First Lutheran, Albany, N.Y., is the ELCA’s oldest church in the U.S. Founded in 1649, its first services were led in the Dutch language.
Alive with history
A look at the ELCA’s oldest congregations By Wendy Healy
As the ELCA prepares to spend the next year observing
the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, several ELCA congregations can celebrate their individual rich histories. Ten churches, mostly on the East Coast and one in the Virgin Islands, were all started before 1715 by mostly Dutch, Swedish and German Lutherans who came to America in search of religious freedom. While they have more than 300 years of longevity,
the three oldest churches in the ELCA share some of the same struggles as many congregations—upholding their histories while adapting to changing religious landscapes. Joel Thoreson, a reference archivist for the ELCA,
said that while these individual church histories are probably more well-known in their local synods, not a lot of information exists on them in the ELCA Archives. “They’re not as celebrated as they ought to be,” he said. Vernon Victorson agrees. He was pastor from 2000
to 2011 at the ELCA’s oldest church, First Lutheran in Albany, N.Y., which was founded by the Dutch in 1649. “These churches are an important part of our stage
in this country as Lutherans and need to be held up and recognized,” Victorson said. “Keeping the history rich and alive is very important as long as the history doesn’t drag down the mission or become the prime importance.”
38 OCTOBER 2016 Worshiping about 100 people on a Sunday, First is
a mission-driven congregation, Victorson said. But he worries that someday there will be no one to keep First’s historical tradition alive if the congregation doesn’t continue. If it doesn’t, he said, “we’ll lose the oldest Lutheran congregation in North America.” New Hanover Evangelical Lutheran in Gilbertsville,
Pa., has similar concerns, said Lee Wesner, chair of the congregation’s history and archives committee. “History doesn’t change much, but historians become history,” he said with a smile. “We need young people to carry this on.” New Hanover was founded by German Lutherans in
1700 and was historically led by Henry Muhlenberg, the German missionary who is known as the grandfather of Lutheranism in America. The church played a role in the American Revolution, serving as a hospital for wounded and ill soldiers. Wesner said preserving New Hanover’s history is
part of the congregation’s mission. “I can’t possibly imagine this church being closed,” he said. “We’ve got to keep this one alive. Not just for its history but because it’s one of the rocks upon which the whole church is built.”
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