author
George Unangst Wenner
1844–1934
A longtime Lutheran pastor and writer, he spent decades documenting the religious life of New York while also arguing for the place of moral and spiritual education in public life. His work blends church history, social concern, and the perspective of someone deeply involved in the communities he described.
1 Audiobook
The Lutherans of New York, Their Story and Their Problems
by George Unangst Wenner
About the author
Born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1844, George Unangst Wenner became an American Lutheran clergyman, historian, and author. Records about his life consistently identify him as a pastor as well as a writer, and his surviving books show a strong interest in both church history and public questions of education.
He is best known for books including The Lutherans of New York, Their Story and Their Problems and Religious Education and the Public School: An American Problem. Those works suggest the two main sides of his career: preserving the history of Lutheran communities, especially in New York, and thinking seriously about how religion and education met in American society.
Contemporary and biographical references indicate that he founded Christ Lutheran Church in New York City in 1868 and remained closely connected with that parish for many decades, a remarkably long ministry. He died in 1934, leaving behind a body of writing that is valuable not only for religious readers but also for anyone interested in immigrant communities, urban history, and the moral debates of early twentieth-century America.