This move would be very important in Elizabeth's life because along with this new pastor came her future husband, Charles W. Schaeffer.
In December, 1833, Elizabeth was a key leader in a meeting of women and men to develop a missionary and education society at St. Michael's.
Keller to take before the congregation and on January 22, 1834, the Female Domestic Missionary and Education Society of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Michael's Germantown was born.
[1] Elizabeth was elected the first secretary of the society and held the position until 1837, until she was forced to step down because of her marriage to, the now ordained, Rev.
Schaeffer moved to Harrisburg where they became the parents of two sons and two daughters:[1] Katherine, Charles, Eva, and William.
Elizabeth would resume her leadership roles in the Missionary and Education Society and lead it in a new direction with the creation of an Orphan's Home.
As Elizabeth began to increase her role in leadership at St. Michael's, she and her husband were visited by the Rev.
Passavant was known for his work in developing social ministries and he had recently opened an Orphan's Home in Pittsburgh, PA.
Elizabeth placed that dollar in her knitted purse and began working tirelessly to start the Lutheran Home at Germantown for Orphans.
She presided over the Household Committee of the Board of Managers and held the position of treasurer of the Home, looking over income and expenditures.
Elizabeth played a large role in as she led several fundraising events, like a great fair in 1869.
[1] Although she had firmly opposed the transfer to the Ministerium, Elizabeth remained active in the Home as a fundraiser and worked with the Board of Lady Visitors, even becoming the President again in 1878.
[1] When the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia opened in 1864, Elizabeth's husband's uncle, Charles F. Schaeffer was the head of the faculty and the only full-time professor.
After her death the Board of the Germantown Home passed a resolution:Resolved, that while we humbly bow to our Father's will and gratefully acknowledge His goodness in permitting Mrs. Schaeffer to serve Him so long and so faithfully in this life, we pray that her example may stimulate others to follow in her steps, as she followed Christ.
[1]In 1903, the Schaeffer-Ashmead Memorial Chapel was constructed at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in honor of Elizabeth Fry Ashmead Schaeffer and her husband and Professor Rev.