Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-11-03
Festival Of the Reformation.


Sunday, the pastor, Rev. NJ. Il. Minnich,
delivered u discourse commemorative Of
the Protestant Reformation. Taking as
his text. Psalm As II, IS, ''Walk about
Zion, and go round about her tell the
towers thereof MARK ye well her bull
warlzs, consider her palaces that ye may
tell it to the generation following" he pre-
sented the origin, progress and present
position of the Evangelical Lutheran
church. Knowing that the achievements
of the church, in its distinctive Lutheran
form. have been the most brilliant and
magnificent on record, he asked his hear
ers to 90 round about her, tell her towers,
and be astonished at their number mark
well her bulwarkS, and admire her
strength; consider her palaces, and stand
entranced with their beauty and excel
lence: and then s'tell it to the generation
fJllowing.'
He showed from the authority of men
outside his own communion, prominent
among whom was Palmer, the High
Church Episcopalian, that 'Lutherans are
neither SchlsmaticS nor Heretics," but
that they have s'the same historic church
life. which took it's rise in the incarnation
of the Son of God, which trickled feebly
through the rubbish and darkness Of the
middle ages, and which never was. nor
could be, entirely lost - The church is not
responsible for her name. 1t was given
first by her enemies. Now ''she consents
to be called the Evangelical Lutheran
Church, to testify, if God so please, to the
end of time, that she is neither ashamed OF
the gospel Of Christ, nor OF Chrlst's ser
want. who, in the presence Of earth and
hell, restored that gospel, preachedit, lived
it, and died in the triumph OF its faith"
The progress of the church has been
truly wonderful. Since Oct. 3lst, 1917 sha
has gone on from ''conquerlng unto con-
ouest.n and there are now three millions Of
Lutherans in Sweden; one million five hun
dred thousand in Norway; two millions in
Denmark, the Farce Islands and Jutland;
five hundred thousand in France; thirty
millions in the German Empire; one mil
lion and a half in Austria, Hungary, b.
hernia and Moravia; two millions and a
half in Poland and Russia; one million in
the United States and Canada; one hundred
thousand in the West India Islands and as
MANY more in Brazil; fifty thousand in the
South American States, and these, together
with some few countries not enumerated,
make an aggregate of nearly fifty millions,
or more than half of Protestant Christen-
dom.
Among this number are embraced many
of the greatest theologians, the most emf
nent scholars and the highest dignitares.
At this moment there are tWenty-three
reigning monarchs withinithe fold of her
Zion Queen Victoria's eldest daughter
and her eldest grandson are Lutherans.
The present position of the Church
may well be inferred from the foregoing.
Though not so we'll known in this country,
recent statistics show that in the last CEN
tennium, next to the Methodists, she has
increased most rapidly. And in the last
decade she has surpassed, in rate Of in
crease, all the Protestant denominations.
particularly in the following cities: Bal
timore, Brooklyn, Chicago, New Orleans,
New York, Philadelphia, st. Louis and
Washington.
At the conclusion of the services, the
pastor invited the attendants OF the church
to be present at a sociable, to be given at
the parsonage on the 31st Of October, that
being the day when Luther in 1917 nailed
his ninety-fve theses on the church-door
at Wittenberg, and which is considered as
the beginning of the reformation. In
viii yyIi DlH
turned out, and by eight o'clock, Tuesday
night, there was assembled pleasant com
pany in the brilliantly lighted parsonage.
After spending some time in pleasant in
tercourse, the company repaired to the
dining-room to partake of some refresh
ments. These were prefaced by some hap
py remarks OF the pastor, in connection
with the day in church history. About
ten O'Clock, the company dispersed highly
pleased with their sociable and the manner
in which it was conducted.
If no other good is accomplished, these
gatherings bring the members Of a church
in closer contact than the everyday duties
of life can or will, and must. therefore, be
beneficial to any congregation. There were
PRESENT. DR.. A. M. Henkel and lady; DR..
S. Il. Henkel, lady and sister; VIM. E.
Craig, lady and sister; E. Louis Ide and
fairly; Jas. A. Piper. lady and daughter;
J. Parker and lady; F. Hager and lady =;
Mrs. J. [. Miller, Misses McCauley and
Bowman. of the Staunton Fem. Sem; Mrs.
Venable, Mrs G. S. Baker, Frank Prufer
and family, Mrs. A. A. Grubert and daugh-
ter, Mrs. Jamison and daughter, and re-
representatives. from nearly every Lutheran
family in the congregation. Especially
were the young well represented. The