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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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Second Period—1774-1800 Chapter IV MR. OTTERBEIN CALLED TO BALTIMORE I. A NEW ERA IN MR. OTTERBEIN'S LIFE. p.82 We have seen in the preceding pages how the Lord prepared two men with special endowments of grace for a broader work than that to which their ordinary calling led them. Both these men, for some years unacquainted with each other, were, through the strong impulse of the divine Spirit, led forth to proclaim to others besides the people of their own congregations, in more definite terms, the doctrine of the new birth and a deeper spiritual experience. This true evangelistic work was followed with much gracious fruit. Many who heard them listened at first with surprise, then with gladness, to this new evangel. But we are now to trace again more definitely the course of the more eminent of the two distinguished leaders of the movement, Mr. Otterbein. The year 1774 marked an era of the greatest importance in the work of Mr. Otterbein. He was now to enter upon the pastorate of an independent congregation, in the city of Baltimore, to remain in its service during the rest of his life, a period extending through about thirty-nine and a half years. The position assumed by this church at its organization, and permanently maintained afterward, and the relation it subsequently sustained to the movement which culminated in the formation of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, justify here a somewhat detailed statement of its history. II. THE REFORMED CHURCH IN BALTIMORE. p.83 The first German Reformed church in Baltimore was organized about the year 1750, but a regular pastor was not secured until in 1760. This period of ten years was coincident with that of Mr. Otterbein's service in Lancaster and Tulpehocken, and during this time he made occasional visits to this church to supply in part its necessities. His earnest and spiritual preaching to its people was the sowing of seed which was to bear valuable fruit afterward. A goodly number of the members accepted gladly the gospel of a true spiritual life, and these came to be known as an evangelical party in the church. This number was materially increased by the removal into the city of persons who had been converted under Mr. Otterbein's preaching at other places. About the year 1770 the congregation became involved in serious difficulty on account of their pastor, Rev. John Christopher Faber. Mr. Faber was the first pastor of this church, having served it since 1760. It is said of him that his ministrations were formal and languid, and, what was much more serious, that he "led an offensive life." He did not during this time, nor until 1774, hold connection with the Reformed synod, having, on his arrival from Germany, taken charge of the congregation in an irregular manner. The converted portion of the congregation listened to his preaching and accepted from his hands the sacraments of the church with little pleasure. The time came at last when they earnestly sought for a change of pastors. But, being in a minority, their wishes were disregarded by the larger number, who, on the principle of "like people, like priest," determinedly adhered to the incumbent pastor. In some manner now not quite apparent, Rev. Benedict Schwope, a Reformed minister preaching near Baltimore, p.84 became involved in the strife. Mr. Schwope first appears as an elder in the Reformed church at Pipe Creek, Maryland, 1763, and as early as 1754 his name is found on the church list at York. In 1770 he was an applicant for ordination before the cœtus. Mr. Faber laid against him the charge of fomenting the trouble in his congregation. The issue, according to Mr. Harbaugh, was laid before the cœtus. A committee of investigation was appointed, who, after careful inquiry, failed to sustain Mr. Faber, but did sustain Mr. Schwope. The latter was then received into membership in the cœtus and regularly ordained.1 A statement of these facts concerning Mr. Schwope is important here, since he appears in the following year as the leader and first pastor of that part of the congregation which became afterward for so many years Mr. Otterbein's church. He was also chiefly instrumental, in connection with Francis Asbury, afterward Bishop Asbury, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in inducing Mr. Otterbein to accept the pastorate of this church. III. A NEW CONGREGATION ORGANIZED. The crisis came in 1771. The failure to secure a change in the pastorate led to the withdrawal of the evangelical party from the Reformed church. Having settled upon the course they would pursue, they called Mr. Schwope to become their pastor, and soon afterward purchased several lots for the purpose of building a church. The ground secured is situated on Conway Street, Howard's