Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/United Brethren in Christ

UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST, a body of Protestant Christians in the United States of America, which in 1886 included 4332 organized churches (4078 in 1877), 185,103 members (143,881 in 1877), 1378 itinerant ministers, 890 local preachers, 3169 Sunday schools, with 28,547 teachers and 179,729 scholars. The total value of church property held by the denomination was $3,345,064; the sum raised for salaries, church building expenses, colleges, missions, and the like made a total of $842,700. The organization of the church is Episcopal (six bishops, two of them missionary), but its polity combines features of the Methodist, Congregational, and Presbyterian systems. The creed may be described as Arminian. The members are prohibited from joining secret societies, and from using alcohol or engaging in its manufacture or sale. In connexion with the denomination are a theological institution (39 students), ten colleges, and nine academies or seminaries of a higher grade, with 62 professors, 64 other teachers, and 2486 students. There are 49 annual conferences, 46 of them in the United States. Two missions in the Sherbro country in West Africa have 6 American missionaries, 9 churches, and 2631 members; in Germany there are 10 German missionaries, with 20 churches and 615 members.

The denomination originated in the labours of P. W. Otterbein (1726-1813), a native of Germany, who came as a missionary to Lancaster, Pa., in 1752, and settled at Baltimore in 1774. He became associated with Martin Boehm, a Mennonite preacher, and also co-operated with the Methodist preachers when they came to Pennsylvania. The first annual conference was held in 1800.