USA > Illinois > Church of the Brethren in southern Illinois > Part 10
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The missionary meeting was held on Monday afternoon with Elder D. L. Miller presiding, and the missionary address was given by D. D. Culler of Mount Morris College. After the offering of nearly ten thousand dollars, D. L. Miller pre- sented the six missionaries who had been selected by the
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General Missionary Board. They were: Frank and Anna Crumpacker and Emma Horning, approved for China; Ella Miller, Josephine Powell, and Charles Brubaker, approved for India.
The business session of the conference was held from Tuesday morning until Thursday forenoon. Officers were: S. F. Sanger, moderator; H. C. Early, reading clerk; I. B. Trout, writing clerk. The following actions were taken: the advisability of a committee on classifying the minutes of Annual Meeting was discussed and approved; a committee was authorized to draw up a plan for the election of ministers and deacons; the question of a church name was put into the hands of a committee; the tithing question was to be spread on the minutes for one year; greater leniency in re- gard to divorce was refused, and the Conference decision of 1898 was reaffirmed; a committee was formed for more effective ministerial distribution.
The spiritual atmosphere of the whole Conference was high. Evangelistic efforts followed the general Conference, and the Bible school conducted by A. C. Wieand and E. B. Hoff continued through the month of June. As a result of the Conference a mission was opened which led to the estab- lishment of the church in Springfield.
DISTRICT MEETINGS
The Annual Meeting of 1856 approved the plan for dis- trict meetings. By this arrangement several congregations in one region assemble in a district meeting to consider matters of mutual interest and attempt to keep the district work in line with the program of the general brotherhood.
District meeting is held once each year, with one or more delegates from each church; they choose the officers of the meeting: moderator, reading clerk and writing clerk.
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The elders from the churches in the district assemble in an elders' meeting before the open sessions of the district meeting begin and consider matters and problems concern- ing the best interests of the district.
The District of Southern Illinois was organized in 1863 and the first district meeting was held in the Hurricane Creek church. The location and the officers of district meet- ing for each following year are indicated in the tabulated list. See pages 316-318.
GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT
In 1907, the District of Northern Illinois and Wisconsin and the District of Southern Illinois agreed upon a division line between them; it was fixed at the northern boundary lines of these counties: Iroquois, Ford, Livingston, Wood- ford, Peoria, Knox, Warren and Henderson. The map shows the location of each congregation. See pages 24 and 25.
MISSIONARY WORK
The Church of the Brethren has been evangelistic from its beginning; through emigration members moved to new parts of the country, often in groups, and wherever the Brethren established new homes they were eager for church services. If there was no minister in a group they sent appeals for someone to come and preach for them. Usually new congregations were organized and in time new districts were formed.
However, at a much earlier date than is usually sup- posed, efforts were made to make missionary activity of special importance in the church. As early as 1852 Annual Conference advised that "it is the duty of the church, the ministers and every private member to do all that is in their power to fulfill that commission .. . " (Matthew 28:19, 20).
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District Missions
In 1876 the district meeting of Southern Illinois "decided that John Metzger and Joseph Hendricks be appointed mis- sionaries for Southern Illinois for one year and that immedi- ately brethren be appointed in each church to circulate a subscription, giving the members of their respective congre- gations an opportunity to give as they feel ... . "1 From 1876 to 1880 the district meeting appointed the following mission- aries for Southern Illinois: 1876-John Metzger and Joseph Hendricks; 1877-James R. Gish, Joseph Hendricks, David Wolfe, and Daniel Vaniman; 1878-John Metzger, James R. Gish, Joseph Hendricks, and Daniel Vaniman; 1879-J. E. Studebaker, John Neher, John Beechley, John Brubaker and A. D. Stutsman; 1880-John Wise, Daniel Vaniman, D. B. Gibson, Lemuel Hillery, James R. Gish and T. D. Lyon. In 1878 the missionaries of Southern Illinois reported one hun- dred sixteen baptisms during the year at an expense to the district of $59.40.
In 1881 another plan was adopted, suggesting the ap- pointment in each local church of a committee of three who were to receive calls for preaching and arrange that the calls be filled. In 1885 this plan was succeeded by the ap- pointment of a district missionary committee, later called the mission board, now the board of administration. These brethren were farmer ministers and often held meetings during the late fall and winter.
