1996 Biennial Convention Report
James L. Schaaf, 1932-1996
LHC Inaugurates Web Page
Lutheran Historical Confernece
News By/For/About Members
Welcome! New Members
Archives and Libraries on the Web
"Pete" Muhlenberg Remembered
Celebrating Hartwick
1996 Abdel Ross Wentz Prize
New Resources
1997 Heritage Events
The 18th Lutheran Historical Conference biennial meeting took place at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, October 31 - November 2, 1996. The program committee, headed by the Rev. James W. Albers, provided a variety of fascinating sessions on the overall theme of "Interpreting American Lutheran History." While the Concordia campus buildings are relatively new, the LHC was able to join in the seminary's 150th anniversary. Local Arrangements Committee chair, the Rev. Robert E. Smith, provided an historical sketch of the seminary during the biennial banquet and arranged for a tour of local historical sites, including St. Paul's and First English Lutheran Churches, both with buildings on the National Historical Register. Also, a trip to the former site of the original Concordia buildings and Concordia Cemetery, rounded out LHC members' chance to have a sense of historic place. A final stop on the tour was another modern facility, the Allen County Public Library, which features one of the renowned genealogical research collections in the United States.
As usual, the business session included the annual election of new board members. From the total of board members, new officers were elected as follows:
Other new board members include, the Rev. Jon Diefenthaler and Dr. L. DeAne Lagerquist. The full LHC leadership list is published elsewhere in this issue. Recognition was given to the Rev. James L. Schaaf for his leadership as LHC President during the past two years, as well as to retiring board members, the Reverends Ray F. Kibler III and Frederick K. Wentz. All three also served as this year's Nominating Committee.
The business meeting also took up the proposed changes in the constitution (see Newsletter, February 1996), which would change the structure of the LHC, eliminating the former commissions and instituting commissioners to be appointed to take care of the various tasks that are needed to get the work of the LHC accomplished.
The list of named commissioners is elsewhere in this issue. Also, the board accepted the invitation to hold the 1998 biennial meeting at Wagner College, Staten Island, New York.
Another highlight of the biennial meeting is the LHC Distinguished Service Award. At the biennial banquet, with congratulations and thanks, this year's award was given to historian, the Rev. Frederick K. Wentz.
Our most recent past president, James L. Schaaf, succumbed to a heart attack, November 30, 1996, in New Orleans. He had suffered the heart attack while attending the American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature in that city. The funeral service was held at Faith Lutheran Church, Columbus, Ohio, December 5, with internment at Greenwood Cemetery, Wheeling, West Virginia, the following day.
Jim had been an active member of the LHC for many years, serving as board and commission member, treasurer, vice president, local arrangements co-chair, editor of this Newsletter for 16 years, membership secretary, and of course most recently, as president.
Jim was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, July 28, 1932, to the Rev. Lewis C. and Helen W. Schaaf. After his father's death in 1934, Jim moved to and grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia. He attended Capital University and Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary, now Trinity, both in Columbus, Ohio, receiving his B.A. in 1954 and B.D. in 1958. He received his Doctor of Theology degree with his thesis, "Wilhelm Loehe's Relation to the American Church," from Ruprecht-Karl University, Heidelberg, Germany in 1961. Jim was ordained on August 5, 1962 by the American Lutheran Church, at St. James Lutheran Church, Wheeling. From 1962-1965 he served as pastor of a bilingual congregation, St. John Lutheran Church, Ottawa, Ontario.
In 1965 Jim joined the faculty of the seminary in Columbus, as Professor of Church History and remained in that position at Trinity until the time of his death. For the seminary, he also served as Registrar, 1988-1995, Acting Dean of Curricular Affairs, 1991-1992, Assistant to the Academic Dean, 1992-1995 and Archivist, 1972-1978, 1981-1988. He had also served as Guest Professor of Protestant Theology, at Universität Regensburg, Germany and was Supply Pastor, The American Lutheran Church, Brussels, Belgium, 1986. Jim had planned to retire in 1997. Jim was a recognized expert on Loehe and as expert translator. Among his publications are: as translator and editor, Three Books About the Church, by Wilhelm Loehe, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1968; translator, Martin Luther, by Martin Brecht (three volumes), Philadelphia/Minneapolis: Fortress, 1985-1993, as well as many articles and other educational resources, including several on Luther's catechisms.
Jim served as president of the Eastern District Luther League of the ALC, 1952-1956 and was the convention manager of the International Luther League Convention ALC, 1957-1958. At the time of his death he was also a member of the Archives Advisory Committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Other professional organizations Jim belonged to were the American Society of Church History, the American Society for Reformation Research, American Translators Association and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. He served on various committees of the Southern Ohio Synod ELCA as well as its predecessors in the American Lutheran Church. He was a member of Faith Lutheran Church, Columbus, where he had served as president of the congregation, as well as many other positions.
