Carl August Flügge

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Pastor CA Flügge

Carl August Flügge (born August 14, 1876 in Helmstedt , † August 7, 1948 in Kassel ) was a German Baptist evangelist and pastor engaged in social welfare .

Life

Carl August Flügge grew up in an emphatically Christian environment. His parents Hermann Flügge and Auguste, née Bostedt, came from Northern Germany and converted from the Lutheran Church to the Baptist Free Church. CAFlügge, who was baptized as a Baptist in Braunschweig on November 3, 1889, decided early on for full-time service within the Baptist Church. First he worked as a missionary assistant to the Baptist preacher FW Nickel in Belgard-Bütow / Pomerania. From 1897 to 1901 he attended the Baptist seminary in Hamburg-Horn . The Hamburg-Eimsbüttel Baptist Congregation appointed him pastor after completing his studies. He accepted this calling and served as the parish pastor for 20 years. In 1901 he married the linguistically gifted and educated Czech Maria Novotny (1880-1949), the daughter of the Prague Baptist preacher Heinrich (Jindrich) Novotny. She gave him seven children. The youngest son Rufus Flügge later became city superintendent at the Marktkirche in Hanover .

Flügge received his special spiritual imprint from the English revival and sanctification movement , which began in the Keswick Conferences .

Social diaconal and evangelistic engagement

Title page of a tract on Damaschke's land reform, published in the Friedensboten-Bücherei, Volume VII (edited by the Baptist preacher CA Flügge)
Newspaper advertisement: Invitation to lectures by Countess Schimmelmann

The social problems of big cities did not leave Flügge untouched. The alcohol problems of large parts of the population, the housing shortage and the endangerment of young women who were looking for work and accommodation in large numbers in Hamburg moved him. Through writings and concrete measures, he tried to provide warning, enlightenment and help here. He looked for and promoted cooperation with various diaconal institutions across denominations . These included the midnight mission , the Blue Cross Association and the Evangelical People's Association . As an employee of the Midnight Mission at Volkswacht-Verlag Hamburg, he published the following publications: "Seek the city for the best", "Ways to solve social issues", "What we need!", "How can it get better the fastest?" and “Our Position on the Present Needs”, 1919. As a speaker and author, Flügge gained recognition from the public and ecclesiastical authorities of Hamburg far beyond the boundaries of his own community.

Flügge did not hesitate to tread extraordinary paths in his evangelistic endeavors. He invited Countess Adeline von Schimmelmann , former lady-in-waiting to Empress Augusta , to give evangelistic lectures in the Eimsbüttel Baptist Chapel. The multi-day series of events attracted considerable attention. Hundreds of listeners filled the free church every evening . Following the evangelism, Flügge founded the Eimsbütteler Hinterhofmission , during which parishioners sang choral songs in the backyards of the district, gave brief missionary addresses and distributed tracts. The interdenominational cooperation that Flügge initiated and promoted in Eimsbüttel was also unusual for the time. He did missionary work together with the Lutheran pastor Mumssen and the preacher of the Evangelical Community in secular spaces in the Hamburg district. Flügge's commitment led to strong growth in his community. Sunday schools have been set up in parishioners' homes. A small workshop was built in the chapel building, in which the castellan taught street children and young people in manual skills. In 1908 a parish deacon was hired, who mainly looked after key children. When the Patriotic Society of 1765 built book halls in 1910, Flügge had his community set up a “children's reading room” with 350 books on loan.

During the First World War , he was particularly concerned about Russian prisoners of war . He committed his congregation " for the sake of the love of Jesus " to take on personal sponsorships for these prisoners.

Carl August Flügge was also one of the co-founders of the Baptist Diakoniewerk Tabea in Blankenese near Hamburg, then Prussian. From 1907 to 1920 he was its inspector.

When Flügge moved to Kassel in January 1921, the number of parishioners in Eimsbüttel had increased five-fold.

Writing

In 1921 Flügge was appointed editor-in-chief of the Christian Tract Society . This belonged as a special department to the Johann Gerhard Oncken publishing house in Kassel. He took over the editing of the Friedensboten , an evangelistic Sunday paper, and the Morgenstern , a weekly children's paper. Because of his talent as a writer and his missionary-folk style, both sheets achieved high editions. The circulation of the Messenger of Peace rose from 70,000 to over 200,000, and that of the Morgenstern to 55,000. Under his leadership, new series of publications were created in which social reform ideas also found a platform. These included u. a. also the proposals of the land reformer Adolf Damaschke .

