In early July 1838, Friedrich Wyneken and Christoph Wolf wandered around Baltimore, looking for Lutherans. After mistaking an Otterbein Methodist prayer meeting for a Lutheran worship service, they found their way to Second German Evangelical Lutheran st. Paul’s Congregation and her Pastor Johann Häsbärt. Häsbärt was also an “awakened” pastor, who had led a group of Lutheran and Reformed Germans to secede from a congregation served by a Rationalist minister. He was very suspicious of Wyneken and Wolf, since in America laymen, con-men and “every expelled student or banished demagogue” regularly preyed on unsuspecting congregations to make some quick cash. It did not help at all that the two young men brought no written credentials or letters of introduction withthem. Yet Wyneken’s warmth and sincerity inclined Häsbärt to put aside his misgivings. Häsbärt’s fears were finally set to rest, when, Captain Stuerje testified to their character.
To seal their newly formed friendship, Wolf preached the following Sunday. Soon after that, Häsbärt fell sick and was confined to his bed. Wyneken served his congregation as substitute pastor for several weeks. Sometime during this period, Wolf went West ahead of his companion, settling in Marietta, Ohio. When Häsbärt had recovered, he tried to convince his new Hanoverian friend to stay in the east. Failing to talk Wyneken into remaining, the Baltimore pastor advised, “You must not travel on to the West under your own authority. I will write the Missions Committee of the Pennsylvania Synod, advising that they should send you out as their missionary.”
The timing was providential. At the 1839 Convention of the German-Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Pennsylvania, its Missionary Society met. The executive committee reported that in the latter part of 1838, Missionary Kohler had decided to accept a call in Eastern Pennsylvania, and thus was unavailable for continued service in the West. During the Summer of 1838, Adam Wesel’s letter from Fort Wayne likely reached their hands.
Now that we have caught up with events 180 years ago, we will leave the saga of Friedrich Wyneken until another anniversary comes to pass.
See also: Send us a Faithful Shepherd | Meet Fritz Wyneken | Friedrich Wyneken Comes to America
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