James R. Gish wrote an article in the Brethren at Work of February 13, 1883, entitled, "Part of My Winter's Work":
. From Dec. 14 to Jan. 30 in about forty-eight successive days, I was at about sixty-two meetings, including council meet- ings, taking the weather as it came, day and night doing the largest part of the preaching, often alone, mostly in isolated places. Thus far I have received eight by baptism, and sold and donated some thirty-five Testaments.
1 Compiled Minutes and History of the Church of the Brethren in the Dis- trict of Southern Illinois. Page 56
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Between the years 1876 and 1883 a number of articles appeared in the Brethren at Work concerning the Central Illinois mission field. This was the part of Illinois between the northern and the southern district, an area about eighty miles wide. The District of Southern Illinois authorized her missionaries to help in this field.
World-wide Missions
The District of Southern Illinois has been among the foremost in missionary work. Since the days when Daniel Vaniman lived here, the district has been liberal in its sup- port of the world-wide endowment. Numbers of congrega- tions have assumed support of missionaries and children of missionaries; Sunday schools and young people's groups have supported orphans; but the greatest contribution of the district to mission work has been through the young men and women who have given their service to this work.
Among the first volunteers in the Church of the Breth- ren for foreign mission work were Albert W. Vaniman and his wife, who answered the call for workers in India in 1892 and were accepted by the Annual Conference of 1894. Then because only three were to be sent, they resigned in favor of Wilbur B. and Mary Stover.1 So they did not get to the foreign mission field until 1900 or they would have been the first Brethren missionaries to a non-Christian foreign field.
The Church of the Brethren has been intensely inter- ested in missionary work2 and from small beginnings in world missions has opened up successful work in India, China, Nigeria, Scandinavia, and Ecuador. From the District of Southern Illinois workers have gone to each of these fields.
India
The first foreign missionary from this district was Anna
1Galen B. Royer, Thirty-Three Years of Missions. Pages 403-404
2 Some short-lived efforts have been made in a few other countries- France, Switzerland and Turkey.
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Shull Forney, of the Pleasant Hill church, who went to India in 1897. The D. L. Forneys opened the second mission station in India at Jalalpor in 1899. Nora Arnold Lichty of the La Place congregation went to the India field in 1903, working at Umalla.
The next year the India field was strengthened by the arrival of Flora Nickey Ross, who began her Christian life in the Oakley congregation. She was located at the Vyara sta- tion.
Charles H. Brubaker, a missionary sent to India in 1906, grew up in the Pleasant Hill church. He worked at Vada, where his short missionary career was ended in 1910; he was the first of our foreign missionaries to die on the field.
Dr. Barbara Nickey, whose early home was in the Oakley congregation, where she came into the church, went to the India field in 1915 and most of her work has been at Dahanu.
In 1920 four missionaries from the District of Southern Illinois went to the India field. Verna Blickenstaff, R.N., of the Oakley church, was at the Dahanu hospital for a time and later at Bulsar. J. Elmer Wagoner of La Place and his wife, Ellen Heckman Wagoner, who grew up in the Oakley church, located at Vyara. Chalmer Shull from the Virden church located at Ahwa, Dangs, Surat district.
Lynn Blickenstaff, who grew up in the Cerro Gordo church, went to India in 1921 and served as intermission business office secretary at Bulsar and Bombay.
Dr. Ida Metzger, who was born near Cerro Gordo and came into the church there, sailed for India in 1925.
In 1946 Ernest Shull, who grew up near Girard, joined the forces in India and is located at Dahanu Road, Thana district.
China
B. Franklin Heckman, whose early life was spent in the
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Oakley congregation, where he came into the church, served as a missionary at Ping Ting Chou, China, from 1911 to 1913. He was the first of our missionaries to die on the China field.
In 1913 Cora Cripe Brubaker, who was baptized in the Cerro Gordo church, went to China.
Sweden
The first missionary to Sweden from the District of Southern Illinois was Albert W. Vaniman, who grew up and was baptized in the Pleasant Hill church. He served in Sweden from 1900 to 1905.
