WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.620 Have you ever tried to organize a dinner for 00:00:02.620 --> 00:00:05.440 a really large, really particular group of friends? 00:00:05.580 --> 00:00:08.179 Oh, yeah. Usually a nightmare. Right. You know 00:00:08.179 --> 00:00:11.679 the drill. You have one person who is strictly 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:14.460 gluten -free. Another who only eats organic. 00:00:14.679 --> 00:00:17.839 Exactly. And then one who refuses to go anywhere 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:21.339 with loud music because it ruins the ambiance. 00:00:21.620 --> 00:00:23.600 And there's always the one who is perpetually 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:26.500 late. Always. It is a complete logistical nightmare. 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:29.260 You usually just end up ordering lukewarm pizza 00:00:29.260 --> 00:00:31.359 and half the group is still unhappy anyway. Yeah, 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:33.920 that is the classic coordination problem. And 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:36.100 the more distinct the identities in the room, 00:00:36.420 --> 00:00:38.500 the harder it is to find any kind of unified 00:00:38.500 --> 00:00:41.539 solution. It really is. So keeping that in mind, 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:43.859 I want you to take that low stakes dinner party 00:00:43.859 --> 00:00:47.020 scenario and scale it up. scale it up to the 00:00:47.020 --> 00:00:49.799 entire United States in the mid -19th century. 00:00:49.899 --> 00:00:52.799 That is quite the jump. It is. But replace those 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:55.560 dietary restrictions with deeply held religious 00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:57.659 convictions about things like the end times, 00:00:58.060 --> 00:01:00.439 secret societies, and exactly who is allowed 00:01:00.439 --> 00:01:03.359 to preach from the pulpit. Ah, right. The stakes 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:05.340 are a little higher than pizza. Much higher. 00:01:05.990 --> 00:01:08.430 That is the story we are unpacking today for 00:01:08.430 --> 00:01:11.269 our deep dive. We're looking at the rise, the 00:01:11.269 --> 00:01:14.150 fracture, and the eventual transformation of 00:01:14.150 --> 00:01:16.489 the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran 00:01:16.489 --> 00:01:19.829 Church in North America. Which is quite a mouthful. 00:01:19.930 --> 00:01:21.730 It really is. We'll just call it the General 00:01:21.730 --> 00:01:24.370 Council to keep things moving. Good call. But 00:01:24.370 --> 00:01:26.689 looking at the source material on this body... 00:01:26.540 --> 00:01:29.079 It wasn't just some dry church administration 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:31.859 story. No, not at all. It was an absolute battleground 00:01:31.859 --> 00:01:35.379 for cultural and theological identity in a rapidly 00:01:35.379 --> 00:01:37.599 changing America. And our mission for this deep 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:40.340 dive is pretty specific. We want to understand 00:01:40.340 --> 00:01:44.700 how a group that was formed in 1867 specifically 00:01:44.700 --> 00:01:47.819 to create unity. Right. To defend true Lutheranism 00:01:47.819 --> 00:01:50.900 against this wave of what they called Americanization. 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:54.000 Exactly. How that very group ended up being defined 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:56.459 by the exact things that tore it apart. It's 00:01:56.459 --> 00:01:58.859 fascinating. We're going to look at four specific 00:01:58.859 --> 00:02:00.659 highly controversial questions. They were known 00:02:00.659 --> 00:02:02.719 as the Four Points and they essentially became 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:05.000 the deal breakers for a massive chunk of the 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:08.219 church. And what makes this deep dive so useful, 00:02:08.219 --> 00:02:10.680 I think, even if you aren't a theologian, is 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:13.379 that it's a perfect case study in organizational 00:02:13.379 --> 00:02:16.599 behavior. Oh, completely. It shows what happens 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:18.780 when a group tries to define itself by what it 00:02:18.780 --> 00:02:21.539 is against rather than having a really clear 00:02:21.539 --> 00:02:24.099 consensus on what it is for. It's a story about 00:02:24.099 --> 00:02:26.919 drawing lines in the sand and then suddenly realizing 00:02:26.919 --> 00:02:28.939 you might have trapped yourself on the wrong 00:02:28.939 --> 00:02:30.719 side of the beach. That's a great way to put 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:35.199 it. So let's set the scene. It's the mid -1800s. 00:02:35.699 --> 00:02:38.740 To understand why the general council was necessary 00:02:38.740 --> 00:02:41.560 in the first place, we have to understand the 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:43.900 vibe in the Lutheran world at the time. Right. 