THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN AT ELIZABETHTOWN, PA

A BRIEF HISTORY

by Jobie Riley

In the year 2002, the Church of the Brethren at Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, celebrated one hundred years as a separate congregation. In 1902, the nearby Chiques congregation divided into four groups, one of which was chartered as the Elizabethtown congregation, with 160 members. Until 1908, the denominational name was German Baptist Brethren. The Brethren movement was founded by Alexander Mack in 1708 in what is now Germany. The Church of the Brethren and four other denominations trace their history to the same source. The others are the Brethren Church, the Dunkard Brethren, the Fellowship of Grace Brethren, and a group still calling themselves the German Baptist Brethren. Other groups having "Brethren" in their name have no direct connection with this heritage.

Major beliefs of the founding fathers included peace and nonresistance, no force in religion, adult baptism (for believers, by choice rather than infant baptism), service to others, and having no creed but the New Testament.

The Church of the Brethren has about 1,400 congregations and almost 300,000 members in the USA and in overseas missions. It has some 2,000 ordained ministers, 450 licensed ministers, and 80 lay speakers. Scattered across the U.S. A., it has 25 retirement homes and 33 summer camps.

The denomination has spawned five colleges, one university, and one graduate seminary which continue to be related to the Church of the Brethren. Several mission schools and hospitals are located overseas. The denominational offices in Elgin, Illinois, include the Brethren Press, which produces curricular materials, worship aids, and promotional items used by this denomination as well as other denominations. Two major journals are published. Messenger is sent monthly into most Brethren homes; a quarterly journal, Brethren Life and Thought, is subscribed to more selectively. In 1983, The Brethren Encyclopedia was published in three volumes.  A fourth volume was published in 2005.

Despite its modest size, the Church of the Brethren has been influential. For example, it is one of the three historic peace churches, along with the Friends and the Mennonites. It founded or participated in the founding of such groups as Heifer Project, International; Church World Service; National Service Board for Religious Objectors; the National Council of Churches; and the Peace Corps (in that President Kennedy's advisors consulted with leaders of the denomination’s successful Brethren Volunteer Service program).

GETTING STARTED AT ELIZABETHTOWN

In 1870, about a dozen persons had started meeting in a borrowed church in Elizabethtown. As the numbers grew, they bought an old schoolhouse and met there from 1875 until they built a church in 1888. In 1902, joined by others from Chiques, the congregation was chartered.

BRICK AND MORTAR

As the congregation continued to grow, the decision was made to move to a more spacious area. The current building was built in 1956. The first major change to the new building occurred in 1963, when a Christian education wing was added. The rooms were shared with Elizabethtown College for several years. An addition was made to the opposite side of the sanctuary in 1995, including a sheltered entrance and an elevator to make all levels of the entire building accessible to handicapped persons. Recent construction on another modification has improved the heavily used kitchen, several classrooms, and the office area.    In 2007, air conditioning was installed in the sanctuary and selected lower-level areas.

THE ORGAN

In 1941 the Good Shepherd class donated the church's first organ —a Hammond electric.  Presently, the worship experience of this congregation is greatly enhanced by the 26-rank Reuter pipe organ which was installed in 1967 and updated in 2005.   The update involved installation of a new Aeolian-Skinner style computer-controlled three-manual console with the addition of forty-one digitally reproduced stops.

SERVICE  TO  OTHERS

Outreach has always been a major interest of this congregation. Home mission preaching was started early, and two mission congregations were begun; concern for overseas evangelism resulted in the giving of money and the sending of missionaries from the congregation; a church school program was begun in 1937; and a peace studies program for youth was started shortly before WW II began.

Members of this congregation were instrumental in the founding of Camp Swatara, Church of the Brethren Youth Services, and the Disaster Relief Auction. The camp hosts hundreds of children and youth each summer, has a large family camping area, and provides year-round conference facilities. The annual auction to aid victims of disasters raised more than $700,000 this past year in a two-day autumn auction.

The Elizabethtown congregation continues a tradition of strong volunteer leadership for the camp and auction, as well as for the Brethren Village retirement home — located 20 miles to the east, and the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Maryland.

