Page 55 - History of UB Church in Hburg Region
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History of U.B. Churches in Harrisonburg-Staunton Region December 26, 2024
C. THE EVANGELICAL-UNITED BRETHREN MERGER
When the General Conferences of the Evangelical Church and the Church of the United Brethren
in Christ met in joint session in Johnstown, Penna., November 16-21, 1946, and, according to
authorization and plan, effected the merger of the two groups into The Evangelical United Brethren
Church, they merely consummated a union that had been in the planning stage at least 140 years.
At the time of. the merger, the membership of the United Brethren group was 441,566, and the
Evangelical group 263,536, making a grand total of 705,102 members. This does not include members
in the overseas conferences and mission fields. Also, it should be borne in mind that in certain areas of
our missionary enterprises we are working cooperatively with other denominations and it would be
impossible to isolate The Evangelical United Brethren from the other denominations with which we are
working. [Miller 1968, pp. 23-24]
D. UNITED BRETHREN (OLD CONSTITUTION)
Several former U.B. churches were members of the United Brethren (Old Constitution) and are
now affiliated with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA, whose offices are at 302 Lake St.
Huntington, IN 46750; (260) 356-2312; http://ub.org. In 1889, with over 200,000 members, the UBIC
divided over controversial amendments to the constitution. A new Constitution—and more
significantly, a new Confession of Faith—was adopted but in the view of some leaders and Bishop
Milton Wright (whose sons included Wilbur and Orville) strongly disagreed. Wright led our group—
maybe only 10,000 people, maybe 15,000, something like that—away from the larger body. Wright’s
followers stuck to the original Constitution and Confession of Faith. But beyond that, they were very
much starting over. They had no headquarters, no colleges, no publishing house. Most of the
congregations which sided with Wright lost their property to the larger group, which most courts
recognized as the legitimate owner of all church property. Under Bishop Wright’s capable leadership,
these churches reorganized. The United Brethren church of today is descended from them.
In 1897, a denominational headquarters and a publishing house were established in Huntington,
Ind. So was a denominational college: Huntington University. Throughout the 1900s, the United
Brethren church continued developing and expanding. Much of the growth came overseas. Today, the
United Brethren denomination consists of nearly 500 churches in 18 countries. Only about 40% of our
churches are located in the United States. We have 10 “national conferences,” self-governing entities
which include all of the U.B. churches in a single country: the United States, Canada, Honduras,
Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, Jamaica, Hong Kong, Mexico, the Philippines, and Guatemala. They have all
agreed to abide by the Confession of Faith, a set of Core Values, and an international Constitution.
Leaders from these conferences gather every three years for a meeting called General Conference. In
addition, we have mission districts in India, Haiti, Thailand, Macau, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Germany,
I.B The Evangelical-United Brethren Merger 41
C. THE EVANGELICAL-UNITED BRETHREN MERGER
When the General Conferences of the Evangelical Church and the Church of the United Brethren
in Christ met in joint session in Johnstown, Penna., November 16-21, 1946, and, according to
authorization and plan, effected the merger of the two groups into The Evangelical United Brethren
Church, they merely consummated a union that had been in the planning stage at least 140 years.
At the time of. the merger, the membership of the United Brethren group was 441,566, and the
Evangelical group 263,536, making a grand total of 705,102 members. This does not include members
in the overseas conferences and mission fields. Also, it should be borne in mind that in certain areas of
our missionary enterprises we are working cooperatively with other denominations and it would be
impossible to isolate The Evangelical United Brethren from the other denominations with which we are
working. [Miller 1968, pp. 23-24]
D. UNITED BRETHREN (OLD CONSTITUTION)
Several former U.B. churches were members of the United Brethren (Old Constitution) and are
now affiliated with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA, whose offices are at 302 Lake St.
Huntington, IN 46750; (260) 356-2312; http://ub.org. In 1889, with over 200,000 members, the UBIC
divided over controversial amendments to the constitution. A new Constitution—and more
significantly, a new Confession of Faith—was adopted but in the view of some leaders and Bishop
Milton Wright (whose sons included Wilbur and Orville) strongly disagreed. Wright led our group—
maybe only 10,000 people, maybe 15,000, something like that—away from the larger body. Wright’s
followers stuck to the original Constitution and Confession of Faith. But beyond that, they were very
much starting over. They had no headquarters, no colleges, no publishing house. Most of the
congregations which sided with Wright lost their property to the larger group, which most courts
recognized as the legitimate owner of all church property. Under Bishop Wright’s capable leadership,
these churches reorganized. The United Brethren church of today is descended from them.
In 1897, a denominational headquarters and a publishing house were established in Huntington,
Ind. So was a denominational college: Huntington University. Throughout the 1900s, the United
Brethren church continued developing and expanding. Much of the growth came overseas. Today, the
United Brethren denomination consists of nearly 500 churches in 18 countries. Only about 40% of our
churches are located in the United States. We have 10 “national conferences,” self-governing entities
which include all of the U.B. churches in a single country: the United States, Canada, Honduras,
Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, Jamaica, Hong Kong, Mexico, the Philippines, and Guatemala. They have all
agreed to abide by the Confession of Faith, a set of Core Values, and an international Constitution.
Leaders from these conferences gather every three years for a meeting called General Conference. In
addition, we have mission districts in India, Haiti, Thailand, Macau, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Germany,
I.B The Evangelical-United Brethren Merger 41
