by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service
A pastor's robe worn by Lutheran pastor and Revolutionary War
figure Peter Muhlenberg will be featured on the PBS television
program "History Detectives" to air July 23 at 9 p.m. Eastern
Daylight Time. The robe is part of the historical collection at
the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, one of eight
seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
According to the program, in January 1776 Muhlenberg turned his
pulpit into a recruiting station for revolutionary fighters.
During a particular sermon, he tore his robe from his shoulders
to reveal a uniform, rallying some 300 congregants to the
patriotic cause. Mary Redline, researcher and grant writer for
the seminary's Krauth Memorial Library and the Northeast Lutheran
Archives, contacted the History Detectives. She asked them to
investigate if the legend was true, and if the robe was once
Muhlenberg's, according to a seminary weblog report.
The legend is important to the Revolutionary War and to the role
the Lutheran Church played in the colonies and the United States,
the report said. Peter Muhlenberg's father was Henry Melchior
Muhlenberg, considered a founder of American Lutheranism and of
many congregations that still exist today.
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
