Christian Cyclopedia
(1864–1936). Philos.; b. Bilbao, Sp.; educ. Madrid; prof. Salamanca 1891; influenced by H. Bergson,* W. James,* S. A. Kierkegaard,* and B. Pascal.*
(Anointing of the Sick; Chrism; Chrismation; Extreme Unction; Holy Unction). 1. The NT speaks of elders anointing the sick (Ja 5:14).
2. The E Orthodox Ch. teaches that Holy Unction is a sacrament celebrated by more than 1 priest (except in emergency, when 1 suffices) in ch., if possible. The ceremony consists of 7 parts, each containing an Epistle reading, a Gospel reading, and a prayer. An oil lamp burns during the ceremony, at the end of which the priests take oil from the lamp and anoint forehead, breast, hands, and feet of the sick, praying for bodily and spiritual healing.
3. Present RC practice allows 2 kinds of anointing (one involving unction of the 5 senses, the other only of the forehead).
4. In RCm, a 1972 apostolic constitution, pub. 1973, effective January 1, 1974, reduced anointings to those of forehead and hands. It is held that the rite confers comforting grace; remission of venial sins and unculpably unconfessed mortal sins, together with at least some temporal punishment due for sin; and, sometimes, improved physical health.
5. Some Prots. practice anointing of the sick but gen. reject it as a sacrament. EL
(Untereyck; Ondereick; 1635–93). Ref. theol.; b. Duisburg, Ger.; educ. Utrecht, Duisburg, Leiden; came in contact with Puritans; pastor Mülheim on the Ruhr 1660–68, Bremen 1670–93; founded Ref. pietistic conventicles in Ger. Works include Wegweiser der Einfältigen zu den ersten Buchstaben des wahren Christentums.
(Mrs. Stuart Moore; 1875–1941). Poet and writer on mysticism; b. Wolverhampton, Eng. Works include A Bar-Lamb's Ballad Book; Mysticism; Immanence; Man and the Supernatural; Concerning the Inner Life; The Rhythm of Sacrifice; The Golden Sequence.
Founded 1931 London, England. Miss fields have included Belg. Congo, Brazil, Dominican Rep., Egypt, Fr., Guyana (formerly Brit. Guiana), Haiti, Ivory Coast, Papua. West Irian.
(Hans; Ungnade; von Son[n]egg [Soneg; Sonneck], Carinthia; ca. 1493/96–1564). B. province of Styria, Austria; Luth.; privy councillor to Ferdinand I (see Reformed Confessions, E 3); army gen.; sponsored tr. of the Bible, AC, and some of M. Luther's writings into Slovene, Serbo-Croatian, and Turkish and paid for their distribution. See also Consul, Stipan.
(Uniat Chs.). E rite chs. in union with and submitting to the Roman papacy but not part of the Lat. patriarchate; retain resp. languages and canon law; usually observe Communion under both kinds, baptism by immersion, and marriage of clergy. See also Coptic Church, 2; Union Movements, 2.
(1559). See Roman Catholic Church, The, D 9.
(1662). See Presbyterian Churches, 2.
Bull issued 1713 by Clement XI (Giovanni Francesco Albani; 1649–1721; b. Urbino, It.; pope 1700–21) against P. Quesnel,* condemning 101 propositions of his Réflexions morales. See also Jansenism.
Until ca. the middle of the 18th c., attempts to organize Luths. in the US gen. did not go beyond the cong. level.
The Ministerium of Pennsylvania was organized 1748 (see United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of, 22; abbreviated ULC, Syns. of in the rest of this par.), Ministerium of New York 1786 (see ULC, Syns. of, 15), Ev. Luth. Syn. and Ministerium of North Carolina 1803 (see ULC,; Syns. of, 10, 16), Ohio Syn. 1818 (see Ohio and Other States, The Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of), Maryland and Virginia Syn. 1820 (see ULC, syns. of, 11, 29), Tennessee Syn. 1820 (see Henkels, The, 2, 3; ULC, Syns. of 10, 16). Others followed.
Next step was organization of syns. into larger bodies. The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA organized 1820, suffered under tensions of war and liberal-conservative conflict in the 1860s. The General* Council of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in N. Am. organized 1867, The United* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the South 1886.
These 3 larger groups united 1918 in The United* Luth. Ch. in Am.
The Mo. Syn. organized 1847 (see Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, The), the Synodical* Conf. 1872. For related efforts toward doctrinal unity with others see, e.g., Brief Statement; Chicago Theses (1925); Common Confession.
The The American* Luth. Ch. (ALC) organized 1930.
For union and unity movements among Norwegians see Anti-Missouri Brotherhood; Eielsen Synod; Evangelical Lutheran Church, The; Hauge Synod; Madison Settlement; Norwegian-Danish Augustana Synod in America, The; United Norwegian Lutheran Church in America, The.
For similar movements among Swedes see Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church; Baptist Churches, 18; Evangelical Covenant Church, The; Evangelical Free Church of America; Illinois, Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Northern.
For similar movements among Danes see Danish Lutherans in America.
For similar movements among Finns see Finnish Lutherans in America.
American* The Luth. Conf. formed 1930.
The American* Luth. Ch. (The ALC) organized 1960.
The Lutheran* Ch. in Am. formed 1962/63.
The Lutheran* Council in the USA organized 1966.
The Synod* of Ev. Luth. Chs. became an LCMS dist. 1971. EL
See also United States, Lutheranism in the, 8, 9.
Documents of Lutheran Unity in America, ed. R. C. Wolf (Philadelphia, 1966).
Nonbiblical term applied to various dedegrees of coorganization, joint worship, and/or cooperation bet. religious groups of varying creeds and/or spiritual convictions.
Meyers Grosses Konversations-Lexikon, XIX, 921, speaks of unionists as adherents of the union est. 1817 bet. Luths. and Ref. (see Prussian Union); this sense of the term gained widespread acceptance also in Am. It also speaks of unionists in gen. as those who try to unite Christian denominations (Religionsparteien) in 1 ch.
E. Eckhardt, Homiletisches Reallexikon nebst Index Rerum, speaks of unionism as mingling of truth and error; ch. fellowship bet. true believers (Rechtgläubigen) and errorists (Falschgläubigen) or union of both into an external ch. organization. It includes all ecclesiastical cooperation in which error is tolerated and the Luth. Confession is not given proper consideration (zu kurz kommt).
The Concordia Cyclopedia (St. Louis, 1927), p. 774: “Religious unionism consists in joint worship and work of those not united in doctrine. Its essence is an agreement to disagree. In effect, it denies the doctrine of the clearness of Scripture.”
See also Altar Fellowship; Fellowship; Minneapolis Theses (1925), III 1 Syncretism.
J. H. C. Fritz, Religious Unionism (St. Louis, 1930); W. A. Poovey, Questions That Trouble Christians (Columbus, Ohio, 1946); C. Bergendoff, “Lutheran Unity,” What Lutherans Are Thinking (Columbus, Ohio, 1947), pp. 368–390; N. Söderblom, Christian Fellowship or the United Life and Work of Christendom (New York, 1923); J. S. Stowell, The Utopia of Unity (New York, 1930); M. Bach, Report to Protestants (New York, 1948); CTM, XV (1944), pp. 538–539, footnote 19; The Abiding Word, I, ed. T. Laetsch (St. Louis, 1953), 286–287, 301.
1. Union movements in the ch. vary in character. (1) Some groups try to attain union based on strict doctrinal agreement. (2) Some favor union based on compromise expressed in the motto: “In essentials unity, in doubtful things liberty, in all things charity.” (3) LCMS founders stressed the unity of the ch., based on unity of faith (Gl 3:28), and worked for unity in the ch. on confessional bases. (4) Purpose of some union movements is simply to draw Christians closer together with a view to cooperation in certain areas of activity and to present a united front against atheism and other foes.
2. Heresy has disrupted outward unity of Christendom since apostolic times. Unsuccessful attempts were made to unite the E and W chs. by the 1274 council of Lyons* and by the council of Florence.* Rome est. a uniate* relationship with some E rite chs.
3. During the Reformation era the ch. divided into several groups, including Luth., Ref., RC, Angl. Efforts toward reunion failed (see, e.g., Lutheran Confessions, A 2; P. Melanchthon* tried to unite Luths. and Ref. on basis of an altered AC [see Lutheran Confessions, B 3]). Luths. united on basis of the FC (see Lutheran Confessions, C 2).
4. Efforts toward union of Luths. and Anglicans in the 1530s failed (see Lutheran Confessions, A 5) as did efforts to unite Luths. and E Orthodox chs. in the last half of the 16th c. (see Eastern Orthodox Churches, 5) and efforts to unite Angls. and RCs in the 1st part of the 18th c. (see Wake, William). For some time after adoption of the FC Luths. gen. held that union with dissident groups can be achieved only on a confessional basis. But Pietism* and rationalism* encouraged unionism.* See also Prussian Union.
5. The Ev. Syn. of N. Am. grew out of the Prussian Union (see United Church of Christ, II B). Various Presb. groups (see Presbyterian Churches, 4). The Synodical* Conf. was organized 1872. Union of Meths. in Can. 1874 and 1883 resulted in the Meth. Ch. of Can. The United* Ev. Ch. was organized 1894. The Council of Ref. Chs. in the US holding the Presb. System was formed 1907.
6. In the 20th c., modernism* led to division and fundamentalism.*
7. 20th c. unions include that of N. Bap. Conv. and Free Baps. 1911 (see Baptist Churches, 8, 26); Presb. Ch. in the USA and Welsh Calvinistic Meth. Ch. 1920 (see Presbyterian Churches, 4 a); Ev. Assoc. and United* Ev. Ch. 1922 (see also Evangelical Church, 1); Ref. Ch. in the US and Hung. Ref. Ch. in the US 1921 (see United Church of Christ, II A 3); United Ch. of Can. 1925 (see Canada, C); Gen. Council of Cong. and Christian Chs. 1931 (see United Church of Christ, I); Ev. and Ref. Ch. 1934 (see United Church of Christ, II); The Methodist* Ch. 1939; The Evangelical* United Brethren Ch. 1946; United* Ch. of Christ 1957; Ref. Presb. Ch., Ev. Syn., 1965 (see Presbyterian Churches, 4 e); The United Meth. Ch. 1968 (see Methodist Churches, 1). See also Union and Unity Movements in the United States, Lutheran.
8. The Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands (VELKD) was organized July 6–8, 1948, the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD) July 9–15, 1948, both in Eisenach (see also Germany, C 5; Germany, Lutheran Free Churches in, 3).
