THE MYSTERY OF LUTHERANISM IN MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA

It’s fairly well known that the oldest Lutheran Church in Marion County, Florida, is St. John Lutheran Church in Summerfield, organized 1922. Oldest, however, doesn’t mean first. Lutheranism in Marion County dates back to the mid 19th century. Indeed, the first Lutheran Pastor in Florida was located in Ocala, the county seat of Marion County. And in that lies the great mystery of Lutheran Church history in Marion County.

The Florida Synod of the Lutheran Church in America published a history of the synod with this discussion of Lutheran beginnings.

The earliest record of Lutherans in Florida indicates that there were scattered groups of them in the north central part of the state. Settlers who had located in Columbia County a few miles south of Lake City had come there in the 1850's from South Carolina where they had been members of Lutheran congregations. Their names indicate that they were of German descent.

In 1858 the Evangelical Lutheran Synod and Ministerium of South Carolina and Adjacent States (cited hereafter as the Synod of South Carolina) appropriated $300 to send a missioner to Florida. By using this fund the Synod was able to send a pastor into Florida to investigate the need for pastoral services among the Lutherans who had settled there. This pastor, the newly ordained Charles H. Bernheim, made Ocala his headquarters. Having heard of Lutherans in Columbia County, he went to visit them and began holding services. In 1859 he organized a congregation with the name of Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church, a congregation still in existence.

This congregation, whose members were engaged in agriculture, was first related to the Synod of South Carolina, and later to the Evangelical Lutheran Synod and Ministerium of Georgia and Adjacent States (cited hereafter as the Synod of Georgia) which was organized July 28, 1860. The pastors of Bethlehem Church were members of these synods.

Meanwhile, Missionary Bernheim explored the territory surrounding his Ocala location. He reported to the Synodical Missionary Society, which held a meeting in connection with the Synod's convention in October, 1859, that he had organized two congregations, and was preparing to organize several others. “Three churches are about to be erected, and a school house large enough to answer as a temporary house of worship. Twenty-four white and twenty colored members have been received, and others are prepared for taking this step as soon as an opportunity is offered.”

The Minutes of Synod list Bernheim's parish as consisting of congregations at Long Swamp, Ocatee, and Columbia County, Florida. The Long Swamp congregation was in the process of erecting a building The Synod received a request signed by twenty-three members of the Columbia County congregation for admission to Synod, and a similar petition from eighteen persons of the Long Swamp group. The Synod accepted both congregations into its membership.

It is not clear why only Bethlehem Church in Columbia County survived, nor what became of the other congregations. For some time in the 1870's and 1880's the pastor of Bethlehem Church ministered also to Ebenezer Church, which is not otherwise identified, and also in 1883 to St. Stephen's Church whose location is not stated.

The members of Bethlehem Church preserved its life during the years of the Civil War and the Reconstruction Period when they had no pastor. Even a hurricane in 1896, which destroyed the church building and devastated the area, did not defeat them, for they rebuilt the edifice and continued the life of the congregation.

The whole story is curious. Why did Pastor Bernheim come to Ocala in the first place? There were other places less wild in Florida to work in. (The Seminole Wars had ended less than 20 years before.) I like solving mysteries, so I have started in on this one.

My first issue was where the information came from that is in this history. Always check your sources. Some of it was from Synodical minutes, the rest from a thesis: History of the Lutheran Church in Florida by E. P. Weber. It took me less than a week to track down the thesis and, $13 later, I have a copy of the pertinent pages before me. Where did Pastor Weber get his informtation? From “The Beginnings of Lutheranism in Florida, and an Outline of the History of Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Congregation, Columbia Country, Florida, 1859-1939” by the Rev. E. C. Witt. I need to get a copy of that to see what’s in it, but the source is first-hand information. E. C. Witt was not only the pastor of Bethlehem Church at three different times, he was a son of one of the founding families. The only problem with this is that the whole perspective is from that congregation. As far as I can tell, no one has investigated what was going on in Marion County other than looking at old maps to find out where Long Swamp was. (It’s near modern-day Belleview.)

