One particular meeting held at Long’s barn was hosted by a Mennonite preacher by the name Martin Boehm. Following his message another pastor, William Ottebein, a German Reformed Pastor, who was deeply moved by Boehm’s message of his conversion, stood up and embraced Boehm and said, “We are Brethren," and here the stone was cast into the water and started the ripple effect which today is known as the United Brethren in Christ Church.
Martin Boehm became a pastor in 1756 at the Mennonite church in Byerland, Pennsylvania. It was an unusual path to ministry. One writer put it this way - “In those days, when a church needed a new pastor, persons from the congregation were nominated for the position, and each nominee selected one of the Bibles standing before them. Only one Bible contained a slip of paper with Proverbs 16:33 written on it" -- The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord" - Proverbs 16:33 (NIV). Boehm selected that bible and became a pastor.
His history as a pastor had a difficult beginning. He struggled with preaching and often found himself stammering out a few words and then sitting down in embarrassment. He agonized over this, until one day he came to the realization that he wasn’t even a Christian.
“One day as he plowed his fields, he knelt at the end of each row to pray, and the word, ‘Lost, lost,” continually hovered over him. Finally, halfway through the row, he broke. Falling to his knees, he cried out, ‘Lord save, I am lost!"
Boehm writes, "In a moment, a stream of joy was poured over me. I praised the Lord and left the field.” From that day forward he preached with great joy, and he zealously spread the message of salvation and the Great Awakening came to the Mennonites.
Philip Otterbein was of the German Reformed Church and came to America as a missionary to assist in the development of new churches. Otterbein was one of seven children, all of whom, entered the ministry, while his one and only sister married a minister.
He attended the University of Herborn and was influenced by the sermon writings of the Netherland preachers who emphasized justification with regeneration, and got caught up in the pietistic movement that spread from Europe to the America’s.
The message that was so harmonious between Otterbein and Boehm was their emphasis on faith with action. Both men strongly believed that faith required action, and faith without action produced stagnation.
One of the key problems faced by Otterbein, in
Europe and America, and Boehm primarily in America, was the issue of
INDIFFERENCE that plagued the church. Both
were radically trained and changed by the pietistic movement of the
1700’s. Otterbein, early in his
ministry, was known for putting a great emphasis on observing the law, loyalty
to the church and being devout in spiritual matters.
These were reflected in his preaching which angered those labeled as
“INDIFFERENT,” because they saw the requirement of scripture as it was preached by both men. W.H. Zeigler put it this way -- “They
felt that his [Otterbein] emphasis on righteousness, living in the light of regeneration,
was altogether too severe and too troublesome to the conscience.”
What Otterbein and Boehm saw more than anything else, however, was the need for the church to live out regeneration by way of faith. They called the church to live differently and to pursue righteousness as a response to true faith. They not only preached it, but they also saw the power of the Spirit to transform. It was because of this kind of preaching that Otterbein and Boehm could say on that day in 1767 - "We are Brethren."
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