David Frederick Schaeffer (born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 22 July 1787; died in

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area, Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the inter ...

, 5 May 1837) was a

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 ...

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Biography

His parents were Frederick David Schaeffer and Rosina Rosenmiller. His father was a Lutheran clergyman, as were his brothers Frederick Christian, Charles Frederick, and Frederick Solomon, and his nephew Charles William. He graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...

in 1807, studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

with

Justus Henry Christian Helmuth Justus Christian Henry Helmuth (16 May 1745 in Helmstedt, Brunswick, Germany – 5 February 1825 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States) was a German-American Lutheran clergyman. Biography His father died when the son was a mere boy, bu ...

, John Frederick Schmidt, and his father, and was ordained by the

Pennsylvania Ministerium The Pennsylvania Ministerium was the first Lutheran church body in North America. With the encouragement of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (1711–1787), the Ministerium was founded at a Church Conference of Lutheran clergy on August 26, 1748. The g ...

in 1812, though he had received his license to preach in 1808. In 1808 he became pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran congregation at Frederick, Maryland, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Activities

A ministerial challenge in his times was the development of

English-language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to t ...

worship as an alternative to the hitherto exclusive use of the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...

. Schaeffer was one of the leaders in this effort. He was an able theologian, always having students under his direction, among whom were his brothers Frederick Christian and Frederick Solomon. Two other distinguished students were Emanuel Greenwald and Charles Philip Krauth. He was connected with all the important enterprises of his own church and with many outside of it. From 1826 until 1831 he was the editor of the first English-language periodical that was established in the Lutheran church in the United States, the ''Lutheran Intelligencer''. He took an active part in the establishment of the

Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (Gettysburg Seminary) was a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was one of seven ELCA seminaries, one of the three seminaries in the Eastern ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

, in 1826, was one of the founders of the general synod of the Lutheran church (1821), secretary in 1821-29, and its president in 1831-33. In 1836 he received the degree of

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

from St. John's College,

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

. Besides a large number of doctrinal and other articles in the ''Lutheran Intelligencer'', he published various addresses and sermons. His reputation was based mostly on his work as a pastor. Illness and the death of his wife were difficulties of his later years, as was the Maryland Synod, which sanctioned him for intemperance.

Family

He married Elizabeth Krebs of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1810. They had six children.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schaeffer, David Frederick 19th-century American Lutheran clergy 1787 births 1837 deaths People from Carlisle, Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania alumni 18th-century Lutheran theologians 19th-century Lutheran theologians