How Did Missouri Join Us?

Pastors And Synods Who Showed The Way

Bethany.Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church , Waynesboro , VA is the second oldest congregation in the LC/MS but it is Johnny Come Lately to that Synod. Where were we before? What was our route to get to where we are now? After all, only 40% of our years of existence have been with Missouri . Why of all the 95 Lutheran churches in Virginia and Tennessee (western part) in 1820, is Bethany one of the few who joined Missouri Synod? I am convinced it is the story of two pastors. I will try to tell their stories.

I believe we have had 18 pastors in our 231 year history. What background did they have, and to what church bodies did we belong? From the first, Rev. A. Nauman before 1772, until Rev. Ambrose Henkel, all pastors were licensed and/or ordained in the Pennsylvania Ministerium, as it was the only Lutheran church body south of New York . “After Rev. Muhlenberg’s death in 1787 the Ministerium changed its ~confessionaI basis and the Confessions were completely ignored and Lutheranism continued to degenerate till a reaction was brought about”. Our church, because of this decline in doctrine in the Pennsylvania Ministerium, joined the newly organized Synod of Maryland and Virginia in 1820. Paul Henkel led the fight to stay with the Lutheran doctrines.

Also, a great religious revival swept across the United States in the early 1800s. It was a wild religious time for many people. It was near fanaticism as many people had tent meetings throughout the country with thousands shouting and acting “as if hey were struck by lightning”. The regular churches didn’t know what to make of it, as there was little doctrine involved, only emotion. In fact, Dr. Socrates Henkel, in his foreword to his History of the Evangerlical Tennessee Synod says, “For a time, according to all the facts in the case, there was not a synod in North America that unreservedly recognized and acknowledged the full Unaltered Confession, much less the other Synodical Books”.

In 1803, a North Caroline Synod had been formed, (the first Lutheran body south of Virginia) but with it becoming too “liberal” and did not adhere closely to the Lutheran Doctrines, Rev. David Henkel and others walked out and in May 1820 formed the Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod which became the most doctrinal Lutheran church body in the US.

Our congregation was closely associated with this Synod from 1823 to 1866. Rev. Paul Henkel was a major participant in this Synod and, in fact, one of its most active members. Most annual meetings of this Synod were held in North Carolina and Tennessee but 2 were held at Bethlehem and three at Trinity. (Remember you traveled by horse and buggy in those days).

Now, some information about the foremost Lutheran missionary in America , Paul Henkel. He was born in North Carolina , lived in a fort in West Virginia to be protected from the Indians, and finally moved to New Market, Virginia. After instruction and studies in Latin and German he was licensed to preach in 1783 and ordained in 1792. He started many churches in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. He moved to Staunton while preaching at Trinity and other churches in the area for three years. In the Tennessee Synod he was assigned to visit all the congregations and as a missionary he made many trips to PA, MD, WV, NC, SC, TN and OH. From 1785 to 1834 he traveled well over 30,000 miles by horseback, on foot, and by horse and buggy. He preached, baptized, instructed, married and buried on Sundays and weekdays, whenever and wherever he could. He moved his family to North Carolina once and to Ohio twice, always returning to New Market..

His roots were from a tong line of Lutheran ministers. Several of his ancestors worked closely with Martin Luther. Five of his sons became Lutheran ministers and all were active in the churches in North Carolina and Virginia . One son, Ambrose, started and operated the Henkel Press in New Market. When he later decided to enter the ministry, he sold the press to his brother, Solomon, who also operated an apothecary. Ambrose served as Trinity’s pastor for two terms.

The Henkel Press was established originally to make religious publications available to the German-speaking people of the Valley. As people began to speak English, the Henkel Press became the first Lutheran press in North America to publish English translations of hymnbooks, Luther’s catechism, and in 1851, the first English translation of the Book of Concord. This was a real blessing to the people needing Lutheran documents during the 1800s.

During all this time, there were other Lutheran Synods. The Pennsylvania , the North Carolina , New York , Maryland , Ohio , German Reformed of PA, East PA , and the General Synod. Paul Henkel was also an organizer of the Ohio Synod.

In 1868 the Concordia Synod of Virginia, which we joined, was organized at Trinity primarily by our Rev. Seneker and two others but this only lasted a few years and then became part of the Concordia District of the Joint Synod of Ohio. The third meeting of the Concordia District of the Joint Synod of Ohio Synod was also held at Trinity in Oct. 1878.

Withdrawing from the Ohio Synod in 1881 we severed our connection from the Ohio Synod and were not connected to any synod until 1888.

In 1879, Rev. Frederick Kuegele came through a school in Ft. Wayne , IN. and graduated from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis accepted a call from our congregation. ‘He spoke little English but learned it rapidly as we had changed to English in 1839. In 1882 the congregation appealed to the Synodical Conference to establish an English Synod but to no avail. When an appeal was sent to the Missouri Synod they advised us founding an independent synod.

About this time the grandson of Paul Henkel, Rev. Polycarp Henkel (who had helped start, with his uncles Ambose and David, Concordia College in Conover, NC.) was pastor of a church in Missouri and learned of Dr. C.F.W. Walther and the German Lutherans there. The Tennessee Synod invited representatives from the Missouri Synod to their meetings in Tennessee . In August 1872, the representatives of the Missouri Synod met with pastors of the Tennessee Synod in Grovelton , MO. Dr. Walther presented sixteen theses that expressed the confessions of that Synod and since these teachings agreed with the teachings of the Tennessee Synod a meeting was held with all sessions in German and English.

As a result of this meeting the English Lutheran Conference of Missouri was organized. (Remember, most members in Missouri as well as new immigrants from Germany , were not yet speaking English). In 1888 the English Conference of the Tennessee Synod in Missouri was organized as a separate synod and was called the English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri And Other States. It operated separately from 1888 to 1911 when it was accepted into the Missouri Synod as a non-geographical district called the English District and has remained so till now. Our congregation, primarily because of Rev. Kuegele, became a member of this group. In fact Rev. Kuegele was the first President of this group for several years. His writings in the Lutheran Witness (a paper of the English District now taken over by Missouri ), his other writings and his printed Country Sermons helped greatly in expanding the work of the church to English speaking people.

The exact date we joined this new group is not known but in Oct. 1886 we read in our church history “The great zeal shown by our lay brethren down there in Virginny for good and true Lutheranism, and the kindest of hospitality to which we Missourians were treated, has certainly left a lasting impression on us all”.

In 1939 we became a charter member of the Southeastern District of the LC/MS when it was formed from the Eastern District. Our pastor, Rev. Karl Maier, was a leader in this new District.

So here we are today after a long journey maintaining the true doctrine of the Lutheran Church . Our constitution says clearly that we “acknowledge and adhere to all the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments as the revealed word of God, and all the symbolical books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church contained in the Book of Concord”. We have believed this since 1772.

Yes, we’ve been here since 1772, but it took Missouri Synod (founded in 1847) a while to join us. For that we give thanks to God.

Sources for all quotations and information Bethany-Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church ’s Constitution and Church History. Waynesboro , VA

History of the Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod by Dr. Socrates Henkel The Autobiography and Chronological Life of Reverend Paul Henkel 1754-1825

Written by Lewis M. Coiner Aug. 2003 Attached 1882 letter