USA > Pennsylvania > Change and challenge: a history of the Church of the Brethren in the southern district of Pennsylvania, 1940-1972 > Part 1
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CHANGE AND CHALLENGE A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN In THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA 940-1972
ELMER Q. GLEIM
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Change and Challenge A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN in THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA 1940-1972
ELMER Q. GLEIM
Keith Espenshade
Best wishes from Elmer Q. lein
Authorized by the 1972 Southern District Conference History Committee
Norman F. Reber, Chairman
Elmer Q. Gleim, Editor
Paul S. Burkholder
William L. Gould
Harold S. Martin
J. Stanley Earhart, District Executive
PRINTED BY TRIANGLE PRESS, HARRISBURG, PA.
PRINTED: 1973
From the library of
Adelle Frank.com
PREFACE
Change and Challenge, the lead title of this history, aptly suggests the struggle of Southern District churches to maintain and expand their witness for Jesus Christ during the three turbulent decades since 1940. This is the year in which the book picks up the thread of history left by the previous district volume.
Perhaps the most significant among the many changes that chal- lenged the Brethren during those decades was the mass transition from an agricultural or rural way of life to one based on jobs in industry and the concomitant impact of mass communications which eliminated the isolation of rural life. This volume is unique among Brethren church histories in that it seeks to interpret the impact of these and other trends on the life of the district churches. This interpretative treatment given in one of the sections of this volume is in harmony with recommenda- tions made by the original continuing history committee to the district board in 1967.
The continuing committee also recommended a section on congrega- tional histories. This section claims the most pages. Also in line with committee recommendation, major attention is given to district program and biographies of district leaders.
In the opinion of the undersigned committee members, this volume:
1 .- Gives both religious and secular perspective to what has happened in the Church of the Brethren in the Southern District during the past three decades of crisis and shows what the churches have done to meet the challenge of change;
2 .- Presents an analysis of movements and trends in recent district history. The Brethren Revival Fellowship and Brethren Service activities in local urban ministries are examples of the response of churches to widely-felt needs;
3 .- Seeks to preserve a living history of the congregations during the three decades. This is done with consistency of style and continuity of events. The facts woven into these histories were gathered by the author and were then checked by the congregations to insure accuracy;
4 .- Presents 225 detailed biographies of district leaders during the past thirty years of district history.
5 .- Contains much near-to-home source material for church study groups and students of recent church history.
This committee notes with both deep satisfaction and sheer amaze- ment that this volume will roll off the presses on the original 1973 schedule set by the continuing history committee to coincide with the 250th anni- versary of the establishment of the Church of the Brethren at German- town. The author, Elmer Q. Gleim, was on the original committee. Only his zeal and excellent qualifications and interest in the project made it possible to meet this schedule. The Continuing History Committee of the Southern District hereby pays tribute to the author for tremendous work well done and expresses gratitude to all who cooperated in this worthy endeavor.
Norman F. Reber, Chairman Paul Burkholder Harold S. Martin William L. Gould.
INTRODUCTION
SOME HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The writing and printing of history books in the Church of the Brethren is of rather recent origin. Early members of the denomination were reluctant to record what they said and did. Minutes of the first thirty years of the Annual Meetings are either very brief or nonexistent. Before 1854, Henry Kurtz began to make a collection of historical mate -- rials "for the benefit of our children". He never completed the work.
The Standing Committees of the Annual Meetings were reluctant to record the proceedings of their meetings. It was not until 1914 that it agreed to record its actions.
A request came to the Annual Meeting in 1895 for the privilege of collecting materials to publish a history. The history was to include a record of "the condition of the ecclesiastical world that made the incep- tion of the Brethren Church a necessity; including the rise and progress of the church, its growth in numbers and religious works, etc.".1 The An- nual Meeting authorized such a work, including biographical materials.
Although the Annual Meeting considered the formation of a Histori- cal Society in 1898, no action was taken to form such an organization. Individuals were encouraged instead to undertake historical research.
The Council of Boards appointed a Historical Commission for the brotherhood in 1938. The Annual Conference approved the action of the Council of Boards in 1941. The same Annual Conference also authorized funds for the Historical Commission's work. It was not until 1945, how- ever, that J. E. Miller announced to a General Board Meeting that a Brethren Historical Library had been started at Elgin, Illinois.
