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THE ENGLISH RIVER CONGREGATION OF THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
ATHENS PRESS IOWA CITY IOWA
IOWA MONOGRAPH SERIES : NUMBER 2 Edited by BENJ. F. SHAMBAUGH
The English River Congregation of the Church of the Brethren
By ELLIS L. KIRKPATRICK
PUBLISHED AT IOWA CITY IOWA IN 1930 BY THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA
Euch . Soma St. Hist. Society 8- 15- 1930
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
This monograph was compiled in 1920 as a case his- tory study of a local unit of the Church of the Brethren near South English, Iowa. A check of the work (made in 1929 and 1930) appears as a separate part of the monograph, although material secured in the later sur- vey is made use of throughout the study.
The author of the monograph, Mr. Ellis L. Kirk- patrick, was a graduate student at the University of Kansas at the time the study was made. He is now Associate Professor in the Department of Rural So- ciology at the University of Wisconsin.
This is the second number in the Iowa Monograph Series. The first, The Legislation of the Forty-third General Assembly of Iowa, by Jacob A. Swisher, ap- peared in 1929.
BENJ. F. SHAMBAUGH
OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT AND EDITOR THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA IOWA CITY IOWA
PREFACE
In these days of "decline of the rural church" we have yet to find a thorough-going unbiased study of at least one active local rural congregation. The following treatise represents an attempt at this type of study. It pertains to an open country congregation of the Church of the Brethren which has "held its own" for more than three- quarters of a century.
The study grew out of a desire to acquaint myself thor- oughly with the social background of the church of my child- hood and youth. The social and religious customs and tra- ditions of this church were not accepted by me as they were by my sister. They were not rejected on the grounds of any lack of spiritual appeal, however; rather, they were put aside more or less unconsciously in my amalgamation or interaction with society in general.
My first introduction to the science of sociology sharp- ened my desire to trace the origin of the creeds, customs, and traditions of the church referred to above and to study their influence on a group which accepts them, in its rela- tion to other groups and to society as a whole. Do they tend to retard or to promote the development of the group of which they are characteristic? What reactions do they draw from neighboring social groups? Can these customs and traditions be held satisfactorily against a society im- mediately surrounding and intermingling with the group which possesses them ?
The first part of the study was made in the spring of 1920 to fulfill the thesis requirement for a master's degree in sociology at the University of Kansas. This was revised,
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
that is, reorganized and rewritten without any change of content, during the fall of 1929. The latter part of the study was conducted in the spring of 1929 and the winter of 1930, for the purpose of checking the conclusions or findings and the proposals which grew out of the former study.
I wish to make acknowledgments to many for inspiration and assistance in connection with the study. Among them are F. W. Blackmar and W. R. Smith of the University of Kansas, and W. D. Grove, A. H. Brower, J. D. Brower, W. H. Brower, and other leaders of the local congregation, in particular. In addition I owe acknowledgments to all the persons who by responding so freely to questions asked in the survey made possible the major part of the study. Last- ly, I extend appreciation to all who responded to my letters requesting information on present trends in the local con- gregation.
ELLIS L. KIRKPATRICK
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON WISCONSIN
CONTENTS
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
5
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
7
EXPLANATION AND PLAN OF STUDY
11
ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
15
RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL LIFE OF THE BRETHREN
23
ORGANIZATION AND GROWTH OF THE ENGLISH RIVER CON-
GREGATION
41
SOCIAL STUDY OF THE LOCAL CONGREGATION
56
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
83
PRESENT TRENDS IN THE LOCAL CONGREGATION
93
INDEX
103
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THE ENGLISH RIVER CONGREGATION OF THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
THE church here considered comprises a typical rural con- gregation of the Church of the Brethren. It is the English River congregation and is located two and one-half miles east of the village of South English, Iowa. The original study was made in 1920 and the facts as stated usually refer to the situation as it existed at that time. (For changes which occurred between 1920 and 1929, see below pp. 93- 101). The locality or neighborhood of the congregation covers an area equal to that of a civil township - thirty- six square miles. Approximately two-thirds of the land within the area is owned and operated by families of the Brethren faith.
