USA > Pennsylvania > Lebanon County > Kleinfeltersville > Centennial celebration of the organization of the first conference of the Evangelical Church : held at Kleinfeltersville, Lebanon County, Pa., September, 25-26, 1907 > Part 4
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As fundamental and of greater significance than lay repre- sentation, are the enactments defining the relative powers of the annual and general conferences. In the Association the first annual conference was organized prior to a general conference, and in the minds of many it was the source of original author- ity. In the contention referred to, the "majority" held that the general conference was the seat of original authority and pos- sessed all power not expressly surrendered to the annual con- ferences. It was upon this assumption that the Indianapolis conference outlawed large majorities in annual conferences and erected in their place conferences composed of small minorities. Those acquainted with the beginning of the Association and es- pecially the descendants of the founders of the church, believed this to be contrary to the spirit of the discipline and are now so persuaded. But the courts finally declared that the letter sus- tained this usurpation of authority and the "minority" suffered loss because of the equivocal and elliptical language of the dis- cipline.
To render the recurrence of such an experience impossible, the Naperville conference was careful to define the powers of the conferences in explicit language. Paragraph 80 of the discipline reads: "The annual conference is possessed of all powers, legis- lative, judicial and administrative, which it has not surrendered to the General Conference by legislative enactment. On the le- gality of its own organization, the judgment of a majority of its duly qualified members is final." Paragraph 88 reads, "The General Conference shall have only such powers as are conferred upon it by the discipline." To put the safety of the annual con- ference beyond all question, part b, in Par. 88, declares, "That
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the annual conferences shall never be deprived of the right to determine the legality of their own organization." The annual conferences cannot be made the victim of vicious "judicial legis- lation." Their permanence does not depend upon the favor of a general conference. On the other hand, the general conference possesses the powers that will make it a strong center of co- operation, so long as wisdom, deliberation and charity mark its decrees.
In the Association the General Conference may become a trial court of original jurisdiction. It may become extremely partisan by making the probable trial of a minister an issue in the election of delegates. The discipline of the United Evangelical Church declares, "The General Conference shall have no original jurisdiction to try any person," and bars the transformation of the General Conference into a "partisan trial court."
The powers of the ministry, and climaxing in the episcopacy, and while not so fundamental as the questions already discussed they are of almost equal importance. Numerous indications of a difference of interpretation of the law defining the episcopal powers are found in the records of the Association. It was declared by the authorized historian of the church that bishops in the Evangelical Association had not one tithe the power of Methodist bishops. In the period of '87-91, the law relating to this point was construed as conferring almost absolute power upon the episcopacy, and the conference of In- dianapolis affirmed this interpretation and by special enactment made the episcopal board the interpreters of the law in the in- terim of the general conferences. It confirmed the right of the bishops to station the preachers without the consent of the pre- siding elders and to veto the actions of annual conferences. It not only confirmed the pastor's right to exclude members from the church without trial, when in his judgment, a member de- served expulsion, but it made it his duty to thus expel members when he has satisfactory information that a member should be expelled. The United Evangelical Church makes every decision of the bishop in an annual conference, subject to an appeal to the conference, it makes the bishop a member of the stationing committee, and accords every offending member the right of trial. The thoroughly democratic character of this polity adapts it admirably to the exercise of the larger experience, maturer judg-
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ment and wider intelligence of this day. It is in harmony with the spirit of our national legislation, which is regarded the most Christian in the world.
The vesting and administration of local congregational prop- erty is upon lines that are new in ecclesiastical legislation and which are calculated to afford the local congregation becoming freedom and still preserve a strong denominational connection. The local congregation is required to receive the pastor appoint- ed at the session of the annual conference to which it belongs, and administer its property according to the discipline of the United Evangelical Church. The discipline, however, provides a process by which a congregation can withdraw from denom- inational connection, but the method of procedure is of a char- acter which practically precludes hasty or ill-advised action. If the congregation was the recipient of missionary appropriations, these must be paid back in case of withdrawal. The laws of several states provide that local church property shall be held for the use of the local society, and lay people think that this provision protects them in the possession of their property, but the provision is valueless in churches whose conferences can arbitrarily determine the membership of a congregation. That provision in the laws of Pennsylvania did not prevent the barring of churches against substantially unanimous congregations, and the sale of such churches to parties who converted them into stables, theatres, or dwelling houses, while the congregations were compelled to erect new churches on sites within sight of the old church.
