Instructions of Adam Ernst and Georg Burger by Wilhelm Loehe and Johann Wucherer Translated by Erika Bullmann Flores As Transcribed in James L. Schaaf, "Wilhelm Loehe's Relations to the American Church: A Study in the History of Lutheran Mission," Heidelberg University, Ph.D. Dissertation, 1961, Appendix III. ---------------------- In the Name of Jesus 1. Beloved brothers Adam Ernst and Georg Burger. You are going to North America voluntarily, no one has persuaded you. The risks have been explained to you often and emphatically. You recognized the difficulties, but remained determined to go. Thus we let you go. May the Lord oversee your travels. May He give you wisdom, strength, and patience, and may you be a blessing. Of you it ought to be written: "Following your victory your people will serve you willingly, adorned with sacred finery." 2. We recognize and confess within your own hearing that instead of you--or at least together with you--we would have preferred to send ordained servants of the holy church. However, there is lack of those, and so we bless and support you. We are convinced that we are not doing wrong, that the Lord can bless your willingness in the same manner in which he blessed the first Moravian brethren sent to the heathens. 3. You are traveling as skilled tradesmen. That is what you are and shall remain. Were you ashamed of that, you'd be lacking an attribute sorely needed: humility. Remember Acts 18:1-4, 20:34, 1.Cor. 4:12. Remember St. Paul, 1. Cor. 9:13 ff, and do not consider it loss or harm if your hands' work provides more sustenance than the Gospel which you are now serving. May Psalm 128:2 be your joy. 4. (Omitted) 5. You are traveling in the name of the Lord for His work. Let your travels be consecrated with prayer and God's word. In the name of Jesus we demand of you--whose four hands are to bring forth all sorts of works--not to let morning or evening pass without prayer, not a day without reading of scripture. That which is commanded of all people is especially commanded of you during your travels, to sanctify you for the work you desire to do. 6. Just as the Lord sent His own in twos and threes, so we are dedicating you two to the Lord. Be as one, though, in brotherly love. Do not quarrel. Your speech shall always be lovely and with grains of salt. Have salt with you and peace among yourselves. (Col. 4:6, Mark 9:50). Do not separate unless absolutely necessary. If you are together, though, let not the one demand of the other what he himself is not willing to do and give. Be content with what you have, with the Lord, the word, the faith which you have in common. One carry the other's load, thus you fulfill Christ's commandment. 7. Don't forget about us, your teachers who have taught you God's word, your friends and brothers in the Fatherland. Pray for us, as we will be praying for you, so that the harmony of the Spirit and the community of the saints be upon us, and we shall always remain members of the same body. We wish you luck for the sake of Jerusalem and yourselves. 8. After the Lord has mercifully brought you to the foreign shore, each of you immediately start working in your trade, until the Lord open a door for you. Learn the local ways of working in your trade, so that you earn your keep and need not serve the Lord's Gospel for pay. Should either of you not find work in his own trade, let him not be ashamed to do other kinds of work. The Lord may lead you wondrously, but He will not forsake you. Follow His ways, if they lead through darkness He will provide light, so that finally you will praise Him because he helps those who trust in Him. 9. After your arrival, offer your services to your brothers as elementary or religion teachers. You can do this utilizing local newspapers or some other way. It would be good if you could find work within a large settlement where you could also conduct school. Do not, however, eschew smaller villages and settlements. If you are serving several settlements, it would be advisable if you train their elders to become teachers, and then inspect and support their work as you travel about. Consider Iceland where a considerable level of education was achieved by the combined efforts of elders and traveling school teachers. 10. If you can connect with faithful, true and loyal preachers of our church, do so. Do it joyfully and voluntarily and be obedient to those who are Elders of the Lord. Nothing is more dangerous than to be alone, without counsel, going one's own way. Nothing is more lovely to the humble than to obey wise counsel. However, do not make your connections lightly, test the spirits to make sure they are of God, for we have heard that the people in North America are very wicked. 11. If you come into an area difficult to reach by a traveling preacher of the Evangelical-Lutheran church, where the children are without baptism and confirmation, the confirmed without absolution and the sacrament of the altar, couples without sanction of marriage, the dead unburied, offer yourselves to an Evangelical-Lutheran Synod or other Evangelical-Lutheran administration. Have yourselves examined, as the apostle has commanded, and if found fit, serve the Lord in the Holy Office according to the abilities and strength the Lord has given you. For it is much better that these poor lost sheep are led to pasture and cooling waters by you, than to be without. Thus they will remain within the holy church and not fall prey to heretics and sects. However, should you be found not to be fit for this high office (James 3 ff.), do not undertake it on your own, but continue serving the Lord in school. 