Gesellschaft Zur Unterstutzung Von Prediger- U. Schullehrer- Wittwen U
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Concordia Seminary - Saint Louis Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary Master of Divinity Thesis Concordia Seminary Scholarship 3-1-1970 An Investigation of the Origin and Development of the "Gesellschaft Zur nU terstutzung Von Prediger- U. Schullehrer- Wittwen U. Waisen Innerhalb Der Ev. Luth. Synode Von Missouri, Ohio U. A. Staaten" Erwin Lueker Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.csl.edu/mdiv Part of the Christianity Commons, and the History of Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Lueker, Erwin, "An Investigation of the Origin and Development of the "Gesellschaft urZ Unterstutzung Von Prediger- U. Schullehrer- Wittwen U. Waisen Innerhalb Der Ev. Luth. Synode Von Missouri, Ohio U. A. Staaten"" (1970). Master of Divinity Thesis. 93. https://scholar.csl.edu/mdiv/93 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Concordia Seminary Scholarship at Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Divinity Thesis by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Short Titles GRSELLSORAFT ZUR UNTERSATZUNG; Lueker; &1991 1970 5- ze, -70 research, pelf er DONCORDIA SEMINARY LIBRARY T. LOWS. MISSOURI TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. A PROPOSAL 4 III. THE ADOPTED STATUTES OF THE SOCIETY 8 IV. THE SOCIETY IN OPERATION UNDER THE DIRECTION OF A. ERNST 13 V. TWO HYPOTHESES FOR. WHAT HAPPENED THEN . • 20 VI. THE SOC;ETY UNDER THE DIRECTION OF J. F. BUNGER 27 VII. THE SOCIETX UNDER' THE DIRECTION OF E. D. C. BOSE 35 VIII. THE SOCIETY UNDER THE DIRECTION OF. • C. F. W.• SAPPER 40 . IX. CONCLUSION , 63 APPENDIXES 66 APPENDIX A. A Xeroxed Copy of an Article by E. M. Bdrger and A. Ernst entitled "Vorlagen von Statuten far eine Prediger- und Schullehrer- Wittwen- und Waisen- Gesellschaft" appearing in DER LUTHERANER, VI (February. 5, 1850), 93 67 APPENDIX B. A Xeroxed Copy of a Pamphlet by A. Ernst entitled STATUTEN DER GESELLSOHAFT ZUR UNTERSTUTZUNG VON PREDIGER- U. SCRULLEHRER- WITTWEN U. WAISEN INNERHALB DER EV. LUTH. SYNODE VON MISSOURI, OHIO U. A. STAATEN 69 APPENDIX O. The Annual Reports of the "Gesellschaft zur Unterstdtzung von Prediger- u. Schullehrer- Wittwen u. Waisen" from 1858-1888 as appearing in DER LUTHERANER. 72 BIBLIOGRAPHY 104 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Today we take various kinds of organized welfare and insurance programs for granted; nearly everybody in the United States and Canada is involved in one way or another in at least one type of welfare program. Through such pro- grams as Medicare and Social Security or Social Insurance, these North' American countries have expressed their interest in the welfare of their citizens. Many private companies have some sort of welfare programs for their employees and their families. Thus, we also take it for granted today that our Missouri Synod has certain programs to provide for its pastors, teachers, salaried workers, and their families. But this has not always been the case; the welfare pro- grams in our church have only developed very gradually over a period of more than a hundred years. A century ago, there was. no such thing as the Concordia Plan or the Board of Pen.. sions and Support. Indeed, at that time there was no official synodical board or Organization for welfare or pensions. This As not to.say,.how:ever, that our Synod was unconcerned about the widows and orphans of pastors and teachers; already at the. time of the inception of The Lutheran Ohurch--Missouri Synod, members of Synod realized their obligations to the 1 aged servants of the Church and their widows and orphans. 1 Walter A. Baepler, A Century of Grace (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1947ii pp. 252-253. -2- However, Synod as a whole did not organize programs of support but felt that financial support to the widows and orphans of synodical pastors and teachers was rather a personal matter for all Christians.. Nevertheless, already in 1850, there were. those Missouri Synod Lutherans who felt the need for an organized program to support the widows and orphans of pastors and teachers. They formed an organization known as the "GesellSchaft zur Unterstatzung von Prediger- u. Schullehrer- Wittwen u. Waisen innerhalb der Ev. Luth. Synode von M8E:Curio Ohio u. a. Staaten" ("Society for the Support of Widows and Orphans of Preachers and Schoolteachers, within the Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, 0hio,and. Other States"). Rather than being an official organ of Synod, it was an organization independent of Synod yet composed of Synodical members. It is the purpose of this paper to investigate the origin and development of this organization within Synod as a whole from the proposal for such an organization in 1850 up until 1889, when the various districts officially took over the support of the widows and orphans of.pastors and teachers. Since very little had been written about this organiza- tion, it has been necessary-to rely heavily upon primary sources. These primary sources include a pamphlet containing 2Aug. R. Suelflow, The Development of the Formal Admini- strative Structure of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod from 1847-1897 (A Report to the Synodical Survey Commission), Re- port 20, -November, 1960 (mimeographed), p.