So off I went to look in local histories for information. The name of Charles H. Bernheim does appear, but always in only one connection. Here’s what it says in "Ocala Prior to 1868" by Eloise Robinson Ott:

There were at this time several private schools, one of which was the Freestone Springs Academy a few miles southwest of Ocala, conducted by Chas. H. Bernheim, a Lutheran minister.

Several sources repeat the same information noting that the school was near Camp Izard,

situated in a strictly moral neighborhood where children and youths are free of the ruinous influence of evil company and the temptation of spending money.

I have confirmed that Pr. Bernheim was living in Marion County in 1860 as his name appears on the 1860 census. However, there is nothing in local records that I can find so far that confirms an establishment of Lutheran Churches here. The history shows that Pr. Bernheim resigned from Bethlehem church in 1861 to be replaced by the Rev. Festus Hickerson. My new discovery is that Charles Bernheim was still in Ocala in 1865 and 1866. I found records of marriages that he performed between January of 1865 and April 1866. Unfortunately the records before that date that are available to me do not record the name of the ministers. I also discovered one marriage performed in 1865 by William A. Julian, the other Lutheran pastor who was sent to Ocala and who would serve Bethlehem church as pastor from 1893-1898 and did subsequent work in Melrose, Florida.

I have some further speculations about Lutheranism in Marion County, but I’ll save them for a future blog.

May the Lord who holds past, present, and future together, bless you on your journey and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne

13339

LAW AND GOSPEL

Here’s an issue that will surprise a lot of Christians. Can the Bible give us moral rules for life? Most Christians answer, well of course it does. Yet there are a growing number of Christians who reject such a use of Scripture. The roots of this attitude are in a view called “antinomianism” (against the law). The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church defines antinomianism as “the view that Christians are by grace set free from the need of observing any moral law.”  Some form of antinomianism crops up within Christianity every so often, but it was really in Lutheran Reformation that a battle over it took place.

The issue arises because of a fundamental belief that people are saved by grace through faith. It is based on the writings of Paul, for example Galatians 2:16: “we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.” At first this sounds antinomian, but it can’t be if taken with the whole of Paul’s theology. For example, Romans 7:12 says: “So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.” That doesn’t sound anti-law at all. What’s going on here?

The question is how we are put right before God. Human beings sin and cannot rescue themselves from sin. They must receive forgiveness from God as a free gift. No one can do anything to deserve this gift. As a matter of fact, if we think we can do anything to deserve God’s forgiveness, we make our condition worse because we depend upon ourselves and not God. That is the root of sin.

This understanding of the law is evident in Jesus’ teachings. He shows again and again how those think they are keeping the law are deluding themselves. Take for example murder. Most people can say they haven’t murdered anybody, and therefore have kept at least that part of the law.  But then there is Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire” (Mat 5:21-22).  Given that interpretation, no one has kept the command against murder and therefore everyone deserves to be judged. A person’s only hope is in Jesus Christ which is what Paul was saying: “a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.”

If, then, we can’t be saved by our own obedience to the law, is the believer free to disregard all moral constraints?  Of course not! Once again a quote from Paul. “Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin” (Rom 6:1b-6).


This brings us to another important concept, the distinction between Law and Gospel in the Scripture. Here is how the Epitome of the Formula of Concord explains the difference. “We believe, teach, and confess that the Law is properly a divine doctrine, which teaches what is right and pleasing to God, and reproves everything that is sin and contrary to God's will” (V.3). “But the Gospel is properly such a doctrine as teaches what man who has not observed
the Law, and therefore is condemned by it, is to believe, namely, that Christ has expiated and made satisfaction for all sins, and has obtained and acquired for him, without any merit of his [no merit of the sinner intervening], forgiveness of sins, righteousness that avails before God, and eternal life” (V.5).  So the Law points out what we should do and therefore shows us our sin. The Gospel is the Good News of Jesus Christ that tells us that we are forgiven and have received eternal life from God.

