USA > Pennsylvania > Change and challenge: a history of the Church of the Brethren in the southern district of Pennsylvania, 1940-1972 > Part 14
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Publicity has presented a problem for district youth. For a period of time, there were no central offices. The youth resorted to the appoint- ment of publicity chairmen who produced Newsletters with the aid of equipment in their local churches. About 1965, the youth paper called Blazon was entrusted to youth editors.
The youth organization has regularly elected adult counselors. In the beginning, these counselors were ministers and pastors. In the 1950s, the youth also began to elect lay counselors. The ministers were then designated as "pastoral advisors" and the laymen were called "lay coun- selors."
The following young people have served as Youth Fellowship chair- men: Margaret Leas Dotterer (1942-1943), Frances Royer (1944-1946), Glenn L. Gingrich (1947-1948), Dale Crist (1949), Helen Trimmer (1950), Huber Shetter (1951-1952), Donald Fogelsanger (1953-1954), Pat Minnich (1955), John C. Picking (1956), Donald Knaub (1957), Nancy Baugher (1958), George Smith (1959), Chris Gettel (1960), James Picking (1961), J. Ronald Mummert (1962), Jeanne Jacoby (1963-1964), Judith A. Gibble (1965), Bart Lefever (1966), Darlene Frey (1967), Nancy Hagginbothom (1968), Kent Sweitzer (1969), Doris Keeseman (1970), Kim Connor (1971) and Lynn Hagginbothom (1972).
DISTRICT LITERATURE
One of the measures of vitality of religious life is the literature it produces. In the past three decades in the district a wide variety of publications have appeared. Books, newspaper articles, magazine articles, research themes, Newsletters and congregational histories comprise some of the literature.
Much of the creative efforts of district personalities is recorded in the biographical section of this volume. The production of this volume, Change and Challenge, has relied upon the efforts of many persons who took time to pen their thoughts and record their experiences in personal correspond- ences, diaries and informal records. The patient registering of events in Minutes by congregational and district secretaries and the preservation of congregational life by local historians have been invaluable in producing this work.
The motives for literary work have been varied. Some, like Glenn A. Heckman, wrote to inform the Brethren about the Greek Orthodox Church in Messenger articles (1969). Others have tried to interpret the Scriptures and have produced sermons and articles on a variety of themes. Raymon E. Eller produced a pamphlet entitled, "First Lovefeast - No Deacons" (1948). Our district missionaries have written of "the mirac- ulous interestingness of the universe" and its people. Charles Bieber produced more than fifty articles for The Gospel Messenger concerning the church in Nigeria. Philip and Mary Ann Kulp have recorded their experiences in the mission field in numerous articles and a book.
Some district personalities have expressed their literary talents in descriptive biographies. Jimmy R. Ross wrote of a former Maryland parishioner in the Messenger (July 16, 1970) under the title, "Man of the Soil-Man of Faith". Tobias F. Henry produced a biography of Charles Calvert Ellis in a series of articles in the Church of the Brethren Leader (1947). Mary Ann Kulp published a book, No Longer Strangers to record the biography of her father-in-law, H. Stover Kulp.
Brethren who live in the York area read newspaper articles in 1967 on problem themes. This series of articles was produced by Dr. Everett G. Beckman for the York Sunday News. Ten articles appeared under such
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themes as "Catholics Fight For Citizenship" (January 22, 1967) and "To Work Or Not To Work" (February 12, 1967). These articles were based on an analysis of The Congressional Record for a doctoral disserta- tion.
Edward K. Ziegler produced a series of booklets during his residence in the district. Many of his volumes deal with rural worship and rural preaching. Harold S. Martin published a volume, Sermons on Eternal Themes and printed sermons in the Bible Helps pamphlets. Merlin G. Shull shared in writing youth study materials in the booklet, In His Spirit, "The Price of Freedom" (1966). Curtis W. Dubble and Morley J. Mays have written extensively for teachers of adult materials. David K. Hanawalt compiled a Camp Leadership Training and Outdoor Education Manual.
