Today commemorates Johann Konrad Wilhelm Loehe, a Lutheran Pastor who had great influence on Lutheranism in the United States even though he never set foot here. Loehe (1808-1872) was born in  Fürth in Western Bavaria. He studied theology at the University of Erlangen. He served a number of churches before coming to Neuendettelsau, a tiny village. From this obscure backwater,  he had a tremendous impact on church and theology in Germany and around the world. Hearing of the struggle of German Lutherans in the United States, he endeavored to send some 60 pastors to the New World to minister to Lutherans there. His missionaries were influential in forming both the Missouri Synod and its seminary at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the Iowa Synod, with Wartburg Seminary at Dubuque, Iowa. Thus he influenced both the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Loehe was also a founder of a Luther Deaconess Mother House which in turn influenced the deaconess community in the U.S.

That’s the dry history of an amazing man. What impresses me was his devotion to caring for people he never met. I once had somebody upset because a congregation’s prayer chain was asked to pray for someone they didn’t know personally. For me, doing things for people you don’t know and will probably never meet is an important aspect of generosity. We care about people simply because they are human beings whether we know them or not. It is this kind of care and openess that helps the Christian church flourish.

Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-6  and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne