Page 36 - History of UB Church by A. Funkhouser Ver 1
P. 36
over the circuit' and preaching gratuitously they went home. They built no houses of worship, gave
no attention to the training of the young, set in motion no working activities, and collected no
money, unless for the benefit of the poor."
So the preacher came, preached, and went home, and he paid his own way. He worked on his
farm till well into Saturday, then rode a long distance, preached that night and two or three times
Sunday, giving his religious experiences and his meditations on the Scriptures with special
reference to the future life. All the people had to do was to hear the preacher, feed him and his
horse, and then wait till he came again. It was the general opinion that preaching could be done by
men almost wholly engaged in other callings and without previous training.
Otterbein and Boehm had licensed converts who felt it their duty to preach. This practice was
continued and converts were often licensed immediately on their conversion. The preacher who
could produce the greatest effect was considered to be moved by divine power. The convert called
was in most instances in possession of a wonderful religious experience, and his sermon would
enforce that experience with a powerful appeal calculated to stir the emotions tremendously.
It is not strange that with such a hasty method both ministers and members were often
irregular and unreliable. Thousands of people know nothing of Christianity except as it is illustrated
in the lives of those who possess it. Being unacquainted with the Bible and far from God, they have
no other standards of measurement. Backsliding was likely to have a wide reaching influence. But a
close discipline was put into practice in the new church. Hearing complaints against ministers was a
prominent feature in the proceedings of almost any conference.
A well-developed itinerant system did not come in a day. The early preachers in the United
Brethren movement had some outside employment, on which they depended for support. They
were really local preachers. Each formed a circuit about his own home, with the presence and
assistance at irregular intervals of the leading preachers. He left home when he could do so with
the least prejudice to his bread winning pursuit. It was ruled that those who preached only where
they lived were to have no compensation, as d what they did collect they were to turn over to the
benefit of the traveling preachers.
A regular itinerancy began in 1801, when ten preachers consented to travel as directed by their
superior officers. Newcomer sought to improve the method thus begun. He considered the
itinerancy an apostolic mode, and was quick to see its adaptability to new and thinly peopled
districts, like those into which his church was penetrating.
The imperfect itinerancy of the pioneer epoch was criticized by Bishop Asbury. In his church the
system was well organized and ran like clock-work. It was because of this efficiency that the
Methodist Church was making its wonderful growth.
After 1830 there was better organization in the United Brethren Church, and a ministry that
gave its whole time to the work, although its support was meager. The number of local preachers
on the roll of the Virginia Conference has steadily diminished, and during the last quarter-century
not one has been received.
Until 1841 the circuit-rider had a maximum salary of $80 a year if a single man, and twice that
allowance if he were married. The salaries were then raised to $100 and $200, respectively. No
higher compensation was allowed the bishop than to the preacher working under him.
Chapter IX 36 The Early
Preachers
no attention to the training of the young, set in motion no working activities, and collected no
money, unless for the benefit of the poor."
So the preacher came, preached, and went home, and he paid his own way. He worked on his
farm till well into Saturday, then rode a long distance, preached that night and two or three times
Sunday, giving his religious experiences and his meditations on the Scriptures with special
reference to the future life. All the people had to do was to hear the preacher, feed him and his
horse, and then wait till he came again. It was the general opinion that preaching could be done by
men almost wholly engaged in other callings and without previous training.
Otterbein and Boehm had licensed converts who felt it their duty to preach. This practice was
continued and converts were often licensed immediately on their conversion. The preacher who
could produce the greatest effect was considered to be moved by divine power. The convert called
was in most instances in possession of a wonderful religious experience, and his sermon would
enforce that experience with a powerful appeal calculated to stir the emotions tremendously.
It is not strange that with such a hasty method both ministers and members were often
irregular and unreliable. Thousands of people know nothing of Christianity except as it is illustrated
in the lives of those who possess it. Being unacquainted with the Bible and far from God, they have
no other standards of measurement. Backsliding was likely to have a wide reaching influence. But a
close discipline was put into practice in the new church. Hearing complaints against ministers was a
prominent feature in the proceedings of almost any conference.
A well-developed itinerant system did not come in a day. The early preachers in the United
Brethren movement had some outside employment, on which they depended for support. They
were really local preachers. Each formed a circuit about his own home, with the presence and
assistance at irregular intervals of the leading preachers. He left home when he could do so with
the least prejudice to his bread winning pursuit. It was ruled that those who preached only where
they lived were to have no compensation, as d what they did collect they were to turn over to the
benefit of the traveling preachers.
A regular itinerancy began in 1801, when ten preachers consented to travel as directed by their
superior officers. Newcomer sought to improve the method thus begun. He considered the
itinerancy an apostolic mode, and was quick to see its adaptability to new and thinly peopled
districts, like those into which his church was penetrating.
The imperfect itinerancy of the pioneer epoch was criticized by Bishop Asbury. In his church the
system was well organized and ran like clock-work. It was because of this efficiency that the
Methodist Church was making its wonderful growth.
After 1830 there was better organization in the United Brethren Church, and a ministry that
gave its whole time to the work, although its support was meager. The number of local preachers
on the roll of the Virginia Conference has steadily diminished, and during the last quarter-century
not one has been received.
Until 1841 the circuit-rider had a maximum salary of $80 a year if a single man, and twice that
allowance if he were married. The salaries were then raised to $100 and $200, respectively. No
higher compensation was allowed the bishop than to the preacher working under him.
Chapter IX 36 The Early
Preachers
