Evangelical Association of North America

The Evangelical Association of North America was founded by Jacob Albright.

Albright was born near Pottstown, Pennsylvania, May 1, 1759 to German immigrant parents. After the death of his children he experienced a religious awakening. He joined a Methodist class and received an exhorter's license. In 1796, he began to travel throughout Central Pennsylvania preaching to Germans in schoolhouses, churches, and homes. By 1800, he had organized three classes in three separate southeastern Pennsylvania counties. In 1803, a small conference of lay persons met and formally ordained Jacob Albright and chose the name "Albright's People" (Die Albrecht's Leute).

In 1807, the first conference was held at Kleinfeltersville, Pennsylvania. The name "The Newly-Formed Methodist Conference" (Der Neuformirten Methodisten Conferenz) was adopted, Albright was elected bishop and authorized to compile a Scriptural creed and a plan of organization, but he died on May 18, 1808, before he could finish.

George Miller completed and published the Discipline in 1809. It was identical with major portions of the German edition of the Methodist Episcopal Church Discipline of 1808. John Dreisbach became the first presiding elder and established the first publishing house at New Berlin, Pennsylvania which also became the church's headquarters.

In 1816, the first General Conference was held near New Berlin. The General Conference revised the Discipline, changed the church's name to "The Evangelical Association" (Evangelische Gemeinschaft), and approved a hymn book. In 1853, the Church's denominational headquarters was moved to Cleveland. By the 1870's English and German language members were nearly equal in membership, requiring literature to be published in both languages. After World War I the need for German periodicals became minimal.

Throughout the late nineteenth century there was a growing tension in the Evangelical Association. Many of the differences were not doctrinal, but personal. An epidemic of church trials began in Iowa in 1889. The 1887 General Conference delegated the decision of naming the place for the 1891 General Conference to the Board of Publication, which picked Indianapolis. A minority disputed the right of the General Conference to delegate this authority and insisted that the right belonged to the East Pennsylvania Annual Conference -- the oldest conference. The East Pennsylvania Annual Conference named Philadelphia, as the site for the 1891 General Conference. In 1891, the minority group with Bishop Rudolph Dubs met in Philadelphia, and the majority met with Bishops J.J. Esher and Thomas Bowman in Indianapolis

Each group organized and carried out its work as though it were the official body of the church. During the quadrennium, there were two churches within the Evangelical Association, each with its own set of officers claiming to be the church. Court cases were held to determine property rights. In most instances the majority group was favored. The minority group met in Naperville, Illinois on November 30, 1894 and organized itself as the United Evangelical Church.

In 1911, both the Evangelical Association and the United Evangelical Church appointed commissions to explore the possibilities of reunion. In 1921 "The Basis of Union" was submitted to the Annual Conferences. On October 12, 1922, the two churches merged and formed the Evangelical Church. Not everyone was happy with the merger. A majority of the East Pennsylvania Annual Conference joined by a few congregations in Ohio and Illinois opposed the merger and continued to act as the United Evangelical Church. Lawsuits over property between the Evangelical Church and the dissenters occurred. In one important legal case the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania upheld the legality of the merger, denied the dissenters claims to Albright College, and denied them the right to use the name the United Evangelical Church. The dissenters named themselves the Evangelical Congregational Church, which is still in existence.

In 1946 the Evangelical Church merged with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church.