Leander M. Zimmerman

Leander M. Zimmerman (1860–1952) was an American Lutheran minister. He was the founding pastor of Christ English Lutheran Church in Baltimore. He was an author, a poet, and a prominent civic figure.

Early life and education

Leander Zimmerman was born on August 29, 1860 on a farm near Manchester in Carroll County, Maryland. He was the son of Henry and Leah Gladfelter Zimmerman. He was supervised by his brother, Jeremiah, who was also a pastor.

Zimmerman was ordained on October 8, 1887, in Williamsport, Maryland. That fall, he was offered a posting to the First English Lutheran Church of Richmond, Virginia, but declined.

Two months after his ordination, the General Synod of the Lutheran Church sent Zimmerman to Baltimore city to help struggling parishes and advise on suitable sites for new congregations. On arriving in Baltimore, he immediately began canvassing the South Baltimore neighborhood door-to-door, encouraging individuals and families to join a new church. Zimmerman also promised the church would forego pew rents and rely on free-will offerings. The new Christ English Evangelical Lutheran Church—a name meant to distinguish it from existing German-language congregations–began on December 18, 1887 with about 150 people rising to 360 after four months. In his first year in Baltimore, Zimmerman visited more than 4,000 visits in his first year. His efforts meant that the new congregation quickly outgrew its rented premises. The congregation purchased the site of another church on Hill Street for $8,000 , and dedicated the new building on November 25, 1888. At the same time, the congregation elected to make the church self-sustaining, no longer requiring financial support. Zimmerman was formally installed as pastor on December 2, 1888.

Zimmerman ran the church with a small staff and declined salary increases and posh accommodation. However, he was "far ahead of his time in the use of promotional methods": he distributed buttons, postcards, and promotional tracts bearing his own image, and published sermons, tracts, poems, and novels.

Much of Zimmerman's preaching and writing focused on how to help people establish stability and build resilience in their personal lives. He saw social ills as more the result of institutional than individual failings. While Zimmerman did not believe women should preach, he thought they should be allowed to earn a living and vote. He also admonished husbands to "keep up a continual courtship" and criticized sexual double standards. He was also sympathetic to labor, decrying the "sweating system" that capital imposed on workers and to those trapped in poverty, arguing that, while poverty was no excuse for wrongdoing, it was often a cause of it.

Zimmerman served on the Home Missions Board of the General Synod. He was also one of the founding members of the Lutheran Deaconess Motherhouse. He also served on the Board of Trustees of the Gettysburg Seminary and was elected President of the Maryland Synod in 1900. Later, he submitted a letter of resignation but the church council refused it, instead offering him periodic vacations. By this time, the congregation numbered almost 2,000—the largest in Baltimore.

Zimmerman labored another seven years before retiring on April 19, 1925, at age 65 and in poor health. Nearly 1,800 people crowded the auditorium, galleries, and Sunday school rooms to hear his final sermon.

In 1947, on the church's 60th anniversary, 1,100 people feted Zimmerman at the Lord Baltimore Hotel. Letters paying tribute to Zimmerman poured in from across the country, including from President Harry S. Truman, Senator and former Governor of Maryland Herbert O'Conor, Senator Millard Tydings, Maryland Governor William Preston Lane, Jr., the future Maryland Governor Theodore R. McKeldin, Baltimore Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr.

Zimmerman received an inheritance from an older brother, a $5,000 gift from a Baltimore woman who was not even a member of the congregation, and a $25,000 pension from the church, which also honored him with the title "Pastor Emeritus." He remained active particularly on Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving. He preached 62 consecutive Thanksgiving services; the last in 1949. The following year he slipped and fractured his pelvis, prompting a move to the National Lutheran Home for the Aged in Washington, D.C. He returned to Christ Lutheran Church one final time on Easter Sunday, 1950, to deliver his last sermon.

Awards and Honors Zimmerman received an honorary Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) degree from Susquehanna University in 1901.

Death

Zimmerman died on March 10, 1952, in Washington, D.C.

More than 1,000 attended his funeral, including the Governor of Maryland Theodore McKeldin.

Books Path's That Cross (1897) Yvonne (1899) Christmas Thoughts (1907) Dot: A Novel of To-Day (1909) Sparks: A Series of Popular Reflections on Ethical and Social Topics (1912) Cordelia (1914) For Love's Sake (1922) Digging Wells (1923) Hospital Meditation (1932) The Mellow Fruits of Experience (1936) Prayers: For All People, For All Occasions (1939) The Preacher's Doorknob (1942) Lighted Candles (1949) Reminiscences Pearls of Comfort from Tennyson's "In Memorian" The Gospel Minister Shepherding of Souls The Church of Our Faith

Poetry My Philosophy of History (1929) Thoughts Love and Sunshine Roses Will Bloom Again The Loss Is Yours God's Rainbow Mother Love I Now Understand Making Friends Thoughts for Happiness Better Days Are Coming `A Bow Unfading` Helps A Healing Voice

Commemorative Writings Twentieth Anniversary of Christ Lutheran Church (1887-1907) "Kindest Greetings" - Thirtieth Anniversary, Christ English Lutheran Church (1887-1917) "Looking Backward Over Forty Years" - Christ Lutheran Church, Fortieth Anniversary (1887-1927)