# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1849 06 26_S174
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

174

day Vespers this: It is a service following the chief service, for its Word is the Epistle of the day, but it is at the same time also the closing hour of the whole day of worship; for in purely Lutheran church orders there never occur such so-called evening services as are customary here in this country, and if in some lands this name was in use, it was only a Germanizing of Vespers, or, as men later were wont to say, afternoon service. For the country congregations the church orders almost never prescribe Sunday Vespers, but, as the uniting church orders also do, let the catechism service take its place, to which some seek to give a form similar to the Vespers by letting it, with its catechism hymns, catechism sermon and examination, go first, and then letting certain pieces of the Vespers, such as the singing of a psalm, the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis, follow; with these some church orders also agree with regard to the smaller towns.

The weekday Matins and weekday Vespers in the proper sense, which are found only in larger cities, and in many lands not at all, were carried out only by the school choirs, without the cooperation of the clergy. They have proceeded from the Roman Catholic Horis canonicis, and the Lutheran Church has retained them, not merely for the practice of the school choirs, but also in order to use the Bible lessons belonging to them for the communication of the whole Holy Scripture to the congregations. Their basic form is the already known one of the Saturday Vespers and the Sunday Matins, with omission of the pieces peculiarly belonging to these.

The weekday sermon, in several places daily, usually weekly twice, at the least however once, attaches itself to the weekday Matins, and most frequently in such a way that it follows the biblical lesson, or takes its place. But always at least once or twice weekly the Litany shall be sung after the weekday sermon. The form arising in this manner is in general the following: German hymn, lesson and sermon, Litany with versicle, collect and benediction; to this form the uniting church orders also attach themselves, which let the Matins fall away entirely and retain only a weekday service, in which the Litany seldom occurs, and even then is not sung by the congregation, but read by the preacher.

As to the catechism sermons in the service, finally, these were in the Lutheran Church far more numerous than ever in the earlier Church; for in cities there were appointed for this not only often the so-called midday services, between the chief service and the Vespers, but also one, two, yes sometimes three weekday services; in the country they took, as already remarked, almost always the place of the Vespers. Besides, many of the oldest and best church orders prescribe quarterly general catechism examinations, during which time the ordinary sermons (except in the chief service) were to be suspended and all the Chief Parts, together with the so-called Appendix of the Catechism, were to be explained; in the country these catechism examinations were to be held quarterly at least on some Sunday afternoons, and moreover the whole of the Chief Parts were to be finished within a year. Finally, at private confession a catechism examination was held with each individual, and besides the whole text of the Catechism was read aloud in every chief service after the sermon. The fullest form of the catechism services is this: catechism instruction, catechism sermon, catechism examination, reading before the altar from Sirach, chapter 3, catechism collect and benediction. Thus the Lutheran Church originally and very wisely joined the catechism examinations with the catechism sermons, and has also herein followed the counsel which Dr. Luther gives at the close of the preface to his Large Catechism, saying: "But it shall not be enough for them to grasp it merely according to the words and be able to recite it, but let the young people also go to the sermon, especially at the time appointed for the Catechism, that they may hear it, learn to expound and understand what each part contains, so that they also may be able to recite it as they have heard it, and answer fitly and correctly when they are asked, so that it may not be preached without profit and fruit."

(To be continued.)

(Communicated.)

Notice concerning the theological Seminary, at present at Altenburg, Mo.

In accordance with a resolution of the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and other States during its session in St. Louis in 1848, the Electoral College assembled on the 5th of July 1848 at St. Louis, to deliberate concerning the nomination of candidates for the theological professorship. There were nominated at that time as candidates the Messrs. Candidates of Theology in Germany, O. Münchmeyer and Parisius, and Pastor Walther; the condition was attached thereto that more exact inquiries should first be made concerning the two first-named gentlemen. But since both gentlemen declined the nomination as candidates, the Electoral College saw itself compelled to continue the election proceedings, which took place at Fort Wayne on the 16th of June of this year.

In accordance with the deliberation held at St. Louis by the Electoral College, Pastor Walther, since the two other candidates had in the meantime dropped out, remained as candidate primo loco. To these there were nominated at Fort Wayne the Pastors Crämer and Brohm as candidates, so that now the three gentlemen, Walther, Crämer and Brohm, stand upon the election list.

In making this known, the undersigned, as pr. t. elected secretary of the Electoral College, calls upon all members of the Electoral College to send in their votes to him by the 1st of October of this year. At the same time he requests those congregations which wish to make use of their right to propose a person as candidate for the theological teaching office or to protest against one or another of the persons nominated (see Synodalbericht of 1848, p. 16, § 10), to do so by the 1st of September 1849. Communications in reference to the election which are made of a later date than the 1st of September 1849 will remain unconsidered.

All letters relating to the election I request to have sent to me under the address of Mr. A. B. Tschirpe, St. Louis, Mo.

H. Fick, pr. t. Secretary of the Electoral College.

Doctor Martin Luther said: When it happens that two goats meet one another on a narrow bridge which goes over a water, how do they conduct themselves? They cannot go backward, neither may they go side by side, the bridge is too narrow. Should they then butt one another, they might both fall into the water and drown. What do they do then? Nature has given them that one lies down, and lets the other go over it; thus they both remain unhurt. So also should one man do toward another, and let him walk upon him with his feet, rather than quarrel, wrangle and fight with another.

On Making Peace in Human Affairs.

To bring about unity, the Herr Doctor Martinus Luther (when he was negotiating at Eisleben between the Counts of Mansfeld, who were so much at variance) gave this parable and said: If one had cut down a tree with many knotty boughs and branches, and wanted to bring it into a house or into a room, one must not take hold of it in front by the top and want to draw it in; for then the boughs would resist and bend back, for they all stand against the house or room; and if one should thus try to stretch the tree in by force into the house or room, one would break all the boughs, yea, one would not get the tree into the house at all. But thus one must do: one must take hold of the tree at the trunk, where it was cut off, whereupon all the boughs would stand away from the door, and then draw the trunk in at the door, then the boughs would bend nicely together, and one could bring the tree into the house without any toil, trouble or labor. So shall it also be when one wants to make unity: one must yield and give way to another; otherwise, if every one will have his right and none will give way to the other and move nicely together, there will never be unity; for the boughs resist and stand against the house door, one cannot bring them in thus.