Barbara Heinemann Landmann - The Werkzeuge Administer To The Amana Colonies.

The Werkzeuge Administer To The Amana Colonies.

Now that the two Werkzeuge were living in the Amana Colonies, they shared the duties of administering to the six congregations. Both Werkzeuge were involved with spiritual matters, but Christian Metz remained involved with day-to-day business matters as well.

Life for the Werkzeuge was no longer as stressful as it had been in Europe. No longer did they have to make long journeys between congregations; the villages in the Amana Colonies were only a few hours apart. No longer did they have to endure rejection by some of the congregations; everyone in the Amana Colonies accepted them and looked to them for guidance. No longer did Inspirationists have to endure persecution by outsiders. They were now permitted to teach their children in their own schools. They were now allowed to purchase exemptions from military service. Since they were not now dragged into court over schooling and military service, their refusal to take oaths became less of an issue.

The duties of the Werkzeuge, though now relatively peaceful, remained numerous, however, and important to the Inspirationists.

A Werkzeug conveyed the Lord's judgment on secular matters of great import, such as the purchase of the village of Homestead.

A Werkzeug conveyed the Lord's judgment on applications for membership. The Community had grown prosperous, and membership guaranteed cradle-to-grave security. Some applicants simply wished to trade the right to their earnings for the protection provided to themselves and their families. Applicants who were still in Europe sometimes needed funds to bring themselves and their families to America. Their expenses would be paid if the Lord deemed them worthy. Applicants who were accepted were put on probation, which was sometimes shortened or dispensed with by the direct word of the Lord.

A Werkzeug sometimes conveyed the word of the Lord at the Community's religious services. Nordhoff (1875) says that these services occurred at least once a day. Every evening, neighborhood groups met for prayer services in rooms set aside for this purpose. On Wednesday and Sunday mornings, everyone in a village met in assembly rooms, where they conducted a separate service for each of the three orders. The Elders were members of the highest order; children and newlyweds were members of the lowest order. The Lord determined promotion or demotion between orders. On Saturday mornings, all the members in a village met in the church for a single service. At any of these services, a Werkzeug might fall into a trance and deliver the word of the Lord. The word thus delivered might be an admonition delivered to a particular individual, or it might be a message delivered to the entire congregation. A Werkzeug might suspend meetings because of such things as indifference in the young women or lethargy in the old women or insincerity in the hymn-singers. Meetings would not be resumed until the congregation demonstrated a spirit of repentance.

A Werkzeug participated in the Untersuchung, the yearly examination of every member in the Community. Nordhoff (1874) says that the examination was performed within each of the three orders within each of the six congregations. Members were expected to confess their shortcomings. Members believed that if anything was hidden, it would be brought to light by the Werkzeug. A member who did not mend his ways was expelled. The examination might be adjourned from day to day if members seemed unimpressed. The young people, in particular, were likely to seem unimpressed.

A Werkzeug conveyed the Lord's judgment on couples who wished to marry. Inspirationists heeded the Scriptural admonition against marriage.

He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord; But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. (1 Corinthians, 7:32-33)

Though the Inspirationists tolerated marriage, they regarded it as a fall. Upon marriage, the newlyweds, regardless of their spirituality, were reduced to the lowest of the three orders and were compelled to work their back up through deepening piety. With the birth of each child, the parents suffered the same spiritual demotion. A marriage entered into without the approval of the Lord was regarded as a "godless marriage"; it was sufficient cause for banishment, as we have seen in the case of Barbara herself.