13 Feb On This Day in UB History: February 13

The 1975 Jamaica Annual Conference, which began on February 13, represented a significant transition. First of all, it was the first conference held at the new Malvern camp. But the main change involved leadership.

For seven years, the conference superintendent had been Rev. A. N. Braithwaite. He was pretty much the last of the early leaders whose efforts, since the mid-1940s, had built Jamaica Conference. His colleagues had retired or moved on. Now, a new generation was ready to take charge.

It started with Rev. Lloyd Spencer (right), who was elected at the 1975 meeting as conference superintendent. He was a relatively young minister in a role which had always gone to an older minister or to a missionary. Whereas Braithwaite had served fulltime as superintendent, Spencer continued pastoring the York Town church.

Within two years, the conference council included five more members of this younger generation–Jasper Green, Owen Gordon, Donald Dacres, Ormande Harris, and Isaac Nugent. Others–Winston Smith, Basil Dunkley, Trevor Williams–were waiting in the wings. Many of these new leaders grew up in UB churches under the ministry of that earlier generation of ministers. Which is exactly the way it should work.

Lloyd Spencer continued as senior superintendent for 19 years, finally stepping aside in 1994. But a few years later, he returned as General Superintendent until 2002. At that point he concluded 40 years as a Jamaica Conference minister, church planter, evangelist, and superintendent.

08 Feb On This Day in UB History: February 8 (Fermin Hoskins)

John Jacob Glossbrenner served as bishop for 40 years, 1845-1885, easily the longest tenure of any UB bishop. Next in line, at 28 years, was Fermin Hoskins, who passed away on February 8, 1935.

Hoskins was a most interesting guy. He grew up in Oregon, the tall son of hardy pioneers who had trekked cross-country from the Carolinas. He was Lincolnesque in bearing, scholarly, a deep thinker, voracious reader, powerful preacher, formidable debater, and parliamentarian extraordinaire. Hoskins was known for his aversion to wearing ties, for fearlessly advocating holy living, and for peppering sermons with scientific and archaeological facts.

Hoskins served as president of a seminary and two different colleges, including a year at Huntington College (1911-1912). He became bishop in 1905, taking the place of 24-year bishop Milton Wright. He served his last eight years alongside 24-year bishop Walter Musgrave, and his last four years with Albert Johnson, who would go on to serve 22 years as bishop.

“Home” was a 400-acre cattle ranch in Idaho, which Hoskins usually left with his wife and four daughters as he roamed across the Church. He retired in 1933, returning to the ranch in Idaho and passing away two years later.

06 Feb On This Day in UB History: February 6

George Geeting was the third most important minister in the earliest days of the United Brethren church, right behind founders William Otterbein and Martin Boehm. Though he never became a bishop, he was highly respected and influential. He was also regarded as Otterbein’s closet personal friend and the person in whom he most freely confided.

Geeting was born on February 6, 1741, in Germany, not far from Otterbein’s stomping grounds. Like Otterbein, he was raised in the German Reformed Church, but the similarities end there. He received what was described as a “fair” education, and became a miner.

At age 18, Geeting immigrated to America. With war raging between England and France, immigration was at a low point. But somehow, Geeting made the trip and ended up settling for the rest of his life in Antietam, Maryland. Geeting taught school during the winter, and quarried stone and dug wells during the summer.

It’s likely that Geeting became acquainted with William Otterbein around 1760, when Otterbein preached at Antietam. Geeting became a Christian, possibly under Otterbein’s preaching, and threw himself into church work. Historian A. W. Drury describes Geeting as a “real Timothy” to Otterbein—sort of a mentor-disciple role. Otterbein frequently stayed at Geeting’s home, which became his personal retreat and his headquarters when he was on the road. We can imagine the discussions they had late into the night.

Geeting was a successful farmer, physically strong, scrupulously attired, and well-read. He developed into a powerful preacher, and traveled extensively to preach in scattered communities. He was described as an earnest and deliberate preacher whose voice combined sweetness and power.

Geeting attended all of the important meetings of the early United Brethren church—the two conferences held during the latter 1700s, the meeting in 1800 which the United Brethren church was organized, and most if not all of the annual conferences after that. He passed away in 1812—a few months after Martin Boehm, and a year before Otterbein.

05 Feb On This Day in UB History: February 5

On February 5, 2001, a funeral service was held for Bernadine Hoffman at Crossroads UB church in Charlotte, Mich., where she settled in 1983 after retiring from missionary service. Bernadine had suffered a major stroke and, a few days later, passed away.

