THE SPRINGFIELDER July 1975 Volume 39, Number 3 Life in a Nineteenth Century Lutheran Parish T HE CENTRAL THEME in nineteenth century American Lu- theran history was the struggle to establish a genuinely con- fessional church on this continent1. This doctrinal concern dominated the development of the Lutheran Churches in the United States dur- ing the crucial five middle decades of the Victorian Age. A resurg- ence of confessionalism within the Lutheran Churches became evident in 1830, with the observance of the three-hundredth anni- versary of the presentation of the Augsburg Confession to Emperor Charles V. Discovery of the theological heritage of Lutheranism initiated a process of recovery. The next fifty years were occupied with the effort to restore full confessional subscription by clergy and congregations as a hallmark of Lutheranism in North America. Hap- pily, by 1880, the tri-centennial of the adoption of the Book of Concord by the Lutheran Churches of the Holy Roman Empire, it could be said that every significant Lutheran Synod in the United States was committed to confessionalism. The victory was not easily won. Orthodoxy may have been the prize, but the price for such fidelity to the Confessions had been fifty years of controversy. This conflict, however, was not without precedent. In an amazing manner, the American struggle was paral- lel in purpose and equal in intensity to the very first fight for Ortho- doxy in Lutheranism. That had occurred three hundred years earlier in Germany. As the German Church had been in labor for half a century before it gave birth to both unity and Orthodoxy, so the American Church was in travail for some fifty years before it found that its identity depended upon confessional loyalty as the only possible basis for synodical fraternity. In a strange manner America and Germany, nineteenth and sixteenth centuries, met and merged. The issues were the same. The adversaries were identical. The German Church had been polarized between the "Gnesio-Lutheran" or Orthodox Party of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession and the "Philippists" or "Melanchthonians" or Heterodox Party of the Augustana Variata, who rewrote the Augs- burg Confession to suit circumstances and who consequently "tended to modify Lutheran doctrine to the degree that some of them ended in Calvinism."? The Church in the United States split between two groups who have been variously named the "German" and "Amer- ican" factions, the "Old" and "New" Lutherans, the "Symbolists" and the "Anti-Symbolists," the "Confessionalists" and the "Recen- sionists," the "Traditionalists'' and the "New Measures Men," the "Missourians" and the "Pennsylvanians," the "St. Louis School" and the "Gettysburg School," the "Waltherites" and the "Schmuckerites," and the "Westerners" and the "Easterners." Like most labels these epithets convey only part of the truth. The crucial issue was their at- titude toward the confessional literature of the Lutheran Church. The American Lutherans, like their forebears, the PhiIi.ypists, were disposed to a revision of the Augsburg Confession in order to pre- pare the way for a fusion of the various Reformation or Evangelical Churches into some sort of Pan-Protestant arnalgamatiol~.:: The Con- fessional Lutherans, however, measured strength in terms of quality, not quantity. The mission of the Churcb is to proclai~n the full counsel of the Word of God, and if that message is compromised, no matter how many members a denomination may count, it is no longer a part of Jesus Christ. Dr. Edmund Jacob Wolf, w.riting in 1889 at the moment of Confessional triumph, stated rather elo- quently the perceptions of the "Symbolists": Figures yield . . . an unsatisfactory and inadequate ex- hibit of a church's strength. Numbers are no proper expression of moral forces. Mathematics do not appIy to what is spiritual. In that sphere one and one may be more than two and two . . . A Lutheran congregation may be equal to a Methodist one, or to a Presbyterian, or to an Episcopalian. It may also, though numerically and externally weaker, represent more than either or many of these. Primarily the question is how much Christian truth does it represent? For what compass of the Gospel does it stand? What is the degree of its spiritual endow- ,merit? To what extent is it the body of Christ? Surely in this the strength of the Lutheran Church is no- where surpassed, is equalled by none. She holds and preaches the truth as it is in Jesus with a fullness and emphasis heard nowhere else. Salvation by faith. alone, Christ the center of all her teaching, Christ exalted in her pulpit, her festivals and her liturgies, herein lies the essential strength of the Lutheran Church. "If the Lutheran Church does not compass the truth and salvation of God, they are not to be found on earth." And, what is of preeminent value, her faith is clearIy defined and fully set forth in her Symbols, which are becoming more and more the study of her ministers, and adhered to with a firmness that has no parallel in any other Church.' This was the position of such saints and savants as C. F. W. Walther in the Missouri Synod, Matthias Loy in the Joint Synod of Ohio, and Charles Porterfield Krauth in the General Council. Like Martin Chemnitz and Johann Gerhard, who had contended suc- cessfully for Luther's faith in an earlier age, they were able to see the victory of doctrinal purity and of fraternal unity in their own times. Much attention has been given to this great