THE UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST—SKETCH OF OTTERBEIN, ETC.
“The United Brethren in Christ” have often been confounded with the
Moravians. They had gone by the name of “United Brethren” ever since Mr.
Otterbein took my father in his arms and exclaimed, “We are brethren;”
and at the conference in 1800 they added the words, “in Christ.”
There was a great effort made to unite the Methodists and the United
Brethren, who were often called “German Methodists.” The Baltimore and
Philadelphia Conferences not only corresponded with them, but delegates
from both Churches were ordered to devise a plan of union. This was kept
up for years. In 1813 William Hunter and myself were appointed delegates
to them. This was the last of fraternal letters or fraternal delegates.
Terms of union were agreed upon, and it promised well for a time, but
before long there was dissatisfaction on both sides. So the United
Brethren took their course and we ours, each doing our own work in our
own way.
The United Brethren had class-meetings, but did not, like the Methodists,
make them a test of membership. They had love-feasts also, but lacked
discipline. William Otterbein recommended their adopting the Methodist
discipline. They had at that time no regular organization, but were
composed of persons belonging to different denominations. They recorded
the name of their ministers but not of the membership. At their
conference in 1802 a proposal to record the names of members as well as
ministers was voted down. When they began to “number Israel” I cannot say.
In their Minutes for 1800 they named Henry Boehm one of their ministers;
but I did not belong to them, and at that time had no license to preach.
It was not till 1815 they had a regular discipline. Their doctrines are
the same as the Methodists’, but they differ in practice. They wash each
other’s feet; they are opposed to masonry and all secret societies; they
always abominated slavery and would never tolerate it. They have bishops,
Annual and General Conferences, traveling and local preachers. They have
a large publishing house in Dayton, Ohio, and print two newspapers,
one in German, the other in English. At their General Conference in
May, 1861, they reported 5,166 preaching places, 3,900 classes, 94,443
members, 499 itinerant and 417 local preachers, and 15,130 Sabbath
scholars.
REV. WILLIAM P. OTTERBEIN.
The relation of Mr. Otterbein to Bishop Asbury and my father was such as
to require more than a passing notice. They were united by a threefold
cord stronger than death, and lasting as their existence. They never met
without complying with the apostolic injunction: “Salute one another with
a holy kiss.”
Mr. Otterbein was one of the fathers of the “United Brethren in Christ.”
He assisted in ordaining Francis Asbury bishop, and was ever a friend of
the Methodists. There are but few living who knew him. I heard him preach
frequently, have seen him at my father’s and at great meetings, have been
his guest, and preached for him in Baltimore.
He was born in Nassau, Prussia, June 4, 1726. His education was of a
superior order. In 1752 he emigrated to this country, and settled in
Lancaster. Mr. Asbury and he became acquainted through Benjamin Swope,
one of the German preachers, the year the apostle of Methodism came
to America. Mr. Asbury wrote to Mr. Otterbein urging him to come to
Baltimore, and he did so in 1774, and organized the “Evangelical Reformed
Church” out of the ruins of another completely demoralized.
In sentiment they were like the Methodists, and somewhat in practice.
Their constitution read thus: “No preacher can stay among us who teacheth
the doctrines of predestination or the impossibility of falling from
grace, or who holdeth them as doctrinal points.” They were genuine
Arminians. No preacher could remain who did not strictly attend
class-meetings.
Mr. Otterbein’s church was built on Howard’s Hill. My father and he first
met at Isaac Long’s, a few miles from Lancaster. Various denominations
had been invited to meet there, and my father preached the first sermon,
which was attended with peculiar unction, and when he had finished, Mr.
Otterbein arose and encircled him in his arms, and exclaimed, “We are
brethren.” Shout after shout went up, and tears flowed freely from many
eyes, the scene was so pentecostal. Such was the origin of the United
Brethren. Mr. Otterbein used to itinerate, and hold great union meetings
generally in groves, barns, or church-yards, for houses of worship were
generally closed against him.
I first saw Mr. Otterbein and heard him preach in 1798. It was at my
father’s, where a three days’ meeting was held. I heard him in 1800 at
their conference, from Rev. iii, 7. It was a masterly sermon, and the
effect was overwhelming. His sermons were scripturally rich, and were
delivered with unusual energy. He was a great expounder of the word,
giving the meaning of the inspired writer. His voice had lost its musical
notes, and was harsh and husky.
Bishop Asbury speaks of him as the “great Otterbein.” There was no man
for whom he had a higher regard, none whose death he lamented more
deeply. In person he was tall, being six feet high, with a noble frame
and a commanding appearance. He had a thoughtful, open countenance, full
of benignity, a dark-bluish eye that was very expressive. In reading
the lessons he used spectacles, which he would take off and hold in his
left hand while speaking. He had a high forehead, a double chin, with a
beautiful dimple in the center. His locks were gray, his dress parsonic.
He married the sister of the distinguished Dr. Handall, a man of profound
learning and deep piety.
I was at his house the last evening Mr. Asbury and he ever spent
together. This was April 22, 1813. The bishop says, “I gave an evening to
the great Otterbein.” Mr. Otterbein was one year younger than my father,
and nineteen years older than Mr. Asbury. Mr. Otterbein was useful in
life, and triumphant in death. His last words were, “The conflict is
over; lay me down upon the pillow, and be still.” His friends complied
with his request. During that stillness angels whispered, “Sister spirit,
come away.” Gladly he obeyed the summons, and entered into the joy of his
Lord.
On Thursday, April 24, 1814, in Mr. Otterbein’s chapel, Bishop Asbury
preached his funeral discourse. He says, “Solemnity marked the silent
meeting in the German church, where were assembled the members of our
conference, and many of the clergy of the city. Forty years have I known
this retiring, modest man of God, towering majestically above his fellows
in learning, wisdom, and grace, yet seeking to be known only of God and
the people of God. He had been sixty years a minister, fifty years a
converted one.” He was buried in the ground connected with his church.
I knew others of the fathers of the United Brethren Church. George Adam
Guething was the most eloquent. He was truly an Apollos. He was born in
Germany, and emigrated to this country when he was seventeen. He taught
school in winter, and quarried stone and dug wells in summer. He became
a splendid preacher. I heard him at my father’s, and at other places. In
1800 I was his guest with my father. He lived in Washington County, Md.
Over sixty years ago I heard him preach from Jer. xvii, 7, 8, “Blessed
is the man that trusteth in the Lord,” etc. This beautiful text, which
reminds us of the first psalm, just suited the genius of Guething, who
preached a sermon of rare beauty and excellence. He was the spiritual
father of the Rev. Henry Smith, late of the Baltimore Conference, who
was converted under a powerful sermon which he preached at Antietam. Mr.
Guething died in 1812, the same year as my father. He made a visit to
Father Otterbein, was taken sick, started for home, and died before he
reached it. His death was one of exceeding triumph. He was very quiet
for a while, when he suddenly exclaimed, “I feel as though my end had
come. Hark! hark! who spoke? whose voice is that I hear? Light, light,
what golden light! Now all is dark again. Please help me out of bed.” He
said, “Let us sing, ‘Come, thou long-expected moment,’” etc. He knelt
and offered prayer. He was helped into bed, folded his hands across his
bosom, and in fifteen minutes the angel of death had done his work. Thus
triumphantly died my father’s friend, the most splendid orator among the
United Brethren in Christ, aged seventy-two years, of which he had spent
forty in the ministry.