Three Lutheran Churches on Pikeland Road
We now come to that part of our story which relates how there came to be three churches on Pikeland Hill. The divisions represented by Upper, Middle, and Lower Pikeland were not unique to this place but were part of a nation-wide experience. By the 1830's there had developed an "American Christianity," characterized by the revival meeting and loss of denominational loyalty which developed on the frontier. Although far from the frontier, many Lutherans desired to make their churches more "American" by adopting the ways of their neighbors. The older, eastern Lutherans responded to the changes on the frontier by insisting upon their loyalty to the worship forms developed in Germany and to the German language.
When the Rev. Frederick Ruthrauff was called as pastor of Zion's and St. Peter's, he brought with him these "new measures" which were favored by English Lutherans. The conservative German congregation of Zion's did not approve of "new measures," and asked their new pastor to leave, which he did about May of 1840. He moved to the vicinity of Lionville where he had founded St. Paul's Lutheran congregation a short time before.
Pastor Ruthrauff remained at St. Peter's until 1841 when the matter came to a head. A vote was taken and the majority favored the "new measures" introduced by the pastor. Thirteen of the most resolute and influential defenders of the old faith and usages of the Lutheran Church considered themselves no longer welcome in their former congregation. What happened next is recorded in their own words.
"At a meeting held in Pikeland in the Schoolhouse commonly known as W. Emery's in the month of December A.D. 1841 to take into consideration the propriety of organizing an Evangelical Lutheran Congregation, it was RESOLVED: by the members of the Ev. Lutheran Church, then and there present, to organize themselves into an Evangelical Lutheran Congregation, on the Basis of the Augsburg Confession of faith, to enjoy religious worship and the ministration of the Holy Sacraments according to the time honored usages of the Ev. Lutheran Church, with the name of "The German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of St. Peter's Church in Pikeland Township, Chester County.:"
An election was held at the same time and place with the following members elected as officers of the church:
As Trustees: George Deery, Sr., John Moses, Sr., and John Clevenstine.
As Elders: Benjamin Emery, Jacob King, George Orner, George Williams, Jacob Emery, and Joseph Pennypacker.
As Deacons: Christian Friday, Charles Emery and John Moses, Jr.
At a subsequent meeting of the Vestry and congregation for the election of a minister, the Rev. C. F. Welden was elected and called to be the Pastor in conjunction with the Ev. Lutheran Congregation of Zion's Church.
The Call was accepted by the Pastor-elect who entered upon his ministerial duties April the First A.D. 1842.
The Vestry and congregation feeling the necessity of having a Church as soon as possible, resolved in the Spring of 1843, to erect a church as soon as possible, and appointed... a Committee... who at a subsequent meeting reported that they were offered gratuitously by Peter King, Esq., a lot of ground (site of present building) for the use of the Congregation. This offer was gratefully accepted by the Congregation and a Building Committee was appointed...
On the Eighteenth Day of May in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty Three, the Cornerstone was laid with the usual solemnity by the Pastor aided by the Rev. I. Miller, D.D., of Reading, Rev. H. S. Miller of the Trappe and Rev. J. Knipe, Pastor of the Reformed Church.
The Services on the occasion were in the German and English languages."
In the same year as the division on Pikeland Hill there occurred a separation in synodical ranks between the advocates of the "new measures" and the defenders of the German traditions. "In 1842 ten pastors... left the Ministerium and formed the East Pennsylvania Synod. This covered the same territory as the Ministerium and for many years there was much friction between the two." The first regular convention of this body was held at St. Peter's October 15-18, 1843. Fr. Ruthrauff was elected the first president.
The division of the Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania into two synods was firmly drawn on national lines in 1867 when the Ministerium of Pennsylvania and other conservative synods withdrew from the nationwide General Synod (which had begun in 1820) and formed the General Council. Thus, in terms of national division, the Americanized Middle Pikeland is the General Synod Church, and the conservative Upper Pikeland, the General Council Church.
Opinions of the ministry of Frederick Ruthrauff vary... to his opponents he was a scoundrel; to his followers, a hero. The following verse was found between the pages of a record book of the English congregation:
"Good Brother Ruthrauff's body moulders in the grave, but his spirit speaks to us of (the present) generation in these words of Sorrow, Faith, and Hope. His good works in the battle of life have been told us by our Fathers, and may the Holy Spirit that led him guide us that we may acquit ourselves like men. Aug. 1888."
In 1843, the two buildings presently standing on Pikeland Hill were being used, and, except for extensive remodeling, would present the viewer with the situation he would see today. But how came it that once there stood still a third church on this hill? Our story must skip ahead to 1889 to recount the building of "Middle Pikeland" Lutheran Church. In this year the union of the Reformed and Lutheran congregations was dissolved, the Reformed congregation retained the building erected in 1835, and the Lutherans built a new church across the road. This division was a common one; many Union Churches were dissolved as soon as the respective congregations felt they could afford their own buildings. For example, St. Paul's, Lionville, built a separate Lutheran church in 1852, and St. Matthew's, Chester Springs, erected a new edifice for the use of the Lutherans in 1878.
The Lutheran pastor at the time wrote the following account of the separation: “In 1889, the Lutherans, feeling the need of a church of their own, under the ministry of Rev. J. A. Hackenberg, moved for a separation. This was accomplished by a public sale of the old building; the German Reformed becoming the purchasers. The Lutherans at once set to work to build a church, and having secured a lot on the opposite side of the road, laid the corner-stone of the present beautiful church August 27, 1889. The pastor was assisted on this occasion by Rev. M. S. Cressman, of Lionville. The church was dedicated free of debt on May 7, 1890; the dedication sermon being preached by Rev. J. H. Menges of Philadelphia.” Contemporary newspaper accounts described the new building: 40 x 50 feet, with an annex 20 x 30 for the Sunday School, usable as one or two rooms. There was a tower, 11 feet square at the base, and 65 feet high. The building, of pointed stone work, cost about $8500.
This building was used until 1918, when it was destroyed by fire.
