In Pursuit of Religious Freedom: Bishop Martin Stephan's Journey Read online

  All these people were serious about their faith. They believed in the cause of freedom to worship, wanted to preserve their Lutheran tradition, and had witnessed oppression first hand. They were eager to join in this experiment desiring to meet, worship, and study openly with others in their faith. The emigration documents reflect a community undertaking a communal endeavor. These codes and regulations were designed to form not only a new congregation, but to try and live in community in every way. It was within the spirit of the times. They would indeed have all things in common, with some exceptions; for example they could own their individual acres of land. This communal effort was a big step for many of them; it was a huge risk to pool their money, even if they hoped to earn interest on it.

  The financial part of the experiment would become the nexus of arguments and complaints on the voyage across the Atlantic and when the group arrived in St. Louis. When the emigrants finally reached America, they were not ready to settle down. Tensions ran high. The fatigue of the journey fueled fires of discontent and unrest. The manner in which they handled these disputes would determine the kind of church they would later become. The manner in which their leader would respond to disputes would be influenced by Stephan’s own vision for them shaped by his history and unique ancestry.

  NOTES

  1 Walter O. Forster, Zion on the Mississippi (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953), 88.

  2 William Koepchen, “Brief Conference Notes,” trans. Axel Reitzig (unpublished ms., New York: Stephan Family Archives, 1934), 49 A. This quote was written by Dr. Kurtz himself detailing his response to Martin Stephan’s inquiries about where the best place to settle might be.

  3 Paul C. Nagel, Missouri, A Bicentennial History (New York: Norton, 1977), 57.

  4 Koepchen, “Martin Stephan and the Saxon Emigration,” 49.

  5 Koepchen, “Martin Stephan and the Saxon Emigration,” 61–62.

  6 Koepchen, “Martin Stephan and the Saxon Emigration,” 74–81; Forster, Zion on the Mississippi, 540–58.

  3

  Ancestral Roots and the Reformation

  Martin Stephan’s resistance to uniting Protestantism is consistent with his heritage and his own personal background. His ancestral roots were deeply embedded in the people and events of the Austrian valleys near Salzburg from the fifteenth century. The Stephan family’s spiritual heritage was shaped by the early reform movements within the Catholic Church. Martin Stephan’s decision to enter the pastoral ministry can be considered an indirect result of this long reformation tradition.

  Nearly 350 years before the Saxon Emigration, Martin Stephan’s peasant ancestors lived in Austria. A family of farmers, they tilled the fertile Austrian valleys near the sleepy, picturesque mountain village of St. Johann in the Pongau, just thirty miles south of Salzburg. Austrian provinces were then independent church-states under the administration of princely archbishops.

  The very existence of these “princely archbishops” lies at the heart of this tumultuous period that ended in the Great or Western Schism. Increasingly disgusted with the excesses of wealthy and powerful “Princes of the Church,” ordinary Christians and clergy began to strive for reform. Although some opposed the supremacy of the papacy, others objected only to religious practices they considered incorrect, extravagant, or meaningless. They wanted a more personal spirituality and a clergy responsive to the people. By the early twelfth century the church was near chaos, a period known as the Babylonian Captivity when two popes, one in Avignon and one in Rome, reigned at the same time.

  Rome’s resistance to these early calls for an end of corrupt practices stirred the rise of even more reform movements. In 1173 Peter Waldo founded “the poor men of Lyon” and taught a philosophy of poverty. His followers, known as Waldensians, had a strong influence in Austria, Italy, and Bohemia. The Waldensian movement reached the Stephan ancestors early on and influenced their attitude toward later reformers. In England John Wycliffe (d. 1384) undertook a vernacular translation of the Bible and sent the Lollards (itinerant preachers) to share scripture with common people.

  One of the most influential reformers of the fifteenth century was the Bohemian John (Jan) Huss, who was ordained in 1400. Huss adhered to church doctrine, but he opposed the crusades, the selling of indulgences, and the authority of the papacy. His preaching reflected a deep knowledge of the Bible. He was attracted to Wycliffe’s works in many ways and borrowed from his ideas of reform.

