Henry Muhlenberg (1711-1787) wasn’t the first Lutheran pastor in the American colonies, but he was the most influential. Born in Einbeck, Hanover, Germany, he was ordained in Leipzig in 1739. (Johann Sebastian Bach played for his ordination service.) In 1742 he immigrated to Philadelphia to serve three Pennsylvania congregations.

Muhlenberg established other Lutheran congregations and traveled extensively from New York to Georgia preaching in German, Dutch, and English. His motto was Ecclesia plantanda, the Church must be planted.

At Muhlenberg’s invitation, six pastors and lay representatives from ten congregations gathered for a church conference in 1748. They established what would come to be called German Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of North America later renamed the Ministerium of Pennsylvania. This was the first synod organized in North America and is one of  the direct ancestors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The group also prepared the first liturgy for the Lutherans in America, a liturgy whose influence is still evident in our present Evangelical Lutheran Worship.

The Muhlenberg family produced leaders for the new United States. His son Peter was a Major General in the Continental Army and later was elected to the U.S. Congress. Another son, Frederick, served as the first Speaker of the House in the U.S. Congress. Seven of Muhlenberg’s descendants have served in the U. S. Congress.

I like investigating church leaders from the past because American Christians rarely know or appreciate the labors of those who have gone before us in the faith. May we honor the work God did through people like Henry Muhlenberg.

Read Sirach 44:1 (Apocrypha)  and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne