Conflict between the “American Lutherans” and the leaders of the confessional revival led to a schism. In 1864, Krauth was asked to lead the new seminary in Philadelphia, which was founded by churches of the Pennsylvania Ministerium to rival the seminary in Gettysburg (now known as the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, LTSP). In 1867, Krauth and his schoolmate Rev. William Passavant founded the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The General Council had seven regional bodies which had withdrawn from the General Synod.