USA > Pennsylvania > Change and challenge: a history of the Church of the Brethren in the southern district of Pennsylvania, 1940-1972 > Part 21
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In this year, Metropolitan Nikodim led a delegation of persons to America. Nikodim was the prelate best known to the churchmen of the western world. He had been credited with leading the Eastern Church into affiliation with the World Council of Churches. This delegation visited the General Offices of the Church of the Brethren and Bethany Theological Seminary. These people were taken on tours through the states, visiting many congregations and seeing places of interest to them.
In 1967, an Orthodox delegation returned to the states to visit for a second time with the Church of the Brethren. Again, Metropolitan Nikodim led a delegation of six persons, including three laymen and one laywoman. On this exchange, the delegation visited congregations, farms, cooperatives, shipping centers, religious, educational and social service agencies. Attempts were made in most instances to host the delegates in Brethren homes. The Southern District of Pennsylvania and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania were chosen as places to visit during this tour.
The Southern District was host to the delegation when it visited at the First Church of the Brethren in York. Dr. M. Guy West, minister of the congregation, prepared his membership earlier by speaking on "The Household of Faith". The purpose of this message was to acquaint the membership with an enlarged conception of the church so everyone could "be Christian in his attitudes toward all members of the household of faith". In this message, Dr. West explained how the Eastern Orthodox Church is related to other churches of Christendom.40
Criticism was rife concerning the Russian Churchmen's visit. Rumors were sometimes maliciously cast about concerning the purpose of the visit. Charges were loosely hurled that Metropolitan Nikodim was a Communist. W. Harold Row could only respond:
"I don't know whether he is a Communist, but my contact with him leads me to believe he is a Christian."41
Others contended the Communist authorities were using the Orthodox Church as a propaganda tool. American authorities on Eastern Orthodoxy had written widely to show the church was actually resisting such pres- sure from the Russian government.42
Much of the resistance to the visit came from those who held Funda- mentalist views. While the Russian Churchmen were being interviewed at the First Church parlors, nearly 200 Fundamentalist followers of Carl McIntire marched about the church property in protest. This group had made similar protests when the Russian delegates visited Atlanta, Georgia on its prior visit to America.
On the occasion of the 1967 visit, the membership of the First Church set up stands to serve the picketing lines with coffee and free copies of Dr. West's sermon, "The Household of Faith". News pictures of the event showed pickets carrying signs which read, "Nikodim is World Council of Churches leader." The First Church posted a placard which read: "In Christ there is no East or West."
The news media of York called the visit "an unprecedented event".43 Members of the Church of the Brethren were hosting representatives of
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a church which had been persecuted and repressed for many centuries. All indications pointed to the church's amazing vitality in a nation which had once determined to destroy it. The Church of the Brethren enter- tained representatives of a church which could trace its polity and theology to the first seven ecumenical councils of early Christianity.
The visit of the Orthodox churchmen to America resulted in continuing consultations between the two church bodies. Brethren and Orthodox met for depth discussions in 1968 as they explored peace, social concerns and the needs of the present world.44 A peace seminar met at Geneva in 1969 between these two bodies. Another conference was held in the Soviet Union in 1970 to continue the dialogue. These meetings were planned to discover ways of strengthening the peace witness in the Chris- tian community.45
All Christians have been seeking ways to discover the unity which exists in the midst of Christian diversity. Ecumenical thrusts have been helpful in making Christians aware of their membership in "the household of faith".46 Norman J. Baugher said of the dialogue between the Brethren and the Orthodox:
"The church's moral leadership on behalf of peace will not be taken seriously by the world as long as the world sees Christians separated from one another. These discussions have a basic value in the search for oneness in Christ as well as in peace."47
THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT AND THE MINORITY QUESTION
By the year 1965, one-third of all blacks in the United States were living in twelve metropolitan areas in the North and the West. Negroes have had a tendency to mass themselves in the larger cities. They have shown a tendency to follow the pattern of settling in older sections of a city in much the same fashion as other ethnic groups have done.48 In 1960, in the 19th Congressional District, which comprises forty-two percent of the Southern District, there were 7,478 Negroes. 49
The region occupied by the Church of the Brethren in 1970 had nearly 665,000 inhabitants. In this same area, there were less than 8,000 Negroes, or slightly more than one percent of the total population. The percentage of Negroes in the state of Pennsylvania for the same year was seven and one-half.50 The minority question is known to the Brethren since they themselves have been a minority group in society. Some people have been sympathetic to the Negro minority because they have a memory of how minorities have been treated. Others have felt no insistence in the question, perhaps because they live in areas of the district which continue to be largely rural.
