| The Hagerstown Church of the Brethren |
| Tercentennial Minutes - July 2008 by Pastor Frank Ramirez of the Everett, Pennsylvania congregation |
| Hagerstown Church of the Brethren 15 S. Mulberry Street Hagerstown, MD 21740. Telephone: 301-733-3565. Fax: 301-733-3598. Office hours: Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. - noon & 1:00 –4:00 p.m. |
| MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the Hagerstown Church of the Brethren is to celebrate the love of Jesus Christ and glorify the Lord by striving to live as Christ lived, experiencing the power of God's healing in our lives. We seek to nurture our faith community through prayer, music and the proclaimed Word, while enthusiastically reaching out to others with compassion, respect and love for everyone so that we may grow in faith and commitment together. VISION STATEMENT Journeying with Christ Serving Our Neighbors Uniting at the Master’s Table |
In continuing celebration of 300 years of the Church of the Brethren we are including a “Tercentennial
Minute” in each worship service. Written by Pastor Frank Ramirez of the Everett, Pennsylvania
congregation, these short articles highlight our Brethren history and challenge our deeper discipleship. I
hope you enjoy them as much as I do. We are including them in the Tidings for those who missed and
those who want to hear it again. - Pastor Ed
Minute” in each worship service. Written by Pastor Frank Ramirez of the Everett, Pennsylvania
congregation, these short articles highlight our Brethren history and challenge our deeper discipleship. I
hope you enjoy them as much as I do. We are including them in the Tidings for those who missed and
those who want to hear it again. - Pastor Ed
The Great Starvation Experiment
About midway between VE day (May 8) and VJ Day (August 14) in the summer of 1945 Life
Magazine published an issue that included photographs of a starlet, the full text of the
Surrender document signed by the Germans, an editorial that warned that Russia was
becoming the number one problem for Americans – and photographs of Brethren that might
have been taken at a concentration camp.
A four page photo spread in the July 30, 1945 issue, had the heading “Men Starve in
Minnesota.” It showed thirty-six volunteers – nine of whom were Brethren – who had
voluntarily signed up to be starved nearly to death in order to teach scientists the effects of
hunger and strategies for restoring starving people. These individuals were conscientious
objectors who had been filtered through a rigorous screening program, before being
accepted. They were idealistic and looking for a way to help humanity through their service to
the nation.
Brethren in the program included Harold Blickenstaff, Wendell Burrous, Carylyle Frederick,
Jasper Garner, Earl Heckman, Roscoe Hinkle, Dan Miller, Richard Summers, and Robert
Willoughby. The participants were not only limited to less than 1600 calories a day, they were
required to walk twenty-two miles outdoors, every week, regardless of the weather.
Participants discovered that they lost interest in everything but food. These healthy young
men no longer cared about literature, sports, music, and most especially women. They licked
their plates and eagerly consumed every scrap that was given them. Their body weight
dropped dramatically until they were literally skin and bones.
The program was designed by Dr. Ancel Keys, whose reputation in nutrition had been
established with his invention of the K Ration. And following the war he was the researcher
who established the link between diet, cholesterol, and heart disease. The massive two-
volume study that resulted, The Biology of Human Starvation, is the only sanctioned study of its
kind. It would no longer be ethical to produce such a study, and it has proven priceless not
only for the rehabilitation of starving people, but has provided data essential to the study of
eating disorders such as anorexia.
And that’s the Tercentennial Minute for Sunday, July 6, 2008
The Group of Eight Original Brethren Study Their Bibles
In 1774, decades after the first Brethren baptism, Alexander Mack Jr., wrote down a few
memories of what he had been told about the decision on the part of the eight original
Brethren to baptize each other. They had separated themselves from the established churches
in an attempt to be faithful to the gospel, but they soon realized that they could not always
follow the New Testament instructions about church and church discipline, for the simple
reason they had no church.
Therefore, he remembered, some felt powerfully drawn to seek again the footsteps of the
first Christians. They passionately yearned to avail themselves in faith of the ordained
testimonies of Jesus Christ according to their right value. At the same time, it was emphatically
opened to them in their hearts how necessary is obedience in faith if a soul wishes to be
saved. This opening brought them immediately to the mystery of water baptism, which seemed
to them a door to the church after which they yearned. However, there were great differences
of opinion among the Pietists about baptism, which sometimes grieved the truth-loving souls.
Finally, in the year 1708, eight persons agreed together to establish a covenant of good
conscience with God, to accept all ordinances of Jesus Christ as an easy yoke, and thus to
follow after their Lord Jesus – their good and loyal shepherd – as true sheep in joy or sorrow
until the blessed end. …These eight persons united with one another as brethren and sisters
in the covenant of the cross of Jesus Christ as a church of Christian believers.