In 1913 Ida Buckingham of the Oakley congregation went to Sweden, where she served at Malmö from 1913 to 1929.
Nigeria
From the District of Southern Illinois two have gone to Nigeria. Lucile Gibson Heckman of Girard has served on this field since 1923.
Dr. J. Paul Gibbel, who grew up in the Virden congre- gation, went to Nigeria in 1926, where he worked as a medi- cal missionary until 1929.
Ecuador
J. Benton Rhoades, of the Astoria church, went in 1946 to the mission field recently opened by the Brethren near Quito, Ecuador.
A more complete account of each of these missionaries appears in the biographical section beginning on page 165. The inspiration of their lives and sacrificial service is strong- ly felt throughout the district.
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INSPIRATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Ministerial meetings
Ministerial meetings had their beginnings in the District of Southern Illinois in 1891. The district meeting of that year had left the matter in the hands of the ministers. The first meeting was held at Cerro Gordo on December 16-17, 1891.
These meetings were held annually during the winter months until 1897, when it was decided to hold a one-day meeting in connection with the district conference. A list of times, places and officers of the ministerial meetings ap- pears in the appendix.
District Sunday-school Meetings
The organization of district Sunday-school meetings was granted by the Annual Meeting of 1897, which, in the follow- ing year, advised each state district to elect a district Sunday- school secretary for a term of three years. A district Sunday- school meeting was held in the Okaw church in connection with the district conference of 1897.
The following served as district Sunday-school secre- taries: J. L. Hudson, 1898-1899; J. J. Scrogum, 1900-1901; J. M. Masterson, 1902-1904; Charles C. Gibson, 1905-1907; I. D. Heckman, 1908-1912; 1916-1918; Elizabeth Howe Bru- baker, 1913-1915; Edith Bubb, 1919-1921; Ira Wickert, 1922- 1923; Preston Arnold, 1924-1934.
In 1903 an advisory board was appointed to supervise the Sunday-school work of the district and to raise funds for mission work. In 1909 a larger organization was estab- lished, known as the Sunday-school and Bible institute of Southern Illinois, and the work of the district Sunday-school secretary was transferred to the above organization.
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Bible Institutes
The first Bible institute in Southern Illinois was held at the Oakley church in August 1907; it was a ten-day session conducted by A. C. Wieand. The district meeting of 1907 decided to make this a permanent meeting and it was con- tinued with considerable interest until 1922. It was held in various parts of the district, usually during the Christmas holidays. Inspirational speakers were brought into the dis- trict, professors from Bethany Biblical Seminary often being the leaders. In 1923 a tour of the district by leading brethren for one-day conferences replaced the Bible institute.
WELFARE
The district meeting of 1924 decided to merge the temperance committee, the Bible and Sunday-school com- mittee and the board of religious education into one com- mittee, to be known as the district welfare board.
The district was early interested in welfare work; a committee was appointed by the district meeting of 1879 with special interest in establishing a home for orphan chil- dren. This committee was composed of John Wise, John Metzger, John Barnhart, David Troxel, James R. Gish, T. D. Lyon and A. J. Bower. During that year, a sum of over four thousand dollars was pledged. An extensive set of by-laws for the Brethren's orphan home was adopted by the district meeting of 1881. A farm had been purchased about one mile west of Cerro Gordo; it was operated by a tenant who acted also as the superintendent in caring for orphan and homeless children. It was in operation for a few years with some good reports. But as its plan of operation was not entirely satisfactory, the district meeting of 1886 decided on the sale of the property after the committee appointed
THE HOMI
THE HOME, GIRARD
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the previous year reported finding no way or plan to make the home a success under existing circumstances.
The spirit of welfare work within the district came to new life and action in 1900 when the district meeting ap- pointed a committee to investigate possibilities of establish- ing an old folks and orphans' home. Located just west of Girard, the Home was completed in 1906, and dedication services were conducted by Galen B. Royer. Several years later orphans were no longer cared for. During the years many marked improvements have been made on the build- ings and the grounds and the equipment has been modern- ized. The old age pension plan has made it possible to in- crease the number of guests greatly; the twenty-five rooms for guests are all occupied most of the time. General main- tenance is on a sound financial basis. Superintendents of the Home have been: Michael Flory, 1906-1907; Moses Smeltzer, 1907-1914; H. O. Appleman, 1914-1925; Jacob Showalter, 1925-1929; Rev. Hurtt, 1929-1930; Everett Deming, 1930-1932; Frank Martin, 1932-1935; George Brubaker, 1935-1937; Wil- liam Deardorff, 1937-1941; Frank Martin, 1941-1942; John H. Harshbarger, 1942-1945; and Dewey Cave, 1945 -.
