USA > Pennsylvania > Change and challenge: a history of the Church of the Brethren in the southern district of Pennsylvania, 1940-1972 > Part 6
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4 .- The three districts could well employ staff personnel to serve in the areas of Christian Education, Ministerial Recruitment and Financial Affairs; and
5 .- Suitable office space should be provided for this joint venture on the campus of Elizabethtown College.
Even before these decisions were adopted by the joint boards, the Regional Board announced the employment of Roy S. Forney as the new Regional Secretary. Bro. Forney was a native of Pennsylvania and a successful pastor for many years. He brought to his work a maturity of judgment and practical wisdom which were helpful in the transitional years of the districts. He served in pastorates (1942-1956) in Pennsyl- vania and accumulated wide experience in the field of Christian Educa- tion, ministerial recruitment and brotherhood problems. He served as a district moderator four times and as a Standing Committee member on six different occasions.
When Bro. Forney assumed his work on September 1, 1960, he was fully cognizant that the position of Regional Secretary would be terminated in a few years. He wrote:
"I was faced with two problems. First was to keep the five dis- tricts of the region united and informed concerning the program of the brotherhood and any anticipated changes. Secondly, it was impor- tant to keep close to the regional program and to get the districts off on separate goals and programs."4
The new Regional Executive conducted nine meetings with represen- tatives from the five districts to consider their destinies. The Western and Middle Districts agreed to develop their own programs with their own District Secretaries. The Southern, Eastern and North Atlantic Districts agreed to foster a Tri-District program for a limited time. The Regional Secretary coordinated these changes by means of correspondence, con- ferences and an Eastern Region Letter.
Glenn Bowlby of the Western District and Bernard King of the Middle District cooperated with Bro. Forney as he promoted the work of the brotherhood. On March 27, 1961, the Tri-District Committee acted to employ Virginia S. Fisher as the first Director of Christian Education for the Tri-District program. Mrs. Fisher began her responsibilities on October 1, 1961 with offices located on the campus of Elizabethtown Col- lege. She was employed to coordinate the various phases of Christian Education within the districts and to sponsor training programs for local church and district personnel. Part of her work also involved the teach- ing of a college course at the college in the field of Christian Education.
The Tri-District program was experimental and exploratory. The three districts encouraged Virginia Fisher to develop "pilot projects" in the field of Christian Education. "This is to be done in an attempt to implement new trends in Christian Education", said a report of 1962. The arduous work of creating new educational programs was done in con- sultation with pastors and local church groups. Twice in 1962 Mrs. Fisher met with Southern District churches relative to their educational needs in building programs.5 The Tri-District Executive also taught a college level course in Christian Education at the Black Rock Church of the Brethren (1962) as several neighboring congregations joined in the
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studies. The Christian Education program began to turn the church's interests toward the teaching ministry of the people of God.
Mrs. Fisher was fond of repeating a Jewish proverb: "Life and reli- gion move forward on the feet of children." She frequently remarked to district leaders:
"We must find better ways of teaching and better trained teachers and better facilities. We must meet the challenge to do this as well as it is being done in our public schools."6
Trained in the field of Christian Education and history, Virginia S. Fisher was totally devoted to the cause of religious education. In the 250th anniversary year of the Church of the Brethren, she published a book for young people under the title, The Story of the Brethren (1958). For her unusual services in the field of Christian Education, she was honored in 1962 by the Department of the United Church Women of the Greater Philadelphia Council of Churches at its annual luncheon.
Under her guidance, adult work, age-group activities, leadership work- shops, recreational laboratories, Christian Education Days and National Training Conferences began to fluorish. The Tri-District Committee asked her to develop "individual Christian commitment in the local churches" and to train for home and family life. Mrs. Fisher continued to promote Christian Higher Education by offering a second college level course at the Waynesboro congregation (1963). The Mission Twelve program was also utilized in order to foster local church and district leadership.