In June, 1963, President John F. Kennedy threw the problem of racial discrimination back to the American people as a challenge:
"Legislation cannot solve this problem alone. It must be solved in the homes of every American in every community across this country. It is time to act in the Congress and, above all, in all of our daily lives."
In the 1960s, America experienced a time of heightened racial tension. In the twenty-one years following 1945, National Guardsmen were called sixty times to put down racial disturbances in the nation. The tensions and problems of this time are reflected in the Annual Conference themes. Between 1962-1965, the theme was: "To Heal The Broken". The 1963 Annual Conference issued a special paper under the heading, "The Time Is Now!"
The Southern District Social Education and Action Commission ap- pealed to each congregation of the district to take action on whether it
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would admit people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds to its member- ship.51 The same kind of action was taken across the brotherhood. In 1964, many issues of The Gospel Messenger carried listings of churches which acted to develop inclusive memberships.52
The response from the Southern District was not enthusiastic. About one-third of the congregations responded. One congregation reported: "We do not need to take special congregational action. Our constitution already provides for the reception of peoples of all ethnic backgrounds." Another congregation said that it had reaffirmed a decision made as early at 1922. A third small congregation in a rural area advertised its church services with a sign which said: "Open to all nationalities."53
In 1968, the racial unrest in the nation reached a crescendo of violence. Churches carefully discussed "the crisis in the nation". The Southern District Board appointed several committees to deal with the developing tensions in such cities as Harrisburg, Carlisle, Chambersburg, Shippensburg and York. These committees kept the board and the district congregations informed concerning courses of action Brethren could take in the face of threatening violence.
Following the Ocean Grove Conference (1968) there was a Brethren Witness in Washington, D. C. Many people went from the conference to Washington to urge their Congressmen to take steps to eliminate pov- erty and racial discrimination and to take bold measures to end the Vietnam War. Opportunities were offered to Brethren to engage in dia- logue with the participants in the Poor Peoples' Campaign. These people were already residing in "Resurrection City".54
The Poor Peoples' Campaign was sponsored by the Southern Chris- tian Leadership Conference. Every effort was made to make the March on Washington a demonstration of nonviolence. The March officially began on May 2, 1968 at Memphis, Tennessee. Mexican-Americans, the rural poor, the ghetto poor and the poor of Appalachia came from all parts of the nation. It was said that these people who were politically invisible now became visible. They offered a massive confrontation of the nation's lawmakers to present their plight.
There were divided feelings within the Church of the Brethren con- cerning the poor in Washington. Some churches were used as collection centers for food to be used to nourish the marchers.55 Others expressed outrage and regarded the whole scene as scandalous. Whatever the per- sonal feelings of individuals, however, there were some very definite results of this direct action movement. Many United States Congress- men now began to take a hard line on defense spending in the nation. The March itself demonstrated that there was an alternative to the kind of violence which had ripped the nation earlier. A people who were seeking to build some degree of power and pride were being seen and heard and were beginning to gain some support from public opinion on behalf of the justice of their cause.
