Schwenkfelders came to America for freedom, farmland

Photo by Gene Walsh

By Walter Ault

Pennsylvania was a much-desired destination for many Europeans, for several reasons, in the 18th Century. Most of these people made the long, arduous and dangerous trip across the Atlantic Ocean — leaving most of their possessions behind — to escape religious persecution and hopefully find a better life.

Pennsylvania was an ideal sanctuary because of William Penn’s benevolence and passion and also because of his special relationship with the King of England. Many of the early immigrants also lived in England before making their journey to the United States and were, consequently, equally loyal to the crown.

A large number of these people also came from Germany where religious intolerance caused a lot of misery and suffering. Those Germans that settled in Pennsylvania became known as the Pennsylvania Deutsch, now known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. Through assimilation, Deutsch, meaning German in its native language, evolved into the word Dutch.

The Menonites, Amish and others also flocked to Pennsylvania for the state’s rich land as well as religious freedom. The unbound opportunity of the local area beckoned, especially in nearby Chester and Lancaster counties, where these farming people finally settled.

Another group that migrated to Pennsylvania, one that was not quite as prominent and large as the others, was the Schwenkfelders. Various small groups of them landed here in a six-year period, 1731 to 1737. Two hundred of them arrived in 1734 and with the help of the established Menonites, successfully settled in Montgomery County, as those before them had done, swearing allegiance to the British Crown.

Like the groups that preceded them, the Schwenkfelders were perceived as humble, honorable and hardworking farmers whose main goal was to live and worship as they pleased.

The Schwenkfelders are named for Casper Schwenkfeld (1489 - 1561), who was born in Germany. Despite being more of a lay preacher than a trained theologian, Schwenkfelder nevertheless greatly influenced people throughout Europe with his simplistic but popular message, stressing tolerance for all religious groups and freedom of conscience in religious matters. He also impressed people because he was considered a gentleman in every sense; refined and courteous. And he was selfless to a fault, making the needs of the people, especially the downtrodden, more important than his own.

Schwenkfeld was widely known for his prolific writing and wandering through Central Europe for 30 years — a journey initiated by his exile due to his reformist views — and drew large crowds wherever he went.

Like Martin Luther, who became his good friend, Schwenkfeld rejected many aspects of the Romish church, including its hierarchy, priesthood, mass, confessional and the Catholic Church’s overall opulence, symbolism and ceremonialism.

Schwenkfeld differed in his views in very distinctive ways from other reformists, but nonetheless was widely respected because of his complete tolerance of other faiths.
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“To Casper’s way of thinking,” said West Norriton resident and member of the Schwenkfelder Church Ben Heebner, “a person’s relationship with God was very personal and no one had the right to dictate their religious beliefs to others.”

During their long history in Europe the Schwenkfelders didn’t have churches and, because of their controversial views, were forced to meet in small groups in conventicles and private homes.

This lifestyle continued in the new world, with the Schwenkfelders meeting for over 150 years in homes and eventually, like the Quakers, in what they called meeting-houses.

The Schwenkfelder Church was finally incorporated in 1909, about the same time church members finally began to have permanent churches constructed.

There are many legacies of the Schwenkfeler Church in Montgomery County, not least of which is the town of Schwenksville.

“There is a lot of county land owned privately by church members and more owned by the church,” Heebner said. “There are also scattered cemeteries, the Schwenkfelder Library in Pennsburg and five active churches, in Philadelphia, Palm, Lansdale, Worchester and Norristown.”

Understandably, the Schwenkfelders aren’t nearly as conspicuous as they once were. In fact, they are very active and quite open to discussion about their faith and what they have to offer and freely pass out an abundance of educational literature to any interested party. Furthermore, they are highly visible due to their many activities and their heavy involvement in the surrounding community.

The 25-year-old Heebner is a proud descendant of one of the original families that arrived in Philadelphia in 1734, and quite naturally enjoys talking about the Schwenkfelders, past and present.

Incidentally, the name Heebner is fairly well-known in this area due to the sprawling and beautiful Heebner Park on Valley Forge Road in Worcester, another legacy of the Schwenkfelders.

The aforementioned park was once part of a 1,000 acre farm owned by Heebner’s ancestors, Sherman and Dottie Heebner, who generously donated the land for the park to Worcester Township with the understanding it would remain as open space.

This kind of generosity and community-mindedness, according to Heebner, is a prominent part of the Schwenkfelders’ overall philosophy.

“We are very active in the community,” Heebner said, “and we are committed to helping those in need. That is what our faith tells us to do.”

“We have soup kitchens in Norristown and Lansdale and have different outreach programs to help the homeless.”

Heebner, one of over 1,000 members of the Central Schwenkfelder Church in Worcester (there are about 3,000 total members in Montgomery County), added that his church serves the community in other ways, with plenty of events and activities year after year open to the general public.

“We have a craft fair every year, a county fair every September and an Easter story reenactment,” Heebner revealed.

In addition, each Schwenkfelder church fosters youth fellowship groups and each church has multiple service organizations, with several churches hosting Boy Scout and Girl Scout troop meetings in their buildings, along with other civic organizations.

Of course, each church also sponsors a school for instruction in the Bible, as well as choral and musical instrumental ensembles.

“We feel we have something special and worthwhile to offer to our community,” said Heebner, “and we always try to put our best forward and offer help to others in any way we can.”