Justus Falckner
Justus Falckner (November 22, 1672 – September 21, 1723) was an early American Lutheran minister and the first Lutheran pastor to be ordained within the region that became the United States. Falckner's published works include Grondlycke Onderricht, which first appeared in the Dutch language during 1708. This was the first Lutheran catechism to be published in North America. He is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on November 24 together with Jehu Jones and William Passavant.[http://www.colonialswedes.org/headlines/Falckner.htmlJustus Falckner Ordination Tercentenary] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101102031812/http://www.colonialswedes.org/headlines/Falckner.html |date=2010-11-02 }}(The Swedish Colonial Society) November 23, 2003{{cite web
|url= http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/justus-falckner-1st-lutheran-ordained-in-america-11630187.html
|title= Justus Falckner 1st Lutheran Ordained in America|publisher = Christianity.com|author= Dan Graves|accessdate= April 1, 2016}}
Background
Falckner was the fourth son of Daniel Falckner, a Lutheran pastor at Langenreinsdorf, a subdivision of Crimmitschau in Saxony. In 1693, he entered the University of Halle, where he studied theology under August Hermann Francke.Bente, F. [https://books.google.com/books?id=A4oSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA25 American Lutheranism, Volume I] St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1919, 25. He completed his studies, but determined that he was not truly prepared to follow a career in the ministry. He went to Rotterdam, where he and his brother Daniel accepted power of attorney to sell the land of William Penn in Pennsylvania.[http://cyberhymnal.org/bio/f/a/falckner_j.htm Justus Falckner Biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427042040/http://cyberhymnal.org/bio/f/a/falckner_j.htm |date=2016-04-27 }} (Cyber Hymnal)
Career
In 1701, 10,000 acres (40 km2) of land along the Manatawny Creek were sold to Swedish Lutheran Pastor Andreas Rudman and other Swedish settlers. After working with Pastor Rudman, Falckner reconsidered entering the ministry. He was ordained on November 24, 1703, at Gloria Dei Church, the Swedish Lutheran Church in Wicaco, today South Philadelphia. His first pastoral assignment was with the settlers on the Manatawny Creek in New Hanover Township, Pennsylvania.
On February 23, 1704, King Carl XII of Sweden issued an order formally confirming Rudman as Superintendent of the Swedish Lutheran Church in America. Shortly thereafter, Falckner was reassigned by Rudman to serve as the pastor of the Dutch Lutheran congregations in Manhattan and Albany County, New York and Hackensack, New Jersey. He learned the Dutch language and also preached in English and later in German after he succeeded Joshua Kocherthal in the ministry of German Lutheran immigrants.Bente, F. [https://books.google.com/books?id=A4oSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA32 American Lutheranism, Volume I] St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1919, p. 32. In 1714, Falckner led worshippers at the founding of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldwick, New Jersey's oldest Lutheran congregation. In time he was serving fourteen congregations in the Hudson River valley.[http://www.colonialswedes.org/images/Publications/SCNewsFall2003.pdf Tercentenary of Justus Falckner’s Ordination Celebrated at Philadelphia Cathedral] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222073027/http://www.colonialswedes.org/images/Publications/SCNewsFall2003.pdf |date=2012-02-22 }} (by Alfred J. Nicolosi, Swedish Colonial News. Page 6. Fall 2003)[http://www.zionoldwick.com/history.html Zion Lutheran Church History] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050308034150/http://www.zionoldwick.com/history.html |date=March 8, 2005 }} (Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldwick)
Personal life
Justus Falckner was married to Gerritje Hardick in 1717. Three children were born to the couple: Anna Catharina (1718), Sara Justa (1720), and Benedictus (1723). Justus Falckner died during 1723 in Orange County, New York.{{cite web|url= http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/report/rr16/rr16_035.html|title= Family of Gerritje Hardick & Rev. Justus Falckner
|publisher = This Pane-Joyce Report|author= Dave Pane-Joyce|date= August 2015|accessdate= April 1, 2016}}
References
Other sources
- Sachse, Julius Friedrich (1903) [https://archive.org/details/justisfalcknermy00sach Justis Falckner, Mystic and Scholar, Devout Pietist in Germany] (Lancaster, PA: The New Era Printing Company)
Related reading
- Williams, Kim-Eric (2003) The Journey of Justus Falckner. 1672-1723. (Delhi, New York: American Lutheran Publicity Bureau) {{ISBN|9781892921055}}
- Kessler, Martin (2003) Fundamental Instruction: Justus Falckner's Catechism. The First Lutheran Catechism Written and Published in North America A. D. 1708 (Delih, NY: American Lutheran Publicity Bureau) {{ISBN|9781892921048}}
External links
- [http://www.colonialswedes.org/Churches/GloDei.html Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110407094831/http://www.colonialswedes.org/Churches/GloDei.html |date=2011-04-07 }}
- {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091115094946/http://www.colonialswedes.org:80/Forefathers/Rudman.html |date=November 15, 2009 |title=Pastor Andreas Rudman }}
- [http://www.lcms.org/ca/www/cyclopedia/02/display.asp?t1=f&word=FALCKNER.JUSTUS Entry for Justus Falckner] in the Christian Cyclopedia
- [https://archive.today/20041217194641/http://www.alpb.org/Fundamental.html Justus Falckner's Catechism]
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Category:People from Crimmitschau
Category:People from the Electorate of Saxony
Category:People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar
Category:18th-century American Lutheran clergy
Category:People from colonial Pennsylvania
Category:People from colonial New Jersey
Category:Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg alumni
Category:German emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies