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The Evangelical United Brethren subsequently merged with The Methodist Church in 1968 to form the United Methodist Church . The EUB congregations in Canada joined into the United Church Of Canada , a previous (1925) merger of Methodists, Congregationalists, and some Presbyterians. UNITED BRETHREN HISTORY Though not organized until 1800 , the roots of the church reach back to 1767 . In May of that year, a Great Meeting (part of an Interdenominational Revival movement) was held at a barn belonging to Isaac Long in Lancaster, Pennsylvania . Martin Boehm (1725-1812), a Mennonite preacher, spoke of his becoming a Christian through crying out to God while plowing in the field. Philip William Otterbein (1726-1813), a Reformed pastor at York, Pennsylvania , left his seat, embraced Boehm and said to him, "Wir sind bruder (we are brethren)". The followers of Boehm and Otterbein formed a loose movement for many years. It spread to include German-speaking churches in Pennsylvania, Virginia , Maryland , and Ohio . In 1800, they began a yearly conference. Thirteen ministers attended the first conference at the home of Peter Kemp in Frederick, Maryland . At that conference in 1800, they adopted a name, the United Brethren In Christ , and elected Boehm and Otterbein as Bishop s of the conference. The United Brethren Church claims this organization in 1800 as the first denomination to actually begin in the United States. A Confession of Faith was adopted in 1815 (similar to one written by Otterbein in 1789), and it has remained the statement of church doctrine to the present. In 1841 , they adopted a Constitution. It has remained mostly intact, being changed only a few times. The United Brethren took a strong stand against slavery, beginning around (the father of aviation pioneers Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright ), disagreed with the actions of the majority. Bishop Wright and other conference delegates left the meeting and resumed the session elsewhere. They believed that the other delegates had violated the Constitution (and, in effect, withdrawn from the Denomination ), and deemed themselves to be the true United Brethren Church. Until 1946 two groups operated under the name Church of the United Brethren in Christ, though the minority was known as the Church of the United Brethren in Christ (Old Constitution). In 1946 , the larger United Brethren branch merged with the Evangelical Association to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church. That body in turn merged with the Methodist Church in 1968 to form The United Methodist Church. The present United Brethren Church is descended from the minority who organized under the leadership of Bishop Milton Wright. |
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