The recovery of American religious history really began in the 1930s. The volumes of William Warren Sweet and the notable productions of H. Richard Niebuhr, The Social Sources of Denominationalism (1929) and The Kingdom of God in America (1937), laid the foundations for the growth of written church history. The issuances of these and other works restored depth and variety to the story of the church and began to sup- plant the dogmatism which had characterized the telling of the story of religion in earlier decades.
The original Southern District history was the production of a com- mittee which was first appointed in 1933. This committee was formed at the requests of the York First Church and the Upper Codorus Church. The District Conference responded to the requests by appointing E. S. Miller, Mrs. Annie Sheetz and Sudie Wingert to serve on the committee. In time, other district personnel became part of the team. W. G. Har- lacher, M. E. Sollenberger and A. S. Baugher were other district workers who researched the first history. The committee compiled all available materials from the congregations for use in a written work. These mate- rials were collected in the period from 1934 until 1940.
When the materials were gathered, the committee approached Dr. J. Linwood Eisenberg, of Shippensburg State College, to edit the materials for a printed work. The first history appeared in 1941 under the title, History of The Church of The Brethren in Southern District of Pennsyl- vania. It sold for $2.00 per copy.
In 1960, a few members of the Falling Spring congregation requested copies of the Eisenberg history. This request was honored in 1965 when 500 copies of the history were reprinted. The reprinting was made only after a survey of the district determined the degree of interest in such a project. The reprinted volumes sold for $5.00 per copy.
When the reprinted history appeared, the District Conference passed a resolution that "a continuing committee be named to put into action . . the preparation of a volume which will bring the Southern District History up to date." The resolution was given to the District Board for implementation.
Many sessions of the District Board probed the nature of the pro- jected history. The unanimous feeling among board members was that the history, while preserving data from the past three decades, must give considerably greater emphasis to interpretation and less to com- pilation. By 1967, the board appointed Norman F. Reber, Elizabeth Englar and Elmer Q. Gleim as a continuing History Committee.
One of the first responsibilities of this committee was to outline the nature of the projected work. The committee returned to the board late in 1967 with its report:
1 .- A history shall be completed by 1973, the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Church of the Brethren in America at German- town, Pennsylvania;
2 .- The history shall, in part, be interpretative, highlighting trends, movements and thought within the district between 1940 and 1973; and
3 .- We suggest the following broad outline:
a .- Roots of various trends within the church;
b .- Congregational growth and program;
c .- District activities, organization, policies and trends; and d .- Biographical materials.
The District Board authorized the History Committee to seek for possible editors for the new work. At least eight persons were suggested, and the History Committee began the task of contacting them one by one. Although a few individuals showed interest in the undertaking, the weight of the task and the proposed time-schedule seemed too exacting. Finally, in 1972, the District Board authorized Elmer Q. Gleim to pro- ceed with the work of gathering materials and editing them. Several individuals were added to the History Committee to assist in the work. The present volume has been prepared by the editor and read by Norman F. Reber, chairman, Paul S. Burkholder, Harold S. Martin, William L. Gould and J. Stanley Earhart, the Southern District Executive.
The substance of this work is the result of extensive research in church libraries, church minutes, personal records and letters, many city libraries of the district, district records dating from 1935, basic history volumes, the Historical Records Library at Elgin and interviews with many individuals. Many people have had a share in the production of this work, seeking to insure the accuracy of the statements and the records.
Much of the material in the book has also been documented to indi- cate the sources to the readers. The material is arranged in such a fashion that study groups may use the volume to seek to interpret the religious and cultural history of their own times. An attempt has honestly been made to place the events of the Southern District in a historical and cultural context, seeking to aid the reader to appreciate the roots of his own relig- ious culture.
This is not an attempt to record names even though many personal records are to be found within these covers. The purpose of the author is to combine narrative with analysis and to provide depth and atmosphere to the events which are recorded. This is an attempt to restore rational history by recovering its connection with experience and by renewing its ties with literature. Most importantly, this work is an attempt to give per-
spective to what has happened to the Church of the Brethren during the past three decades of crisis.
Woodrow Wilson, himself an eminent historian, once reminded his readers:
"A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do. We are trying to do a futile thing if we do not know where we came from or what we have been about."
CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Map of the Southern District, Frontspiece Church of the Brethren Sign, xii Galen C. Kilhefner, 25 Donald M. Snider, 26 Levi K. Ziegler, 27 Stewart B. Kauffman, 29 Harold Z. Bomberger, 30 Virginia S. Fisher, 35 J. Stanley Earhart, 37 Ron H. Rowland, 45 Walter A. Keeney, 52 L. Alson Bohn, 53 Wilbur Brenner Stover Memorial, 56 Sara Swartz, 58
Dr. Paul S. Hoover Family, 59 Lois Jean Patel, 59
Dr. Roy and George Pfaltzgraff, 60
Mary Ann Kulp, 62
Philip M. Kulp, 63 Benjamin and Nelda Sollenberger, 64 Men's Work Sign, 89 College Entrance, 95
Dr. Morley J. Mays, 100
The Brethren Home, 106
Warren Eshbach, 107
Harvey S. Kline, 110 Children's Shelter Home, Carlisle, Pa. 112 J. Earl Dibert, 130
Price's Meetinghouse: Antietam Congregation, 157 Ministers of the Back Creek Congregation, 159 Upton Meetinghouse, 161
Shank's Meetinghouse, 161
Brandt's Church, 163
Belvidere Church, 164
Joseph M. Baugher and James Oberdick, 165 Paul Ritchey, 165 Chestnut Grove Church, 168
Noah and Lillie Sellers, 168
Black Rock Church, 169 Charles and Mary Beth Bieber, 170
Boiling Springs Church, 171
J. Albert and Mary Cook, 172
Buffalo Church, 173 Galen H. Brumbaugh, 176 Carlisle First Church, 178
Newton L. Poling, 180
Chambersburg Church Moderators, 181
Chambersburg Church, 182
Floyd H. Mitchell, 184 Codorus Church, 187 Jimmy R. Ross, 188 Dry Run Church, 190 The Hade House, 191 C. Lowell Gearhart, 192
Ministers of the Falling Spring Congregation, 193 Farmers' Grove Church, 194 Greencastle Church, 197 J. Richard Gottshall, 199 Wayne A. Nicarry, 199 Hanover Church, 202 Roger L. Forry, 202 Huntsdale Church, 204 Lanta A. Sholley Jr., 205 Knobsville Church, 206 Roger E. Markey, 207 Present Knobsville Church, 208 Bermudian Meetinghouse, 209 Wolgamuth Meetinghouse, 209 Glenn Julius, 210 W. G. Harlacher, 210 Stanley G. Barkdoll, 210 J. Leon Swigart, 211 Miller's Meetinghouse, 212 Mohler's Meetinghouse, 213 Bunkertown Church, 216 Free Spring Meetinghouse, 216 Oriental Meetinghouse, 218 Forrest B. Gordon, 219 Madison Avenue Church, 220 W. Owen Horton, 222 Upper Marsh Creek Meetinghouse, 223 Gettysburg Church, 227 Merlin G. Shull, 228 Union Church, Mechanicsburg, 230 Mechanicsburg Church, 232 William L. Gould, 233 Mount Olivet Church, 235 John R. Shenk, 237 Jacob L. Miller, 238 Yorkana Church, 239 New Fairview Church, 240 New Fairview Ministers, 242 Newville Church, 245 Richard A. Grumbling, 246 Ministers of the Pleasant Hill Congregation, 247 Paul K. and Martha Newcomer, 248 Pleasant Hill Church, 250 Wildasin Schoolhouse, 250 Beaver Creek Meetinghouse, 251 North Codorus Meetinghouse, 251 Original Pleasant View Church, 252 Pleasant View ministers and wives, 253 Pleasant View Church, 254 Ridge Church, 256 Rouzerville Church, 258 LeRoy E. Plum, 260 Shippensburg Church, 262 New Freedom Meetinghouse, 264 Shrewsbury Meetinghouse, 265 Henry E. Miller, 267
Wendell H. Sweitzer, 267 Sugar Valley Church, 267 Peter Long Barn, 270 Three Springs Church, 271 Tuscarora Church, 274 Olive Branch Schoolhouse, 275 John W. Sellers, 275 Latimore Meetinghouse, 277 Mummert's Meetinghouse, 277
Hampton Meetinghouse, 277 Trostles Meetinghouse, 278 East Berlin Meetinghouse, 278 Upper Conewago Ministers, 279 Waynesboro Church, 284 Samuel H. Flora Jr., 285
West York Church, 288
York First Church, 291 Curtis W. Dubble, 294 Ralph Z. Moyer, 295 Second Church of the Brethren, 296 Roy C. Myers, 300
Joseph M. and Bessie May Baugher, 302
Milton M. Baugher, 302
Carl Leon Baughman, 303
Dr. Everett G. Beckman, 303
Paul S. Burkholder, 306 Robert L. Cocklin, 307
Oliver Wayne Cook, 307 George Detweiler, 308
Zola Detweiler, 308 Edwin Eigenbrode, 310 Elmer Q. Gleim, 313 John Vernon Grim, 315 John R. Herr, 318 Oscar L. Hostetter, 319 J. Ronald Mummert, 329
Beatrice M. Myers, 330 James N. Poling, 332 G. Book Roth, 334 Madeline W. Roth, 335 L. Anna Schwenk, 335 John F. Sprenkel Jr., 338 Goldie Sterner, 339
William Wayne Tritt, 341
Mary Volland, 341 M. Guy and Naomi West, 342
Mark A. Wildasin, 343
Map of the Southern District, Black Flysheet
Personal pictures have been contributed by the individuals them- selves. Many church pictures were photographed by Oscar L. Hostetter and contributed for use in this volume.
