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TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECOND PERIOD—1774-1800 Ch.4—Mr. Otterbein called to Baltimore Ch.5—The Otterbein Church in Baltimore Ch.6—The Movement Toward a Separate Church Organization Ch.7—The First and Second Conferences THIRD PERIOD—1800-1815 Ch.10—The Conferences of 1801-1814 Ch.12—The Departure of the Leaders FOURTH PERIOD—1815-1837 Ch.13—The First General Conference—1815 Ch.14—The General Conferences of 1817-1833 FIFTH PERIOD—1837-1885 Ch.15—The General Conferences of 1837 and 1841 Ch.16—The General Conferences of 1845 and 1849 Ch.17—The General Conferences of 1853-1861 Ch.18—The General Conferences of 1865-1881 SIXTH PERIOD—1885-1897 Ch.19—The Nineteenth General Conference—1885 Ch.21—The Twentieth General Conference—1889 Ch.23—The Twenty-First General Conference—1893
PART II DEPARTMENTS OF CHURCH WORK Ch.1—The United Brethren Publishing House Ch.2—The Home, Frontier, and Foreign Missionary Society and Its Work Ch.3—The Church-Erection Society Ch.4—The Woman's Missionary Association Ch.9—The Young People's Christian Union Ch.10—The Board of Trustees of the Church
PART III THE ANNUAL CONFERENCES Ch.1—A Group of Early Conferences Ch.2—Other Conferences Organized from 1835 to 1853 Ch.3—Conferences Organized Since 1853
PART IV HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL TABLES Appendices Index
NOTICE OF ATTRIBUTION Work originally published in 1897. Scanned, proofed and minor spelling corrections by the United Brethren Historical Center. Electronic edition ©2006 United Brethren Historical Center Suggested Citation:
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History of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ by Daniel Berger |
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CHAPTER III OTTERBEIN AND BOEHM I. MARTIN BOEHM p.63 The name of Martin Boehm, whose memory must ever occupy an honored place in United Brethren history, has already appeared in these pages. On account of the prominence he gained in the great revival movement and in the subsequent organization of the Church, as well as from the fact that the people among whom he was for many years a greatly esteemed minister contributed a considerable number to the early adherents of the Church, a sketch of his conversion and call to the ministry will here be in place. We have already seen that among the Protestant Germans who, toward the close of the seventeenth century, forsook their homes in the old country to escape persecution and enjoy the blessings of religious freedom, were large numbers of Mennonites.1 The earlier arrivals of 1683 were followed by steadily increasing numbers until in 1735 as many as five hundred families were found in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, alone, while many others found homes in other counties of that State, as also in Maryland and Virginia. This larger exodus was stimulated in part by the persecutions to which the Mennonites were subjected in Europe, alike in Switzerland, Germany, and Holland, on the part of other Protestants, on account of their peculiar views and practices, which prevailed among some of the p.64 numerous parties into which they were divided. Adhering in the main to the tenets of Menno Simonis, the most distinguished leader among them, and whose name they adopted, they lived lives of great simplicity, especially as regarded dress, the severe plainness which still characterizes their descendants in all the branches into which they are divided being rigorously insisted upon. In religious practice and in their relations to the state they sought to observe a simple and severe discipline, rejecting a paid clergy, declining to hold civil office, and refusing to take oaths or go to war. Infant baptism they regarded with decided aversion. In general, they sought to reintroduce, according to their conception of it, the type of the apostolic church life. In America these characteristics are, among the most of these people, under their various names, still preserved, the civil ballot, that highly prized privilege of citizenship, being also declined. In common with the people of other churches the early Mennonites in America lapsed into religious formalism, laying much stress on outward forms and observances, notably giving rigid attention to matters of dress, thus substituting a severe externalism for the true inward spiritual life, while, however, an exemplary morality in the affairs of daily life was carefully insisted upon. The exterior life of these simple-hearted people could not but commend them to the favorable regard of their fellow citizens. It will be noted that in many things they bore a marked similarity to the Friends, or Quakers, with whom many of them, by their residence in William Penn's colony, were brought into close relations. But with the almost universal low condition of spirituality which prevailed among them, it became an occasion of surprise, and sometimes of alarm, and even anger, when their members found their way to a better religious life