Jim married Phyllis Reeck on September 13, 1959. He is also survived by his daughters sons-in-law and grandson: Karen and Roger Southward and Susan and Craig Ferguson and their son, Jared James. The family requests that donations be made to the Mission Endowment Fund, Faith Lutheran Church, 730 Collingwood Ave., Columbus, OH, 43213 or Rose of Concern Fund of Lutheran Village, 935 N. Cassady, Columbus, OH 43219. Condolences may be sent to: Mrs. Phyllis Schaaf, 713 Strawberry Hill Rd., Columbus, OH 43213.
Through the work of Marvin Huggins and Robert E. Smith, a prototype Home Page for the LHC has been created on the World Wide Web. Hosted by Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, the page contains basic information on the purpose of the LHC, membership information, including the name and address of the membership secretary, as well as links to other Internet/World Wide Web resources of interest. Since the home page was available before the meeting in Fort Wayne, a registration form for the recent meeting was also included. Web pages can supply timely materials, but also require maintenance, to make sure that out-dated information is corrected. The LHC Board has officially appointed Marvin Huggins to oversee the on-going needs of the web page. Things to come on the page include the annual bibliographies, newsletters and table of contents of LHC publications on-line, as well as new electronic versions of out-of-print LHC publications. In addition, descriptions of members' research in progress or links to other resources related to Lutheran history may be developed.
Access the LHC Home Page is at the URL address: http://www.ctsfw.edu/LHC/LHCHOME.HTM
Any comments or concerns related to the web page, contact either Marvin: marvinh@pobox.com or Bob: bob_smith@ctsfw.edu
Robert F. Scholz, 171 N. Walnut, Massepequa Park, NY 11758, is supervising and conducting interviews for an oral history project for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Metropolitan New York Synod. Interviews will be conducted with New York Lutheran leaders, lay and clergy, who were active in the three ELCA predecessors and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in the last half century. The interviews will be used by Bob in his third volume of New York Lutheranism, but will also eventually be placed in the synod archives and will serve as a resource for other scholars.
David L. Lindberg, 2101 Habberton Ave., Park Ridge, IL 63376-5007, has been named archivist for the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. David has been serving as chair of the LSTC Archives Advisory Committee and recently has taken the U.S. National Archives two-week institute. He has also been a volunteer "intern" with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Archives, organizing Japan mission materials and creating an historical exhibit.
Michael J. Kurtz, 960 Aqua Ct., Annapolis, MD 21401-4743, has new responsibilities to head the headquarters office of the National Archives, which includes reference, description, records administration and appraisal, preservation, records declassification, the Center for Legislative Archives, the Center for Electronic Records and public programs. Michael has headed or served as the deputy for the office responsible for a number of these areas for many years prior to these recent changes, which are part of staff reorganization related to the start of a ten-year strategic plan announced for the National Archives.
Elisabeth Wittman, ELCA Archives, 8765 W. Higgins Rd, Chicago, IL 60631, has been named to the Society of American Archivists Appointments Committee and to the Illinois State Archives Advisory Board.
Erich R.W. Schulz, 1502-6 Willow St., Waterpark Place, Waterloo, Ontario N2J4F3, retired librarian, Waterloo Lutheran University, and current archivist for the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, has been honored by the establishment of the Erich Schulz Endowment at the university. Begun by university alumnus David Gray, the fund has grown to over $10,000 and will be used to supplement the acquisitions budget of the university library. In his 31-year career as librarian Schulz oversaw major growth in the size of the collections and staff as well as three major construction projects and automation for the library.
The LHC is pleased to welcome the following new members since the last issue of this newsletter was published:
Sarah Fox Roth, CuratorSince the Archives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has added information to the ELCA's World Wide Web Home Page this past summer, something new has been added. In 1992, ELCA librarian, Claire Buettner, had created an on-line public access catalog for the library and archives of the ELCA, available only on the ELCA's local area network. Now, via the ELCA web page, anyone can access this database of holdings information, which uses key word searching. This database information is also included in OCLC, a national bibliographic utility. The file conversion was made possible in part through a grant from the Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation. To access the database, the URL address is: http:/www.elca.org/os/library.html
The Luther Seminary Archives has also embarked on a web project. Interpretive text and thumbnail images of 8-10 museum objects from the seminary's "Mission Heritage Collection," are now available via the seminary's web page. To access this information, see the Luther Seminary World Wide Web home page: http:/www.luthersem.edu
The Lutheran Historical Society of Eastern Pennsylvania celebrated the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Revolutionary War patriot, general and pastor, John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, at its annual meeting held at Muhlenberg College on October 26, 1996. The attendees witnessed a one-act play written by the Rev. Carl D. Shankweiler. In the first scene, John Peter is portrayed in a soul struggle leading to his decision to proclaim to his congregation at Woodstock, Virginia his acceptance of a military commission. In the second scene, he is congratulated by General Lafayette on leading the attack which resulted in victory at Yorktown. In the final scene, John Peter and his father, the Rev. Henry Melchior, review the impact of the American Revolution on their lives.Following the play a wreath was placed at the base of the statue of General "Pete" by Professor George Bannon, president of the society and retired Muhlenberg College faculty member and President Arthur Taylor of Muhlenberg College.
Hartwick College, Oneonta, New York will celebrate its Bicentennial beginning January 1997. The anniversary of the non-denominational college will take note of its origins as the first Lutheran seminary in the United States. The Rev. John Christopher Hartwick, born in Germany, January 6, 1714 had the dream of beginning an American Lutheran Seminary. Although he died just before the school became a reality in 1797, through his vision and will he is considered founder of the school.
Among the events taking place in January related to Rev. Hartwick is a celebration of his birthday; a lecture by LHC member Susan Wilds McArver on "American Lutheran Pietism," January 9; a celebration of the colonial Lutheran Liturgy of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, at Evangelical Lutheran Church, January 12; and a lecture on January 13 by Alan Taylor on "The New Jerusalem: William Cooper and John Christopher Hartwick."
Also for the Hartwick bicentenary Hartwick College: 1797-1997 by Ronald H. Bailey has been published. The author was senior editor and director of photography at Life magazine. The 172-page book contains over 100 photographs covering the entire history of the college. The book is available for $35, check payable to Hartwick College, from: Joan Place, Institutional Advancements, Hartwick College, Oneonta, New York 13820.
For a full list of events and information, contact: Bill Brophy, Public Relations, Hartwick College, 607-431-4030; sodomaj@hartwick.edu or http://www.hartwick.edu
The winner of this year's $1,000 prize is Earl K. Johnson, Jr., who graduated with the MAR degree from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, May 1996. The winning essay, titled, "The Reverend Jehu Jones (1786-1852): First African American Lutheran Minister," which will also be published in The Lutheran Quarterly. His mentors at the seminary include archivist John E. Peterson and professors Katie Day, Gordon Lathrop and Faith Rohrbough. Johnson is currently a graduate student in library science at Drexel University.
The Wentz Prize competition is held annually and is open to theological seminary students at 18 seminaries for the best work of historical research and writing in the field of American Lutheranism. The prize honors Wentz who served as professor at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and was recognized as a leading historian and interpreter of American Lutheran history. Sponsored by the seminary and the Lutheran Historical Society, Gettysburg, for more information, contact: The Wentz Prize Committee, c/o LHS,G, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, PA 17325-1795.
The Pennsylvania German Society's annual volume for 1996 is: Hopeful Journeys: German Immigration, Settlement and Political Culture in Colonial America, 1717-1775, by Aaron Spencer Fogleman, professor at the University of Alabama. A volume in the Early American Studies series of the University of Pennsylvania Press, it traces German immigrants from their origins to the colonies. The author contends that once settled, a new ethnic identity was developed among the immigrants, who became Americanized without becoming less German. The volume is $35 and is available from: The Pennsylvania German Society, P.O. Box 397, Birdsboro, PA 19508-0397 or the University of Pennsylvania Press, 423 Guardian Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6097.
The James R. Crumley, Jr., ELCA Region 9 Archives, has published Volume 2 of the series, History and Heritage, containing the June 1995 Congregational Heritage Workshop presentations. The featured papers are those by Raymond W. Bost, Susan Wilds McArver and Carl F. W. Ficken, which together provide an overview of Southeastern Lutheran history from the colonial period to the present. Also included is the "Friends of the Archives," speech by Bishop H. George Anderson. The volume is available for $5 from: ELCA Region 9, 4201 N. Main St., Columbia, SC 29208; 803-754-2879.
The Rev. Morris "Bo" and Dorothy Sorenson have written, Beyond Expectation, The Story of a Family in Mission, a look at their lives from their small town roots to global missionaries to churchwide executive service. The illustrated book describes the Sorenson's work as missionaries in Japan which eventually led Bo to global mission executive service in the American Lutheran Church and then on to assistant to bishops in the American Lutheran Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The book is available for $14, plus $3 shipping (Minnesota residents add $.91 sales tax) from: Kirk House Publishing, P.O. Box 39759, Minneapolis, MN 55439; 612-835-1828.
Several congregational heritage workshops are planned for 1997 as follows:
May 15 - Conference on Congregational Anniversaries and Archives, Augustana College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Sponsored by Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Region 3 and Luther Seminary Archives. Contact: Paul A. Daniels, ELCA Region 3 Archives, 2481 Como Ave. West, St. Paul, MN 55108-1455; 612-641-3205.
May 21 - Same as the May 15 event above, held at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota.
June 8-9 - Congregation Heritage Workshop, Lutheran Southern Seminary, Columbia, South Carolina. Sponsored by and contact: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Region 9, 4201 N. Main St. Columbia, 29208; 803-754-2879.
July 13-15 - Congregation Heritage Workshop, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa. Contact: The Rev. Roger Peterson, Director of Church Relations, Luther College, 700 College Dr., Decorah, IA 52101-1045; 319-387-1271.