July 25, 2017
Devotions: Lutherans in North America: First Lutheran Ordained in Colonial America – Justus Falckner

Since the Lutherans on the Delaware were so long without a replacement pastor (once Rev. Lock and Fabritius passed away) the Lutherans developed the practice of inviting laymen to read sermons called “postils”. And as we see even today, when the regularly called pastor is out of town, the people tend to stop coming to church. The situation had gotten so bad in the Delaware area that a visitor returned to Sweden to tell of their plight – requesting immediate help for the “one thousand Lutherans” on the Delaware. The request was submitted for two ministers, Swedish Bibles, Catechisms, and other religious books. In 1697 the Rev. Andrew Rudman and Rev. Eric Bjork sailed to the congregations on the Delaware. These congregations were now treated as mission churches of the Church of Sweden. Rev. Rudman settled in Philadelphia and Rev. Bjork in Wilmington. Their first actions were to replace the wooden churches, now rotting, with more permanent structures made of stone and brick. Trinity Lutheran Church in Wilmington was completed in 1699 and Gloria Dei Lutheran Church was completed in 1700. Both churches survived into the 20th century serving Episcopal congregations. By 1704 a third church was built in Swedesboro, New Jersey.
In 1702 Rev. Andrew Rudman was compelled by the Hudson River congregations to assist in the ministry of New York and Albany. He was not equal to the task and after a year he returned to Philadelphia to retire. But before he left he inquired of a young man in Philadelphia by the name of Justus Falckner. Mr. Falckner had attended and completed theological classes in Germany but had crossed the Atlantic to Philadelphia before being ordained. He was reluctant to serve the ministry of the Gospel, and so thought he could pull a Job and try to outrun G-d. But Rev. Rudman persisted in his persuasion of Justus Falckner to consider serving the congregations of New York. Writing to his former teacher August Herman Francke in Germany, Justus Falckner stated: “I am staying as a regular preacher with a little Dutch Lutheran congregation, a state of affairs which I had so long avoided.” In 1703, Falckner was ordained in Philadelphia by Rev. Rudman and two Swedish colleagues after Rev. Rudman assured him of the appropriateness of this act (the Bishop of Sweden delegated Rudman to this Episcopal Authority). Would Rev. Falckner rise to the challenge after avoiding becoming a preacher for so long? (Adapted and adopted from The Lutherans in North America, revised edition, E. Clifford Nelson)

Two situations that faced the early Lutherans in North America were the lack of steady pastors supplied by their supporting Lutheran consistories and ministeriums, and the changing landscape of language and ruling governments. Over time, the issues of language and pastoral leadership will become their most significant challenges – you know, besides encroaching on the land of native Americans, the ever-looming threat of epidemics, and the incredibly harsh landscape. However, more and more people were immigrating to colonial America and the increasing need for spiritual leadership did not cease. In time, the people would make their needs known through pleas to their supporting Lutheran bodies in Holland and Germany, and through hiring lay people to preach. There continues to be an independent streak within Lutheran congregations when it comes to following and listening to the actions of their national governing bodies. This independence was built into the congregations through the realities of the spread of Lutheranism to colonial America, and in response to the Anti-Catholic sentiment from the Protestant Reformation. When there was a need, the people were going to fill it the quickest way possible, and sometimes it meant doing their own thing. We are hard wired this way as people – and it appears, as churches.

Pastor Dave

Please collect bottles of laundry soap and packages of diapers (sizes 2 and 3) for Trinity’s Table.

July 24, 2017
Devotions: Lutherans in North America: Lutherans on the Delaware 1638-1703

The Lutherans on the Delaware did not start out like those on the Hudson – small and without religious freedoms. The Lutherans on the Delaware were numerous, practically the entire population in the region, and they enjoyed the favor and the support of the colonial government. The few Dutch settlers on the Delaware had the freedom to practice the Reformed religion of their native land. Therefore the Lutherans enjoyed a more ordered church life on the Delaware – ministers were supplied from the Sweden consistory. The first minister to serve them was Rev. Reorus Torkillus, who conducted services from 1639 until his death in an epidemic four years later. It was during his pastorate that the first log church was built near Wilmington, Delaware. Rev. John Campanius replaced Rev. Torkillus and he remained pastor there for six years. A second church would be built in Tinicum, Pennsylvania and a third in “Wicaco” (near what is now Philadelphia). When this colony was taken over by the Dutch in 1655, the Lutherans were allowed to continue to freely meet and worship as they wished, unlike those Lutherans on the Hudson. The reasons appear to include the fact that the Reformed church did not have a pastor who spoke their (Swedish) language and there were troubles in Manhattan that needed their attention. Therefore the Lutherans continued to worship under the newly called Rev. Lars Lock. Rev. Lock was a native of Finland. He had moved to the Delaware area in 1647 – and would remain until his death in 1688. Rev. Lock, like Rev. Fabritius previously mentioned, liked his brandy and wine. The Dutch Reformed members in New Amsterdam would write about Rev. Lock saying: “This Lutheran preacher is a man of impious and scandalous habits, a wild, drunken, unmannerly clown, more inclined to look into the wine can than into the Bible. He would prefer drinking Brandy two hours to preaching one.” He would serve the Lutherans on the Delaware until 1671 when Rev. Jacob Fabritius moved into the area from New York. Rev. Fabritius would take charge of the congregations in Philadelphia and Tinicum, while Rev. Lock would concentrate on the lower Delaware regions of Wilmington, and New Castle, Delaware. Rev. Lock’s health would decline to the point where he could neither take care of himself or his flocks. Rev. Fabritius appeared to continue in his discourteous and drunken ways while in Delaware. He would be hauled into court for “using bad words which do not become a priest”, and “causing a tumultuous disturbance.” After both pastors died, it would take another decade to get a replacement. (adapted and adopted from The Lutherans in North America, revised edition, E. Clifford Nelson)

Being a pastor is not an easy business to be called into. It is not so easy in the 21st century, so I can only imagine how difficult it was in the 17th century. Without the conveniences we have today, like the telephone that allows us to be in touch, to have a car to make it easier to visit parishioners, and to have heat and lights to be relatively comfortable, living a life of trying to meet the spiritual and often physical needs of others would have been a physical and mental challenge. But G-d does not always call us to ventures that are comfortable, easy and within reach. Often G-d calls us to the unthinkable – like leaving home and traveling to a distant country to serve in areas that have little conveniences. And yet, we trust that G-d provides – at least provides us the strength to endure, if little else.

Pastor Dave

Please collect bottles of laundry soap and packages of diapers (sizes 2 and 3) for Trinity’s Table.