9. VELKD is a ch. based on the Luth. Confessions. It is not a mem. of EKD, but its mem. chs. are also mems. of EKD The latter is not a ch. but a fed. (Ger. Bund) of Luth., Ref., and Union (see Prussian Union) chs.
10. Other alliances, feds., assocs., and councils include Evangelical* Alliance 1846; Federal* Council of the Chs. of Christ in Am. (see also 13) 1908; Bap. World Alliance, organized 1905 London, Eng., as a free assoc.; The Lutheran* World Federation.
11. The Am. Council of Christian Chs. was organized 1941 in opposition to the FCC (see 10) by Carl McIntire (b. 1906; pastor Bible Presb. Ch., Collingswood, New Jersey; founded Bible Presb. Ch., Collingswood Syn., 1956; pres. International* Council of Christian Chs. Founded [1936] and ed. Christian Beacon; other works include The Death of a Church). Demands “separation from apostasy.”
12. The Nat. Assoc. of Evangelicals began 1942 St. Louis, Missouri, as Evangelicals for United Action; advocates interch. cooperation.
13. The National* Council of the Chs. of Christ in the USA formed 1950 by merger of Federal* Council of the Chs. of Christ in Am.; The For. Missions Conference of N. Am. (began 1893 NYC; name adopted 1911); Home Mission Council of N. Am. (formed 1940 by merger of Council of Women of Home Missions [organized 1908] and Home Missions Council [organized 1908]); The International* Council of Religious Education; Missionary Education Movement of the US and Can. (began 1902 as Young People's Missionary Movement, a cooperative agency of 23 denominations); Nat. Prot. Council on Higher Educ. (founded 1911); United Council of Ch. Women (founded 1940); United Stewardship Council (founded 1920).
14. In a sense, the World* Council of Chs. began with the world missionary* conferences held 1900 NYC, 1910 Edinburgh (at which a permanent internat. organization was effected), for cooperation in life and work on miss. fields encouraged the meetings at Geneva 1920, Stockholm 1925, and Oxford 1937 (see Ecumenical Movement, 9–10) that led to the WCC.
15. Immediate antecedents of the WCC were the meeting of the Universal Christian Conference on Life and Work (Stockholm 1925; replaced by the Universal Christian Council for Life and Work [Oxford 1937]), the World Conf. on Faith and Order (Lausanne 1927, Edinburgh 1937), and world missionary conferences Jerusalem 1928 and Tambaram, Madras, India, 1938.
16. The WCC was organized 1948. ACM
Formed 1910 by federation of Cape Colony (see Cape of Good Hope), Natal, the Orange River Colony (Orange* Free State), and the Transvaal, as indep. dominion in the Comm. of Nations, under terms of the South Africa Act passed by the Brit. Parliament. Became Rep. of South Afr. (see Africa, B 5).
For current information see CIA World Factbook. Area: ca. 8,649,500 sq. mi. Est. 1922 by union of the Russ. Soviet Federated Socialist Rep. (see Russia, 7) and other soviet reps. Languages: Slavic (Russ., Ukrainian, Byelorussian, Polish), Altaic (Turkish, etc.), other Indo-European, Uralian, Caucasian. Religions: Russ. Orthodox 18%, Moslems 9%, other Orthodox, Prots., Jews, Buddhists. See also Armenia; Estonia; Latvia; Lithuania.
Formed November 5, 1859, Newtown Ch., Boone Co., Indiana, by mems. of Indiana* Syn (I), which disbanded November 4, 1859. Purpose: to unite all unaffiliated Luths. in Indiana in 1 syn. Fraternal relations were at first maintained with the Ev. Luth. Joint Syn. of Ohio* and Other States, but in the early 1860s the Southern Dist. Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Joint Syn. of Ohio and Other States declared the Union Syn. unlutheran in doctrine and practice; this made fraternization bet. them impossible. The Union Syn. changed name 1863 to Union Syn. of the Evangelical Luth. Ch. Dissolved 1871. Its mems. helped form Indiana* Syn. (II). At one time or other 17 pastors and 27 congs. were mems. of the Union Syn. See also Henkels, The, 3.
M. L. Wagner, The Chicago Synod and Its Antecedents (Waverly, Iowa, n. d.).
Belief that God is unipersonal; held by Monarchians (see Monarchianism); anti-Trinitarian (see Trinity). See also Socinianism.
Eng. Unitarians include J. Biddle,* S. Clarke,* W. H. Drummond,* T. Lindsey,* J. Martineau,* J. Priestley.*
In Am., Unitarianism gained foothold first in King's Chapel (Episc.), Boston, Massachusetts, 1785, then in Cong. chs. in E Massachusetts (on Congregationalism see United Church of Christ, I A 1). See also Ware, Henry, Sr.; Ware, Henry, Jr.; Ware, William. Tension bet. Trinitarians and Unitarians among Congs. led to separation. W. E. Channing's* sermon on Unitarian Christianity at the ordination of J. Sparks* 1819 became the practical platform of Unitarianism. The Am. Unitarian Assoc., organized 1825 for ch. extension, was long ill supported for lack of enthusiasm to build a denomination. See also Clarke, James Freeman; Emerson, Ralph Waldo; Parker, Theodore; Unitarian Universalist Association.
Unitarianism has no creed in the common meaning of the term; holds that every individual is free to form his own religious beliefs; opposes all specifically Christian doctrines; emphasizes essential dignity and perfectibility of human nature; engages in philanthropy; promotes educ. FEM
See also Universalism.
Formed May 1961 by consolidation of Am. Unitarian Assoc. (see Unitarianism) and Universalist Ch. of Am. (see Universalists).
1. The Ch. of the United Brethren in Christ formed in Frederick Co., Maryland, 1800 as United Brethren in Christ under leadership of Philipp Wilhelm Otterbein (1726–1813; b. Dillenburg, Ger.; educ. Herborn; pastor Herborn; to US 1752; Ger. Ref. pastor Lancaster and elsewhere in Pennsylvania and in Maryland 1752–1813; claimed a deep personal religious experience early in his ministry) and Martin Boehm (1725–1812; b. Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania; Mennonite bp.. 1759; met P. W. Otterbein 1768), who conducted evangelistic work together in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia Because of opposition to revivals and to other features of their work, Otterbein became pastor 1774 of an indep. ch. Baltimore, Maryland, where revivalist preachers adopted a confession of faith and rules of discipline 1789. Otterbein and Boehm were elected bps. 1800. See also Newcomer, Christian. Otterbein came into close relations with F. Asbury,* but language differences kept the United Brethren and Meths. from uniting. The 1st gen. conf., held 1815 near Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, adopted a book discipline and allowed use of English. A const. was adopted 1841. The United Brethren and the Evangelical* Ch. merged 1946 to form The Evangelical* United Brethren Ch., which in turn merged 1968 with The Methodist* Ch. to form The United Meth. Ch. (see Methodist Churches, 1).
2. Ch. of the United Brethren in Christ (Old Constitution). Formed 1889 by a minority in protest against liberalizing the 1841 const. “(Old Constitution)” was dropped soon after the other Ch. of the United Brethren in Christ lost its identity.
3. United Christian Ch. Separated 1862–70 from Ch. of the United Brethren in Christ in conscientious objection against doctrines and practices which they regarded as liberal; organized 1878 Campbelltown, Pennsylvania FEM
See also United Church of Christ, II A 2.
Formed 1961 to carry on work done previously by American* Bd. of Commissioners for For. Missions; Bd. of Internat. Missions (1934) and Commission on World Service (1953) of the Ev. and Ref. Ch. (see United Church of Christ, II); Cong. Christian Service Committee (1943; see also United Church of Christ, I).
Formed June 25, 1957, by merger of the Gen. Council of Cong. Christian Chs. and the Ev. and Ref. Ch. See also III.
I. Cong. and Christian Chs. In 1931 the Nat. Council of the Cong. Chs. of the US and the Gen. Conv. of the Christian Ch. (HQ Dayton, Ohio) united to form the Gen. Council of the Cong. and Christian Chs. (later name: Gen. Council of Cong. Christian Chs.).
1. One of the questions raised by the Reformation for many Eng. Prots. was whether a Christian could hold membership in the Angl. Church. Puritans* believed they should remain in it and help purify it of papal elements. Separatists (also called Indeps. and Congregationalists) advocated congregationalism, holding that a cong. must be free of all ecclesiastical and pol. domination; see also Nonconformist; Robinson, John. After passage of the 1559 Act of Uniformity (see Roman Catholic Church, The, D 9), some intractables were executed, many dissident chs. were broken up. Robert Browne (ca. 1550–ca. 1633; b. Tolethorp, near Stamford, Rutlandshire, Eng.; educ. Cambridge; teacher; pastor based at Norwich ca. 1580; regarded by many as the founder of Congregationalism) emigrated to Holland with his cong. 1581; his views were called Brownism, his followers Brownists. Separatists in Holland developed a sense of being strangers and pilgrims in a for. land and became the Pilgrim Fathers who came to Am. 1620 on the Mayflower, est. the 1st permanent settlement in New Eng., and founded the 1st Cong. ch. in Am. at Plymouth, Massachusetts (see also Bradford, William; Brewster, William). Puritans est. Massachusetts Bay Colony 1629.
2. Pilgrims and Puritans agreed doctrinally, differing only on ch. govt. and membership, Pilgrims, as Separatists, denouncing the Angl. Ch., Puritans considering themselves mems. of it. The Cambridge Platform, adopted 1648, (see Democratic Declarations of Faith, 2) became standard of Congregationalism in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
The intolerance that developed in New Eng. seems to have originated among Puritans, who emphasized the purity of the ch. and its authority also in the pol. realm. Heresy and witchcraft were accordingly to be condemned by ch. and state and punished by death. But Pilgrim ideals gradually prevailed. Separatists claimed freedom for themselves and granted it to others and so gave Congregationalism its distinctive mark.
But doctrinal freedom made doctrinal discipline and uniformity impossible. The Confession of 1680 (see Democratic Declarations of Faith, 2) was not binding on congs.
3. The liberalism of Congregationalism went hand in hand with modernism,* rationalism,* and Unitarianism.* See also Abbot, Lyman; Beecher, Henry Ward; Bushnell, Horace; Gladden, Washington; New England Theology. The Plan of Union of Congregationalists and Presbs. (see Presbyterian Churches. 4 a) was abandoned 1837 by Old School Presbs., by Congregationalists 1852.
