The “Lutheran” church traces it’s origins to Martin Luther (1483-1546) the Roman Catholic monk, priest and scholar who challenged both Pope and Emperor in a dispute over how salvation is received by believing Christians. Originally the dispute was over the sale of indulgences, written guarantees of salvation by the Pope which were used to raise money for the construction of St. Peters Basilica in Rome. Luther’s protest, now called the 95 Theses caused a firestorm of activity in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Eventually condemned by the church and the Emperor Charles V as a heretic and outlaw, Luther carried on with his work until his death in 1546. The movement he inspired, now called the Protestant Reformation, produced far reaching changes in the life of ordinary Christians as well as Western European History. Luther is regarded as the original “dissenter” and the third most influential person of that last millennium.

   While much has been written about Luther, the Reformation and its consequences, his work resulted in a few basic principals that are common to many Protestant churches. The first was that Holy Scripture, the Bible is the ultimate authority of the church.: the second is that our faith is not purchased by good works but rather our salvation comes to us by our faith in the salvation Christ has won for us on the Cross. Therefore we are saved not by our efforts but by the grace of God, alone. Other ideas that were part of the Reformation was that the Bible ought to be in the language of the people. Luther himself translated the Bible into German, and his example was followed by other Protestant countries. In England, it eventually resulted in the “King James” version of the Bible, which was THE English Bible for centuries. Likewise the worship of the church was also to be in the language of the people. Finally, Luther taught that each of us, individually can have access to God directly, without mediation by pastor, priest or pope.

   Though these things are features of many Protestant denominations, and, in some respects, the post Vatican II Roman Catholic Church, Luther did not wish to change everything. He and his follows kept such basic teachings as doctrine of the Trinity and the Dual Nature of Christ as stated in the Apostle’s, Nicene and Athanasian Creeds and the Definition of Chalcedon. Likewise, Luther loved worship and music. Thus Lutherans are a liturgical church which, in somewhat altered form uses the Roman Rite liturgy. As for music, he founded the Protestant hymn with such works as “From Heaven above to Earth I come, Lord, Keep us Steadfast in your Word,” and “A Mighty Fortress,” Luther’s paraphrase of Psalm 46. Though still a heretic and outlaw, Luther founded the Protestant parsonage when he wed Katherine von Bora in 1525. Let it be known it was she who asked he. Together Luther and “Katie” had six children, four of which survived into adulthood. This union would last until Luther’s death in 1546.

   Though Luther did much, he did not do everything. Today, most Lutherans know him through the Small Catechism, which he wrote for his children. Yet all pastors of the Lutheran Church take an oath to uphold the teachings of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession of 1530. This document was written with Luther’s approval by Phillip Melancthon, Luther’s good friend, and fellow scholar at the University of Wittenberg, the place where he lived and taught for most of his life. Likewise, the Lutheran Church of today is the work of many people who followed in his train, adding to it in their own way.    Though 95 percent of Germany was Lutheran by the time of his death, the “Lutheran” Church had to struggle for its place especially in Europe. After Luther’s death there was a short, nasty little war. However, both Pope and Emperor decided to let things be, at least for a while, as Europe had to fight off the Turks. However, the primary conflict was the Thirty Years War, which took place in the 17th century. This vicious war, one of the most terrible conflicts between the European powers before World War I, ended in 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia. This treaty adopted the principal of “whomever the ruler, his religion,” as a way of deciding what religion would be followed in whatever duchy or princedom of Germany. This meant that most of Germany would be protestant, particularly Northern German as well as Brandenburg, Saxony, and all territories eastward to Poland. However, Bavaria and Southern Germany would remain Catholic, and are to this day.

   One result of the peace was the revival of Lutheran music. Both Johann Sebastian.Bach and George Frederick Handel were born in 1685, after the Peace of Westphalia. Germany was so devastated by the war that all organized musical activity had almost ceased. Yet out of this conflict came a new foundation for Lutheran church music. This was the German Chorale, or hymn. By 1685 there was a set “canon” of these hymns, which were often paired with certain hymn tunes. One such example is “O Sacred Head Now Wounded,” the Passion Chorale which Bach used extensively in the St. Matthew Passion. The chorale also shaped both organs and organists, leading as Albert Schweitzer said, to the “one true organ style.” Both Bach and Handel were trained as organists, and played these hymns. We can hear their influence especially in the music of Bach. Some of these hymns are still sung to this day. Of course the music of Bach and Handel are still performed to this day. Who could imagine a Christmas time without Messiah, or Easter without the St. Matthew Passion.

   By the time Bach and Handel died in the mid 18th century, the Lutheran church was on the move, this time to the New World. The first Lutheran churches were in what is now Delaware, which was originally New Sweden. However, when the British took over the colony in 1684, these early Lutheran churches eventually became Anglican (Episcopal) Churches. However, the Lutheran Church would eventually take hold in another colony.

   Many Lutherans in the United States trace their church back to Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, who was originally sent to Southeastern Pennsylvania as an interim pastor. He stayed for the rest of his life, going from church to church, preaching, teaching, and ministering to the fledgling Lutheran congregations in and around York, Hannover, Lancaster and other parts of Pennsylvania Dutch country. He also published a hymnal standardized the Liturgy and taught Luther’s Small Catechism. Though initially called to Pennsylvania, Muhlenberg traveled to churches in New York and Maryland. So well regarded was he by his fellow clergy that he was often called to resolve conflicts between Lutheran congregations and sometimes non Lutheran congregations. Besides all that, he founded the Pennsylvania Ministerium, the first organized body of American Lutherans. Eventually, the Pennsylvania Ministerium became the General Synod, which founded Gettysburg Seminary, and in 1918 became a part of the United Lutheran Church in America. Eventually the United Lutheran Church merged with two other Lutheran groups to form the Lutheran Church in American, which, in 1988, joined with two other major Lutheran groups to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran body in the United States.

   Muhlenberg married Anna Maria Weiser in 1745. Together they had a family of eleven children. Three of his sons entered the ministry, though they became active in the life of their new country. Peter left his pulpit to become a major-general in the Continental Army, then entered Congress after the war. Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg became the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Henry Ernst Muhlenberg was an early American scientist, who eventually became president of what is now Franklin and Marshall College. Yet though his sons gained prominence, it is the work of their father who remains to this day.