The development of this polity and its adoption at Naper- ville was attended by stirring experiences. The spirit of fair- ness characterized that body in its actions and a polity admirably adapted to the government of an intelligent, loyal people was the result. It is not adapted to holding in one camp warring factions. It does not place the sceptre of absolute power in the hands of an unreasoning majority. Neither does it accord perilous lib- erty to the unreasoning few. It adjusts the centrifugal and cen- tripetal forces of society well. It furnishes a perfect means for the intelligent and reasonable centralization of authority. It renders possible the most harmonious, efficient, and .comprehen- sive denominational co-operation. It demands devotion, wisdom and love from its members, and when these exist, it becomes the
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way to glorious enlargement. An experiment of fifteen years- has brought gratifying results and we confidently believe that the future will continue to demonstrate its efficiency. May the spirit of God be upon us and preserve to us and ours the heritage of our fathers, in the form of a church polity which is the un- affected expression of Christian fellowship and co-operation.
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GATLHEL & MAN
SPEAKERS IN THE CENTENNIAL SERVICES.
1. A. M. SAMPSEL
3. A STAPLETON, M. S., D. D.
2. S. L. WIEST.
4. B. H. NIEBEL.
5. A. E. GOBBLE, A. M., D. D.
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THE REV. JACOB ALBRIGHT, EVANGELIST AND FOUNDER.
BY REV. A. STAPLETON, D.D.
Fellow Citizens and Evangelical Friends:
When Moses, the great law giver of Israel, first heard the voice of the Almighty, on the plains of Midian, it was coupled with the command, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground," (Ex. 3-5) thus teaching him a lesson of reverential awe when standing in the presence of the Divine Majesty as symbolized by the burning bush which was not consumed. With the same sense of holy reverence, we draw nigh to another and similar "Strange Sight," as"Moses called the burning bush. Over one hundred years ago, God called Jacob Albright to inaugurate a work which should reach the uttermost parts of the earth. The Eternal God was, and is still, in this Evangelical "burning bush." Its spiritual fires have quickened the faith of many thousands, while its ra- diant glow has touched the lives of millions of souls, and is still growing brighter and brighter unto the perfect day of Christ.
Well may we tread reverently on this soil, on which his first conference was organized a century ago. Well may we bow the head in silence, as we view the spot from whence he was called from labor to his rich reward, for this holy ground.
No granite shaft or gilded dome marks Albright's resting place. He needs not these to perpetuate his fame. At the death of that greatest of all modern architects, Sir Christopher Wren, he was buried in the crowning work of his life, St. Paul's Cathedral, of London.
No shrine or monument marks his tomb, only a plain tablet bearing this Latin inscription, "Si Momumentium requiris, Cir- sumspice" which translated reads "Do you ask for his monument ? Look around." So in like manner we say, Do you seek a monu- ment of Albright, commensurate with his work and character- "Look around." And you will see his influence written in char- acters of living light in the literature, institutions, and member- ship, of the several bodies that claim him as their founder. Such
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a monument, reared by power Divine, shall stand secure when lofty obelisks and stately cathedrals shall have crumbled to dust.
Birth and Family.
Unfortunately for our purpose, there is but little material found, relative to his work. He left no journal or manuscripts of any kind from which a correct portraiture of his life may be drawn. To his colleagues he seldom referred to his early life. To Rev. Geo. Miller, his colleague, he gave a description of his forlorn spiritual condition, his awakening, and conversion. The latter reduced the statement to writing, and this is all we have from him personally .*
Albright was born May 1, 1759, on "Fox Hill," in Douglass Township, Berks County, about four miles from Pottstown, Pa. His father, John Albright, was a small farmer, and seems to have been a respectable and industrious man. The Albrights were members of the Lutheran Church in Pottstown, where there may still be seen a number of references to them in the records of the First Lutheran Church. In 1785, Albright was united in mar- riage with Catharine Cope. The fruits of this union were nine children, of whom only three, two sons and a daughter, sur- vived him.
Soon after his marriage he purchased a small farm in West Cocalico Township, Lancaster County, to which he removed. In addition to his farm work, he also carried on the business of tile making. The religious condition of his community, and for that matter, the German people of Pennsylvania, generally, was at this time truly deplorable. People who held, or attended prayer-meetings, were considered fanatics, and were excluded from the church, and in some instances we know of were re- fused burial in the old church yards.
Notwithstanding the great declension in religion, there were still here and there, ministers and people of the old churches, as we shall presently see, who kept alive the flickering fires of Evangelical religion. Although Albright was a member of the church, he was a formalist, and a stranger to. vital piety. In 1790, occurred an event which changed the whole current of
*See "Albrecht und seine mit arbeiter."
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his life. A number of his children were smitten in quick suc- cession by the hand of death, which he regarded as a mark of the Divine disfavor. Having formed the acquaintance of a. German Reformed minister, who preached occasionally in his locality, he secured him to officiate at the funerals of his chil- dren. This man was Rev. Anthony Houtz, a spiritual and earn- est expounder of Evangelical doctrine, and who belonged to a group of evangelists to be considered presently.
