United Brethren

1
Evangelical United Brethren Church
Origins, History, Traditions
2
Evangelical United Brethren Church

• The United Brethren Church and the Evangelical
  Church merge in 1946 to form the Evangelical
  United Brethren Church.
• From what traditions did these two denominations
  arise?

3
United Brethren

• From the Pietist movement in the mid to late
  1700's among German speaking folk in
  Pennsylvania. There was a fervor of spiritual
  awakening sweeping through Lancaster County in
  the 1760's. Many of these individuals professed
  the necessity of holiness and especially the
  assurance of "new birth" conversion as a real
  experience to be remembered.

4
United Brethren Leaders

• Spearheading the movement were two evangelistic
  preachers of very different backgrounds.
• One was Philip William Otterbein, a German
  Reformed minister who came from Germany in 1752.
  He discovered that formal religious practices
  were the common standard in the American
  colonies. His training and subsequent heart
  change prompted him to preach a message based on
  a deeper, life-transforming spiritual experience.

5
United Brethren Leaders

• Martin Boehm was the other man. He came from the
  Mennonite faith, and had been selected by lot to
  be a preacher among his people. Initially, Boehm
  felt that he had no message to present, but that
  changed when he had a personal experience of
  God's saving grace through faith. Then Boehm
  became a flaming evangelist, proclaiming the
  salvation experience wherever he had the chance.

6
United Brethren Leaders

• Both Otterbein and Boehm did extensive
  evangelistic preaching in inter-denominational
  gatherings. However, they didn't meet until
  Pentecost Sunday, 1767. A "great meeting" was
  held that day in the barn of Isaac Long near
  Lancaster, Pa. These great meetings were usually
  held over weekends in groves, barns, or wherever
  a large congregation could assemble. The
  congregation in Long's barn included preachers
  and laypersons from various denominations,
  including the German Reformed, Lutheran,
  Moravian, Mennonite, Amish, and Dunker groups.

7
United Brethren Leaders

• Martin Boehm preached that afternoon. Otterbein
  was so thrilled with Boehm's powerful message
  that this man of great stature threw his arms
  around the diminutive Boehm and exclaimed in
  German, "Wir sind bruder!", which in English
  translates as, "We are brethren!" They were
  different in many ways--in background,
  appearance, and some aspects of theology--but
  Otterbein realized they were alike in the areas
  which really counted.
• From that enthusiastic greeting came the name
  "United Brethren."

8
United Brethren

• There appears to be no formal structure to the
  United Brethren until 1800, when they officially
  organized themselves near Frederick, Maryland. In
  order to distinguish themselves from the
  Moravians who were also called United Brethren
  from their Latin title Unitas Fratrum, they
  appended the words "in Christ."

9
The Church Expands

• Otterbein and Boehm elected as bishops. Both men
  were 74 years old when chosen. Boehm served until
  his death in 1812, and Otterbein served until his
  death in 1813.
• Between 1800 and 1815, meetings were held
  annually. However, ministers in Ohio felt that,
  because of distance, it would be better to hold
  meetings less often. So beginning in 1815, a
  "General Conference" was held every two years,
  with regional "annual conferences" held every
  year. Since 1821, General Conferences have been
  held every four years.

10
The Church Expands

• Christian Newcomer was elected bishop in 1813.
  Under his leadership, the loose evangelistic
  fellowship became a more organized movement. And
  the church grew rapidly.
• As the young nation expanded westward, so did
  the church, with hundreds of new churches
  starting. People who had been associated with
  United Brethren in the east migrated west and
  settled in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. In the
  mid-1820s, Newcomer spearheaded the establishment
  of churches in Canada, taking the church into
  another country for the first time.
• In those early years, services were conducted
  almost exclusively in the German language. The
  congregations were led by "circuit-riding"
  preachers who might have responsibility for a
  dozen or more churches.

11
Hoffmanites

• A Pennsylvania group of United Brethren ministers
  and laymen under Rev. George Hoffman, broke away
  in the late 1860's over doctrinal issues. First
  known as "Hoffmanites," they later organized in
  1878 as the United Christian Church.

12
Great Split of 1889

• By 1889, the United Brethren Church had grown to
  over 200,000 members, with six bishops and a
  full-blown denominational structure. But then
  controversy arose, and eventually a division
  occurred.

13
Great Split of 1889

• Several General Conferences discussed proposed
  changes regarding three major issues allowing
  proportional representation at General Conference
  (rather than a set number of delegates for each
  conference, regardless of size), allowing lay
  representation at General Conference (instead of
  ministers only), and permitting church members to
  also be members of secret societies (previously
  forbidden). In 1889, the General Conference
  delegates voted to change the Constitution's
  requirements concerning these issues. However,
  they chose to ignore the proper procedures for
  doing so, as spelled out in the Constitution,
  which stated that no changes could be made in the
  Constitution without a majority vote of all
  United Brethren members.

14
The Great Split

• A segment of the General Conference, led by
  Bishop Milton Wright (father of the Wright
  Brothers), left the General Conference meeting
  and resumed the session in another part of the
  city. They declared that the other delegates had
  withdrawn from the denomination by adopting a
  different Constitution.
• This brought into existence two fellowships
  operating under the name "Church of the United
  Brethren in Christ."