doctrinal contro- versy on the national and synodical levels, but relatively little at- tention has been devoted to the quest for Orthodoxy on the locaI and congregational plane." The result has been a series of false im- pressions: that the Confessional party was primarily or even solely immigrant, not indigenous; that it was essentially European not American; that it was a scheme of the clergy rather than a desire of the Iaity; that it was a battle waged primarily in the assemblies of synods rather than the meetings of congregations; that the basic issue Life in n Lutheran Parish -- -- --- 105 was sociological not tlleologi.ca1, i.e., the acculturation and assimila- tion of Germans, not the preservation of an ancient and venerable faith. The purpose of this article is to look at a typical American congregation during the "critical period" in the struggle for Lutheran Orthodoxy. This particul ar parish, though bilingual from its forma- tion, was composed primarily of native-born Americans. Situated in the "Old Midwest," in Central Ohio, it had been founded by circuit riders in the Muhlenberg tradition and numbered Anglo-Saxon, Irish, Scottish, Scotch-Irish, Huguenot, and Pennsylvania Dutch folk among its members. Established as a non-confessional Anglo- German congregation it was characterized by all those factors that marked it as a representative Melanchthonian congregation-calvin- ism, Pietism, Rationalism, and Unionism. After 1849, however, due to the influence of a confessionally-minded minister, the laity moved to recover their Lutheran legacy and to affirm their distinctive doc- trines. The congregation moved beyond its previous position as a kind of German-American community church and became a model of Lutheran Orthodoxy for the entire Ohio Synod. The pastor, Mat- thias Loy, became a professor, author, theologian, and church presi- dent known from coast to coast as an advocate of ConfessionaI Lutheranism. This is the story of the formation of the St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church, Delaware, Ohio, under the dedicated and dynamic leadership of Dr. Matthias Loy." Johann Conrad Weiser, the father-in-law of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, was in all probability the first Lutheran to have en- tered the future state of Ohio, meeting with Indians and traders at Logstown, some eighteen miles below the Forks of the Ohio River, in 1748, in his official capacity as a representative of the colony of Pennsylvania.' It is quite likely that this frontier scout conducted the first "Lutheran" service within the boundaries of the Buckeye State. What is known for sure is that within a half-century Weiser's Pennsylvanian compatriots began to migrate in large numbers to the fertile valleys of Ohio. Like their predecessor, they represented a wide spectrum of German Protestantism. Some were "Sect Chris- tians," as the Amish and Mennonites, who were to create in Ohio the largest concentration of Menno Simons' followers anywhere in the world. Others were "Church Christians," as the German Lu- therans and Reformed. Among the latter were settlers from North- umberland and Berks Counties, Pennsylvania, who came to live on the limestone plains by the Olentangy River in Central Ohio. Chief among these Pennsylvania Dutch Lutherans was Frederick Weiser, a direct descendant of the "German-American pathfinder of the We~t."~ By 1810 they were plotting farms in the pleasantly rolling region around Delaware, Ohio. Desiring the ministrations of the Gospel, they warmly welcomed the appearance of the Lutheran cir- cuit rider. The Reverend Charles (or Carl) Henkel, a son of the Virginia Patriarch, Paul Henkel, visited the Lutheran settlements along the Olentangy River north of Columbus in 1820 and 1821, ~mi under his guidance "services were held in the lop cabin of the U settler."' Poverty prevented the construction of a church, for ",lie people us~lally found it difficult even to pay their taxes,:;:;' :rile con- fPgation, therefore, met in Shoub's Hall, a part of tile local tavern, which stood on the site of the present Delaware City Building. lii ail likelihood it was in the village saloon that the first pernlaGent or- ganization of the Delaware Lutheran congregation occurred. A con- stitution was ratified and signed on January 28. 1821, by Pastor Charles Henkel and fifty-five laymen. It made no ,-ererence to the Augsburg Confession, or any specifically Lutheran theoloyicaI or liturgical literature.11 After seven years, Henkel moved on to another part of Ohjo. The Delaware congregation was then "served by several successive pastors, none of whom it appears left a profound impression upon the people."" The congregation did not prosper rnaterialiy 01- spir- itually and sought to remedy the situatiorl through closer ties with non-Lutheran Christians. The spirit of the times militated against confessionalism and the congregation "had aln~ost lost sight of the old landmarks of L~theranism."~" When the Episcopalians, there- fore, solicited funds to build a church, the Lutherans assisted in the financing and erection of the structure, and used it for ~vorship for some time. The Lutherans might very well have been assimilated into the Anglican parish had not language remained a distinguishing fac- tor! German-speakers did not feel comfortable in a congregation related to the Church of England.'.' Ties of language, culture, and nationality led the I,utl.