St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran congregation in Baltimore was no longer a new congregation when Blessed Keyl was called by it; several preachers from different church denominations had already been working there, and Keyl's immediate predecessor had been Blessed Pastor Wyneken, who had served the congregation since 1845. At that time Pastor Wyneken and his congregation were still in ecclesiastical union with the old General Synod, which called itself Lutheran; but the former had long since recognized that the old General Synod was nothing less than Lutheran, but rather thoroughly rationalist-Methodist-united, and that he could no longer remain in its association with a clear conscience if it did not abandon its anti-confessional standpoint in doctrine and practice. After he had given a firm testimony against the united position of the synod at several synodal meetings, but had only been ridiculed, he finally realized that there was no hope for improvement in this rotten body, and he had no choice but to abandon it to its fate and leave it.
But it could not be expected otherwise that the congregations connected with the General Synod also bore the same ecclesiastical character in detail as the synodal body as a whole. The St. Paul's congregation in Baltimore, when Wyneken took office there, was also a congregation that called itself Lutheran, but was in reality a completely united congregation; for in addition to those who were Lutheran-minded, it also counted lodge brothers, Uniate and Reformed as such among its members, and it also publicly expressed this united position at the celebration of the Lord's Supper by having bread distributed to the Reformed and hosts to the Lutherans. But since the use of hosts at the Lord's Supper has become a confessional ceremony in the Lutheran Church in relation to the Reformed, it is a denial of its Lutheran faith and confession on the part of a congregation wishing to be Lutheran if it allows bread to be distributed at its altar in addition to the hosts; quite apart from the fact that it is a grave sin on the part of a Lutheran congregation if it holds communion with the Reformed as such. Because Pastor Wyneken could not possibly justify to his Lutheran conscience to remain silent about such an abominable unionism as he found in the St. Paul's congregation, it was inevitable that as a result of his decisive testimony he was expelled from the congregation, although of course this was not without hard fights.
When Pastor Wyneken received and accepted a call to the Evangelical Lutheran Trinity congregation in St. Louis in 1849, the hardest battles in Baltimore had already been overcome; a good foundation had been laid and the congregation could now continue to build on this foundation in peace. What it needed above all was to be more firmly grounded in the pure doctrine of the Lutheran Church. Therefore, Pastor Wyneken's main concern when he left Baltimore was to find a successor who knew how to continue building on the foundation that had been laid and how to encourage the congregation to grow in the knowledge of pure doctrine. He had chosen our dear Keyl for this purpose and strongly recommended him to his congregation for appointment. But that Keyl was the right person to fulfill such a task is quite indisputable; for this was one of his most excellent gifts, indeed, his main gift, to promote a church in knowledge and to make it rich in all things through the preaching of the Gospel. This was also confirmed by his work in Baltimore. Although he did not have an impact on the masses of the people there either (which was partly due to his peculiarity and for which he was not given the gift), he did form a core and trunk in the church there that was healthy and viable, and which only later became a fruitful tree and spread its branches far beyond the St. Paul's congregation.
It has already been mentioned at the end of the previous chapter that Keyl had recognized a divine call in the vocation of St. Paul's parish in Baltimore and had followed it with the consent of his parish in Milwaukee. However, since his relocation to Baltimore was delayed for more than six months, Pastor Schaller (who had only recently arrived in this country) officiated in Baltimore during this time. Keyl did not move in until July 6, 1850. In his diary from that time he testifies that he was received and welcomed by the congregation with great love and esteem, indeed, like an angel of the LORD of hosts. He found the spacious parsonage purchased by the congregation to be exquisitely furnished and equipped with everything he needed. On the day of his induction, the church was resplendent in festive decorations. The congregation had gone all out to make this day a real celebration. Keyl was so deeply moved by all these expressions of love and honor that he could not help but publicly and with tears in his eyes express his deepest gratitude to the congregation for all the good deeds, of which he considered himself completely unworthy. On the 7th Sunday after Trinity, July 14, he preached his inaugural sermon there. He had chosen Ephesians 4:7-14 as his text. His theme was: "The vigorous preservation and blessed destiny of the holy ministry of preaching." After the sermon, the congregation sang a hymn specially printed for the occasion, which we have included here. (The author is Joh. Daniel Karl Bickel, born June 24, 1737, consistorial councilor and superintendent of Nassau-Usingen since 1792, died as such on June 28, 1809):
1 O JEsu, Lord of glory!
King of your Christendom!
