Sacred Storytelling

The Autobiography of Johannes Strieter (1829–1920) and Related Sources

Johannes Strieter, Nathaniel J. Biebert

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781725277434
  9781725277427
• eBook ISBN:
  9781725277441
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

After emigrating from Germany to Michigan at age seven, Johannes Strieter (1829-1920) served as a confessional Lutheran pastor in Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana amid almost unbelievable hardships. Though not a well-known person himself, his life's path intersected with that of numerous distinguished persons--August Cramer, Friedrich Wyneken, J. C. W. Lindemann, C. F. W. Walther, and John C. Pritzlaff, just to name a handful. Through his recollections, we also encounter firsthand the Ojibwa; the Civil War; the establishment and founding of roads, cities, churches, and schools; and we travel by sea, lake, river, canal, railroad, horseback, buggy, stagecoach, and on foot. We accompany him as he nearly kills his sister; is spared in a terrible accident; falls in love; navigates difficult pastoral situations and decisions; gets drafted into the Union Army; buries some of his children; ministers to the troubled, misguided, sick, and dying; and finally retires to Michigan on account of deafness. Translated afresh from Strieter's original manuscript and presented with twelve appendices to supplement his autobiography, Sacred Storytelling is a treasure trove of adventure, perspective, entertainment, courage, and conviction.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Translator’s Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Original Preface
• Preliminary Remarks
• Chapter 1: Youth
• Chapter 2: Seminary
• Chapter 3: Into the Ministry
• Chapter 4: Newburgh
• Chapter 5: Wisconsin
• Chapter 6: Aurora
• Chapter 7: Peru
• Chapter 8: Proviso
• Chapter 9: Pleasant Experiences
• Appendix I: Strieter Ancestry
• Appendix II: Strieter Children
• Appendix III: Indian Missions in Huron and Saginaw Counties, Michigan
• Appendix IV: Announcements Pertaining to Strieter’s Ministry
• Appendix V: Sketch of the Parents of the Ernst Girls by Henry F. Rahe
• Appendix VI: Beginnings of Organized Lutheranism in Marquette County, Wisconsin
• Appendix VII: Early Relationship between the Missouri and Wisconsin Synods
• Appendix VIII: Johann Jacob Hoffmann
• Appendix IX: J. J. Kern Letters
• Appendix X: Death and Burial of C. F. W. Walther
• Appendix XI: Jubilee Report
• Appendix XII: Johannes Strieter’s Obituary
• About the Translator