Todd Scoles, senior associate pastor at Northwest Chapel Grace Brethren Fellowship in Dublin, OH, and vice-chair of the Brethren Missionary Herald Co. board, has again been digging around in Grace Brethren history archives.
Here are a few nuggets he recently shared with his colleagues in the North Central Ohio district:
The first National Conference (then called Annual Meeting) of the Brethren was held in 1778. Here are a few random highlights from history:
1790 (Schuylkill County, PA) – Brethren were prohibited from holding communion with those who baptize backwards (English Baptists).
1827 (Lancaster County, PA) – Mutton was affirmed as the proper meat for the Love Feast.
1849 (Somerset County, PA) – Churches were not permitted to debar people from fellowship based on race.
1853 (Beaver Dam, MD) – Women wearing ear-rings or jewels were not allowed at the communion table.
1858 (Carroll County, IN) – Beef allowed as a substitute for lamb at the Love Feast.
1860 (Limestone Church, TN) – People are permitted to use medicine after being anointed with oil by the elders.
1875 (Miami County, OH) – Churches are prohibited from making indoor pools for baptisms.
The first recorded Conference of the Brethren was in 1778. They actually started in the 1740s, after the failed move by Count Zinzendorf to unite all the German churches under his leadership. The Brethren did see value in meeting annually to hash out larger issues.