Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1925-05-22
ANCIENT CHURCH PAPERS
FOUND

dust. in drawer full of ancient
Christmas tree ornaments at st.
James Lutheran Church, 73rd Street
and Madison Avenue. New York City.
Among the papers found is the orig
inal ordination certificate, dated
1903, of RevsJustus Falckner. THE
first clergyman to be regularly or
dained in the Western World"
Many other historic records of the
Lutheran Church in the Colonial
period were found with Justus Falck-
ner's ordination papers. According
to Rev. VIM. F. Sunday, Ph.D., pas
tor of ST. James Church, no adequate
explanation has been reached as to
how their value put them there
shortly after the erection of the
present St. James, about thirty
five years ago. The last prior record
of the existence of several of the
documents was when Rev. William
Berkenmeyer, on taking charge OF
St. Matthew's Lutheran Church at
Broadway and Rector Street in 1925,
listed them as part of the papers of
that church.
DR.. Sunday has had the papers
placed in a vault, and a historical
committee is at work appraising the
effect of the find upon the known his
tory of the Colonial period.
The ordination of Justus Falckner,
said to be the first recorded ordina-
ton of a minister of the church to
take place on American soil occurred
on November "a, 1903, at the Swed-
ish Lutheran Gloria Del Church at
Wicaco, Pennsylvania, now part of
Philadelphia, the officiating clergy
men being Pastors Rudman, Bjoerk
and Sandel, all of whom had
churches along the Delaware. Pas
tor Andreas Rudman had been COM
missioned by the Archbishop of Swe-
den to ordain young Falckner, and
had been created suffragan Bishop
for the purpose. Falckner, as stu
dent for the ministry at the Univer-
sity of Halle, Germany, had written
hymn, arise, Ye Children of Sal
vation," which is still sung in the
churches of two continents. But
when it came to entering the minis
/ try he "shrank from assuming the
tremendous responsibility, and hav-
| ing acquired the power of attorney
/ for the sale of William PENIS lands
in Pennsylvania, left for America
with his older brother, Daniel.
Pastor Rudman, in whose church
Falckner worshipped in Philadel-
phia, prevailed upon the young man
to accept the duties for which he
had studied, and the result was a
call from the Dutch Lutheran con-
gregation worshipping in the Dutch
language in New York, which was at
that time without a pastor. On his
arrival Falckner found parish $50
miles in length which included not
only the church in New York but a
congregation in Albany and others
at many way stations between. In
his voyages on the Hudson between
congregations, young Falckner found
opportunity to organize number of
other churches in New York and in
northern New Jersey, many of which
are still in existence after the pas
sage of two centuries.
Regarding the ordination certifi-
cate. written in classical Latin, which
has now been found, an historian
said some years ago, Immediately
upon his acceptance of the charge,
Dominic Falckner deposited his d.
ploma of ordination among the ar
chives of the church. Unfortunately,
this together with other documents
of the colonial period deposited with
in the church, are now missing, and
have evidently long since been lost
or destroyed. Possibly no document
has been so diligently and persistent
ly sought for by historians and in
vestigators as this diploma, as its
historical value to the Lutheran and
Protestant Episcopal Churches can
hardly be overestimated."
The other documents found with
the papers of Dominic Falckner's or
dination are, petition of the Lu-
theran Church in the City of New
York to Hon. Thomas Dongan, gov
ernor of the colony prior to 1868,
in which the congregation asks for
immunity from taxation on it's prop
erty on the grond that those of the
Calvinist Opinion are exempted; a
letter of October 81, 1904, certifying
to the clergy of the Church of Eng
land the character of Justus Falck-
ner. and asking for aid from Lon
don for his support; a contract, dated
1927, in which the Lutheran Church
at Quassaich, now Newburg, presents
the congregation in New York with
bell and agrees that the minister
in New York shall visit them twice
year for which payment is to be
made; identures and contracts of
1744 and other dates bearing upon
the Palatinate grants of land in VI
ster County; and letters of 1926 and
1927 in which an unknown donor"
believed to be Mr.. Peter Lorillard.
ST., founder of the tobacco fortune,