Lutheran minister
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg was one of the primary architects of American Lutheranism. He was born September 6, 1711, at Einbeck, Hannover. He matriculated at Goettingen University in 1735 and became a teacher at the Halle Orphan House three years later. By this time Halle had become a leading center of pietism on the continent, and its ecclesiastical and theological views would greatly influence Muhlenberg throughout his career. The Leipzig Consistory ordained him as a Lutheran pastor in 1739, with his first parish at Grosshennersdorf. On Muhlenberg’s 30th birthday Gotthilf August Francke informed him that three Pennsylvania congregations had extended a call for a pastor in 1734 that still had not been filled. Francke recommended that Muhlenberg accept this call, and after careful consideration Muhlenberg agreed.
His first destination in the British colonies was Georgia, where he met two other German Lutheran pastors. When Muhlenberg arrived in Philadelphia in November 1742, the three congregations that had requested a pastor were not expecting him and in the meantime had hired unordained clergy to minister to the congregations. Swedish Lutheran Church officials in the Philadelphia area supported his claim to the charge, and soon most of the officers and members of the congregations accepted him as their regular pastor. Between 1742 and his retirement in 1779 Muhlenberg served Lutheran congregations in Philadelphia, New Hanover, Providence (Trappe), and Germantown.
By the time of Muhlenberg’s arrival in Pennsylvania, the province had emerged as a focal point of German immigration and of Lutheran activity. The colony’s religious diversity was something that Muhlenberg constantly confronted, and he often commented in his reports to Halle that the religious environment in Pennsylvania presented difficulties that did not exist in Europe. Within a few years of his arrival, Muhlenberg had to deal with the influence of Moravian leader Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf along with the actions of unordained men who were performing the services of clergy along the frontier. Through Muhlenberg’s efforts the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania was organized in 1748. Under his leadership this synod attempted to control the quality of clergy throughout the German-speaking areas of the colonies while maintaining lay participation in the selection process.
Further reading: Leonard R. Riforgiato, Missionary of Moderation: Henry Melchior Muhlenberg and the Lutheran Church in English America (Lewisburg, Pa.: Bucknell University Press, 1980); Theodore G. Tappert and John W. Doberstein, eds., The Journals of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, 3 vols. (Philadelphia: The Muhlenberg Press, 1942-1958).
—Karen Guenther
World History
