Editing Martin Stephan (section)

== Biography ==
Martin Stephan was born August 13, 1777, in [[Štramberk|Stramberg]], [[Habsburg Moravia|Moravia]], presently the [[Czech Republic]], of Czech parents. Martin attended St. Elizabeth's [[Gymnasium (Germany)|Gymnasium]] in [[Breslau]], sponsored by local pietist and pastor [[Johann Ephraim Scheibel]], rector of the gymnasium and father of [[Johann Gottfried Scheibel]], a professor at the [[University of Breslau]].<ref>Walter O. Forester, Zion on the Mississippi: The Settlement of the Saxon Lutherans in Missouri 1839-1841 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953), 27.</ref> He then attended the [[University of Halle]] and the [[University of Leipzig]] from 1804 to 1809.<ref name="Forester, 28">Forester, 28.</ref>

Stephan became pastor in [[Úštěk|Haber]], Bohemia, in 1809.<ref name="Forester, 28"/> In 1810, Martin became the pastor of St. John's in Dresden, a specially chartered church that had its origins in those who had fled from Moravia and Bohemia in 1650. Stephan preached in Czech and German. For the next 30 years, Martin was known for his teaching, preaching, and compassionate counseling.<ref name="rast1">Lawrence R. Rast, Jr., "[http://www.ctsfw.edu/library/files/pb/1767 Demagoguery or Democracy? The Saxon Emigration and American Culture] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060909082727/http://www.ctsfw.edu/library/files/pb/1767 |date=2006-09-09 }}" Concordia Theological Quarterly 63 (1999) No. 4:253.</ref> He led the protest against oppressive practices by the Saxon State [[Consistory (Protestantism)|Consistory]] in the state-governed [[Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Saxony]]. He came under attack by the rationalist pastors for his confessional and orthodox stand. Stephan continued to uphold biblical and sacramental practices in his church.

In 1824, Stephan began to consider America as a place to practice the faith without harassment. He and ten other men formed a {{Lang|de|Gesellschaft}} or society for [[emigration]] from Dresden to [[St. Louis, Missouri]].<ref name="rast2">Rast, 254.</ref> He organized the emigration of 665 people in November 1838 from [[Bremen]] to [[New Orleans]] on five ships. When four of the five the ships landed at the Port of New Orleans, Martin Stephan was elected [[bishop]] of this small band of Lutherans, according to the travel regulations of the Emigration Society. Forster indicates that Stephan was made bishop initially only by the passengers and clergy on board the ''Olbers'' at about the time this ship entered the waters of the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. Forster states, "On January 14, 1839...they made Stephan their bishop and endowed him with a liberal grant of power to carry out the functions of his office.<ref name="Forster, 1953, p. 215">Forster, ''Zion on the Mississippi'', Concordia, 1953, p. 215</ref>" Only four of the five immigrant ships arrived safely in New Orleans (the ''Amalia'' never arrived) and the ships arrived at varying times over the course of a couple of weeks. Of note, after his appointment, it was Stephan who originated the practice of kissing the bishop's hand.

After two months, the Saxon immigrants purchased land in [[Perry County, Missouri]], at the confluence of [[Brazeau Creek]] and the [[Mississippi River]]. Here they built homes, towns, schools, and churches. The organization of the community was disrupted when Stephan was accused of sexual misconduct (as he had previously been in Germany<ref name="Forster, 1953, p. 215"/>). Pastors G. H. Loeber and [[C. F. W. Walther]] told lay leaders of this confession. Walther made two trips to Perry County to prepare Stephan's deposition.

Stephan soon became embroiled in additional allegations. On May 30, 1839, Stephan was deposed and [[excommunicated]] from the community on the grounds of sexual misconduct and [[embezzlement]], leaving C. F. W. Walther as the senior clergyman. Stephan was put across the river to wilderness near [[Kaskaskia, Illinois]], followed by one of the women with whom he had been accused of consorting, and who stayed with him until his death.<ref>{{cite web|last1=McKenzie|title=Book Review|url=http://www.ctsfw.net/media/pdfs/MacKenzie-ReviewStephanPursuitReligiousFreedom.pdf|website=Concordia Theological Seminary|accessdate=31 August 2015}}</ref>

Stephan continued to hold worship in the county court house in Kaskaskia every two weeks. He taught German and guest-preached in other Protestant churches until called in 1845 as a pastor to Trinity Lutheran Church in Horse Prairie, a rural church a few miles east of [[Red Bud, Illinois]]. Stephan was pastor there for four months until his death on February 26, 1846, in [[Prairie, Illinois|Prairie]], [[Illinois]].<ref>[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141604103/martin-stephan Tombstone in the Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery, Red Bud,  Randolph County, Illinois]</ref><ref>[[Christian Cyclopedia]], s.v. "[http://cyclopedia.lcms.org/display.asp?t1=S&word=STEPHAN.MARTIN.SR Stephan, Martin, Sr."] (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2000).</ref> According to the custom, Stephan's coffin was carried around the church three times before he was interred in Trinity's cemetery. A fence was placed around the grave and a wooden {{Convert|10|ft|adj=on}} cross was erected. A memorial marker was erected by the congregation in 1988.<ref name="Trinity4">Trinity Lutheran Church 150th Anniversary, 1992.</ref>