Carl Walter Bretscher

1. 8/8/1926 River Forest, Illinois USA

 

Spouse/Family

Wife: Marion Elaine (nee Beach) b. 3/26/1927 St. Louis, Missouri USA

1. 7/3/1951

Children: James Carl (1953), Donald Paul (1956), David John (1960)

 

Dates of Service Field Call Assignment

1951-57 Guatemala Missionary Pastor

 

Biographical Summary

Carl Bretscher began seminary in 1945.  During his seminary years he did two vicarages.  The first was as a parochial schoolteacher, because there was a shortage of Lutheran teachers in the Missouri Synod at the time.  He was assigned to a Mexican-American congregation in McAllen, Texas, near the border, where he taught first and second grades during the 1947-48 school year.  It was his first exposure to Hispanic ministry.  This experience influenced Carl, and for his second vicarage year, 1949-50, he volunteered to go to Guatemala and was sent to serve as missionary-pastor of a small bilingual congregation in Puerto Barrios, on the Atlantic coast.  Having from the start to conduct Bible services, Bible classes and other pastoral activities both in English and in Spanish, he rapidly improved his ability to communicate in the latter.  It was here that his developing interest in foreign missions was solidified.

 

Returning for his fourth year of seminary, Carl met Elaine Beach at church.  At the time she was working as a bookkeeper for a real estate company.  When Carl proposed, she knew she would have to think and pray about the possibility of going overseas with him, but it didn’t take long before she decided that this was God’s call to her too.  They were married in July 1951, shortly after Carl’s seminary graduation, and two months later were heading to Central America on a Standard Fruit Company “banana boat.”

 

Carl’s first assignment as a missionary was as associate pastor of a trilingual congregation in Guatemala City which held services in both English and Spanish – with the other missionary-pastor conducting the German aspects of the ministry.  This year provided Elaine the chance to begin learning Spanish, and contributed to Carl’s personal and professional growth.  Carl was pleased, however, when in November of 1952 he was reassigned to Zacapa, a small inland city in a semi-desert area surrounded by tiny villages.  Here, in a totally Spanish-speaking environment, he served as missionary-pastor of the small Lutheran congregation in the city, as well as traveling to preaching stations in the surrounding villages – some of which were accessible by Jeep, some by motorcycle, and some only by horseback!  Elaine participated in church and mission activities as much as possible, but much of her time was taken up simply with housekeeping – all activities, including shopping in the open-air market, cooking, and cleaning (all water had to be boiled) took much longer than in the U.S.  The Bretschers’ oldest son was born in February 1953, only a few months after their move, which added to their family responsibilities.

 

Shortly after their arrival in Zacapa, the Bretschers began work on starting a Lutheran school for the residents of the city and surrounding villages.  The idea had been suggested by previous missionaries and the Zacapa congregation had enthusiastically supported it.  But it was principally through Carl’s efforts that the dream became a reality.  Called El Colegio El Divino Salvador, the school opened in February 1953, with some thirty-five students in first and second grades, using extra rooms in the Bretschers’ rented house for classrooms.  From its inception, the school hired local Guatemalan teachers, with Carl acting as principal and teaching daily religion classes.  As it grew, a new building was soon needed.  Fortunately, the mission had earlier acquired property in Zacapa which would serve as a site for the school, as well as for missionary residences.  The construction cost $5000, paid for by a grant from the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League in the United States.  Carl designed the floor plan, then hired local workers to “engineer” and build the building.  There were three classrooms that held two grades each, rest rooms and office space.  By 1957 there were six grades and seventy-five students.

 

In the years after the Bretschers returned to the U.S., the school added another large building with kitchen and dormitory space, which provided limited boarding facilities for students from surrounding villages who otherwise had no access to elementary education at all.  Years later, at its peak, the school’s total enrollment, including its “normal school” component (roughly the equivalent of our high schools) grew to over 1000!  This initially small project, supervised by the Bretschers at its inception, has given many students from the Zacapa area a Christian education and a better education than they likely could have received otherwise.  Elaine notes that after the school’s humble beginnings in their home, with not enough pencils and paper to go around, she was shocked to see a large, thriving school with many classrooms and good equipment, including computers, when she and Carl returned for a visit in 1994.