They found trustworthy histories that the early Christians during the first and second
centuries were planted into the death by crucifixion of Jesus, according to the commandment
of Christ, through trine immersion in the water bath of holy baptism. They therefore diligently
searched the New Testament and found that everything agreed with this perfectly. They
therefore had an ardent desire to be furthered through this means, practiced by Christ himself
and commanded by Him, for the fulfillment of all righteousness, according to His saving counsel.
Thus was set in place the resolve of these eight to perform baptism by immersion, even
though that act was illegal and could result in their deaths. Who were these eight, and what
finally happened on that day of baptism? That will be the subject of upcoming meditations. For
now it is enough that they have made their decision.
And that’s the Tercentennial Minute for Sunday, July 13, 2008
Golden Apples, Silver Bowls, and Baptism Among the Brethren
Prior to their first baptism in 1708 the original group of Brethren were part of a larger group
of religious refugees living around Schwarzenau, in the region of the Palatinate in what is now
Germany. Most of these believers, known as Pietists, shared the conviction of their leader
Ernst Christoph Hochmann von Hochenau that the true church was a spiritual body, and that
the outward signs of an organized church were not necessary.
The first eight Brethren, however, engaging in group Bible Study, decided that the church
of Jesus Christ must have visible organization and practice, based only on what appeared in
scripture. According to their accounts, the Brethren were influenced by traveling Mennonite
missionaries – but exactly who? The Mennonites of that region disagreed with the Brethren on
several important points.
The Mennonites of that time believed that one should only be baptized after giving
evidence or regeneration in the way one lived life, whereas the Brethren believed that one
should be baptized upon a confession of faith. Only after baptism would transformation begin.
The early Brethren believed in a much more concrete church structure than the
Mennonites. The words the Brethren use with communion: “The bread which we break is the
communion of the body of Christ; the cup which we bless is the communion of the blood of
Christ,” are drawn from 1 Corinthians 10, whereas most other Christian groups draw their
communion language from other parts of the Bible.
How could these ideas have come from the Mennonites that the Brethren knew, historians
wondered? One answer came with the recent translation into English of the book Golden
Apples in Silver Bowls. Originally published in Basil, Switzerland, in 1702, it seems to have
served as a source, or confirmation, of many of the ideas that the Brethren were developing in
their scripture study. Suddenly it all made sense – Swiss, not German, Mennonites had
provided the spark that helped the Brethren take action as a result of their study of scripture.
Despite opposition from people they admired, the first Brethren realized that in order to be true
to Jesus, they needed to be the church of Jesus Christ.
And that’s the Tercentennial Minute for July 20, 2007.
The Original Eight – The Cast of Characters
Who Were the Original Eight Brethren?
Andreas Boni (1673-1741) was a journeyman weaver and a native of Switzerland. After his
first wife died in 1704 he got into trouble with Swiss authorities for his religious views. He
refused military service, would not swear oaths, and refused communion at the Reformed
Church. On at least one occasion he was punished by being placed in the pillory, and was
expelled afterwards. By 1706 he had arrived in Schwarzenau, where he joined the others who
would found the Brethren movement. He and his second wife, Johanna, took part in the first
Brethren baptism.
Johanna Noethiger Boni married Andreas Boni following the death of her first husband,
before the two of them were baptized in the Eder River in Schwarzenau, in 1708.
Georg Grebe of Kassel was a master gunsmith. He and his wife Juliana moved to
Schwarzenau, and he was a co-author of a letter written with Alexander Mack asking Hochmann
von Hochenau for his advice on the subject of baptism.
Johanna and Johannes Kipping of Oberstenfeld in Württemburg were Lutherans, unlike the
rest of the first Brethren who came from the Reformed Church. In 1706 Johannes Kipping was
expelled from his city for refusing to allow his infant child to be baptized. The couple lost their
children, at least temporarily. Johanna was forced to remain separated from her husband for a
while in order to retain custody. By 1708 they had made their way to Schwarzenau to join the
other religious dissenters.
Alexander Mack, Sr. (1679 – 1735) would become the first minister of the Brethren following
their baptism. He was the son of a miller, and when his older brother died he would forgo
higher education at Heidelberg University to take over the family business. His father and his
grandfather had served as the Mayor of Schriesheim, and he would probably have done so as
well. Mack, however, and his wife Anna Margaretha became involved with the Pietist
movement, forcing them to flee their hometown. Mack often went on illegal preaching trips
with Hochmann von Hochenau. He eventually sold his part of the mill, and eventually spent all
his money supporting the first Brethren believers.