~erans io seek cooperation wit11 the German Refor-~ned sett1el.s in Delaware County. Fewer in number than the Luthei-ans, the Reformed vel- comed the idea of a "u~~ion church" arrangement as had often been the practice in Pennsylvania.'Tl~e German-speaking Protestants of Delaware, therefore, obtained incorporation from the Ohio General Assembly on January 23, 1837, as the "Zion Evangelical Lutheran and Reformed Church.""; One of the leaders in this verlture was none other than Frederick Weiser. By this time a building had been constructed and a consititution had been drafted by a committee of four men, two each from the Lutheran and Reformed "sides." This constitution was largely concerned wtih non-religious matters, such as the maintenance and governance of the parish. The only deno~ni- national reference was made in connection with the electiorl of a pastor: It shall be left to the vote of the congregation (so lor~g as the congregation does not feel itself wealthy enough to airord a second Teacher) to elect one Teacher by a ma~ority vote, he being in respect to faith either Lutheran or Reformed." For all practical purposes the Zion Church was a Union Con- gregation, or a German Community Church, which happened lo be. served by Lutheran ministers. This arrangement, however, was com- plicated after 1837 when the Reformed members of the Zion Church called their own minister, who led them into affiliation ulith the Re- formed Church of the United States. Since the congregation had previously been served by Lutheran pastors, and was a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio, theoretically it was three things-a Reformed Church, a Lutheran Church, and a Union Ch~rch!'~ On November 2, 1837, the constitution was amended to make provision for these developments. There was one Zion Evan- gelical Lutheran and Reformed Church, which had two pastors, one Lutheran and one Reformed, with two "sides," one Lutheran, be- longing to the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio, the other Reformed, adhering to the Reformed Church of the United States. Each "side" or "body" should pay half the debts of the "corpora- tion," have use of the building on alternate Sundays, and this ar- rangement should continue for ten years.'" In spite of these provisions, complications arose. One of these was funerals. It was agreed, therefore, that each "side" was to con- tinue to have use of the church-building for one week alternately, beginning on Thursday, except We declare that cases of death shall have preference over the services of worship, namely, that if a Reformed corpse shall come on a Sunday when the Lutherans hold service, then the Lutheran service shall be postponed to a later time be- cause of the corpse, and in similar fashion the other way around .?O Mutual respect was another problem and the two "sides" Decided and declared, that in the future no preacher or member of the Lutheran or Reformed side shall dare make re- proaches against the other party in private or publicly concern- ing its teaching and customs, or shall defame the other party; and should such happen, then the church council of both sides shall call such person or persons before it for an accounting and shall punish [them] according to the nature of the matter. Should such member, however, after a hearing by the vestry backslide into the old fault, then he shall no longer be recog- nized and considered a member of either of these two congre- gation~.~' Perhaps this stern declaration against defamation is a subtle con- fession of the appearance of some sense of denominational identity. Whatever that case may be, the two "sides" proclaimed their union to be "eternal" in a new church order adopted on November 26, 1847.'" Within two years, however, the male members among the eighty communicants of the Lutheran "side" of the Zion Church took a step that would alter the history of their "corporation." After hear- ing a trial sermon in the winter of 1849 by a young seminarian named Matthias Loy, the men of the Zion Church issued the stu- dent a call. The call stipulated that Loy should receive a salary of two hundred and fifty dollars, the Lutherans of Delaware to raise one hundred and seventy dollars, the balance to be paid by a Lu- theran parish in the village of Pro~pect.~Xoy responded by making it clear that it would be "impossible for me to accept the call pledging me to treat the Reformed as if they were Lutherans.":;' It was under- stood, therefore, that Loy "was simply called to be pastor of the Lutheran congregation which worshipped in the same building" as the Reformed.': The new pastor did not sign the "union constitu- tion of 1847" but instead announced he would adhere to the orig- inal document for the parish prepared by Charles Henkel in 1821. A first step had been taken toward the creation of a decidely Lu- theran parish. The "Melanchthonian" or "Schmuckerite" era in Delaware Lutheranism was about to end abruptly. A LUTHERAN CHURCH "On a rather rough day" in March, 1849, a thin, pale youth, who had just turned twenty-one years of age, boarded the stage in Columbus for the twenty-four mile journey to Delaware, ~hio.'" If this former printer's apprentice carried a newspaper with him, he could have read reports of gold discoveries in California, suppressed revolutions in Germany and Hungary, the arrival of immigrants from famine-stricken Ireland, or the promises and problems of the recent Mexican cession." Matthias Loy's thoughts, however, were excited by other prospects. Through what to him seemed to be a series of miracles, Loy had been led by