Unfortunately, some groups continued to resort to violence. Such violence came to the District in July, 1968. The city of York-a city of 47,000 whites and 5,500 blacks-lashed with a period of racial unrest. A visiting black woman from the South and a white policeman of the com- munity, lost their lives in the outbreaks. Vandalism among youth gangs had been rife prior to the outbreaks. Youthful white and black gangs ranged freely until a state of emergency was declared and a curfew was placed on the city. A show of force by 300 National Guardsmen ended the disorders. The blacks were enraged because the police used police dogs to quell the disturbances.
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The York County Council of Churches sponsored city-wide discussion groups in an effort to come to terms with the grievances of the various elements of the community. Areas of discussion included such topics as employment, housing, the administration of justice, recreational needs, education, welfare and public assistance. These reports were collected at the close of 1967. However, this action was not enough to stem the developing unrest.
Violence has been one of the means employed by groups competing for places in the power structures of society. On occasions, it has been the mark of despair: the outcry of the hopeless, the frightened, the in- secure. It is the resort of people who have often been frustrated in their dreams. The violence associated with the 1960s, unfortunately, has cast its dark shadow over all movements and demonstrations, making them suspect.
So frequently the church has been accused of speaking about social justice and of doing little about it. There have been notable exceptions. In 1968, the First Church of the Brethren of York cooperated with the York County Council of Churches in an experiment in housing. Housing had been a political issue in the campaign of 1960. Very little issued from the campaign promises. The First Church of the Brethren appointed a committee within its congregation to purchase a deteriorated house in the center of the community. This committee worked to renovate the house in order to meet the requirements of the city's housing code. The house was later resold to a family without profit (See York First Church).
The Mechanicsburg Church of the Brethren in 1970 worked a home mission project from some poor of its own community. During a three- week period, seventeen men of the church gave 180 hours of their time in painting and repairing a property for a family in need of help. The family was not a member of the congregation. As part of the project, the pipeless furnace was repaired by church volunteers.56
The New Fairview Church of the Brethren developed a local Brethren Service Committee. This committee has ministered in emergencies, counseling with people who need help in times of distress. In addition, the Service Committee has supported the work of the York Rescue Mission and the work of Teen Encounter. In the period from 1968 to 1971, the congregation has given in excess of $20,000 to such inner city work.
In 1969, the Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren set aside a sum of money known as "The Fund For the Americas". The conference raised $11,700 by cash and pledges to launch the program.57 The name of the fund was an outgrowth of the Kerner Commission report concerning racial violence in the nation. The report warned: "Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white-separate and unequal."58
There was sufficient opposition to this fund in the brotherhood that it had to be separated from the regular brotherhood budget for account- ing purposes. The fund established the principle that Brethren could do at home what they have been doing for more than fifty years overseas. The Fund For the Americas assisted blacks and other minority groups by providing them funding for community organization and economic develop- ment. The fund also assisted Brethren to come to grips with institutional and individual racism.
The fund came to Southern Pennsylvania at two locations. A check for $2,000 was presented in 1970 to the Crispus Attucks Center to assist in the relocation of this York agency. The center had been evaluated as providing a major cultural and organizing role for the black community of the city.
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The Annual District Conference at Gettysburg (1971) heard how members of the District Witness Commission presented a check for $2,000 to a community in Fulton County. The District Executive, a member of the Elgin staff and the chairman of the Witness Commission, visited with the Project H.O.P.E. (Homes On Peoples Energies) near McConnellsburg. The visit was satisfactory and the Witness Commission won approval from the District Board and from the brotherhood to give a bequest of money to aid the project. On July 12, 1971, members of the Witness Commission personally delivered the check to these people to help them provide adequate housing for themselves.
These people, who live in "the Ridge" area near McConnellsburg, represent a number of pockets of rural poverty among the blacks who live in Pennsylvania since the Civil War period. When the Abolitionist movement developed the "Underground Railroad". many escaped slaves decided to take refuge in the mountaineous areas of Pennsylvania instead of fleeing into Canada. Descendants of these original slaves have lived for many years in these poverty pockets. When a knowledge of their presence and needs reached the Witness Commission, action was taken to assist them.
