Wilhelm Sihler (November 12, 1801 – October 27, 1885) was a German American

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

minister. A proponent for Christian education, Wilhelm Sihler founded

Concordia Theological Seminary The Concordia Theological Seminary is a Lutheran seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It offers professional, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees affiliated with training clergy and deaconesses for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). His ...

, in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

Biography

Wilhelm Sihler was born in Germany in Bernstadt, near Breslau, in the historical region of

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...

. He studied in Berlin 1826–29. He was employed as a private tutor in Breslau during 1829 and 1830. He was an instructor at a private college in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

during 1830. From 1838 until 1843 he worked as a private tutor within the Baltic area. Sihler immigrated to the United States in 1843. He served as a teacher in

Pomeroy, Ohio Pomeroy ( ) is a village in and the county seat of Meigs County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River 21 miles south of Athens. The population was 1,852 at the 2010 census. History Pomeroy was founded in 1804 and named for landowner Samuel ...

, and vicinity during 1844. He was ordained within the

Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio The Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio and Other States, commonly known as the Joint Synod of Ohio or the Ohio Synod, was a German-language Lutheran denomination whose congregations were originally located primarily in the U.S. state of Ohio ...

in June 1844. Sihler served as the third pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church,

. Wilhelm Sihler had arrived in America as the result of a call for help by F.C.D. Wyneken. Pastor Wyneken had arrived in Fort Wayne in 1838 to find that the only pastor in Indiana had died a few days before. Shocked at the condition of the Lutheran church in the area, Wyneken returned to Germany to search for new pastors willing to emigrate. In June 1841, Pastor Wyneken met with and sought assistance from Dr.

Wilhelm Löhe Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Moun ...

. Sihler was one of those who read Wyneken's ''The Distress of the German Lutherans in North America'' (German: ''Die Noth der deutschen Lutheraner in Nordamerika'') and decided to leave his home country for America. In September 1846, Wilhelm Sihler started a small seminary in the parsonage at St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Fort Wayne. This marked the foundation of the

. The seminary trains pastors for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. Sihler was also the father of prominent classicist Ernest Gottlieb Sihler. Sihler encouraged zeal and love for the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions. He especially criticized the

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church of ...

for lacking these, claiming that their leaders, for example,

Samuel Simon Schmucker Samuel Simon Schmucker (February 28, 1799 – July 26, 1873) was a German-American Lutheran pastor and theologian. He was integral to the founding of the Lutheran church body known as the General Synod, as well as the oldest continuously operatin ...

, were apostate "open counterfeiters, Calvinists, Methodists, and Unionists... traitors and destroyers of the Lutheran Church".

Selected writings

Books

* * * *

Journal articles

References

External links

St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran ChurchConcordia Theological Seminary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sihler, Wilhelm 1801 births 1876 deaths 19th-century American Lutheran clergy Lutheran missionaries in the United States German emigrants to the United States German Lutheran missionaries Missionary educators Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod people 19th-century Lutheran theologians