the Lord into the Lutheran ministry." The fourth of seven children born to impoverished German immi- grants in the Blue Mountains of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Loy had early experienced suffering and deprivation. As a lad he had been sent by his father to labor at such varied tasks as farm hand, brickyard worker, bar-tender, and printer's devil. The ma- terial destitution of his childhood was matched only by its spiritual poverty. Loy's Pietist mother had insisted that he be baptized into the Lutheran Church, but in his boyhood he had attended a Union Sunday School under Presbyterian auspices, frequented Millerite (or Adventist) revivals, read Universalist literature, memorized Deistic poetry, joined the Masonic Order, and finally come under the in- fluence of "New Measures" Lutheranism of the S. S. Schmucker va- riety. As a young man Loy almost enrolled in the Lutheran seminary at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which was the center of "American Lutheranism." Loy was forced to move to Ohio, however, in search of both better health and employment. To his surprise he discovered the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio which operated a small theological seminary in Columbus. Means were found to pro- vide for his tuition at this institution. Loy's course of study was limited to about two years of education-a combination of prepara- tory school, college, and seminary. Such was regarded as sufficient preparation for the pastorate in those frontier times. While study- ing in Columbus, Loy became acquainted with "Old Lutheran" litera- ture, especially the writings of C. F. W. Walther. For all practical purposes this was his first exposure to authentic Lutheranism, as opposed to Pietism, Revivalism, Rationalism, and Unionism. Young Loy resolved to dedicate his life to the recovery of the theological treasures of the Lutheran Church and their effective employment in his ministry. Once committed to Confessional Orthodoxy, Loy never wavered. Unlike the liberal party within the Church, Loy knew from _-- __ . -_ -- Life in cr Lzltl?.o-~ln Pol.isl~ 109 - -_ - -- - personal experience the pain and uncertainty that comes with heresy, and the peace and joy that is derived from Orthodoxy. Once in his poetry he gave an insight into this transformation, telling of the new vistas that came when . . . burdened souls could find no rest, Through Luther God deliv'rance sent By his pure Word and Sa~rament.;~ Lay was determined to devote his career to the building of a Church in Ohio that would be evangelical, not rationalistic: catholic; not pietistic; and confessional, not unionistic. The young minister. scarceIy into his twenties, would meet his fisst challenge on the con- gregational level, in the Delaware union church. In all of his pastoral work Loy was persuaded that the faith which is held determines the labor that is done. Crederlda (those things which are to be believed) give rise to ngenda (those things which are to be done). A logical starting point for a parson is to review the doctrine of the Church. In the words of the Augsburg Confession the Church is . . . the assembly of all believers anlong whom the Gospel is preached in its purity and the sacraments are administered uc- cording to the Go~pel."~ The power of any congregation depended directly on its obedience to this injunction. Doctrinal distortions or sacramental aberrations would seriously impair the vitality of a church. Years leter. when LOY was asked to deliver the opening sermon of the Reading Con- vention, on December 1 1, 1866, he selected as his theme the cosrela- tion between sound theology and ecclesiastical prosperity. His text was Paul's counsel in 1 Corinthians I :1.0, llNo\v I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judg- ment." Loy then discussed the Pauline prescriptio~i for church unity under the theme, "The Conditions of Christian Union." These were to (I) hold the same faith in the same truth, (2) the same con- fession of the same faith, and (3) the same judgment under the same confession." The program that Loy recommended for the embryonic General Council had been formulated a quarter century earlier on the congregational plane. There could be no sitch thing as a Lutheran and Reformed congregation. Such unionism was an evil, and Loy felt "we must rather stand alone than be partakers of other men's sins.""? Historic Lutheranism and the confessional posi- tion "came to be occupied more and more during the period of Mr. Loy's ministry."" In sermons, Loy recalled, and In my pastoral visits also the condition 01 the congregation and the superior claims of the Lutheran as the mother Church of Protestantism was a favorite topic of conver~ation,'~ Within three years Loy had persuaded his parishioners of the correctness of his position, and the Lutheran members of the Zion Church organized themselves as an independent body under the name of the "St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession" on August 3 1, 1 852."j Their con- stitution pledged them to all of the symolical books of the Lutheran Church and to membership in the Joint Synod of Ohio as long as that denomination held fast to those Confessions. The separation of the Lutheran and Reformed congregations precluded the possibility of their continuing to share the same facili- ties. Furthermore, theology determines ecclesiastical architecture. A church designed for Calvinists would not suit the liturgical needs of Confessional Lutherans. In