Classical Lutheran teaching is that we need both Law and Gospel. First, the Law tells us how to run civil society. It says things like it wrong to murder or steal. Second, it shows us our sins. That helps us to see how great God’s mercy is in forgiving us when we don’t deserve it. It seems obvious to me that without this use of the law, we would go about thinking we’re doing just fine and don’t really need forgiveness (or much of anything else) from God.  But then comes the controversial third use of the law.

“We believe, teach, and confess that, although men truly believing [in Christ] and truly converted to God have been freed and exempted from the curse and coercion of the Law, they nevertheless are not on this account without Law, but have been redeemed by the Son of God in order that they should exercise themselves in it day and night” (VI. 2). The Law shows how those believe in Christ are to live. It doesn’t do it by threatening punishment (that’s the second use), but shows us what we willing do.

I agree with the orthodox Lutheran position that both Law and Gospel are necessary. Yet increasingly I hear versions of Law and Gospel that seem to turn the two against each other. The Gospel is regarded as the only thing worthwhile in Scripture while the Law is some nasty leftover to be ignored, like that stuff in the back of your refrigerator that turned fuzzy blue-green long about New Years Day. Those who buy into that version of things condemn as legalists and fundamentalists anyone who looks for the Scripture to condemn sin or to show what a Christian life should be like are.

I find this turn of thinking deeply troubling. It isn’t surprising, however. I keep hearing remarks from Christians, even Lutheran clergy, that the Bible is just a book of stories. I heard a remark made at a Synod Assembly that we shouldn’t be guided by some book thousands of years old. I am saddened, but not surprised.

I believe with all my mind and heart that people are saved solely by the grace of God. I also believe that receiving that grace in faith means we are changed. I ought to live as a different person. As Paul instructs the Romans: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2).  Scripture is the rule and guide for that new life in Christ. Both Law and Gospel are necessary lest we arrive at the condition H. Richard Niebuhr described in Kingdom of God in America “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a Kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross.”

Lord, have mercy.

May the Lord bless you on your journey and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne





13284

INSPIRING

This week I am writing about three wonderful days at “Inspiring Worship: The Third Annual University of Florida Sacred Music Workshop.”  It started off with a bang-up carillon recital by Dr. Laura Ellis. It amazes me that a great big, heavy carillon can be played with such virtuosity. 

Then there was a splendid concert by the Orlando Deanery Boychoir and Girls Choir.  I really miss directing a children’s choir, but that is years and years in my past. In those good old days there were churches that had three or more children’s choirs.  That is gone. Nowadays you hear groups called “youth choirs” that sing over a CD and haven’t got a clue about how to sing. But these Orlando choirs were a world apart from that. Terrific!

Next day started our learning. Claire Hodge was particularly noteworthy in talking about voice production. (She directs the Girls Choir).  I wish I would have known about her a few years ago. She would be the perfect vocal coach for training some of the young people I have known locally. She emphasizes the need to concentrate on technique, which is what I would do if I were still teaching. Learning a lot of repertoire is useless if you don’t have the technique to perform it.

Next I chose a choral reading session which was led by graduate student Alyssa Rodgers (who has a marvelous voice). I like going through new choral music. I wouldn’t know what’s being done with out these sorts of things.  After that I fumbled my way through Music Technology Class. In my day musical technology meant piano tuning or learning to fix broken clarinets. Not anymore. It’s all about computers. Part of time we learned about making computer slides for lyrics. If you’ve read my earlier blog  http://a-pilgrims-place.blogspot.com/2010/02/let-us-sing-powerpoint-slide-2567.html  you know I don’t think much about doing this. Then we learned a bit about Finale, a program for writing music. It certainly is easier to use than Noteworthy Composer, but it costs an arm and a leg. Given that no one ever performs anything I write, it’s hardly worth my spending money to buy the more costly program. 