See also American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions Kansas City Platform; Statement of Faith According to the Teachings of Congregational Christians, A.
B. Christian Ch. Resulted from a movement pioneered by J. O'Kelly,* who withdrew 1972 from the M. E. Ch. in protest against episcopacy, organized his followers as Republican Meths., who 1794 resolved to be known only as “Christians,” taking the Bible as guide and discipline and accepting only Christian character as test of ch. fellowship. A little later a similar movement arose among New Eng. Baps. See also Churches of Christ; Disciples of Christ, 2. Gen. meetings were held beginning ca. 1809. Gen. conferences were held regularly 1819–32. Gen. convs. were held beginning 1833. In 1890 the denomination was called “Christians (Christian Connection)”; the name “Christian Ch. (Am. Christian Conv.)” was used 1916; the name “Christian Ch. (Gen. Conv. of the Christian Ch.)” was adopted 1922. Unitarianism found adherents in the group. TheSocial* Gospel was emphasized.
II. Ev. and Ref. Ch. Est. 1934 Cleveland, Ohio, by merger of Ev. Syn. of N. Am. and Ref. Ch. in the US.
1. Beginning traced to controversies in Ger. after the Interim,* esp. the Crypto-Calvinistic* controversy. In the early 1560s elector Frederick* III (1515–76) and the Palatinate became Reformed. The Ref. chs. in Eur. had much in common.
2. Ref. emigrants to the US included Ger. settlers from the Palatinate at Germantown, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1683. Others came from Switz., and others, early in the 18th c., from Fr. The 1st Communion service of the Ref. Ch. in the US was celebrated 1725 at Falckner's Swamp, ca. 40 mi. N of Philadelphia. But for scarcity of ministers no organization was effected till 1747, when M. Schlatter* organized a coetus (Lat. practical equivalent of “synod”) in Philadelphia, with ties to Holland. The coetus became indep. 1793 as The Syn. of the Ger. Ref. Ch. Liberal-conservative tension developed. See also Mercersburg Theology.
3. Upon expansion W of the Allegheny Mountains, The Syn. of the Ger. Ref. Ch. divided 1819 into 8 districts called Classes. The Ohio Classis organized itself into the Ohio Syn. 1824. The mother syn. and the Ohio Syn. united 1863 to form the Gen. Syn. Most of the Hung. Ref. Ch. in Am. joined the Ref. Ch. in the US 1921 (see Reformed Churches, 4 d-e). The Gen. Syn. ceased to function at the 1934 merger.
B. Ev. Syn. of N. Am. Grew out of the Prussian* Union. Six ministers formed the Ev. Union of the West (a kind of ministerial assoc.) at Gravois Settlement, near St. Louis, Missouri, 1840, on basis of Luth.- Ref. compromise. Congregations began to join 1849. Similar assocs. sprang up in other states. They joined 1872 and 1877 adopted the name Ger. Ev. Syn. of N. America. Ref. theol. gained control; modernism* followed.
III. A proposal was made 1938 to merge the Cong. Christian Chs. and the Ev. and Ref. Ch. to form a body to be called United Ch. of Christ. A “Gen. Syn. of the United Ch. of Christ,” composed of delegates from both groups, met 1957 Cleveland, Ohio, and elected a const. committee. Last meetings of the constituent bodies were held 1958. The 1st Gen. Syn. of the newly created United Ch. of Christ met 1959. The const. was adopted 1961 and says in its preamble: “The United Church of Christ acknowledges as its sole Head, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Saviour of men. it acknowledges as brethren in Christ all who share in this confession. It looks to the Word of God in the Scriptures, and to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, to prosper its creative and redemptive work in the world. It claims as its own the faith of the historic Church expressed in the ancient creeds and reclaimed in the basic insights of the Protestant Reformers. It affirms the responsibility of the Church in each generation to make this faith its own in reality of worship, in honesty of thought and expression, and in purity of heart before God. In accordance with the teaching of our Lord and the practice prevailing among evangelical Christians, it recognizes two sacraments: Baptism and the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion.” The const. describes the relationships of local chs., Assocs., Conferences, and ministers with the Gen. Syn. as “free and voluntary.”
In 1959 a Statement of Faith was adopted expressing belief “in God, the Eternal Spirit, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father. … In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord,. … He bestows upon us his Holy Spirit, creating and renewing the Church of Jesus Christ, binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues, and races. … He calls us … to accept the cost and joy of discipleship … to share in Christ's baptism and eat at his table. … He promises to all who trust him forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace. …” Local chs. are neither bound by this Statement of Faith nor required to accept it.
1973 inclusive membership: more than 1,900,000. FEM, EL.
Name given the 3 congs. served by H. M. Mühlenberg (see Mühlenberg, Henry Melchior and Family, 1) 1742. As other congs. joined them, the name was applied to the larger group. See also United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of, 22.
(ULC). See United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of, 16.
Formed October 1900 Edinburgh by merger of Free* Ch. of Scot. and United Presb. Ch. (see Presbyterian Churches, 1); united with Est. Ch. of Scot. 1929. See also Scotland, Reformation in, 2.
Traces its hist. to a meeting held 1886 Method, suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina First called Holy Ch. of North Carolina, then Holy Ch. of North Carolina and Virginia; inc. under present name 1918.
Organized in a conv. November 14–18, 1918, NYC, by merger of General* Council of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in N. Am., The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA, and The United* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the S.; ceased to exist 1962 with formation of the Lutheran* Ch. in Am.
I. Leaders of the 3 groups held meetings 1877, 1878, 1898, 1902, 1904 (see also Diets, Lutheran, in America). The 3 groups issued a Common Service 1888. By 1909 a Home Mission Arbitration Commission was formed. Doctrinal differences were removed 1911 by const. amendment in the Gen. Syn. Direct impetus for merger grew out of preparations for joint observance of the Reformation quadricentennial 1917, by work of the Nat. Luth. Commission for Soldiers' and Sailors' Welfare, and by formation of the National* Luth. Council.
All constituent syns. of the 3 groups, except the Augustana Syn. (see Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, 10), entered the merger. Preamble to the ULC const. said: “We … invite and until such end be attained continue to invite all Evangelical Lutheran congregations and synods in America, one with us in the faith, to unite with us.”
Const., Art. II, Doctrinal Basis: “Section 1. The United Lutheran Church in America receives and holds the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God, and as the only infallible rule and standard of faith and practice, according to which all doctrines and teachers are to be judged.
“Section 2. … accepts the three ecumenical creeds … as important testimonies drawn from the Holy Scriptures ….
“Section 3. … receives and holds the Unaltered Augsburg Confession as a correct exhibition of the faith and doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, founded upon the Word of God ….
“Section 4. … recognized the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalkald Articles, the Large and Small Catechisms of Luther, and the Formula of Concord, as in the harmony of one and the same pure Scriptural faith.”
II. Statistics. As a result of realignment and other factors, the number of constituent syns. changed from 45 in 1918 to 32 in 1962. The Icelandic Ev. Luth. Syn. of (N.) Am. joined the ULC 1942; the Slovak Ev. Luth. Zion Syn. joined the ULC 1920. See also United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of).
The ULC grew from ca. 2,800 to more than 5,100 ministers, from ca. 3,700 to nearly 4,700 congs., from ca. 907,500 to nearly 2 1/2 million bap. mems., from ca. 775,400 to nearly 1,7000,000 confirmed mems., from ca. 3,600 to ca. 4,700 Sunday Schools (from ca. 540,000 to more than 800,000 pupils, from ca. 53,900 to ca. 107,000 staff mems.). Ch. property value rose from ca. $54,900,000 to nearly $752 million and local expenditures from ca. $5 1/2 million to more than $101,700,000 a yr..
III. Following chs. developed under auspices of the Bd. of For. Missions were received 1950. as affiliated chs.: (1) The Luth. Ch. in the Andhra Country of india; formed 1927 by amalgamation of the Guntur and Rajahmundry Syns.; reorganized 1944. (2) The Ev. Luth. Ch. in Jap.; traces its hist. to 1892; formally organized Tokyo 1931; reorganized after WW II; see also Japan. (3) The Ev. Luth. Ch. of (or in) Brit. Guiana (see South America, 12). (4) The United Ev. Luth. Ch. (Argentina); organized 1947/48. (5) The Ev. Luth. Ch. in Liberia; see Africa, C 7.
IV. The ULC held membership in National* Luth. Council, Federal* Council of the Chs. of Christ in Am., LWC, The Lutheran* World Fed., National* Council of the Chs. of Christ in the USA, World* Council of Chs.
V. ULC organizations included Luther League of Am. (see also Young People's Organizations, Christian, II 2), United Luth. Ch. Men., United Luth. Ch. Women.
VI. Pres.: F. H. Knubel* 1918–December 31, 1944; F. C. Fry* January 1, 1945–62. WT, TGT
See also American Lutheran Church, The, I; Lutheran Council in Canada, 2; Students, Spiritual Care of, B 2.
T. E. Schmauk, “Historical Report of the Merger,” Minutes of the First Convention of The United Lutheran Church in America (New York, [1918]), pp. 37–42; A. R. Wentz. A Basic History of Lutheranism in America, rev. ed. (Philadelphia, 1964), pp. 269–286; J. L. Neve, History of the Lutheran Church in America, 3d ed. W. D. Allbeck (Burlington, Iowa, 1934), pp. 342–356.
1. Can., Syn. of (Canada Syn.). Pittsburgh Syn. (see 24) miss. efforts in Ont. led to formation 1853 of the Canada Conf. of the Pittsburgh Syn.; the Conf. resolved itself into the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Can. July 1861; helped form General* Council of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in (N.) Am.1867, ULC 1918. The Ev. Luth. Syn. of Cen.; Can., organized 1908 as a result of Gen. Council Eng. miss work in Ont., helped form ULC 1918, merged into the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Can. June 1925. See also 32.
The Ev. Luth. Sem. of Can. was founded 1911 at Waterloo, Ont., by the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Can. and the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Cen. Can.; Waterloo Coll. School was est. 1914 in connection with the sem. The coll. expanded 1924 into the Waterloo Coll. of Arts; the faculty of arts under the name Waterloo Coll. became affiliated with the U. of Western Ont. 1925; preparatory courses of the coll. school were abandoned 1929. The Ev. Luth. Sem. of Can. became Waterloo Luth. U. 1959/60, and at that time Waterloo Coll. terminated affiliation with the U. of Western Ont. and began granting degrees as Waterloo U. Coll. In 1973 Waterloo Luth. U. severed ties with the Eastern Canada Syn. (LCA) in order to become a provincially assisted school renamed Wilfrid Laurier U. The sem., federated with the new university, came under a separate bd. of governors.
