Page 18 - UB Church and Shen Univ
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Volume 6 Relation of U.B/EUB Virginia Conferences to Shenandoah University Dec. 26, 2013
Brethren in Christ, appointed as the Committee on Education, and instructed to make a report at the next
Annual Conference. From that time (1875) until the Virginia Conference took over complete control of
Shenandoah in 1884, Rev. Funkhouser worked tirelessly in the interest of education in this Conference.
Funkhouser’s Report on Education to the Conference held in Rohrersville, Md., in
February 1877 included a statement that the Christian minister needs an education to be well qualified
for his important task and that Union Biblical Seminary and Lebanon Valley College merited the
prayers, support, and interest of the Conference. Then he mentioned the concern that meant so much to
him, and to which he was to give his greatest effort in the next 10 years, in the following resolution
[1877 Minutes, p. 13]:
Home Education:
Resolved, (1) That the time is at hand when our necessities demand a preparatory school in the
bounds of our own Conference, and we shall encourage any plausible plan looking towards
this end. (2) That a Conference Educational Society be organized and incorporated, and that a
committee be appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws, to report at our next session.
(3) That a committee be appointed to prepare an address on education, to be published with
our Conference Minutes and in The Telescope.
This report was accepted, Rev. J. W. Hott was appointed to draft a constitution for a Conference
Educational Society, and A. P. Funkhouser was selected to prepare an address on the subject of
Education for the 1878 session of Conference. The constitution was drafted, presented, amended, and
adopted on February 25, 2025 [1878 Minutes, pp. 13-14]. The officers elected to this Society were:
Rev. J. W. Howe, President; Rev. W. O. Grimm, Secretary; and Rev. J. W. Kiracofe, Treasurer; and
Directors G. P. Burtner, Esq., W. O. Baker, Esq., Rev. J. E. Hott, and Rev. J. W. Funk.
The Report on Education for 1878 was read by J. N. Fries and included a recommendation that a
committee be appointed to visit Shenandoah Seminary at its closing exercises in June 1878. The 1878
Visiting Committee to Shenandoah Seminary comprised Rev. J. K. Nelson, Rev. W. O. Grimm, and
William Wheeler, MD.19 The report which this Visiting Committee gave in February 1879 is not
recorded, but the following resolution prepared by the Committee on Resolutions reflects its favorable
findings: “That we are pleased to know of the prosperity of Shenandoah Seminary, and bid it God
speed” [1879 Minutes, p. 22]. Rev. J. W. Howe, Presiding Elder of Shenandoah District, included the
following statement in his report to the 1879 Conference: “Shenandoah Seminary, located at Dayton,
Va., though not strictly a church school, is largely patronized by our people, and it is doing an excellent
work” [1879 Minutes, p. 10].
The Visiting Committee appointed by Bishop J. J. Glossbrenner in February 1879 made the
following report in February 1880 [1880 Minutes, p. 16]:
We, the undersigned, your Committee appointed by the Virginia Annual Conference, at its last
session, to visit Shenandoah Seminary, attended its late Commencement, witnessed its
entertainments and examinations, observed its educational facilities, and beg leave to say to
the members of the Conference that we were delighted with the government, mode of teaching
adopted, and the advantages offered by the Faculty, and with the proficiency of the pupils of
the institution, and we cordially recommend it to the confidence and patronage of Christians
19 See Section III.B.5 below for the complete 1878 Report on Education and its recommendations. It is important to note
that J. N. Fries, the author of the report, completed all the reading requirements for ordination and was recommended at
the same 1878 Conference for ordination as an Elder.
Miller, et al., on History of S.C., 1875-1950 8
Brethren in Christ, appointed as the Committee on Education, and instructed to make a report at the next
Annual Conference. From that time (1875) until the Virginia Conference took over complete control of
Shenandoah in 1884, Rev. Funkhouser worked tirelessly in the interest of education in this Conference.
Funkhouser’s Report on Education to the Conference held in Rohrersville, Md., in
February 1877 included a statement that the Christian minister needs an education to be well qualified
for his important task and that Union Biblical Seminary and Lebanon Valley College merited the
prayers, support, and interest of the Conference. Then he mentioned the concern that meant so much to
him, and to which he was to give his greatest effort in the next 10 years, in the following resolution
[1877 Minutes, p. 13]:
Home Education:
Resolved, (1) That the time is at hand when our necessities demand a preparatory school in the
bounds of our own Conference, and we shall encourage any plausible plan looking towards
this end. (2) That a Conference Educational Society be organized and incorporated, and that a
committee be appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws, to report at our next session.
(3) That a committee be appointed to prepare an address on education, to be published with
our Conference Minutes and in The Telescope.
This report was accepted, Rev. J. W. Hott was appointed to draft a constitution for a Conference
Educational Society, and A. P. Funkhouser was selected to prepare an address on the subject of
Education for the 1878 session of Conference. The constitution was drafted, presented, amended, and
adopted on February 25, 2025 [1878 Minutes, pp. 13-14]. The officers elected to this Society were:
Rev. J. W. Howe, President; Rev. W. O. Grimm, Secretary; and Rev. J. W. Kiracofe, Treasurer; and
Directors G. P. Burtner, Esq., W. O. Baker, Esq., Rev. J. E. Hott, and Rev. J. W. Funk.
The Report on Education for 1878 was read by J. N. Fries and included a recommendation that a
committee be appointed to visit Shenandoah Seminary at its closing exercises in June 1878. The 1878
Visiting Committee to Shenandoah Seminary comprised Rev. J. K. Nelson, Rev. W. O. Grimm, and
William Wheeler, MD.19 The report which this Visiting Committee gave in February 1879 is not
recorded, but the following resolution prepared by the Committee on Resolutions reflects its favorable
findings: “That we are pleased to know of the prosperity of Shenandoah Seminary, and bid it God
speed” [1879 Minutes, p. 22]. Rev. J. W. Howe, Presiding Elder of Shenandoah District, included the
following statement in his report to the 1879 Conference: “Shenandoah Seminary, located at Dayton,
Va., though not strictly a church school, is largely patronized by our people, and it is doing an excellent
work” [1879 Minutes, p. 10].
The Visiting Committee appointed by Bishop J. J. Glossbrenner in February 1879 made the
following report in February 1880 [1880 Minutes, p. 16]:
We, the undersigned, your Committee appointed by the Virginia Annual Conference, at its last
session, to visit Shenandoah Seminary, attended its late Commencement, witnessed its
entertainments and examinations, observed its educational facilities, and beg leave to say to
the members of the Conference that we were delighted with the government, mode of teaching
adopted, and the advantages offered by the Faculty, and with the proficiency of the pupils of
the institution, and we cordially recommend it to the confidence and patronage of Christians
19 See Section III.B.5 below for the complete 1878 Report on Education and its recommendations. It is important to note
that J. N. Fries, the author of the report, completed all the reading requirements for ordination and was recommended at
the same 1878 Conference for ordination as an Elder.
Miller, et al., on History of S.C., 1875-1950 8