Anna Margaretha Kling Mack (1680 – 1720). Anna Margaretha was the daughter of the
innkeeper in Schriesheim. She married Alexander Mack on January 18, 1701 and gave birth
later that same year to her first son, Johann Valentin. Her second son, Johannes Mack, was
born two years later. At great risk to herself she welcomed bible study groups and evangelistic
leaders such as Hochmann von Hochenau into her home. She and her young family were
forced to flee her home town in 1706 to escape arrest and religious persecution, which
resulted in her setting up housekeeping in Schwarzenau.
Lukas Vetter, who was born in 1676, came from Hesse, Germany, but it is not clear how he
first came in contact with the Brethren. His wife was not one of those who took part in the first
baptism.
And that’s the Tercentennial Minute for today, July 27, 2008.
About midway between VE day (May 8) and VJ Day (August 14) in the summer of 1945 Life
Magazine published an issue that included photographs of a starlet, the full text of the
Surrender document signed by the Germans, an editorial that warned that Russia was
becoming the number one problem for Americans – and photographs of Brethren that might
have been taken at a concentration camp.
A four page photo spread in the July 30, 1945 issue, had the heading “Men Starve in
Minnesota.” It showed thirty-six volunteers – nine of whom were Brethren – who had
voluntarily signed up to be starved nearly to death in order to teach scientists the effects of
hunger and strategies for restoring starving people. These individuals were conscientious
objectors who had been filtered through a rigorous screening program, before being
accepted. They were idealistic and looking for a way to help humanity through their service to
the nation.
Brethren in the program included Harold Blickenstaff, Wendell Burrous, Carylyle Frederick,
Jasper Garner, Earl Heckman, Roscoe Hinkle, Dan Miller, Richard Summers, and Robert
Willoughby. The participants were not only limited to less than 1600 calories a day, they were
required to walk twenty-two miles outdoors, every week, regardless of the weather.
Participants discovered that they lost interest in everything but food. These healthy young
men no longer cared about literature, sports, music, and most especially women. They licked
their plates and eagerly consumed every scrap that was given them. Their body weight
dropped dramatically until they were literally skin and bones.
The program was designed by Dr. Ancel Keys, whose reputation in nutrition had been
established with his invention of the K Ration. And following the war he was the researcher
who established the link between diet, cholesterol, and heart disease. The massive two-
volume study that resulted, The Biology of Human Starvation, is the only sanctioned study of its
kind. It would no longer be ethical to produce such a study, and it has proven priceless not
only for the rehabilitation of starving people, but has provided data essential to the study of
eating disorders such as anorexia.
And that’s the Tercentennial Minute for Sunday, July 6, 2008
The Group of Eight Original Brethren Study Their Bibles
In 1774, decades after the first Brethren baptism, Alexander Mack Jr., wrote down a few
memories of what he had been told about the decision on the part of the eight original
Brethren to baptize each other. They had separated themselves from the established churches
in an attempt to be faithful to the gospel, but they soon realized that they could not always
follow the New Testament instructions about church and church discipline, for the simple
reason they had no church.
Therefore, he remembered, some felt powerfully drawn to seek again the footsteps of the
first Christians. They passionately yearned to avail themselves in faith of the ordained
testimonies of Jesus Christ according to their right value. At the same time, it was emphatically
opened to them in their hearts how necessary is obedience in faith if a soul wishes to be
saved. This opening brought them immediately to the mystery of water baptism, which seemed
to them a door to the church after which they yearned. However, there were great differences
of opinion among the Pietists about baptism, which sometimes grieved the truth-loving souls.
Finally, in the year 1708, eight persons agreed together to establish a covenant of good
conscience with God, to accept all ordinances of Jesus Christ as an easy yoke, and thus to
follow after their Lord Jesus – their good and loyal shepherd – as true sheep in joy or sorrow
until the blessed end. …These eight persons united with one another as brethren and sisters
in the covenant of the cross of Jesus Christ as a church of Christian believers.
They found trustworthy histories that the early Christians during the first and second
centuries were planted into the death by crucifixion of Jesus, according to the commandment
of Christ, through trine immersion in the water bath of holy baptism. They therefore diligently
searched the New Testament and found that everything agreed with this perfectly. They
therefore had an ardent desire to be furthered through this means, practiced by Christ himself
and commanded by Him, for the fulfillment of all righteousness, according to His saving counsel.
Thus was set in place the resolve of these eight to perform baptism by immersion, even
though that act was illegal and could result in their deaths. Who were these eight, and what
finally happened on that day of baptism? That will be the subject of upcoming meditations. For
now it is enough that they have made their decision.