On May 1, 1962, Roy S. Forney moved into new offices located at the United Church Center of Pennsylvania. These offices had recently been built on a seven-acre plot of ground in East Harrisburg. They served as the headquarters for the Pennsylvania Council, an organization comprised of 10,000 churches and 3,000,000 members of the Commonwealth. By moving the offices, the Regional Secretary acquired more space and the use of conference rooms and service facilities at the Center.
Bro. Forney continued to provide leadership in placing pastors in local congregations. Some concern was expressed that "there are so many pastoral replacements each year".7 Many congregational ministerial com- mittees jealously guarded their right to find pastors without guidance from the region. A letter from Bro. Forney to a church indicates the nature of the problem:
"I had some feeling that possibly the folk resented my presence. There may have been a few who felt that the church should have gone out on its own to seek a pastor. Such methods have proven unsatisfactory where churches have done so . . . I hope I made it clear . .. that when you elect a pastor for a two-, three-, or five- year period, at each time the congregation divides itself against and for the pastor, which is unfortunate for both church and pastor. You realize that in an indefinite contract, pastorates are terminated with- out leaving the congregation divided in voting."8
In October, 1963, the Southern District Conference approved a recom- mendation calling for the closing of the Regional Office by September 1, 1964. The recommendation also called for the employment of a Tri- District Executive Secretary and for the continuance of the contract of the Tri-District Christian Education Executive. The costs of the new program were to be shared proportionately by the Eastern, North Atlantic and Southern Districts. The new Tri-District Executive Secretary was to give chief concern to the areas of Ministry and Evangelism, Missions and Church Extension, Social Education and Action and Stewardship.9
Roy S. Forney accomplished his work of phasing out the regional work and carefully led the districts into new field programs. This was the second region in the brotherhood to phase out its work. Bro. Forney
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announced to the Southern District Board (March, 1964) that he would begin pastoral responsibilities on September 1, 1964 at the Jennersville Church of the Brethren. For his outstanding service to the Region and to the brotherhood, Bro. Forney was honored by the Elizabethtown Col- lege Citizen and Alumnus Citation for conspicuous work as a pastor and as the Regional Executive.
The new Tri-District Executive Secretary was Joseph M. Long, origin- ally a member of the Palmyra Church of the Brethren and a former pastor of the Chambersburg Church of the Brethren. He was known to the Southern District leadership since he had served as chairman of the Dis- trict Board (1958, 1959). A committee composed of Galen Kilhefner, John R. E. Hoover and M. Guy West submitted his name in nomination to the Tri-District Committee. The committee followed the wishes of the Tri- District board in finding a person who was seminary-trained, able to speak with ministers and who could follow a demanding schedule. In his per- sonality, he demonstrated enthusiasm and skill in dealing with people. In his spiritual life, he demonstrated consistency and depth of conviction. The committee found these qualities in the energetic and personable youth leader of the brotherhood, Joseph M. Long.
The work of the Tri-District Executive was to be comprehensive, rang- ing from brotherhood and inter-denominational concerns to local church concerns. The recommending committee said:
"the District Executive and the Director of Christian Education will not be able to do everything outlined in the job description in any one year. They will need to establish priorities and decide what most needs to be done at a given time."
The two Tri-District Executives worked as a team, correlating their efforts and dividing their responsibilities for a successful program.
The Southern District had not been fully prepared for the recommen- dation to decrease the number of brotherhood districts. A committee on realignment was appointed to study the possible courses of action open to the district. In 1962-1963, this committee consisted of Glenn E. Kinsel, M. Guy West, Earl K. Ziegler, Ronald H. Rowland, Bruce Anderson, Nor- man F. Reber and Mrs. Pauline Maxwell. After a series of study sessions, and joint meetings with neighboring districts, the committee recommended a continuing cooperation in the Tri-District program and the maintenance of an office in the United Church Center at Harrisburg.10
The 1963 Annual Conference recommended an evaluation of the cooperative field programs after a period of two years.11 Such an evalua- tion reported that the Southern District was bearing about thirty-three percent of the total costs of the program. It also acknowledged that Bro. Long spent his first year in developing close working relationships with the District Boards and the various commissions. Although he confronted a difficult task in meeting the needs of 101 churches in three districts, his prior experience as a pastor and as District Board chairman gave him an entree which might have been denied to others. His role as an admin- istrator was well-established by his positions as National Youth Director and as a member of the Executive Committee on Youth Work for the National Council of Churches. 12
The Tri-District Executives were conscientious and diligent servants of the churches. A report at the close of the first year said: "Bro. Long has given us splendid service in his first full year as our Tri-District Execu- tive." A Tri-District Committee evaluation agreed:
"We are very pleased with the progress that has been made in implementing new programs in the Tri-District, begun with the employment of an Executive Secretary and with the continuing pro- gram of Christian Education".13
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Virginia S. Fisher
Both Joseph M. Long and Virginia S. Fisher provided patient, far-sighted leader- ship to the District Board and its various commissions as long-range plans were de- veloped in the areas of Christian Educa- tion, Christian Stewardship, Social Educa- tion and Welfare and the Pastoral Ministry.
On September 18, 1965, the Tri-District Committee appointed an evaluation com- mittee for the program. This committee was composed of Galen Kilhefner, Luke Brandt and Earl Ziegler. When the com- mittee submitted its report on December 11, 1965, it outlined some alternatives for the cooperative field program. Three of the suggestions were:
1 .- Discontinue the Tri-District program and permit each district to determine its own program;
2 .- Discontinue the Tri-District program and develop another cooperative relationship with fewer districts; and
3 .- Continue the Tri-District program and begin to move in the direction of merging the three cooperating districts.
The Tri-District Committee carefully studied the proposals and recom- mended the merger of the three districts by the year 1968.
On three occasions, groups within the Southern District evaluated the Tri-District field program. The Southern District Board (April, 1966) commended Joseph Long and Virginia Fisher for their services. 14 A
Southern Pennsylvania Ministers' Fellowship evaluated the program (Feb- ruary 21, 1967) and promoted the idea of a joint meeting of the three District Boards. Such a meeting occurred in the Ridgeway Church of the Brethren on September 1, 1967. At this meeting, the Southern District proposed the continuation of the Tri-District program and a delay in any merger plans until 1970.
The consolidation of the Tri-District offices was a major administra- tive move in 1967. The office of the Director of Christian Education was moved from Elizabethtown College to a newly-completed wing of the United Church at Harrisburg. This change resulted in greater unity of effort and planning for the Tri-District program.
The Southern District continued to wrestle with the question of its relationship to the Tri-District program. M. Guy West, Ronald H. Row- land and Robert L. Cocklin were appointed to study possible courses of action for the district and to bring recommendations. This committee surveyed costs, location and alternatives to the current field program. The committee weighed the advantages and the disadvantages of an inde- pendent field program.
To promote discussion and to arrive at a consensus on the issue, a idstrict-wide open meeting was conducted at the Gettysburg Church to consider the issue of merger. A special District Conference convened a week later (April 30, 1968) at the same location to consider a District Board recommendation: That the Southern District be included in the merger discussions with Eastern Pennsylvania and the North Atlantic Districts.15 The recommendation failed to receive a two-thirds vote of the delegate body and failed to be adopted. The regular District Con- ference, meeting in Carlisle in the fall of 1968, agreed to continue in the cooperative field program. Following the Carlisle decision, eastern Penn-
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sylvania and North Atlantic Districts rejected the plan of a joint field program with the Southern District.
THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT FIELD PROGRAM
The Southern District Board recommended to the Annual District Conference at Chambersburg (1969) the establishment of "a field pro- gram with a full-time Executive for Southern Pennsylvania at the con- clusion of the Tri-District program".16 The conference willingly adopted the recommendation. The conference also approved a decision to seek supplemental support for the new program from the General Brotherhood Board. The Tri-District program was to be terminated in 1970.
Both Joseph M. Long and Virginia S. Fisher were helpful in preparing the Southern District for its own field program. In the kind of ministries they performed for the district,
"they have widened the scope of services and ministries rendered at all levels within our districts and churches. For their faithful and able services our district must always be grateful. They have estab- lished standards of performance which will be difficult to match."
To show its appreciation for their services, district leaders met with representatives from the North Atlantic and the Eastern Districts at a tribute dinner at the York First Church (September 19, 1970). The Tri- District program officially came to a close on October 1, 1970.
In 1969, the District Board prepared guidelines for the formation of a separate program. These guidelines were prepared by a committee composed of Philip Kulp, chairman, Samuel H. Flora Jr., Elmer Q. Gleim, Forrest B. Gordon and Robert H. Klucher. Joseph M. Long served as an advisor to the committee. The committee was subdivided to develop a job analysis, a realistic budget and to select a possible site for offices.
Philip Kulp presented the report of the committee to the District Board at its July meeting (1969). It was this board meeting which recom- mended to the District Conference the establishment of "a field program with a full-time District Executive". The District Conference heartily approved the recommendation and empowered the District Board to pro- ceed with the employment of a District Executive.
On November 19, 1969, the Executive Committee of the District Board met in the Mechanicsburg Church of the Brethren with Hubert R. New- comer, the Director of the Brotherhood Field Program, in attendance. The committee discussed the qualifications of an Executive and decided upon the following high credentials:
"The District Executive must be an individual who is sensitive to persons and to our unique problems in Southern Pennsylvania;
"He must be someone with wide experience in the church and familiar with the pastoral and free-ministry concepts;
"He must be someone with the ability to cultivate the coopera- tion and participation of all groups with their diverse points of view; "He must be an individual with the ability to implement the new plan of organization approved by the District Conference;
"He must be an individual who can work carefully with the dis- trict institutions as they confront heavy financial responsibilities in the coming years;
"He must be an individual who can counsel with ministers and laymen alike;
"He must be an individual who can develop a comprehensive district program;
"And he must be an individual who can work at the task of developing liaison with the district's congregations as they seek to minister to their communities."
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With these guidelines before it, the Executive Committee nominated eight persons as possible candidates. A committee composed of Elmer Q. Gleim, Earl K. Ziegler and Harvey S. Kline was appointed to negotiate with the nominees in proper order. The committee acted and selected J. Stanley Earhart, pastor of the Mechanicsburg Church of the Brethren, as the nominee for District Board approval. In its January, 1970 meeting, the District Board confirmed the action of the Executive Committee and J. Stanley Earhart was called to be the first Southern District Executive Secretary.
A native of Eastern Pennsylvania, the new Executive Secretary had wide experience in business and business education, the free ministry (1942-1945) and the pastoral ministry (1945-1970). He was chosen on the grounds of his thorough acquaintance with the needs of the district, his prior pastoral experience in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and his proven executive leadership at district level. He served as a moderator for six congregations, was active as a district moderator (1957, 1963) and was active on District Boards. He was also much in demand as a minister for preaching missions, having conducted forty-four between 1945 and 1970.
The District Board assisted Bro. Earhart in acquiring a part-time office secretary. Mrs. Ronald Stoner was employed by the board because of her previous experience and background in church work. She served as an office worker at the Mennonite Central Committee Headquarters at Akron, Pa. (1959-1960) and belonged to the Mennonite denomination. Mrs. Stoner has served efficiently as the office secretary and has met regularly in quarterly sessions of the District Board to record the Minutes.
J. Stanley Earhart
J. Stanley Earhart released a letter to the Mechanicsburg congregation announc- ing his "unanimous call from the District Board . . to become full-time District Executive Secretary". He also noted that his decision to resign from the pastorate was made because "the new calling offers an even greater challenge and opportunity for service".17
The first year in the new District of- fice was extremely strenuous and busy. The District Board made the decision to locate the offices in the older portion of the Brethren Home at Cross Keys. This was a happy decision because it is located close to the center of the district's church population and because it provides oppor- tunities for many people to meet and to confer with the District Executive.
