13,610
edits
Changes
From BrethrenPedia
added content
Copyright © 1999 by [[Robert L. Peterson]]
Reproduced by permission of the author.
=Foreword=
Today is built on yesterday. We are creatures of time, and although God has put eternity in the hearts of His people, each moment of time He gives us is lived out under the influence of what is past. . . history.
Bible-believing people have a particular respect for history. The Bible is a historic document. While it speaks with supernatural authority about the future, a high percent of the Bible is history. In Romans 15:4-6, the apostle Paul tells us that only with a strong foundation in what Scripture tells us about the working of God in the past, along with the hope Scripture offers for the future, can people be prepared to live in the present for the glory of God.
The introductory statements in the book of Acts add another important perspective. The recorded events in the early months and years in the history of the Church are seen as a continuation of what Jesus began to do and teach during His earthly ministry. Even though the canon of inspired Scripture was complete when the Apostle John concluded the book of Revelation, the history of the Church continued. The ascended Christ continues His work by His Spirit and by His Word throughout the history of the Church even to our present day. We may regret the ingredients of Church history that are not honoring to God and His Work but we must not underestimate the fact that the program of our Lord in this age is the accomplishment of that which He predicted when He said, “I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Mt. 16:18). Christ is building His Church, and the record of this eternally significant work is of great value.
There is a small and relatively unnoticed part of church history that is the focus of the book you hold in your hand. Classed by historians as a “nonconformist” movement, with a beginning in England and Ireland in the 1820s1820's, the Brethren movement has developed as part of the mainstream of evangelical Christianity in the last two centuries. Within thirty years this movement extended to North America and has continued to be active to the present.
For those of us who identify with the Brethren movement, the primitivistic primitive approach to church doctrine and function is significant. The attempt to duplicate the New Testament Church in modern times is a worthy commitment.
This historical work seeks to establish a record of the local assemblies, some no longer in existence, that are part of the Brethren movement in North America. There is a focus of those assemblies that are sometimes identified as Christian Brethren. Since these autonomous assemblies do not have an organizational “headquarters” to co-ordinate or control their activities, there has been no central record of historical details of their existence or function. In this book, Robert Peterson establishes such a record.
I am personally grateful for the efforts of Mr. Peterson and for many who assisted him by contributing information from various areas. Mr. Peterson has done much of his research in the archives of Brethren material in the library at [[Emmaus Bible College]], and we at the College have encouraged him in this work. But this historical piece is his work, and we commend him for making a valuable contribution to recorded information about the assemblies of North America. May the readers of this document be motivated to renew their efforts to honor Jesus Christ and the doctrine of the New Testament Church in theory and practice. [[Daniel H. Smith|Dan H. Smith]], Ed.D.President, [[Emmaus Bible College]]
=Acknowledgments=
Many people, for many years, have discussed the need for a record of the Brethren assemblies in North America. [[David Rodgers]], long associated with [[Emmaus Bible College ]] and assemblies in Iowa and elsewhere, is one of these, and is the person who has done most to promote and encourage the writing of this book. He has provided continuing encouragement and has been an invaluable help in identifying and contacting people who could provide information and urging their cooperation.
