Huntington University: Christian College of the Liberal Arts

Suggested Citation:
[Identification of Item]. Available at the United Brethren Historical Center website; http://www.huntington.
edu/ubhc/publications/ebooks/
virginia/virginiatitle.htm

History of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, Virginia Conference

by A. P. Funkhouser

CHAPTER II

WILLIAM OTTERBEIN AND THE GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH

The Protestant Reformation began two centuries before the high tide of German emigration to America. In Germany the reformers split at the very outset into two wings, the Lutheran and the Reformed churches, the latter bearing much the same relation to the former as the Presbyterian Church bears to the Church of England. The stronghold of the Reformed Church was in Switzerland and the valley of the Rhine, whence it spread into France and Holland. In the remainder of Germany, except where the Catholics retained their hold, Protestantism was represented almost exclusively by the Lutherans. In each of the petty monarchies of Germany there was a state church, and it was either Catholic, Lutheran, or Reformed. Not one of the three looked with any favor on small sects that made no claims to being supported by the state.

Despite the general opinion to the contrary, the Reformation was to a great extent superficial. It had to do with the intellect rather than the heart. Where the Catholics lost power, another formal religion was set up in its place. Consequently the Reformation soon began to lose its original force and at length stagnated.

But as before the Reformation, so it was afterward. There was still an apostolic element, and it was no longer confined to the Moravians or the Mennonites.

Philip James Spener was an Alsatian and Lutheran and died in 1705. It is estimated that 40,000 persons were converted as a result of his extensive preaching. The "collegia pietatis" that he established were Bible classes, prayer meetings, and class meetings, all in one. Spencer said he brought religion from the head to the heart. He insisted that no one but a pious man had any business in the pulpit. He also condemned all forms of question-

able amusements. That the clergy, as well as the laity, of the established churches were enraged at such obvious truths indicates a very low degree of spirituality. Pietism, which was the name given to the teachings of Spener, was the immediate application of Christian teaching to the heart as well as to the head. Spener and Pietism were to Germany what Wesley and early Methodism were to England, and Wesley was greatly influenced by his German forerunner.

Pietism, by whomsoever professed, was an emotional form of religion. But by the year 1800 emotionalism had died out in Germany, although it lived on in America, especially among the Americans of German descent. It is also worthy of remark that Spener made no effort to establish a new sect. All he sought was to infuse a more apostolic life into the established churches.

Philip William Otterbein, otherwise known simply as William Otterbein, was born June 3, 1726,* at Dillenberg, a town of about 3,000 inhabitants in the valley of the Rhine. His father, a minister of the German Reformed Church, was also principal of the Latin school in his home town. He died in the prime of life, the oldest of his seven children being only eighteen years of age. The widow was left with slender means, but like her husband she had character, piety, and learning. She had the satisfaction of seeing all her six sons complete a collegiate course of study. As rapidly as the older ones became qualified to teach, they assumed a leading share in the support of the household and helped to educate the younger brothers. All the sons lived to a ripe age. Three of them became authors. All of them, like their father, their father's father, and their own sister's husband, became ministers. We are sometimes told that the sons of preachers are always bad. Occasionally they are wayward, like some of the boys

*0ld Style, and equivalent to June 15 at the present day. The change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar took place in England in 1752. The former was then eleven days behind the correct time. In Germany the change to New Style had previously taken place.

from other homes, and when this is the ease the fact is trumpeted about. Far more usually they become men of substantial qualities.

Herborn Academy, the school in which the Otterbeins were educated, arose while the Protestant Reformation was in full vigor, and it was under strong religious influences. It could almost be classed as a university. In its theological department the tenets of Calvinism were less rigidly upheld than was the usual custom in Protestant lands. It is due to this circumstance that William Otterbein became the primary founder of a church that is Arminian in its theology.

It was a German custom for the graduate, if a candidate for the ministry, to demonstrate his fitness to teach before he could receive ordination. He was expected to serve this apprenticeship by being a "house-teacher" in some well-to-do family. In accordance with this custom William Otterbein took up the work of tutoring, but when not quite twenty-two years of age was made an instructor in the very school where he had been educated. One year later,— June 13, 1749,—he was ordained to the ministry in the Reformed church of Dillenburg, which was the only house to worship in the town. He had already been appointed vicar,—assistant preacher,—in a small village near by. Rut although now a minister he did not cease to teach. His ministerial duties required him to preach every Sunday, and occasionally on other days, and to hold a prayer meeting once each week. The prayer meeting was then rare in Germany. It is still rare, although we hear of the "Bible hour" among groups of South Germans in whom the religious feeling is particularly strong. During the four years of pastoral work in his mother country, Otterbein laid great stress on a pure life and an active religious spirit. This aroused some opposition among the worldly-minded church-goers, and there was an unsuccessful attempt to muzzle his speech. His mother said the home town was too narrow for one like him and that he would have to become a missionary.