  In the village of St. Johann in Pongau, a few miles south of Salzburg, Austria, resided one of many centers of the evangelical or reform movement, and it was home to the Stephan forebears named Agricola. Both family oral history and the records of Theodore M. Stephan (1863–1942) suggest that the teachings and reforms of John Huss attracted the Stephan family as followers. Theo Stephan had the opportunity to research this history. He was a Lutheran pastor, the Stephan family archivist, and, in the 1920s, he was U.S. general consul in Anneberg, Germany. He wrote, “The free spirit of the mountain folk rejected subjugation again and again, whether it was of an economic or of a religious nature.”1 For some time they endured the harassment of the Catholic Church (the Papist Party, as they were called by the evangelicals, indicating the church’s entanglement in “secular” politics). The evangelicals secretly gathered for mutual support with like-minded folk on the remote farms of the valley. They continued their faith and practice of evangelical spirituality, served by wandering Hussite preachers from Bohemia.2

  In 1415 John Huss, a priest of the church, was charged with heresy and burned at the stake in Prague.3 A period of turmoil and fighting erupted in Bohemia between the supporters of Rome and the followers of Huss. Then two Hussite parties emerged. The iconoclastic Taborites (named for the place of their chief fortress) were mostly peasants who sought social change for the poor and the oppressed. The Calixtines (named after the word for the chalice) were minor nobility and bourgeoisie who emphasized the laity receiving the complete Eucharist, not just the bread while reserving the wine for the priest. They began to form their own congregations and to institute changes in liturgy and practice.

  Rome responded to the Hussite “heretics” much like they did to John Huss, by authorizing vicious atrocities against them. Finally, the fighting turned inward and the Hussite parties literally went to war with each other. The Taborite leader died in battle against the Calixtines in 1424. In an attempt to achieve some concord, the Council of Basel (1431) convened with both parties present. The Calixtine King of Bohemia secured agreements that protected their rights and still averted a complete break with Rome. The Council of Basel confirmed their rights.

  Soon after the close of the Basel council, a third party of Hussites emerged in Bohemia, the Unitas Fratrum, also known as the Bohemian and Moravian Brethren. This group attracted the remnants of the Taborite and Calixtine parties and the Waldensians. The Brethren appointed their own ministers. They lacked a formal doctrine, but their discipline resembled that of the early Christian Church. They vowed to stop all unchristian and war-like methods of defending the Hussite tradition and therefore became pacifists.4 These Brethren were the spiritual ancestors of the Moravian Brethren and would have a deep influence on Martin Stephan’s spiritual formation.

  The Bohemian and Moravian United Brethren connected with the Austrian Waldensians, who had already created their own confession, catechism, and hymnology, and who also rejected war as a solution to conflict. The Waldensians had escaped Austria and, with the Hussite Brethren who were quietly leaving Salzburg and Pongau, they settled in Bohemia and Moravia (a province of Bohemia). Their leader, Stephan, or Stephanus as some called him (no relation to Martin Stephan’s family), was the last bishop of the Waldensians in that province and in 1480 was burned at the stake.5 Then, in 1481, the Hussites were banished from Moravia only to return six years later. By the year 1500 the Waldensians and the United Brethren had over two hundred thousand members and three hundred congregations.

  Many Waldensians and Brethrens fled
their Austrian homeland beginning in the 1440s. Stephan Agricola (b. 1425), the Salzburger ancestor of Martin Stephan, fled his homeland in the 1480s. This would not be the last time that the Stephan family had to flee persecution and suffer banishment to another country. According to Theo Stephan, when Stephan Agricola escaped Austria he joined the Waldensians in the southern part of Moravia south of Bruenn, where the Waldensians had scattered over a large part of the mountainous countryside.6

  In Stephan Agricola’s time it was common to Latinize one’s family name. The German name for farmer, Bauer, became the Latin word for farmer, Agricola. Shortly thereafter, they dropped “Agricola” and took the first name, “Stephan,” as their new family name. These name changes may have provided anonymity and protection from discovery as evangelicals. It is also possible that other contemporary personalities shaped the name-change decision, such as the names of Stephan I, the king of Austria, and the Waldensian bishop Stephan (or Stephanus).

