24. Activity in New York.--In New York Falckner was succeeded by W.
Ch. Berkenmeyer (1686-1751). Berkenmeyer was born in the duchy of
Lueneburg and had studied theology at Altorf under Dr. Sontag, a
theologian whose maxim was, "Quo propius Luthero, eo melior theologus,
The closer to Luther, the better a theologian." Upon request of the New
York congregation the Lutheran Consistory of Amsterdam, in 1724, called
him to serve the Dutch congregations in the Hudson Valley. While _en
route_ to his new charge, he was informed that a vagabond preacher by
the name of J. B. von Dieren, a former tailor, had succeeded in
ingratiating himself with the New York Lutherans, and had been accepted
as their preacher. Nothing daunted, Berkenmeyer continued his journey,
landing at New York in 1725. At the first meeting of the Church Council
he won the hearts of all, even of those who had been instrumental in
foisting von Dieren upon the congregation, who now stood convicted as
an ignorant pretender, and therefore was dismissed. Dieren continued his
agitation in other Lutheran congregations until Berkenmeyer in 1728
published a tract fully exposing the character of the impudent impostor.
From the beginning Berkenmeyer's labors were blessed abundantly.
Bringing with him money collected by the Lutherans in Amsterdam and
receiving additional financial help from London and the congregations of
Daniel Falckner, Berkenmeyer was enabled to resume the building
operations in New York begun as early as 1670 (1705). On June 29, 1729,
the New Trinity Church was dedicated. Berkenmeyer's parish covered a
large territory. In addition to New York, Albany, and Loonenburg he
served the congregations at Hackensack, Raritan, Clavernack, Newton,
West Camp, Tar Bush, Camp, Rheinbeck (where a new church was dedicated
on the First Sunday in Advent, 1728), Schenectady, Coxsackie, and in the
Schoharie Valley. In Schoharie he baptized the infant daughter of Conrad
Weiser, who eighteen years later became the wife of Henry Melchior
Muhlenberg. In the absence of churches, Berkenmeyer preached in private
dwellings or, more frequently, in barns. At one of these services
fourteen children were baptized in the "Lutheran barn" of Pieter Lassing.
(176.) This immense parish was divided in 1731, Berkenmeyer removing to
Loonenburg. Pastor Christian Knoll of Holstein was called to take charge
of the southern congregations in and about New York. Berkenmeyer
delivered his farewell sermon November 26, 1732, and sixteen days later
Knoll preached his first sermon. In 1734 the Lutheran clergy received an
addition in the person of Magister Wolff, who succeeded the aged and
infirm Daniel Falckner at Raritan and five other congregations in New
Jersey. In the same year the three Lutheran pastors and a number of
congregations organized the first Lutheran Synod in America, with
Berkenmeyer as chairman. Its first and only convention of which we have
record was held at Raritan, August 20, 1735; nine congregations were
represented by delegates. The chief business of Synod was to settle a
quarrel between Wolff and his congregations, one of the charges
preferred against the pastor being that he read his sermons instead of
delivering them from memory ("statt aus dem Haupte zu predigen"). Peace
was restored, but temporarily only. Berkenmeyer continued his ministry
in Loonenburg for twenty years. Like other Lutheran divines of his day,
the Swedes and Salzburgers not excepted, he kept two slaves, whom he
himself united in marriage in 1744. Also during his declining years
Berkenmeyer experienced much sorrow. His end came on August 26, 1751.
The closing words of his epitaph are: "He has elected us in Christ
before the foundation of the world; there is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." In the same year Knoll,
who, owing to disputes arising from the language question, had been
compelled to resign at New York, took charge of the Loonenburg
congregation and continued there until 1765.
25. Berkenmeyer's Sturdy Lutheranism.--Though not clear in some points
and, at times, rigorous in discipline, Berkenmeyer stood for a sound and
decided Lutheranism. His orthodoxy appears from the very library which
he selected and brought with him for the congregation in New York,
consisting of twenty folios, fifty-two quartos, twenty-three octavos,
and six duodecimos, among them Calovius's _Biblia Illustrata_,
Balduinus's _Commentarius in Epistolas S. Pauli_, Dedekennus's
_Consilia_, Huelsemann's _De Auxiliis Gratiae_, Brochmand's _Systema,
etc_. Owing to his staunch orthodoxy, Berkenmeyer also had an aversion
to the Pietists, and refused to cooperate with Muhlenberg and his
colaborers from Halle. He disapproved of, and opposed, the unionistic
practises of the Swedish and Halle pastors. Speaking of Berkenmeyer's
pastorate in New York, Dr. Graebner remarks: "In a firm and faithful
manner he had preserved for himself and his congregation, both in
doctrine and practise, a staunch Lutheran character, which banished the
very thought of fraternizing with the heterodox. At the same time,
though a German theologian and commanding an easy, flexible, and
forceful Latin, he was a genial Dutchman among his Dutch parishioners,
perfectly adapting himself to their manners." (186.) He was firm and
consistent, but not fanatical, bigoted, or narrow. "In 1746, when the
Reformed pastor Freylinghausen lay ill with the smallpox at Albany,
Berkenmeyer visited him. But never did he establish an intimately
friendly intercourse with the Reformed pastors, and in church-matters
he was determined to keep himself and his people separate from the
Reformed. In the German congregations, such as those in and about
Newton, where Lutherans lived among the Reformed, with whom, after
suffering together with them, they had emigrated, warnings against
apostasy and unionistic practises were even more necessary than in the
Dutch congregations, especially, as the Reformed made concessions to
Lutherans uniting with them, _e.g._, by having the Lutheran children
recite the Lutheran Catechism in the catechetical instructions of
children (Christenlehren). Berkenmeyer, however, knew how to keep
awake the Lutheran conscience. When, in 1736, the Calvinists on the
Katsbaan, several miles from Newton, forbade their lector henceforth
to have the children recite the Lutheran Catechism, this led to a
declaration on the part of the Lutherans to the effect that they would
no longer attend services at their church. At Schoharie, Berkenmeyer
had to preach in the Reformed church; but that did not prevent him from
testifying against joint services. He declared that in such union,
without unity in the faith, the pastor was required to become 'either a
dumb dog or a mameluke'; the theme of his sermon here was: 'Our Duty to
Defend the Truth against the Gainsayers.'" (207.) The same earnestness
characterized Berkenmeyer's dealings with pastors, whom he recognized
only after they had confessed their Lutheranism in clear and unequivocal
terms.