The Dutch Reformed and the German Reformed denominations are sister churches. Aside from the more rigid Calvinism of the former, and the fact that the one arose in Holland and the other in Germany, there is no well marked distinction between them. The Dutch Reformed Church was the first to appear in America for the simple reason that New York was at first a Dutch colony and sent emigrants across the Atlantic before any came from Germany. Holland was then wealthy, while Germany was poor. The smaller country was therefore the better able to contribute to the missionary work so greatly needed at this time in America. In addition to their direct contributions, the people of Holland created a fund of $60,000,—fully equal to $500,000 at the date of this book,—the income from which was applied to missionary activities beyond the Atlantic. It is much to the credit of the Hollanders in that intolerant age that they were willing to come to the relief of the sister church.

In 1746 Michael Schlatter, a native of Switzerland and a young man of zeal and enthusiasm, arrived in America. He came to visit the various settlements, and there organize societies, secure pastors when possible, baptize children, administer the Lord's Supper, and prepare church records. In effect, he was a bishop. After five years he returned to Holland to make a personal report and ask further assistance, both in missionaries and money. In carrying out this errand he came to Herborn, the home of the Otterbeins, and there secured five helpers, one of whom was William. The mother did not withhold her consent, even in the face of the strong probability that she would never see him again in this life. So he went away with her blessing and arrived at New York July 28, 1752. However, a bronchial ailment had something to do with his leaving Germany. It was thought the American climate would prove beneficial. This seems to have been the result, for William Otterbein reached a greater age than any of his brothers, although there was at times a recurrence of the trouble.

About one month after reaching America Otterbein was installed as pastor of the German Reformed Church at Lancaster, then a thrifty Pennsylvania town of 2,000 inhabitants. In importance this congregation ranked second among the Reformed churches in the colonies. But discipline and spirituality were at a low ebb. In 1757 he asked to be relieved but consented to remain another year on condition that the rules of order which he drew up should be adopted. These rules were signed by eighty of the male members of the church, and were so salutary that they remained in force till about 1830. That Otterbein did not toil at Lancaster in vain is further evident in the fact that this city remains a stronghold of the Reformed Church and is the seat of one of its foremost collegiate institutions. Furthermore, the small wooden house of worship was superseded during his ministry by a massive stone building, used as such for almost a century.

It was during this pastorate that there was a turning-point in the character and effect of Otterbein's preaching.

In the state-supported churches of that age, religion was viewed as a form of intellectual education. If an adult had learned the catechism, had been confirmed, and partook at stated times of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and, if furthermore, his general deportment presented no loophole for well-aimed criticism, he was considered to be a model Christian. But such educational religion had no spirituality, because it was not founded on the new birth. The appeal was to the head and not to the heart. It was all very well, so far as it went, but it did not go far enough.

One morning Otterbein preached with more than his usual fervor and several of his hearers were deeply moved. At the close of the sermon one of them came forward to ask counsel. Yet the minister could only reply that "advice was scarce with him to-day." He awoke to the discovery that he had been preaching truths he had studied in a formal manner, but had not adequately experienced. Almost at once he went to his closest to pray until he

possessed a more perfect consciousness of personal salvation. This does not necessarily mean that up to this point he was an unconverted man. It does mean that he was not satisfied with the ground on which he had been standing. This explains the answer he gave, many years afterward, to a question by Bishop Asbury: "By degrees was I brought to a knowledge of the truth, while I was at Lancaster." From this time forward, Otterbein insisted on a true spiritual experience as both the privilege and the duty of every member of any Christian church. It was the beginning of a new and more effective epoch in his ministry. Hitherto he had used manuscript in his pulpit. Henceforward he discarded the practice and preached extempore.

Leaving Lancaster in 1758, Otterbein preached two years on Tulpehocken Creek, near Reading. He now introduced the week-day evening prayer meeting. To see the preacher and his flock kneeling at such a time was a novelty to the people and some of them thought it improper. Even the pastors of that age sometimes persecuted those who attended such meetings.

