constitution of the church at Philadelphia was introduced
in 1746 by Brunnholtz and Muehlenberg, and it was brief and rudimentary.
The congregation at the Swamp, New Hanover, was the earliest German
congregation in America, begun in 1703 by Justus Falckner, but whatever
the form of organization which it may have received from him, or his
immediate successor, no record of it is known to exist, and the first
written constitution now known is in the hand-writing Muehlenberg. The
Tulpehocken congregations were established by Palatinates from the
Hudson and Mohawk, who came to Pennsylvania in 1723 and 1729. They were
familiar with the congregational organizations in New York under
Kocherthal and Falckner, which were formed under the counsel of Court
Preacher Boehm, probably after the similitude of the Savoy Church in
London, and under the influence of the long established Dutch Lutheran
constitution in New York, based on that at Amsterdam. But no written
constitution is now known in Tulpehocken earlier than that introduced by
Muehlenberg. In all the old congregations the case is the same, so far
as any known evidence proves.

In all the German congregations in Pennsylvania, however, an
organization was found when Muehlenberg came, which had arisen out of
the necessities of the case, and in all of them it had the same
character. There were two orders of officers in each congregation,
called Elders and Vorsteher, elected by the members for a definite term.
The open letter given by the congregations at Philadelphia, Trappe and
New Hanover, to their representatives sent to Europe in 1733, is signed
by the Vorsteher and Elders of the congregations, and there were like
officers in these congregations when Muehlenberg arrived, to whom he
presented his credentials. The form of power of attorney sent by Dr.
Francke to be signed by the congregations in 1734, is addressed to the
Elders and Vorsteher, and the letter sent to Dr. Ziegenhagen in 1739, is
signed by the Elders and Vorsteher. The proceedings of the first meeting
of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania show the presence of Deputy Elders
and Vorsteher from the ten congregations represented. Indeed, it may be
said that in all the congregations there were these two classes of
officers. The distinction between the two classes may not have been very
clear, and sometimes both are spoken of as Vorsteher, but after a
general examination of their records, we are persuaded that it was a
pre