The sermons of Houtz produced a profound impression on the heart of the sorrow-stricken father, and resulted in revealing to him his unsaved condition, and in leading him to seek a sav- ing interest in the merits of Christ. Two years of penitential sorrow followed, during which time he was often brought to the verge of despair. At last his soul emerged from its thralldom into the clear sunlight of God's favor, beautiful, glorious and full of Divine power. A most serious question now confronted him : Where could he find a congenial home for spiritual growth and Christian work? Surely not in his own church. Then, too, he was deprived of the companionship and counsel of his spiritual father, who resided at Harrisburg .*
Fortunately the pioneers of Methodism had penetrated and formed a class in his neighborhood. With this class Albright united, and in course of time was granted exhorter's license, which gave him an opportunity to exercise his evangelistic gifts among his fellow Germans. After laboring in this narrow sphere for some time, his field was providentially enlarged by a deep and unmistakable call to preach the Gospel to his spiritually des- titute fellow Germans. After much prayer and fasting, he eventually dedicated himself to this work as his life mission. In the month of October, 1796, he entered upon his public ministry, and with intrepid zeal followed the German settlements into Pennsylvania, Western Maryland and Virginia.
Long and weary were his travels, many were his days of fasting, and nights of prayerful vigils, in seeking the salvation of his fellow men. He was branded as a heretic from the pulpits of the old churches. The faithful were warned not to receive him into their homes, his meetings were often disturbed and broken up by the rabble. He was often vilely reproached and
*History of Dauphin Co., by Rupp, p. 285.
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insulted on the public highway, and there is one authenticated in- stance of violence done his person, within three miles of this place, to such an extent that he lay under the care of a physician for two weeks.
The first tangible evidences we have of Albright's work comes from Rev. Chas. Bisse, one of his first adherents, who stated that he was one of four laymen, who met with Albright at the latter's call, to hold a pentecostal meeting. This meeting took place soon after the beginning of his public ministry (1796), and was probably held at the house of Father Peter Walters, who resided near Quakertown, in Bucks County, and who was one of the first to open his home as a preaching place to Al- bright in the face of great opposition. With the year 1800, Al- bright's following had so far increased that they were organized into three classes ; one in Berks, another in Bucks, and the third in Northampton County. In 1803 occurred his ordination at the hands of his followers, and in 1807, the organization of the first conference, which will be considered more critically present- ly. After twelve years of evangelistic service, Albright found that his work was done. Far gone with consumption, we find him in April, 1808, attending a meeting at Linglestown, nine miles east of Harrisburg.
He was now on the verge of collapse, and after bidding a last farewell to his co-workers, Miller and Dreisbach, he ven- tured on his journey homeward to die. In the opening days of May, 1808, we see this holy man of God slowly approaching yon- der home. He had come with a strange and melancholy pur- pose to his friend, Geo. Becker, the brother of Samuel, in whose house he had organized his conference, hardly half a year before. Swaying in his saddle with weakness, his glassy eyes wearing an imploring look, his emaciated hand is stretched out in a fatherly greeting to his friends; but alas! he is the messen- ger of unwelcome tidings, as with low and husky voice he says: "Have you made ready my bed? I have come here to die." Here this good and useful man passed away on May 18, 1808, in the meridian period of manhood.
In person Albright was of a sanguine temperament, of good size, but somewhat spare, a high and intellectual forehead, deep set blue eyes, and dark hair. His nose was somewhat acquiline, and his chin prominent. He was active in his movements, some-
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what reserved in his demeanor, yet approachable and friendly. His habits were very precise and methodical. His preaching was biblical, practical and convincing, and his sermons were de- livered with an unction that indicated his close fellowship with his Divine Master. He had no quarrel with the old churches, whose doctrines he never repudiated. He simply labored to make credal truth an experience in the life. He seems to have been a strict doctrinarian, as well as disciplinarian, a fact which unquestionably prevented him, as well as his successors, from uniting in the Otterbein movement, as we shall presently see.
The work of Albright during his lifetime developed into a recognized Corpus, or body, which although greatly changed, has maintained itself with ever widening influences for a period of over a century. Was this Corpus a true church in the ecclesias- tical sense of the term? If not, then both the Evangelical Asso- ciation and her offshoot, "The United Evangelical Church" have no legitimate standing in an ecclesiastical sense. The legitimacy of the Albright Corpus was denyed by several denominations over half a century ago when defecting Evangelical preachers sought admittance into these bodies, and the incoming applicants had to submit to a reordination. Time, and not a knowledge of facts, has changed denominational attitude, and Evangelical min- isters are not only now accepted, but are even welcomed in these. churches.
Beyond a few apologetic editorials, which of course are no arguments, the legitimacy of the Albright Corpus has hitherto not been vindicated, nor its doctrinal position exemplied by the church which he founded in a manner to command the respect of critical opinion. As this question involves the legitimacy of the mission and ministerial standing of Jacob Albright, its ex- amination shall form the burden of our effort, and we gladly leave to other and competent hands, the task of enlightening the public on other aspects of the Evangelical body.