Jubiläums-Büchlein: Festschrift zur Feier des 50-jährigen Jubiläums der evang.-luther. Synode van Canada (n. p., 1911); V. J. Eylands, Lutherans in Canada (Winnipeg, Man., Can., 1945); C. R. Cronmiller, A History of the Lutheran Church in Canada (n. p., 1961).
See also Canada, B 4.
2. Caribbean Ev. Luth. Syn. of the ULC(A) (Caribbean Syn.). See Caribbean Islands, E 4, 8.
J. P. M. Larsen, Virgin Islands Story (Philadelphia, 1950).
3. Central States, Ev. Luth. Syn. in the (Central States Syn.). The Ev. Luth. Syn. of Kansas (and Adjacent States) (also known as Kansas Syn.) organized early November 1868 Topeka; joined The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA 1869, The Ev. Luth. Syn. of Nebraska (also known as Nebraska Syn.) organized early September 1871 Omaha; joined Gen. Syn. 1875. Some Ger.-speaking mems. withdrew from the Nebraska Syn. and organized the Ger. Ev. Luth. Syn. of Nebraska (also known as Ger. Nebraska Syn.) 1890 Sterling, Nebraska; joined Gen. Syn. 1893; name changed 1937 to Ev. Luth. Syn. in the Midwest (also known as Midwest Syn.); est. Martin* Luther Sem. 1913 Lincoln, NebraskaThe 3 syns. merged 1954 to form the Ev. Luth. Syn. in the Central States.
H. A. Ott, A History of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Kansas (Topeka, Kans., 1907); Story of the Midwest Synod ULC(A) 1890–1950 (n. p., n. d.).
4. Florida Syn. (of the ULC(A)) (Syn. of Florida). Organized 1928 Lakeland, Florida, by pastors and congs. formerly constituting the Florida Conference of the Ev. Luth. Syn. and Ministerium of Georgia and Adjacent States (see 5); joined ULC 1928.
5. Georgia-Alabama Syn. (of the ULC(A)). Organized July 1860 Spalding Co., Georgia, as the Ev. Luth. Syn. in the State of Georgia (also known as Georgia Syn.). Helped organize The Gen. Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the Confederate* States of Am. 1863. Became the Ev. Luth. Syn. and Ministerium of Georgia in the 1860s, the Ev. Luth. Syn. and Ministerium of Georgia and Adjacent States in the 1870s. Helped form The United* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the South 1886, ULC 1918. On the Florida Syn. see 4. The Georgia Syn. changed name 1930 to Georgia-Alabama Syn.
D. R. Poole, History of the Georgia-Alabama Synod of The United Lutheran Church in America 1860–1960 (n. p., n. d.).
6. Icelandic Syn. 19th-c. immigrants from Iceland to Am. settled mainly in Man., Can., and in Minnesota and the Dakotas. An Icelandic Luth. service was conducted 1874 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by Jon Bjarnason. The Icelandic Syn. organized Winnipeg, Man., Can., June 1885 after a preliminary meeting January 1885 Mountain, North Dakota; Icelandic name: Hins evangeliska láterska kirkjufélags lslendinga í Vesturheimi (“The Ev. Luth. Ch. Organization of Icelanders in the Western Hemisphere”); Eng. name since 1951: Icelandic Ev. Luth. Syn. in (or of) (N.) Am.; const. provided for female suffrage. In the 1 st decade of the 20th c. the syn. was torn by strife over Biblical inspiration and the meaning of confessional subscription; some Icelanders and their pastors later became Unitarian. Joined ULC 1940. See also Canada, B 13; Thorgrimson, Hans Baagöe.
K. K. Olafson, The Icelandic Lutheran Synod (Winnipeg, n. d.).
7. Illinois Syn. (of the ULC(A)). Organized June 1920 by merger of the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Cen. Illinois,* the Ev. Luth. Syn. of N. Illinois,* the Ev. Luth. Syn. of S. Illinois,* and part of the former Chicago* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Church.
M. L. Wagner, The Chicago Synod and Its Antecedents (Waverly, Iowa, n. d.); T. W. Brosche et al., Progress of a Century: A History of The Illinois Synod of the United Lutheran Church in America 1851–1951 (n. p., n. d.).
8. Indiana Syn. (of the ULC(A)). The Indiana mems. of the Miami* Syn. helped form the Olive Branch Ev. Luth. Syn. of Indiana 1848, which joined The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA 1850, changed name 1898 to Olive Branch Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch., and merged 1920 with the Indiana mems. of the former Chicago* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. to form an Indiana Syn. with mems. in other states. By 1934 all mems. outside Indiana were dismissed to other syns. See also 10, 12.
9. Iowa, (Ev. Luth.) Syn. of (Iowa Syn.), Organized 1855; joined The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA 1857.
M. Qualley, “United Lutheran Synod in Iowa,” The Palimpsest, XXXV (1954), 245–260.
10. Kentucky-Tennessee Syn. Formed 1934 by some mems. of the Indiana Syn. (see 8) and Ohio Syn. (see 19), but not congs. in eastern Tenn. which retained membership in the Virginia Syn. (see 29).
11. Maryland, Ev. Luth. Syn. of (Maryland Syn.). Organized 1820 by the Virginia Conf. of the Pennsylvania Ministerium as “The Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Maryland, Virginia, and so forth”; name changed 1822 to “The Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Maryland and Virginia,” 1833 to “The Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Maryland” (the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Virginia [Virginia Syn.] had been formed 1829). Helped form The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA. When the Maryland Syn. refused to sanction the Definite* Syn. Platform, B. Kurtz* withdrew and led in organizing the Melanchthon Syn. 1857; the latter rejoined the Maryland Syn. 1869. 1961: See also 29; American Lutheranism.
A. R. Wentz, History of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Maryland of The United Lutheran Church in America 1820–1920 (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1920).
12. Michigan Syn. (of the ULC(A)). Formed 1920 by merger of N. Indiana* Syn. and part of the Chicago* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch.; mems. in Indiana were transferred to the Indiana Syn. (see 8) 1934.
13. Miss., Ev. Luth. Syn. of (Miss. Syn.). Organized 1855 by pastors of the South Carolina Syn. (see 27) who had begun work in Miss. 1846; joined The Ev. Luth. Gen. Syn. S. (see United Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the South, The, 1 ) 1876; helped organize United Syn. of the S. 1886.
14. New Jersey, Ev. Luth. Syn. of (New Jersey Syn.). The Ev. Luth. Syn. of New Jersey (II) organized 1950 by New Jersey mems. of the United Syn. of New York (see 15), Pennsylvania Ministerium (see 22), and Cen. Pennsylvania Syn. (see 23).
A. Hiller, “History of the Lutheran Church in New Jersey,” The Lutheran Quarterly, XXVIII (1898), 98–130, 165–196; T. G. Tappert, “Early Lutheranism in Southern New Jersey,” The Lutheran Church Quarterly, XIX (1946), 305–314.
15. New York and New Eng., United (Luth.) Syn. of (New York and New Eng. Syn.). Traced its hist. to organization of the New York Ministerium at least as early as 1786 Albany, New York under leadership of J. C. Kunze* (see also Schwerdtfeger, Johann Samuel Wilhelm); foundations had been laid in the 1770s by F. A. C. Muhlenberg (see Mühlenberg, Henry Melchior, and Family, 6). Its const. was based on that of the Pennsylvania Ministerium (see 22) but differed from the latter in that (a) laymen were given voice and vote (see also Ministerium) and (b) the New York Ministerium had no sessions limited to pastors.
The New York Ministerium helped organize The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA; 1820 but withdrew after the 1st meeting and did not return till 1837. Meantime it suffered internal strife. Some mems. withdrew 1830, formed the Hartwick* Syn, of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the State of New York on basis of a modified AC, and joined the Gen. Syn. 1831. Further liberalism in the Hartwick Syn. led to organization 1837 of the Franckean* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the State of New York In 1859 some mems. of the New York Ministerium withdrew and 1861 organized the Ev. Luth. Syn. of New* Jersey (I). In protest against reception of the Franckean Syn. into the Gen. Syn. 1864/66, the New York Ministerium (which had rejoined the Gen. Syn. 1837) withdrew from the Gen. Syn. 1866/67 and helped form the General* Council of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in N. Am. But a minority of mems. withdrew 1866 from the New York Ministerium in protest against this new alignment, formed the Ev. Luth. Syn. of New* York1867, joined the Gen. Syn. 1868, and merged 1872 with the Ev. Luth. Syn. of New Jersey (I) to form the Ev. Luth. Syn. of New York and New Jersey (mem. Gen. Syn.).
Meantime, F. W. T. Steimle* and others withdrew 1866 for confessional reasons from the New York Ministerium and formed the Ger. Ev. Luth. Syn. of New* York and Other States (also known as Steimle Syn.); the syn., but not Steimle, rejoined the New York Ministerium 1872.
Eng.-speaking mems. withdrew from the New York Ministerium and formed the Ev. Luth. Syn. of New York and New Eng. 1902, joined Gen. Council 1903.
The Hartwick Syn.,; Franckean Syn., and Ev. Luth. Syn. of New York and New Jersey merged 1908 to form the Syn. of New York of the Ev. Luth. Ch. (also known as New York Syn.), which joined the Gen. Syn. 1909.
The Syn. of New York of the Ev. Luth. Ch., New York Ministerium, and Ev. Luth. Syn. of New York and New Eng. merged 1929 to form the United Luth. Syn., New York In 1952 it became the United Luth. Syn. of New York and New Eng.
J. Nicum, Geschichte des Evangelisch-Lutherischen Ministeriums vom Staate New York und angrenzenden Staaten und Ländern (n. p., 1888); H. J. Kreider, History of the United Lutheran Synod of New York and New England, I, 1786–1860 (Philadelphia, 1954); N. van Alstine, Historical Review of the Franckean Evangelical Lutheran Synod of New York (Philadelphia, 1893); S. G. Trexler, Crusaders of The Twentieth Century: A Lutheran Story in the Empire State (New York, 1926).