00:02:44.039 --> 00:02:46.460 What was the status quo? Yeah, exactly. Well, 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:48.219 to understand the General Council, you really 00:02:48.219 --> 00:02:50.319 have to understand the General Synod. The General 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:52.740 Synod. Yeah. That was the dominant umbrella group 00:02:52.740 --> 00:02:55.900 for Lutherans in America at the time. And within 00:02:55.900 --> 00:02:58.219 that group, there is this very strong movement 00:02:58.219 --> 00:03:01.300 led by a man named Samuel Simon Schmucker. Schmucker. 00:03:01.500 --> 00:03:03.539 Right. Yeah. And his approach was often called 00:03:03.539 --> 00:03:07.379 American Lutheranism. Now, to a modern ear, American 00:03:07.379 --> 00:03:10.879 Lutheranism sounds pretty innocuous. I mean, 00:03:11.500 --> 00:03:13.620 adaptation is usually seen as a basic survival 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:16.919 strategy. Sure. But I'm guessing in this context, 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:19.969 Americanized wasn't exactly a compliment. Definitely 00:03:19.969 --> 00:03:21.830 not to the conservatives. You have to remember 00:03:21.830 --> 00:03:25.490 the time period. This is an era of high immigration. 00:03:25.729 --> 00:03:28.349 Right. Lots of new arrivals. You have waves of 00:03:28.349 --> 00:03:31.889 German and Scandinavian immigrants arriving and 00:03:31.889 --> 00:03:35.009 they hold very traditional old world views. But 00:03:35.009 --> 00:03:36.889 Schmucker saw it differently. Yeah. Schmucker 00:03:36.889 --> 00:03:38.909 looked at the American religious landscape, which 00:03:38.909 --> 00:03:41.750 was heavily dominated by Methodists, Presbyterians 00:03:41.750 --> 00:03:43.849 and Evangelicals. The big Protestant groups. 00:03:43.990 --> 00:03:46.229 Exactly. And he essentially said, if we want 00:03:46.229 --> 00:03:48.650 to survive and thrive here, we need to blend 00:03:48.650 --> 00:03:52.520 in. So he wanted to drop the distinct German 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:54.840 -ness or Scandinavian -ness of the church. It 00:03:54.840 --> 00:03:56.680 went even deeper than that. He actually wanted 00:03:56.680 --> 00:03:59.819 to modify the theology itself. Wow. Okay. He 00:03:59.819 --> 00:04:02.159 advocated for altering the Augsburg Confession. 00:04:02.180 --> 00:04:04.639 Which is basically the core constitution of Lutheran 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:07.240 belief from the 1500s, right? Right. He felt 00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:10.340 it was too Catholic, maybe too old world. He 00:04:10.340 --> 00:04:12.479 wanted a version that played nice with other 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:14.819 American Protestant denominations. He wanted 00:04:14.819 --> 00:04:18.319 to emphasize shared Protestant values. rather 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:22.180 than distinct, rigid Lutheran dogmas. Precisely. 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:24.319 Okay, so that is the main fiction point. You 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:26.980 have the Americanizers who want to modernize 00:04:26.980 --> 00:04:29.639 and blend in. And you have the old world purists. 00:04:29.899 --> 00:04:32.860 The confessionalists. Right, who see this as 00:04:32.860 --> 00:04:35.600 a total betrayal of their core identity. It's 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:38.100 that classic battle between assimilation and 00:04:38.100 --> 00:04:40.160 tradition. And the catalyst for the explosion 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:42.699 was the Pennsylvania Ministerium. the oldest 00:04:42.699 --> 00:04:45.959 Lutheran body in America. Yeah. In 1866, they 00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:47.980 finally decided they had had enough of schmucker 00:04:47.980 --> 00:04:50.300 in the General Synod. They hit their limit. So 00:04:50.300 --> 00:04:52.480 they issued what they called a fraternal address. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:55.240 Which is really just a very polite 19th century 00:04:55.240 --> 00:04:57.699 way of saying an open invitation. Right. They 00:04:57.699 --> 00:05:00.180 sent this out to Lutheran synods all across the 00:05:00.180 --> 00:05:02.759 US and Canada. And the subtext was crystal clear. 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:06.160 It was basically, if you believe in the unaltered 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:09.379 Augsburg Confession. Meaning the original hardcore 00:05:09.379 --> 00:05:12.370 theology. Right. And you believe in uncorrupted 00:05:12.370 --> 00:05:15.029 sacraments. Let's just ditch the general synod 00:05:15.029 --> 00:05:17.009 and start our own club. And actually, before 00:05:17.009 --> 00:05:19.189 we move on, we should probably clarify what a 00:05:19.189 --> 00:05:22.009 synod actually is. For anyone who might not be 00:05:22.009 --> 00:05:24.009 familiar with church polity, we're talking about 00:05:24.009 --> 00:05:26.449 regional governing bodies, right? Like the Synod 00:05:26.449 --> 00:05:29.149 of Ohio or the Synod of Wisconsin. Exactly. Think 00:05:29.149 --> 00:05:31.589 of them almost like state level organizations 00:05:31.589 --> 00:05:34.370 or distinct associations of churches. They're 00:05:34.370 --> 00:05:36.470 autonomous. Right. They have their own leadership, 00:05:36.490 --> 00:05:38.790 but they often band together into a general body 00:05:38.790 --> 00:05:41.600 for strength, resource, sharing, and political 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:44.920 clout. So the invite goes out, join us for the 00:05:44.920 --> 00:05:47.959 real Lutheranism. And the response was actually 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:51.160 surprisingly robust. It was, which leads us to 00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:55.439 the big meeting. December 1866, reading Pennsylvania. 