 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAP. 1 Apostolic Christianity before Otterbein, p. 1-7 CHAP. 2 William Otterbein and the German Reformed Church, p. 8-16 CHAP. 3 Martin Boehm and the Mennonites, p.17-20 CHAP. 4 German Immigration in the Eighteenth Century, p.21-31 CHAP. 5 The Evangelical Movement among the German Immigrants, p.32-39 CHAP. 6 Early Years of the Church, p.40-43 CHAP. 7 Planting the Church in Virginia, p.44-51 CHAP. 8 Extracts from Newcomer's Journal, p.52-65 CHAP. 9 The Early Preachers, p.66-69 CHAP. 10 Reminiscences of Some of the Early Preachers, p.70-88 CHAP.11 The Transition from German to English, p.89-93 CHAP.12 The Church in the War of 1861, p.94-98 CHAP.13 The Church in Recent Times, p.99-105 CHAP.14 Movements toward Union with Other Churches, p.106-112 CHAP.15 Concerning Slavery and Intoxicants, p.113-118 CHAP.16 Concerning Secret Societies, p.119-123 CHAP.17 List of Preachers: Chronological, p.124-130 CHAP.18 List of Preachers: Alphabetical, p.131-146 CHAP.19 Bishops, Missionaries, and Others, p.147-154 CHAP.20 Biographical Sketches of Ministers, p.155-189 CHAP.21 Early Deaths among Ministers, p.190-192 CHAP.22 Church Dedications, p.193-202 CHAP.23 Sketch of A. P. Funkhouser, p.203-213 CHAP.24 The Church and Education, p.214-219 CHAP.25 The Virginia Conference School, p.220-223 CHAP.[26] 27 A Digest of the Conference Minutes, p.224-309 CONFERENCE ROLL, 1921, p.310-312 NOTICE OF ATTRIBUTION Work originally published in 1921. Scanned, proofed and minor spelling corrections by the United Brethren Historical Center. Electronic edition ©2006 United Brethren Historical Center Suggested Citation: |
History of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, Virginia Conference by A. P. Funkhouser |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
CHAPTER III MARTIN BOEHM AND THE MENNONITES The Mennonite Church was founded in Switzerland in 1522, and very soon it spread into Germany, Holland, and France. Persecution was prompt to appear, and it is claimed that in nearly every instance the Mennonite can trace his ancestry to some forbear who was burned at the state or tortured. Protestantism was represented in Switzerland by the Reformed Church, and the churchly pride which this denomination had inherited from the mother church, the Roman Catholic, led it to look upon the Mennonites as contemptible. It persecuted the new sect as cheerfully as did the Lutherans or the Catholics. One of the ways of contending with what was deemed a heresy was to drown the Mennonite offender. This was looked upon as baptizing him in his own way. Menno Simon, a Catholic priest, espoused the cause of the harassed people, gave them his name, and added the principle of non-resistance to their creed. Between 1670 and 1710 large numbers were driven to Austria and Russia by the Protestants of their home-lands because they refused to have their children baptized. The first to appear in America were a little party who came in the fall of 1683 at the solicitation of William Penn. Their first meeting-house was built at Germantown in his colony in 1708. When the war for American independence rose, the American Mennonites had 13 congregations and 15 bishops. There are now about 60,000 members in the United States. The Mennonite Church came into existence as an effort to bring back to life the primitive Christian Church, according to Menno's conception of it. There are points of resemblance between the German Mennonites and the English Quakers, and this is why William Penn showed them so much hospitality. Both sects practice simplicity in personal attire, have no paid ministers, and refuse to make 18
formal oaths or to perform military service. It was their opposition to war that made them particularly obnoxious to the Swiss. The government of Switzerland ruled that those of its people who were unwilling to bear arms in the defense of the state were undeserving of its protection. They had no theology. "Believe and let believe," was their motto. The Mennonites go so far in the direction of pacifism as to forbid their members from engaging in personal combat. They are much opposed to the baptism of infants. They do not countenance secret societies, neither do they accept civil office or exercise the right of suffrage. Among their religious practices are the anointing with oil, the kiss of charity, and the washing of feet. Whatever may be thought of their views on non-resistance and on non-participation in civic life, the Mennonites have always been noted for temperance, pure living, strict honesty, and conscientious devotion to the observances of their creed. But the Mennonites of colonial America allowed the spiritual side of religion to fall into very great neglect, They drifted into a hidebound formalism, which made them extremely exact in matters of costume, and to insist on a precise morality in the affairs of