Shepherd of your flock!
You look at the redeemed world,
Rule them as you please,
See to it that she is saved.
From you we are
Also mentioned, numbered among the redeemed,
Whom you want to bless and comfort.
2 Blessed are your people, because you love them,
Give him shepherds according to your mind,
That lead it to heaven,
And full of zeal, spirit and strength,
Full of divine, deep science
Touching the heart of sinners.
Faithful shepherds
Let the souls never lack and the flocks
Be blessed with the shepherds.
3. we take here from your hand
The teacher you sent us;
Lord, bless his business.
The souls that trust in him.
To edify through teaching and living,
Give him wisdom and strength.
Teach him, help him
Doing and suffering, tolerating, arguing, praying, watching,
To make yourself and us blessed.
4 Lord, let your spirit rest upon him;
Let him do his work with joy;
Let nothing deceive him!
When he teaches us your truth,
Give us a heart that listens obediently,
A heart full of faithful love.
Teachers, listeners
Stand firm in friendship and fellowship,
And walk the path to heaven.
5. when your great day appears,
Let our teacher, our friend,
Lead us towards you!
You give him under his hand
The souls as a pledge;
Don't let anyone lose it!
JEsu! help you,
Put your hands together, that in the end shepherd and flock
Be found faithful before you.
6 Bless us, servant of the Lord,
He comes in the name of our Lord,
In the name of Jesus Christ!
O shepherd, take us by the hand!
Lead us to the eternal fatherland!
God with you! Amen, amen.
With you we go
Through the suffering of these times to life,
That our God wants to give us.
As far as Keyl's work in Baltimore is concerned, it was a richly blessed one, especially when it came to his congregation. He served a large congregation there with great diligence and was held in high esteem by the congregation. Here he developed an activity in his ministries that is nothing short of astonishing. He usually preached twice an hour on Sundays. Before the morning service, he often had to hold private confessions for hours from early morning, and he must have been quite tired by the time the main work of the day began. In addition, between and after the services, he often had to conduct religious services such as baptisms, copulations, funerals and so on. On Monday evenings he held a repetition of the Sunday sermons in the schoolhouse. He had already practiced this salutary exercise diligently during his preaching ministry in Germany and perceived a great blessing from it; for the participants in these repetitions were not only greatly promoted in salutary knowledge, but they were also instructed to listen to and understand a sermon with better understanding, to memorize it and to draw nourishment for their souls from it. On Tuesday evenings there was an office hour. It consisted of answering and discussing questions written down on slips of paper by members of the congregation and placed in a certain place, in which those present could also take part by speaking and counter-speaking. We have found a handful of such notes among his papers; they contain partly biblical, partly church-historical, partly congregational matters, partly questions of conscience, and always arouse the greatest interest. We are firmly convinced that the so-called consultation hours have been a great blessing and cannot suppress the wish that they would be introduced in many places. Of course, objections can also be raised against them. It cannot be denied that they can actually become fodder for the cheeky and pompous, because they virtually challenge the spirit of curiosity and questioning that clings to us all. However, if we can restrain and suppress this wit, they are certainly of great benefit. On Wednesday evenings there was a service where he regularly preached on whole biblical books or larger biblical passages, sometimes also on the Small Catechism and on the Augsburg Confession. On Thursday evening, for example, there was a rector's meeting, on Friday evening perhaps a congregational meeting, or something else that the affairs of the congregation entailed. On Saturday there was private confession. In short, every evening of the week - except Sundays - Keyl was in his church, even if he had to be led there and back because of bad weather or physical indisposition. In addition to all this work, there were also the confirmation classes, the lessons for those who wanted to be accepted into the congregation, the visits to homes and the sick, a lot of correspondence, the various tasks that his presidency entailed, the preparation for his sermons and sermon speeches, and so on.