00:05:55.720 --> 00:05:58.480 It was basically a who's who of conservative 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:00.959 Lutheranism. You had representatives from Pennsylvania, 00:06:01.160 --> 00:06:04.199 Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota. Even the 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:06.500 Augustana Senate, which represented the Swedes, 00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:08.579 sent a letter of support. It sounds like the 00:06:08.579 --> 00:06:11.250 Avengers assembling. but with more beards and 00:06:11.250 --> 00:06:13.550 catechisms. There was definitely a lot of optimism 00:06:13.550 --> 00:06:16.550 in the room. The source material notes that they 00:06:16.550 --> 00:06:18.810 unanimously adopted a statement on the fundamental 00:06:18.810 --> 00:06:21.370 principles of faith and church polity. So they're 00:06:21.370 --> 00:06:24.269 feeling good. Very good. They appointed a committee 00:06:24.269 --> 00:06:27.490 to write a constitution. The idea was, if 10 00:06:27.490 --> 00:06:29.970 synods ratified it, the general council would 00:06:29.970 --> 00:06:32.990 officially be born. And it happened. In November 00:06:32.990 --> 00:06:37.930 1867, they meet in Fort Wayne, Indiana. 10 synods 00:06:37.930 --> 00:06:40.649 are on board. The general counsel is live. On 00:06:40.649 --> 00:06:42.870 paper, this looks like a massive success story. 00:06:43.310 --> 00:06:45.230 They broke away from the watered -down liberals 00:06:45.230 --> 00:06:48.410 to form the pure conservative group. Mission 00:06:48.410 --> 00:06:50.410 accomplished, right? Well, this is where the 00:06:50.410 --> 00:06:52.910 theory of purity completely collides with the 00:06:52.910 --> 00:06:55.290 reality of politics. Doesn't it always? Always. 00:06:55.569 --> 00:06:58.250 You see, defining what you are against Schmucker 00:06:58.250 --> 00:07:00.490 and his Americanization, that was easy. Everyone 00:07:00.490 --> 00:07:02.850 in the room agreed on that. But defining exactly 00:07:02.850 --> 00:07:06.189 what you were for in specific, granular detail 00:07:06.189 --> 00:07:09.069 is much, much harder. Yeah. I noticed in the 00:07:09.069 --> 00:07:11.009 notes that even at that first official convention 00:07:11.009 --> 00:07:13.949 in Fort Wayne, some heavy hitters were conspicuously 00:07:13.949 --> 00:07:17.129 absent from the roster. Yes. The Missouri Synod, 00:07:17.389 --> 00:07:20.149 which is a massive player in this space, they 00:07:20.149 --> 00:07:22.769 stayed out. They sent a letter essentially saying, 00:07:23.569 --> 00:07:26.589 we're not ready to join. We want free conferences 00:07:26.589 --> 00:07:29.129 to talk about theology first. They just didn't 00:07:29.129 --> 00:07:31.230 trust that everyone in the general council was 00:07:31.230 --> 00:07:33.329 actually on the same page yet. That is a big 00:07:33.329 --> 00:07:36.230 red flag. Missouri is saying, You guys aren't 00:07:36.230 --> 00:07:38.689 conservative enough for us yet. Exactly. And 00:07:38.689 --> 00:07:41.149 then the Joint Synod of Ohio also declined to 00:07:41.149 --> 00:07:44.050 join immediately. They sent representatives, 00:07:44.329 --> 00:07:46.750 but just to talk. And this is where the drama 00:07:46.750 --> 00:07:49.470 really kicks into high gear. The Ohio guys show 00:07:49.470 --> 00:07:52.889 up and basically say, we love the idea of unity, 00:07:52.970 --> 00:07:54.970 but we have some questions before we sign any 00:07:54.970 --> 00:07:57.089 papers. Four questions, to be exact. The famous 00:07:57.089 --> 00:07:59.129 four points. Yes, the four points of American 00:07:59.129 --> 00:08:01.290 Lutheranism. And honestly, these four points 00:08:01.290 --> 00:08:03.850 define the entire history of this organization. 00:08:04.550 --> 00:08:07.230 The Ohio Senate and later others, like the Iowa 00:08:07.230 --> 00:08:10.250 Senate, said they could not join unless the general 00:08:10.250 --> 00:08:13.329 counsel gave clear, hard answers to these four 00:08:13.329 --> 00:08:15.160 specific issues. Let's unpack these. Because 00:08:15.160 --> 00:08:17.439 to a modern listener, some of these might sound 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:21.660 a little surprising. But in 1867, these were 00:08:21.660 --> 00:08:23.920 the cultural battle lines. So point number one. 00:08:24.019 --> 00:08:27.259 Point number one, chiliasm. Or millennialism. 