16. North Carolina, United (Ev. Luth.) Syn. of. Ger. Luths. from Pennsylvania began to settle in North Carolina bet. 1745 and 1750. Congs. began to form. A special appeal to Eur. for a pastor 1772 brought A. Nussmann.* C. A. G. Stork* was sent 1788 from Ger. to help Nussmann. Paul Henkel (see Henkels, The, 2) was active in North Carolina and helped organize the Ev. Luth. Syn. and Ministerium of North Carolina (also known as North Carolina Syn.) 1803, whose membership soon extended into South Carolina, Virginia, and Tenn.
When the North Carolina Syn. planned to help form the Gen. Syn., Paul, Philip, and D. Henkel and others formed the Ev. Luth. Tenn. Syn. (see also 29) in protest 1820. The North Carolina Syn. suffered other losses by organization of the Ev. Luth. Syn. of South Carolina 1824 (see also 27), the Western Virginia Syn. 1842 (see also 29), and the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Miss. 1855 (see also 13). In 1863 the North Carolina Syn. withdrew from the Gen. Syn. and helped organize the The Gen. Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in Confederate* States of Am., which became The Ev. Luth. Gen. Syn. in N. Am. 1866. In 1870 the North Carolina Syn. withdrew from the latter, which in 1876 became The Ev. Luth. Gen. Syn. South. The North Carolina Syn. (re)joined the latter 1881. In 1886 the North Carolina Syn. helped organize The United Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the S. In 1921 the Tenn. Syn. reunited with the North Carolina Syn. to form the United Ev. Luth. Syn. of North Carolina, which that yr. came into ownership and control of Lenoir Rhyne Coll.
History of the Lutheran Church in North Carolina (1803–1953), ed. J. L. Morgan et al. (n. p., n. d.).
17. Northwest, Syn. of the (Northwest Syn.; Eng. Ev. Luth. Syn. of the Northwest; Eng. Northwest Syn.). Organized 1891 St. Paul, Minnesota; joined General* Council of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in (N.) Am. 1893. Territory included Wisconsin, Minnesota, N. and South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon See also Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary.
G. H. Trabert, English Lutheranism in the Northwest (Philadelphia, 1914); P. H. Roth, Story of the English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of the Northwest (1891–1941) (n. p., n. d.); D. A. Flesner, 70th Anniversary Review: The English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of the Northwest 1891–1961 (n. p., n. d.).
18. Nova Scotia Syn. See Canada, B 1–3.
D. L. Roth, Acadie and the Acadians (Philadelphia, 1890); V. J. Eylands, Lutherans in Canada (Winnipeg, Man., Can., 1945); C. R. Cronmiller, A History of the Lutheran Church in Canada (n. p., 1961).
19. Ohio Syn. (Syn. of Ohio [of the ULC(A)]). Formed 1920 by merger of the East Ohio Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. (see General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States of America, The, 3), Miami* Syn., Wittenberg* Syn., Dist. Syn. of Ohio (organized 1857), and I parish of the Chicago* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. In 1934 some mems. were released to help form the Kentucky Tenn. Syn. (see 10). See also Ohio and Other States, Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of, 1–4; Wittenberg University.
20. Pacific Syn. (of the Ev. Luth. Ch.). Organized 1901 by 10 pastors of the Northwest Syn. (see 17) living W of the Missouri R.; joined General* Council of the Ev. Luth. ;Ch. in (N.) Am. 1901; territory included Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia, Alaska. Pacific Sem., est. 1910 Portland, Oregon, moved 1914 to Seattle, Washington, suspended operation 1932, closed as a sem. 1934; its capital resources were used 1950 to help found Pacific Luth. Theol. Sem., Berkeley, California (see also 21).
E. Bracher, The First FiFty Years of the Pacific Synod (Seattle, Washington, 1951).
21. Pacific Southwest Syn. of the ULC(A) (Syn. of Pacific Southwest). The Ev. Luth. Syn. of California, result of Gen. Syn. missions beginning 1886, organized 1891; joined Gen. Syn. 1891; came to include chs. in Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii; name changed 1954 to Ev. Luth. Syn. of the Pacific Southwest. Helped est. Pacific Luth. Theol. Sem., Berkeley, California (see also 20; Lutheran Church in America, V; Ministry, Education of, X R).
22. Pennsylvania Ministerium (Ministerium of Pennsylvania; various other names and forms of the name). “Mother syn. of the Luth. Ch. in Am.” Organized 1748; out-growth of United* Congregations. Meetings were not held 1755–59. 1781 const. name: An Ev. Luth. Ministerium in N. America. 1792 name: The Ger. Ev. Luth. Ministerium in Pennsylvania and Adjacent States (adopted in view of organization of the New York Ministerium; see 15). Called ministerium because originally only ministers were given voice and vote. After laymen were seated as regular delegates 1792, the meeting of ministers and laymen together was called a synodical meeting, but the body itself continued to be called a ministerium. Helped form The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA 1820; withdrew from the Gen. Syn. 1823 partly out of fear of unacceptable authority. But most congs. W of the Susquehanna R. withdrew from the Pennsylvania Ministerium, formed the Ev. Luth. Syn. of West Pennsylvania (West Pennsylvania Syn.) 1825, and joined Gen. Syn. 1825. Pennsylvania Ministerium mems. in E Pennsylvania formed the Ev. Luth. Syn. of East Pennsylvania (East Pennsylvania Syn.) 1842, joined Gen. Syn. 1843. Resultant comparative isolation from new* measures left the Pennsylvania Ministerium comparatively conservative. Rejoined Gen. Syn. 1853 but withdrew again 1866 in protest against the Definite* Synodical Platform (see also Mann, Wilhelm Julius) and admission of the Franckean* Syn. to the Gen. Syn.. The Pennsylvania Ministerium founded Lutheran Theol. Sem., Philadelphia, 1864. Helped form General* Council of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in (N.) Am. 1867. New Jersey mems. were dismissed 1950 to the New Jersey Syn. (see 14). See also Mühlenberg, Henry Melchior, and Family, 2.
Documentary History of the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and Adjacent States: Proceedings of the Annual Conventions from 1748 to 1821 (Philadelphia, 1898); H. E. Pfatteicher, The Ministerium of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1938); T. E. Schmauk, A History of The Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania (1638–1820), I (Philadelphia, 1903); T. G. Tappert, “Two Hundred Years of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania,” 1948 Minutes of the Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and the Adjacent States (n. p., n. d.), pp. 297–303.
23. Pennsylvania, Ev. Luth. Syn. of Central (Central Pennsylvania Syn. [of the ULC(A)]). Formed 1938 by merger of the West Pennsylvania Syn. (see 22), Alleghany (Allegheny) Ev. Luth. Syn. of Pennsylvania (Alleghany [Allegheny] Syn.; formed 1842 by mems. of the West Pennsylvania Syn.), East Pennsylvania Syn. (see 22), and Susquehanna Syn. (of the ULC(A)). The latter organized 1867 as the Susquehanna Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the US; merged 1923/24 with the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Central Pennsylvania [Central Pennsylvania Syn.; formed 1855 by mems. who withdrew from the West Pennsylvania Syn.] to form the Susquehanna Syn. of Central Pennsylvania of the Ev. Luth. Ch. [name shortened 1932 to Susquehanna Syn.]). New Jersey mems. were dismissed 1950 to the New Jersey Syn. (see 14).
W. H. B. Carney, History of the Alleghany Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Pennsylvania, 2 vols. (Philadelphia, 1918); The Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States: A History 1867–1917, ed. F. P. Manhart et al. (n. p., 1917); L. G. Shannon, A Short History of the Central Pennsylvania Synod of the United Lutheran Church in America (n. p., 1958).
24. Pittsburgh Syn. (of the Ev. Luth. Ch.). Organized 1845 (see also Passavant, William Alfred); became known for miss. work extending into other states and into Ont. and Nova Scotia. Joined The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA 1853. Majority joined the General* Council of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in (N.) Am. 1867; minority remained with the Gen. Syn.; both kept the same name and reunited 1919 under that name. Thiel Coll., Greenville, Pennsylvania, came under control of the Pittsburgh Syn. 1870.
E. G. Heissenbuttel and R. H. Johnson, Pittsburgh Synod History: Its Auxiliaries and Institutions, 1845–1962 (Pittsburgh, 1963).
25. Rocky Mountain Syn. (of the ULC(A)). Organized 1891 Manitou, Colorado; territory included Wyoming, Colorado, N. Mex., and part of Texas; joined The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA 1891.
26. Slovak Ev. Luth. “Zion” Syn. (Slovak Zion Syn.). Organized 1919 Braddock. Pennsylvania; joined ULC 1920; represented mainly in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York
27. South Carolina, Ev. Luth.. Syn of (South Carolina Syn.). Luth. chs. were est. in South Carolina as early as the 1730s. The Unio Ecclesiastica der deutsch protestantischen Kirchen im Staate South Carolina, formed 1787, disappeared ca. the turn of the c. The South Carolina Syn., organized 1824, joined The General* Syn. of the Ev. Lath. Ch. in the USA 1835, helped organize The Gen. Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the Confederate* States of Am. 1863 and The United Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the South 1886.
See also 13; Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.
History of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of South Carolina 1824–1924, ed. S. T. Hallman (Columbia, South Carolina, n. d.).
28. Texas and Louisiana, (Ev. Luth.) Syn. of (Texas and Louisiana Syn.). Preachers from St. Chrischona* and a missionary sent by W. A. Passavant* organized the First (Ger.) Ev. Luth. Syn. of Texas (Texas Syn.) 1851; joined The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA 1853; mem. the General* Council of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in (N.) Am. 1868–94. Most of the Texas Syn. withdrew 1894 and joined the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Iowa* and Other States as a dist. 1896; The minority continued as Old Ger. Ev. Luth. Syn. of Texas of the UAC (also known as Texas Syn.); it experienced some losses to the Iowa Syn. 1913; joined the Gen. Council 1915; name changed 1954 to Ev. Luth. Syn. of Texas and Louisiana
J. Mgebroff, Geschichte der Ersten Deutschen Evangelisch-Lutherischen Synode in Texas (n. p., 1902); History of the First Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Texas, comp. M. Heinrich (n. p., n. d.); History of the Evangelical Lutheran Texas Synod of the United Lutheran Church in America (Philadelphia, 1926); H. C. Ziehe, A Centennial Story of the Lutheran Church in Texas (Seguin, Texas, 1951).
29. Virginia, (Luth.) Syn. of (Virginia Syn.). For hist. up to 1829 see 11. Some mems. of the North Carolina Syn. (see 16) and of the Virginia Syn. formed the “Ev. Luth. Syn. and Ministerium of Western Virginia and adjacent parts” (Western Virginia Syn.) 1842. The Virginia Syn. joined The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA 1839; the Western Virginia Syn. joined the Gen. Syn. 1843. These 2 syns. helped organize The Gen. Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the Confederate* States of Am. 1863. The Western Virginia Syn. changed name 1867 to Ev. Luth. Syn. and Ministerium of Southwestern Virginia (Southwestern Virginia Syn.).
