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committed to historic Baptist & Reformed
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A
RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPÆDIA:
OR
DICTIONARY
OF
BIBLICAL, HISTORICAL, DOCTRINAL, AND PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.
BASED ON THE REAL-ENCYKLOPÄDIE OF HERZOG, PLITT AND HAUCK.
EDITED BY
PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LL.D.,
Professor in the Union Theological Seminary, New York.
ASSOCIATE EDITORS:
REV. SAMUEL M. JACKSON AND REV. D. S. SCHAFF,
TOGETHER WITH AN
ENCYCLOPÆDIA OF LIVING DIVINES
AND
CHRISTIAN WORKERS
OF ALL DENOMINATIONS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA.
EDITED BY
REV. PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LL.D.,
AND
REV. SAMUEL MACAULEY JACKSON, M.A.
THIRD EDITION REVISED AND
ENLARGED.
VOL. IV.
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY,
1894.
TORONTO
LONDON.
NEW YORK.
WINEBRENNERIANS,
the popular designation of a Baptist denomination officially
called "The Church of God." The founder, the Rev. John Winebrenner,
was a minister of the German Reformed Church; b. March 25, 1797, in Frederick
County, Md.; d. Sept. 12, 1860, in Harrisburg, Penn. He was settled in 1820, in
Harrisburg, over four congregations of the German Reformed Church,--one in town,
and three in the country. Soon after his settlement a revival began in his
churches, on account of which, as he wrote, he encountered much opposition from
members and ministers of the synod. "This state of things," according
to his own account, "lasted for the space of about five years, and then
resulted in a separation from the German Reformed Church." This separation,
which must have been in 1825, did not interrupt the revival. On the contrary, it
spread, and there were "multitudes happily converted to God." These
converts were organized into churches; and, as Mr. Winebrenner's views as to the
nature of a scriptural ecclesiastical [2538] organization
had meantime changed, these churches were formed as "spiritual, free, and
independent churches." Ministers were raised up from among the converts;
but until 1830 they co-operated with Mr. Winebrenner, without any definite
practical system. The first congregation called "The Church of God"
was organized in 1829; and in the following year the ministers met together, and
agreed upon the principles upon which the new denomination should be based.
Winebrenner was elected speaker (president) of the conference, and preached a
sermon, in which he gave an outline of the faith and practice of New-Testament
churches. Such churches should be formed, (1) of "believers only"; (2)
"without sectarian or human name"; (3) "with no creed and
discipline but the Bible"; (4) subject to no foreign jurisdiction (5)
"they should be governed by their own officers, chosen by a majority of the
members of each individual church." Thus originated the Annual Eldership,
or Conference. There are now, chiefly in Pennsylvania and the West, fifteen
annual elderships, besides a General Eldership (triennial), which adopts general
legislation for the church, and controls its denominational activities and
benevolences. The ministers, of whom there are four hundred and fifty, are
called elders, and occupy stations, or itinerate in given districts under the
control of their respective elderships, or travel as missionaries at large. The
number of members is estimated at forty-five thousand. The church was organized
by Germans, and the German element enters largely into the membership. One
eldership is wholly German. The church holds in biblical language to the general
doctrines of evangelical Christianity, but emphasizes the ordinances of baptism,
the Lord's Supper, and feet-washing. These are "positive ordinances of
perpetual standing in the church." Without faith and immersion, baptism is
not valid. Feet-washing is "obligatory upon all Christians." The
Lord's Supper should be "administered to Christians only, in a sitting
posture, and always in the evening." The Church of God claims, that, as
distinguished from other Protestant churches, it has a "special, precious,
and glorious plea: it is the restoration of primitive Christianity in letter and
spirit, in faith and practice." At Harrisburg, the church has a
publishing-house. The Church Advocate is the weekly organ of the body,
which has no colleges. Its relations with the Free Baptists have been very
cordial, and its students have patronized Free-Baptist institutions. It has an
academy at Barkeyville, Penn., and a college-building is in process of erection
in Findlay, O.
There are few denominational publications. Elder Winebrenner wrote a sketch of
the denomination for Rupp's Religious Denominations, Philadelphia, 1844;
but no denominational history has been written. Elder Winebrenner's Doctrinal
and Practical Sermons are published by the Board of Publication, in
Harrisburg, in a volume of upwards of four hundred pages, together with his
treatise on Regeneration, a Revival Hymn-Book, The Reference and
Pronouncing Testament. He was several times speaker of the General
Eldership, and was for some years editor of The Church Advocate.
