General Council (Lutheran)
Encyclopedia
The General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America (General Council) was a conservative Lutheran church body, formed as a reaction against the new "Americanized Lutheranism" of Samuel Simon Schmucker
and the General Synod
.
The group was founded in November, 1867, and thirteen church bodies became members of the General Council. Founded at the instigation of the Pennsylvania Ministerium
, the General Council placed special emphasis on the Lutheran Confessions and their role in the life of the church. In 1872, they adopted the Akron Rule, reserving Lutheran pulpits for Lutheran pastors and Lutheran altars for Lutheran communicants.
Theodore Emanuel Schmauk
was President of the General Council from 1903 until the formation of the United Lutheran Church in America
in 1918. The United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA) was formed from the merger of three independent German-language synods: the General Synod, the General Council and the United Synod of the South
.
in 1866, a fraternal address was issued "to Evangelical Lutheran Synods, ministers and congregations in the United States and Canadas, which confess the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, inviting them to unite in a convention for the purpose of forming a union of Lutheran Synods."
This call urged "the needs of a general organization, first and supremely for the maintenance of unity in the true faith of the Gospel, and in the uncorrupted Sacraments, as the Word of God teaches and our Church confesses them; and furthermore for the preservation of her genuine spirit and worship, and for the development of her practical life in all her forms."
Although none of the synods remaining in the General Synod
responded favorably to this official letter, representatives from the Synod of Pennsylvania, the English, English District, and Joint Synods of Ohio, from the Wisconsin
, Michigan, Pittsburg, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Canada, New York, and the Norwegian synods assembled at Reading, Pennsylvania
, on December 11, 1866. The Augustana Synod
was represented by letter. There they unanimously adopted a statement on the "Fundamental principals of Faith and Church Polity." A committee was appointed to outline a constitution to be submitted to the respective District Synods. They required ten synods to accept the constitution before it would go into effect, uniting the synods as district synods in the new General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America.
Ten synods adopted the constitution and the first convention met on November 20, 1867, at Fort Wayne, Indiana, where the General Synod suffered a schism the previous year. Twelve synods sent representatives. Several districts of the Missouri Synod sent a letter proposing a series of free conferences to discuss theology before joining together. Likewise, the Ohio Synod declined to join, but sent representatives to discuss differences of theology and practice.
The delegates of the Iowa Synod brought with them a letter also asking these questions, with the exception of the first, because they had decided that millennialism was theologically an open question with which good Lutherans could agree to disagree.
The response of the General Council to the letter of the Iowa Synod was to the effect that the Council was not prepared to endorse the position of the Iowa Synod, but would "refer the matter to the District Synods until such time as by the blessing of God's Holy Spirit, and the leadings of his Providence, we shall be enabled, throughout the whole General Council and all its churches, to see eye to eye in all the details of practice and usage."
The Iowa Synod holding that there must be complete and hearty agreement not only in the principles of faith, "but also in an ecclesiastical practice accordant with such faith," refused to complete its connection with the General Council, its representatives contenting themselves with the privilege of debate at its conventions. For similar reasons the Synods of Ohio and Missouri decided not to enter into the union, and a few years later the Synods of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota decided to withdraw from it.
Such were the origin of the "Four Points" which have gained historic importance in the Lutheran Church. They became the most important factor in the development of the General Council, arresting in its very first convention the realization of the original plan of its founders, and in no small degree "damping the bright and perhaps somewhat sanguine expectations of its warmest friends," while they kept the body for years in constant agitation. Ultimately, the General Council contained less than half of the Lutheran community previously existing as independent synods. The Synod of Illinois merged with the Missouri Synod in 1880, and the Wisconsin and Minnesota Synods together became part of the Joint Synod of Wisconsin in 1917.
Samuel Simon Schmucker
Samuel Simon Schmucker was a German-American Lutheran pastor and theologian. He was integral to the founding of the Lutheran church body known as the General Synod, as well as the oldest continuously-operating Lutheran seminary and college in North America .Later in his career, Schmucker became a...
and the General Synod
General Synod (Lutheran)
The General Synod was an association of Lutheran church bodies in America....
.
The group was founded in November, 1867, and thirteen church bodies became members of the General Council. Founded at the instigation of the Pennsylvania Ministerium
Pennsylvania Ministerium
The Pennsylvania Ministerium was the first Lutheran church body in North America. With the encouragement of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the Ministerium was founded at a meeting of German-American Lutheran clergy on August 26, 1748...
, the General Council placed special emphasis on the Lutheran Confessions and their role in the life of the church. In 1872, they adopted the Akron Rule, reserving Lutheran pulpits for Lutheran pastors and Lutheran altars for Lutheran communicants.
Theodore Emanuel Schmauk
Theodore Emanuel Schmauk
Theodore Emanuel Schmauk, D.D., LL.D. was an American Lutheran minister, educator, author and Church theologian....
was President of the General Council from 1903 until the formation of the United Lutheran Church in America
United Lutheran Church in America
The United Lutheran Church in America was established in 1918 with the merger of three independent German-language synods: the General Synod , the General Council and the United Synod of the South . The Slovak Zion Synod joined the United Lutheran Church in America in 1920...
in 1918. The United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA) was formed from the merger of three independent German-language synods: the General Synod, the General Council and the United Synod of the South
United Synod of the South
United Synod of the South is the name given to a historic Lutheran church body in the southern states of the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries....
