Evangelical Association, an ecclesiastical bodj' which took its rise in the j-ear 1800, in the eastern jiart of Pennsjlvania, and resulted from an orcjanization into classes and congregations of the disciples of Rev. Jacob Albright, a native of Eastern Pennsj-lvania, who, being impressed bj' the general decline of relig- ious life, and the" corruption of doctrines and morals that prevailed in the German churches in that portion of countrj', undertook, about 1790, to work a reform among them. The efi'cct of his first labors encouraged
EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION 369 EYANG. CHURCH CONFERENCE
him to travel through a great part of the countrj' at his own expense, preaching the Gospel as he had op- portunity in churches, schools, private houses, on pub- lic roads, etc. Although he commenced his labors ■without any ulterior design of forming a distinct ec- clesiastical organization, yet he soon found it neces- gar}' to unite his converts, scattered over several counties, into small societies for mutual support and sympathy. At a meeting called for the purpose of consulting upon the best measures to be adopted for the furtherance of a cause in which they all felt a deep interest, the assembly, without regard to the teach- ings of High-Churchism respecting a valid ministry, unanimously elected and ordained Mr. Albright as their pastor or bishop, authorizing him to exercise all the functions of the ministerial office over them, and declared the Bible to be their rule of faith and prac- tice. This organization, incomplete at first, was soon after considerably improved by tlie adoption of a creed and rules for Church government. In course of time, as laborers increased and the society spread, annual conferences were held ; and in 181G, sixteen years after the first organization of the Church, a general conference was held, for the first time, in Union Coun- ty, Pa., which consisted of all tlie elders in tlie minis- try. Since 1843 a general conference, composed of delegates elected by the annual conferences from among their elders, has held quadrennial sessions. For the first thirty j-ears of its existence the society struggled against violent opposition ; but for the last thirty-eight 3'ears it hae made rapid progress, so that it now (18tJ8) comprises 14 annual conferences, and 486 itinerant and 379 local preachers, whose field of labor extends over the Northern, Western, and Pacific states, and into Canada and Europe. The membership ap- proximates 65,000, all adults; the number of church- es is 791 and parsonages 207, valued together at $1,600,000; Sunday-schools 834, and scholars 45,000; catechetical classes, exclusive of those connected with Sunday-schools, 341, with 3559 catechumens. In the j'ear 1838 a missionary societj' was formed, which has up to this time supported about 600 home missions, most of which are now self-supporting stations, cir- cuits, or even conferences. At present this society supports 153 missions in America and Europe. For a number of years it has been gathering funds for hea- then missions, and is expected to enter upon that field ere long. There is also a Sundaj'-school and tract society in operation, publishing Sunday-school books and religious tracts. A charital)le society w-as found- ed in the year 1835, which has received funds amount- ing to a considerable sum, by bequests, the interest of which is annually applied to the support of the wid- ows and orphans of poor itinerant preachers. There are also church-building societies established in sev- eral conferences. The North-western College, a flour- ishing institution of learning located at Plainfield, 111., has been founded, and is supported bj' the Western conferences of the Church, and an endowment is being collected which now amounts to 165,000. Several seminaries are also patronized bj* the Church. An orphan institution, favorably located at Flat Eock, Ohio, has been founded within a few years, and is in "successful operation. A prosperous publishing-house at Cleveland, Ohio, issues four periodicals: one, its German organ, Der Christlicke Botsckafter, a large weekly, and the oldest German religious paper pub- lished in America; another, its English organ, The jLvanffflical Messenger^ also a weekly ; and the third and fourth, Der Christliche Kinderfreiind, and the Siin- day-srhool Messenger, are monthly juvenile papers, in- tended chiefly for Sunday-schools. The weeklj' pa- pers have together a circulation of 25,000, and the ju- veniles 30,000. Perhaps no other religious denomina- tion in America is better organized and disciplined for work than the Evangelical Association. In doctrine and theolot:v this Church is Arminian ; with regard III.— A A
to sanctification, Wesleyan ; but gencrallj' holds the essential doctrines of the Gospel as they are held in common by the evangelical churches of the land, with all of whom it aims to cultivate a fraternal spirit. The ministry is divided into two orders, deacons and elders ; and, faithful to the principles and examples of their founder, they practise itineranc3\ The high- est permanent order is the eldership ; for, although the society has its bishops (elected by General Confer- ence) and presiding elders (elected by the individual conferences), yet these, to be continued, must be re- elected every four }'ears ; and if not re-elected they hold no higher rank or privilege than an elder. The General Conference meets every four j'ears, and con- stitutes the highest legislative and judicial authority recognised in the Church ; then come the annual and quarterly conferences, whose transactions are mostly of an executive and practical nature for the promotion of the work. In its mode of worship and usages the Evangelical Association is Methodistic; and for this reason, as well as the foct that Mr. Albright was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church until he commenced his labors among the Germans of Pennsyl- vania, it is sometimes, though erroneously, called the German Methodist Church. For a number of years after its rise the Evangelical Association labored al- most exclusively'' in the German language; but the rising generation, and the success of some preachers who labored also in the English language, have, dur- ing the last fifteen j'ears, demanded considerable at- tention to the English, and the Church is now ener- geticallj' engaged in both languages to accomplish her mission, to which she believes herself to be providen- tiallj- called — to save souls, and bring glorj' to God in the highest. (R. Y.)