Martin Boehm. p.65 and made declaration of the fact. It was among these people that Martin Boehm was born. The family of Mr. Boehm was of Swiss origin. His great-grandfather, Jacob Boehm, was well connected, and was a strict member of the Reformed Church. His son, also named Jacob, having completed his apprenticeship to a trade, was sent forth for the usual three years' service as a journeyman. During his absence from home he fell in with the Pietists,2 and, approving heartily their religious views and warm spiritual life, he attached himself to them. On returning home, making known his changed views and his new religious experience, he was met with the utmost indignation. The pastor of the church publicly denounced him, and his family joined in the angry opposition to him. He was arraigned and convicted of heresy, and upon an older brother was laid the duty of conducting him to jail. Possibly the brother's heart relented somewhat against the cruel and unnatural proceeding. At any rate, he seems to have so far relaxed his vigilance that the prisoner found a way to escape. The boundary line of France being not far distant, the convicted heretic was soon beyond the Swiss jurisdiction, p.66 and proceeding along the Rhine he found a home in the Palatinate, where he became associated with the Mennonites. His residence here was made permanent, and here he married and reared a family. One of his sons, also named Jacob, the third in the line bearing the name, came to America in 1715, and found a home, with others of his church people who had come before him, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Here he was married not long after to Miss Kendig, a most worthy young woman, also of the Mennonite faith, and of this union was born on November 30, 1725, Martin Boehm, the youngest of several children. Jacob Boehm was a blacksmith by trade, and it is related of Mrs. Boehm, as illustrating her sturdy strength, that when he was without assistance in his shop, she not unfrequently assumed the duties of a helper at the bellows and anvil. Jacob Boehm was a devout Mennonite, and, like his father before him, was a deacon in his church. The opportunities for education in America in the early part of the seventeenth century were few, and Mr. Boehm's education was accordingly limited, being mostly received in the home, in the German language. But he possessed, happily, a vigorous mental, as well as physical, constitution, a clear grasp of ideas, and sound judgment, was gifted with a graceful and easy flow of speech, and had a pleasing personal bearing which would make him naturally a favorite. Later in life he acquired a fair knowledge of the English language, with ability to converse with ease, and became possessor also of a number of English books. His father being a devout Mennonite, and, as we have seen, an officer in the church, Mr. Boehm was brought up as a true son of the church. Possessing all these qualities, it is not surprising that when a vacancy occurred in the pulpit of the local church of which the Boehms were members, p.67 the thoughts and hearts of the people should have turned toward this gifted and pious young man in their own midst. The method of choosing a minister among the Mennonites was by lot. They remembered the example of Joshua in dividing to the people by lot their inheritance in Canaan, that of Samuel in casting lots in choosing the first king of Israel, and that of the eleven apostles casting lots to fill the vacancy caused by the defection of one of their number, and also the scripture which says that "the lot is cast into the lap, but the ordering thereof is of the Lord." Accordingly, when, after due nominations had been made, and much earnest prayer, the lot was cast for a successor in the pulpit of this early congregation, we can easily understand that the hearts of the people were filled with gladness when they saw that the choice fell upon the promising and beloved young Martin Boehm. Mr. Boehm was at this time in his thirty-third year, just a little past the age at which Jesus and John the Baptist began their ministry. He had married, in 1753, Miss Eve Steiner, who, like himself, was of Swiss ancestry and of the Mennonite Church. She is described as a "noble woman," and "justly loved and esteemed."3 Dr. Drury remarks that the parents of Mr. Boehm "spent their last days with him, and from them he inherited the beautiful home farm"; also that "the father died in 1780, rejoicing in the truths into which the ministry of his son Martin was the means of leading him." Of his personal appearance Dr. Drury says, "He is described as being a short, stout man, with a vigorous constitution, an intellectual countenance, and a fine flowing beard, which gave him, in his later years, a patriarchal appearance." Whether Mr. Boehm ever saw Mr. Otterbein previous p.68 to his own call to the ministry, and his remarkable spiritual experience which followed, cannot now be known. Residing in the same county in which Mr. Otterbein was pastor, it is not improbable that he knew of him. But as the Mennonites, from their experience with the Reformed and Lutherans in the old country, would naturally be somewhat shy of them in the new, there is no likelihood that Mr. Boehm ever visited Mr. Otterbein's church in Lancaster, and