The boundary lines of the locality do not, however, co- incide with those of the civil township. They are irregular and indefinite; more so now than in the past. Doubtless they will become even less regular and less definite in the future. Apparently the area of the locality or neighbor- hood has expanded during the past quarter of a century. This expansion may have weakened the solidarity of the local group, for appearances suggest a noticeable blending of the activities, traditions, and customs of the congrega- tion with those of the population which surrounds it.
The sect or denomination known as the Church of the Brethren is an organization of 120,000 members, chiefly in rural congregations of the United States. Prior to 1908, the parent body, as well as the local congregations and the individual members composing them, were known common- ly as Tunker, Dunker, or Dunkard, and semi-officially as
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
German Baptist Brethren. The national annual meeting or conference, held at Des Moines, Iowa, in 1908, referred "the matter of name to a committee for one year and after ample discussion and much unanimity and good feeling, the church name was changed from German Baptist Breth- ren to Church of the Brethren.""" In spite of this official change of name, however, local congregations of the or- ganization are still generally designated as Dunker or Dunkard. The English River congregation and the mem- bers which compose it are referred to more often by out- siders as Dunkard than as Brethren.
The official change of name implied no change of creed, custom, or tradition. The devout Brethren of today, like the devout Friends and Mennonites, are conspicuous mem- bers of society. As described by Morgan Edwards, in 1770, "They use great plainness of dress, like the Quakers. They commonly wear their beards, the mustache alone being for- bidden.""" The men, particularly the ministers and deacons, wear coats with standing collars and avoid the use of neck- ties. The women wear bonnets, and occasionally hoods, with prayer caps or coverings when in attendance at church services.
The church building which serves as the home of the English River congregation stands midway between the towns of South English and Kinross, Iowa. It is a frame structure, forty feet by sixty feet in size, plain in appear- ance and unadorned with trees or shrubbery. The building faces the highway which lies to the north. It is surrounded on one side and at the back by a large service yard, equipped with a long shelter shed for teams and automobiles. At the rear of the service yard is the English River cemetery.
1 Minutes of Annual Meeting of the Church of the Brethren, 1908.
2 Edwards's Materials Towards a History of the Baptists in America, Vol. I, Pt. 4, p. 66.
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This was established in 1856 and enlarged in 1903 to its present size of approximately two and one-half acres.
The neighboring church groups of the English River congregation are a Mennonite congregation, two miles south; the Methodist, Baptist, and Christian churches of South English; and the Methodist, Christian, and Catholic churches of Kinross. Each of these groups has a house of worship. Only two of them-the Mennonite and the Catholic churches - are supplied with resident pastors. The two Methodist groups constitute a half of one Methodist circuit which is presided over by one minister. The other two groups open their houses of worship for Sunday school regularly and for preaching services whenever supply pas- tors can be secured.
Educational facilities of the neighborhood and the larger community are limited to the rural schools and the schools of South English and Kinross. Among the country schools which are concerned wholly or in part with the education of the children of Brethren families are Liberty, Locust Grove, Union, Prairie, and Washington. The Locust Grove school, which is located one and one-half miles south of the church, has practically all Brethren patronage. Liberty school, approximately half a mile northwest of the church, has the next heaviest Brethren patronage. Union, about three miles north of Liberty, Prairie, two miles east of Locust Grove, and Washington, two miles west of Locust Grove, have now, as in the past, relatively few pupils en- rolled from Brethren families. Likewise, the schools at South English and Kinross, the former with eleven grades and the latter with ten grades of school work have had relatively few pupils from Brethren families on their rolls.
The locality has fair trade and market facilities and services. South English, the larger of the two towns, re- ports 330 inhabitants. Its trade and service facilities in-
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
clude a railroad station, a post office, two general stores, a grocery store, a meat market, two drug stores, two res- taurants, a hardware store, a garage and filling station, two banks, a farmers' grain and lumber company, a doctor, and a monument dealer. The village of Kinross has fewer inhabitants as well as fewer trade and service facilities. Its facilities include a railroad station, a post office, a gen- eral store, a hardware store, a bank, a restaurant, and a farmers' grain and lumber company.