The Holston Syn., organized 1860 by mems. of the Tennessee Syn. (see 16) in western Virginia and Tennessee, was mem. of The Gen. Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the Confederate States of Am. 1869–72 and of the General* Council of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in (N.) Am. 1874–86.
All 3 syns. (Virginia Syn., Southwestern Virginia Syn., Holston Syn.) helped organize The United Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the South 1886. In 1922 they merged into the (Luth.) Syn. of Virginia Est. Marion (Virginia) Coll. 1873 (see also Ministry, Education of, VIII 1).
History of the Lutheran Church in Virginia and East Tennessee, ed. C. W. Cassell et al. (Strasburg, Virginia, 1930); W. E. Eisenberg, The Lutheran Church in Virginia, 1717–1962, including an Account of the Lutheran Church in East Tennessee (Roanoke, Virginia, 1967).
30. Wartburg Syn. (of the Ev. Luth. Ch.). Organization resolved on 1875, documentarily fixed 1876. Formed by Ger. mems. of the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Cen. Illinois,* who first met 1873 as the Ger. Conference of that syn. Joined The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA 1877. See also Severinghaus, John Dietrich.
W. E. Kaitschuk, History of the Wartburg Synod (Burlington, Iowa, 1940).
31. West Virginia, Ev. Luth. Syn. of (West Virginia Syn.). Organized 1912; joined The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA 1913.
32. Western Can., (Ev. Luth.) Syn. of (Western Can. Syn.). Began in the 1890s as Northwest Conf. of the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Can. (see 1); organized 1897 as Ger. Ev. Luth. Syn. of Manitoba* and the Northwest Territories; name changed 1907 to The Ger. Ev. Luth.. Syn. of Man. and other Provinces, 1947 to Ev. Luth. Syn. of Western Can. Territory came to include Man., Sask., Alta., and Brit. Columbia. Est. Luth. Coll. and Sem., Saskatoon. Sask. (see also Lutheran Theological Seminary, Saskatoon, Sask., Can.
See also Lutheran Church in America; United Lutheran Church in America, The.
V. J. Eylands, Lutherans in Canada (Winnipeg, Man., Can., 1945); C. R. Cronmiller, A History of the Lutheran Church in Canada (n. p., 1961).
Organized June 1890 by The Norwegian-Danish* Augustana Syn. in Am., The Conf. for the Norw.-Dan. Ev. Luth. Ch. in Am., and the Anti-Missouri* Brotherhood. United 1917 with Hauge's Norw. Ev. Luth. Syn. and most of the Norw. Syn. to form The Norw. Luth. Ch. of Am. See also Evangelical Lutheran Church, The, 8–13.
E. C. Nelson and E. L. Fevold, The Lutheran Church Among Norwegian-Americans, 2 vols. (Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1960).
(“International” added 1974). Formed by merger of Pentecostal Ch., Inc., and Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ 1945 St. Louis, Missouri; holds that there is only I person in the Godhead, namely Jesus Christ.
The Pent. Ch., Inc., formed 1924 by whites who withdrew from the interracial Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc., organized 1914. The Pent. Assemblies of Jesus Christ organized December 1931.
See Gillespie, Thomas; Presbyterian Churches, 1; Scotland, Reformation in, 1.
See Fraternal Appeal to the American Churches, with a Plan for Catholic Union, on Apostolic Principles.
See Gillespie, Thomas; Presbyterian Churches, 1; Scotland, Reformation in, 1.
Adv. ch. formed 1947 by merger of 2 small indep. Sabbatarian premillennial chs.
Organized by J. Wesley* in connection with Moravians 1739/40.
Formed 1965 by merger of Society* for the Propagation of the Gospel in For. Parts and Universities'* Mission to Cen. Afr.
1. Lutheranism was brought from Eur. to Am. beginning in the 17th c. See Arensius, Bernhardus Antonius; Campanius, Johan; Danish Lutherans in America; Fabritius, Jacob; Falckner, Daniel, Jr.; Falckner, Justus; Gutwasser, John Ernst; Kocherthal, Josua; Lock, Lars Carlson; Torkillus, Reorus. Salzburgers* settled 1734 near Savannah, Georgia In pre-Revolutionary days Lutheranism spread esp. in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland See also Berkenmeyer, Wilhelm Christoph; Henkels, The, 1; Stover, John Caspar, Sr.; Stoever, John Caspar, Jr..
Through most of the 18th c. the hist. of Lutheranism in the US is the history of Luth. immigrants and of congs. in most Luth. settlements. It was a time of confusion. Congs. were widely scattered and poor. Pastors were few; some were adventurers and impostors.
2. The period of larger organizations or syns. began 1748 with the Pennsylvania Ministerium (see United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of, 22). The New York Ministerium was organized in the 1780s, the North Carolina Syn. 1803 (see United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of, 15, 16).
3. After the death of H. M. Mühlenberg 1787, till 1817 (tercentenary of the Reformation), rationalism and indifference gripped the Luth. Ch. in the US See also Quitman, Frederick Henry; Schober, Gottlieb.
4. Immigration from Luth. countries to the US reached its peak 1817–1860. New syns. were organized, some in reaction against unionism*: Ohio Syn. 1818 (see Ohio and Other States, The Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of), Maryland Syn. 1820 (see United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of, 11), The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA; 1820, Tennessee Syn. 1820 (see United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of, 16), Buffalo* Syn. 1845, Mo. Syn. 1847 (see Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, The). The Gen. Syn. included ca. two-thirds of US Lutheranism 1860.
5. For lack of pastors some pastors trained students in their homes; some pastors were trained in sems. of other denominations. The Hartwick* Sem. lacked efficient direction. The Luth. Theol. Sem., Gettysburg, was est. 1826.
Adherence to the Ger. language drove many young Eng.-speaking people into Eng. denominations.
6. The Gen. Syn. carried on Home Mission work chiefly through dist. syns. See also Central Missionary Society of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States; Keller, Ezra. J. C. F. Heyer* was sent as miss. to India by the Pennsylvania Ministerium in the early 1840s. See also Passavant, William Alfred.
7. The Definite* Syn. Platform led to controversy. Other controverted matters: Antichrist,* Church* and Ministry, Open* Questions, Predestination* (see also Predestinarian Controversy, 2), Sunday.*
8. Reaction against indifference and confessional laxity and the impact of the Civil War (see United Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the South, The, 1) led to disruption of the Gen. Syn. and formation of the General* Council of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in (N.) Am. in the 1860s.
9. The Synodical* Conference was organized 1872. Intersynodical mergers saw formation of The Norw. Luth. Ch. of Am. 1917 (see Evangelical Lutheran Church, The, 13), The United* Luth. Ch. in Am. 1918, the American* Luth. Ch. 1930. For other similar developments see Union and Unity Movements in the United States, Lutheran. See also Lutheran World Federation, The. ARS
See also United States, Lutheran Theology in the.
I. Acrelius, A History of New Sweden (Philadelphia, 1874); E. L. Hazelius, History of the American Lutheran Church from Its Commencement in the Year of Our Lord 1685, to the Year 1842 (Zanesville, Ohio, 1846); C. W. Schaeffer, Early History of the Lutheran Church in America (Philadelphia, 1857); A. L. Gräbner [Graebner], Geschichte der Lutherischen Kirche in America (St. Louis, 1892); The American Church History Series, ed. P. Schaff et al., IV: H. E. Jacobs, A History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States, 5th ed. (New York, 1907); O. Kraushaar, Verfassungsformen der Lutherischen Kirche Amerikas (Gütersloh, 1911); W. J. Finck, Lutheran Landmarks and Pioneers in America (Philadelphia, 1913); J. L. Neve, History of the Lutheran Church in America, 3d ed. W. D. Allbeck (Burlington, Iowa, 1934); F. Bente, American Lutheranism, 2 vols. (St. Louis, 1919); A. B. Faust, The German Element in the United States, 2 vols. (New York, 1909); A. R. Wentz, A Basic History of Lutheranism in America, rev. ed. (Philadelphia, 1964); V. Ferm, The Crisis in American Lutheran Theology (New York, 1927); C. Mauelshagen, American Lutheranism Surrenders to Forces of Conservatism (Athens, Georgia, 1936); R. C. Wiederaenders and W. G. Tillmanns, The Synods of American Lutheranism ([St. Louis], 1968); E. C. Nelson and K. S. Knutson, Lutheranism in North America 1914–70 (Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1972).
1. The early Luths. in Am. came from Swed., Holland, and Ger. determined to adhere to the Luth. Confessions. The Swed. govt. instructed J. B. Printz (see Campanius, Johan) that services be performed acc. to the UAC, the Council of Uppsala (see Sweden, Lutheranism in, 1), and the ceremonies of the Swed. ch. Dutch and Ger. Luths. proceeded largely on basis of the Amsterdam Ch. Order. which required subscription to the UAC.
The Lutheranism of H. M. Mühlenberg* and of his fellow workers from Halle was tinged with Pietism.*
2. The Pennsylvania Ministerium (see United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of, 22) had no const. or formal declaration on the Book* of Concord when it was organized. But J. N. Kurtz* promised at his ordination 1748 to teach only what harmonizes with the Word of God and the Confessions of the Ev. Luth. Ch. The dedication sermon of St. Michael's Ch., Philadelphia, 1748, reminded the cong. that Ev. Luth. doctrine should be taught in it acc. to the foundation of the prophets and apostles and acc. to the UAC and the other symbolical books. The 1781 Pennsylvania Ministerium const., chap. 6, par. 2: “Every minister professes that he holds the Word of God and our Symbolical Books in doctrine and life; …”
3. H. M. Mühlenberg died 1787. Gen. deterioration of confessional Lutheranism followed. The 1792 Pennsylvania Ministerium const. omitted all confessional tests. F. H. Quitman* of the New York Ministerium (see United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of, 15) was a rationalist.
4. The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA was organized 1820 for closer relations bet. syns.; its const. made no ref. to Luth. confessions.