-35. -3 - the statutes of the Society, several synodical reports, and various articles, reports, and announcements in Der Luther- . aner. CHAPTER II A PROPOSAL Two men who very early recognized the need for some type of organization which would help support the widows and orphans of synodical pastors and teachers were Ernst Moritz Buerger and Johann Adam. Ernst. Ernst Moritz Buerger was born in Saxony, Germany in the year 1806. After attending the Holy Cross Academy and the University of Leipzig, he be- came ei assistant pastor to his father in Seelitz for four years. Later he became a pastor at Lunzenau. He emigrated with a group of emigrants under the leadership of Martin Stephan to America, landing in New Orleans. 'on the last day of 1838. Thereupon the emigrants, bearing the sorrow caused by the fact that one ship in their group had been lost and never heard of again, left New Orleans and went to St. Louis. After a stay of several years in Perry County, Pastor Buerger decided he wanted to go back to Germany. However, on the way back it so happened that he became pastor of a congregation in Buffalo, New York. After spending nine years in Buffalo, he becdme'a pastor in nearby West Seneca, New York, wherehe spent eight years. After that he was pastor for eleven years in Washington, D. C. Thereupon, he spent ten years in the town of Hart located in Winona County, Minnesota.1 .He, a . 1 Ernst Moritz' Buerger, Memoirs of Ernst Moritz Buerger, translated from the German by Edgar Joachim Buerger (Lincoln, Mass.; Published by Martin Julian Buerger, 1953), passim. -5- charter member of the Missouri Synod,2 died in the year 1890. Johann Adam Ernst,.or A. Ernst, was born in Oettingen, Germany on November 27, 1815. While working as a cobbler's apprentice, he decided to lay down his tools after reading Wyneken's "Appeal for Help in the Distress of the German Lutherans in North America." He was referred to Pastor Loehe and was trained by him for the teaching profession. Within a'year, in the year 1842, he left for America. Although he was a teacher in Columbus, Ohio, he also studied at the Ohio Synod's theological seminary in the same place. After reading Walther's Der Lutheraner, Ernst and other followers of Loehe cameto realize that they were in doctrinal harmony with the Saxons of Missouri. In 1847, Pastor Ernst, like E. M. Buerger, became a charter member of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States. Soon thereafter, he ac- 4 cepted a call to Eden, New York. After leaving his parish in Marion, Ohio, A. Ernst was installed in Eden by E. M. Buerger, who was then a pastor in Buffalo.5 While he was pastor in Eden, New York, A. Ernst made mission tours into the surrounding districts and into Ontario,.0anada, with the Walter A. Baepler, A Century of Grace (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing'House, 1947), p. 105. 30ar1 S. Meyer, editor, Moving Frontiers (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1964), p. 136. 4Frtalk Malinsky, Grace and Blessing, (n.p., n.d.), pp. 14- 16. 5"Kirchliche Nachricht," Der Lutheraner, VI (September 4, 1849), 8, -6- resillt that he helped in organizing several new•congregations. It was also while he was at Eden that Adam Ernst was active in founding and 'directing the operation of "The Society for the Support or Widows and Orphans of Preachers and School- teachers." However, in the year 1857, when a severe throat ailment forced him to resign from the ministry, he again took up his trade as .a cobbler. In 1860, when he was almost fully recuperated, he accepted a call to the Floradale-Elmira parish . •in Canada, a parish where he had a most successful ministry. Through his untiring zeal and work, several congregations were organized, including one as far north as Magnetawan. In 1871, he began publishing Das Lutherische Volksblatt, a news-. paper:which not only helped pave the way for the Canada District but which also has the distinction of being the first • district paper within the entire Synod. In 1879, the Canada District was organized. Not only was Ernst the leading and guiding spirit in its organization but he also became its first president. After spending 50 years in the ministry, Adam Ernst died in Euclid, Ohio, at the age of 79 years.