The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1946-10-03

I it is from an account written in 1886
by the Rev. John George Young,
pastor of Old St. Johns, to DR.. Hell
muth, a Lutheran pastor of Phila-
delphia, that we have the first re-
cord concerning the Lutheran con-
gregation in Funkstown.
in It'll a congregation was gath
cred two miles from here in small
village called Jersalem or Funks-
town ;" the Rev Young wrote, land
in the year above mentioned built, in
connection with the Reformed, a
Union Church Pastor Krug conse-
Grated it. l have served it since 1878.
Some sixteen families belonged at
the beginning, but the congregation
now includes about fifty families.
They have a good school house and a
regular and efficient teacher. Every
J four weeks l preach there both fore
noon and afternoon. Since most of
the people are poor the compensation
is uncertain. It amounts probaly to
nineteen pounds"
Many of the pastors of old st. Johns,
who continue to serve the Funks-
town church until 1884, were distin-
guished as the makers of American
Lutheran history, among them: the
Rev. John George Young Q773-1792);
the Rev. John George Schumacher
(1793- 1870, father of the famed
Samuel Simon Schumacher, founder
of Gettysburg Seminary and Gets
burg College; the Rev. Solomon
Schaeffer Q811-1815); the Rev. Ben
jamin Kurtz, who first introduced
preaching in English 1815-183D; the
Rev. Samuel K. Hoshour 1831-1834);
and the Rev. c. F. Schaeffer, DID. (18
! 35-184O).
The parish began to undergo
changes after 1910 and with the adj
vent of the Rev. Christopher Colum-
bus Cutler ceased to share its pas
tors with Old st. Johns. A new
parish was formed consisting of
Funkstown, Beaver Creek and Mid
dleburg and later on, in complete
reorganization of parishes, Funks-
town became part of the Boonsboro
Parish
In 1850 the present church, brick
structure, was built at a cost of $1,000
and during the pastorate of the Rev.
John Unruh (1852-1858) the long I'M
ion between the Reformed and Luth-
eran congregations was finally dis
solved and the name changed to
"Christs Evangelical Church of
FunkstoWn"
During the trying days of the Civil
War the parish was served by the
Rev. Amos Copenhaver (1859-186D
and it was during his pastorate that
the former parsonage was acquired
through a bequest from Mrs. Anna
Schultz. In 1886, under the pastorate
of the Rev. D. S. Lentz, a new con-
stitution was accepted and the name
changed to st. Paul's.
Through the years the church and
parsonage were the subject of rem
novations and improvements and
during the ministery of the Rev.
Charles Hoy Q894-1899) still furth-
4 er improvements were made to the
church building and the cemetery
was extended by the purchase of a
house and lot.
1t was in this period that evil days
came upon the church through un-
orthodox behaviour on the part of
the Reverend Hoy, who became di-
sciple of John Alexander Dowie,
founder of Zion City, whose evangel-
istic services packed the Madison
Square Garden of that day to the
roof.
Dowie claimed himself to be John
the Baptist the Second" and taught
his adherents hodgepodge doctrine,
which included strict obedience to
himself, divine healing the avoid
ance of tobacco and pork and the
flatness of the earth
Reverend Hoy's adherence to these
oddly assorted articles of faith quite
naturally resulted in his being de-
posed from the Lutheran Church, but
not before he had caused a great
deal of confusion in the Funkstown
congregation.
The natural reaction was swing
to more conservative procedure
within the church and, under the
paStorship of the Rev David B.
Floyd, D. D., (1900-1905), many &C.
clesiastical rites and customs, which
had fallen into disuse under the de-
reflections of the Reverend Hoy, came
into being again and are still in use
1t was during DR.. Floyd's pastor
ate that electricity was first intro
duced into the church and all of