That night was Hymn Festival arranged by David Cherwien. Dr. Cherwien played the magnificent organ (and occasionally piano) and directed a choir put together for the occasion. (Thank you UofF students for sticking around to sing.) What I love about these festivals is that they show what could be done with hymn and congregational song with some imagination. I really wish I could have had a whole bunch of people I know present. It’s a thrilling experience.  I think a lot of the push toward contemporary worship is a result of just plain dull traditional worship. It doesn’t have to be that way.

The next day Dr. Cherwien gave two presentations “Blended Styles: One Song” and “Sing through Choices” which were very helpful in clarifying some things I have been thinking of. I really think it has been a mistake to divide congregations by musical styles. We rob ourselves of forms of expression when we refuse to use the full musical riches that are available to us.

I didn’t stay for Dr. Ellis’s Organ Masterclass, though I am sure it was excellent, because my skills are so poor that I would need to have very basic instruction, like–this is a white key and this is a black key.

Anyway, thanks to Laura Ellis for organizing this workshop, thanks to Ayssa Rodgers for coordinating it, and thanks to the University of Florida hosting it.

May the Lord bless you on your journey and greet you on your arrival.


Wayne











13248

BACK AGAIN

Well, I’m back from our Synod’s Assembly. The worship was quite good and there were inspirational moments especially in connection with the work the church is doing in Haiti. It was a fairly quiet assembly with little of great controversy. I suspect a lot of people were happy about that, but it makes me wonder. 

There was one resolution that would have required that social statements be adopted by congregational votes. The motion lost but, but there was still a substantial number of people (about one-third, I think) who voted for it.  I think there are a good many people who feel frustrated and disenfranchised. I am really worried about what will happed to people who disagree with major decisions by the national church.

The only thing that really riled me was that clergy were scolded for not making sure the people in their congregations know what’s going on at national and synod level. The real problem is that the Powers-That-Be have shifted to electronic communication as a cost saving measure. Having information on web sites is all right if the driving force is people wanting to find information. It is useless if the driving force is people wanting to give information. Since people don’t care in the first place, they are not going to go looking for information. They don’t perceive a need. The Higher-Ups want to communicate things, but they expect their audience to come to them to receive it. It is exactly the same thing that churches do wrong in evangelism. They sit in their buildings expecting non-believers to wander in and convert themselves. What nonsense!

Our Synod is launching a big fund-raising campaign for 2.5 million. A half-million is for work in Haiti (something very much needed.)  The other 2 million is for a variety of projects that are still a little murky, but we’re getting somewhat of a clearer picture. I am not sure the average person in the pew is going to understand what it's about. I have warned the Powers-That-Be to avoid jargon, but they can’t seem to part with it. For example, there is a reference to “missional congregation grants.” I have never been clear what a missional congregation is, or, for that matter, what a non-missional congregation would be. Missional seems to be the latest buzz word in many denominations. (By the way, my spell-check doesn’t like the word ‘missional’) It has something to do with “mission,” but I’d like to know exactly what mission.

As a Christian, I assume THE mission is the one Christ gave: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mat 28:19-20). I’m not sure, however, that the Lutheran church really understands that as the mission. My brand-new handy-dandy Lutheran Study Bible claims that these verse do “not mean make everyone disciples.” Huh? That’s what I was always taught the words meant. I thought we were supposed to make disciples of everyone.  Evidently according to some Learned Person, I am wrong. That’s why I’m not sure what our mission really is and even less do I understand what it is to be missional.

The other Big Word is transformational as in “transformational leaders.” (Spell-check doesn’t like ‘transformational’ either.) Isn’t there a professor at Hogwarts who teaches transformation? Would she be a transformational leader. No, wait. Harry Potter learns Transfiguration, not Transformation. Sounds like a distinction without a difference. I want to know what the transformational leader is going transform and what it’s going to be transformed into. I guess a transformational leader transformationalizes the unmissional into the missional, or something. Bippity-boppity-boo!

That marvelous guide to writing, The Elements of Style declares in rule V,14: “Avoid the elaborate, the pretentious, the coy, and the cute. Don’t be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able.”

Maybe I’ll send a copy to the Powers-That-Be at headquarters.

May the Lord bless you on your journey and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne






13203