among whom there were seventeen ordained ministers of the Gospel, twenty-eight assistant ministers and teachers, and nine missionaries. Anew it was resolved: "We will continue to preach the Gospel at all those places where the Saviour grants us open doors, and we are ready to supply with ministers all such congregations as desire teachers from us." Heidelberg, for instance, was acknowledged as a free congregation under the superintendence of the Synod, and was supplied with ministers from Bethlehem. The third Synod of this year assembled at Lancaster, December 8 and 9. Henry Antes had preached here in 1743, and quite lately the Swedish Lutheran pastor, the Rev. Mr. Nyberg, had joined the Synod. But there were not a few, especially among Pastor Nyberg's congregation, who opposed the work of the Brethren, and who looked with very suspicious eyes on these assemblies. On this very account it was important to hold a Synod here and in as public a manner as possible. Justice Smout courteously offered the courthouse for the public sessions of the Synod, which, however, so enraged some of the more bitter enemies. of the Brethren that they threw mud and stones at Spangenberg, when he rose to preach on the word of Jesus: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." His perfect composure, his meek and friendly deportment, but above all his fervent prayer for all the enemies of the cross of Christ, made a deep and lasting impression upon Justice Smout and many others. It is related that one man in particular, who had filled his pockets with stones to join in the premeditated attack, was so much struck by the fervency of Brother Spangenberg's prayer, that he not only emptied his pockets, but with tearful eyes confessed his evil intentions, and himself became a follower of the meek Lamb of God. The one hundred and eighty members of the Synod are thus classified: sixty-two Lutherans, seventy-seven German Reformed, eleven English Reformed, six Moravian Brethren, eleven Mennonites, seven Täufer (Tunker), two Siebentäger, one Separatist, three Indians, and one without denominational name, that is, Spangenberg. They had come from twenty-four different localities. The following is the most important resolution: "We will carefully guard against any one favoring the idea that this or that denomination, this or that Church, is the Church of Christ to which he must belong in order to be saved; for though we cheerfully acknowledge the happiness of our times, in which the Saviour collects His children into congregations here and there, still we firmly believe that there are children of God among the different denominations of various nations, of whom but few may possibly be known to us." This and many other similar passages prove plainly that Spangenberg, evidently the master-mind of these Synods, had firmly resolved to continue the work of the Lord in Zinzendorf's liberal spirit, not suffering himself to be bound and tied down by any outward forms, but endeavoring to promote the welfare of his fellow-men and to advance the Kingdom of Christ in Pennsylvania by all and every means in his power. Thus he went on in the strength of the Lord, actively engaged one day in the affairs of the Bethlehem Economy, the next morning surprising the colonists at Nazareth at their morning devotions, having walked thither before breakfast. His wanderings frequently extended to the scattered Christian settlers of the Province, or even beyond its boundaries to the savages of the wilderness. But wherever he went, whatever he did, his sole aim and object was to win souls for Christ and to promote the cause of His Kingdom. 3. BETHLEHEM-THE "CHURCH OF PILGRIMS,' 1744–1745. It would have been quite impossible for Brother Spangenberg to accomplish all that was expected. of him, if the same courage, the same spirit of disinterested devotion to the cause of the Lord, the same steady endurance and persevering willingness amidst difficulties, toil and embarrassments of various kinds had not animated by far the greater part of the colonists, and above all if there had not been willing and implicit obedience to their leader. This period, especially from 1744 to 1748, may, in truth, be called the heroic age of our American Church. A careful perusal of the diaries, journals and other papers, preserved in the Bethlehem Archives, proves abundantly that it was not love of ease or the desire for the treasures of this world that induced our ancestors to leave their own country, and to settle in the wilds of Pennsylvania; but that it was their sincere and ardent desire to proclaim among Christians and heathen the Saviour's love, and to commend the cross of Christ, the saving power of which they had experienced in their own hearts. More especially was this the case with that part of the Church at Bethlehem which constituted the "Church of Pilgrims," and consisted of such only as had voluntarily dedicated themselves to the service of the Lord. Spangenberg remarks in one of his letters: "When the congregation in Bethlehem heard the news of the departure of our brethren in St. Thomas, all burned with desire to be permitted to venture their lives, and if I had called for volunteers to go to this pestilential spot, twenty or thirty brethren or sisters would at once have been willing to go." This spirit of devotion, this willingness to be spent in the service of the Lord, this readiness to undertake the most arduous enterprises, almost at a moment's warning, was nourished and strengthened not only by their regular daily devotions at morning, noon and evening, but also by their peculiar manner of social life. The whole Church at Bethlehem, which numbered in 1747 about three hundred persons, was considered and treated as one family, eating at one common table. Partly from necessity, for want of house-room, partly from religious conviction, they were separated and divided into the different rooms of the clergy-house, and afterwards into different houses, according to their ages and sexes, which separation of the sexes and classification into different “choirs" was carried out to a much greater extent than in any of the European congregations. While in most of the settlements of the Brethren in Germany and England, separate houses (choir-houses) were erected for the single brethren, single sisters and widows, in Pennsylvania, from 1744 to 1748, all the single brethren (numbering in 1747 with the older boys more than eighty souls) were assembled at Bethlehem under the spiritual superintendence of Nathanael Seidel and Gottlieb Pezold, while the single sisters (twenty in number) found their temporary abode at Nazareth. In 1748, after the single brethren had built a larger house for themselves the present middle building of the Young Ladies' Seminary—the single sisters took permanent possession of the former Brethren's House, which has ever since retained the name of Sisters' House. The older girls were collected in Bethlehem, the smaller ones (from four to eleven years of age) in Nazareth, and the little boys in Henry Antes' house in Frederick Township. Even the married people lived separately in two buildings, where the present church is located. The mothers generally retained their children till they were about eighteen months old, when they were taken in charge by the authorities of the Church and placed in the nursery at Bethlehem, and after 1749 at Nazareth. All this was an extension of the European choir-arrangements of a quite peculiar kind, and naturally led to more or less arbitrary, if not despotic rule, and could not be continued nor be recommended for imitation. Similar in some respects were the Ephrata convents, with this difference, however, that there the "solitary state' solitary state" was considered the most holy and acceptable to God, while the Moravians not only esteemed and honored married life, but endeavored to sanctify it in a peculiar manner. Many verses, used at that time, referred directly to conjugal duties, or represented the felicity of the children of God in terms taken from matrimonial life, exceeding sometimes those to be met with in Holy Writ, and were therefore liable to misconstruction and afforded abundant material for malicious and slanderous attacks from the opponents of the Brethren. Nevertheless, they were happy in the Lord and went on cheerfully in their works of duty and of love. 4. BETHLEHEM.-FAMILY ECONOMY. 1747. In commune oramus, In commune patimur, In commune gaudemus. THIS favorite motto of Dr. Anton, in reference to the orphan-house and other institutions in Halle, was justly applied by Spangenberg to the external and internal affairs of the Moravian colonies at Bethlehem and Nazareth; for not only in a general or spiritual sense was the word of the Apostle applicable: applicable: "And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it" (1 Cor. 12: 26); but actually and literally all |