The next pastorate was at Frederick, Maryland, and continued five years. It was very successful, although the formalists in the congregation chafed under his denial that an observance of conventional worship has power in itself to save the unconverted man. At one time a majority decided upon his abrupt dismissal. Finding the church door locked, the minister went into the burial ground and preached from a tombstone. Another service was announced for the same place the following Sunday. But this time the door was opened. At Frederick, as at Lancaster, one result of his efforts was a substantial house of worship built of stone.

The fourth American pastorate was at York, Pennsylvania, and lasted from 1765 to 1774, excepting an absence of about one year, during which he visited the old home in Germany. He sailed for Europe in April, 1770, having now been eighteen years in America. His mother and all his brothers were still living.

The fifth pastorate, which was not only the last but the longest, took Otterbein to Baltimore, then a city of 6,000 people. His congregation was small, and did not acknowledge the authority of the German Reformed organization. This independent attitude had much to do with the formation of the United Brethren Church, as will be explained in a later chapter.

Otterbein came to America as a missionary, and carried the missionary spirit with him during all his pastorates, making long journeys in order to reach people who were without the gospel. His traveling work began while he was on the Tulpehocken. He visited all the German counties of Pennsylvania and Maryland, and went up the Valley of Virginia as far as Strasburg. He was entirely evangelical, cared little for creeds, and less for church names. In early youth he was deeply impressed by the teachings of the Pietists, who were to Germany what the Wesleyan societies were to England. To him and those agreeing with him religion was almost wholly an inner work, personal and individual, within the soul, and was effective and of value only when the personal experience was conscious of the mystic union of the divine spirit with the human, witnessing the conscious forgiveness of sins, and producing a peace of mind which the world could not give. Right living was to follow as a matter of course, but was a necessary product of a right heart.

Bishop Otterbein was recognized as one of the scholars of his age. He was familiar with the Greek and Hebrew languages, and was so much at home in the Latin that he sometimes wrote the original draft of his sermons in that tongue. Asbury speaks of him as "one of the best scholars and the greatest divines in America." But in the line of authorship he left no evidence of his learning except what may be gleaned from a few personal letters and the records of his church work. His industry found expression in other lines. As a preacher he was argumentative and eloquent, and an exceptionally clear expounder of the Scriptures.

Throughout his long life Otterbein enjoyed the affectionate esteem of great numbers of people, both in his own and other churches. In his last years he was too infirm to attend the annual conferences. But as "Father Otterbein," he continued to be held in deep veneration. His personal appearance is thus described by Henry Boehm, a son of his co-laborer: "In person he was tall, being six feet high, with a noble frame and a commanding appearance. He had a thoughtful, open countenance, full of benignity, and a dark-bluish eye that was very expressive. In reading the lessons he used spectacles, which he would take off and hold in his left hand while speaking. He had a high forehead, a double chin, with a beautiful dimple in the center. His locks were gray, his dress parsonic." Stevens in his "History of the Methodist Episcopal Church," makes these observations: "Otterbein was large, and very commanding in his personal appearance, with a prominent forehead, upon which the seal of the Lord seemed to be-plainly impressed. His Christian kindness and benevolence knew no bounds, and all he received, like Wesley, he gave way in charities."

Otterbein's parsonage at Baltimore contained only four rooms. He was at this time a widower without family. Anyone who lived with him was required to attend church. The bishop was sociable and charitable, very regular and systematic in his habits, and very precise in his costume. After coming to Baltimore, he gave up wearing a clerical gown in the pulpit and preached in the attire of a citizen. He was opposed to church organs, and he did not believe a Freemason could be a Christian.

William Otterbein died at Baltimore, November 17, 1813, at the age of eighty-seven years, having spent sixty-five years in the Christian ministry. That the funeral exercises for the venerable bishop were conducted by ministers of the Lutheran, Methodist, and Episcopal churches is a significant witness to the breadth of his sympathies.

For several years Otterbein had been too infirm to travel outside of Baltimore. Only six weeks before his

death he was assisted from his bed to an easy chair that he might ordain Christian Newcomer, Joseph Hoffman, and Frederic Schaeffer, two of whom became bishops. The certificates of ordination were written in English as well as in German.



	Contact Us \| 2303 College Avenue Huntington, IN 46750 \| 1.800.642.6493 \| Copyright 2004