At the end of the Weimar Republic he published the work Socialism and Christianity , in which he built bridges to the religious socialists and to social democracy. He also referred to England, where, unlike Germany, the workers and the church were very close. From 1930 he published several writings against communist godlessness , some of which reached large numbers. Through these writings he received unexpected donations with which food parcels worth over one hundred and twenty thousand marks could be sent to the Soviet Union.

At the beginning of the Third Reich , he wrote a 70-page tract with statements by Hindenburg and leading National Socialists on religious freedom and quotations and press reports from the 1934 Baptist World Congress in Berlin. It reached a circulation of over 60,000 copies. Although it consisted almost entirely of quotations, it was “confiscated and confiscated by the Gestapo in October 1935 because the content contradicted the racial principles of National Socialism”. An altered new edition was refused. His last published book ( Faith in the Personal God ) achieved three editions from 1938 to 1939. The Christian Traktatgesellschaft Kassel was able to sell a total of 4.5 million writings. Flügge's ten books reached a circulation of 1.8 million copies. Alongside Jacob Köbberling (1911–2005) and Johannes Schneider (1895–1970), Flügge is one of the few Baptists who publicly called for solidarity between the Baptist Union and the Confessing Church.

Shortly before the outbreak of World War II , Flügge was banned from speaking and writing by the National Socialist authorities due to his social welfare and people's missionary commitment . The Christian Tract Society had to cease operations. His forced early retirement in 1939, the loss of the publishing house and his personal effects due to the bombing of Kassel (he owned one of the most extensive private libraries in the city with 5000 volumes) broke his physical strength. The negotiations with the Gestapo probably also played a part in this.

Three years after the war, Flügge died after a brief but severe illness. He was buried in the cemetery in Oberzwehren .

Think, preach, act

At the center of his thinking was the kingdom of God. Again and again he quoted the Gospel of Matthew , chapter 6, verse 33: "Seek first after the kingdom of God!" For him the kingdom of God was greater than his own community and God's greatest thought, "the ultimate goal of all development, where everything in Harmony lives with the infinite, where everything honors and serves God in Christ, as the sole King and Lord [...]. But only the born again can see this kingdom of God. "The kingdom of God" [...] is also called the kingdom of heaven or kingdom of heaven because it wants to realize heavenly states in the born again and through them as much as possible here on earth. " it was here that his social reform work, his work against housing shortages, nicotine and alcohol risks, against moralism, combined with evangelistic service. An ideal of piety that was fleeting from the world and striving only for one's own holiness and bliss was deeply alien to him. In his work Gegenwartsnöte (1912) it says: “With the eye of faith he [the Christian] seeks and finds the good everywhere and supports it valiantly. He seeks the best of the city and the nation in which he lives [...]. He is not a party man, he likes to build bridges and sees with shining eyes every progress of the kingdom of God also beyond its community and national borders [...]. Every good social deed is applauded, he is noble as a person, helpful and good, and he works and prays from the heart for Jews and Samaritans, for Turks and Gentiles. He first seeks the kingdom of God, but despite this, or rather precisely because of this, he sympathizes with the good of the peace movement, the animal welfare associations, the land reform and abstinence movements, etc. He thinks of all this and every good when he prays: Your kingdom is coming. Your will be done as it is in heaven, therefore also on earth . ”According to Flügge, the proclamation should“ reach every one of our fellow men as possible ”. That is why “his particular concern was the way to the heart of the worker; In socialist movements he was known as a friend when it came to helping, as a dashing opponent where one wanted to create without Christ. ”(Martin Elsholz) For him, the“ most effective preaching method ”was the one that“ frightens the secure, wakes the sleeping , helping the raised to conversion, the converted to rebirth, and the born again to sanctification ”.