The market outlet for farm crops and live stock is fair. Produce is usually shipped from South English or Kinross to Chicago over a branch of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad which connects through Muscatine with the main line at Davenport. Satisfactory markets are not available for dairy or poultry products, fruits, or truck crops, any of which could be produced more widely than at present.
The roads of the locality are in poor shape. None of them are hard surfaced or graveled and few if any of them are well enough graded to insure their being passable by automobiles during late winter and spring. Most of the roads are level, except in the northern portion of the locality where there are hills. The rights of way are wide and are seldom kept free from weeds and thickets along the sides.
Farm land of the locality is well adapted to general farm- ing. The topography ranges from level to rolling and in a few cases hilly. The soil is a rich, black prairie loam, for the most part, and is well suited to corn, small grains, hay, and pasture.
The following treatise of the religious and social life and activities of the Church of the Brethren as depicted in the English River congregation was undertaken with the two- fold purpose of studying: (1) the degree of loyalty of the local group to the parent organization; and (2) the relation
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of the local group and of the individuals composing it to other groups and individuals of the surrounding commun- ity and to society.
ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
The origin of the Church of the Brethren, of which the congregation near South English, Iowa, is a part, may be traced to the German Pietist movement which grew out of the Reformation. This movement arose after the adoption of the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, which ended the Thirty Years' War.
The Pietist Movement. - Persons in Germany who had for their aim the revival of what they considered the "de- clining piety of the Protestant churches" were known as Pietists. According to Otho Winger, they "deplored doc- trinal differences and had more or less contempt for out- ward ecclesiastical arrangements."" They were earnest students of the Bible and accepted the Scriptures as the true essence of spiritual life and practical Christian living.
The Pietists were people from the lower class, that is, from the masses of society. They were the reactionaries against orthodoxy and scholastic learning.4 History authen- ticates the belief that they were not seeking the formation of a separate church, but rather what they regarded as a purification of the lives of professing Christians. As dis- senters from the state church, undoubtedly they were called upon to bear persecution.
The Pietist movement is credited by the Church of the Brethren with three direct beneficial results : the founding of the University of Halle in 1694; the reorganization of
8 Winger's History and Doctrines of the Church of the Brethren (1919), p. 16.
+ Gillin's The Dunkers a Sociological Interpretation (1906), p. 20.
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modern missions, about 1700; and the organization of the Church of the Brethren at Schwarzenau in 1708.5
Alexander Mack and His Followers. - Alexander Mack was the leading character in the founding of the Church of the Brethren, although it is doubtful whether Mack be- longed to the Pietists. According to the best authorities, however, he was greatly influenced by their teachings. He held much in common with Arnold, who wrote A Genuine Portraiture of Primitive Christians, with Felbinger, who prepared a Christian Handbook, and especially with Hoch- mann, who wrote a confession of faith while in prison in 1702.8 Mack is regarded as having been a careful student of the Bible and of various theological works. He is credit- ed with having known "the history of the church from the apostolic age to his own time. Convinced that it was im- possible to live in the organized churches and equally im- possible to remain a Separatist, he resolved to organize a new church, based upon primitive Christianity."7
Mack called together eight associates, an earnest little body of seekers after truth.8 Five of these were men and three were women. They mutually agreed to throw off all allegiance to all former creeds, catechisms, and confessions of faith, to search for the truth in God's book, and to go wherever that truth might lead them. Adopting the New Testament as their guide and declaring for a literal ob-
5 Two Centuries of the Church of the Brethren (Brethren Publishing House, 1908), p. 29.
" Hochmann is held by Winger to have been a Puritan rather than a Separa- tist, since he could not see that it was best to organize a separate church.