addition to the ZwingIian proscrip- tions against instrumental music and statuary, there was the even more fundamental problem of securing a proper altar and of mov- ing the pulpit from the center of the chancel to a more appropriate position. Physically the Zion Church Mias not suited to the full Lu- theran form introduced by Dr. Loy. Later Loy recalled that it was . . . a house of worship which was a reproduction on a small scale of the barn-like structures called churches in Pennsyl- vania. It had no gallery; it was probably thought sufficiently capacious for the congregation without that. But its pulpit was just as lofty as if the gallery had been there, so that when, in the winter preceding my call I ascended the pulpit for the first time, T became dizzy and nly nose bled . . .::'; The Lutherans, therefore, secured a nice plot of land in downtown Delaware, next to the Lamb house, the oldest residence in the com- munity, and erected a handsome limestone Gothic sanctuary. On December 25, 1853, the new house of God was consecrated, the nativity of Our Lord was celebrated, a baptism was performed, the Rite of Public Confession was observed, the Sacrament of Holy Communion was distributed, and Pastor Loy was married. The building remains in use to the present time, though it was remodeled in 1964. The organization of the parish was representative of Ohio Synod Lutheran Churches.'" Male members in good standing and over the age of eighteen were permitted to participate in the two annual congregational meetings.':"n elective Church Council was composed of two elders, two deacons, two trustees, a secretary, and a treasurer.:'!' Except for one of the trustees, they all served a two- year term. The pastor was the president of this body which usually met on the last Saturday of each month. The work of the vestry was to assist the minister in spiritual duties, including the exercise of congregational discipline and the visiting of the sick and delin- quent, and to attend to the physical needs of the parish. One of the major problems faced by the Church Council was stewardship. It had been a common practice in the community for churches to raise money through the sale of goods and services, and entries in the local newspaper often praised such "ice cream so- cials," "fashion shows," "oyster suppers," and "pancake feasts." Loy frowned on congregations soliciting funds through . . . chances and prizes, of beer and balls, of theatrical shows alld ladies' kisses . . . Churches have sunk to a grade that is pitifully ],ow when they can no longer see any harm in such wiles of the de~il.''~ Not "tips and trashv but tithes were the rightful source of support. Loy informed Ilis rncmbers that "there is no legitimate way of se- curing money for church work but that of exercising Christian faith and love in giving it."" The congregation responded and was able to increase their level of giving, liquidate the mortgage on the new church, establish a parochial school, and pay not only the salary of a pastor but also that of a headmaster for the Lutheran academy. Tile ministry of Word and Sacrament was the heart of congre- gational life. Because of the bilingual nature of his parish, and be- cause of the rlecessity to supply one, later two, country chapels, Dr. Loy often preached between four and six times a Sunday. An accomplished orator in both English and German, Loy usually preached between twenty and thirty minutes on one of the prescribed lections for the Sunday or Festival Day. As he observed the homi- letical efforts of his Reformed, Methodist, and Baptist counterparts, Loy came to believe that the danger of the American pulpit was "that of preaching law unto repentance until people are driven to despair, or unto holiness until they fall into a fond conceit of their own righteousness . . ."'The purpose of the Lutheran pulpjt, in Loy's opinion, was the proclamation of the Gospel: It should be well observed that preaching does not show us how to save ourselves by our own efforts and accomplishments, but saves us. 'The gospel is glad tidings, not because it asks us to do what we cannot, which would render it merely a new law, but because it proclaims to us that a Saviour has come . . . The great fact of redemption is proclaimed, and the Word by which the proclamation is made contains the saving power.13 Dr. Loy apparently lived up to his ideals, for the Joint Synod cal.led him to Columbus in 1865 to be a Professor of Preaching in its theo- logical seminary and the publication house of that denomination issued several volumes of his sermons:'.' The sermon was set within the context of the historic Lutheran liturgy. Traditionally the Lutheran Service has had two foci-ser- mon and eucharist, symbolized by pulpit and altar. Loy felt the Lu- theran preacher should avoid "the partiality with which the Re- formed Church gave prominence to the sermon as the only thing absolutely essential," for worship's "summit is the celebration of the Lord's Supper which is above all other parts of the cultus of a fes- tive character."^" Together with other "Old Lutherans" as Wilhelm Loehe, Lay could agree with the comparison of . . . the arrangement of the parts of the main service to a twin mountain, one of whose heights is a little lower than the other. The lower is the sermon, and the higher the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper properly belongs to the full main ~ervice.'