The Lutheran Review

Johann Konrad Wilhelm Loehe

A simple description of Wilhelm Loehe would be that he was born in Fuerth, Germany in 1808. His father died when he was eight years old. In his early studies at Erlangen he discovered the Lutheran Confessions. He became a pastor in 1837 in the small village of Neuendettelsau. He was a good pastor but never moved to a larger congregation. He died there in 1872. You would be justified in asking, “Then why is he remembered today, January 2, when there are lots of model pastors who serve small congregations and they don‘t get a special day?”

Loehe is an example that one does not need to be from a large place in order to have a large impact.

A hint of his impact is found in that the first four pastors at Holy Cross in Collinsville, Il, from 1848 to 1900, we all men trained by Loehe. Consider that the chapel at Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa is named in his honor.

He founded the Neuendettelsau foreign Mission Society at which he trained and sent pastors, not only to North America, but also to Australia, Brazil, New Guinea and the Ukraine.

He had an interest in restoring the liturgy. He developed a catechetical service in which catechumens were questioned weekly on Luther’s Small Catechism. Such a service was used at Holy Cross until the early 20^th century. The service of Prayer and Preaching in LSB, pp. 260-267, patterned on that tradition .

In a time of Pietism when formal worship and the sacraments were devalued, Loehe believed that Holy Communion was the center of parish life. “Worship is the most beautiful flower of earthly life.“ Of Holy Communion he wrote, “You have one week behind you, a new week lies in front of you. Between these two weeks is the day of Communion Sunday” like an island in the middle of an ocean. ( Treasury of Daily Prayer, p. 1080) The ministry of evangelism and service to the community flows from reception of the incarnate body and blood of Christ. His interest in Christian charity led to him to found a deaconess training house and homes for the aged. 

(Some research from the Treasury of Daily Prayer) 

Henry Muhlenberg House

From the Philadelphia Times Herald, an article highlights the life of Henry Muhlenberg and the house he lived in from 1776-1787.  In 1989, the Trappe Historical Society took ownership of the house, and it is on the National Register of Historical Places.  Henry Muhlenberg was a German Lutheran Pastor sent to the United States as a missionary. 

View: The Times Herald: Muhlenberg House

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