everyday conduct. Mennonites were among the very earliest settlers in the Valley of Virginia, yet it was almost a century before they built any special house of worship. The first was Frissel's, near Baker's mill, three miles west of Broadway. It is now called the Brush church and was built in 1822. Meyer's meeting house, on the Valley Pike, was built about three years later. From the settlement north of Woodstock the younger generation pushed up the Valley and occupied the region about Timberville, Broadway, and Turleytown. From the thirty families around Coote's store, numbers moved south and west from Harrisonburg. Here was a district of woodland so late as 1780. The previous sparse population of English and Scotch-Irish cabin-dwellers, each controlling from 600 to 1,000 acres, lived mainly by hunting and 19
fishing. About 1825 there was a schism among the Mennonites of Rockingham county. It came about through the association of Frederick Rhodes, one of their preachers, with the United Brethren of the congregation at Whitesel's. About one-half the Mennonite body took offense at the loud and earnest preaching of Rhodes, and not because of the doctrines he set forth or of taking an active part in the meetings of the Brethren. Peter Eby and three other ministers came from Pennsylvania and restored harmony. They ruled that Rhodes had not transgressed the gospel. Martin Boehm, son of a Swiss immigrant, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, November 30, 1725. His father, reared as a member of the Reformed Church, fell under the influence of the Pietists. For this lapse into what was deemed a heresy, he was denounced by his parents as well as his pastor, and was sentenced to jail. But he escaped to France, and in 1715 made his way to America, where he became a Mennonite, his wife being of the same faith. The alert intellectuality of the son atoned in a great degree for his meager educational opportunities. He had a clear and ready grasp of ideas, and was a fluent speaker in German, learning also to express himself in English. His gift of expression caused him to be selected as a preacher when thirty-three years old. Even then, however, he was diffident and tongue-tied in his first attempts to exhort. Like Otterbein he now realized that he had no gospel message for the people until he had been made a new man by the power of the Holy Spirit. This radical change came as an answer to long continued prayer for light and guidance. Thenceforward he was eloquent and effective. The necessity of the new birth was the keynote of his preaching. Some of his Mennonite brethren accepted the doctrine, while others thought him a fanatic. Nevertheless, he was advanced to the rank of bishop in the Mennonite Church in 1759. But Otterbein and Boehm were not alone. Certain 20
"New Light" preachers from the Valley of Virginia were presenting the same gospel message to the German-speaking people. The New Lights were the followers of George Whitefield, an English evangelist who traveled extensively in America. The Mennonite settlers of the Valley listened to these disciples with interest. They had no ministers of their own, neither were they yet organized into societies. They now sent for a minister and Boehm responded to the call. His missionary labors in Virginia were very helpful to himself as well as the people. After his return to Pennsylvania he thought it was no longer his duty to confine his efforts to his own neighborhood. He preached wherever he felt impelled to go. As before, some of the Mennonites listened to his teachings with approval and some with astonishment. The voice of opposition proved itself the stronger force. Articles of indictment were drawn up and Boehm was expelled from the Mennonite communion. Yet his Christian character was not questioned, and he could now preach with more freedom than ever. At length he turned over the care of his farm to his son so that he might now give his whole time to evangelistic work. After 1789 his ministerial career is a part of the history of the United Brethren Church. Bishop Boehm died March 12, 1812, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. He was hale and strong almost to the very last, and could ride a horse until his final and very brief illness. His longevity was inherited by his son Henry, who preached a sermon in the city of New York on his one hundredth birthday. Doctor Drury speaks of Martin Boehm as "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." Boehm was always plain and simple in costume, and seems never to have discarded the severely plain attire of the Mennonites. His estimable personal qualities and his sincere Christian character made him deeply revered in the church he helped to found and very much respected by other denominations. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NEXT | |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
