A WORD FOR TODAY, October 7, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, October 7, 2025
“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and Yahweh’s glory has risen on you! For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise on you, and his glory shall be seen on you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see: they all gather themselves together. They come to you. Your sons will come from far away, and your daughters will be carried in arms. Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you. The wealth of the nations will come to you.” Isaiah 60:1-5, WEB
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg was born in Germany in 1711. He was a Lutheran pastor by the time he was thirty years old. When German immigrants arrived in America, they tried to establish congregations around the colonies, but there were too few ordained Lutheran ministers for them to find a church home in their new country. They had difficulty competing against some of the other congregations that had solid leadership. Without trained ministers, the people followed strange ideologies and heresies. Henry was called to be a pastor in this New World.
Henry came to America in 1742 to lead three struggling congregations. He discovered that the congregations were disorganized and confused, so he quickly went to work. This was a common problem among the German Lutheran congregations in the colonies because they did not have good leadership. Henry worked with his congregations, established a solid constitutional model, and reached out to other Lutherans. His impact reached as far south as Georgia and as far north as the Hudson. He asked for more pastors to be sent from Germany, and he organized the first Lutheran Synod in America. He was ecumenical, too. He was often invited to speak and preach to fellow Christians because he spoke several languages
Henry impacted the world and the church he loved but his legacy reached well into the future. Most of his eleven children made names for themselves in the church, politics, the military, and education. He died on October 7, 1787. We celebrate his life today. His life was not easy. He traveled extensively to preach and to assist his colleagues with disputes. He had to fight heresy and stubbornness, ignorance and persecution. He stayed neutral during the American Revolution, which did not sit well with either side of the battle.
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg is known as the father of American Lutheranism because he established the organization that brought together the German Lutherans and impacted many Christians that were struggling to survive in the New World and hold on to their faith. Lutherans are not really known for missionary work or church planting, but Henry was a missionary and church planter. By the time he died he had helped establish dozens of congregations and bring many trained pastors to America. He also trained colonists to be strong and informed leaders in their congregations.
He never lost touch with his home and the people who had trained him in Germany though he was far away in the New World. They supported his career with funds and people. He fought the good fight and God made great things happen through him in the New World. The work he was called to do was not easy, but we are reminded that our strength is not in our ability to make good things happen, but in God’s grace. As we go out into the world wherever God sends us, sharing God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness with all, we won’t always know where God is leading us. However, God is faithful; He knows the purpose for which we have been sent, to continue doing the world of Christ in this world, bringing restoration and peace to the people with the Gospel, sharing faith, and planting God’s love in the world. Let us follow the example of Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, because God calls us to a life joined together by grace, to live God’s will and purpose for our lives.
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