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William Augustus Muhlenberg (September 16, 1796April 8, 1877) was an Episcopal clergyman and educator. Muhlenberg is considered the father of church schools in the United States. An early exponent of the
Social Gospel The Social Gospel is a social movement within Protestantism that aims to apply Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, unclean envir ...
, he founded St. Luke's Hospital in New York City. Muhlenberg was also an early leader of the
liturgical movement The Liturgical Movement was a 19th-century and 20th-century movement of scholarship for the reform of worship. It began in the Catholic Church and spread to many other Christian churches including the Anglican Communion, Lutheran and some other Pro ...
in Anglican Christianity. His model schools on Long Island had a significant impact on the history of American education. Muhlenberg left his work in secondary education in 1845.


Biography

Muhlenberg was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 16, 1796. He was a great grandson of
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (an anglicanization of Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg) (September 6, 1711 – October 7, 1787), was a German Lutheran pastor sent to North America as a missionary, requested by Pennsylvania colonists. Integral to the ...
(1711–1787, known as the father of Lutheranism in America) and a grandson of Frederick Muhlenberg (1750–1801), a member of the First and Second Continental Congresses and Speaker of the House of Representatives. Muhlenberg was educated at the Philadelphia Academy and the Grammar School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating from the university in 1815. In 1817 he was
ordain Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform var ...
ed a deacon in the Protestant Episcopal Church, becoming assistant to Bishop William White (1748–1836) in the rectorship of Christ Church, St. Peter's and St. James' in Philadelphia. At this time Muhlenberg was influenced by his older friend,
Jackson Kemper Jackson Kemper (December 24, 1789 – May 24, 1870) in 1835 became the first missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Especially known for his work with Native American peoples, he also founded parishes in wha ...
(1789–1870), who became the first Missionary Bishop of the
Protestant Episcopal Church The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop of ...
in 1835. In 1820, Muhlenberg was ordained a priest, and until 1826 he was rector of St. James' Church in Lancaster. Largely due to his efforts, Lancaster was the second public-school district created in the state. His interest in
church music Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian music The onl ...
(particularly hymns) prompted his 1821 pamphlet, ''A Plea for Christian Hymns'', and he compiled ''Church Poetry'' in 1823 for his parish. That year Muhlenberg was appointed by the
General Convention The General Convention is the primary governing and legislative body of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. With the exception of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Constitution and Canons, it is the ultimate authority ...
to its committee on psalms and hymns. Its collection (approved in 1826) contained several of Muhlenberg's compositions, including ''I Would Not Live Alway'', ''Shout the Glad Tidings'' and ''Saviour, Who Thy Flock Art Feeding''.


Church-school movement

From 1826 to 1845, Muhlenberg was rector of St. George's in Flushing, Queens. In 1828 he became "Principal" of the "Church Institute" in Flushing, where he initiated a unique and highly successful method for the education of boys. In 1836, the cornerstone was laid for a new educational enterprise a mile north of Flushing. This more ambitious initiative was named St. Paul's College and Grammar School. (College Point in present-day Queens County NY is where Muhlenberg's school was situated.) Richard Upjohn designed a magnificent main building. The foundations for the building were completed by 1837 and the edifice of pink stone and white marble began to rise on the hill above Long Island Sound. It was not only the unfortunate financial Panic of 1837 but the party squabbling within the Episcopal Church that prevented Muhlenberg from collecting on the pledges to capitalize and endow St. Paul's. Without adequate endowment, the state legislature denied Muhlenberg's request for a collegiate charter, which meant that St. Paul's could not legally grant the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The ruination of St. Paul's left a lasting wound in Muhlenberg's heart. One of the greatest educators in American history—admired by even public school promoters—departed Long Island for good in 1847. The property was sold a few years later. But Muhlenberg's philosophy and practice of education had already been handed over to younger men who made a monumental contribution to the history of American education (see John Kerfoot,
James Lloyd Breck James Lloyd Breck (June 27, 1818 – April 2, 1876) was a priest, educator, and missionary of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Breck is commemorated on April 2 on the Episcopal calendar of saints. Early life and education B ...
, and Henry Augustus Coit).