Gen. Syn. 1825 plan for a sem., resolution 1: “In this Seminary shall be taught … the fundamental doctrines of the Sacred Scriptures, as contained in the Augsburg Confession.” Purpose of the sem. as expressed in its 1826 const., Art. I: “To provide … pastors who sincerely believe, and cordially approve of the doctrines of the Holy Scriptures, as they are fundamentally taught in the Augsburg Confession, …” The oath of prof. office required by the const. read in part: “I … believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the inspired Word of God, and the only perfect rule of faith and practice. I believe the Augsburg Confession and the Catechisms of Luther to be a summary and just exhibition of the fundamental doctrines of the Word of God.” The 1829 Gen. Syn. Const. of Syns. for dist. syns. candidates for licensing and ordination were required to say that they believed that the fundamental doctrines of the Word of God are taught in a manner substantially correct in the doctrinal articles of the Augsburg Confession. But these confessional obligations lacked necessary clearness and definiteness and opened the door to latitudinarianism. In a letter in the mid-1840s to the Ev. Ch. in Ger. the Gen. Syn. said: “In most of our church principles we stand on common ground with the Union Church of Germany. The distinctive views which separate the Old Lutherans and the Reformed Church we do not consider essential.” Besides unionism,* doctrinal indifference, and rationalism, the influence of Puritanism was apparent. Works, external conduct, and “new* measures” were emphasized.
5. Paul Henkel (see Henkels, The, 2), C. F. W. Walther,* and others protested nonconfessional trends. See also Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, The. Conservative Lutheranism was strengthened.
6. The Definite* Syn. Platform, an unsettling factor, led to Free* Luth. Conferences.
7. Admission of the Franckean* Syn. to the Gen. Syn. in the mid-1860s led to disruption of the Gen. Syn. and formation of the General* Council of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in (N.) Am. 1867. See also Four Points; Galesburg Rule.
8. After formation of the Gen. Council the doctrinal position of the Gen. Syn. became progressively more conservative. By 1913 all dist. syns. of the Gen. Syn. had approved revised arts. of the const. that recognized the OT and NT canonical scriptures as the Word of God and the only infallible rule of faith and practice; the UAC as a correct exhibition of faith and doctrine as founded on the Word; and the secondary symbols as expositions of Luth. doctrine of great hist. and interpretative value. The revised arts. especially commended the SC as a book of instruction.
9. The United* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the S. recognized “the Holy Scriptures, the Inspired Writings of the Old and New Testaments, the only standard of doctrine and church discipline”; the ecumenical symbols and the UAC “as a true and faithful exhibition of the doctrines of the Holy Scriptures in regard to matters of faith and practice”; and the other Confessions of the Book of Concord “as true and Scriptural developments of the doctrines taught in the Augsburg Confession, and in the perfect harmony of one and the same pure, Scriptural faith.”
10. The doctrinal basis of The United* Luth. Ch. in Am. recognized the OT and NT canonical Scriptures as the inspired Word of God, and as the only infallible rule and standard of faith and practice, acc. to which all doctrines and teachers are to be judged; the 3 ecumenical* creeds as important testimonies drawn from the Holy Scriptures; the UAC as a correct exhibition of the faith and doctrine of the Ev. Luth. Ch., founded on the Word of God; the other Luth. Confessions as in the harmony of one and the same pure Scriptural faith. See also Pittsburgh Agreement.
11. On the confessional basis of the Mo. Syn. see Lutheran Church4—Missouri Synod, The, III 4; see also other parts of that art., esp. V and VI.
The Synodical* Conference acknowledged “the canonical writings of the Old and New Testaments as God's Word, and the confession of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of 1580, called the 'Concordia,' as her own.” See also Predestinarian Controversy, 2.
On the doctrine of the ALC (1930) see American Lutheran Church, II. On the doctrinal basis of The American* Lutheran Conference see Chicago Theses; Minneapolis Theses (1925). On the doctrinal basis of The ALC (1960) see American Lutheran Church, The, II. On the doctrinal basis of the LCA see Lutheran Church in America, III. Purposes of the Lutheran* Council in the USA include seeking to achieve theological consensus on basis of the Scriptures and the witness of the Luth. Confessions.
See also American Lutheran Church, V 1; Brief Statement; Common Confession; Madison Settlement; Madison Theses.
1. The purpose of this art. is to indicate in a gen. way the basic trends and movements in the hist. of Am. Christianity.
2. Fr. Huguenots* est. Ft. Caroline in what is now Florida, on the St. Johns R., near its mouth, 1564. Sp. RCs destroyed this colony (see also Martyr) and founded St. Augustine 1565. By 1609 RCs founded Santa Fe in what is now N. M. For early RC missions in what is now Calif. see Serra, Junípero. Fr. RCs est. missions in the Miss. Valley, e.g., in what is now Illinois at Cahokia 1699, Kaskaskia 1700; Detroit, in what is now Michigan, 1701; Vincennes, in what is now Indiana, 1702 (fortified 1732).
3. The 1st permanent Prot. settlement in what is now the US was at Jamestown, in what is now Virginia, 1607. See also Hunt, Robert; Pocahontas. Anglicanism was completely est. in Virginia soon after the colony became a royal province 1624. Est. of the Angl. Ch. in Maryland was approved in Eng. 1702 (see also 5).
4. Separatists founded Plymouth in what is now Massachusetts 1620 (see also United Church of Christ, I A 1). Puritans* est. Massachusetts Bay Colony when they settled at Salem 1628. T. Hooker* and S. Stone* helped est. a Puritan colony at Hartford, Connecticut, 1636. R. Williams* laid the foundations of the State of Rhode Is. and Providence Plantations 1636; here dissenters (e.g., Baps. and Quakers) enjoyed freedom of conscience.
5. Cecilius Calvert* (Lord Baltimore), a RC, received a charter 1632 to est. Maryland colony; first settlers arrived 1634; est. of the Angl. Ch. in Maryland was approved in Eng. 1702. On resurgence of RCm in Maryland toward the end of the 18th c. see Carroll, John; Roman Catholic Church, The, E 3–4. Under royal charter received 1681 W. Penn,* a Quaker (see Friends, Society of), est. Pennsylvania; its assurances of civil and religious freedom attracted many persecuted from the Brit. Isles and the Continent.
6. On the Dutch Ref. Ch. in New Amsterdam (later NYC) and New Neth. (renamed NT by the Eng. after they conquered the colony 1664) see Reformed Churches, 4 b. Dutch Luths. were in New Neth. at least as early as 1643. By the end of the 17th c. the Angl. Ch. was practically, if not officially, est. in NT See also Gutwasser, John Ernst; Fabritius, Jacob.
New Swed. (in present Delaware), est. 1638, included many Luths. from the outset; see also Torkillus, Reorus. There were 3 Luth. ministers, including L. C. Lock,* in the colony when it fell to the Duton 1655. See also Björk, Eric Tobias; Rudman, Anders.
Ger. sectarians (e.g., Quakers, Mennonites) and Luths. settled at Germantown, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, beginning 1683 (see also Communistic Societies, 4; Falckner, Daniel, Jr.; Falckner, Justus; Köster, Heinrich Bernhard). Moravians settled in Pennsylvania and Georgia in the 1730s (see also Schwenkfelders, 2; Spangenberg, Augustus Gottlieb).
7. H. M. Mühlenberg* had to counteract the influence of N. L. v. Zinzendorf* before he could est. his own position as Luth. pastor in and around Philadelphia 1742. Ger. Ref. also settled in Pennsylvania For a time friendly relations existed bet. Luths., Ref., and Moravians.
8. Presbs. of Scotch-Irish origin came to the US beginning in the late 17th c., settled in all colonies by mid-18th c. See also Presbyterian Churches, 4 a.
9. Revivals under J. Edwards* the Elder and others ran ca. 1725-ca. 1750. Methodism (see Methodist Churches) came to the US
10. The spirit of Am. indep. accompanied a movement for religious freedom. A bill for establishing religious freedom was adopted by Virginia 1785. Separation of ch. and state in Virginia was complete 1840. Other states followed similar patterns, e.g., Congregationalism was disestablished in New Hampshire 1817, Connecticut 1818, Massachusetts 1833.
11. Denominationalism in the US arose as chs. began to develop an emerging Am. character. In the 19th c. many older chs. split over doctrinal and soc. issues. The 20th c. has seen movements toward union and reunion on the one hand, appearance of new groups on the other. Ecumenism came into ascendancy (see also Ecumenical Movement).
12. The influence of rationalism* and deism* led to decline in religious fervor in the last part of the 18th c., but by the 1790s revivals heralded the beginning of another awakening, e.g., at North Yarmouth, Maine, Lee, Massachusetts, and East Haddam and Lyme, Connecticut Yale Coll., New Haven, Connecticut, experienced a notable revival 1802.
13. The August 1801 Cane Ridge, Bourbon Co., Kentucky, camp meeting drew attendance est. at 20–25 thousand. It had been set up under Presb. auspices but came to include large participation by Meth. and Bap. preachers. Despite a Plan of Union as basis for cooperation bet. Presbs. and Congregationalists, religious life on the frontier was soon dominated by Meths. (esp. in the Midwest) and Baps. (esp. in the South).
14. Slavery and the Civil War split some chs. bet. North and South; some split along confessional lines.
15. Miss. work was carried on, usually by miss. socs., at home (see Immigrant and Emigrant Missions; Indians, American; Indians, Lutheran Missions to North American) and abroad. Many colleges and sems. were est..
16. After the Civil War immigration and soc. concern dominated religious life Cath. immigrants gravitated toward large urban centers, Luths. toward the northern Midwest. Soc. concerns (e.g., temperance) were reflected in a revival movement (see Revivals). The Social* Gospel came into prominence.
17. Liberal theol., with its optimistic view of man, went hand in hand with the Social Gospel but was opposed by Protestant Fundamentalism (see also Five Points of Fundamentalism), which survived far into the 20th c. and produced The Fundamentals (12 vols.). See also Evangelicals, 6.
Discouraging prospects for man after WW I and the Great Depression weakened liberal theol., which came to be replaced by neoorthodoxy.*
These and other theol. movements gen. crossed denominational lines and tended to divide denominations internally.
18. The Civil War helped est. separate Negro denominations, which came to be found in both North and South and survived far into the 20th c..
19. In the 20th c. many chs. organized highly and took over work of pub. educ., and for. missions previously carried on by societies.
20. The Federal* Council of the Chs. of Christ in Am., the National* Council of the Chs. of Christ in the USA, and the World* Council of Chs. were est. to help coordinate ch. work.