7 Brumbaugh's A History of the Brethren (1899), p. 72.
8 Winger's History and Doctrines of the Church of the Brethren (1919), p. 18. The group included Alexander Mack, Anna Margaretha Mack, George Grebi, Lucas Vetter, Andrew Bony, Joanna Noethinger Bony, John Kipping, and Joanna Kipping.
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
servance of the commandments of Christ, the group gath- ered on the banks of the Eder River, near Schwarzenau, to administer the ordinance of baptism. There, after scripture reading, song service, and prayer, one of them baptized Mack, and Mack the seven others. Myers regards this bap- tismal ceremony as probably the first instance of trine or threefold immersion in all the country of the Palatinate.º The method employed, in which the subject was immersed three times, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost respectively, according to Matthew 28 : 19 (Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost), was adopted as the mode of baptism of the church. Following these baptismal services the group formed itself into a new church organization, with Alexander Mack as its minister and director.
It appears from various accounts that this organization prospered temporarily. Protected from persecution by a kind prince, Count Henry of Wittgenstein, and led by Mack, a zealous minister, the congregation, ever obedient to truth, was given great power to witness to others. Missionaries went forth and new congregations were organized at Marienborn, Crefeld, and Epstein. The unity of purpose of the small band became a means of attracting additional followers. Discussion of various doctrines had drawn them from the mass of people with Pietist tendencies and re- vealed to them their potential similarity. Only those con- vinced of Mack's position had entered the original band. The consciousness of unity among themselves and of differ- ences from members of other religious or social groups made for zealous religious activity.1º
9 Two Centuries of the Church of the Brethren (Brethren Publishing House, 1908), p. 31.
10 Gillin's The Dunkers a Sociological Interpretation (1906), p. 63.
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
Growth was phenomenal for a short time only. Difficulties were soon encountered, first in the congregations at Marien- born, Epstein, and Crefeld. To escape persecution in these places, members of the sect journeyed to the protected con- gregation at Schwarzenau. Soon the pressure from other provinces forced the Count of Wittgenstein to withdraw his protection. Only eleven years after the founding of the congregation at Schwarzenau soldiers of the state appeared there, took the babes and sprinkled them at the state church. A year later Mack led his group to Westervain, West Fries- land, in north Holland. Here they remained for nine years and later most of them emigrated to William Penn's colony in America.
The congregation at Marienborn, in the Palatinate, grew until its success attracted the attention of its enemies, when it was abandoned by its members, most of whom went to Crefeld. The Epstein congregation broke up under per- secution, and its leaders with most of the congregation also fled to Crefeld. The Crefeld congregation, in Prussia near the Holland border line, is also reported to have endured much persecution. Here the baptizing of six members of the Reformed Church raised a protest from the state church which resulted in a four-year imprisonment sentence for the six members. In addition the ministers were seized and tortured.
But "internal dissension" is held to have hindered the work of this congregation more than did persecution.11 For example, a young minister who dared to marry outside of the church was expelled, against the opposition of many, and this kept one hundred people from joining the group, according to an estimate of one of the church members. Later another minister married outside the church, became
11 Winger's History and Doctrines of the Church of the Brethren (1919), p. 21.
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a wine merchant, and withdrew from the church, after which the congregation ceased to function.
Emigration to America. - Immediately following the dis- organization of the congregation at Crefeld in 1719, Peter Becker, one of the group, led a pilgrimage of some twenty of the families to America. The attention of these emigrants had been indirectly turned toward America through the in- fluence of William Penn, a Quaker from England.12 Penn, who had experienced imprisonment for his religious beliefs, had gone on a preaching tour through Germany and had set forth the possibility of religious liberty in his new pro- vince in America. In addition, he had made known the laws passed by England confirming the "Frame of Government" for his new colony, founded on the land grant made by the King of England to his father in payment for debt. All persons acknowledging one Almighty and Eternal God to be the Creator, Upholder, and Ruler of the world, and pledging themselves in conscience to live peaceably and justly in civil society were given promise of non-moles- tation.13
In 1682-1683 Penn transferred the title of 8000 acres of land in Pennsylvania to four men of Crefeld, and in 1683 a group of thirteen emigrated to America where they found- ed Germantown. Eleven of the thirteen were Mennonites - members of a religious sect much akin to the Brethren in
12 The Quakers were dissenters from the established church of England. They were led by George Fox of Leicestershire, who, through his "longing for a higher and a more spiritual life", gathered together enough adherents to establish an organization in 1648. Owing to the incompatibility of doc- trines preached, Fox and his followers, including William Penn, suffered per- secution. Fox was imprisoned and others were transported to penal colonies. Molestations ceased after the Revolution of 1688 and the doctrines of the Quakers became more or less firmly implanted in Great Britain and America although the number of Friends has never been large.