.
Beginning of the General Council
At the one hundred and nineteenth convention of the Pennsylvania MinisteriumPennsylvania Ministerium
The Pennsylvania Ministerium was the first Lutheran church body in North America. With the encouragement of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the Ministerium was founded at a meeting of German-American Lutheran clergy on August 26, 1748...
in 1866, a fraternal address was issued "to Evangelical Lutheran Synods, ministers and congregations in the United States and Canadas, which confess the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, inviting them to unite in a convention for the purpose of forming a union of Lutheran Synods."
This call urged "the needs of a general organization, first and supremely for the maintenance of unity in the true faith of the Gospel, and in the uncorrupted Sacraments, as the Word of God teaches and our Church confesses them; and furthermore for the preservation of her genuine spirit and worship, and for the development of her practical life in all her forms."
Although none of the synods remaining in the General Synod
General Synod (Lutheran)
The General Synod was an association of Lutheran church bodies in America....
responded favorably to this official letter, representatives from the Synod of Pennsylvania, the English, English District, and Joint Synods of Ohio, from the Wisconsin
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod is a North American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as theologically conservative, it was founded in 1850 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As of 2008, it had a baptized membership of over 389,364 in more than 1,290 congregations,...
, Michigan, Pittsburg, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Canada, New York, and the Norwegian synods assembled at Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...
, on December 11, 1866. The Augustana Synod
Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church
The Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church was a Lutheran church body in the United States that was one of the churches that merged into the Lutheran Church in America in 1962...
was represented by letter. There they unanimously adopted a statement on the "Fundamental principals of Faith and Church Polity." A committee was appointed to outline a constitution to be submitted to the respective District Synods. They required ten synods to accept the constitution before it would go into effect, uniting the synods as district synods in the new General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America.
Ten synods adopted the constitution and the first convention met on November 20, 1867, at Fort Wayne, Indiana, where the General Synod suffered a schism the previous year. Twelve synods sent representatives. Several districts of the Missouri Synod sent a letter proposing a series of free conferences to discuss theology before joining together. Likewise, the Ohio Synod declined to join, but sent representatives to discuss differences of theology and practice.
Origin of the Four Points in American Lutheranism
Although the Ohio Synod greatly desired to see a union of Lutheran church bodies, the members saw practical difficulties that would prevent them from joining the new General Council. They probed the representatives of the General Council synods at the convention:- What relation will this venerable body in future sustain to ChiliasmMillennialismMillennialism , or chiliasm in Greek, is a belief held by some Christian denominations that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which "Christ will reign" for 1000 years prior to the final judgment and future eternal state...
? - Mixed CommunionOpen communionOpen communion is the practice of Christian churches that allow individuals other than members of that church to receive Holy Communion...
? - The exchanging of pulpits with sectarians [non-Lutheran Protestants]?
- Secret or unchurchly Societies [for example, FreemasonryFreemasonryFreemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
]?
The delegates of the Iowa Synod brought with them a letter also asking these questions, with the exception of the first, because they had decided that millennialism was theologically an open question with which good Lutherans could agree to disagree.
The response of the General Council to the letter of the Iowa Synod was to the effect that the Council was not prepared to endorse the position of the Iowa Synod, but would "refer the matter to the District Synods until such time as by the blessing of God's Holy Spirit, and the leadings of his Providence, we shall be enabled, throughout the whole General Council and all its churches, to see eye to eye in all the details of practice and usage."
The Iowa Synod holding that there must be complete and hearty agreement not only in the principles of faith, "but also in an ecclesiastical practice accordant with such faith," refused to complete its connection with the General Council, its representatives contenting themselves with the privilege of debate at its conventions. For similar reasons the Synods of Ohio and Missouri decided not to enter into the union, and a few years later the Synods of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota decided to withdraw from it.
Such were the origin of the "Four Points" which have gained historic importance in the Lutheran Church. They became the most important factor in the development of the General Council, arresting in its very first convention the realization of the original plan of its founders, and in no small degree "damping the bright and perhaps somewhat sanguine expectations of its warmest friends," while they kept the body for years in constant agitation. Ultimately, the General Council contained less than half of the Lutheran community previously existing as independent synods. The Synod of Illinois merged with the Missouri Synod in 1880, and the Wisconsin and Minnesota Synods together became part of the Joint Synod of Wisconsin in 1917.
List of Four Points
These Four Points were issues which were divisive among American Lutherans in the 1860s, and continued to be a point of contention into the next century:- chiliasm (or millennialismMillennialismMillennialism , or chiliasm in Greek, is a belief held by some Christian denominations that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which "Christ will reign" for 1000 years prior to the final judgment and future eternal state...
), - mixed communion (altar fellowship),
- exchange of pulpits with sectarians (pulpit fellowship) and
- secret or unchurchly societies (such as MasonsFreemasonryFreemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, the Lodge, etc.).
Other sources
- Bente, F. American Lutheranism Volume II St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1919.
- Ochsenford, Solomon Erb. Documentary history of the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Philadelphia: General Council Publication House, 1912.
- Wolf, Edmund Jacob. The Lutherans in America; a story of struggle, progress, influence and marvelous growth. New York: J.A. Hill, 1889. p. 433-9
- The entire article from the Christian Cyclopedia.