  Stephan Agricola had been a linen weaver, a trade he had learned in Salzburg. There the tradesmen wove coarse sailcloth for ships in Venedig, a suburban shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany. (Coincidentally, it would be from Bremerhaven that Martin Stephan and the Saxon Emigration would eventually sail.) Now in Moravia, the weavers supported their households with their craft; such workers were called “cottagers.” This craft would be continuing in the family for many generations.

  Agricola then moved from Fulnek to Prerov (then Palrau), a thriving center for the United Brethren. Here the former Waldensians felt at home, and they merged with the Brethren. The roots of the Stephan family now were firmly planted in the Moravian countryside.

  In 1588, over one hundred years later, the Stephans moved from Prerov to the Czech village of Stramberg, answering the appeal for trades people and linen weavers by Count Zerotin, Stramberg estate’s new landlord. In the past the walled town had provided protection to the eleven surrounding villages because from Stramberg’s castle tower and parapet (built on Mt. Kotouc in 1364) soldiers could see for miles in every direction and make advance preparation against attack. However, at this time this village, with its mighty castle tower and encircling stone wall, was protected by a mutual alliance with the larger and more powerful city of Neutitschein (now called Novy Jicin).

  According to written family history, the Stephans took up residence at No. 57 Dolni pred mesti (meaning “Dolni Street, outside the town square”). The house was located on the steep slope near the precipice of this same Mt. Kotouc just outside the protective town wall. The house still stands to this day. Here the Stephan family continued their weaving business. The city of Neutitschein, with its eleven villages under its protection, provided an excellent market for textile sales. The family formed a weavers’ guild and through it became self-supporting. Here in Moravia this little enclave of Austrian-Germans continued their life and practiced their faith for two more centuries.

  From a cultural point of view, the move to Stramberg enabled the Stephans to resume their lives and feel comfortable with other German refugees. They continued to speak the German language they had spoken in Austria long before the move to Moravia. The church was a fellowship of the descendants of the Germanized Waldensians from Austria who had joined the Brethren. This faith community continued to develop. In their church life they were quite German. However, in their daily exchange with surrounding Czech families, the Stephans adapted to Czech ways, as did other Germans living in the area. As a result the Stephan family learned the Czech language that Martin Stephan would later speak in his Dresden ministry to a congregation of Bohemian Lutherans. Family genealogy also reveals marriages with Czech men and women. Czech family names like Janek and Petrasek enriched the Austrian-based Stephan family tree.7

  By the middle of the sixteenth century, the Reformation of Martin Luther had already spread throughout much of Germany and into Bohemia and Moravia. When Luther died in 1546, battles still raged between his supporters and those of the Papist Party. The movements of Huss and Luther paralleled each other. During the debate at Leipzig, Luther had said, “We are all Hussites without knowing it.”8 Many of the local Hussite Brethren, including the Stephan family, became “evangelicals,” as the Lutherans were called at that time. The people of Neutitschein, Stramberg, and the surrounding villages were mostly Lutherans served by preachers from Wittenberg and Leipzig.

  The Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) changed everything and especially challenged the emerging optimism of rationalism promoting the idea that reasoned thought would settle the most grievous of conflicts. In 1609, an uprising of the Bohemian nobility was pacified only by granting religious liberty to the nobles as well as to their dependents. This ensured that Protestant practices could continue in peace. In 1617 Ferdinand II (d. 1637) became king of Bohemia. He had been raised under strict Jesuit influences and began a bitter persecution of the Hussites and the evangelicals of the Lutheran Reformation.