Educational principles

Muhlenberg rejected "vague, spiritualized Christianity." His schools blended home, school and church. These
Episcopalian Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
communities considered literature, the sciences, and moral education equally in order to mold Christian character rather than pursuing academic excellence alone. Muhlenberg defined character as not only moral goodness, but also the qualities, skills and attitudes favoring effectiveness in the world (for example, to manage a challenging course of study). Academic excellence would inevitably follow. His schools were Christian families, with Christ as the head, and by church school he meant a part of the
Body of Christ In Christian theology, the term Body of Christ () has two main but separate meanings: it may refer to Jesus' words over the bread at the celebration of the Jewish feast of Passover that "This is my body" in (see Last Supper), or it may refer ...
in which divine grace (God's help) was present for the believer. Muhlenberg and his successors considered the school as the scholastic church. A practical Christian, his Christianity was more practice than theology. Echoing John Henry Newman, Muhlenberg believed that "Christianity can not be inculcated in the abstract." One of the least sectarian religious leaders of his generation, he realized that unless a religious school teaches a particular religion it would become secular or splinter into factions. A lasting, healthy religious tolerance in a community is enabled by a religious center (or established discipline) from which hospitality and tolerance radiate to the community. Muhlenberg's experience in public schools from 1818 to 1826 impressed him with the importance of Christian education, and he wanted the Flushing school to build Christian character with denominational instruction. In his 1828 pamphlet ''The Application of Christianity to Education'', he assumed that a moral education would be based on Christianity because of his belief that God revealed himself in a particular way through Jesus Christ. Muhlenberg was confident that through the Bible, humans can glimpse the
will of God The will of God or divine will is a concept found in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament and the Quran, according to which God's will is the first cause of everything that exists. See also * Destiny * '' Deus vult'', a Latin expression me ...
and a moral education is based on knowledge of that will. A classical scholar familiar with moral goodness in the pagan world, to him the Gospel and Christianity were true and the best education would incorporate them. To Muhlenberg, virtue was synonymous with Christ. According to his 1828 pamphlet, "The Law of God is the law of the school" as a pattern or blueprint. Muhlenberg strongly discouraged public comparison of weaker to stronger students, and rarely administered corporal punishment; both distinguished him from most contemporary American educators. The schools at Flushing and College Point were happy, busy scholastic brotherhoods.
James Lloyd Breck James Lloyd Breck (June 27, 1818 – April 2, 1876) was a priest, educator, and missionary of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Breck is commemorated on April 2 on the Episcopal calendar of saints. Early life and education B ...
(1818–1876) spent five years on Long Island with Muhlenberg and his staff. Although considered an ordinary student, he entered the University of Pennsylvania as a third-year student and graduated ''
magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
'' the following year. After
divinity school A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
, Breck went west and founded three seminaries (including Nashotah House Episcopal Seminary in Wisconsin), four boarding schools, three colleges and twenty parochial schools (including Shattuck-St. Mary's School in
Faribault, Minnesota Faribault ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Rice County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 23,352 at the 2010 census. Faribault is approximately south of Minneapolis–Saint Paul. Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highwa ...
). Well-versed in the spread of Christianity during Late Antiquity, he was a missionary among the
Mississippi Chippewa Mississippi River Band of Chippewa Indians ( oj, Gichi-ziibiwininiwag) or simply the Mississippi Chippewa, are a historical Ojibwa Band inhabiting the headwaters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries in present-day Minnesota. According to th ...
in the North Woods of Minnesota and established Muhlenberg-type schools for Ojibwe students. For Muhlenberg, education was holistic and comprehensive. His application of Christianity to education resembled the aims of
Horace Mann Horace Mann (May 4, 1796August 2, 1859) was an American educational reformer, slavery abolitionist and Whig politician known for his commitment to promoting public education. In 1848, after public service as Secretary of the Massachusetts Sta ...
(1796–1859) and Thomas Arnold's work at
Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...
beginning in 1828. Foreshadowing
John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the fi ...
, Muhlenberg wrote: "Some great minds are slow in developing, the acorn gives little promise of the oak" and "The head should not be furnished at the expense of the heart." He and his scholastic heirs did not allow religion to usurp academic rigor and high scholastic standards: "Religion should never be held to account for inferior scholarship." According to Henry Coit (1830–1895), a disciple of Muhlenberg, "A high aim is better than a low one."


