David Frederick Schaeffer (born in

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census ...

, 22 July 1787; died in

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in, and the county seat of, Frederick County, Maryland, United States. Frederick's population was 78,171 people as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Maryland, second-largest ...

, 5 May 1837) was a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

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

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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 (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1807, studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

with Justus Henry Christian Helmuth, 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 ...

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 that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

worship as an alternative to the hitherto exclusive use of the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

. 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 Gettysburg (; ) is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Adams County, Pen ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, 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 (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (i.e., Christian theology and ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the English-speaking world than elsewhere. In the United Kin ...

from St. John's College,

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. 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 ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

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