15
Onward to Merger

• The majority group became known as the "Church of
  the United Brethren in Christ (New
  Constitution)," with headquarters in Dayton,
  Ohio. They were also known as the "liberal"
  United Brethren. This group united with the
  Evangelical Association in 1946 to form the
  Evangelical United Brethren Church. The Methodist
  Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church
  merged in 1968 to form the United Methodist
  Church.

16
Evangelical Association Origins

• In 1785, Jacob and Catharine Albright married and
  established their home at Frys Mill near
  Hahnstown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They
  affiliated with the nearby Bergstrasse Lutheran
  Church and occasionally had contact with
  itinerant Reformed Church evangelists, Revs.
  William Otterbein and Anthony Houtz. In 1790,
  several of Albrights children died of dysentery
  and he and Mrs. Albright asked Rev. Houtz to
  preach the funeral sermons. Albright was deeply
  affected by Houtzs evangelistic preaching and
  eventually surrendered his life to Christ.

17
Evangelical Association Origins

• Albright yielded to Gods call to ministry.
• He writes "I began my travels in the year 1796 in
  the month of October in order to obey the call of
  God in proclaiming his holy will as revealed in
  the Gospel." (Albright, Raymond W. A History of
  the Evangelical Church, p. 43)

18
Evangelical Association Origins

• Many homes were opened to Albright as "preaching
  places" and Albright boldly preached the Gospel.
  By 1800, Albright had formed three classes (small
  groups of believers engaged in Bible study,
  prayer and spiritual accountability) with
  approximately 20 believers. By 1803, the number
  had grown to five classes with 40 believers. Men
  and women, even entire households, had been
  brought to faith in Christ under the preaching
  and oversight of Albright.

19
Evangelical Association

• The newly organized church, the Evangelical
  Association, grew as preachers were sent to
  cities and villages to preach the Gospel.
• By 1875, the Evangelical Association had more
  than 95,000 members. By 1891, the number of
  church members had grown to 150,000.

20
Evangelical Association

• Personal piety marked the development of the
  denomination. Albright chose the Methodist class
  structure as the organizational structure of the
  Evangelical Association. From its beginning,
  church tradition emphasized the necessity of a
  growing devotion to Christ as evidenced by
  prayer, Bible study and spiritual accountability.
  These class meetings eventually became prayer
  meetings.

21
Evangelical Association

• Albrights close association with Methodism
  brought the doctrine of Christian perfection or
  holiness to the denominations discipline, where
  it is described as "one of the cherished
  doctrines of the Evangelical Congregational
  Church."

22
Christian Perfection

• Entire Sanctification, or Christian perfection,
  is a state of righteousness and true holiness,
  which every regenerate believer may attain. It
  consists in being cleansed from all sin, loving
  God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength,
  and loving neighbor as oneself.
• This gracious state of perfect love is attainable
  in this life by faith, both gradually and
  instantaneously, and should be earnestly sought
  by every child of God but it does not deliver us
  from the infirmities, ignorance and mistakes
  which are common to man."
• (Discipline, Article of Faith 111)

23
Christian Perfection

• The preaching and teaching of this doctrine
  received renewed emphasis with the founding of
  the National Camp Meeting Association for the
  Promotion of Holiness. The first such holiness
  camp meeting was held at Vineland, New Jersey in
  1867. In 1868, the holiness camp meeting was held
  in Manheim, Pennsylvania and 25,000 people
  attended including 300 ministers. Many ministers
  and laity of the Evangelical Association were in
  attendance thus accounting for the renewed
  emphasis of the doctrine.

24
Schism of 1887

• At the General Conference of the Evangelical
  Association, a major issue promotes a splitting
  of the denomination.
• Bishop J. J. Esher wrote an article criticizing
  the Japan mission.
• Rev. H. B. Hartzler, editor of the churchs
  magazine, refused to print the article.
• Esher responded by bringing Hartzler to church
  trial "for unchristian conduct, official
  misconduct and grievous offense as minister and
  as editor of our church."

25
Schism of 1887

• The trial consumed 11 days of the 27 day
  conference. Hartzler was found guilty by a vote
  of 57 to 47. This vote was by ministers only. No
  lay delegates were present at the General
  Conference.
• Pastors and laity either identified with the
  majority, commonly called "The Esherites", or the
  minority, commonly called "The Dubsites" (so
  named for Bishop Rudolf Dubs, the leader of the
  minority party).

26
Schism of 1887

• Lying behinds the scenes were a series of
  conflicts
• Use of German (favored by Majority)
• Episcopal Authority (favored by Majority)
• Theological Conservatism (Minority)
• Sectionalism (Favored by Minority)
• Old versus New Immigrants (Majority welcomed new
  immigrants into the movement)

27
Schism leads to Split

• In 1891, both parties called for General
  Conference. "The Esherites" met in Indianapolis
  while "The Dubsites" met in Philadelphia. The
  authority of the majority party prevailed and the
  ministers and congregations that supported the
  minority party were excluded from the
  denomination. These congregations lost their
  church buildings since the buildings were owned
  by the denomination. Efforts to reconcile the
  parties failed and, by 1894, the minority party
  had reorganized into a new denomination, the
  United Evangelical Church.

28
Healing the Schism

• 1922 sees the reunion of majority-led Evangelical
  Association with the minority founded United
  Evangelical Church.
• Adopt new name The Evangelical Church.
• Had strong oversees involvement in Germany.

29
Bringing the Two Together

• The Evangelical United Brethren Church was formed
  November 16,1946 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
• Represented decades-long discussion of merger
  between the United Brethren and Evangelical
  Church.