The black settlement on "the Ridge" numbers about 100 persons. H.O.P.E. Inc. makes loans to these people in order to encourage them to build homes for themselves or to improve the homes they already own. Materials for the homes are purchased at discount rates from local outlets and labor is provided by local residents with the assistance of skilled carpenters and builders. The money borrowed for the project is grad- ually repaid and is reinvested in some new home improvement project.
Many members of the Church of the Brethren became involved in the poverty program at another point. In 1970 and following years, it be- came a regular practice each fall to "Take A Walk For CROP". Each county CROP chairman established a goal of cash to be raised to aid the poor. Young and old join in a walk as they look to sponsors to pay stated sums for each mile the participant walks. The custom has been to walk ten miles.
Many people first became aware of the plight of the migrant worker by reading John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. Following 1940 there was a rising concern for some specialized ministry for these people. In the 1950s, the Pennsylvania Council of Churches began to assume the super- vision of a ministry to the migrant. The Council called Charles Frazier to oversee the ministry to the more than 10,000 agricultural workers who enter the state each year. Charles Frazier worked with local committees and governmental agencies to develop services to aid the migrant and his community.59
The Council of Churches has appointed chaplains to serve these people. Some chaplains were trained in the Laubach method of instruction in order to deal with the high rate of illiteracy among the workers.60 Wor- ship services, Bible Schools for children, personal counseling and recrea- tional programs were provided under the Town and Country Ministry. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry inspected the camps in which these people lived in order to assure safe water supplies, adequate sewage and garbage disposal and clean food handling processes.61
Warren Kissinger, a pastor of the Carlisle Church, had opportunity to serve as a chaplain to the migrants. The chaplain took workers to hospitals and to clinics, gave health kits to children and adults, and dis- tributed blankets and clothing. The Upper Conewago congregation also had the experience of ministering to Spanish-speaking migrants who entered Adams County to pick apples. The congregation secured Angelo
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Franco, head of the Spanish Language Department at Gettysburg College, to teach the young men who attended the services at the Trostle House. (See Upper Conewago Congregation).
A report of 1968 indicated that seven thousand migrants entered Pennsylvania to work in counties close to the Maryland border. Frank- lin and Adams Counties alone housed more than 2,000 migrants in 120 camps. A typical harvest year in Pennsylvania showed seventy-five per- cent of the migrants, working in orchards and fields of the state, were Southern Negroes, twenty-one percent were Puerto Ricans and four percent were Mexican-Americans from Texas. About thirty-two counties of the state regularly employ "professional harvesters".
Churches of Southern Pennsylvania have been confronted with a new style of Christian witness. The forms of Christian witness have arisen out of an age in crisis. If there have been differences between one congregation and another, the issue is not over doctrine as it was in the nineteenth century, but over social concerns. Activism has been taking precedence over organization and bureaucratic structure. The church faces a world in which response is an immediate requirement. If there are divisions, these now center in the differences between a faith theology and a works theology. The discerning mind, however, discovers that these two theologies can never be separated.
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CHAPTER TWELVE SCHISM AND DISSENT
Students of the history of the Church of the Brethren are aware of internal movements within the denomination. Some of these eventually separated from the church and others remained a part of the church's life. Such schismatic movements as the Seventh Day Baptists, the Far Western Brethren, the New Dunkers, the Bowman Brethren and the Old Order Brethren are known to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In each instance, these movements removed members from the Church of the Brethren.
Similar movements have occurred within the denomination but have remained part of the life of the church. The Sunday School movement of the nineteenth century was an independent movement which eventually became an accepted function of the church. The mission movement also began independently of the church in America and was eventually adopted by the church. The Church of the Brethren has witnessed both schismatic and dissenting movements within the Southern District.