it is certain that Mr. Otterbein did not form Mr. Boehm's acquaintance until many years after the latter became a minister. Mr. Boehm's conversion presented an interesting illustration of the manner in which the Holy Spirit moved upon the hearts of men in different churches and in different localities, independently of any personal contact of those who were thus affected. We have already seen that Mr. Otterbein was deeply moved by the divine Spirit impressing upon his own heart the precious import of the Scripture truths which he preached to others, and also that while he was thus affected he felt unprepared to give spiritual counsel to one who came to him to inquire. We are now to see that Mr. Boehm, when he was called to become a minister, felt that he had no message for his people until by the power of the same Spirit which directed his call he was made a new man in Christ. Under these circumstances he found himself presently under the greatest embarrassment and mortification. Again and again, according to the custom of his church, he arose to add an exhortation, after an older minister had preached, and found himself able only to stammer out a few incoherent sentences. He read diligently the Scriptures, that he might have something to say, but when the trial came his memory would not call up a single passage, and he was obliged to sit down p.69 in confusion. Some months passed in this way, with only failure to reward his efforts, and he began to be in despair. To be a preacher and have nothing to say he felt to be a deep reproach. Yet he did not doubt that he was genuinely called to the work of the ministry, because the church had laid its hand upon him after the divine order as understood by his people. He believed also fully in the efficacy of prayer, and he availed himself earnestly of this refuge of troubled souls. While he was thus engaged, he tells us, the thought presented itself to him as though one had audibly spoken, "You pray for grace to teach others the way of salvation, and you have not prayed for your own salvation." This thought clung to him day by day until he felt himself to be a poor, lost sinner. His agony, he says, now became very great. One day, he continues, when he was plowing in the field, he knelt down at each end of the furrow to pray. The word lost, lost (verlohren), went with him every round. At length, midway in the field he could go no farther; he sank down by his plow, and cried, "Lord, save; I am lost!" Then came to him the answer, "I am come to seek and to save that which is lost." His heart took hold of these precious words of the mighty Saviour; and in a moment," he says, "a stream of joy was poured over me." Thus as a result of prolonged struggle, and in answer to unceasing prayer, there came into his heart the blessing of an unutterable peace. Mr. Boehm, after this blessed experience, at once left his plow in the field, and proceeded to his house to tell his wife the joyful news. Now he found too that his tongue was loosened. With the emancipation of the heart came liberty of utterance. The live coal from the altar which touched the prophet's lips inspired his lips also with a new-found eloquence. And now, while p.70 before he had wished the Sabbath far away, he wished it were already here. When the day came, and the elder brother had preached, he arose and told his experience. He felt that he now indeed had a message to deliver. To the people it was as novel as to him it was joyful. Many, as they listened to his story, were deeply moved, and attested their feeling with weeping. On the following Sabbath, as he was speaking, his soul was aflame with his theme, and soon he found himself in the midst of the congregation, while the people about him were weeping aloud.4 To see this plain, simple-hearted young man, who before had been so reserved and unable to speak connectedly even a half dozen sentences, now suddenly stand forth with rich gifts of speech, with scripture ready to support every utterance, and with power to sway the hearts of the people in a manner they had never before witnessed, occasioned among his listeners the profoundest surprise. It was as when the people of Nazareth wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of the mouth of a young man of their own city, whom they had known as a humble carpenter among them, or when the apostles on the day of Pentecost spoke with power of interpretation that startled the doctors of the law and astonished all their hearers. But we will let Mr. Boehm himself tell of this in his own simple way, as translated by Mr. Spayth: "This caused considerable commotion in our church, as well as among the people generally. It was all new ; none of us had heard or seen it before. A new creation appeared to rise up before me and around me. Now scripture before mysterious, and like a dead letter to me, was plain of interpretation, 'was all spirit, all life [alles Geist und Leben].' Like a dream, old things had passed away, and it seemed as if I had awoke to new life, p.71 new thoughts, new faith, new love. I rejoiced and praised God with my whole heart. This joy, this faith, this love, I wished to communicate to those around me, but when speaking thereof, in public or in private, it made different impressions on different persons. Some gave a mournful look, some sighed and wept, and would say, ' Oh ! Martin, are we indeed lost?' 