Paul Henkel (December 15, 1754 – November 27, 1825) was a native of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

who became an itinerant evangelist for the Lutheran Church in the eastern United States. He was born in

Rowan County, North Carolina Rowan County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina that was formed in 1753, as part of the British Province of North Carolina. It was originally a vast territory with unlimited western boundaries, but its size was reduced to 524 sq mi ...

, in 1754. His family moved to what is now

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

while he was still young. In that environment, he developed a solid acquaintance with orthodox Lutheran works. He grew to become a cooper by trade, and was obliged to provide enough for his substantial family. Despite these demands on his time, he always gave his highest priority to conducting religious services. He took advantage of the numerous prayer meetings and Bible classes in his area to help him focus on spiritual values. By 1781, he preached his first

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. ...

, first in German, then in English. This began a period of missionary work which would continue for the next forty years. He was licensed as a preacher by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania in 1783 to begin his work, being ordained by the same body in 1792. He worked in the area of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. Although he did receive some financial assistance for his missionary work, the majority of the expenses were paid for out of his own pocket. His work included preaching, baptizing, and creating new congregations in the communities he visited. He also worked to organize clergy for the organization and administrative purposes. He helped to found the North Carolina Synod in 1803. This group helped provide discipline and moral support for the people of the area, and also helped its members withstand the great degree of emotionalism which was a regular feature of several revival movements of the time. He returned to Virginia in 1806. There, he began distributing books through his sons' printing house, the Henkel Press, which thus became the only Lutheran publishing house in the country for many years. He also continued his missionary travels, and helped form 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 1818 and the Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod in 1820. He used his prominence to help argue against the ideas of

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 ...

, which he considered far too liberal. Henkel actively resisted cooperating with Schmucker in his hope of uniting all the evangelical churches, as he was staunchly opposed to the appearance of ideological compromise which he thought would be given by such an alliance. His strict adherence to the traditional doctrine, including the Augsburg Confession, served as one of the basis for the strong confessional movement which would later flourish in many parts of the North American Lutheran community. A paralytic stroke Henkel suffered in 1823 substantially limited his activities. He did however remain an active preacher and writer until just six weeks before his death in 1825.

References

*Bowden, Henry Warner. ''Dictionary of American Religious Biography.'' Westport, CT: Greenwood, Press, 1977. .

External links

* Wolf, Edmund Jacob
The Lutherans in America; a story of struggle, progress, influence and marvelous growth.
New York: J.A. Hill, 1889. * Christian Cyclopedia article on th
Henkel Clan
* Section on Henkel family in Bente, F
American Lutheranism Volume II
St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1919.
The Henkel Family Papers
are housed in James Madison University's Special Collections, call number SC#2065. {{DEFAULTSORT:Henkel, Paul 1754 births 1825 deaths People from Rowan County, North Carolina 18th-century American Lutheran clergy People from Pendleton County, West Virginia 19th-century American Lutheran clergy Religious leaders from North Carolina Religious leaders from West Virginia