Sunday Special: Rev. John Reinhardt

To continue the Sunday Special feature on our Lutheran Heritage, I will discuss Rev. F. J. W. Reinhardt.  He was the husband of Sophie Brueggemann (Clamor's youngest daughter).  They were married in 1892.  He was a Missouri Synod Pastor,


According to the "Lutheran Visitor", he "took charge at Pensacola, FL 7/23/1891" (page 4).

He was the second pastor at  "The First German-English Evangelical Lutheran Immanuel's Congregation of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession of Pensacola, Florida".  Quite a mouthful, which was commonly known at "the German Lutheran church".  The name was changed to that during World War I in 1918 when the church was incorporated to Immanuel's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Pensacola, Florida." That's when reference to being a German church was dropped because of the war (see my earlier post on German-American discrimination). 

From the Church Website:
This drawing was made prior to 1918 since the "German" was dropped out of the name in 1918. This is probably one of the earliest pictures of the 1912 church. The building on the left was the parsonage at that time. Pastors Reinhardt and Schrader both lived there with their families. In 1942, the Schraders moved to a new parsonage at 1212 E. Lakeview. The old building was used as a Sunday School and church hall till 1955 when it was razed to building a new education building. Those who attended Sunday School and confirmation class in the old building remember long days without air conditioning, drink machines, and water fountains. The students/catechumens went to confirmation classes all summer 5 days a week for 3 hours in the 7th grade and 3 1/2 hours in the 8th grade.

By 1912, a new church had been constructed on West Wright Street which is still in use and where a new education building was completed in 2003. The present church was built in 1912. The photos with spires were made close to that time. Lightning hit some of the spires in 1924, and a hurricane damaged them in 1926. They were removed following the hurricane because of safety concerns. 

Originally, the men sat on the east side of the church and the women and children on the west side. Men went to communion before the women until 1933. Morning services were in German; evening services were in English. They, gradually, went to more English services, but some German services continued until 1941.

I think it interesting that German continued much longer at Immanuel than at other churches in more traditionally German communities.  

Sunday Special: Rev. Victor Brugge (Brueggemann)

This is kind of Part 2 to last week's post about Rev. Martin Brueggemann.  His eldest son, Victor Ludwig Ottamar (born 1895) also became a Pastor and succeed his father at Trinity in Memphis.

I think he may require more than one post. If you remember from his father's post, he and his brothers changed their name from Brueggemann to Brugge.

 Again from Trinity's Website, a great history of his tenure. 

At the time of Pastor Brueggemann's death, Trinity called his oldest son Victor, who had also entered the ministry and was the pastor of a rural congregation in Gordonville Missouri, to be their next pastor. Pastor Brugge was a young, dynamic preacher who became immensely popular in the community. He was also a gifted speaker and became a favorite of reporters looking for a snappy quote to round out their story. His Christian influence was felt throughout the community by his numerous contacts with businessmen, politicians, and civic leaders.

He wrote a daily newspaper column, and in 1932 began preaching the gospel over the radio, and later by television. In 1935, the congregation granted him a leave of absence to help with the development of the fledgling The Lutheran Hour. The Lutheran Hour continues on the air today, making it the world's oldest continually broadcast Christ-centered radio program.
Under Pastor Brugge’s leadership, youth work flourished, a Men’s Club and a Couple’s Club were organized. The women’s groups and the Adult Bible Class continued their spectacular growth. Church membership now exceeded 600.

During World War II, when many of Trinity’s youth served in the armed forces, of which only three gave their lives, the church organized the Service Club and worked diligently with the Institutional Chaplin, W.C.Krueger, to provide spiritual care for service personnel in the Memphis area. In 1944, 86 members of the armed forces communed at Trinity’s alter. During those war years, members of Trinity became involved in ministering to a community of displaced Latvians that had been established in the Senatobia, Mississippi area.

Also that year, Trinity and her pastor, along with Rev. Vernon Koerper, helped erect a new building for a thriving black school, ably run by Ms. Emma A. Smith. In 1949, the congregation helped build a Lutheran Hospital in Vicksburg, Mississippi. For some years, Trinity had lent its facilities to an integrated group of hearing-impaired Lutherans, and in 1950 when the church added a new education building, a new Chapel for the Deaf was included.

Throughout most of Pastor Brugge’s ministry, two Sunday morning services were held, along with Bible Classes and Sunday School and often Vespers (evening worship services). The gospel message was also delivered at Millington Naval Base, at railway stations in Memphis, and at civic gatherings. By the grace of God, these were years of great activity and of reaching out beyond the congregation itself. Devotions by the pastor and the choir which had started on radio, were telecast weekly on WMC-TV in the late forties.

