It proved to be very difficult at first to find a German pastor who would stay to serve the congregation for any length of time. Therefore these German Lutherans depended on the Swedish Lutheran pastors of the former New Sweden (Nya Sverige) colony to minister to them. Thus the still existing Swedish Gloria Dei church (Old Swedes’ church), built in 1699-1700, served also as “our” first church building.
A dramatic change occurred in 1742, when at long last there was found a German pastor willing to serve the German Lutherans in Philadelphia on a permanent basis. He was Heinrich Melchior Muehlenberg, sent out from Halle/Saale, at that time a center for Lutheran outreach and missionary activity. Pastor Muehlenberg turned out to be the right man in the right place at the right time. Under his energetic and capable leadership, the congregation flourished.
Zion's history and its pipe organ.
'via Blog this'
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GJ - The LCMS cannot admit that its founder was really Bishop Martin Stephan, STD, not C. F. W. Walther.
Stephan--also from Halle University--brought his cult to America. It remained a cult when Walther, who had no call and no job, usurped the bishop's position through subterfuge. Walther was called to his dead brother's congregation and reigned supreme.