We have mentioned that the district welfare board of four members took over the work of the temperance com- mittee, the Bible and Sunday-school institute committee, the board of religious education and children's work. The first welfare board was appointed in 1925; lists of these board members appear in the appendix. Later there were other changes on the board. In 1926 the committee was enlarged to include the district Sunday-school secretary, who, in 1928, took over the work of the secretary of religious education. In that year a secretary of peace was appointed.
The welfare board sponsored a number of joint Sunday- school and B.Y.P.D. conferences and also did a considerable amount of work along the lines of peace and temperance-
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including the promotion of a campaign to support the eight- eenth amendment. At times group meetings were held in different sections of the district to emphasize the various departments of the work.
BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION
In 1933 the name of the welfare board was changed from district welfare board to the board of Christian educa- tion. In order to unify the work of the various boards of the district, the board of administration was formed in 1935, taking over the work of the district mission board, the dis- trict ministerial board, the board of Christian education, the finance board and the district treasurer. The board of ad- ministration is composed of nine members, each serving for three years, with three members elected each year. The work of the board has been assigned under the departments of church extension, district missions, Christian education, ministerial affairs, and finance.
For ten years the board arranged for a district field worker; a district newsletter has been distributed quarterly since 1937; some financial help is given to different churches; assistance is given at the installation of pastors; and much work was done by the board toward the establishment of intermediate, junior, and family camps. A list of the person- nel of this board appears in the appendix.
WOMEN'S WORK
District women's work was organized in 1916 in an or- ganization known as the sisters' aid society of Southern Illinois. Many years before that there were numerous aid societies functioning in the congregations.
In 1929, at the meeting of the district aid society, it was decided to merge that organization with the mothers and
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daughters society and the missionary society under the name of women's work. Two years later the women's work was organized according to the plan of the national women's work council.
Since then the women have had as their project the girls' schools in Nigeria, India, and China. They have sent funds to Bethany Hospital, the Brethren Service Committee, and Manchester College, and have provided scholarships for Bethany Biblical Seminary students from this district. They have also given to the district project, which is helping a student at Manchester College. Besides supporting the na- tional and district projects, they are very active in relief work-sewing, canning, and collecting clothing, shoes, seeds and soap. In addition to a meeting at the time of district meeting, an all-day spring rally is held annually.
A summary of the collective results of work done by the women's organizations of the district is astonishing. A list of the officers of the district women's work appears in the appendix.
MEN'S WORK
The organized men's movement in our district is of rather recent date, beginning in 1933, with an increasing number of congregations organizing through the years. It is essentially a layman's movement; the purpose is to have each man take part in the work of the church and assume individual responsibility.
Most organized groups have regular meetings and carry out worth-while projects; much is also being done in improv- ing church buildings and grounds. There has been extensive support of the ministerial pension plan and the Lord's Acre movement; also in some congregations the men farm church farms. For a number of years congregations of the district have helped with the heifers for the relief project, with the
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farm of Lester Beery near Hammond as a collecting center; there has been large support not only from Brethren people but also from other church and benevolent groups.
CAMPS
Since 1939 the young people of the northern and south- ern Illinois districts have jointly used Camp Lewiston, Illi- nois (a camp not owned by the Brethren), with an attend- ance ranging from eighty to one hundred sixty-five. Spon- sored by the district men's organization, a camp site of some thirty acres was bought in 1948. Located two and a half miles south of Astoria, the camp was in use for the first time during the summer of 1949, accommodating various age groups.
In 1940 the young people's organization of the district sponsored the first camp for intermediates, which was held at Camp Kiwanis, near Decatur. At this camp, or at Camp Seymour, also near Decatur, an intermediate camp has been held annually until 1948, when the camp near Astoria was under consideration.
