Heinrich Funck

Heinrich Funck (died 1760), also known as Henry Funk, was a Palatine-born mill operator, Mennonite preacher, religious author, and an early bishop in the Franconia Mennonite Conference in America.

Commonly believed to have been born in the Palatinate region of Germany, Heinrich Funck immigrated to the United States with his family in 1717, settling in Franconia Township, Pennsylvania in 1719. He owned several properties there and in the area. In 1725, he constructed a grist mill in Franconia. He became a Mennonite minister and, by 1738, a bishop of the Salford and Franconia Mennonite Congregations in the Franconia Mennonite Conference. Based in Franconia, he preached throughout the area. He supervised the translation of Martyrs Mirror into the German language from 1745 to 1748, and authored two original religious works, Ein Spiegel der Taufe (A Mirror of Baptism), published in 1744, and Eine Restitution, Oder eine Erklaerung einiger Haupt-puncten des Gesetzes (Restitution, or an Explanation of Several Principal Points of the Law), published posthumously by his children in 1763.

Heinrich Funck was the father of ten children, including Christian Funk, the leader of the Funkite schism, and was the grandfather of musician Joseph Funk. Heinrich Funck died in 1760 in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and was buried in the Delp Burying Ground in Harleysville, Pennsylvania.

Biography Heinrich Funck is commonly believed to have been born in the Palatinate region of Germany. No baptismal record is known. He was a descendant of Swiss Mennonites who were expelled from Bern, Switzerland, in the 17th century based largely on their religious beliefs.

In 1719, Funck settled in Franconia Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, having purchased three tracts of land there totaling 201 acres. He also owned a 166 acre farm located in Hilltown Township in Bucks County, as well as another tract containing buildings. In 1725, he built a grist mill on Indian Creek in Franconia Township in what is today Telford, Pennsylvania.

Funck became the first minister of the Mennonite congregation at Franconia, and by 1738 had become bishop of the Salford and Franconia Mennonite Congregations in the Franconia Mennonite Conference. In that year, Funck, together with others including Dielman Kolb and his father-in-law Christian Meyer, was instrumental in purchasing land for the Salford Mennonite meeting house, the congregation of which dated to 1717. In addition to preaching in Franconia and Salford, Funck preached in Skippack, Hatfield, and Towamencin, among other places.

From 1745 to 1748, together with Dielman Kolb, he supervised the translation of the classic 1660 Dutch religious history Martyrs Mirror into the German language. Funck also wrote two German-language religious books: Ein Spiegel der Taufe (A Mirror of Baptism), published in 1744, and Eine Restitution, Oder eine Erklaerung einiger Haupt-puncten des Gesetzes (Restitution, or an Explanation of Several Principal Points of the Law), published posthumously by his children in 1763. While Ein Spiegel der Taufe focuses on baptism of the Holy Spirit, baptism with water, and baptism of the passion of Jesus Christ, Eine Restitution, Oder eine Erklaerung einiger Haupt-puncten des Gesetzes provides an explanation of Old Testament law and its fulfillment by Christ.

Heinrich Funck died in 1760 and was buried in the Delp Burying Ground in Harleysville, Pennsylvania. A memorial gravestone there lists him as Henry Funk.

Personal life Funck married Anne Meyer, daughter of Mennonite immigrant Christian Meyer. They were the parents of ten children, one of whom was Christian Funk, leader of the Funkite schism.