  In 1619 the Bohemian nobility again rose up against Catholic Ferdinand II and offered the crown of Bohemia to Frederick, an influential member of the Evangelical Union organized for the protection of Protestants. But only two months later, the Bohemian Hussites were dealt a blow with Frederick’s defeat at White Mountain, near Prague.

  The Bohemian evangelical nobility continued to foment uprisings protesting the erosion of their previously granted religious liberty. Finally, in 1624, all Protestant teachers and preachers were given three days to leave the country under pain of death. Bohemian and German Bibles and works published after 1414 were placed under injunction as heresy and burned in great numbers in the towns’ marketplaces.9 The Jesuits had taken over the region and ruled the area from the university city of Olomouc. Whoever ruled the region dictated the church affiliation. The previously Lutheran Church and its building became Catholic.

  NOTES

  1 Theodore M. Stephan, “Ancestors of Martin Stephan” (unpublished ms., 1929),1.

  2 Stephan, “Ancestors of Martin Stephan,” 1.

  3 David S. Schaaf, John Huss (New York: Charles Scribner and Sons, 1915), 314.

  4 Rev. Joseph Milner, The History of the Church of Christ (London: Thomas Cadell, 1834), 391–92.

  5 Milner, The History of the Church of Christ, 395.

  6 Stephan, “Ancestors of Martin Stephan,” 2.

  7 Carl S. Mundinger, Government in the Missouri Synod (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1947), 45. This footnote by a political scientist indicates that Stephan came from others regarded as Bohemian stock, which was considered racially inferior. The people are still called “Bohunks” Mundinger said. However, Martin Stephan came from Austrian lineage and moved to Stramberg in the Moravian province where his ancestors intermarried with Czech peoples.

  8 Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of Christianity (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1953), 710.

  9 Schaaf, John Huss, 334.

  4

  Stephans and the Underground Church

  In a letter dated November 15, 1932, addressed to his nephew Paul, Theo Stephan describes the religious climate in which the early Stephan family lived:

  When early during the Thirty Years’ War (in 1624/25) the state religion was again made Roman Catholic ... under the rough fist of the Jesuits at Olmutz in Moravia, thousands of these Lutherans emigrated to Germany Poland, and elsewhere ... [O]nly a small number, the so-called Hidden Seed, among the Stephans at Stramberg, remained—now amid a fanatic Czech population.

  What was the result? Had there been hitherto certain aloofness on the part of the Stephans and others of their faith, due to their use of German religious books of the Lutheran type, their isolation now became complete amid a religiously hostile surrounding. They gathered for religious exercises, Bible reading, praying, and singing, in the dark of the night here and there in isolated villages. Their associations, socially and economically were more and more confined to their co-religionists and close friends. Prudence, if for no other reason, prompted them to move within confined limits of this sort.r />
  The Stephan family coped with this enforced change by going “underground.” According to Theo Stephan, these underground people called themselves the “Hidden Seed” because they believed they would be the ones to keep the Reformation alive for the next generation. They were registered in what now became the Ascension Catholic Church but their church registration was written as “A Katholiken” or “not Catholics” which could also be read as “a Catholic.” Although they were outwardly Catholics, married, baptized, and buried through this church, inwardly they were Lutheran. At night they and all their friends of the same faith would meet in remote villages like Hotzendorf, one mile south of Stramberg. Sometimes, like their ancestors in Austria, they met in people’s homes or outside around campfires hidden in the valleys. At these gatherings they united in prayer, singing Christian songs and reading the Bible and devotional books such as Johann Arndt’s Wahres Christentum.

  Theo Stephan goes on to say, “In place of a once powerful Lutheranism a rigid Catholicism entered in which, to the present day, Bohemia is still mired as few other countries ... Through the Jesuits the systematic, that is, the tyrannical persecution of the Lutherans took place. They went so far in many places as to destroy church records in order to eliminate all heretics without a trace.”1 Huss’s historian, David Schaaf, supports Theo Stephan’s understanding of the survival of the Stephan family’s spiritual life saying, “[I]f there were any [Hussites] who remained in Bohemia and retained their ancient faith, they kept it secret.”2