Hausvater: /HAUS-fah-ter/
noun (German)
1. Housefather.
2. Spiritually responsible head of household, including the housefather as assisted by the housemother.
>> Example: "As the Hausvater should teach it [Christian doctrine] to the entire family ..."
(Martin Luther, Small Catechism, 1529)
[Fathers and mothers] are the natural teachers of the children, ordained by God himself. Incessantly, therefore, Luther urges the fathers and mothers not only to bring their children to church, where the Catechism was explained on Sunday afternoons, but themselves to teach the children. He was convinced that without their vigorous co-operation he could achieve but little.
J. B. Unseth, "The Right Use of the Catechism," Synod Report [Evangelical Lutheran Synod] (1929): n.p.
Studying Luther’s Large Catechism: A Workbook for Christian Discipleship, by Dr. Ryan C. MacPherson
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