The story of the Lower Cumberland congregation relates that church's experience with a group known as the Dunkard Brethren. This congre- gation also had a later experience with a group which was called "the Bible Brethren". A note from the Minutes of the District Ministry Commission for the year 1951 makes this statement:
"The condition of the district in general is good. However, there is a trend to support an independent movement which has organized as 'The New Testament Brethren'. They have a church in the Lower Cumberland congregation and also one established near Needmore, Fulton County. This last group has taken some members from the Chambersburg congregation."1
Clair H. Alspaugh, who had been a minister in the Lower Cumberland congregation, drew some members of the Miller's meetinghouse to his move- ment and views. When the congregation requested help in handling its difficulties, he and some members of the congregation withdrew from its membership. This group built a white frame church about a mile from the Miller's house and took the name "Bible Brethren".
In 1954, this movement entered York County at the Locust Grove Chapel, drawing away members from the Pleasant Hill and Upper Cone- wago congregations. The group purchased the Union Church building in the Pigeon Hills near Abbottstown. When Clair H. Alspaugh submitted his resignation from the Church of the Brethren in 1948, he gave as his reasons for leaving the church's affiliation with the Federal Council of Churches and the failure of the local congregation "to accept doctrinal preaching as inspired by the Holy Spirit". Three church houses eventually formed the meeting places for the Bible Brethren followers. A third house was located in Lebanon County. Although the movement has re- mained small, it has been able to support one missionary to South America.
In 1954, the District Ministry Commission was called to the Upper Conewago congregation "to face a very unusual situation".2 J. L. Miller, J. Albert Cook and Robert L. Cocklin dealt with a movement which was promoted under the name of "Holiness Movement". Some members of the congregation began independent worship services contrary to the decisions of the ministers of the church. These disaffected members insti- tuted a tent meeting within a mile of the Mummert's meetinghouse. The charge made by the leaders of the movement was that "the spiritual- ity of the Church of the Brethren has deteriorated to the extent that she can no longer administer to the spiritual needs of the world".
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A number of persons from the Upper Conewago Church identified themselves with the discontented group. When members of the District Ministerial Committee asked members of the Holiness Movement to identify themselves, "they gloried in doing this and considered it an opportunity to testify for the Lord". This procedure revealed about thirty people who identified themselves with the movement. The leader and his family eventually resigned from the congregation and united with another denomination.
In 1957, some people formerly associated with the New Fairview congregation began to conduct cottage prayer meetings. They stressed personal holiness, the spiritual life and the experience of the Holy Spirit as a second work of grace. Edward Waltersdorff continues to serve as the minister to this group which meets in a small meeting- house on West Princess Street in West York. The organization has been incorporated as a nonprofit society. The membership is composed of a number of former members of the Church of the Brethren. These people continue to make use of the prayer veil in their meetings. They practice footwashing and the bread and cup Communion without the Lovefeast service.
In the 1970s, the denomination became aware of a charismatic move- ment. The name derived from the Greek word "charisma", meaning "a gift, a kindness or grace". The term "charisma" became popular in the 1960s to describe a special personal magnetism inherent in some leaders of the nation. The term derives from the New Testament where the Apostle Paul describes the gifts of the Spirit (I Corinthians 12-14; Ephesians 4:11f).
The movement was present in small groupings in several areas of the district. Members associated with the Church of the Brethren were influenced by the Full Gospel Business Men's Association which promoted the movement. The expressions of religious fervour in this movement were seen in 1967 on Catholic college campuses. In some ways it appears to be a recurrence of the Holiness Movement which appeared among some Brethren in the 1950s. Small cliques have formed in churches in the York, Waynesboro, Gettysburg and Mechanicsburg areas.
The movement is characterized by exuberance and the desire to be free of formality. Gifts of the Spirit are accepted, oftentimes in reverse order of the Scriptural ranking (I Corinthians 12:7-11). In the early 1970s, associates of the movement continued within the church, seeking to convert other church members to the new-found faith. As this chapter is being written, there have been some tendencies toward separation from the church. In some instances, the new-found faith has promoted new forms of self-righteousness.
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