One of the interesting areas of literature centers in unpublished manuscripts. Many individuals, in order to meet degree requirements, have written and researched a number of areas of church and Biblical life. A few of these unpublished works include, The Biblical Doctrine of the Anointing As Interpreted and Practiced by the Church of the Brethren (Harold Z. Bomberger, 1960); Origins of the Left Wing of The Reforma- tion (Warren M. Eshbach, 1967); The Church of The Brethren: From Sect To Denomination (Harvey S. Kline, 1969); and The Development of Religious Education in the Church of The Brethren of the United States (Tobias F. Henry, 1938).
In September, 1955, Edward K. Ziegler began editing Brethren Life and Thought, a quarterly magazine of articles of interest to Brethren. Virginia S. Fisher served as the guest editor for the summer issues of this quarterly in 1968, producing a complete issue of the magazine on Christian Education. Morley J. Mays, who has been a regular contributor of articles to various religious and educational periodicals, contributed articles to this special issue.
Many congregations have produced Newsletters and have produced printed orders of service. These have proven invaluable to the historian as he seeks to recover congregational history. The Tri-District News- letter, which came to an end in September, 1970, shared helpful informa- tion for six years concerning the work of the districts. An interesting quarterly newspaper was entitled, District Messenger (1942-1948) and was edited by Milton M. Baugher. This paper carried brief articles by many district personnel concerning the work of the churches.
The district newspaper of the 1940s had a forerunner in The Brethren Advocate, a religious weekly periodical published at Waynesboro, Penn- sylvania. This paper was a twenty-two inch by thirty-two inch publica- tion issued in the interests of the German Baptists from August 5, 1879 to July 5, 1882. The contributors to its columns were some of the ablest writers of the denomination.13
A writer of history can scarcely overlook the various historical writ- ings of the period. The most comprehensive work was edited and compiled in 1941 by the district under the title, History of the Church of the Brethren in the Southern District of Pennsylvania (J. Linwood Eisenberg). The revival of interest in history in the 1930s resulted in the appointment of local congregational historians. John F. Sprenkel Jr. produced History of the York Church (1883-1930) and a twenty-fifth anniversary publication for the Second Church of the Brethren (1965).
The Carlisle congregation produced a History of the First Church of the Brethren, 1914-1964, for its fiftieth anniversary. The Sugar Valley congregation printed pictures of its earlier church houses on a program of rededication and homecoming for October 16, 1960 and Ernest Geisewite
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recounted the history of the church. Glenn M. Stouffer, of the Chambers- burg congregation, has written frequently concerning local history. He produced a booklet entitled, Salem Church of the Brethren (1969).
New histories continue to be written. The History of the Codorus Congregation, with a foreword by Dr. Ralph W. Schlosser, has been written by William L. Gould. Oscar L. Hostetter has prepared a volume entitled, The Hostetters of Hanover, Pennsylvania. Norman F. Reber, the chairman of the District History Committee, has prepared a volume on the Reber family under the title, Two Christian Witnesses. The interest in the past by district personnel has made the writing of this volume much easier.
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE MINISTRY OF COLLEGE AND CAMP
The major thrust of Christian Education in the Southern District has been through the church and its church school. The previous chapter discussed the work of Christian Education as it related to the district and its congregations. The district has also carried responsibilities for Christian Education on the campus and in . the camp. Elizabethtown College served the Southern District and the Atlantic Northeast District for the past seventy-three years by offering liberal arts education with a Christian orientation. The new camp in Adams County has also supple- mented the work of the congregation by offering a person-centered ministry.
ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE
The college of American life is unique in many ways. It emerged in order to minister to a particular constituency and was originally plan- ned to provide a terminal education for its students. Early colleges pro- vided nearly all the formal education the student would receive. In a simple and unsophisticated society, a college degree gave the student entry into teaching, law, architecture, business and other professions.
Elizabethtown College emerged from a meeting held at the Church of the Brethren in Reading, Pennsylvania. On November 29, 1899, a committee of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania met to consider whether a school of higher education should be established in the Eastern District. As a result of this meeting, a decision was made to establish a school at Elizabethtown. By July, 1900, construction on the original Alpha Hall was begun. At the same time, a sixteen-page blue-back cata- logue announced the opening of Elizabethtown College. The first students arrived in the fall to begin their work.