And that’s the Tercentennial Minute for Sunday, July 13, 2008
Golden Apples, Silver Bowls, and Baptism Among the Brethren
Prior to their first baptism in 1708 the original group of Brethren were part of a larger group
of religious refugees living around Schwarzenau, in the region of the Palatinate in what is now
Germany. Most of these believers, known as Pietists, shared the conviction of their leader
Ernst Christoph Hochmann von Hochenau that the true church was a spiritual body, and that
the outward signs of an organized church were not necessary.
The first eight Brethren, however, engaging in group Bible Study, decided that the church
of Jesus Christ must have visible organization and practice, based only on what appeared in
scripture. According to their accounts, the Brethren were influenced by traveling Mennonite
missionaries – but exactly who? The Mennonites of that region disagreed with the Brethren on
several important points.
The Mennonites of that time believed that one should only be baptized after giving
evidence or regeneration in the way one lived life, whereas the Brethren believed that one
should be baptized upon a confession of faith. Only after baptism would transformation begin.
The early Brethren believed in a much more concrete church structure than the
Mennonites. The words the Brethren use with communion: “The bread which we break is the
communion of the body of Christ; the cup which we bless is the communion of the blood of
Christ,” are drawn from 1 Corinthians 10, whereas most other Christian groups draw their
communion language from other parts of the Bible.
How could these ideas have come from the Mennonites that the Brethren knew, historians
wondered? One answer came with the recent translation into English of the book Golden
Apples in Silver Bowls. Originally published in Basil, Switzerland, in 1702, it seems to have
served as a source, or confirmation, of many of the ideas that the Brethren were developing in
their scripture study. Suddenly it all made sense – Swiss, not German, Mennonites had
provided the spark that helped the Brethren take action as a result of their study of scripture.
Despite opposition from people they admired, the first Brethren realized that in order to be true
to Jesus, they needed to be the church of Jesus Christ.
And that’s the Tercentennial Minute for July 20, 2007.
The Original Eight – The Cast of Characters
Who Were the Original Eight Brethren?
Andreas Boni (1673-1741) was a journeyman weaver and a native of Switzerland. After his
first wife died in 1704 he got into trouble with Swiss authorities for his religious views. He
refused military service, would not swear oaths, and refused communion at the Reformed
Church. On at least one occasion he was punished by being placed in the pillory, and was
expelled afterwards. By 1706 he had arrived in Schwarzenau, where he joined the others who
would found the Brethren movement. He and his second wife, Johanna, took part in the first
Brethren baptism.
Johanna Noethiger Boni married Andreas Boni following the death of her first husband,
before the two of them were baptized in the Eder River in Schwarzenau, in 1708.
Georg Grebe of Kassel was a master gunsmith. He and his wife Juliana moved to
Schwarzenau, and he was a co-author of a letter written with Alexander Mack asking Hochmann
von Hochenau for his advice on the subject of baptism.
Johanna and Johannes Kipping of Oberstenfeld in Württemburg were Lutherans, unlike the
rest of the first Brethren who came from the Reformed Church. In 1706 Johannes Kipping was
expelled from his city for refusing to allow his infant child to be baptized. The couple lost their
children, at least temporarily. Johanna was forced to remain separated from her husband for a
while in order to retain custody. By 1708 they had made their way to Schwarzenau to join the
other religious dissenters.
Alexander Mack, Sr. (1679 – 1735) would become the first minister of the Brethren following
their baptism. He was the son of a miller, and when his older brother died he would forgo
higher education at Heidelberg University to take over the family business. His father and his
grandfather had served as the Mayor of Schriesheim, and he would probably have done so as
well. Mack, however, and his wife Anna Margaretha became involved with the Pietist
movement, forcing them to flee their hometown. Mack often went on illegal preaching trips
with Hochmann von Hochenau. He eventually sold his part of the mill, and eventually spent all
his money supporting the first Brethren believers.
Anna Margaretha Kling Mack (1680 – 1720). Anna Margaretha was the daughter of the
innkeeper in Schriesheim. She married Alexander Mack on January 18, 1701 and gave birth
later that same year to her first son, Johann Valentin. Her second son, Johannes Mack, was
born two years later. At great risk to herself she welcomed bible study groups and evangelistic
leaders such as Hochmann von Hochenau into her home. She and her young family were
forced to flee her home town in 1706 to escape arrest and religious persecution, which
resulted in her setting up housekeeping in Schwarzenau.
Lukas Vetter, who was born in 1676, came from Hesse, Germany, but it is not clear how he
first came in contact with the Brethren. His wife was not one of those who took part in the first
baptism.
And that’s the Tercentennial Minute for today, July 27, 2008.
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