Individual members and the congregation as a body do additional outreach service through Brethren Volunteer Service, refugee resettlement, disaster child care, quilt and comfort making, and local benevolence. At the urging of a group of dedicated women in the church, the congregation voted in Church Council to become a Sanctuary Church for the purpose of giving sanctuary to refugees and helping them to become United States citizens or to find safety in Canada. Several families from Central and South America, Africa, and Europe have been given shelter in the church building itself and in private homes for necessary periods of time. In separate actions, several families have adopted or served as foster families for orphans, mostly Hispanic, Korean, or Vietnamese.

The church building constantly operates at near-capacity. The Community Nursery School and the Elizabethtown Child Care Center run throughout the week, along with scout troops, a family counseling center, classes in child care, and other community activities.

Deacons, half a dozen vocal and instrumental groups, youth organizations, commissions, Bible study groups, and other bodies comprise an impressive lay congregational infrastructure. Denominational guidelines, determined by congregational delegates to Annual Conference, are followed. However, the congregation meeting in Church Council has the final decision concerning specific application.

A busy,  active congregation "continuing the work of Jesus peacefully, simply, together"  is a congregation in flux both in activities and in personnel.


PASTORAL CARE

For several years after the congregation was chartered, sermons were preached in both German and English by unpaid ministers.

The first full-time, paid pastor was M. Clyde Horst (1940-43). Nevin H. Zuck followed with a long tenure (1945-69). Next in line were Wayne Zunkel (1969-75), DeWitt Miller (interim, 1976-78), Earle Fike (1978-87), and Wayne Judd (1987-97).

The congregation's senior pastors have always been supplemented by a series of men and women, full and part-time, paid and volunteer, with a variety of titles and job descriptions.

However, in 1997, a major innovation took place in the congregation's pastoral alignment. After nearly a century of male senior pastors, with several women having served only in subordinate roles, a woman was called as a senior pastor. There were two other concurrent departures from tradition, in that co-senior pastors were hired, and they were a married couple--Ralph Detrick and Joyce Stoltzfus--from separate pastorates in Maryland.

The current pastoral staff consists of Greg Davidson Laszakovits, Pam Reist, and John David Bowman.   In addition, Josh Tindall was recently installed as a ministry intern.  Josh will continue in his position as director of music, but has assumed additional pastoral duties.    He has indicated his interest in following a career in the Christian ministry.  Pastor Bowman will retire at the end of December 2008.


A BRETHREN CENTER

This congregation of nearly 500 persons is located in the midst of a significant Church of the Brethren complex.  In 1985, the Atlantic Northeast District moved its offices into the congregational parsonage.  The church is located on the edge of Elizabethtown College which was founded by the Brethren in 1899 and remains affiliated with the denomination. 

The college houses the district archives, the office of Bethany Theological Seminary’s Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center, the internationally known Young Center for the Study of Anabaptist and Pietist Groups, the annual Donald F. Durnbaugh lecture series, the Bucher Meeting House, the offices of the  Brethren Colleges Abroad program,  the annual summer Bible Institute of the Brethren Revival Fellowship, and, for various periods of time, the office of the editor of Brethren Life and Thought, the scholarly journal of the Church of the Brethren.

DENOMINATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Eight members of our congregation, either pastors or laypersons, have served as Moderator of Annual Conference, the highest elective post in the denomination.  Many of our members serve in other positions of leadership for the denomination.

Our active group of lay men and women also work for the Church of the Brethren denomination on the district and national levels, serving as officers and representatives.   

During the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the denomination, founded in Germany in 1708, several local members were instrumental in the  planning and execution of the celebration for the Atlantic Northeast District.  

Our district led the way for the denomination in planning 300th-Anniversary events which explored and interpreted the history of the Brethren, while anticipating the future.  In some activities, the congregation worked with Elizabethtown College, especially the college's Young Center for the Study of Anabaptist and Pietist Groups.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Church of the Brethren at Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, now begins a new century, a new millennium of its official existence as a separate congregation of the denomination which has just celebrated its 300th anniversary.   What does the future hold?

It is nestled within a strong Brethren environment; blessed with a strong, broad-based infrastructure of talented, selfless lay people; led by an enthusiastic, talented pastoral team; located within Lancaster County, with its robust economy, fervent work ethic, and stable spiritual, cultural, and social network.

God willing, this congregation will continue to thrive and to serve the community, the denomination, and God.

The opening paragraph of our congregational Mission and Vision Statement affirms that we:

Invite, welcome, and accept all into a community striving to be Christ-like.

For a history of the Church of the Brethren denomination, see: History of the Church of the Brethren