On June 25th 1530 the Lutherans presented the Augsburg confession to Emperor Charles of the Holy Roman Empire. Written by Philip Melancthon and endorsed by Martin Luther, the confession is a brief summary of points in which the reformers saw their teaching as either agreeing with the ancient teachings of the church or differing from that of the Roman Catholic Church of the time.
While writing the history of Holy Cross, Collinsville, I found a description of the celebration of the 350th anniversary of the presentation of the Augsburg Confession.
“On Sunday, June 27, 1880, the day before the celebration in St. Louis, Holy Cross, Pleasant Ridge (Maryville) and Troy gathered for a festival at Collinsville Park, formerly Becker’s Grove. A regular worship service was held in the morning followed by a children’s program in the afternoon.”
An account in the St. Louis times (CHIQ Vol. 3, 1930 pp33-40) describes the events of the next day when all the churches met in St. Louis. The headline read, “Miles of Men - Procession five miles long from (Soulard, where Old Trinity, the original LCMS church in St. Louis is located) to the Fairgrounds.” (The fairgrounds were located in what is now north St. Louis)
A unit of mounted .police cleared the way. They were followed by the Arsenal band. “Following the marshals came the visitors. More than 600 visitors participated, including seminary students and the St. Louis Young Men’s Association. These were followed by another band (in those days each congregation had a band) and the St. Louis Orchestra. Next came the men of the St. Louis congregations. Fifty one wagons filled with school children followed the men and the bands. Each wagon was decorated with evergreens and flags. Banners on the wagons contained mottoes such as “Das Wort Sie Sollen Lassen Stahn,” The Word they still shall let remain. Behind the children came the seminary .professors and pastors likely riding in carriages. Then 276 carriages carrying young lades, almost all dressed in white, as well as their mothers and other relatives. The procession was completed by a two-mile train of wagons with members from area congregations. The parade started at 8:30 a.m. and the ended at 1:30 p.m.
After two hours of rest, the program began. It consisted mainly of singing led by a 1,000 voice choir and 200 musicians. Speeches were few and brief. The paper commented the next day, “The Germans as a class are not a speechmaking people…Had the celebration been an Irish or an American one, there would have been at least two hours of speeches, to which no one would care to listen.”
Given all that was done in 1880, how did you celebrate the presentation of the Augsburg Confession?
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