Page 55 - Pictorial History of EUB Church by Glovier
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55 HISTORY OF THE VA CONFERENCE, E.U.B. CHURCH—D.F. GLOVIER
CHAPTER 8
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE EVANGELICAL
UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH
The Church of the United Brethren in Christ and the Evangelical Church
share a common historical and spiritual heritage. The cultural and religious
backgrounds of both are the same. For one hundred and fifty years these two
churches have lived and labored side by side in friendly and sympathetic
fellowship. In all basic and enduring elements of faith and ecclesiastical
organization they are alike. These two streams of spiritual thought and life have
issued from the same fountain of living waters.
Both denominations are distinctly American Churches. They had their
beginnings in the great spiritual awakening which visited the pioneering
colonists in the new world after the middle of the eighteenth century.
Historical Sketch of Our Denomination
It has often been stated, and correctly so, that the United Brethren in
Christ was the first American-born church. The Evangelical branch was very
similar in methods and beliefs at the time when it was founded.
Phillip William Otterbein was born in Dillenburg, Germany, in June 1726.
He was ordained in 1749, the year he finished his course of study in theology.
Otterbein had deep convictions about preaching the truth in an earnest and
sincere way. His preaching was not accepted among his reformed brethren of
Germany, so with the encouragement of his mother, he sailed for the New
World in 1752 to preach the gospel. His first pastorate here was in the German
Reformed Church at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the second largest Reformed
Church in America at the time. He served there six years, and took other
pastorates at Tulpe-hocken, Frederick, York, and Baltimore.
While serving in York, he attended a “great meeting” (revival) held in
Isaac Long’s barn near Lancaster. There he heard Martin Boehm, a Mennonite
preacher, preach a stirring sermon emphasizing the same spirited note which
Otterbein had been stressing. When the sermon was finished, Otterbein hurried
to Boehm, and as they shook hands, Otterbein exclaimed “WE ARE
BRETHREN!” These words grew in significance as these two men worked
together in the next few years.
CHAPTER 8
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE EVANGELICAL
UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH
The Church of the United Brethren in Christ and the Evangelical Church
share a common historical and spiritual heritage. The cultural and religious
backgrounds of both are the same. For one hundred and fifty years these two
churches have lived and labored side by side in friendly and sympathetic
fellowship. In all basic and enduring elements of faith and ecclesiastical
organization they are alike. These two streams of spiritual thought and life have
issued from the same fountain of living waters.
Both denominations are distinctly American Churches. They had their
beginnings in the great spiritual awakening which visited the pioneering
colonists in the new world after the middle of the eighteenth century.
Historical Sketch of Our Denomination
It has often been stated, and correctly so, that the United Brethren in
Christ was the first American-born church. The Evangelical branch was very
similar in methods and beliefs at the time when it was founded.
Phillip William Otterbein was born in Dillenburg, Germany, in June 1726.
He was ordained in 1749, the year he finished his course of study in theology.
Otterbein had deep convictions about preaching the truth in an earnest and
sincere way. His preaching was not accepted among his reformed brethren of
Germany, so with the encouragement of his mother, he sailed for the New
World in 1752 to preach the gospel. His first pastorate here was in the German
Reformed Church at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the second largest Reformed
Church in America at the time. He served there six years, and took other
pastorates at Tulpe-hocken, Frederick, York, and Baltimore.
While serving in York, he attended a “great meeting” (revival) held in
Isaac Long’s barn near Lancaster. There he heard Martin Boehm, a Mennonite
preacher, preach a stirring sermon emphasizing the same spirited note which
Otterbein had been stressing. When the sermon was finished, Otterbein hurried
to Boehm, and as they shook hands, Otterbein exclaimed “WE ARE
BRETHREN!” These words grew in significance as these two men worked
together in the next few years.