00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:30.360 This is the idea of a literal 1 ,000 year reign 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:32.559 of Christ on Earth before the final judgment, 00:08:32.700 --> 00:08:34.559 right? Correct. Now, you might be wondering, 00:08:34.700 --> 00:08:37.659 why is this a deal breaker? It seems like a weird 00:08:37.659 --> 00:08:40.899 hill to die on. It really does. It seems like 00:08:40.899 --> 00:08:43.700 a very specific theological detail to blow up 00:08:43.700 --> 00:08:46.629 a whole union over. Like, I like your bylaws, 00:08:46.690 --> 00:08:48.789 but I disagree about the exact timeline of the 00:08:48.789 --> 00:08:51.470 apocalypse, so I'm out. Right. But for the strict 00:08:51.470 --> 00:08:53.929 confessional Lutherans, chiliasm was associated 00:08:53.929 --> 00:08:56.970 with enthusiasm and fanaticism. How so? They 00:08:56.970 --> 00:08:58.889 felt it undermined the authority of the church 00:08:58.889 --> 00:09:01.149 right now and the sacraments right now. Oh, I 00:09:01.149 --> 00:09:03.929 see. If you are hyper -focused on some future 00:09:03.929 --> 00:09:06.870 earthly kingdom, you might neglect the spiritual 00:09:06.870 --> 00:09:08.649 kingdom that is present in the church today. 00:09:08.970 --> 00:09:12.179 So the question Ohio asked was, Is this teaching 00:09:12.179 --> 00:09:15.340 acceptable in Lutheran churches? Right. And the 00:09:15.340 --> 00:09:17.940 nuance here is really important. The Iowa Synod 00:09:17.940 --> 00:09:20.000 thought this was just an open question. Meaning 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:23.120 good Lutherans could agree to disagree. Exactly. 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:27.519 But Ohio. Ohio said absolutely not. They considered 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:30.220 it a heresy. They wanted the general council 00:09:30.220 --> 00:09:32.919 to condemn it explicitly. They wanted a hard 00:09:32.919 --> 00:09:35.519 no. Yeah. They didn't want a big tent where some 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:37.539 people believed in the thousand year reign and 00:09:37.539 --> 00:09:40.139 others didn't. They wanted total uniformity. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:42.559 So that's the first massive hurdle. Then we get 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:45.399 to points two and three, which are really closely 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:48.139 related. Mixed communion and exchange of pulpits. 00:09:48.419 --> 00:09:51.600 Yes. These are strictly about boundaries. Mixed 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:54.919 Communion asks, can Lutherans practice open communion? 00:09:55.259 --> 00:09:59.039 Can a non -Lutheran, say, a Presbyterian or a 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:01.779 Methodist receive the sacrament at a Lutheran 00:10:01.779 --> 00:10:04.460 altar? Right. And then Exchange of Pulpits asks, 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:07.360 can a Lutheran pastor let a sectarian? Which 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:09.600 is their word for a non -Lutheran preacher. Yes. 00:10:09.820 --> 00:10:12.220 Can they let a sectarian stand in their pulpit 00:10:12.220 --> 00:10:14.220 and preach a sermon? It's basically who can eat 00:10:14.220 --> 00:10:16.299 with us and who can talk to us. Exactly. It's 00:10:16.299 --> 00:10:18.179 all about exclusivity. You have to understand 00:10:18.179 --> 00:10:20.360 their logic. If you believe your doctrine is 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:22.899 the only purely correct one, which they did, 00:10:23.480 --> 00:10:25.779 then letting a preacher from another denomination 00:10:25.779 --> 00:10:28.500 teach your flock is seen as validating error. 00:10:28.759 --> 00:10:30.659 It implies that the differences don't really 00:10:30.659 --> 00:10:33.750 matter. Right. It's essentially saying If we 00:10:33.750 --> 00:10:36.330 let the Methodists preach, we are telling our 00:10:36.330 --> 00:10:38.490 congregation that Methodist theology is just 00:10:38.490 --> 00:10:41.289 as good as ours. Correct. And for a group formed 00:10:41.289 --> 00:10:44.289 explicitly to protect true Lutheranism, that 00:10:44.289 --> 00:10:46.590 was a total non -starter for the Conservatives. 00:10:47.190 --> 00:10:50.330 So Ohio is demanding a strict Lutherans -only 00:10:50.330 --> 00:10:53.330 policy. Yes. Which brings us to the fourth point. 00:10:53.990 --> 00:10:55.610 And this one is my personal favorite because 00:10:55.610 --> 00:10:58.190 it feels so specific to the time period. Point 00:10:58.190 --> 00:11:01.720 number four. Secret societies. Specifically, 00:11:02.059 --> 00:11:04.299 can a member of a Lutheran congregation also 00:11:04.299 --> 00:11:07.100 be a member of a lodge like the Freemasons? The 00:11:07.100 --> 00:11:09.120 Masons. It always comes back to the Masons in 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:12.179 the 19th century. Always. Why was this such a 00:11:12.179 --> 00:11:14.440 massive deal breaker for the church? I mean, 00:11:14.539 --> 00:11:16.940 my grandfather was a Mason and a church deacon 00:11:16.940 --> 00:11:19.460 and nobody batted an eye. Well, today we might 00:11:19.460 --> 00:11:22.200 view the Masons as just a social club, you know, 00:11:22.279 --> 00:11:24.720 a networking group. But in the mid 19th century, 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:27.220 this was a massive cultural war. Really? Oh, 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:30.320 yeah. Conservative Lutherans viewed these unchurchly 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:33.519 societies as having their own quasi -religious 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:35.500 rituals. They had their own prayers, their own 00:11:35.500 --> 00:11:38.120 burial rites. Their own moral hierarchy. So it 00:11:38.120 --> 00:11:40.860 wasn't just a club to them. It was a direct competitor. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:43.379 Exactly. They felt you couldn't serve two masters, 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:45.980 you couldn't participate in the universalist 00:11:45.980 --> 00:11:48.860 religion of the lodge on Tuesday, and then be 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:52.320 a faithful exclusive Lutheran on Sunday. So Ohio 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:55.980 wanted a total ban. No masons in the church. 00:11:56.250 --> 00:11:59.610 Period. Period. So picture the scene. The general 00:11:59.610 --> 00:12:02.570 council is just getting started. They are trying 00:12:02.570 --> 00:12:06.090 to build this broad conservative coalition. Right. 00:12:06.289 --> 00:12:08.429 And suddenly Ohio and Iowa are standing there 00:12:08.429 --> 00:12:11.350 with a clipboard saying, we need a yes or no. 00:12:12.250 --> 00:12:14.870 Are we banning masons? Are we banning non -Lutheran 00:12:14.870 --> 00:12:17.009 preachers? Are we banning the idea of a thousand 00:12:17.009 --> 00:12:19.590 -year reign? It was a trap. It really was. If 00:12:19.590 --> 00:12:21.789 the General Counsel said, yes, ban everything, 00:12:22.230 --> 00:12:24.269 they would alienate the more moderate members 00:12:24.269 --> 00:12:26.870 from the East Coast, like the Pennsylvania Ministerium, 00:12:27.289 --> 00:12:29.690 who were a bit more relaxed about these things. 00:12:29.750 --> 00:12:31.490 But if they said, no, it's fine, they'd lose 00:12:31.490 --> 00:12:33.809 the hardliners from the Midwest. So what do they 00:12:33.809 --> 00:12:35.769 do? They blinked. They blinked. Yeah, they gave 00:12:35.769 --> 00:12:38.399 a complete non -answer. The general council was 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:40.860 trying to hold together a very fragile coalition. 00:12:41.240 --> 00:12:43.659 So what was their official response? They basically 00:12:43.659 --> 00:12:46.220 said they weren't prepared to endorse a specific 00:12:46.220 --> 00:12:48.620 position yet. They said they would refer the 00:12:48.620 --> 00:12:52.059 matter to the district synods. Wow, that is the 00:12:52.059 --> 00:12:54.899 most bureaucratic let me speak to my manager 00:12:54.899 --> 00:12:57.440 response ever. We'll refer it to the districts 00:12:57.440 --> 00:12:59.519 until we can see eye to eye. They were just hoping 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:02.799 for patience. They use all this language about 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:05.340 letting God's Holy Spirit and Providence guide 00:13:05.340 --> 00:13:08.080 them to unity over time. They essentially said, 00:13:08.539 --> 00:13:10.360 let's be friends first and we'll figure out the 00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:12.840 rules later. Right. They believed that if they 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:15.360 just stayed together, the theological wrinkles 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:18.240 would iron themselves out. But the hardliners 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:21.500 Ohio and Iowa, they didn't want time. They wanted 00:13:21.500 --> 00:13:24.659 answers. No. Iowa famously said they needed complete 00:13:24.659 --> 00:13:27.179 and hearty agreement on practice immediately. 00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:29.879 And because they didn't get it, Iowa refused 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:31.539 to complete its connection. They stayed in the 00:13:31.539 --> 00:13:33.840 room, but they refused to join officially. And 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:38.279 Ohio just walked away. Yep. Missouri stayed out. 00:13:38.860 --> 00:13:41.559 And it actually got worse. Over the next few 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:44.509 years, the Illinois Wisconsin, and Minnesota 00:13:44.509 --> 00:13:46.950 Senates, who had originally been interested or 00:13:46.950 --> 00:13:49.690 involved, they actually withdrew and left the 00:13:49.690 --> 00:13:51.950 council entirely because of these disagreements. 00:13:52.149 --> 00:13:55.169 That is a disaster. It really was. The general 00:13:55.169 --> 00:13:57.330 council was formed to unite the conservatives, 00:13:57.850 --> 00:13:59.909 but because they wouldn't be conservative enough 00:13:59.909 --> 00:14:02.730 on these four points, they lost the most conservative 00:14:02.730 --> 00:14:05.710 members. It effectively split the potential union 00:14:05.710 --> 00:14:08.129 in half. The source material notes that the four 00:14:08.129 --> 00:14:11.059 points arrested the realization of the original 00:14:11.059 --> 00:14:14.240 plan, and damped the bright and somewhat sanguine 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:17.120 expectations of the founders. Sanguine expectations. 00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:19.480 I love that phrasing. It's great. It means they 00:14:19.480 --> 00:14:22.399 were super hopeful, flushed with optimism, and 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:24.500 then reality just hit them in the face. It really 00:14:24.500 --> 00:14:27.139 highlights the difficulty of big tent conservatism. 00:14:27.659 --> 00:14:30.340 You can't be a big tent if half the people refuse 00:14:30.340 --> 00:14:32.279 to enter, if the other half is there. Right. 