The first junior camp in the district was held in the summer of 1944, when a three-day camp was held at Camp Kiwanis with an attendance of fifty-nine. Junior camp has been held each summer until 1948.
On November 14, 1945, the ministers of the district authorized the district executive secretary to arrange for a week-end family camp. The first family camp was held at Camp Kiwanis, August 16-18, 1946. Another family camp was held in 1947.
With the purchase and development of Camp Bethany better facilities will be available and the camping program for all age groups will be enlarged.
Biographies
The aim in the biographical section is to give as much information as space allows with no attempt at polished literary style. The short biographies can only inadequately tell of the sacrificial service done for the church. There is not space to include biographies of many who, through- out their lives, gave faithful service in the church. We have tried to include biographies of all the elders and ministers who helped establish the churches in the District of South- ern Illinois and directed the work through the years. Much credit has justly been given to the ministers, but credit also belongs to their wives whose faithfulness has made their work possible. We have not forgotten that, especially in the early days of the church, the deacons did an appreciable amount of work, but our space is limited; so was the in- formation that could be collected through the question- naires and otherwise. Many have mention in the book whose names do not appear in this section. Material for the biog- raphies of missionaries was furnished by Anetta C. Mow.
HERBERT CLARENCE ALBRIGHT was born in Macon County, Illinois, on November 3, 1905, the son of Harvey and Orpha Nevinger Albright. He married Maude Mae Ashenfelter of Decatur, Illinois, May 25, 1927. One son was born to them. Brother Albright attended Mount Morris College, 1927-1928, and the University of Illinois, 1930-1932. He was baptized by D. Warren Shock in November 1919 and was elected to the ministry in March 1928. As part-time pastor he served
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at Champaign, 1930-1932, at Girard, 1938-1941; at Cerro Gor- do, 1941-1942. He was the district B.Y.P.D. president, 1924- 1926, and has been active also in other capacities in local and district work.
JOHN ARNOLD was born in Mineral County, West Vir- ginia, June 16, 1846, to Solomon and Susannah Wine Arnold. He married Mary Hendricks of Cerro Gordo, Illinois, on May 30, 1875; five sons and three daughters were born to them. A second marriage was to Lydia Heeter of North Manchester, Indiana, on June 12, 1892. When the Civil War broke out in 1861 he was left at the age of fifteen to care for his mother and the younger children. They moved to Allen County, Ohio, in 1864. There he was baptized by Elder Joseph Coffman on August 23, 1865. In March 1868 he came to Piatt Coun- ty, Illinois, locating near La Place. JOHN ARNOLD Here he was elected a deacon on December 25, 1872, and a minister on Thanksgiving Day 1876, and was ordained an elder in March 1897. He was a farmer preacher until 1916, when he moved to the village of La Place. He served on the district mission board, preached at many mission points and did much preaching in the small churches, always at his own ex- pense. Several times he served on the Standing Committee, and was elder-in-charge of a number of churches. The Decatur church was organized under his eldership. He died in La Place on August 1, 1929.
ROBERT ATCHISON was elected to the ministry in the Romine church, near Salem, Illinois, in 1877. Later he
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moved to Adams County, where he served in the Liberty and Concord congregations. His wife was Elizabeth Blick- enstaff, daughter of Jacob Blickenstaff. They were the par- ents of four sons and three daughters. In 1890 he moved to Cerro Gordo, Illinois, where he died on December 5, 1893.
JOHN H. BAKER was born in Fayette County, Pennsyl- vania, on September 23, 1846. He was married to Sarah Cover, also of Pennsylvania, on September 3, 1868. To them were born two sons and four daughters. In December 1885 he came with his family to Fulton County, Illinois, and set- tled near Astoria. Soon after uniting with the Church of the Brethren in Pennsylvania he was elected to the office of deacon and soon afterwards to the ministry. His ordina- tion to the eldership took place in the Woodland church near Astoria in 1889. He acted as elder-in-charge of five con- gregations in the district. During his more than forty years of service, most of which was in the period of the free ministry, he did much preaching throughout the district and worked on many committees. He preached his last ser- mon from a wheelchair. He died on September 5, 1915.
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