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The German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Charleston, South Carolina, was incorporated on December 3, 1840. Through usage and custom the Church is now known as St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church or St. Matthew's Lutheran Church and is a member of the South Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. ==History== The church was founded by Johann Andreas Wagener and 49 other German-speaking citizens wishing to worship in their native language in the port city of Charleston, South Carolina. Wagener's first intent was to form a German language, "ecumenical, cosmopolitan" congregation for all faiths: Lutheran, Reformed, and Catholic.〔Shealy, George B., Gen. John A. Wagener: Charleston and South Carolina's Foremost German American. Alexander's Office Supply, Walhalla, SC, 2000. pg 58.〕 However, when the ecumenical plan failed, it was decided to organize the congregation as an Evangelical Lutheran Church. Wagener was elected the congregation's first president. He establish the town of Walhalla, South Carolina in 1849 as a colony for German immigrants. Later he became a Brigadier General in the Confederate States Army and served as the Commandant of Charleston until the evacuation of the city in February 1865.〔http://sciway3.net/scgenweb/oconee-county/archived-txt/history/h-31.txt〕 In 1866, he represented the Charleston district in the South Carolina House of Representatives, and in 1871 Wagener was elected mayor of Charleston.〔http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=17491〕 The congregation's first purchase was a cemetery for the burial of German-speaking citizens during a yellow fever outbreak in 1841. Known as Hampstedt or God's Acre Cemetery, the ground on Reid Street held 1,048 graves by the mid-1850s.〔http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2284803〕 During the first year of the congregation's organization, worship services were held in the Lecture Room of the Second Presbyterian Church at 63-65 Society Street, the German Fire Company at 6 Chalmers Street, and the Lecture Room at St. John's Lutheran Church (English) on Clifford St. (formerly known as Dutch Church Alley).〔Poston, J.H., The Buildings of Charleston, University of SC Press, 1997, pg. 346.〕 Interestingly, the Presbyterian Lecture Room was later purchased by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston in 1861 to form St. Paul's German Catholic Church.〔Poston, Jonathan, The Buildings of Charleston, pg.469 1997. ISBN 1-57003-202-5〕 The Lutheran congregation's first church building was a classical Greek Revival structure on the northwest corner of Hasell and Anson Streets. The architect was Edward Brickell White, and it was dedicated on June 22, 1842. The cost for the land and construction by John Dawson was $11,000. In 1856 the church purchased Bethany Cemetery because the first cemetery was full. There were several additional yellow fever outbreaks during the early years of the congregation. According to church records, there were 147 deaths in 1854, 308 in 1858 and 130 in 1865 of which 84 were children.〔St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church: 125 Years of Christian Service, 1967.〕 During the worst outbreaks, Pastor Ludwig "Louis" Müller officiated at three funerals every day. During the American Civil War, only the sanctuary windows and some furnishings were damaged during the Siege of Charleston. By 1860, Germans represented 5% of the Charleston population.〔How the Germans Became White Southerners: German Immigrants and African Americans in Charleston, South Carolina, 1860-1880. Jeffery Strickland, Journal of American Ethnic History, Fall 2008, Vol 28, No. 1.〕 The congregation had outgrown the original sanctuary by 1868 when 40 applications for pews could not be filled.〔 In 1878 the sanctuary was sold to a group of 53 Lutherans who formed the German Evangelical Lutheran St. Johannes Church.〔http://stjohanneschurch.org/history.html〕 In 1868, the church purchased its present site from Father Patrick O'Neill and contracted the Irish-born architect John Henry Devereux to design a gothic revival sanctuary with suggestions from Ludwig Müller, the congregation's Pastor. Devereux also designed the Renaissance Revival U.S. Post Office in Charleston. The new sanctuary was dedicated in 1872 with elaborate ceremonies and 3000 persons attending. In 1883, the church began to hold services in German and English. In 1901, a clock and set of ten bells from the Meneely Bell Foundry were installed in the steeple at a cost of $7000. (Three additional bells were installed in 1966, when the steeple was rebuilt after a fire.) A Sunday school building was added in 1909. As the nation entered the Great War in 1917, 83 members of the church joined the military; five paid the supreme sacrifice.〔 Due to anti-German sentiments during World War I, German language services had ended by 1918. The sanctuary was renovated in 1925 with an elaborate gothic marble altar installed and an addition of a 5-stop chancel organ. During one of the worst years of the Great Depression, an expansive Sunday school building was constructed in 1932 at the cost of $81,000. In 1941, joint services were started in the Sunday school building for armed service personnel stationed in Charleston. A program of singing, entertainment, and a social hour were held each Sunday evening during the duration of World War II. In 1944, a Service Center Building was constructed on St. Matthew's property on Vanderhorst Street by the National Lutheran Council, a cooperative body comprising eight Lutheran church bodies in the United States, who then created the Service Commission. This commission served as the official military agency of the council and worked to provide spiritual ministry to service personnel.〔http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/History/ELCA-Archives/Exhibits/By-Their-Side.aspx〕 Also during the war, German hymnals were loaned to the German Prisoners of War camp in Hampton, South Carolina.〔http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=36557〕 The Church's organist and a vocal quartet presented a program of Christmas music to the prisoners, also. In World War II, 191 members of St. Matthew's served their country; three of them were killed.〔St. Matthew's Lutheran Church: 125 Years of Christian Service, 1967.〕 In 1961, the final expansion and renovation of the Parish buildings was completed which included an auditorium and the air conditioning of the sanctuary and Sunday school building. St. Matthew's plays host to many cultural events throughout the year and broadcasts its Sunday 11:00 AM service live on WSCC-FM 94.3. Professor Stefan Engels of Leipzig, Germany noted scholar on the works of Sigfrid Karg-Elert has performed many times on the 61 rank Austin Organ. Opus No. 2085 |South Carolina| |Charleston| |St. Matthew's Evan. Luth.| 3 55〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Opus List, Austin Organs )〕 The church is also a frequent venue for Charleston Symphony Orchestra Gospel Choir concerts. File:Johann Andreas Wagener.jpg|Church founder Gen. Johann Andreas Wagener with wife Maria Eliese Wagener. File:HampsteadMarker.JPG|Hampstedt Cemetery was purchased to inter victims of the numerous yellow fever outbreaks in the nineteenth century. File:GermanFireCompanyChas.jpg|The German Fire Company headquarters was one of three worship sites for the congregation before 1842. File:First Sanctuary.JPG|The original St. Matthew's Sanctuary built in 1842. File:Dedication stone.JPG|The dedication stone of the original sanctuary written in German. File:BethanyGates.JPG|Bethany is St. Matthew's second and current cemetery. It has many examples of Victorian mortuary sculpture. File:WernerGates.jpg|Gates in Bethany by Christopher Werner. One of Charleston's highly regarded nineteenth century ironworkers. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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