~ In keeping with the spirit of the Lutheran Service, L,oy noted that The clerical gown was thenceforth worn, the liturgy was used more fully, and our whole worship was rendered more solemn and more beautiful:'; Because of the importance of the Lord's Supper as a means of grace, its frequency was increased. During the early days of Ohio Lutheran- ism Holy Communion was observed onIy once or twice a year, usually at plowing and harvesting season. Loy educated the congre- gation to the importance of the Sacrament of the Altar and by 1865 eucharistic services were held at least eight times a year. As the leader of the congregation's worship, Loy taught that . . . our public services must be open to all, whether they were of our faith or another faith or no faith at all; [but] . . . the pastors' personal application of the Word in absolution and ministration of grace in the sacraments must be limited to those who fulfill the conditions of membership in the congrega- tion . . .Is "Prorniscuo~s communion" was replaced by closed commuxlion. This had not been a widespread custom in Ohio Lutheranism, espe- cially in congregations composed of Reformed and Lutheran mem- bers. Loy's rule was put to a test by "one of the most prominent and most generally esteemed members" of the faculty at the Ohio Wes- Ieyan University, located in Delaware. Unannounced and uncon- fessed, he presented himself at the altar rail. Loy knew him to be a Methodist. To discover the motivation of the man, Loy . . . simply asked him if he was prepared to accept the words with which I administered the body of Christ to the com- municants as the very truth of God, and he declared that he was not. That was the very least that I as the minister of the Lord could ask, and upon his refusal to accept the very words of the Master, there was nothing left for me, but to pass him by.'" It was, in Loy's words, a "sad affair," but rejection, he taught, was as much a mark of a confessional congregation as acceptance. One could not, in good conscience, commune with those who held "an- other faith." Loy's policies at Delaware were prophetic of the future course of Confessional Lutheranism in the Eastern United States. The pro- cedures at St. Mark's anticipated the provisions of the Akron Dec- laration of 1872 which said: 1) The ruIe is, Lutheran pulpits are for Lutheran ministers only; Lutheran altars are for Lutheran communicants only. 2) The exceptions to the rule belong to the sphere of privilege and not of right. 3) The determination of the exceptions is to be made in con- sonance with these principles by the conscientious judgment of pastors, as the cases arise.jO Inclusion and exclusion wcre important dimensions of congre- oational life. Inclusion was accomplished through the initiation and 2 instruction of members. The major services of irlduction and assimila- tion were baplism and confir-mation. Baptism was to be administered to the children of Lutheran parents in the presence of sponsors and the assembled congregation as soon as possible after birth, hope- fully by the eighth day of life. The children were tlzen to make the vows of their elders and godparents their own at the time of con- firmation. The Ohio Synod F'ormr~lnry of 1930 specified that young- sters to be confirmed should be at least fourteen years old, be able to read and write, and be required to mernorjze as much as possible. The catechist ought . . . to be careful not only to expound to his pupils the sacred truths of religion; but also to impress their hearts and minds with a due sense of piety and godliness.jl Following a period of intensive instruction in Luther's Sn~all Cate- chism, they were tested before the congregation, and it was held that "the examination ought to corltinue at least an hour."j%oy adl~ered to these practices, receiving the catechumens into membership to- ward the end of Lent, usually on Palm Sunday so that they could take their First Communion on Maundy Thursday. A similar pro- cedure applied to adult converts to Lutheranisrtl, of which there was a significant number from the Reformed, Methodist, and Presby- terian churches and from Judaism. The cducat~on of children was also accon~plished through the establishment of a Sunday School which had seven German and eleven English teachers. The number of boys and girls in the parish is suggested by the fact that Loy performed four liundred and twenty- nine baptisms during his sixteen-year pastorate in Delaware." This number was sufficient for the creation of a Lutlleran Day School, offering instruction in reading, writing, German, language, music, and theology. Confirmation classes, Sunday School, and Christian Day School were three facets of an ongoing ministry to retain the youth. Strenuous efforts were also made to evangelize 111e un- churched in the community. Pastoral visitation was another dimension of the ministry of inclusion. Dr. Loy write: . . . I did not find it difficult to notice the absence at worship of such members as were ordinarily regular attendants, or of the continued absence of such as were irregular. Such absence was always made the subject of inquiry, partly because if the absentees were sick or otherwise disabled, they might be re- garded as brethren who needed the consolations of the Gospel, partly because i.f they were not sick or disabled, they needed the pastor's attention on the ground of negligen~e.;~ The parishioners of St. Mark's remembered Pastor Loy as a faithful and loving minister, who did all in his power to comfort them in time of sorrow, suft'ering, and sickness. Those confused by "the jilsidious schemes of sectarian prowlers," "hedge-priests," and "holy roller evangelists," who tried to steal sheep from my flock," recall him as a patient and skilled teacher." Especially during times of revival at the German Reformed Church and in the Methodist camp-meetings, Lutheran members would feel themselves under great pressure be- cause of the strong appeal made to the emotions and because of the reluctance on the part of many of the sectarians in the town even to regard them as Christians. At such moments LO^ was a stable and steadying influence in the lives of llundreds. The "tent preachers" and the "hot-gospelers" came and went, but Dr. Loy remained and ministered to emotional, mental, moral, and spiritual needs "in sea- son and out: of season" from the deep resources of Scripture, the Confessions, "sanctified reason," and personal experience. Such pas- toral faithfulness was not without effect, nor did it go unappreciated. Another aspect of the ministry of inclusion was the restoration of the fallen through the rite of private confession. Because "private confession and absolution seemed to me to the wisest provision for enabling the pastor to exercise his office in the care of souls," Loy restored these customs at St. Mark's." Parjshioners were urged to make their confessions to Pastor Loy during the week preceding a celebration of the 'Lord's Supper, wh.en about one-half of his con- (rregation came to see him in his home. The rest net with him in the 2 church sacristy individually on Saturday during the hour before the prepa~.atory service for Holy Communion. In this valuable ministry, L.oy pioneered the revival of a venerable Lutheran custom that everltually became widespread in the Ohio Synod. By 1.909 pro- vision was made for its administration through the inclusi.on of ap- propriate texts ~II the service books published by the Church.'' There was also a ministry of discipline and exclusion. This was necessary because "sin must be put away from us, that \ye rr-lay be a holy people."'"oy was referring to the exercise of the O13ce of the Keys. According to one popular handbook of Christian doctrine. 'I'l~e Ofice of the Keys is the power. or authority, to yreacl7 the Word oj God, to crdmirzi.ster. the sac-l-aments, and especially the power to jorgive urld to retoin sins."" L,oy could have subscribed to that definition. Certainly he accepted the ~x'inciple which it i~nplies-that in a Lutheran Church pastoral practice must conform to the doctrinal standards of the pulpit. Con- sistency must prevail between the different roles ~erformed by the minister. whether he is serving as preacher in thd proclamation of the Word, or as teacher in the edification of the faithful and the in- struction. of the young, or as priest in the celebration of the sacra- ments, or as pastor in confessi'on and absolution, or as ruling elder in the .moral and administrative leadership of the parish. Faith and life, belief arid behavior, creed and conduct, must be in substantial harmony. Doctrine cannot be separated from discipline. Discipline was exercised in conjunction with the Cilurc,h Cow- cil. The guiding principle was that when people "profess to be be- lieve~-~, we are to treat them as such until they thenlselves prove that Lifc in a Luthcrcln Parish they are n.ot."" The New Testament outlined the procedure to be followed : If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be establj.shed. And if he shall ne- glect to hear them, tell it unto the church; but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican (Matthew 1 8 : 15-1 7 AV) . The vestry and the minister heard and initiated charges against those suspected of either heresy or ungodly life. The accused was invited to appear before the Church Council to give answer. If he did not come, the pastor paid him a visit. When this met with no success, Loy and the elders went to see him. If the offending brother was still impenitent, his name was announced to the congregation and he was given a set time in which to make amends, usually fourteen days. At the end of this period, if nothing had been done by the man to clear his reputation or to seek reconciliation with Christ and his brethren, then his name was stricken from the church roll and he was pronounced excornmunicatcd following the Sunday morning service. The causes of discipline ranged from such doctrinal aberra- tions as universalism to such moral offenses as "tippling" or chronic drunkene~s.~~ In all instances, however, discipline was administered biblically, according to the Gospel admonitions; evan_~elically, in order to lead the person involved to repentance and restoration; pastorally, with the welfare of the offending brother at heart; and democratically, in conjunct ion with the properly elected officers of the congregation and in keeping with the procedure of clue process. At the end of 1864 when Loy prepared his last annual report from the Delaware parish he could evaluate his work at St. Mark's. The Lord of the Church had rewarded faithfulness jn doctrine and obedience in life. The number of communicant Lutherans had in- creased over four-fold in fifteen years to three hundred and fifty- nine. The average Sunday attendance was up from only seventy in 1849 to three I~undred and thirty in 1864. Tfle parish was weathering the ordeal of the Civil War with a minimum of difficulty. A sys- tem of benevolence had been developed to care for the needy in the congregation, and funds had been raised to found Lutheran mis- sions. The local debt had been