We will aim to establish two facts not generally recognized by people who have never made our history a study. We will first show that the conversion of Albright and the organization of the initial conference, were the legitimate fruits of the Pietistic movement of the German Reformed Church, and originally, had no connection with the Methodist movement, as is generally held. Second, That doctrinally, the Evangelicals owed nothing to Meth-
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odism, except in the sense that a thing borrowed, is in turn given to another, but planted itself essentially on the greatest and strongest creed of Reformation times. And we furthermore assert that the Albright Corpus was the only church of American origin entitled to this distinction, and of which both Evangelical bodies may justly feel proud. We know this is a bold and start- ling assertion, but we are willing to submit to intelligent judgment whether we make good the claim.
Many years ago the great naturalist, Couvier, declared that with a single bone of an extinct animal he could reconstruct the entire skeleton and from that he could describe the habits and character of the animal. To the learned we need not tell how the theories of Couvier were later verified by facts, and how this re- constructive principle has been projected into every field of re- search. On this principle then we enter upon the examination of our propositions.
Mention has been made that Albright was converted through the preaching of a Reformed minister named Anthony Houtz. Who was this man? Did he have associates? And what influ- ence did these men have on Albright and the formation of his society ? This leads us to the consideration of a subject all too little understood by ecclesiastical writers, namely, the great in- fluence of the German Pietistic movement already mentioned, and its connection with the early evangelistic movement among the Germans in Pennsylvania. Time will not permit more than a cursory outline of this movement in Germany. We can only say that what the Wesleyan revival was in the established Church of England, Pietism was to the German churches. Wesley did not seek to reform the doctrine of the church, but the life of the people. The same was true in Germany of the Pietists. In Germany first came the reformation of doctrine under Luther, which was later followed by the introduction of a spiritual cul- tus which may be broadly denominated as applied, or "Experi- mental religion." This cultus represents the Pietistic movement. The Pietists held conventicles, and "colegia pietates," or schools of piety, which have their counterparts in our prayer-meetings, and Bible conferences. Strange as it may seem, the State Church opposed and persecuted the Pietists, just as in England the Methodists were persecuted by the church whose creed they sought to exemplify in practice. In this Pietistic movement the
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Reformed Church of the Palatinate was born; hence it differed widely in its cultus from the other original Reformed branches. In a short time a number of the German States became Re- formed. A simple spiritual mode of worship was introduced, and great awakenings and revivals followed as may be seen in the lives of Lampe, Neander and the great lay preacher and song writer, Gerhart Tersteegen. The Pietistic movement gave to the world the incomparable Heidelberg catechism in 1563, and founded that stronghold of Evangelical learning, Herborn Uni- versity.
When the Lutheran Council of Erfurt expelled the celebrat- ed Dr. Jacob Spener, the leader of the Lutheran Pietists from that city, the Reformed King Frederick I., the pious Elector of Brandenberg, welcomed him to his realm, and gave him the high- est ministerial office in his gift. Frederick then in 1694, founded the great Halle University, which with the Orphanage and Mis- sion house, founded by Augustus Herman Francke, another ex- pelled Lutheran Pietist, was for many years the greatest evan- gelizing agency of the world. From Halle University came Muehlenberg to organize the Lutheran Synod in Pennsylvania, and many other godly men.
Pietism was a strong factor in the early history of the Ger- mans of Pennsylvania. It is a remarkable fact, overlooked by our denominational historians, that all the German denominations of America were founded by exiled or Pietistic ministers. Pass- ing by the Sschwenkfelders, Mennonites and Dunkards, all of whom were exiles, we find that the German Lutheran Church was established in Pennsylvania wholly by exiles, the first being Bernhart Koester, who came in 1794, and Daniel and Justus Falckner, who came prior to 1703, and in 1717 Rev. Jacob Anthony Henkel, an exiled court preacher, of whom your speak- er is a descendant. Remember these men were exiled, not by Catholics, but by High Church Lutherans. The first German Reformed minister to arrive here was Rev. Samuel Guldin, in I710, who had been silenced and practically expelled, by the Re- formed Council of Bern, Switzerland, because he was a Pietist. Time fails to tell of how the Germans flocked to Pennsylvania by the tens of thousands, and soon sank into a state of formalism, and spiritual indifference. To this condition the worthless char-
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acter of a number of ministers, who were guilty of irregularities in Europe, contributed in no small degree.
Despite many untoward conditions, a distinct pietistic ele- ment nevertheless maintained itself chiefly, in the German Re- formed Church, and there were not lacking holy men of God who earnestly upheld experimental religion, and insisted on prac- tical piety in their members.
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