That Kehl, with such tireless activity and faithfulness in his ministry, also attracted a well-trained, knowledgeable congregation cannot be imagined otherwise. Of course, this is not to say that every single member of the congregation became and was a knowledgeable Christian; we only want to say that the opportunity to become a nurtured Christian was amply offered to everyone, and that it was only the individual's own fault if they remained poor and meagre in Christian wisdom and knowledge despite all their spiritual wealth. For it was not only the great, rarely surpassed diligence of our dear Keyl that offered his congregation the opportunity to learn; but it was especially the content and the solidity of his spiritual discourses, since, far from being empty unctuousness, they were filled with teaching and consolation to the point of exuberance. And this again had its reason in the fact that he studied Luther's writings so diligently and took Luther's words into his memory, and recited them to his listeners, and in this way gave them the means to grow in knowledge and to obtain that delicious thing, "a firm heart". There have been many pious preachers who have served their ministry with the same zeal and diligence, but who have not achieved the goal, namely, to raise up a congregation rich in knowledge, firm in faith and active in good works, as Keyl succeeded in doing; for this depends on the fact that the listeners are also given healthy, strong food, thereby enabling them to grow and increase in all aspects of Christianity.
On September 17, 1854, the 14th Sunday after Trinity Sunday, Keyl was able to celebrate his 25th anniversary in office. It had not been his intention to make a public fuss about it, but to celebrate it quietly; but things turned out differently. The church council of the Baltimore congregation had already made secret arrangements some time beforehand to surprise their dear pastor and the congregation with a festive joy on this day. They had kindly invited Keyl's five closest neighbors to Baltimore on that Sunday, but only two of them, Pastors Nordmann and Sommer, showed up. These two, together with the church council, went to the unsuspecting jubilarian in the early hours of that day to greet, thank and congratulate him. Of course, Keyl could not help but speak to his congregation about the day's event, which he did. In the morning service, he preached a deeply moving sermon, in which he also mentioned the places and how long he had administered the ministry in each place for the past 25 years; and finally he concluded with a heartfelt prayer, in which he thanked God for the grace so richly shown to him so far and implored for further assistance from grace. This was followed by the celebration of Holy Communion, which concluded the morning service. Pastor Nordmann preached in the afternoon service and Pastor Sommer in the evening service, both of whom took the events of the day into consideration in their sermons. The church was festively decorated on this day, beautiful music and songs were performed and the church was filled with listeners at all three services. It was a real celebration, and because the congregation had also been surprised, the joy was all the greater. In a report about it in the "Lutheraner", the sender says: "The jubilarian did not want to allow a public announcement of it, but the writer will not be blamed for having reported it briefly. For it would be fitting to praise God's works and miracles in the church of God and before the whole world! And is it not a miracle of God when he preserves a human child for 25 long years in his grace and in his holy work? Yes, when he graciously allows much fruit to be produced through such spiritual work, as is the case here and as loud testimonies from Germany and America testify? Oh, how many a sermon has been preached by this servant of Jesus Christ during these 25 years, how many a blow has been given to the devil and his kingdom, how many a soul has been called to Christ and comforted! Would we not have enough reason to offer the works of the second commandment, "Praise and thanksgiving", to God?"
As beneficial as Keyl's work within his congregation in Baltimore was, he was not spared many reproaches. And we cannot be very surprised by this, for among the imperfect people on earth there is no perfect one, and the blessed Keyl was not one either.
He has been reproached for his insignificant impact on the expansion and growth of the Lutheran Church in Baltimore, and even for hindering it. Of course, it is true that he was not particularly gifted as a missionary. But under him the congregation also increased in number. Already in the first year of his ministry in Baltimore he remarks in a letter to a brother minister that 33 new members had been received in a church meeting and that 7 people were already attending classes for admission to the church. Nevertheless, it is a fact that his gift was not that of gathering, but rather that of building and nurturing. Nor can it be denied that under his leadership the congregation was very careful in welcoming new members, which is not to be criticized but praised. However, we are not in a position to judge from afar to what extent he was reproached later for being too legalistic and narrow-minded in this respect. However, we take the liberty of making the following remark: from the very beginning, it has been the practice of our synod and its congregations to take great care when accepting new members, both into the synod and into the congregation, both in terms of doctrine and in terms of change. This was a matter of conscience for her; and although she was often ridiculed and attacked for this, she did not allow herself to be misled in her godly practice. Because it saw before its eyes how indifferently most other synods and congregations in this country acted in this regard, accepting almost everything that came to them without examination, as a result of which they fell into a union with the world and with false believers that was displeasing to God, thereby becoming more and more de-Christianized, the fathers of our synod took this as a warning and needed to be all the more careful in this matter so that they would keep a good conscience for themselves and not set a bad example to others. We do not wish to deny that here and there individuals (perhaps also Keyl) have overstepped the right measure in their anxious conscientiousness, nor do we wish to condone it insofar as it has happened, but we ask that time, circumstances and intentions not be disregarded.
