Next year we’ll begin a number of 175th Seminary Anniversary celebrations, but in the lead-up to the 2020/2021 academic year we’re already beginning to see some significant dates in our history, beginning with:
On this date, September 9, 1845, F.C.D. Wyneken was installed as pastor of St. Paul’s congregation, Baltimore, Maryland.
As one of our Seminary fathers, we’ve talked about Wyneken quite a number of times before. Rev. Wyneken was a pastor and missionary to Indiana, setting his home base here in Fort Wayne, and he also tutored the first two students of Concordia Theological Seminary out of his own home in 1844 (before its first formal classes in October 1846). He was the third founder of the Fort Wayne seminary, as well as the author of “Notruf” (“The Cry of Need” or “Emergency Call”), which was instrumental in moving our Lutheran brethren back in Germany to send spiritual aid to the pioneers in America. Wyneken later served as the second president of the LCMS.
If you want to read more about his history with the Baltimore congregation, St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church has a short write-up on their website, which you can read by clicking here. Wyneken plays a key part in the first paragraph of their history.