13 Gillin's The Dunkers a Sociological Interpretation (1906), pp. 101, 102.
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religious belief, economic pursuits, and social customs.14 Experiencing full freedom of worship in America, the Men- nonites sent back glowing reports to the fatherland. The Brethren who received these reports from their fellow townsmen became thoroughly convinced that a place of refuge and opportunity awaited them in America.
Peter Becker and his companions landed at Philadelphia in 1719. Little is known of the trip except that the questions which had caused "internal dissension" at Crefeld were agitated en route. On landing at Philadelphia, the mem- bers of the pilgrimage scattered to neighboring regions and settled in different localities.15 They made no attempt to hold services or to organize a congregation until 1722.
Contacts with people of other sects, however, emphasized among the scattered members a need for group expression. Becker saw this need and started on a tour of visitation among the scattered membership. His visits were fruitful and within three years after landing, members of the group were holding meetings in their own homes in and near Germantown. The first baptismal service of the sect in America took place at Wissahicken Creek on Christmas
14 Menno Simons, the founder of this sect, played a prominent part in the activities of the Anabaptists at Munster, Westphalia, 1525-1533. Convinced through private reading of his Bible that the doctrines of the Catholic Church were not right and that people were not living as they should, he sought Bap- tism by a Waldensian follower in 1536. (Walden was a Swiss who sought relief from Catholic persecution during the religious dissension of the twelfth century.) He was appealed to by a group of eight young men to become their spiritual leader. He taught and preached for twenty-two years in Holland, Prussia, and elsewhere. At times he met persecution heroically and at other times he avoided it through taking refuge in countries granting tem- porary religious liberty to Anabaptist followers. He is held to have pled for help to enemies, charitable deeds in quietness, no infant baptism, no military oath, no bearing of arms, no holding of military or civil office, a severe en- forcement of religious bans, and a separation of church and state.
15 Winger's History and Doctrines of the Church of the Brethren (1919), p. 24.
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Day, 1723.16 A love feast was held on the same day at the home of John Gommery, and the Germantown congregation was formally organized with Peter Becker as its elder. Thus the initial step for implanting the Church of the Brethren in America was taken.
Missionary zeal was manifest immediately. Becker with a band of fourteen "visited the scattered members, encour- aged those who believed and preached the Gospel to the unconverted."17 The immediate results of the trip "were eleven baptisms, two congregations organized and two ministers elected. On and on through the pioneer settle- ments the Brethren ministers pushed forward, witnessing for Christ, comforting the scattered saints, baptising be- lievers, organizing churches and enlarging the kingdom of God."
In America, as in Crefeld, the church body experienced "internal dissension". This began in the Conestoga con- gregation of which Conrad Beissel was the minister. "Beissel had not been very well indoctrinated and some of his early experience bore fruit in strange teachings." He denounced the marriage state, and advocated the Mosaic law and the seventh day as the Sabbath. He broke with the church in 1728, taking a part of his congregation with him. Later he is reported to have made proselyting trips through the territory of the Brethren.
Except for the arrival of Alexander Mack from Germany the schism caused by Beissel might have been disastrous to the church body. Mack arrived at Germantown in 1729 with one hundred and twenty-six associates, many of whom had received letters of invitation from Brethren relatives and friends in America.
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