The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1902-12-12
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH.
Its Heritage, Its Privileges, Its Response
bility, The Theme of Rev. Mr.. Sea-
brooks Discourse Wednesday
Evening.

"Our Heritage, Our Privileges, Our
Responsibility" was the subject OF a
scholarly discourse delivered by Rev.
W. L. Seabrook, pastor of the Luther
an Church of the Redeemer, on Wednes-
day evening.
Mr.. Seabrook read as the evening
lesson the 18th Psalm, beginning GOD
is our refuge and strength, a proved
help in time of trouble" sometimes
called "Luther's Psalm" by reason OF
the fact that it was to this Psalm ne
always turned in hours of anxiety ana
dependency, the Psalm that was IN
deed the "BattIe Hymn Of the Retor-
nation"
The speaker said that of all the Won
derful events in the history OF the
world, the most wonderful is the hsto-
ry of the Church; in the history OF the
Church most wonderful is the history
of Gods guidance, protection and pres
ervation of that part Of it known as
Lutheran, especially in the United
| States. Luther's choice of the 4oth
Psalm was not accidental. Its word'
sGod is in the midst of her, she
shall not be moved, God shall help her,
and that right early" was a prophetic
word. Within a month from the nall
ing of the ninety-fve theses to the
Wittenberg church door, they were
printed and circulated in every Euro
pean language, as afterward were the
AUGSBURG Confession and .Luther's
catechisms. Within thirty years all
the nations of northern Europe were
lutheran. Thence the faith has been
spread throughout the earth by Lutn-
eran foreign missions and by the scat
tering abroad of the adherents OF the
Church, who, like the early Christians
event everywhere preaching the COS
mel" until today the Lutherans OF the
world number about sixty-fve millions
about one-sixth of all the Protestant
Christians in the world. Its missiona
ries were first in India, Ziegenbalg a
Pluetschau almost a century n Chris
tian Friedrich Schwarz fifty years be
fore Carey. The first missionaries Il
Lapland, FINLAND, Iceland, Greenlan'
were Lutheran, and by them thes
countries were Christianized. Dr
Krapf was in Africa long before MOI
fatt and Livingstone. When the Swede
came to America and settled on tn
shores of the Delaware, their chic
purpose in coming was to BRING th
gospel to the natives OF America
After tracing the early history OF tn
Ia,therans in the colonies of America
. Mr.. Seabrook told the graphic story o
the marvellous development of the pas
!, century. In 1900 there were only sew
=, entv Lutheran ministers in the Unlte'
States, with about $1,000 commun
: cants. The membership of the Churc
: Twas doubled about once every thrice
wears until in 1890 when there wei
l.692 ministers and I,1OO,O 900 commun
tantd. Today the Lutheran Church
n the United States has more than 81
y thousand ministers and about a mllllc
and a half communicates. Sixty yea
ago there was only n Lutheran CO
p lege in the United States and not OF
It woman's college. Today she has thlrt
five colleges, fifteen women's semln
ries, besides about forty academic
10 Then she had not one theological sen
#. nary, now she has Twenty-Five. I'm
10 not an orphanage, now about thlrt
,e five, caring for about two thousal
" children. Then n church paper NJ
n one hundred and fifty. Then no pu
ne fishing house, now twenty-three. In
10 400 ministers, 1900 churches and II
600 communicates. Now o T..
ministers, IL, OO churches and a MILL
" ord q half commandments.