In the last Note, it was stated that many members of St. Mary’s were craftsmen who earned between 13 and 15 shillings a week. About three decades late, the Robinson River Lutherans paid John Huffman two and a half shillings per day for carpentry work on a house for their new pastor, John Caspar Stoever. This pay scale conforms well to the rate in London.
One of the early tasks for the members of St. Mary’s was the drafting a Church Order which was read to the membership on September 9 in 1695. This called for Divine Services on each Sunday, and Feast Day at 11 o’clock and at 6:30 in the evening . Services were also to be held on the day following Christmas, Easter, and Whitsunday, in the morning. During Lent, a weekday service was to be held during each week. Also, services were to be held on public days of Penitence and Thanksgiving. The order of service for morning and evening was spelled out in detail.
Membership was defined at Church attendance and the payment for a Church pew. The rental of a Church pew qualified one to vote in elections of the pastor and the councillors. Perhaps, some history in other congregations led the members to declare, "God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all congregations of God’s people, let all be done decently and in order." [Taken from 1 Corinthians.]
The biggest burden on the Church was the payment of the pastor’s salary. Initially, he started at 60 pounds per year, but he finished at 88 pounds per year. This was a higher rate than many of the Anglican preachers. For the church rental itself, they paid 8 pounds per year.
The successor to Crusius was Georg Andreas Ruperti, who started as pastor in 1706 and served until 1731. After 1712, he also took the position of Associate Pastor of the German Court Chapel. During Ruperti’s time, George I of the Lutheran House of Hanover became King, which meant that a large number of German court officials came to London with their families. Some of these people joined St. Mary’s as the Court Chapel was too small for all the members of the Royal entourage.
Ruperti was a committed man who was supported by an energetic Church council. In 1707, almost immediately after Ruperti came, they started a "school for poor children" which remained in existence until 1939. Ruperti was the first teacher until an Assistant Pastor, Friedrich Strauss, was appointed in 1715 to relieve Ruperti of his teaching duties.
For an unknown reason, the congregation was locked out of the Church for about a month in 1712. It took a Royal command to restore the Church to the congregation. They welcomed the Royal warrant of George I in 1721, which guaranteed them the possession of the buildings and real estate in the Savoy. With this they obtained the rights to a small piece of ground where they established a cemetery.
(08 Mar 05)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.