Bernadine served 39 consecutive years as a missionary in Sierra Leone. She went to Africa in 1944 and served 12 full terms. It was, at that point, the longest any UB missionary had served under the UB Board of Missions. A missionary serving in a restricted access country finally passed her in 2014.

Over the years Bernadine served at Bonthe, Gbangbaia, Mattru, and Bumpe in various teaching and administrative roles, including a number of years in the conference’s Christian Education office. She also raised several African children, one of whom was Rev. Joe Abu, a UB pastor in Pennsylvania. He wrote:

“Even though from a strong Muslim background, I came to know the Lord through the missionary ministries of Mama. I still remember our daily devotions at home when she sang from the Mende hymnal and read the Word of God to me in my language. There are numerous other Africans in Europe, Africa, Canada, and around the world who came to know the Lord, and are ministers today, because of the missionary work of Mama. We need some Mama Hoffmans today. People ready and willing to invest in the lives of the less fortunate and people around us.”

04 Feb On This Day in UB History: February 4

Eli Griffin, who served as bishop 1925-1929, passed away on February 4, 1950. He was 82.

Griffin is not a well-known bishop, and left no discernible mark on UB history. But what little we know portrays a pleasant, positive, and spiritual man who was respected and loved. Just a solid, dependable guy–tall, white-haired, distinguished, fatherly. His lasting legacy, though intangible, may be the encouragement and advice he lavished on young ministers.

Griffin was United Brethren to the core. He was born in 1867 into a United Brethren family, and raised and converted in a UB church in Angola, Ind. He sensed God’s call to ministry as a teenager and began preaching at age 18. He graduated from the denomination’s seminary, and later in life was granted an honorary doctorate by Huntington College.

Altogether, Griffin served 58 years as a UB minister. During his four years as bishop, he oversaw the Pacific district–California, Idaho, Utah, Oregon, and Washington. He visited every church at least once, traveling by train and car. During those four years, he preached 1088 sermons, and held ten revival meetings with 132 conversions.

Griffin and his wife, Nettie Mae, were married 26 years and had five children. She died in 1918 after being crushed by a bull on the family farm, but four years later he married Alice, who was also a minister.

Griffin declined to run for re-election in 1929 because of his wife’s illness. But she recovered, and he continued serving the church as a pastor and in other leadership roles, including 1925-1949 on the Board of Missions.

A grandson reflected, “When Bishop Griffin came to visit, there was a very different atmosphere in the house. He brought peace, tranquility, and kindness. To a little boy, there was something very different about him. From a present adult standpoint, he exuded a special aura.”

01 Feb On This Day in UB History: February 1

Christian Newcomer (left) and Ray Seilhamer.

Two United Brethren bishops were born on February 1, but nearly 200 years apart. Both were committed to church planting, and both saw the denomination greatly expand during their years in office–domestically for one, internationally for the other.

Christian Newcomer was born on February 1, 1749, the son of Swiss Mennonites. He began preaching in 1777, and soon became associated with United Brethren founders Martin Boehm and William Otterbein. In 1813 he became the third United Brethren bishop, and served until his death in 1830.

Newcomer is credited with leading the expansion of the church beyond Pennsylvania. He even made it to Canada in 1826. He was kind of our Apostle Paul, constantly traveling and organizing churches. Is it estimated that Newcomer traveled 150,000 miles on horseback between ages 46 and 81.

Ray Seilhamer was born February 1, 1938, and served eight years as bishop, 1993-2001. Under his watch, we nearly doubled the number of countries with United Brethren churches.

As World War 2 ended, we added outreaches in Jamaica (1944) and Honduras (1945). We then settled into a pattern of venturing into one new country every decade: Hong Kong in the 1950s, Nicaragua in the 1960s, India in the 1970s, and Macau in the 1980s. It wasn’t an intentional strategy, but just the way it worked out.

Then came the 1990s. No more big gaps. During that decade, beginning in 1993, the year Seilhamer was elected, the seeds were planted for United Brethren ministry in another nine countries: Thailand (1993), Costa Rica (1995), Mexico (1997), Guatemala (1997), Germany (1997), Myanmar (1998), El Salvador (1999), the Philippines (1999), and Haiti (2000).

It was an exciting time. And it was no longer only the United States taking the lead. Hong Kong initiated work in Thailand and Myanmar, Sierra Leoneans spearheaded a church in Germany, and Honduras and Nicaragua initiated expansion into Costa Rica, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

Two men, same birthday, and a very similar legacy.