Works (selection)

  • The importance of women for the Heidenmission , in: Zeitschrift "Tabea", Hamburg 1901
  • The Truth About the Baptists , Kassel 1906 (many editions, 55 thousand)
  • Great thinkers and the greatest thought (Friedensboten-Bücherei Volume 1), Kassel 1910
  • Seek the city's best , 3rd increased edition Cassel 1912
  • Present needs. From the time mirror of the daily press , Kassel 1912
  • Ways to solve social questions , Neuruppin 1913
  • Testimonies of a hundred theologians about baptism , 2nd edition Cassel 1913, 8th edition 1933 (31st-35th thousand)
  • Verbrecher am Volkswohl , Free Blue Cross Hamburg, 2nd increased edition 1913/1914
  • The religious question of the present: Church or biblical congregations? Cassel 1914
  • Effective Ways of Winning Souls for the Kingdom of God , 1914
  • What do we owe our warriors? (together with Wilhelm Klingender and Walter Cimbal), Immigration and Midnight Mission, Hamburg 1915
  • Field post greetings , Hamburg 1917
  • Our position on the present problems, Hamburg 1919. Reprinted in: CAFlügge, Glaube und Tat (Friedensboten-Bücherei Volume 4), Kassel 1921/24, pp. 18–31.
  • How can it get better the fastest? Thoughts on political reorganization , Hamburg 1919
  • Seek the city's best! Extended special reprint of the last chapter from Gegenwartsnöte ("Housing Not and Land Reform"), Kassel 1918/1919
  • Become a soul winner! , Kassel 1st edition 1926, 4th expanded edition 1934
  • Ed., Socialism and Christianity (Friedensboten-Bücherei Volume 12), Kassel 1928 (with contributions by CAFlügge [3-12], O. Kufuss, R.Donat, F.Herbert Stead, GWWilkins and Pastor Lempp)
  • The script researcher. Contributions to facilitate Bible study , Kassel 1928
  • Emergency screams from Russia . Sixty letters from eyewitnesses, Kassel 1st edition 1930, 6th edition 1934/35 supplemented by the latest news (Friedensboten-Bücherei Volume 14/15)
  • Bolshevik persecution of Christians , Kassel (1930/31) (105 thousand)
  • Stalin's ultimate goal: no property, no marriage, no churches, no faith; the echo of the Russian emergency screams, compiled from German magazines and daily newspapers (Friedensbotenheft 80), Kassel 1931 (105 thousand)
  • The message of the Baptists in the press . Declarations by leading men about religious tolerance in New Germany, Kassel 1st edition 1934, 2nd and 3rd edition (36th - 50th thousand) 1935 (then banned by the Gestapo!)
  • Faith in personal God , Kassel 1st edition 1938, 3rd increased edition 1939
  • He will give you what your heart desires , autobiography in: Miracles of God's grace in our lives. Collected testimonials from E. Thimm, Volume 2, Hamburg (1940) 2nd edition 1948, 23-29.

Literature (selection)

  • Martin Elsholz: Obituary Carl August Flügge , in: Journal DIE GEMEINDE, 10/1948, p. 76.
  • Rufus Flügge, Ruth Halmos: Father, you have to preach better! Memories on the 100th birthday of CA Flügge , in: Die GEMEINDE magazine, 32-34 / 1976
  • Walter Feldkirch, CA Flugge - an exemplary soul winner , in: Die Gemeinde 19/1981, p. 7.
  • Evangelical Free Church Congregation Hamburg-Eimsbüttel (Ed.): Festschrift 100 Years Evangelical Free Church Congregation Hamburg-Eimsbüttel , 1990, pp. 22-35.40f.60-66.114-119
  • Volker Bohle, Theological Contribution: Words are dwarfs, but examples are giants. On social-diaconal and political responsibility , in: Festschrift 100 Years of the Evangelical Free Church Community Hamburg-Eimsbüttel, 1990, pp. (60-71) 60-66.
  • Kurt Jägemann: Memories of CA Flügge , in: Die GEMEINDE magazine, 29-34 / 1996
  • Carl-August Flügge: Christianity and Socialism , in: Astrid Giebel, Faith, who is active in love. Diakonie in German Baptism from the beginning to 1957 (Baptism Studies Volume 1), Kassel 2000, pp. 162-165.337