'Yes, man [der Mensch] is lost! Christ will never find us till we know that we are lost.' " Mrs. Boehm, he tells us, was the next lost sinner to feel that she was saved and to experience the same love and joy of assurance. Mr. Spayth, who personally knew Mr. Boehm in his old age, and greatly admired him for the qualities of his character, as well as for his invaluable service in the Church, thus continues : " It was a rich treat to hear this father in Israel tell of his call to the ministry; how he shrank from it when proposed, and how it resulted in his finding Jesus, the lost sinners' friend, and the joy he felt when the burden of sin was taken away. Of this he loved to speak in his old age, and would recur to it with an animation peculiar to himself. To see his eyes light up, and his whole countenance assume for the time a youthful appearance, in contrast with his snowy locks and rich white beard, was a sight a pen dipped in liquid light could not describe. . . . 'Now I am,' he would say, 'a servant and a child of God. When this took place, I knew of no one who had felt and enjoyed the sweet influence of the love of God in the heart but Nancy Keagy, my mother's sister. In our family connection and in her immediate neighborhood she was known as a very pious woman, and she was pious.' This is the Martin Boehm, chosen of God, to whom, second to William Otterbein, the rise of the United Brethren Church is justly due."5 p.72 From the time of Mr. Boehm's conversion he began to preach the necessity of a thorough regeneration of the heart. He was listened to by many with sincere pleasure and profit. His declaration of the doctrine of the new birth found acceptance with some, and they entered into the same experience with him. Others regarded his preaching with doubt, and apprehended unfavorable results to follow what appeared to them as unwarrantable zeal or even fanaticism. Nevertheless, in the following year, 1759, he was advanced to the rank of a chief pastor, or bishop, as the office of a full pastor among the Mennonites was called. II. MR. BOEHM IN VIRGINIA. Mr. Boehm continued to preach with much fervor, and with evident fruits following, the doctrines of a true conversion and spiritual life to his own congregation. But it was not long until, like Mr. Otterbein, he found occasion to make visits elsewhere, and preach to others of his own denomination the same precious truths of the gospel. The first of these visits of note was made to some Mennonite settlements in what was then called New Virginia. From 1750 onward there was a considerable emigration from Pennsylvania across Maryland into the inviting valley of the Shenandoah River. Among these people were numerous Mennonite families, and among them some of Mr. Boehm's relatives. About the year 1761 much religious interest was awakened among these pioneer settlers, the particular occasion being the advent among them of some of George Whitefield's converts, who preached the doctrine of a conscious present salvation. The Mennonites in the valley were not yet organized into congregations, and were without preaching by ministers of their own church. Some of them became seriously affected by the p.73 new teaching which they heard, and were greatly perplexed about what they should do. In this condition of affairs they resolved to send to Pennsylvania for some minister of their own people, who should give them the counsel they needed. Their request was brought to Lancaster County, and to Mr. Boehm's church. On the advice of his brethren, Mr. Boehm responded to their call. Nothing could have been more opportune. He was the messenger whom God had especially fitted to carry instruction to a people whose hearts were ready to receive it. The Ethiopian treasurer inviting Philip to join him in his chariot and expound to him the Scriptures, the centurion of Cæsarea sending to Joppa for Peter, and these people in the new settlements of the Shenandoah sending for Boehm present parallel instances of the Holy Spirit's touching the heart for the reception of truth and then sending the chosen man to declare it. The results of Mr. Boehm's visit to these people were most profitable, and no less so to himself in the added impulse that was given him to follow out new lines of evangelistic work among the people of his denomination, such as Mr. Otterbein was following among his. To present a glimpse of' the character and spirit of Mr. Boehm's work in this region a page or two from the account of Mr. Spayth, who heard from his own lips the story of much of his work, is here transcribed. Frequently persons were found who were in the deepest spiritual distress, but unable to find any one who could intelligently assist them in their gropings for the light. Among these was a daughter of a Mr. Keller, a Mennonite, who heard one of the "new lights," as they were called, preach. She was brought under deep conviction for sin, and her parents, kind and sympathetic, but knowing nothing beyond the outer formalities of religion, were not p.74 able to assist her. "Oh, my heart, my heart is sick," she exclaimed; "God is displeased with me. O my father, what shall I do? I am lost! Oh, is there no mercy for me?" The best reply she received was: "You are not lost. God loves you. 