Otterbein University - Sibyl Yearbook (Westerville, OH)

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B. Keph

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Christ. Here a Confession of Faith was adopted and a book of Dis- cipline, containing rules for the government of the Church. The Minis- try of the Church, especially west of the Alleghenies, came in contact with the English speaking peoples in those sections, who proved them- selves to be vigorous supporters of the Church. As a result, the Confer- ences to the West soon became English, and the growth became more rapid, as the field grew wider. The same effect followed in the East, perhaps not quite so rapidly, until, while in 1820 the Ministry of Church numbered only about one hundred and fourteen and the laity ten thou- sand, in 1845 it had grown to tive hundred and eighty-one ministers and about thirty-six thousand lay-members. In 1837 the General Con- ference adopted the first Constitution, which was short lived, but in 1841 the General Conference adopted a second Constitution and Confession of faith, which served as the basis of its legislation and Creed up till 1898. The intervening period from ISZO to 1889, was marked by rapid growth. The Publishing House had its beginning in 1834, and the first issue of the Religious Telescope appeared in that year. In 1845 the first steps in our Educational history were taken, and in 1847, the first College, Otter- bein University, was opened. In 1853 the Missionary Society was or- ganized, and one year later the first Missionaries were appointed. The VVoman's Missionary Association was organized in 1875, and its work has been phenomenal for good. In 1820 our first Sabbath School was or- ganized, and the growth in this most vital department of our Church, has so developed that in our Sunday Schools at present, the membership is 26o,333. The Young People's Christian Union was organized in 1890, and in 1902 it had a membership of 63,846 While the growth of the United Brethren Church has not been as rapid as some Sister Churches, it has not been as slow as others. It .now has a membership of at least 25o,ooo-- with its Schools established and well nigh out of debt, together with all its other needed equipments to push forward the Kingdom of God. In the pioneer work of the Church, the names of Otterbein, Boehm, Newcomer, Gueating, Zeller, Spayth, the Kumbers, the Davises, Glossbrenner, Edwards, and many other great and good men, were prominent factors. May their sons and daughters, in the Lord, continue as valiant for the truth, as their Fathers were. ' E. B. KEPHART. 9

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CIHVOS 'IAHIS