About this time, Trinity played a vital role in establishing sister congregations in Jackson, Tennessee and Blythville, Arkansas.

Major renovations were made in preparation for the 1955 Centennial Anniversary. The interior was completely refinished. An educational building was constructed in the area once occupied by the parsonage with Sunday School classrooms and church offices. The most welcome addition was the small elevator installed to serve the elderly and handicapped. Since 1888, Trinity’s sanctuary has been located on the second floor. Ten years later, more space was added for classrooms and a chapel for the congregation of hearing impaired Lutherans.

Led by Pastor Brugge, the congregation raised its voice in hymns of praise for a century of gracious blessing and pledged to look to the future in faith.

In 1940, and again in 1953, Pastor Brugge became gravely ill, each time for almost a year. During these times, seminary students and vicars such as Edwin Coyner, George Plvan, Luther Kriefall and Walter Harms shouldered the responsibilities. Then in 1957, after another extended illness, The Lord called Pastor Brugge home on Thanksgiving Day. Vicar Harms served until Pastor Paul Martens accepted Trinity’s call in August of 1957.

It sounds like he was an amazing man.  I look forward to learning more about him.

Sunday Special: Rev. Martin J. Brueggeman

You may have noticed, on Sundays, I am trying to feature our strong Lutheran heritage.  Today's feature is Rev. Johann Martin Brueggeman or how he was known, Martin J. Brueggeman.  He followed his older brother, Ernst August into the Ministry.

I haven't researched much on his early career but his first churches were in Iowa.  His final call was at Trinity Lutheran Church (a Missouri Synod Church) in Memphis, TN.  The Church's website is FANTASTIC.  Below  is the information from their history section:

The rapid changes that Memphis and the rest of the Nation witnessed during America's Gilded Age continued unabated. The cotton industry in Memphis prospered, as did the sale and distribution of hardwood lumber. Memphis' strategic location continued to make it a major center for both railroad and river transportation. The city population continued to swell and municipal limits moved outward. As Memphis grew, so did the church, both in membership and in resources. As Trinity settled into the twentieth century, it called as its eleventh pastor, Martin J. Brueggemann from Fort Dodge, Iowa. Most of Trinity's pastors had been born in Germany and had emigrated to the United States. Pastor Brueggemann would be the last of Trinity's pastors to have this distinction. However, Pastor Brueggemann felt strongly in America as the Great Melting Pot, and felt that Trinity's ridged grasp on its German heritage and "the old ways," would serve as a detriment to Trinity's young people and a hindrance to the spreading of the gospel. It was under Pastor Brueggemann that Trinity made the switch to English. As soon as they became of age, Pastor Brueggemann's three sons changed their last name to Brugge.

The sancuary shortly after the installation of electricity

In the twenty years that Pastor Brueggemann served, a great many other changes took place. An electric trolley appeared on Washington Ave replacing the railroad. Gas lights gave way to electric ones. Trinity purchased an electric organ pump (much to the delight of the young boys of the congregation who previously were expected to crank the hand pump for each service.) A modern, central coal furnace replaced smaller wood stoves. In 1920, the ladies bought a gas oven for the busy kitchen and a Ford automobile was provided for the pastor (cost $866). In 1921, the parsonage was converted to a parish house to accommodate a growing Sunday School and a new parsonage was purchased on North Avalon St., several miles from the church. In 1924, Trinity’s magnificent Moeller pipe organ was installed.

World War I hastened the integration of German-speaking people into American society and Trinity lost much of its ethnic profile. In doing so, it began to experience growth from within the community. A bible class, started by Pastor Brueggemann in 1913, grew remarkably in the twenties. In 1909, with the city expanding, need for a local Lutheran church had arisen in South Memphis. Trinity’s first daughter congregation, The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer,was organized that year by families living in the Third Street and McLemore Avenue area. Some of Trinity’s most active members formed the nucleus of this group. Money was contributed by Trinity (initially and annually) for its support. Another daughter congregation, Immanuel, was formed in 1924 in the Highland Heights area. Again, some of Trinity’s ablest members were involved, and the mother church was supportive in the efforts to establish both a church and a Christian day school—this time, with lessons taught in English.

During the twenties, a rather close association developed among the Lutheran churches in the Mid-South region. Congregations from Little Rock and Memphis often joined in celebrating Mission Festivals, reserving several railway coaches for the group trip either to Little Rock of to Memphis. Pastor Brueggemann led his flock through much change and expansion, and no doubt he rejoiced at the generous blessings of God. He succumbed to a heart attack the day after Easter in 1927.

There is a mis-statement in the narrative.  It states that he was the last German born Pastor,  In fact, he was born in Cleveland to Clamor & Marie in 1870.  It sure sounds like he ushered the Church into the 20th Century,