'Mercy!' What do you mean by mercy? You are not wicked—never were. You are a believer. Come, now; no more crying. Why? wherefore do you weep?" These words were repeated to her often, but there was no one to pray with her, or point her to the Saviour. "At this crisis," says Mr. Spayth, "Boehm arrived. After salutations had passed and refreshments had been taken, Boehm, in conversation with Keller, inquired how matters stood in religion. Keller replied, 'Most of us are doing well, but some new doctrine has of late been preached by men hereabout which has caused some disturbance among us." "'And what do those men preach?'" inquired Mr. Boehm. "'What they preach is rather more than I can tell you, but it is different from what we have ever heard. Our daughter, about two months since, was to their meeting, and has not been like herself since.' "'And for two months she has been to no preaching?'" asked Mr. Boehm. "'No; we could not think of letting her go, and have wished she had never heard those people. And, as we have written you, there are others of our people just like her, melancholy and dejected, and all we can get them to say is, "We are lost [verlohren]; we have no true religion"; and for this reason we have sent for you, believing that they would be advised by our own preachers, and dismiss their gloomy thoughts.' "'And where is that daughter of yours?'" again inquired Mr. Boehm. p.75 "'Why,' answered the mother, 'there you see she is, and has not spoken a word to any of us to-day.' "Boehm said he now moved his chair by her side, and sought to draw from herself the state and exercises of her mind. She listened to him for some time in silence, breathing at intervals a deep sigh. Soon the fountain of her tears was opened again, and she began to weep aloud, saying, 'Is it possible that you a stranger know what I have felt and suffered for weeks, and you believe that I am a sinner, that I am lost?' "'Yes, I know this, my daughter; but I know Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost; and he is come to find you and to save you to-night yet. Do you believe in Jesus?' "'Yes, I believe there is Jesus Christ; but have I not offended him? Will he not come and judge the world and me? Oh, that he would but save me!' "'Come,' said Boehm, 'we will kneel down and pray.' They kneeled down. The agony of Miss Keller was great. She cried, 'Lord, save or I perish!' "'Yes,' said Boehm, 'hold to that; he will save, and that speedily.' And so it was. She was blest, and all her sorrow was gone—dissolved in joy. "Seeing this, her mother cried out, 'Martin, Martin! what have you done? Why did you come? What will become of us now?' "'Yes,' replied her husband, 'what will become of us? We, too, are lost!' "That night," continues Mr. Spayth, "was a night of mourning and a night of joy for that house, for the morning light found them all rejoicing in the love of God." The further results of this visit of Mr. Boehm were the spiritual enlightenment and happy conversion of many p.76 more of the people in whose interest he had come. The fact of the conversion of this family, with the story that Mr. Boehm was preaching a doctrine which they as Mennonites had not before received, was soon told among the people of his name. A wonderful awakening followed, with precious and enduring fruits. But to Mr. Boehm himself the visit proved of the greatest practical consequence. It was to him a deepening and broadening of experience. His own conviction of the truths he was preaching was greatly intensified, and he felt himself strengthened as he had not been before for the declaration of the doctrine of a conscious new birth. But we will let Mr. Spayth tell us further: "As before remarked, this coming of his [Mr. Boehm] at this time was of great importance to himself. It was learning a lesson of experience from the great Master, which he could not so soon, nor so effectually, have learned at home. Hence we can well fancy with what feelings, with what inspired thoughts and hopes, he returned to his own. Timidity and the fear of offending his elder brethren, he said, were much removed. He was confirmed in the truth and correctness of his own experience. He became satisfied that men everywhere must repent, and that this repentance must be accompanied by a godly sorrow, deeply felt; and that there can be no rest, no peace, no hope, and no faith without it. He further remarked, with much earnestness, that after his return he felt 'an impression or a presentiment that God would visit his people and give them repentance unto life.' He had news to tell his friends at home of what he had witnessed in Virginia; that there, too, he found and saw persons, some young and some advanced in life, who felt themselves lost, some of whom had nearly despaired of obtaining grace and mercy, believing themselves the chief of sinners; p.77 that many had been blest, and rejoiced in Jesus