Furthermore, dear Keyl has been accused of having erected a little church in the church in Baltimore. It is indisputable that he did not intend to do so, but we deny that he did. It is true that a good nucleus was formed in the Baltimore congregation in his time, by which we mean those who are ahead of others in knowledge and who now, in accordance with their knowledge, also lead the way and serve as an example to others. Such a nucleus is formed in every church where the word is not preached fruitlessly. However, this is by no means a bad sign, but a good one. A preacher's most earnest endeavor should be to lead all his listeners towards perfect manhood in Christ; however, no preacher will ever succeed in reaching this goal with all his listeners, but he will thank God if he can lead some of them ever closer to this goal. And if these people (in the good sense of the word) stand out, place themselves in the gap, stand on the side of truth and seek and promote the welfare of the congregation with all their strength, it may well appear (and the accusation is easily made against them) as if they wanted to form a special power in the congregation, a little church within the church, as if they wanted to rule and be more important than the others. But this cannot be changed, because in a congregation it will never come about that all are brought to the same level of knowledge, even though all are offered the same opportunity to do so. For sometimes they do not make faithful use of the opportunity offered to them, sometimes they lack talent, and so on. Now when these people complain that they are set back and dominated by a part of the congregation (which complaints will probably be heard in almost all congregations), this should not be taken at face value without further ado; for on closer examination it will often turn out that their complaint is only a self-accusation, through which they reveal their weak knowledge, if not their evil disposition. On the other hand, however, we do not want to deny that the sponsored part of the congregation, including the preacher, can easily go astray and - without wanting to and without realizing it - get into a morally dominant position over the others, which can easily become very dangerous. If, however, Keyl has taken on an appearance in this respect - which is certainly possible - the reason for this is to be sought solely in the fact that he lacked a good governing gift.
Keyl has also been accused of persistently opposing the formation of an English Lutheran congregation in Baltimore. In order to understand this accusation properly, we must immediately note that the founding of an English-Lutheran congregation in Baltimore was about Keyl's congregation dismissing some of its members who were to form the stem of an English congregation. Keyl had no objection to the establishment of as many English-Lutheran congregations as possible in Baltimore, but he refused to dismiss members from his congregation who did not need to join an English congregation because of the language. He feared that if his congregation first granted permission to some to leave their association and found an English congregation, others would soon seek relief, for dishonest reasons, in order to join the English congregation. The writer of this well remembers that in 1860, in a conference held on the occasion of a synodal meeting in St. Louis, a complaint was made against our dear Keyl in regard to this matter; at that time he spoke out in a quite calm and Christian manner against the accusation made against him in an unseemly manner by a young preacher: that he had no objection to the formation of English-Lutheran congregations; only that was his opinion that they should be formed from the English population, but not from the German. And in this the conference agreed with him completely and the complaint was thus settled. However, we will readily admit that Keyl may have been a little too exclusive in this matter. Yes, we admit that something human happened to him here and there during the discussion of this matter. When a member of the congregation threw around "German Michel" in a church meeting, Keyl got carried away and replied with "English Michel". However, we must again point out and draw attention to the fact that Keyl took the same position in this matter that our synod had taken towards the English-church (or unchurch) character from the very beginning. It is true that our Synod was far from thinking that the Gospel could not be preached and the pure doctrine of the Lutheran Church preached in English; but it also recognized how much depended for the Lutheran Church in this country on cultivating and preserving the German language and German character and not allowing them to perish indifferently. They also had the warning example of the many old German synods in this country before their eyes, which had neglected the German language and German character, had their children educated in the non-religious state schools, as a result of which the youth were not only weaned from their mother tongue, but also alienated from the Lutheran Church and fell into the hands of the American sects. The fathers of our Synod also considered well what a rich treasure of Christian writings the Lutheran Church possessed in German, which were not accessible to English speakers, and that this alone was reason enough to work with all diligence to preserve the German language for the German-Lutheran congregations. If this endeavor is no longer as strong as it used to be, do not forget that times and circumstances have changed; the German language has become naturalized in this country and has become a power that will not be easily defeated. Nevertheless, we do not lay our hands idly in our laps, but cultivate the German language and customs, all as a means to an end, namely to pass on the pure Lutheran doctrine to our children and to preserve it in the process.
