the reigning King of England, and the Consistory of Hanover naturally was antagonistic to the inde- pendence of the American colonies. Finally, they transferred them to the supervision of the Helmstaedt Mission Society ; otherwise the churches might have dwindled away and died. Even with this help the churches were reduced to a feeble and impoverished condition, from which there seemed, at that time, but little hope of recovery.
It is one of the peculiarities of mankind to run from one ex- treme to another; and, true to nature, in 1S00 and 1801, in the turning away from infidelity and rationalism, that had become
24 HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA SYNOD.
so widespread and devastating in its results, there swept over the land a tide of fanatical revivalism, of a character and de- monstration never known nor heard of before, causing wonder and surprise among both pastors and people, and resulting in a confusion of mind and a division of opinions.
The German churches for a time, at least, governed by the wise counsels of their pastors, refrained from participation in the wild and extravagant doings of those around them. But seeing their neighbors and associates, under the influence of preaching and praying, so strangely and powerfully affected, and finding that even their own pastors did not understand this emotional religion and were unable to explain it to them, it is no wonder that they, too, at length, yielded to this mysterious influence, and were carried into the movement even, perhaps, against their own better judgment.
The German Lutheran pastors were not, at first, agreed as to the worth and reliability of these new measures, and, naturally enough, felt the need of an organization, that would bring them into more intimate communion with each other, and be as a bond of union among them ; some kind of an organization through which they could meet and consult with each other, and thus protect themselves and their people against false views and erroneous practices as they existed around them. So, also, they realized the need of more pastors, and the difficulty in ob- taining them from Germany, hence the necessity of some kind of an organization among themselves that would not be under any foreign supervision, but have power and authority to ex- amine applicants for the ministerial office, and, when found qualified, ordain them. This was impressed still more forcibly upon them by the remembrance of the petition that had been presented to the Lutheran pastors of Rowan and Mecklenburg Counties, asking them to examine and ordain Robert Johnson Miller, in order that he might serve certain churches in Lincoln County. In compliance with the wishes of the petitioners, a meeting was called at St. John's Church, Mecklenburg County, for May 20th, 1794, and then and there was held the first ecclesiastical assembly of the Lutheran Church of North Car- olina.
CAUSES THAT LED TO THE ORGANIZATION. 25
All the Lutheran pastors, Nussman, Arends, Storch, Roschen, and Bernhardt, were present, participated in the examination and ordination of Mr. Miller, and signed their names to his certificate, which, in a mutilated form, is still in existence.*
The salient points in connection with this ordination are that previous to this time, Mr. Miller had been licensed by the Methodist Church to preach the Gospel ; that as such Methodist licentiate he had been preaching to an Episcopal congregation ; that those Episcopalians were highly pleased with him, and, there being no Episcopal Diocese in North Carolina at that time, peti- tioned the Lutheran pastors for his ordination ; and that that Lutheran Ecclesiastical Assembly, fully satisfied with his exami- nation, did ordain him to the Gospel ministry, he always to be obedient to the laws of. the Episcopal Church. Thus he was the second pastor ever ordained by the Lutheran ministry in North Carolina. If there was any other business transacted'at that meeting at St. John's, we have no record of it. And yet we can easily imagine that they must have consulted with each other, talked over the condition of the churches, and of their need of closer relations and more frequent intercourse. But, strange to say, there was no other meeting held, doubtless owing to the death of Rev. Nussman, which occurred only five months later, and the moving away of Revs. Roschen and Bernhardt a few years after that event.
Nine years later, however, on May 2d, 1S03, a special con- ference of ministers and layman was held in Salisbury, N. C, for the sole purpose of organizing themselves into a Synod, or conference, as it was then called. Who inaugurated the move- ment, and what, if any, preliminary steps were taken, we do not know, only they met and organized at that time and place. Revs. Arends, Storch, Miller, and Paul Henkel, that is, all the Lutheran pastors, together with fourteen lay delegates, constituted the convention.
No list of congregations was published at that time, but there are good reasons for believing that Organ, St. John's of Salis- bury, Union, Lutheran Chapel, St. John's of Lincoln County, Reformation, St. Luke's of Davidson County, Pilgrim, Richland, * Bernheim's'History, page 339.
26 HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA SYNOD.
St. Paul's of Alamance County, Lau's, Frieden's, Beck's, and Nazareth congregations were represented.
Rev. Arends was made President and Rev. Miller, Secretary.
The only business transacted was the taking of steps looking to the preparation and adoption of a constitution and arrang- ing for the first animal meeting, to be held in Lincolnton, on the third of the following October.
Nussman, the old pioneer pastor, did not live to see that glad day, he having passed to his eternal reward soon after the meet- ing to ordain Pastor Miller, that is, November 3d, 1794.
St. John's Church of Cabarrus County, one of the three mother-churches in North Carolina, was not represented, and did not take part in the organization of the Synod, not uniting with the Synod until its Fourth Convention, held in Organ Church, October 20th, 1S06.
At first there seems to have been no definite action as to the name the Synod should bear, being sometimes called " The Synod," and sometimes "The Synod of the Lutheran Church." But in 181 7 it was definitely fixed as " The Evangelical Lutheran German and English Synod of North Carolina and Adjacent States." This continued to be the official title until the dis- continuance of the use of the German language, when the words ''German and English" were dropped. And when in the course of years other Synods were formed and her work was confined to North Carolina, the words " Adjacent States " were likewise eliminated. Now her official and chartered title is "The Evangelical Lutheran Synod and Ministerium of North Carolina." Thus the Synod was launched upon the sea of time. The grand old fathers, few but wise and noble, built, indeed, better than they knew. Little did they realize the importance of the step they had taken ! . Little did they think of the strug- gles through which they and the whole Synod would be called to pass ! But they built in the name and fear of God, looking to Him for guidance, trusting all in His hands. And He accepted the trust, and has ever been with the Synod, leading, protecting, preserving, and blessing her abundantly. Truly may we exclaim in this centennial year of the Synod,