00:14:32.659 --> 00:14:34.419 And the general counsel realized they were bleeding. 00:14:34.590 --> 00:14:36.169 They couldn't just keep saying, oh, just ask 00:14:36.169 --> 00:14:38.529 your local district. The agitation was constant. 00:14:38.909 --> 00:14:42.990 Constant agitation. So in 1872, about five years 00:14:42.990 --> 00:14:45.529 after the launch, they tried to fix it. Which 00:14:45.529 --> 00:14:48.289 brings us to a very famous rule in Lutheran history. 00:14:48.769 --> 00:14:50.929 The Akron -Galesburg Rule. This sounds like a 00:14:50.929 --> 00:14:53.490 legal precedent. Akron -Galesburg. Why that name? 00:14:53.789 --> 00:14:56.230 It's just named after the locations where specific 00:14:56.230 --> 00:14:59.570 decisions were made. Akron, Ohio, and Galesburg, 00:14:59.570 --> 00:15:02.600 Illinois. Oh, OK. But the rule itself was largely 00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:05.240 crafted by Charles Porterfield Crouth. He was 00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:07.279 the theological heavyweight of the general council, 00:15:07.320 --> 00:15:10.659 right? Yes, exactly. And the rule is incredibly 00:15:10.659 --> 00:15:13.480 catchy and blunt. It says Lutheran pulpits for 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:16.360 Lutheran pastors and Lutheran altars for Lutheran 00:15:16.360 --> 00:15:19.500 communicants. Wow. OK, no ambiguity there. None. 00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:21.820 That directly addresses the mixed communion and 00:15:21.820 --> 00:15:24.080 exchange of pulpits points. It was the council 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:26.720 finally saying, OK, we hear you. We are strict. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:29.019 We are exclusive. They explicitly stated that 00:15:29.019 --> 00:15:30.879 exceptions to this rule were not a matter of 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:34.159 right, but of privilege and should be very, very 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:36.259 rare. They were trying to signal to the Midwest 00:15:36.259 --> 00:15:39.279 Synods, look, we agree with you. Come back. But 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:41.700 here is the real question. Was it too little, 00:15:41.820 --> 00:15:45.600 too late? Did this bring the Wisconsin or Minnesota 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:48.820 or Ohio Synods back into the fold? No, it didn't. 00:15:48.860 --> 00:15:51.740 Not at all. Not at all. While it solidified the 00:15:51.740 --> 00:15:54.580 identity of those who stayed, the trust was broken. 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:57.299 The synods that had left, like Wisconsin and 00:15:57.299 --> 00:15:59.620 Minnesota, they eventually went off to form their 00:15:59.620 --> 00:16:02.139 own alliance, the Joint Synod of Wisconsin. And 00:16:02.139 --> 00:16:04.440 that body actually still exists today as the 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:06.740 Welles, which is a very conservative Lutheran 00:16:06.740 --> 00:16:09.039 body. So the Four Points essentially created 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:12.080 a permanent fracture. The General Council failed 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:15.259 to unite all the conservatives. They did fail 00:16:15.259 --> 00:16:18.299 in that primary goal. But, and here's where this 00:16:18.299 --> 00:16:20.620 story gets really interesting, the General Council 00:16:20.620 --> 00:16:23.700 didn't die. No. In fact, if you look at the numbers, 00:16:23.980 --> 00:16:27.080 they thrived. How is that possible? They lost 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:28.899 the hardliners. They were already split from 00:16:28.899 --> 00:16:31.860 the liberals. Who was even left? A lot of people. 00:16:31.980 --> 00:16:33.840 You have to remember the context of immigration 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:36.379 at this time. Oh, right. Lutherans were pouring 00:16:36.379 --> 00:16:39.259 into America from Germany and Scandinavia, and 00:16:39.259 --> 00:16:41.320 the general council had very strong leadership, 00:16:41.899 --> 00:16:44.779 specifically Theodore Emmanuel Schmuck, who served 00:16:44.779 --> 00:16:47.519 as president from 1903 right up until the end. 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:51.639 Yes, by 1917. 50 years after that first shaky 00:16:51.639 --> 00:16:55.480 start, the general council had 14 synods, over 00:16:55.480 --> 00:17:00.500 1 ,600 pastors, and more than 524 ,000 confirmed 00:17:00.500 --> 00:17:02.820 members. That's half a million people. That is 00:17:02.820 --> 00:17:05.359 not a failed experiment. No, that is a substantial 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:07.339 denomination. Not at all a failure. They built 00:17:07.339 --> 00:17:10.440 seminaries. They standardized liturgy. They became 00:17:10.440 --> 00:17:13.180 a massive force in American religious life. They 00:17:13.180 --> 00:17:15.980 managed to create a middle way between the Americanized 00:17:15.980 --> 00:17:19.119 liberals and the ultra -strict Missourian conservatives. 