 

In 1957 the Bretschers took their first furlough.  By this time their son Donald had been born and they were raising two boys.  Near the end of their furlough time in the United States, the family went in for their required medical screening with the doctors who were the Mission Board’s official medical advisers, and they learned that their older son, now four years old, had contracted tuberculosis, a disease not uncommon in the Zacapa area.  The doctors advised both the Board and the Bretschers that in their opinion James should not be taken back to Guatemala.  He would probably do well, they said, if he stayed in the U.S. in a healthier environment and continued to receive good medical care.  On the other hand, if he were to return to Guatemala and inevitably be re-exposed to the disease, the consequences could be exceedingly serious.  Though they deeply regretted not returning to the people and place in which they had invested so much time and care, Carl and Elaine felt they had no choice but to heed the doctors’ counsel and remain in the U.S. to take care of their family.

 

Shortly thereafter Carl was called to begin a mission church in Pensacola, Florida, starting in May 1958.  In the next three months he made over three thousand canvas calls to people in the neighborhood and brought together a congregation that, by the time they left in 1963, was well-established with some two hundred members and had its own church building.  The Bretschers completed their family in 1960 with the birth of their third son David.  In 1963, Carl accepted a call to St. Paul Lutheran Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.  At the time Carl felt that he and Elaine would probably be there for the rest of their active lives.  But in 1965 Carl was caught off guard when he received another, totally unexpected call that he simply felt he could not decline.  It was to become pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in the Panama Canal Zone.  Though this was an English-speaking congregation, consisting mostly of Americans working there either with the Canal Zone Government, the Panama Canal Company, or the U.S. military, it was strongly desired that the next pastor be bilingual.  Already in the works was the promise of the U.S. government to renegotiate the old 1903 canal treaty with Panama that would eventually return to Panama control of the Zone and thus, hopefully, pave the way for Redeemer’s possible transition into a bilingual congregation.  Carl served in Panama until 1971.

 

At that time the Bretschers returned to the U.S. and settled in St. Louis, where Elaine worked in the office of an ophthalmologist while Carl took a break from the ministry and went in a whole new direction to work for the next three years in the electrical contracting business of Elaine’s father.  In 1974, however, he accepted a call from Immanuel Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, New Mexico.  It was an area heavily dominated by people of Hispanic heritage where, it was believed, his Spanish capability would come in handy.  By this time both of their older sons had left home, and their youngest son would reach college age while they were sill there.  Shortly after they arrived, Elaine began volunteering at the small local hospital, which soon turned into a full-time job in its main office.  She ended up serving as office manager for a time, then worked in the Chamber of Commerce until 1979.  At that time, Carl decided that in order to best fulfill his role as pastor, he should learn more about counseling.  He enrolled in the graduate social work program at Washington University, and the family moved back to St. Louis.  Elaine took a job in medical records at DePaul Hospital.  One of Carl’s practicum assignments for his program took him to St. Louis University Medical Center working in geriatric psychiatry, and he was successfully persuaded to continue his work at the medical center when he had received his degree in 1981.  He worked there until retirement in 1991; Elaine retired in 1989.

 

The Bretschers continue to live in St. Louis and have remained active both in their church and with the Lutheran Senior Services community, where they also now live.  Carl served as a part-time pastoral counselor in the hospice care program of the Visiting Nurse Association until 1997; Elaine volunteered at a nursing home for several years; and they both continue making nursing home visits and volunteering.  Their journey which began on the foreign mission field has taken them through many locations and experiences, and they continue to serve others and to share the good news of the Gospel wherever they go.

 

Nota Bene

Carl has written several articles for the Lutheran Witness.

 

Phase 2 Information

 

Biggest missiological issue faced?

The Bretschers felt fortunate not to face too many very difficult issues during their time working with the church and school in Zacapa.  They do recall one theological controversy that arose for a short time during their service, regarding style of worship and liturgy.  Some churchgoers had been converted from nominal Catholicism to Protestantism and had been taught that anything remotely “Catholic” was wrong in church.  A few of these folks ended up at the church in Zacapa, and some were quite vocal about wanting to strip down worship and liturgy.  They frowned upon decorations, pictures, and even candles, such that in private, the missionaries jokingly termed the issue the “candle controversy.”  The controversy gradually resolved itself, as people grew to realize that what mattered was God’s love creating faith that human beings express in worship, rather than the details of exactly how the worship proceeded.

 

Most significant contribution during missionary service?

