The General Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ in 1841 created a Missionary Society for missionary work at home and abroad. This organization did not flourish because it was not denominational. That meant it was not part of the program of the whole church, but rather a centralizing organization that coordinated the work of the local church and Annual Conference missionary societies.
The General Conference of 1853 reorganized the Missionary Society and revised its constitution . Its name was changed to the Home, Frontier, and Foreign Missionary Society, and the original society was referred to as the Parent Missionary Society.
Two missions were created in Southern Missouri and Canada and arrangements made to send missionaries to Africa. Home mission work was left to the management of the annual conferences. The General Conference of 1905 ordered the division of the Home, Frontier and Foreign Missionary Society into two separate organizations the Home Missionary Society and the Foreign Missionary Society. In 1869, a Church Erection Society was created. The 1925 General Conference merged the Home Missionary Society and the Church Erection Society into a single agency called the Home Mission and Church Erection Society. When the Church of the United Brethren in Christ merged with the Evangelical Church in 1946 the missionary societies of both churches were formed into a Board of Missions.
The General Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ of 1841 created a Missionary Society for missionary work at home and abroad. This organization's purpose was to promote and encourage missions, but had no administrative or operational authority to conduct mission work.
The General Conference of 1853 reorganized the Missionary Society and revised its constitution and its name was changed to the Home, Frontier, and Foreign Missionary Society.
Two missions were created in Southern Missouri and Canada and arrangements made to send missionaries to Africa. In 1855, William J. Shuey, Daniel C. Kumler, Daniel K. Flickinger sailed for Africa and set up missionary work at Freetown, Sierra Leone. Missionary work was established in China in 1889, Japan 1895, Puerto Rico 1899, and the Philippines in 1901. The General Conference of 1905 ordered the division of the Home, Frontier and Foreign Missionary Society into two separate organizations the Foreign Missionary Society and the Home Missionary Society. When the Church of the United Brethren in Christ merged with the Evangelical Church in 1946, the missionary societies of both churches were formed into a Board of Missions.
In the early years of the church, Sunday School work was conducted at the local church level. The 1865 General Conference created the Sabbath School Association to provide a more coordinated effort. It provided financial support, publication of study material, the organization of local Sabbath schools, the holding of conventions, and the proper selection and training of teachers.
In 1881, the Sunday School Association became the General Sabbath School Board, which, in 1905 became the General Sunday School Board.
The 1893 General Conference created the Young People's Christian Union to unite the young people's Christian societies of the entire church and authorized the publication of a periodical called The Young People's Watchword. In 1908, the name was changed to the Young People's Christian Endeavor Union.
The Men's Movement was a lay movement within the church that functioned at the local church level. In 1907, the first session of the Men's Convention was held at the First United Brethren Church, Dayton, Ohio. The 1909 General Conference decided that there should be a more unified denominational program. The Department of Sunday School, Brotherhood, and Young People's Work was established to take over the work of the General Sunday School Board, the Men's Movement, and the Young People's Christian Endeavor Union.
The General Conference of 1869 created the Board of Education. In 1871, the board founded Union Biblical Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. It then became Bonebrake Theological Seminary in 1909, and now is United Theological Seminary. The Board raised and distributed money to needy ministry students and helped support the financial and management needs of the church's colleges, seminaries, and academies.
The 1913 General Conference made the Board of Education a distinct department of the church and elected W.E. Schell its secretary.
In 1929 the Board of Education and the Department of Sunday School, Brotherhood, and Young People's Work were united to form the Board of Christian Education. When the Church of the United Brethren in Christ merged with the Evangelical Church in 1946, both Church's Boards of Christian Education were brought together to form the Board of Christian Education of the Evangelical United Brethren Church.
The Church of the United Brethren in Christ began with the preaching of Philip William Otterbein and Martin Boehm in the 1760's. At a 1789 conference at the parsonage of Philip William Otterbein, in Baltimore, Maryland, Otterbein and his lay ministers gave simple organization to the fellowship which had been holding sporadic conferences since 1774. On September 25, 1800 at a meeting of William Philip Otterbein, Martin Boehm, and other lay ministers at the home of Peter Kemp in Maryland, the church was formally organized. At this meeting Martin Boehm and William Philip Otterbein were elected bishops and the name, "Church of the United Brethren in Christ" was chosen. In 1815, the first General Conference was held near Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. At this Conference a Discipline, a Confession of Faith, and a form of church government were approved. A second General Conference was held June 2, 1817, at Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. This conference improved the Discipline, elected two Bishops, formed a third Annual Conference, and arranged for quadrennial sessions of the General Conference.
In 1841 a Constitution was adopted. When the General Conference of 1889 attempted to change the Constitution a small minority led by Bishop Milton Wright walked out of the Conference and formed their own General Conference. They claimed to represent the Church holding to the original intent of the Discipline of 1841, especially in reference to its opposition to secret societies. The issue was brought to court. The court ruled against the splinter group and ordered them to take a new name. They called themselves the Church of the United Brethren in Christ (Old Constitution). The original group became known as the Church of the United Brethren in Christ (New Constitution).
In 1946, the Church of the United Brethren in Christ merged with the Evangelical Church to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church. In 1968, the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged with the Methodist Church to become the United Methodist Church.