30 Jan On This Day in UB History: January 30

On January 30, 1995, rebels captured the town of Mattru Jong in Sierra Leone. Everyone saw it coming. Rebels had taken Bumpe, then the nearby Sierra Rutile mining camp. It was only a matter of time before they came to Mattru.

In mid-January, Mattru Hospital essentially closed down. Nadine Hoekman, a UB nurse, paid all the workers and locked things up. Then she and the only other remaining missionaries, Joe and Rachel Beah, headed to Freetown. Two staffers stayed to give daily medication to tuberculosis patients.

Rebels ransacked Mattru Hospital, taking everything of value. They even dismantled the X-ray machine. They loaded it onto a boat and headed toward Guinea to sell it, but the launch sank in the Atlantic Ocean.

Mattru, like many towns throughout the country, was deserted as residents fled into the bush. Many United Brethren people were among them. Two UB ministers were taken prisoner.

The RUF settled in for eight months, establishing its own government and turning Mattru Hospital into a training base.

29 Jan On This Day in UB History: January 29

On January 29, 1989, Dennis Miller preached his first message as pastor of Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, Ind. It was a congregation of about 100 people primed for growth–good leadership, nice facility, great location in a growing area. Miller was exactly the right person to help Emmanuel fulfill its potential. He brought leadership, vision, a strong pulpit teaching ministry, and a focus on discipleship.

Within seven years, Emmanuel had grown to 600 people and completed two major building campaigns, including a 700-seat sanctuary. And in 2009, 20 years after that first sermon, Emmanuel became the UB church with the highest average attendance, shooting past the 1400 mark (King Street church in Chambersburg, Pa., had been the largest church for many decades). In 2011, attendance went past 1800, with 71 conversions and 93 baptisms for the year.

Soon after he came to Emmanuel, Miller developed the church motto “His Word, Our Walk.” Nowhere was that theme more clear than in the many weekly GROW discipleship groups which systematically led people through the whole Bible and helped them grow deep in their Christian walk. It accounted for the ever-broadening leadership base, which in turn fueled the church’s growth.

28 Jan On This Day in UB History: January 28

On January 28, 1952, Bumpe Bible Institute opened as the place to train United Brethren ministers in Sierra Leone. The initial class had 12 students.

Two months before, Rev. M.E. and Francis Burkett arrived on the field with sons David and Stephen. At that point, land had been cleared and construction begun on a two-room school. The Burketts took up residence in a thatch-roof house in Bumpe.

Rev. Burkett served as principal of the school, and taught alongside two Sierra Leonean ministers. The next year, they were joined by Bernadine Hoffman, who had previously served two terms in Sierra Leone. During the second and third years, dormitories and dining rooms were added to the campus.

Bumpe Bible Institute was short-lived. In 1964, we joined with three other denominations–Missionary Church, Wesleyan Church, and Wesleyan Methodist–to start Sierra Leone Bible College (now Evangelical College of Theology). On the vacated land of Bumpe Bible Institute, we built the current Bumpe High School.

21 Jan On This Day in UB History: January 21

Dr. George D. Fleming

George and Daisy Fleming

George Daniel Fleming was born January 21, 1890, in Ionia County, Mich. He was one of the United Brethren giants of the 1900s–missionary, pastor, missions director, author, mentor, and prayer warrior. Many knew him as “Mr. Missions,” a fitting title for the man who headed our mission work for 25 years.

Fleming became a Christian at age 13 under the ministry of his father, a UB pastor. In 1911, at age 22, he and his wife of 11 months, Daisy, sailed for Sierra Leone, where he became principal of the 120-student school at Danville. After 13 months, they were sent to Bonthe to begin a girls’ boarding school.

Altogether, the Flemings spent 20 years–five terms–as missionaries, returning to the States in 1932. After a few years pastoring a church, Fleming was elected as the denomination’s General Secretary of Missions (what we now call Director of Global Ministries). During his tenure, we opened mission fields in Honduras, Jamaica, and Hong Kong. He continued in that office until retiring in 1961. He then wrote two books about the history of the Sierra Leone mission.

Those who knew George Fleming recognized him as a man who lived his life as though in the presence of God.

Bishop Clyde W. Meadows treasured his many late-night talks with George Fleming, as they reviewed the church and the opportunities before them. He wrote, “He was a man of God, and was a real bishop—encouraging, correcting, quietly steering the work of the Kingdom of God….Pastor of pastors, bishop of souls, a leader always abounding in the work of the Lord. Thank God for this man who in his life, ministry, words, and attitude showed us the Lord Jesus Christ.”