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BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMConnection Staff

Believing strongly that 'the roots of the present go deep into the past,' members of the Baltimore-Washington Conference Historical Society met in May to hear about the continued restoration of Brannan Chapel as a museum space and to reflect upon the history and contributions of the Evangelical United Brethren Church.

The Brannan Chapel at Lovely Lane UMC in Baltimore is being restored to house major exhibits reflecting the history of The United Methodist Church in this region, said Jim Reeves, the conference director of Archives and History.

The current museum space, in the basement of Lovely Lane, is also being cared for. Organizational specialists are providing recommendations for enhanced storage and cataloguing of artifacts and the digitalizing of many church records.

Volunteers contributed almost 1,000 hours to the museum and its ministry, which drew 950 visitors, 613 inquiries and 140 researchers in 2006, Reeves reported.

However, additional volunteers are always welcome, he stressed.

The Historical Society held its annual meeting May 12 at Otterbein UMC in Hagerstown, which formed as a congregation 217 years ago.

The church has a rich history as a United Brethren congregation, which merged with the Methodist Church in 1968.

The Rev. John Schiltz, retired, delivered a slide show on the history of the United Brethren in Christ, which was formed by 13 men Sept. 25, 1800, as the first American-born denomination.

Frederick County was the cradle for this unique expression of 'German Methodism,' which was created 'so that churches could be built up and sinners might be saved,' Schiltz said.

The early brethren did not keep track of membership records, thinking this was too 'Methodist.'

However, one member, Christian Newcomer, remedied that, co-writing and overseeing the printing of the denomination?s first 'Confession of Faith and Evangelical Discipline' and managing the creation of the first General Conference.

Newcomer, who had a family farm in Beaver Creek, near Hagerstown, was a follower of United Brethren founders Philip Otterbein, Martin Boehm and George Adam Geeting. But he became a preacher reluctantly.

He was out plowing when he choked on a peach pit. Gasping for air, he slammed himself into a tree, dislodging the pit and saving his own life. 'He was like Jonah, who fled from God,' said Schiltz, who light-heartedly acknowledged Newcomer was the 'inventor of the Heimlich maneuver.'

'After the pit was dislodged, Newcomer knelt in the furrow where he was plowing and prayed,' Schiltz said.

Newcomer then embraced his calling with zeal, traveling an estimated 150,000 miles on horseback as an itinerant preacher. He became the fourth bishop of the United Brethren Church in 1813.

For those interested in learning more about this pioneer in The United Methodist Church, Schiltz recommends reading 'The Life and Journal of the Rev?d Christian Newcomer.'

Newcomer and others in the United Brethren Church left a legacy of spiritual awakening.

'Periodically we need a great awakening,' Schiltz said. 'Now, when we need something we have a committee meeting. They prayed and something happened. They built up the church of God.'