Impact on American education

Muhlenberg's Flushing Institute and St. Paul's College failed due to inability to weather the 1837 financial crisis in the United States. However, his pedagogical vision was transported to other regions by his protégés. In 1842 he helped found Saint James School in St. James, Maryland with his assistant at St. Paul's College and Grammar School,
John Barrett Kerfoot John Barrett Kerfoot (March 1, 1816 – July 10, 1881) served as Rector of the College of St. James near Hagerstown, Maryland, as President of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and as the first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh ...
, who later became the first bishop of Pittsburgh and founded Trinity Hall School for Boys (1879) using Muhlenberg's principles. For his work in education, Kerfoot received an honorary doctorate from Cambridge University. Henry Augustus Coit (1830–1895), a former student of Muhlenberg and Kerfoot, was the founding rector of St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire (1856). Kerfoot's nephew was the founding headmaster of St. Mark's School in
Southborough, Massachusetts Southborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It incorporates the villages of Cordaville, Fayville, and Southville. Its name is often informally shortened to Southboro, a usage seen on many area signs and maps, though ...
(1865).
Endicott Peabody Endicott Howard Peabody (February 15, 1920 – December 2, 1997) was an American politician from Massachusetts. A Democrat, he served a single two-year term as the 62nd Governor of Massachusetts, from 1963 to 1965. His tenure is probably ...
(1857–1944) founded Groton School in 1884; acknowledging Muhlenberg's influence, he kept his portrait in his study and referred to Groton as a "church school". The founders of St. George's School in Rhode Island (1896) also cited Muhlenberg as an educational pioneer, and he influenced the 1839 founding of the Episcopal High School in
Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. Th ...
. Muhlenberg consulted with EHS founding headmaster William Nelson Pendleton, and sent acolyte Milo Mahan (who taught at St. Paul's in College Point) at the request of the Bishop of Virginia. Historian James McLachlan noted the Muhlenberg schools' uniqueness in ''American Boarding Schools: A History'' (1970).


Religious beliefs

Muhlenberg's religion can be difficult to describe. His mature religion may be described as Anglican Christianity with an American accent. He was claimed by different parties within his denomination—the High Church, the Evangelical, the Low Church—but proceeded in his own way. In some respects, he was an early example of what came to be called the Broad Church. He opposed the "novelties" of Roman Catholicism and dogmatic Protestantism, affirming the Scriptures and church teaching before the 11th-century East–West Schism. Muhlenberg echoed the 17th-century Anglican bishop
John Cosin John Cosin (30 November 1594 – 15 January 1672) was an English churchman. Life He was born at Norwich, and was educated at Norwich School and at Caius College, Cambridge, where he was scholar and afterwards fellow. On taking orders he was a ...
who wrote that his Anglican church was "Protestant and Reformed ... according to the Ancient Catholic Church." His position was also similar to
Edward Bouverie Pusey Edward Bouverie Pusey (; 22 August 180016 September 1882) was an English Anglican cleric, for more than fifty years Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford. He was one of the leading figures in the Oxford Movement. Early years ...
(1800–1882), an Oxford professor and a leader of the 19th-century revival movement in the Church of England. Muhlenberg was influenced by the
Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...
, William White (1748–1836),
John Keble John Keble (25 April 1792 – 29 March 1866) was an English Anglican priest and poet who was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Keble College, Oxford, was named after him. Early life Keble was born on 25 April 1792 in Fairford, Glouces ...
, John Henry Newman, Pusey, Richard Hooker (1554–1600) and the Christian tolerance of
Jeremy Taylor Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667) was a cleric in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes known as the "Shakespeare of Divines" for his poetic style of expression, and he is fr ...
(1613–1667). As a youth, Muhlenberg worked to become quite familiar with the ''Fifteen Sermons'' and ''Analogy of Religion'' of Bishop
Joseph Butler Joseph Butler (18 May O.S. 1692 – 16 June O.S. 1752) was an English Anglican bishop, theologian, apologist, and philosopher, born in Wantage in the English county of Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire). He is known for critiques of Deism, Thomas ...
(1692–1752). Born a Lutheran, Muhlenberg converted to the Protestant Episcopal Church as a boy. Trained in Philadelphia by William White and prepared for ordination by Jackson Kemper, he began to call his religion "Evangelical and Catholic" in the late-1840s and published a newspaper of that name in the 1850s. By "evangelical," Muhlenberg meant personal devotion to Jesus Christ, dedication to the Scriptures as the Word of God, and the responsibility to live and share the Gospel. "Evangelical" connoted what is spontaneous and Spirit-led about Christianity. By "Catholic," Muhlenberg meant the "bones" of the Faith: tradition, creeds, liturgy, and sacraments. Newman's eight-volume ''Parochial and Plain Sermons'' parallel many of Muhlenberg's views. Muhlenberg worshiped Christ without sentimentality, believing that Jesus lived in his schools, his parish church, and in St. Luke's Hospital, New York, where he ministered to the sick and dying. When he created St. Johnland on Long Island late in his life, he would say that the primary study in the educational programs there was "Jesus." The history of persons and of institutions is a diachronic phenomenon; time does not stand still and everything changes. Muhlenberg's faith and practice developed over the decades. He was a born reformer and did effect reforms in the PECUSA. He inspired many High Churchmen and those who came to be called "Anglo-Catholics," but he was neither a High Churchman nor an Anglo-Catholic. He was well known as an innovator of divine worship but was never a true "ritualist." The ritualism he introduced in his school chapels had one purpose: to impress upon the minds of his boys the great doctrines of Christianity. The concept worked to good effect. It was as much a Lockean as an Anglo-Catholic idea: He wanted to give vivid impressions to young minds. Muhlenberg was neither particularly romantic nor conservative or reactionary. Although several of Muhlenberg's former students and followers became
Anglo-Catholics Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...
, he was dismayed when Newman converted to Roman Catholicism in 1845. Unthreatened by Darwinism, Muhlenberg was interested in modern ideas. He wrote patriotic poems and was the first Episcopal priest to hold a weekly Eucharist and daily offices. In 1853, he submitted a resolution to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church which became known as the Muhlenberg Memorial. The resolution calling for open-mindedness and the freedom of parish clergy to be responsive to parishioner needs, especially concerning Sunday-morning worship. Some of Muhlenberg's papers and articles were published in two volumes from 1875 to 1877 as ''Evangelical Catholic Papers'' by Anne Ayres, who also wrote his official biography from papers he saved for her (disregarding his request to destroy them after his death).