Christ their Saviour before he left. He could tell them how affecting their parting was—what sympathy, what brotherly love, what melting of hearts! He never had witnessed such scenes in his life before, the simple relation of which carried conviction to some at the time of his return home. This year, as well as the two years following, were years of joy to Brother Boehm. . . . God was with him, and he did not preach without effect. . . . Pungent convictions extorted the cry, 'Lost,' which were followed by happy conversions." Mr. Boehm found himself impelled, like Mr. Otterbein, to extend habitually his labors to other fields beyond the limits of his own neighborhood and congregation. He visited other churches of his own people, preaching to them the same doctrines relating to repentance, the forgiveness of sin, and a conscious present salvation, as he preached to the people of his own charge, and as he had preached on his visit to Virginia. And similar results everywhere followed. Men and women were brought under deep conviction for sin, and earnestly sought pardon and salvation through Jesus Christ. And everywhere the people expressed their astonishment at his preaching, and at the manifest tokens of God's power among them through the Holy Spirit. All was a new revelation, alike to people in the church and out of it, and numbers found the salvation he declared. And all this could not come to pass without also in time arousing opposition on the part of the unspiritual and worldly in the church, as will be more fully seen farther on. Many of those who were thus converted under Mr. Boehm's preaching were of the number who were afterward gathered into the United Brethren Church, after an organization had been effected. III. MEETING OF OTTERBEIN AND BOEHM. p.78 It is now time that we see the first meeting of these two eminent evangelists, Otterbein and Boehm. It is from fourteen to sixteen years since, in 1752, Mr. Otterbein came to America, and became pastor of the Reformed church in the city of Lancaster. And it is from eight to ten years since Mr. Boehm, in 1758, was chosen to be minister in the Mennonite church in his own neighborhood in Lancaster County. We have seen that each of them, after a special baptism of the Holy Spirit, began to preach, with greatly increased definiteness and enlarged power, the Scripture truths relating to a conscious salvation in Christ; and also that, with the new spiritual fervor that burned in their own hearts, they felt themselves impelled to go beyond the limits of their own parish boundaries that they might proclaim a clearer light and a precious present salvation to others of their brethren. Each, however, was content to limit his labors chiefly to the people of his own church, and such as were allied to them, or might come voluntarily within the sphere of their influence. Mr. Otterbein was now pastor of the Reformed church at York, Pennsylvania, and Mr. Boehm continued as pastor, or bishop, in the nomenclature of his denomination, of the Mennonite society to whose service he was first chosen, in Lancaster County. Mr. Boehm, like Mr. Otterbein, exhibited much activity in this wider preaching of the word, and the meeting at which the two met was held by his appointment. The date was Whitsuntide in 1766, 1767, or 1768. The year cannot now be fully determined. Dr. Drury, in his Life of Otterbein, after considering the question somewhat exhaustively, places the limit of time as not earlier than 1766, nor later than 1768, with a preference for the later date. The place of meeting was the farm of Mr. Isaac p.79 Long,6 in a Mennonite neighborhood, in Lancaster County, and the building in which the principal meeting was held was Mr. Long's barn, a large structure, capable of accommodating a numerous congregation. The people assembled in great numbers, from Lancaster, York, and Lebanon counties, too many for all to find room in the barn, and an overflow meeting was held in the orchard. At this meeting were present several ministers, among them the "Virginia preachers," as they were called, lay preachers, who came from the settlement in Virginia which Mr. Boehm had previously visited. One of these addressed the overflow meeting in the orchard. Mr. Otterbein came from York for the purpose of attending the meeting, but whether by invitation of Mr. Boehm, or wholly of his own accord, is not now known. The meeting was called eine grosse Versammlung, "a great meeting," a name commonly applied to like assemblages then and down to much later days. The term "big meeting," for a protracted or revival meeting, is still familiar in some parts of the country. At this meeting Mr. Boehm preached, while Mr. Otterbein sat beside him a deeply interested listener. As Mr. Boehm proceeded with his discourse, his heart glowing with spiritual fervor, Mr. Otterbein's soul kindled with responsive feeling. The great burning truths which Mr. Boehm proclaimed were the same which he had himself long been accustomed to declare, and he felt that there indeed stood before him a fellow apostle of the same gospel which was mighty to save, a true brother in the ministry of Christ's word. When Mr. Boehm ceased, and before