12. Should you ever attain the Holy Office, let us advise you that it is no easy thing to rightly preach God's word, regardless of how easily some seem to do this in a country where there is free speech everywhere. If this should happen, we are instructing you in advance to properly prepare yourself with the use of Luther's postiles and sermons by other faithful preachers. Do not say anything in a thoughtless manner. We direct you most earnestly to avoid the loud, brash, sermons of the Methodists which excite the nerves and the emotions, making short of the order of salvation. May the Lord protect you from this world and plant and nurture you in peace, according to His will. 13. Should you assume the Holy Office (though we hope that this will not become necessary), remain steadfastly with Luther's Catechism, regarding the church as well as school. Let the forword of the Small Catechism be a fount of true catechetical wisdom. Remain unpretentious. Don't preach where you should catechize, and with great thanks consider it precious to be able to implant a word, one of God's thoughts, into the hearts of children. Those who sow in tears reap with joy. 14. Should you ever administer the holy sacraments, we instruct you in advance never to use any liturgy other than the Evangelical-Lutheran one. In this instance, we will provide what is necessary. If we are unable to do so, you will not use any liturgy without our consent. 15. Whether you hold a priestly or teaching office, you are giving us your oath, both with your signature and handshake, to strictly adhere to the apostolic church, which now during this time of struggle is called Evangelical-Lutheran. You will avoid any community with any other church. Based on constitution and outward conduct of its members, no other congregation, no other church, is preferred over ours. That is the church of God which adheres to the holy sacraments and the word of God without adding or taking away from it. Remain there! We supported you thus far only for her service, and only for her service will be continue our support. Therefore, to give us peace of mind, and to strengthen your conscience, we require of you the written promise that you will remain with: a. the three age-old symbols of the apostles, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed, b. the Unaltered Augsburg Confession and the Apology, c. the Smalcald Articles, d. Luther's two Catechisms, e. the Formula of Concord. Moreover, you will diligently read and study these, and compare them with the Word of God. We are confident that the latter will not come from your own mouths and hearts. In this manner then you will be wholly prepared, strengthened, empowered, and become ever more certain of our common, most holy faith. Divergence from these would result in separation from us, and we would consider you physical and spiritual deceivers. 16. Even if the Lord should call you into the Holy Office, you should nevertheless continue with your manual work, unless administrations of the Holy Office take up all your time. This is to remind you from whence God has taken you, a memory which will keep you humble. For there is not a human being under the sun who is not tempted by pride. It is advisable, therefore, to make use of any good remedy against such pride, so as not to have God Himself for an opponent. 17. (Omitted) 18. Concerning your conduct, we are admonishing you to carry out your vocation in the same manner commanded by St. Paul of his own disciples Timothy and Titus and all others serving the Gospel. Be alert, aware of the fact that Satan will want to destroy your work! Abstain from fleshly lust which opposes the spirit, and strive for cleansing and consecration of the soul, without which no one shall see God. May the Lord make fast your vocation and your service, may He keep you till the end. 19. As long as you are supporting yourself with your trade, you will not receive any support from us. However, should you a. accept a teaching position we will gladly reimburse you for time spent to the best of our abilities. Also, we will b. gladly supply you with school books and religious reading material. Indeed, should the Lord bless your work, c. enabling you to prepare assistants, we will assist you here as well, to the best of our abilities. 20. We expect from you regular reports and letters, so that we know at all times how we can help you and for what to pray. The connection between us is a close one, for a great purpose, it shall not be severed. We therefore must be willing to bear sacrifices on its behalf. 21. Whenever you have the opportunity, occasionally enclose references (from those whom we can trust). This would increase your esteem among us and others, and joyfully assure both sides that our work is not in vain. 22. Finally, we express our heartfelt desire that it become possible for our brothers in the Fatherland to afford comprehensive, strong aid for our forsaken, Lutheran brothers in America. May you be the first swallows announcing the coming spring. May the many blessed German regions yield large numbers of evangelists, equipped with all sorts of talents, to the end that America too will join those countries of which we sing: "Full of His Glory." May the Lord grant our hope. Then you will be two small participants, having "flown ahead of spring", humbly joining the Lord's mighty Army. We are writing all this not as your lords, but your fathers--not in our names but in the name of Jesus--not with pride, but in the heartfelt desire to serve you and the Lord's work. As we are placing our names under this fare-well letter, so you too will sign your names to show that you are in agreement with us, witnessing before us and your friends that you vow to do what we demand of you. May the Lord bless you. Neuendettelsau, Saturday after St. John's Day, June 25, the day on which our fathers and sovereigns confessed the truth before the Emperor and the State. In the year 1842. Johann Friedrich Wucherer Johann Adam Ernst Hospital Chaplain in Noerdlingen and Pastor in Baldingen Johann Konrad Wilhelm Loehe Johann Georg Burger Pastor in Neuendettelsau ______________________________________________________________ This text was converted to ascii format for Project Wittenberg by Erika Flores and is in the public domain. You may freely distribute, copy or print this text. Please direct any comments or suggestions to: Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther Library at Concordia Theological Seminary. E-mail: bob_smith@ctsfw.edu Surface Mail: 6600 N. Clinton St., Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 USA Phone: (219) 452-2148 Fax: (219) 452-2126 ______________________________________________________________