liquidated. A parochial school had been fo~nded. Two self-supporting mission congregations with their own pastors had been created by the Delaware Lutherans. The parish had hosted the convention of the Joint Synod of Ohio, its pastor had been elected synod president, and now had received a call to teach at the denomination's college in Columbus, Capital University. Loy was found fit by his Master to work for Orthodoxy in an even larger parish-that of the nation. Soon Matthias Loy becarne one of the leading spirits of the Confessional Revival throughout North America. In recent years it has become quite fashionable to accuse Orfllo- doxy of all manner of sins. According to the conventiona~ "folk, wis- dom" of these days, Orthodoxy is allegedly cold, impersonal. and unpastoral. "Dead Orthodoxy," so the slogans run, is incapable of providing proper and corllpassionate nlinisterial care. If the adven- tures of Matthias Loy in the Delaware parish are at all representa- tive (and we have little reason to think they are not), it is time fol some revision of history. Three conclusions car1 be drawn: 1.) The parish ministry literaIIy forces a man toward Ortho- doxy if he desires to be a cornpetcnt and conscientious pastor. Ed- mund Smits, over a decade ago, observed: Every teacher of theology has had some gifted students with a keen interest in religious problems, yet at the samc time a pronounced distaste for anything "dogmatic" or "ortllo- dox." What happens when one of these students becomes a pastor responsible for his flock? It is easy to predict. Little by little hc falls out of love with his own doubts and finds tllc sweetness of rebellion fading away. Instead of delighting him- self and dazzling others with his dialectical skill, he discovers that he must search for a simple and direct means of present- ing the true doctrine of the Apostles. In other words, our young friend is drifting toward a form of orthodoxy, whether or not he wishes to admit the fact to himself. In the case of a Lutheran the orthodoxy to which he inclines might very likely be the same seventeenth century orthodoxy w'tlicl~ he once re- jected . . ."" Certainly "Smits' Law" is illustrated in the life of Loy, who lnoved from the doctrinal skepticism of Ameri-can Lutheranism to the posi- tive afjirmations of Confessjonalism. 2.) Orthodox theology is, next to Scripture, the best pastoral resource available. Here is truth-time-tested, positive, and proven by repeated application to the varied problems of real people. As Johann Gerhard, himself a bishop, or pastor of pastors, by the age of twenty-five, remarked, Orthodoxy is "totally orientated toward the practical life." Confessional theology is nothing less than "spirit- ual medicine" administered by the cure of s~uls.~Conversely, heresy is not merely "an intellectual misconception, but a pattern of think- ing and living which is no longer Christian."'~! It is impossible for a pastor to shun his responsibility to be a theologian. Like Loy, he must study the Scriptures, search the Confessions, profess his faith, and live his loyalties. It is no wonder that the symbols of ministry are both the Book and the stole. 3.) Lest we forget, it is not only in the solemn assemblies of synods or in the deliberations within theological seminaries that the Church struggles to proclaim and apply the Word of God. Synod and seminary are in fact support stations, located far behind the lines. The battle-front is the parish. There Kingdom and world confront one another. The struggle is for souls. It is, in the final analysis, mat- ter of life and death. FOOTNOTES 1. During the ninetccnth century the Lutheran Churches in the United States faced many perplcsing problems. Onc was the preservation of the inheritcd faith jn thc midst of a pluralistic and increasingly secular society. Anothcr was "Americanization," or the adaptation of a church of Conti~lental origins in such a way that it could successfully be trans- planted to thc New 'IVorld cnvironment. Still a third task was that of unification-thc creation of a single denomination out of a multitude of independent and often antagonistic synods which were diverse in langu- age, tradition, anil national origin. Missionary extension was necessary to reach millions of I_utheran immigants with thc ministrations of the Gospel and to Icccp pi~ce with a highly migratory domestic population. Educational and ~velfare institutions had to 1)e established and the publicatjon of Luthcran religious literature was a crying need. But the central qucstion, around which all thc others came to revolve as a rim turns around thc hub of a wheel, was doctrinal: What was essential and what was non-csscntial to the csistencc of n Lutheran Church? Which confessional statements could be changed to meet nclv circ~imstances and which could not? Once that issue was rcsolvcd, solutions could bc found to plncc the other problems in proper perspective. Unfortunately, each party in the dispute phrased thc clucstion in a diffcrcnt manner. Confessional. Rcvisionists sanr the issue as one of thc relative importance of various doctrines. For them it was a matter of cletcrn~ining which beliefs rverc of thc cssc ("being" or "esscnce"), thc ylcne cssc ("fullness" or "complctencss"), and the bcnc lcssc ("well- being" or "welfare") of the Church and ~vhich were 12on ~SSC ("non- essential"). This faction was persuaded that it was merely a matter of distinguishing betwcen "fundamental" ant1 "non-fundamental" doctrines. To thc Confcssions \,voul