p.80 he had time to sit down, Mr. Otterbein arose, and with a heart filled to overflowing, cast his arms about Mr. Boehm in warm embrace, and exclaimed, "Wir sind Brüder"—"We are brethren." The incident was a most remarkable one, truly dramatic and impressive, and presenting contrasts of striking character. In personal appearance and bearing there was the greatest unlikeness. Mr. Boehm, as we have already seen, was of rather short stature, plain and simple, though pleasing and effective, in speech, and attired in the severely plain garments peculiar to his people. Mr. Otterbein, on the other hand, was tall, of noble and commanding presence, and bearing the marks of elegant culture. But with these differences of birth and education, they were under the higher dominion of the one divine Spirit, and their thoughts and hearts flowed together as one. Much historical significance has been attached to this incident, as it is thought to have suggested the name of the Church when, years later, it was brought to actual organization. The participants in this meeting were Mennonites, Reformed, Lutherans, and others, all moved by the same Holy Spirit, which had brought them a new birth in Christ Jesus. The early traditions indeed have it that something more was done in the way of promoting union than simply joining together in a feast of spiritual fellowship in Christ, though this was a most blessed end gained in a period when church lines were most sharply drawn, and when, especially between Mennonites and Reformed, there was but little recognition of even the outward amenities which distinguish people of different churches at the present time. Dr. Drury, in speaking of this meeting, says, "The feature deserving of the most abiding remembrance in connection with this meeting is that Otterbein, Boehm, and the Virginia preachers present
Isaac Long's Barn are said to have formed a union, with some simple but definite conditions as its basis."7 One of these conditions was liberty in the practice of baptism. It will be remembered that the Reformed Church practiced infant baptism, the mode in all cases being sprinkling, while the Mennonites baptized only adults, the mode being by pouring. The "Virginia preachers," if they were the followers of Whitefield's converts, Whitefield being of the Church of England, may have held to infant baptism, and to sprinkling as the preferred mode. The services at these meetings, it should be remembered, were conducted exclusively in the German language.8
2 Pietism, under the vigorous direction of Spener, was a reaction, toward the close of the seventeenth century, against the orthodox formalism of the Lutheran Church in Germany, which had gradually supplanted the more earnest spirituality of the earlier Lutheranism. As important religious movements are liable to do, it fell into some excesses that brought against it bitter opposition, and even persecution. But from the small circle which at first met statedly in Spener's study, during his pastorate at Frankfort, it grew gradually into an irresistible movement, gaining at first a foothold, and afterward a real triumph, in Leipzig University, while the University of Halle, then newly founded, became the home of the movement. Spener himself was advanced in position, becoming court preacher at Dresden, where by his speaking and writing he pushed forward with the energy of a true revivalist-reformer the work which had so deeply enlisted his heart. The movement became popular with the masses, and assisted greatly in restoring a better spiritual life to Germany, until the rising tide of rationalism began to chill and beat back the new spiritual forces. The school of Tubingen, in its earlier days, was chiefly based on the principles of Pietism. Consult Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, Art. "Pietism." 3 Drury's Life of Otterbein, p. 130. 4 Spayth's History, pp. 30, 31. 5 Ibid, pp. 30, 31. 6 According to Rev. M. J. Mumma, in the Watchword of February 1, 1896, there were three brothers named Long, —Isaac, John, and Benjamin,—all of them men of excellent character, and members of the Mennonite Church. Some of their descendants still reside in the same neighborhood and adhere to the faith of their ancestors, being esteemed as most worthy people in their church. 7 Life of Otterbein, p. 139. 8 The barn in which this memorable meeting was held is described by Dr. Drury, in his Life of Otterbein, as built of stone, one hundred and eight feet long, and of corresponding width, and contained on the floor above the basement six apartments, some for storage purposes only, others for thrashing. The barn is still standing, as is also the original residence, located in the rear of the later building seen in our engraving. Rev. M. J. Mumma, who visited the place recently, writes that from a date on the barn it is thought to have been built in 1754. The masonry is of a high order. The thatched roof of early times has given way long since to a better covering. The building appearing in the foreground is a later structure. The location is a beautiful farm, six miles northeast of the city of Lancaster. |
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