At the time of his first effort in the ministry, which occurred
more than two years after his conversion, Brother Warner had not as
yet given his name to any religious society. To join a sectarian
denomination is never by divine prompting, but is urged from human
source. A young convert possessing the spirit of Christ is naturally
at home in the Lord and with Christians anywhere. It is foreign
to that spirit for one to limit oneself by subscribing to any
particular creed of men. Accordingly, our young brother was only
"acting natural" when he manifested no particular anxiety to "join
the church." Representatives of the denominations in his neighborhood
proposed to him and presented their articles of faith. The fact that
he referred the great question to the Scriptures and could see no
authority for joining anything not recognized in the Scriptures shows
that he was already poor material for sectarian construction, at
least so far as the common arguments for sects go.
There was one society, however, by which he was persuaded. The
followers of John Winebrenner called themselves the Church of God.
As they professed to hold to no creed but the Bible, repudiated
sectarianism, baptized by immersion, and observed as an ordinance
the washing of feet in conjunction with the Lord's Supper, all of
which seemed good to him, and especially as they had the exact New
Testament name for the true church, he was constrained to unite with
that body. The mark of fellowship which differentiated them from
other Christians and constituted them a sect, was not apparent to
him, and so, even during the many years of his earlier ministerial
career, he identified this body with the true church. He said
in later years that he had more liberty as a minister before he
took that step than he had during the years he belonged to the
denomination, which after all was but a sect.
The Church of God, spelled with a capital C, and more fully
denominated General Eldership of the Churches of God in North
America, was founded by John Winebrenner, in 1830. Winebrenner had
been baptized and confirmed in the German Reformed Church (now the
Reformed Church in the United States), and was given the pastorate
at Harrisburg. He was a good man and the work of the ministry became
the uppermost desire of his heart. He sought to raise the standard of
true piety. His earnest preaching resulted in a revival in which he
opposed theaters, dancing, gambling, lotteries, and racing. Revivals
of religion were new experiences in the churches of that region,
so that his ministry awakened strong opposition, which resulted in
official charges against him. He severed his relations with the
Reformed Church but continued his ministry, extensive revivals
following.
Dr. C. H. Forney, in his History of the Churches of God, says,
Winebrenner did not entertain the purpose of founding a new
denomination. These bodies he stigmatized as sects. Professor Nevin
called the United Brethren and like bodies "rolling balls," and
accused Winebrenner with "putting in motion a similar ball, which
continues rolling to this hour (1842), not without abundance of
noise." Winebrenner denounced this as gross misrepresentation.
"But, sir, I did not retire for the ignoble purpose, as you have
intimated, of putting another sectarian ball in motion. No, not at
all. I had seen, through mercy, the great evil of these rolling
balls, put in motion and kept in motion by the cunning craftiness
of men and devils, and how by their repeated and unhappy collusions
they hindered and marred the work of God in the earth; and,
therefore, I resolved to fall back upon original grounds--to stand
aloof from all these sectarian balls, and to do the work of an
evangelist and minister of Christ by building up the church of God
(the only true church) according to the plan and pattern as shown
us in the New Testament. This is the high and firm ground we take.
Our ball, therefore, is not like your ball, nor similar to other
human balls. Ours is the Lord's ball. It was not cut out of the
Romish Church by the hands of Calvin and others as was yours. But
it was 'cut out of the mountain without hands.' The ball commenced
rolling upwards of eighteen hundred years ago, and it continues
rolling to this hour; yea, and it will never cease rolling till
every other man-made ball shall be either crushed or rolled up by
it, and until the sound of it shall be 'like the sound of many
waters, and as the voice of great thunder.'"
On the subject of organization the same writer continues,
Winebrenner was indisposed to begin the organization of churches.
The uniform testimony of his contemporaries is that he "had not
at the beginning the remotest idea of organizing a distinct or
separate body of people." But driven out of the pulpit by the
Reformed Church, ostracised and persecuted, he was led to a
closer personal investigation of church polity. He went to the
highest source for light. He applied himself with singleness of
purpose to the study of the Word of God. The result was a material
modification of his former views on ecclesiology. As he himself
testified later: "As the writer's views had by this time materially
changed as to the true nature of a Scriptural organization of
churches, he adopted the apostolic plan, as taught in the New
Testament, and established spiritual, free, and independent
churches, consisting of believers or Christians only, without any
human name or creed or ordinances or laws." The local church was
the unit. It possessed perfect autonomy. It was wholly independent
of every other unit. Each such unit "possesses in its organized
state," as Winebrenner expressed it in 1829, "sufficient power to
perform all acts of religious worship and everything relating to
ecclesiastic government and discipline. Every individual church is
strictly independent of all others as it respects religious worship
and the general government of its own affairs." Fellowship between
these "free and independent" units there would be, but no higher
organization was then recognized by Winebrenner which could limit
the powers of the local church. Each of these local organizations
would accept no human name, creed, nor ordinances; but would adopt
the divine name and creed and ordinances. In his broad platform he
saw a basis of the union of all Christians and churches. And so
the imperative duty of cultivating union between all believers was
strongly urged. These views prepared the way for Winebrenner to
fall in with the growing demand for local church organization. For
the multitudes of converts had "conceived the idea of, and began to
talk about, organizing themselves into churches founded on Bible
doctrines and principles even before Winebrenner had determined in
his own mind to do so."
Thus there were independent local churches organized in and around
Harrisburg, which Winebrenner denominated simply Churches of God.
Each assumed the name of "Church of God at ----." The members of
these churches had equal rights, and elected and licensed men to
preach.