Dr. Ralph W. Schlosser has described these early years of the school in his recent volume, History of Elizabethtown College, 1899-1970 (1971). He characterizes the first ten years of the college as "a glorified high school". He reveals the significant role which George N. Falkenstein, a native of Southern Pennsylvania, had in the creation of the school. George N. Falkenstein wrote The Organization and Early History of Elizabeth- town College, acted as secretary to the original planning committee and served as president of the college at its beginnings (1901-1904).
Dr. Vernon F. Schwalm, former president of Manchester College, noted that the Colleges of the Church of the Brethren began their life as
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ZABETHTOWN COLLEGE CLASS OF 19529
College Entrance Gateway
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local institutions. They were founded and developed in response to regional needs and have been managed by trustees from these regions. They were also founded at a period of time in which denominational rivalry was intense. They were created when the nation was predominantly rural in outlook. The conviction that colleges and universities should be located in rural areas is strictly an American belief and is not European in origin. Colleges and universities in Europe were chiefly city-oriented.
In 1900, when Elizabethtown College officially opened its doors, the typical American college was small, rural, liberal arts-oriented and, in many instances, church-related. When Freshmen and their parents were surveyed in 1969 for the reasons they chose Elizabethtown College, the two reasons given most prominently were: the college is small and it is church-related. The college has continued to stress these characteristics in an age of accelerated change.
American education has experienced radical change since the church- college was founded. Society has moved from elite education to education for the masses. A revolution in education now stresses a chance at educa- tion for all people. With this revolution accomplished, enrolments in colleges and high schools have climbed rapidly. The rate of growth of Elizabethtown College may be seen from the following chart:
1950-1951-301 full-time students.
1955-1956-430 full-time students.
1960-1961-725 full-time students.
1965-1966-1226 full-time students.
1970-1971-1514 full-time students.
In 1967-1968, a series of committees known as Project EPIC (Elizabeth- town Plots Its Course) studied all phases of the life of the college and offered their projections and recommendations. A maximum enrolment was established at 1,750 students by the school year 1976-1977. In an age of burgeoning enrolments, this goal was regarded as preserving the per- sonal atmosphere associated with a small college. The college continues to help the student discover his own identity in face-to-face contacts with his professors and administrators. Elizabethtown College has accomplished this at a time in which many colleges are accused of being complex, im- personal and very much alike in their curricular offerings.
Elizabethtown College preserves the quiet of a small, residential com- munity. In recent decades, however, this rural-orientation has given way to the interests of such larger communities as Lancaster, Lebanon, York and Harrisburg. The college is located within a few hours of some of America's largest metropolitan centers.
The emphasis of the college continues with the liberal arts program. It seeks to develop both competence and conscience in the individual. It seeks to educate for cultural breadth, for specialized professional compe- tence, with a concern for ideas and values. It promotes self-insight and seeks to improve the quality of living. It avoids the fragmentation of knowledge which so often accompanies the specialized, disciplinary ap- proach to education. Elizabethtown College continues to stress the pur- pose stated in the original charter: to seek "such harmonious develop- ments of the physical, mental and moral powers of both sexes as will best fit them for the duties of life and promote their spiritual interests".
The college continues to affirm its church-relatedness. Prior to 1919, Elizabethtown College was supported by individual contributions. Actual organized solicitation of funds from churches and their members on an annual basis was not begun until 1958. In 1917, the Southern District voted to assume joint ownership of the college with the Eastern District. On January 1, 1919, the congregations of the two districts assumed re-
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sponsibility for the support of the institution. A notice from the District Minutes of 1943 suggested that $.25 per member was expected from the districts. This was requested at a time when congregations were charg- ing $.25 per meal at District Meetings.
When the college could no longer survive on the support it was receiving from the churches, it began to look to industry, foundations and government grants for assistance. Fund-raising, once handled ex- clusively by the president of the college, became the responsibility of a staff of solicitors. James L. Yeingst was named Director of Public Relations in 1957. D. Kenneth Hollinger, a native of Southern Pennsyl- vania, accepted the post of Director of Church Relations in 1965. Dr. Campbell Snowberger was appointed Director of Development at the college in 1972. These people search out and cultivate potential sources of financial support within the congregations of the districts. These funds are raised in addition to what the congregations regularly con- tribute through their budgets and their district assessments.