The school the Bretschers began was their biggest contribution to mission work in Guatemala, and to the people of the Zacapa area.  Thanks to this school, many students who would not have been able to get a good education – or any education at all – were taught well, by caring teachers, in a Christian environment.  A number of these students have also gone on to become Lutheran pastors and teachers.

 

Connection to today’s mission?

The school and church at which the Bretschers served remain in Zacapa, and even though the buildings were leveled in an earthquake in 1976, they were rebuilt and continue their mission.  LCMS missionaries still work in Guatemala, and the Lutheran Church of Guatemala has a baptized membership of about 4,000.

 

Lessons Learned

• The role of the missionaries was not to convert people into LCMS members – that is, not simply to create replicas of LCMS congregations in the U.S. – but rather to help people grow in their knowledge of and faith in the Good News of God in Christ.  On the mission field, they found that denominational divisions were not so important as they had been in the U.S.  For people who were barely literate and were just learning about Christianity, the basics of the Gospel were more important than very detailed specifics of Lutheran doctrine.

 

• One of the most important parts of mission work is involving local leaders in the church.

 

Best Practices

• The founding of the school, and inclusion of its mission as part of the ministry of the church in Zacapa, was a great benefit both to the people of the area and to the spread of the Gospel in the region.

 

Phase 3 Information

 

Inspiration for entering foreign missions?

The Bretschers always believed that it was God who brought them to where He wanted them to be.  Carl’s experience teaching in south Texas influenced him to do his vicarage in Guatemala, and after that year he felt a strong call to foreign mission work.  Elaine became enthusiastic about serving overseas as she got to know Carl and consider her call to go to Guatemala with him.  Both would have liked to stay in Guatemala long-term, but they were able in their subsequent ministry to make good use of all they had learned in the mission field.

 

Quotation by/about or brief story:

• Carl recalls that during his vicarage year, he preached in a church that was little more than a thatch hut, open to the outside.  One day, just as he was finishing the Apostles’ Creed with the congregation, a man staggered into the center of the church and fell down.  Many people were shocked, thinking he was dead, but when Carl checked, he found the man was simply drunk.  Carl and a couple of the congregants helped the man up and carried him across the street to his home.  When Carl returned to the church, he found that all the congregants were still standing in their pews with their heads bowed – waiting for their pastor to return and release them from the prayer position they had assumed to say the creed!  No one had sat down or even moved while he was away.

 

• The Bretschers’ time in Guatemala was not without excitement, perhaps too much at times.  They were living in Zacapa in 1954 when a revolution began, with CIA-backed rebels seeking to overthrow the socialist government of President Jacobo Arbenz.  When the fighting began, most people in Zacapa thought their area would not be too affected, but because the city was on a route between Guatemala City and the Atlantic coast, it suffered bombing of its army barracks and train station.  Most people in town fled to the surrounding villages, and there were very few people left when the Bretschers and others decided they would try to take the last train out of town to Guatemala City.  After they had been riding the train for about an hour, several planes overflew them and then turned around, coming right toward them and bombing the engine of the train.  Everyone on the train began running away from the tracks, but the planes returned and strafed the train, then the people on the ground.  Carl and Elaine were, of course, terrified, like everyone else around them, especially since Elaine was carrying their infant son with them.  Although the Bretschers and the people they knew were mostly unhurt, some others were tragically killed.  Elaine suffered a wound on her arm from a stone that ricocheted away from one of the bullets, which was the more frightening because, in the chaos, they were unsure whether it was she or their son who was bleeding.  Once the Bretschers and others had made it to relative safety, they had to seek out an army outpost in the area to ask for help and to get in touch with the U.S. Embassy.  With its help, they eventually made it to Guatemala City – going part of the way on a motorized track maintenance vehicle.  They had to stay in Guatemala City for a time until the fighting stopped.  Amazingly, when they returned to Zacapa their house was still standing and the inside was still intact; it had not been looted during the war.  Though they would not wish to repeat the experience, it seemed that God was taking care of them even at such a tumultuous and frightening time.

 

• Another instance of God’s protection came when Carl was flying to another town to visit a Lutheran Hour listener.  As his plane was taking off from the Guatemala City airport, one of the engines lurched forward out of its socket and the pilot had to abruptly abort the takeoff.  He was able to stop just as they reached the edge of a ravine ahead of the runway.  Had the engine come loose just a few seconds later than it did, the plane would have been barely airborne and doubtlessly would have crashed in the ravine.