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Journal Die Gemeinde , No. 33/1976, p. 10
  2. ^ Carl August Flügge: Wunder der Gnade Gottes , Volume 2, Hamburg 1940/1948, p. 27; Wales in Keswick , in Journal: The Truth Witness, No. 27/1905, pp. 266–267.
  3. ↑ Evangelical Free Church Eimsbüttel (Ed.): 100 Years Evangelical Free Church Hamburg-Eimsbüttel. 1890 - 1990 , Hamburg 1990, p. 24f. 39f. 118f; Ruth Albrecht et al., Adeline Countess von Schimmelmann, noble, pious, eccentric , Neumünster 2011, p. 216f. 457f.
  4. ↑ Evangelical Free Church Congregation Hamburg-Eimsbüttel (Ed.): 100 Years Evangelical Free Church Congregation Hamburg-Eimsbüttel. 1890 - 1990 , Hamburg 1990, pp. 27f
  5. ↑ Carl August Flügge: Wunder der Gnade Gottes , Volume 2, Hamburg (1940) 1948, p. 25
  6. ↑ 125 years of JGOncken-Verlag , Kassel 1953, p. 33; Become a soul winner, Kassel 1926/1934, p. 16; Günter Balders (Hrsg.): Festschrift 150 Years of Baptist Congregations in Germany , Wuppertal 1984, p. 79.
  7. ↑ Carl August Flügge: Socialism and Christianity , Kassel 1928, p. 6: “We do not belong to the religious socialists, but we believe that, from the standpoint of the kingdom of God, we have to thank God for this powerful movement which should allow churches and congregations to become aware of their sins of omission. We also ask through this scripture that every honest endeavor to build bridges and remove misunderstandings and other obstacles here and there be supported. We are here not to hate, to be loved; Please help, who can help to mutual understanding and respect. Why should what is possible in England for the blessing of the whole people not also be possible in Germany? "
  8. ↑ Our writings against communist godlessness: Notschreie aus Russland (160 pp.); The Antichrist Program. How an Exile Sees Bolshevism (16 pp.); No pious person should stay alive (16 pp.); Bolshevik persecution of Christians (16 pages); Stalin's ultimate goal (32 pp.)
  9. ↑ Carl August Flügge: Wunder der Gnade Gottes , Volume 2, Hamburg (1940) 1948, p. 27f
  10. ↑ The message of the Baptists in the echo of the press. Statements by leading men about religious tolerance in New Germany , Kassel 1934; P. 61: "This congress denounces or condemns all racial hostility and every form of oppression or unjust neglect of Jews, people of color or those living as a minority among other people as a violation of the law given by God the Heavenly Father." The quote is from from the resolution on the racial question, reprinted in Volume Fifth Baptist World Congress. German report of the congress held in Berlin from August 4th to 10th (edited by Walter Harnisch and Paul Schmidt), Kassel 1934, p. 225
  11. ↑ quoted from: Federal management meeting minutes from October 19, 1935 ; printed in the magazine Die Gemeinde No. 33/1996, p. 7; see also Andrea Strübind: The unfree free church. The Union of Baptist Congregations in the “Third Reich” , 1995², p. 207; Günter Balders (Ed.): Festschrift 150 Years of Baptist Congregations in Germany , Wuppertal 1984, p. 94.
  12. ↑ Journal Die Gemeinde No. 34/1996, p. 7.
  13. ↑ Andrea Strübind: The unfree free church. The Union of Baptist Congregations in the “Third Reich” , 1995², p. 135
  14. ↑ Eberhard Schröder in: 125 Years Oncken-Verlag Kassel , 1953, p. 40: “Br. Flügge in particular had a lot of trouble. Later, in the years of the Second World War, the Gestapo sniffed through our premises on a weekly basis, the papers were placed under prior censorship and banned completely in 1941. "
  15. ↑ Our position on the present problems , 1919, p. 25; also in: Glaube und Tat , p. 25f
  16. ↑ Become a soul winner! , 4th edition 1934, p. 7. The quote can already be found in a paper that was printed in 1914: Effective methods of winning souls for the kingdom of God
  17. ↑ Present-day needs . From the Zeitenspiegel der Tagespresse , Kassel o. J. [1912], p. 46; Festschrift 100 years of the Evangelical Free Church Community Hamburg-Eimsbüttel , Hamburg 1990, p. 65
  18. ↑ Become a soul winner! , P. 8
  19. ↑ Journal Die Gemeinde , No. 10/1948, p. 78
  20. ↑ Become a soul winner! , P. 9
personal data
SURNAME Flügge, Carl August
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Baptist evangelist and pastor engaged in social welfare
DATE OF BIRTH August 14, 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH Helmstedt
DATE OF DEATH August 7, 1948
Place of death kassel