A list of selected years reveals the congregational giving of the Church of the Brethren in the Southern District for college support:
1952-1953-$6,524.24
1965-1966-$7,983.59
1955-1956- -$8,036.93 1968-1969-$11,236.58
1958-1959-$9,450.99
1970-1971-$10,470.00
1960-1961-$10,108.75
In the nineteen years from 1952 to 1971, the congregations of the district have given $176,963.75 to the college.1
The college budget has not reflected significant church support. Col- leges have discovered at the same time they cannot depend exclusively on "secular" sources. It has turned to the church as a source of help. In doing so, Elizabethtown College has renewed its commitment to Christian purpose. A report said:
"The future of the private, church-related college can be assured only as its friends understand its mission, know its accomplishments and concur in its plan for the future" (1967).
As a church-related institution, Elizabethtown College has depended on the districts for the major source of its trustees. Colleges recognized by the Church of the Brethren have half or more than half of its trustees as members of the denomination. In 1968, the Rev. and Mrs. Wayne A. Nicarry, a trustee from Southern Pennsylvania, gave a precedent-setting sum of $500,000 to support the college's expansion program. This was the largest single gift given to the college to that date.
Over the past decades, misunderstandings have arisen over the mean- ing of college ownership. The charter of the college contains a dissolution clause which has given rise to these misunderstandings. The clause re- quires, in the event of the closing of the college, that the property shall be sold and the assets shall be divided between the two districts. The clause also specifies that divided funds must be used for educational pur- poses. The dissolution clause has perpetuated the belief in college owner- ship. The Board of Trustees has been seeking advice from legal experts concerning the difficulties inherent in the charter and has been seeking to discover the implications of church ownership.
The question of church ownership has become a critical one in recent decades. The eligibility of the college to receive government funds depends upon the degree of control exercised by the church. In instances were the college projects "a religious image", public grants have been denied to the institution even if the funds were planned for non-religious purposes. Dr. Manning M. Pattillo, an authority in church-state relations in educa- tion, met with an EPIC committee on April 5, 1967. He noted that the
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term "Christian" attached to the college will tend to raise questions concerning state and federal support.
A report of the Middle States Association of Collges and Secondary Schools to the college in 1970 noted:
"The question, 'What does it mean to be a religious college during the second half of the twentieth century?' needs an answer. It would seem that a new definition is emerging. A religious college is one where the person is central, where the person develops through choosing between intellectual options, where living and learning are not separate, where the person becomes truly a person in the name of God. Surely Elizabethtown College is such a college."2
The enrolment at the college remains basically Protestant. About eighty-five percent of the students are of Protestant background, with fourteen percent of this number members of the Church of the Brethren. Ten percent of the student body is Catholic; two percent is Jewish or unaffiliated; one percent is Oriental and one percent Negro. About eighty percent of the students are residents of the state of Pennsylvania.3
The number of Protestant-controlled colleges in the United States has declined steadily. By 1962, there were only 496 Protestant colleges and 303 Catholic colleges in the nation. Although Elizabethtown College continues its church affiliation, there will likely be a loosening of church ties in the next decades. A District Conference paper of 1970 called for a study of the continuing relationship of the districts to Elizabethtown College and to higher education in general.4
The college has been responsive to the needs of the church by pro- viding a wide variety of services. It has furnished resource personnel, speakers, deputation teams, dramatic groups and choir concerts to the supporting districts. When the A. C. Baugher Student Union building was completed in 1962, the hope was expressed by college officials that the building would become "the center of youth activities for Eastern and Southern Pennsylvania". Brethren Youth Days, with nearly a thousand youth in attendance, have been sponsored by the college in mid-winter. On February 2, 1963, more than 400 youth from the Southern District attended the special day at the college. Bethany Theological Extension classes meet here regularly and attract many regional pastors and laymen. The college cooperated with the "Reading-For-Credit" plan of the Min- isters' Three-Year Reading program.
Bible Institutes, with college personnel in charge, have been popular with many congregations. Dr. Ralph W. Schlosser, Dr. Carl W. Ziegler, Elmer B. Hoover, Dr. A. C. Baugher and Dr. Robert Byerly have met with the churches of the district to lead such institutes. In the year 1961-1962, college personnel led fifty institutes in surrounding districts.
The college envisions its role as a center for the education of the youth of the churches. Many of these young people have returned to fill posi- tions of leadership at congregational, district and brotherhood levels.