Hill, and is that upon which the old historic brick church still stands, erected during Mr. Otterbein's pastorate, in 1786. A frame house sufficient for the immediate needs of the congregation was built soon after the purchase of p.85 the ground, to be succeeded later by the more substantial edifice. The title to this ground was not vested in the German Reformed Church, or trustees representing the church, but in chosen members of the congregation, with power of transmission to their successors. The form of this trust was, toward the middle of the present century, challenged in a tedious contest in the civil courts, but after thorough and exhaustive inquiry, was fully and finally confirmed. The clear and definite purpose of this form of investiture was that of maintaining the independence of the congregation and the freedom of its property from the ownership or control of the German Reformed Church. The cœtus of the Reformed Church made earnest and praiseworthy, but unsuccessful, efforts to bring about a reconciliation between the now divided sections of the original body. In the year 1771, according to an official paper in the archives of the Otterbein Church, at a session of the cœtus at Reading, Pennsylvania, deputies of both parties were present, and with the consent of the cœtus agreed upon the dismissal of Mr. Faber, which was accordingly done, and also to call unitedly a preacher from the cœtus. The call was extended to Mr. Bluhmer, but declined, and the cœtus decided to send to the church a minister who was expected to arrive soon from the Synod of Holland. The majority, or old church section, however, did not wait for the coming of the expected minister, but hastily chose a Mr. W. Wallauer, who had meanwhile arrived, though unsent. from Holland. Mr. Wallauer proved even less acceptable than Mr. Faber, and so the trouble was in no degree mollified. The version thus given is that of the official record in the Otterbein Church, and is presumably Mr. Otterbein's understanding of the matter. It is due to say that another version, differing from this somewhat, represents that Mr. Faber and Mr. p.86 Schwope were both to resign, and that Mr. Schwope's people declined to permit him. In 1772 no progress was made toward reunion. In 1773 Mr. Schwope desired to resign, and a call was extended to Mr. Otterbein, which he declined. The request continued to be pressed, and Mr. Otterbein finally consented upon the condition of the approval of the cœtus. This body, at its session of 1773, did not favor his acceptance, and the delegates of both parties then agreed to call Dr. Hendel; or, if Dr. Hendel should decline, the two parties were to unite in selecting another minister from the cœtus. The old church refused to ratify this agreement, and the effort to secure harmony was again a failure. IV. MR. OTTERBEIN ACCEPTS THE PASTORATE. In the spring of 1774 Mr. Otterbein was again urged to accept the pastorate of the new congregation. This time, after due consideration, he consented, notwithstanding the action of the cœtus the year before. The cœtus, feeling that its action had not been fully regarded, expressed, at the fall session of the same year, a mild disapproval.2 The request of the congregation was this time supported by a personal letter to Mr. Otterbein by Francis Asbury, who had arrived in America in 1771, and now resided in Baltimore. Mr. Asbury had not yet met Mr. Otterbein, but had heard from Mr. Schwope an account of his evangelical work. Their life-long friendship was begun at this time. This letter was dated February 2, 1774. A minute referring to this appears in Mr. Asbury's Journal, as follows: "On Saturday Mr. S. came to consult me in respect to Mr. O.'s coming to town. We agreed to promote his settling here, and p.87 laid a plan nearly similar to ours—to wit, that gifted persons amongst them who may, at any time, be moved by the Holy Ghost to speak for God, should be encouraged, and that if the synod would not agree, they were still to persevere in the line of duty." The principle involved had already been in practice by Mr. Schwope himself —that of unordained men appearing in the pulpit as preachers of the word. Mr. Asbury at this time, and for a number of years afterward, remained unordained, and regarded himself as a lay preacher. To this unordained class for a series of years belonged most of the preachers of the Methodist Episcopal and United Brethren churches alike. Mr. Otterbein, however, was not lacking in this respect, having been duly ordained, as we have already seen, three years before coming to America, by the laying on of hands, according to the authorized forms of the German Reformed Church.
1 Fathers of the Reformed Church, Vol. II., p. 390. 2 For a full presentation of this part of the history the reader is referred to Drury's Life of Otterbein, p. 155 ff. |
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