John Christopher Kunze

John Christopher Kunze (August 4, 1744 – July 24, 1807) was an American Lutheran minister, educator, author and theologian.

Life Kunze was born in Artern, a town in the Kyffhäuserkreis district of the Electorate of Saxony, to Jahn Godfried Kunze, a farmer and innkeeper. In 1758, when his parents died, Kunze began studying at the orphanage in Halle, Germany. He received his classical training in the gymnasia at Rossleben and Merseburg, and then attended the University of Leipzig where he studied history, philosophy and theology. He worked as a teacher and an orphanage inspector before becoming ordained as a Lutheran minister.

In 1770, Kunze emigrated to Colonial America to serve as second pastor at St. Michael's and Zion Lutheran churches in Philadelphia. In 1771, he married Margaretta Henrietta (1751–1831), daughter of Rev. Henry Muhlenberg . Kunze was an active and passionate educator and was a strong advocate for teaching the English language to his fellow German immigrants and Lutheran pastors. As a part of this mission, Kunze began a pre-theological school in Philadelphia in 1773. While at the university, Kunze set foundations for what later developed into the field of "Semitics", including the study of Hebrew and Arabic. The university conferred the Master of Arts degree on him in 1780, and the Doctor of Divinity degree in 1783.

In 1795, he published Hymn and Prayer Book, for the Use of such Lutheran Churches as use the English Language, the first Lutheran hymn book in the English language.

In addition to his work as an educator, Kunze had a talent for bringing people together by creating scholarly and cultural organizations. Kunze helped create the Society for Useful Knowledge and he founded the German Society of New York with Baron Friedrich von Steuben. He also helped form the Ministerium of New York, an organization of local Lutheran ministers, and served as its president until his death on July 24, 1807. He is buried at the Evergreens Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.