Later years

In 1845, Muhlenberg moved to New York City. The following year he became rector of the Church of the Holy Communion, a rent-free church built by his sister Mary A. Rogers. Muhlenberg founded the first American order of Protestant Episcopal deaconesses, the Sisterhood of the Church of the Holy Communion, between 1845 and 1852. His work with the sisterhood led to the 1850 establishment of St. Luke's Hospital, for which his congregation made offerings each St. Luke's Day beginning in 1847. In 1866, Muhlenberg founded the Church Industrial Community of St. Johnland on Long Island. He bought with of shorefront on
Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the E ...
near Kings Park as a home for young, crippled children and the elderly. A moderate rent was charged for the cottages. Muhlenberg died on April 8, 1877 in St. Luke's Hospital, and is buried in the St. Johnland cemetery. Muhlenberg is honored with a
feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does ...
on the liturgical calendar of the U.S. Episcopal Church on April 8, his death day. His reputation as an educator has been partially overshadowed by his extracurricular achievements after his move to New York City.


See also

* Abbeville (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) *
Johann Konrad Wilhelm Löhe Johann Konrad Wilhelm Löhe (21 February 1808 – 2 January 1872) (often rendered 'Loehe') was a pastor of the Lutheran Church, Confesional Lutheran writer, and is often regarded as being a founder of the deaconess movement in Lutheranism and a fou ...
*
New York Free Circulating Library The New York Free Circulating Library (NYFCL) was founded in 1879 and incorporated in 1880. Its aim was to supply free reading material and reading rooms to the people of New York City. Over its lifetime, it expanded from a single location to elev ...
: The Muhlenberg Branch was named in his memory.


Further reading

* Ayres, Anne. ''The Life and Work of William Augustus Muhlenberg''. New York: Thomas Wittaker, 1889. * Hein, David and Gardner Shattuck. "Muhlenberg" in ''The Episcopalians''. Westport CT: Praeger, 2004. * Prehn, W.L. "Episcopal Schools: History & Mission" in Carper and Hunt, eds., ''Handbook of Faith-Based Schools in the United States'' (June 2012). * Prehn, Walter Lawrence III. "Social Vision, Character, and Academic Excellence in Nineteenth-Century America: William Augustus Muhlenberg and the Church School Movement, 1828-1877" (Ph.D dissertation, University of Virginia, 2005): University of Michigan online access. * Prichard, Robert. ''A History of the Episcopal Church'' (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Pub., 1999). * Richards, Samuel J. "A Forgotten Muhlenberg School: Trinity Hall in Washington, Pennsylvania." ''Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies'' 87, no. 2 (2020): 247–78
DOI: 10.5325/pennhistory.87.2.0247
* Skardon, Alvin. ''Church Leader in the Cities: William Augustus Muhlenberg''. Philadelphia: University Press of Pennsylvania, 1971.


References


External links



by Anne Ayres (Project Canterbury)

Chapter VIII. William Augustus Muhlenberg
Muhlenberg, William August
( Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge)
William Augustus Mühlenberg 1796–1877
(The Cyber Hymnal)
Life of the Right Reverend John Barrett Kerfoot
D.D. L.L.D., First Bishop of Pittsburgh, by Hall Harrison, M.A., Vol. 1, pp. 46–48, published by James Pott & Co., New York 1886 (Google Books) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muhlenberg, William Augustus 1796 births 1877 deaths 19th-century Christian saints 19th-century American Episcopalians 19th-century American clergy 19th-century Anglican theologians 20th-century Anglican theologians American Episcopal priests American people of German descent American religious leaders Anglican saints Christian hymnwriters Muhlenberg family University of Pennsylvania alumni People from Philadelphia