CHAPTER ONE GEOGRAPHICAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES
THE NATURE OF THE DISTRICT
The Southern District of Pennsylvania consists of forty congregations scattered through nine central and southern Pennsylvania Counties. Seventy-two percent of these congregations are located in York, Cumber- land and Franklin Counties. York County has thirteen congregations and Cumberland and Franklin Counties each has eight. Juniata and Adams County each has three congregations; Perry County has two; Fulton, Clinton and Union Counties each has one congregation. This wide scattering of Church of the Brethren congregations creates travel problems for many members of the church even in this day of improved highway systems.
Several church groups in the 1880s raised concerns about the difficulties they faced in traveling to meetings. At one time, the Southern District was a part of a region which extended from the Susquehanna River on the east to the Allegheny Mountains on the west. Originally, it was known as the "Middle District", the first district of the denomination to be formed within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1861). In 1889, the Duncansville Church petitioned the Annual District Conference for a separation of the Middle District of Pennsylvania into two parts. This petition was not granted.
In 1892, a petition came from the Codorus congregation seeking a division of the district for the sake of convenience. The Middle District was divided in this year. Eleven congregations were included in the portion which became Southern Pennsylvania. In 1893, Perry, Buffalo and Lost Creek registered with the Southern District to bring the total number of congregations to fourteen.1
When the division came, no effort was made to establish definite boundary lines. The Missionary Association of the Antietam congregation (Waynesboro) forwarded a request to the District Meeting in 1911 to fix definite boundary lines. The first effort to determine such lines was made in 1919 when a representative from the Middle District met with the Southern District in the Mechanicsburg Church. He suggested that "the eastern limits of the Counties of Fulton, Huntingdon, Mifflin, Center, Clinton and Potter shall be, when confirmed by the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the boundary between the two districts." This decision was made on October 29, 1919 and was restated in 1921.
In 1919, the following congregations were enumerated in the Southern District: Antietam, Back Creek, Buffalo, Carlisle, Chambersburg, Codorus, Falling Springs, Hanover, Huntsdale, Lost Creek, Lower Conewago, Lower Cumberland, Marsh Creek, Perry, Pleasant Hill, Ridge, Sugar Valley, Upper Codorus, Upper Conewago and York First Church.
The region defined as "Southern Pennsylvania" is marked by geo- graphic diversity. It is pervaded by beautiful, fertile valleys and domin- dated by rocky ridges and worn-down mountains. The area has lowlands and highlands, wooded glades and rich pasture lands. Numerous rivers and streams force their ways through mountains and around hills. Brethren have characteristically followed these river valleys to develop a style of life centered about the farm and the farm village. Limestone valleys provided a powerful magnet for early Brethren settlers.
The district stands on the edge of the Commonwealth's "Pennsylvania Dutch" lands. Its boundaries reach to those regions where the original German settlements began to blend with the Scotch-Irish communities.
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The section described in this volume was not opened to colonization until near the middle of the eighteenth century. The earliest settlements were made near the sources of the Marsh Creek by the Scotch-Irish in 1740. Early land claims were also made in the Cumberland Valley near the sites of Shippensburg and Carlisle and in the Juniata Valley close to Newport. York County had pioneer populations as early at the 1720s.