21. Many chs. are concerned about soc. responsibility and about the relationship bet. ch. and state; integration of mutual interests has taken place in institutional and military chaplaincies. Ch.-state relations in educ. continue to present difficulties. Many chs. look to ecumenism for the solution to many problems. JW
See also Religious Bodies (US), Bibliography of; bibliography of Statistics, Ecclesiastical; Union Movements, 5–7, 10–13.
C. E. Olmstead, History of Religion in the United States (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1960); H. S. Smith, R. T. Handy, and L. A. Loetscher, American Christianity, 2 vols. (New York, 1960–63); Religion in American Life, ed. J. W. Smith and A. L. Jamison, vols. 1, 2, and 4 (in 2) (Princeton, New Jersey, 1961).
1. During the Civil War the North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and SW Virginia syns. took umbrage at certain resolutions passed by The General* Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the USA in regard to the war. In 1863 they withdrew and, at Concord, North Carolina, together with the Georgia Syn., organized The Gen. Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the Confederate* States of Am.. The name changed 1866 to The Ev. Luth. Gen. Syn. in N. Am., 1876 to The Ev. Luth. Gen. Syn. South. The Miss. Syn. (see United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of, 13) joined 1876. When the confessionalism of The Ev. Luth. Gen. Syn. South had reached a point satisfactory to the Holston Syn. and Tennessee Syn. (see United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of, 16, 29), the latter 2 and the 6 syns. of The Ev. Luth. Gen. Syn. South joined to form The United Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the South 1886 Roanoke, Virginia See also United States, Lutheran Theology in the, 9.
2. Official organ: Lutheran Church Visitor.
3. Helped form The United* Luth. Ch. in Am. 1918.
4. Leaders included Socrates Henkel (see Henkels, The, 3), E. T. Horn.* M. G. G. Scherer,* A. G. Voigt.*
The theol. sem. of The United Syn. of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in the South is now Lutheran* Theol. Southern Sem..
Colleges included Newberry* Coll., Roanoke* Coll., Lenoir* Rhyne Coll..
Its miss. in Jap., est. in the early 1890s, was later supported also by the General* Council of the Ev. Luth. Ch. in (N.) Am..
Consisted of 8 syns., 262 pastors, 494 congs., 55,473 confirmed mems. when it helped form the ULC (The Lutheran Church Year Book for 1919 [Philadelphia, –], p. 85).
C. W. Heathcote, The Lutheran Church and the Civil War (New York, 1919); F. Bente, American Lutheranism, 2 vols. (St. Louis, 1919); The American Church History Series, ed. P. Schaff et al., IV: H. E. Jacobs, A History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States, 5th ed. (New York, 1907); J. L. Neve, History of the Lutheran Church in America, 3d ed. W. D. Allbeck (Burlington, Iowa, 1934); A. R. Wentz, A Basic History of Lutheranism in America, rev. ed. (Philadelphia, 1964).
Statement approved 1952 by the ALC, ELC, and UELC; helped provide basis for merger that formed The ALC 1960. Part I, Concerning Faith, contains arts. I. God; II. Atonement: III. The Means of Grace; IV. Justification; V. Sanctification; VI. The Church. Part II. Concerning Life and Practice, contains arts. I. Liturgical Trends; II. Lay Activities in the Church; III. Elements in the Eucharist; IV. Christian Liberty: V. Concerning Evangelism; VI. Spiritual Fellowship. See also American Lutheran Church, The, I.
Est. ca. 1889 Kansas City, Missouri, by C. Fillmore* and his wife; inc. 1903 as Unity School of Practical Christianity; present name adopted 1914. Also known as Unity. Somewhat similar to Christian Science (see Church of Christ, Scientist), New* Thought, and Theosophy.* Emphasizes spiritual healing, prosperity, and practical Christianity. Has no definite creed. Present location: Unity Village, near Lee's Summit (near Kansas City), Missouri Publications include Unity; Daily Word; Wee Wisdom.
View that all moral creatures will finally be saved. See also Restitution; Universalists.
1. Adherents of universalism.* Universalists find the doctrine of endless punishment incompatible with belief in a just and loving God. Universalism can be traced at least to Zoroaster.* Universalists became a distinct denomination under leadership of J. Murray* 1785 Oxford, Massachusetts, as Indep. Christian Society commonly called Universalists.
2. H. Ballou* became the recognized theol. leader of Am. universalists at the beginning of the 19th c.; directed them into Unitarianism.*
Profession of belief adopted 1803 Winchester, New Hampshire:
“Article I. We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments contain a revelation of the character of God and of the duty, interest, and final destination of mankind.
”Article II. We believe that there is one God, whose nature is Love, revealed in one Lord Jesus Christ, by one Holy Spirit of Grace, who will finally restore the whole family of mankind to holiness and happiness.
“Article III. We believe that holiness and true happiness are inseparably connected, and that believers ought to be careful to maintain order and practice good works; for these things are good and profitable unto men.”
Essential principles of Universalist Faith adopted 1899: “1. The universal fatherhood of God; 2. The spiritual authority and leadership of his son, Jesus Christ; 3. The trustworthiness of the Bible as containing a revelation from God; 4. The certainty of just retribution for sin; 5. The final harmony of all souls with God.”
3. Universalists hold that punishment for sin is inevitable, that its purpose is beneficent (namely, to deter from further sin), and that probation does not end with this life, but everyone after death will be able forever to develop upward and Godward. With regard to Christ, universalists are practically Unitarians. Sins are pardoned when the sinner ceases from sin and becomes obedient. Doctrines gen. denied by universalists include vicarious atonement, justification by imputation of Christ's righteousness, original sin, existence of the devil, resurrection of the body, Christ's final coming, the final judgment, efficacy of sacraments, real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper.
4. In May 1961 the Universalist Ch. of Am., which traced its beginnings to the 1770s and its formal organization to the 1790s, joined the Am. Unitarian Assoc. to form the Unitarian* Universalist Assoc..
See Religious Bodies (US), Bibliography of.
Organized 1914 by M. M. Garvey* Jr., who planned to build a state in Afr. which all Negroes could make their home. See also African Orthodox Church, The.
E. D. Cronon, Black Moses: The Story of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (Madison, Wisconsin, 1955).
Luth. univs. in the US include:
1. Capital U., Columbus, Ohio; The ALC; est. 1830 Canton, Ohio, by the Ohio Syn. (see Ohio and Other States, The Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of, 3); moved to Columbus, Ohio, 1831; est. as a university 1850; moved 1853 to a site adjoining Goodale Park in northern Columbus, 1876 to a site E of Alum creek, now in the suburb of Bexley. Coeduc. introd. 1918. A music dept. organized 1918 was est. as a conservatory 1928.
Capital U. and the sem. became separate institutions 1959 in preparation for the merger that formed The ALC.
See also Lehmann, Wilhelm Friedrich; Loy, Matthias; Ministry, Education of, VI C, VIII A, X G; Reynolds, William Morton; Schuette, Conrad Herman Louis; Schuh, Henry Jacob; Schuh, Lewis Herman; Stellhorn, Frederick William.
2. The Concordia* University System.
3. Pacific Luth. U., Tacoma (Parkland), Washington; The ALC; traces its beginning to the Pacific Luth. U. Assoc., formed 1890 by Norw. Luths.; opened 1894 as Pacific Luth. U. at Parkland (near Tacoma), Washington; accredited 1899 as Pacific Luth. Academy; as a result of the 1917 merger (see Evangelical Lutheran Church, The, 13) the academy merged 1918 with Columbia Coll., Everett, Washington (which had been est. 1909 by The United* Norw. Luth. Ch. in America), which in turn closed 1919, reopened 1920 as Pacific Luth. Coll., Parkland; jr. coll. 1921; joined 1929 by Spokane Coll. (est. 1907 by The United Norw. Luth. Ch. in Am.); became a 3-yr. normal school 1932, 4-yr. normal coll. 1940, 4-yr. liberal arts coll. 1941; resolved 1959 to readopt its first name; formally adopted university status 1960.
E. C. Nelson, The Lutheran Church Among Norwegia: Americans (Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1960, pp. 120–121. See also Ministry, Education of, VIII A.
4. Susquehanna* U., Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania; LCA. Began 1858 as Missionary Institute; coeduc. 1873; present name adopted 1895.
See also Kurtz, Benjamin; Manhart, Franklin Pierce.
5. Valparaiso U., Valparaiso, Indiana Owned and operated by Luth. U. Assoc. Opened 1859 as the Valparaiso Male and Female Coll. under supervision of a conference of the Meth. Ch. Operated for a number of yrs.. Suspended operation several yrs.. Reopened 1873 by Henry Baker Brown as Northern Indiana Normal School and Bus. Institute. School of Law added 1879. Brown was joined 1881 by Oliver Perry Kinsey. The Institution was renamed Valparaiso Coll. 1900, Valparaiso U. 1907. Difficulties after WW I made new support necessary. The newly organized Luth. U. Assoc. bought the school 1925.
See also Dau, William Herman Theodore; Kreinheder, Oscar Carl; Kretzmann, Otto Paul; Ministry, education of, VIII A.
6. Wittenberg U., Springfield, Ohio; LCA; in 1842 the Eng. Dist. Syn. of Ohio (see Ohio and Other States, Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of, 4) resolved to est. a literary and theol. institution; Wooster, Ohio, chosen as the place 1843; classes, taught by E. Keller,* began there 1844; the school received a charter, moved to Springfield, Ohio, and was called Wittenberg* Coll. 1845; coeduc. 1874; graduate program introd. 1883; reorganized as a university 1957; name changed to Wittenberg U. 1959. AS
See also Keller, Ezra; Ministry, Education of, VIII A; Ort, Samuel Alfred; Sprecher, Samuel; Tulloss, Rees Edgar.
H. H. Lentz, A History of Wittenberg College (1845–1945) (Columbus, Ohio, 1946); P. H. Buehring, D. B. Owens, and H. L. Yochum, These Hundred Years: The Centennial History of Capital University (Columbus, Ohio, 1950); J. H. Strietelmeier, Valparaiso's First Century: A Centennial History of Valparaiso University (Valparaiso, Indiana, 1959); W. S. Clark and A. H. Wilson, The Story of Susquehanna University (Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, 1958).
A miss. of the Ch. of Eng., formed 1858 by Cambridge, Oxford, London, Durham, and Dublin (for a time) univs. in answer to D. Livingstone's* 1857 plea to univs. to bring Christianity, commerce, and civilization to E and cen. Afr. Merged 1965 with Society* for the Propagation of the Gospel in For. Parts to form United* Soc. for the Propagation of the Gospel. See also Africa, B 2, 11.
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