The charter of Elizabethtown College is a universal charter con- taining very few limitations. Under such a charter, the college may offer programs leading to a wide variety of degrees. In addition, since its accreditation, the college has offered honorary degrees to prominent lead- ers of the state, the church and the community. Members of the Southern District who have been honored with honorary doctoral degrees by the college include George N. Falkenstein (January, 1949, D.D.), George L. Detweiler (January, 1949, D.D.), Jesse D. Reber (May, 1949, D.D.) and M. Guy West (1959, D.D.).
College policies are determined by the college Board of Trustees. The trustees are persons nominated by the college, by the several cooper- ating districts and by the Alumni Association. These trustees approve
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the operational procedures and assist in providing the financial resources needed to maintain the institution. In 1971, the trustees approved a record-breaking budget of $5,100,000 for the fiscal year 1971-1972.
Since 1940, the following Southern District personnel have served as members of the college Board of Trustees: C. E. Grapes (1931-1946), J. E. Trimmer (1936-1948), Noah S. Sellers (1936-1968), G. Howard Danner (1939-1953), Walter A. Keeney (1940-1942, 1965-1972), John F. Sprenkel, Jr. (1942-1968), J. Linwood Eisenberg (1944-1952), K. Ezra Bucher (1942- 1947), Jacob L. Miller (1946-1965), Norman F. Reber (1947-1950, 1967-1970), Chester H. Royer (1948-1969), E. E. Baugher (1952-1953), W. W. Leiter (1952-1955), Cyrus G. Bucher (1953-1972), Earl K. Ziegler (1966-1969), Oscar L. Hostetter (1968-1974), Wayne A. Nicarry (1967-1973), M. Guy West (1965-1969), Harvey S. Kline (1969-1970), G. Book Roth (1969-1972), Roger L. Forry (1972-1974), Vernon Nichols (1973-1975) and Elmer Q. Gleim (1973-1975). In recent years the district has appointed observers to sit at the Trustee Board meeting. Harvey S. Kline (1969) and J. Stanley Earhart (1970-1973) have served in this capacity.
Elizabethtown College has had ten presidents since its beginning. These presidents have been I. N. H. Beahm (1900-1901, 1904, 1907), George N. Falkenstein (1901-1904), D. C. Reber (1907-1918), H. K. Ober (1918-1921, 1924-1927), J. G. Meyer (1921-1924), Ralph W. Schlosser (1927-1928, 1929- 1941), H. H. Nye (1928-1929), A. C. Baugher (1941-1961), Roy E. McAuley (1961-1966) and Morley J. Mays (1966- ). George N. Falkenstein and A. C. Baugher were natives of Southern Pennsylvania.
Dr. Ralph W. Schlosser served at a time when the college was ac- credited by the state. He personally made many calls in order to raise $425,000 to help the college gain such recognition. He was also instru- mental in winning admittance for the college to the American Association of Colleges. Dr. Schlosser visited high schools and homes within the district in order to encourage students to attend Elizabethtown College. In his recent history of the college, he describes the period between 1928 and 1941 as the "Golden Age of Drama" at the campus.
Dr. Schlosser's keen interest in teaching led him back to the classroom in 1941. He has continued to teach English Literature and Shakespeare (1941-1970) and has been active as a Bible teacher and evangelist in the district churches.
Dr. A. C. Baugher was a native of Black Rock, Pennsylvania, and a member of a family of educators. He united with the Church of the Brethren at the Upper Codorus congregation in 1909 and was elected to the ministry by this congregation in 1918. When he retired from the college presidency in 1961, he listed four major achievements during his administration: 1 .- Gained official accreditation for the college in 1948 from the Middle States Association; 2 .- Boosted the financial support for the college from the churches and from industries; 3 .- Increased the physical facilities on the college campus; and 4 .-- Broadened the academic prestige of the college.
When Roy E. McAuley became the ninth president of the institution, Noah S. Sellers, vice-chairman of the Board of Trustees, conferred the charge of office upon him and invested him with the office. One of the major concerns for Dr. McAuley was the future of church-related institu- tions. This was a period in which state governments were assuming increasing responsibility for higher education. He appealed to the churches for suport so that the college could "teach freely in a context and in areas denied in secular institutions."5
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