The Germans and the Scotch-Irish who settled near Newport were removed by Provincial authorities in 1742 at the request of the Indians. These settlers were forbidden "at their highest peril" from settling on these lands.2 When a general exodus of Brethren from eastern Pennsyl- vania occurred in the 1740s, many began to enter the valley of the Conococ- heague. This stream rises in Adams and Franklin Counties and runs a distance of eighty miles through the Cumberland Valley into the Potomac river. A list of early permanent settlers in the vicinity of Waynesboro carries the names of George Martin and John Mack (1751-1752).
The period from 1740 to 1750 was a time of searching for lands. The influx of German people reached a peak about the middle of the eighteenth century (1749-1754). An estimated 31,000 Germans entered Pennsylvania at this time. Christopher Sauer, in his Germantown Zeitung, estimated that 2,000 Germans died at sea in these crossings. Many of those who survived came into central Pennsylvania in search of farming lands.
Some of these German immigrants followed the Monocacy road which ran through York County (1739) and then turned south toward Maryland and Virginia. Others came into the Great Valley which arches across eastern and southern Pennsylvania. These people of German background followed the outcroppings of limestone and the trail of the black walnut in making their settlements. The Scotch-Irish people pushed into the slate lands where springs were more plentiful and wells not so hard to dig. The rich Susquehanna lands provided a powerful lure for the Brethren.
The Southern District of Pennsylvania is comprised of counties which continue to blend agriculture with industry. In 1960, eight of the nine member counties were predominantly rural in their population composition. Even the mountainous counties have valleys which are devoted to farm- ing and small industries. There are no large cities in the district. York, with its 50,000 population, must be regarded as a medium-sized city.
The larger communities of the district continue to promote their farmers' markets to demonstrate the continuing interest of the people in rural pursuits. Many Brethren continue to sell their produce through such markets. In 1941, a national writer described the community of York in these terms:
"York is an even-running, conservative, medium-sized manufactur- ing town in the rich agricultural area of southern Pennsylvania . . . The big problem on Saturday nights in York is to find a place to park one's car, for farmers come in from all the surrounding countryside and change it from a manufacturing to an agricultural metropolis."3
THE URBAN-RURAL STRUGGLE
Brethren, like many other Americans, continue to prefer the open countryside or the small town as a place of residence. The belief that we are becoming increasingly urbanized may be a myth encouraged by the United States Census Bureau measurements. The Bureau's definition of "urban" claims that 650 or more families constitute a "city". Such a definition scarcely justifies the belief that the nation is moving toward crisis-prone congestion. The entire population in the area comprising the Southern District of Pennsylvania scarcely equals the population of the city of Pittsburgh.
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About twenty-eight percent of the people of York County are concen- trated in an area about the community of York, the largest community in the Southern District. Chambersburg and Carlisle are next in size with about 17,500 persons each. It is quite proper to claim that the South- ern District represents a blending of rural and urban features. It is clear the people of the district prefer to pursue urban-type economic activities but choose to avoid the crowdedness and anonymity of large city life. The agrarian values of the earlier Brethren heritage are still important. Brethren continue to settle in areas where they may have identity, par- ticipation and space.
A survey by Dr. Robert Eshelman in 1951 reported that fifty-seven percent of the congregations of the Church of the Brethren remained in the open countryside. The eastern region of the United States had fifty-five percent of its churches in the rural areas. In the eastern region of the United States, sixty-three percent of the churches were in settlements of 5,000 or less.4
The report is clear in defining the Brethren as rural in outlook. The Church of the Brethren in 1946 was a denomination also of small congrega- tions. One-sixth of the membership was worshiping in small congrega- tions, many with less than 120 members.5 An estimate of the residence of the Southern District membership places sixty percent of the Brethren in small towns or in rural areas and sixty-seven percent of the congrega- tions in rural-oriented areas (1970).
While Brethren may continue to long for agrarian values, they have found they cannot return to the era of the 1920s. The Great Depression brought a blow to the kind of ruralism which once centered about the family and enterprising individualism. During the depression years (1929- 1935), many people turned from the farm to the factory for economic security. The depression also brought large-scale organization to industry, labor and government and provided Social Security for most people. Under the impact of such change, the Brethren have turned to a deeper reliance upon industry.
All of this has brought decisive change to Brethren beliefs and prac- tices. The culture in which Brethren develop their beliefs has changed from a highly authoritarian and rural one to a decidedly democratic and industrial one. The daily social experience of the Brethren has also changed from almost complete isolation from non-Brethren on the job, in the school and in the community to almost full participation with non- Brethren on the job, in the school and in the community.6
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