We now have to examine another accusation that was made against our dear Keyl on his departure from Baltimore, namely that he misled his congregation into performing false banishments. He himself confessed that he had sometimes repelled souls that he might have been able to win, and was greatly distressed by this. But that this matter has also been exaggerated by some ill-meaning people cannot be denied either. Among Keyl's papers we have found a confession about this matter, written by himself and signed with his name, which unfortunately, to our great sorrow, has been lost, so that we cannot carry out our intention of having it printed. He says two things in the confession mentioned: First, that he recognizes with bitter remorse and pain that he and his congregation had rejected people for certain reasons, for the sake of which they should have borne them in love. This, of course, was done out of mistaken opinion and not out of malice; nevertheless, it was a grave sin for which they must seek God's forgiveness in Christ Jesus. On the other hand, he says in it that he is not aware of a single case in which they had pronounced the ban on such a person, from which God's gracious hand had protected them, for which they are deeply indebted to him. This confession can only do honor to our dear Keyl. We can recognize from it that he was and remained a poor, erring, sinful man along with all the fallen children of Adam;
but also that by God's grace a pure, pious and humble soul dwelt in him, because he was not ashamed to confess his wrong actions publicly with deep sorrow and, as a poor sinner, to seek forgiveness in the blood of Jesus Christ.
We now come to the end of Keyl's ministry in Baltimore. For nineteen years here (and for forty years in all) he had cast the net of the gospel with burning zeal and pulled at it with untiring diligence, and he had grown old and gray; one could clearly perceive that his strength was waning and was no longer sufficient to cultivate a field of work such as Baltimore offered; in short, that he was no longer equal to the needs there. The old tireless zeal in the performance of his office was still evident in him, but the necessary strength was no longer available, and age was also taking its toll on him. The congregation therefore felt that the time had come to lighten his burden and relieve him of some of his work. It was not their intention to retire him completely, much less to oust him; rather, by hiring a second preacher, they wanted to relieve him primarily of those official duties that required even greater activity and vigor than he was capable of developing with his already diminishing strength. In short, they wanted to take the leadership of the congregation, and in a word, the entire responsibility of the office, away from him and place it on other shoulders; but he was to remain pastor primarius, enter the pulpit as often as he liked, and be active in private pastoral care to the extent that people would seek his advice.
If our dear Keyl had been able to enter into this change of affairs with joy, it would have been all right and good, and both he and the congregation would have been spared mutual disgruntlement; but he was not able to do so; whether it was because he did not yet realize the necessity of this change, or whether it was because he thought himself capable of more labor than he really possessed - enough, when the change was nevertheless made, he preferred to leave Baltimore and answer another call made to him. With a depressed, shattered, and sorely tried spirit, he left his beloved parish, feeling that he had outlived himself in Baltimore and was left there.
We are (as far as we have been able to gain insight into this matter) firmly convinced that he was mistaken in his assumption. The fact that on this occasion a number of unfavorable persons revealed their long-hidden resentment could not be blamed on the whole congregation, which as such had always shown great confidence in their dear Pastor Keyl and paid him the highest reverence. We cannot but declare (for we wish to do honor to the truth) that it was a human weakness on the part of our dear Keyl that he could not adapt himself to the new state of things, and still more that he left Baltimore, and left it with a mind disgruntled against the congregation, for which he had no well-founded cause. But we are all the more willing to credit him with this weakness, because we are firmly convinced that it was not due to dishonest, sinful motives, but to an overestimation of his already very shaky powers. It is a well-known weakness of old age that it easily overestimates its powers, and the example of our dear Keyl proves that even elderly preachers are no exception to this weakness. Therefore, if our dear young ministers want to learn something with us from this example, it is not that they wanted to pick up a stone, but that they should remember - as a warning for the future - their own glass roof, so that they may avoid the same danger.
Finally, it should not go unmentioned that the Baltimore congregation showed their gratitude to Pastor Keyl by giving him (until the end of his life) a very significant annual contribution towards his upkeep. We mention this only because it shows that this congregation had learned something, that the Word of God had not been preached to them in vain. What they did to their old faithful pastor was only a Christian duty; but they had also recognized their Christian duty and practiced it. For this we show her love and respect, and reverently take our hats off to her and wish her God's blessing!