00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:21.279 But you mentioned the end a minute ago. Ah, yes. 00:17:21.420 --> 00:17:23.640 The end of the General Counsel as a separate 00:17:23.640 --> 00:17:26.299 entity. This is the twist ending that makes this 00:17:26.299 --> 00:17:28.160 whole story so fascinating. Let's get to that. 00:17:28.380 --> 00:17:31.400 The year is 1918. World War I is ending. The 00:17:31.400 --> 00:17:34.400 world is changing rapidly. Anti -German sentiment 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:36.880 in America is at an absolute all -time high because 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:38.980 of the war. And the General Counsel decides to 00:17:38.980 --> 00:17:41.950 do something massive. They decide to merge. But 00:17:41.950 --> 00:17:44.329 who they merge with is the absolute shocker. 00:17:44.349 --> 00:17:46.589 Don't tell me. They merge with the General Synod. 00:17:46.930 --> 00:17:49.349 The General Synod. The very group they broke 00:17:49.349 --> 00:17:53.430 away from in 1867. The exact same one. The Americanized 00:17:53.430 --> 00:17:55.630 group they thought was ruining the faith. Yep. 00:17:56.029 --> 00:17:58.970 Along with the United Synod of the South. These 00:17:58.970 --> 00:18:02.710 three groups came together in 1918 to form the 00:18:02.710 --> 00:18:05.890 United Lutheran Church in America. Or the ULCA. 00:18:06.109 --> 00:18:09.019 Right. That is incredibly ironic. You spend 50 00:18:09.019 --> 00:18:11.900 years fighting over the four points. You literally 00:18:11.900 --> 00:18:14.779 split the church over masons and chiliasm and 00:18:14.779 --> 00:18:17.059 purity, and then you just merge back with the 00:18:17.059 --> 00:18:19.500 original group you left. What changed? That is 00:18:19.500 --> 00:18:22.539 the big question historians debate. Part of it 00:18:22.539 --> 00:18:24.500 was that the General Senate had actually become 00:18:24.500 --> 00:18:27.579 more conservative over those 50 years, partly 00:18:27.579 --> 00:18:29.619 due to the influence and pressure of the General 00:18:29.619 --> 00:18:33.099 Council itself. Oh, interesting. But also, the 00:18:33.099 --> 00:18:35.730 world had just changed. In the face of World 00:18:35.730 --> 00:18:38.430 War I and modernism, the differences between 00:18:38.430 --> 00:18:40.309 moderately conservative and strictly conservative 00:18:40.309 --> 00:18:42.529 just didn't seem as life or death as they did 00:18:42.529 --> 00:18:45.109 in 1867. It's like when you fight with a sibling 00:18:45.109 --> 00:18:47.109 and then 20 years later you realize you have 00:18:47.109 --> 00:18:49.269 more in common with them than anyone else just 00:18:49.269 --> 00:18:50.829 because the rest of the world has changed so 00:18:50.829 --> 00:18:54.309 much. That's a perfect analogy. However, there 00:18:54.309 --> 00:18:58.730 was one notable exception to this big 1918 merger. 00:18:59.210 --> 00:19:01.730 We have to mention the Augustana Synod. Right, 00:19:01.910 --> 00:19:03.930 the Augustana Synod. They were the Swedish Lutherans 00:19:03.930 --> 00:19:05.509 we mentioned earlier, right? They were part of 00:19:05.509 --> 00:19:07.750 the General Council. Yes. They had been loyal 00:19:07.750 --> 00:19:10.670 members of the General Council for decades, but 00:19:10.670 --> 00:19:13.450 when this big merger happened, they decided not 00:19:13.450 --> 00:19:16.799 to join the new United Lutheran Church. They 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:19.220 went their own way. They did. Why? Was it the 00:19:19.220 --> 00:19:21.579 four point again? Not really. For the Swedes, 00:19:21.579 --> 00:19:24.480 it was much more about cultural identity. They 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:27.900 feared that joining this massive English speaking 00:19:27.900 --> 00:19:31.079 American church would erode their specific Swedish 00:19:31.079 --> 00:19:33.720 heritage. So even in the Grand Reunion, there 00:19:33.720 --> 00:19:36.299 is always someone who opts out to preserve their 00:19:36.299 --> 00:19:39.019 specific identity. Always. So let's recap this 00:19:39.019 --> 00:19:40.920 journey because it really is a roller coaster 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:43.440 of organizational dynamics. It really is. We 00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:45.779 start with a group of Lutherans in the 1860s. 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:49.660 who feel their church is losing its soul to Americanization. 00:19:49.819 --> 00:19:52.119 They break away to form the general council, 00:19:52.380 --> 00:19:55.200 promising a return to the true faith. But almost 00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:57.279 immediately, they are confronted with the four 00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:00.240 points. The ultra conservatives demand strict 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:03.500 answers on millennialism, communion, pulpits. 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:06.319 and secret societies. The general council tries 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:08.880 to be diplomatic, which backfires completely. 