(4) Development. In 1815, the work of the Church having followed the lines of emigration westward into Ohio and other regions, a call was issued for the holding of a General Conference. This conference was composed of delegates elected from the different sections of the Church, and was the first of the series of similar conferences held quadrennially, since 1817, to the present time. The conference added two articles to the confes sion of faith, and amended and further defined the rules of government. The General Conference of 1841 adopted a constitution for the Church which remained in force in unamended form un til 1889. A General Conference held in 1883 adopted measures preparatory to a revision of the confession of faith and the amending of the constitution. A commission of twenty-seven men, including the six bishops, was appointed, charged with the duty of preparing the proposed re vision. Their work on being submitted to a pop ular vote was approved, and the General Confer ence of 1889 declared the instruments to be duly adopted. The revised confession states in com pact form, in thirteen articles, the doctrines of the Church. In theological classification it is Ar minian. (See Discipline of the United Brethren in Christ, pp. (5) Church Government. In general polity the United Brethren Church is classed with the Methodist family of churches. Its ecclesiastical bodies are the general, annual, and quarterly con ferences. The General Conference nial) is composed of ministerial and lay dele gates, chosen by the people at large. In it is vested the law-making power of the Church, and it is also the final court of appeals. The annual conferences, also ministerial and lay, have the oversight of the churches within their boundaries, and appoint their pastors. The quarterly confer ence is the official body of the local church or circuit. The bishops of the Church are elected by the General Conference for quadrennial terms, as are all its general officers. They have a gen eral oversight of diocesan districts, at present four in number, and preside over the annual and general conferences. Presiding elders are elected by the annual conferences, and have the oversight of districts within the conferences. The method of pastoral supply is that known as the itinerant system. Pastors are appointed annually to their charges, but since 1893 may be reappointed to the same charges an indefinite number of times. The presiding bishop and presiding elders are the ap pointing committee, and appeal from their de cision is seldom taken. Women are eligible to
ministerial orders, and to seats in all official bod ies, including the General Conference. A small number are in the pastoral service.
(6) Present Condition and Attitude. In edu cational work the Church is fairly provided for, having thirteen institutions of various grades, in cluding a theological seminary, located at Dayton, Ohio. At this city is also located the Church pub lishing house, from which the denominational pub lications, periodical and otherwise, are issued. It is a thoroughly equipped house, with small liabili ties, and a net valuation in excess of three hun dred thousand dollars. The Church has its Home, Frontier and Foreign Missionary Society, and Woman's Missionary Association, progressive in stitutions, with headquarters in the publishing house. The foreign mission fields of the Church arc in Sierra Leone. \Vest Africa, Germany, China and Japan. The denomination, according to the statistics of 1901, has 4.179 organized churches, 1,910 itinerant and local preachers, and 242,6o2 members.
On questions of reform the Church has long occupied advanced ground. Slave holding was never tolerated among its members. On temper ance, a rule prohibiting the manufacture and sale of ardent spirits by members of the Church was adopted by the General Conference as early as 1841. Earlier stringent action dates back to 1833. and even to 1814, a year before the sitting of the first Genetal Conference.
The primary thought of the founders of the United Brethren Church was that of promoting a more spiritual type of religious experience and life than was generally prevalent at that time in the churches from which they came. The advo cacy of any particular dogma or creed. or form of church government, or question of reform, had no place in their thought or purpose. Outward forms of worship and of church government they must needs have, but these held in their view a minor relation. In the matter of forms they ex ercised a wide toleration. Throughout the his tory of the United Brethren Church to the pres ent time this larger insistence upon a real con version of the heart and a true spiritual life has remained a dominant characteristic.
The Church is broadly catholic in spirit. It affiliates readily with other denominations in all ecumenical work, and would be found ready to join other churches in any general movement looking toward a union of all Christians. D. B.