[illustration: "John Christopher Kunze"]

He was instrumental in 1785 in reorganizing the New York Ministerium.
This work was begun in 1775 by Frederick Muehlenberg, but had been given
up for a while, probably on account of the war.

As a writer he is credited in Dr. Morris' Bibliotheca Lutherana with
eight books of which he was the author or editor, from Hymns and Poems
to A History of the Lutheran Church and A New Method of Calculating the
Great Eclipse of 1806.

These and many other things must be set to his credit. For what he
accomplished he deserves a large place in the history of our Church in
this city. But with all his gifts he was unable to cope with the chief
problem which confronted our Church at the close of the eighteenth
century, that of the English language.

There had been a demand for English services ever since the middle of
the century. The descendants of the Dutch families had all become
English. The need of English had been met in part by the elder
Muehlenberg and his successors, Weygand and Hauseal, in Trinity Church,
doubtless also by Frederick Muehlenberg in the Swamp Church.

After the, Revolution (1784) the United Congregations certainly made
some provision for English although it was inadequate. In 1794 the
younger people petitioned for occasional services in a language which
they could understand. Dr. Kunze himself made some attempts to handle
the English, but his faulty pronunciation so amused the young people
that he gave it up. He appointed a young man by the name of Strebeck to
assist him in ministering to the English members of the congregation.