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:12.140 The hardliners, Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio, they 00:20:12.140 --> 00:20:15.220 all walk out. The council eventually adopts the 00:20:15.220 --> 00:20:18.000 strict Akron Galesburg rule to try and stop the 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:20.680 bleeding, which works to stabilize them, but 00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:22.880 it doesn't bring the others back. They lose half 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:25.630 their potential members. but they survive. They 00:20:25.630 --> 00:20:27.890 actually grow to over half a million people, 00:20:28.390 --> 00:20:30.789 building a very distinct identity. And finally, 00:20:30.950 --> 00:20:33.710 in 1918, under the pressure of a world war and 00:20:33.710 --> 00:20:36.529 a changing society, they merge back with the 00:20:36.529 --> 00:20:39.210 General Synod to create the United Lutheran Church 00:20:39.210 --> 00:20:42.190 in America. It is such a perfect case study in 00:20:42.190 --> 00:20:45.160 the tension between purity in unity. It really 00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:47.500 is. When the general council formed, they drew 00:20:47.500 --> 00:20:49.740 a circle to keep the Americanized liberals out. 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:52.599 But then the Ohio and Missouri synods drew an 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:54.799 even smaller circle to keep the general council 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:57.339 out. It's like a nesting doll of exclusion. Yes. 00:20:57.680 --> 00:20:59.799 The source material puts it so well, the four 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:02.640 points kept the body in constant agitation. When 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:05.059 you make your identity entirely about what you 00:21:05.059 --> 00:21:07.599 reject, whether it's masons or open communion, 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:10.599 you are constantly policing your own borders. 00:21:10.819 --> 00:21:13.180 It consumes a huge amount of energy. Absolutely. 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:15.339 But they did eventually find a way back to a 00:21:15.339 --> 00:21:17.839 larger union. Which makes me wonder if you could 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:20.119 go back in time to that heated meeting in Reading, 00:21:20.140 --> 00:21:25.059 PA in 1866. Yeah. And tell them, hey, guys, relax. 00:21:25.579 --> 00:21:27.720 In 50 years, you're practically all going to 00:21:27.720 --> 00:21:29.619 be back together with the general senate anyway. 00:21:30.299 --> 00:21:32.200 Would they have believed you? Oh, I doubt it. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:35.019 The passions were just too high. They truly believed 00:21:35.019 --> 00:21:37.380 the soul of the church was at stake over these 00:21:37.380 --> 00:21:39.740 questions. To them, these weren't just policy 00:21:39.740 --> 00:21:42.200 disputes. They were matters of eternal truth. 00:21:42.460 --> 00:21:45.200 Right. They couldn't see the future where Americanization 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:47.339 would just become inevitable for all of them. 00:21:47.559 --> 00:21:49.359 It really puts our modern disagreements into 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:51.839 perspective, doesn't it? It does. We argue about 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:53.880 plenty of things in corporate boards or community 00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:56.579 groups, but I don't think I've ever ended a friendship 00:21:56.579 --> 00:22:00.730 over whether someone believes in a literal thousand 00:22:00.730 --> 00:22:04.690 year reign. Not yet, at least. But the underlying 00:22:04.690 --> 00:22:08.970 dynamic, purists versus pragmatists, that happens 00:22:08.970 --> 00:22:12.210 in every organization, from political parties 00:22:12.210 --> 00:22:16.390 to your local HOA. That's very true. But here 00:22:16.390 --> 00:22:18.210 is the provocative thought I want to leave you 00:22:18.210 --> 00:22:21.049 with today. The General Council was formed because 00:22:21.049 --> 00:22:23.710 they felt the General Synod was too Americanized. 00:22:24.130 --> 00:22:26.970 They fought that battle for 50 straight years, 00:22:27.470 --> 00:22:30.160 yet they ended up merging. Which really begs 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:32.440 the question. Did the general council succeed 00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:35.839 in pulling the Senate back to tradition? Or did 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:38.740 50 years of American life simply render those 00:22:38.740 --> 00:22:41.359 fierce four points irrelevant? Did the church 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:43.359 change the culture or did the culture eventually 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:45.359 just wear down the walls of the church? That 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:47.799 is the enduring question of assimilation. When 00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:49.920 you fight the current, do you stop the river 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:52.099 or do you just eventually get tired of swimming? 00:22:52.359 --> 00:22:54.140 Something to think about the next time you're 00:22:54.140 --> 00:22:56.299 trying to get everyone to agree on a pizza topping. 00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:58.519 Definitely. Thanks for diving in with us. That 00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:00.200 was a pleasure. We'll see you on the next deep 00:23:00.200 --> 00:23:00.519 dive.