J. Stanley Earhart continues in his office "a style of ministry and witness to which he has been committed" throughout much of his life. He has defined his work as one of communication between the brother- hood, the district and the congregations; as a service to individuals, com- mittees and boards of the district; and as the developing of relationships.
"The matter of relationships is probably the most important of all It is necessary that we be united in our efforts as a district to be faithful to Jesus Christ. There are different life styles and methods of organization and worship in our district, but it is imperative that we recognize that all of us can be involved in a meaningful, authentic and relevant ministry and that we do have a common commitment to Christ."18
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In many ways the District Executive has become an advisor to pastors, an administrator, a counselor to the ill and bereaved, a leader to boards and commissions as they plan. Bro. Earhart has coordinated the Mission Twelve programs, prepared the District Directory, processed the annual report blanks from the congregations, conducted conversations with pastors and moderators and attended the staff meetings in the Elgin Offices. The Executive has been involved in activities beyond the district. He attended an evangelism retreat in the Shenandoah District of Virginia, a Seminar at Princeton University and shared in a Family Life Conference at Eliza- bethtown College.
The district field program has become an essential and significant part of the church's life. The range and number of interests in the churches have required this change in the brotherhood life-style. The services once performed by district pastors and laymen have become so numerous and time-consuming that they can no longer be handled on a part-time basis. The life-style of the congregations have also undergone change over the patterns of former decades. New leadership, creative pastoral guidance, a continuing upgrading of lay training all demand alert and sensitive leadership at the district level. The District Executive provides the link between the churches, the district and the brotherhood.
In 1972, the brotherhood was overseeing twenty-two field programs in the United States. The average number of churches served by District Executives was forty-six. The Southern District Executive was serving forty congregations. The average number of persons within these various field programs was 8,681. The Southern District of Pennsylvania in 1972 had 9,519 members.
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CHAPTER FOUR DISTRICT ORGANIZATION AND PROGRAM
The Church of the Brethren has developed a unique form of church government. It has been able to combine local church control with representative district, regional and national policy-making units. This arrangement permits Christian initiative at all levels, involves many people in the decision-making process, and makes possible an impressive degree of unity in action. Each congregation has the right to be heard at the highest level. This democratic, congregational polity preserves the self-respect of the church member and the autonomy of the local congregation. At the same time, it involves the individuals and the churches in the larger life of the denomination.
The denomination has created three policy-making units: the local church, the District Meeting and the Annual Conference. Both the District Meeting and the Annual Conference are representative assemblies. Local congregations, unlike earlier American congregationalism, are not inde- pendent of one another but are under the supervision of both district and brotherhood.
In recent years, the major changes in church polity have moved the Church of the Brethren toward a more centralized organization. Concerns were expressed at the 1959 Annual Conference that there was a steady trend toward a presbyterian form of church government. Under current church practices, ministers are ordained by the districts and not by the local congregations. Final authority in all church matters is invested in the Annual Conference and the conference is expected to speak for the brotherhood. The trend in recent church polity is synodical.1 However, Annual Conference and district moderators are expected to use their powers sparingly. Dan West lifted high a towel at the Annual Conference as the symbol of the kind of leadership he would exercise in place of the gavel.2
The organized district is little more than a century old. By 1856, the volume of business coming to the Annual Conference was so great that it could not be dealt with in the allotted time. Virginia Brethren proposed to the Annual Meeting that five, six or even more districts should be formed by adjoining churches. The purpose was to lessen the business of the Annual Meeting by having these churches meet once per year to handle their problems. Problems which could not be settled at these area meetings were to be referred to the Annual Meeting.
In its beginnings, the district gathering performed clearing-house functions. Gradually it emerged into a fellowship occasion with an emphasis on program. These District Meetings resulted in the formation of districts. The first district formed in Pennsylvania was known as "Middle District" (1861). As we have already noted, a part of this district became the Southern District (1892). The Eastern District was formed in 1866.
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