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John Winebrenner

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John Winebrenner
Portrait of Winebrenner in 1849
Personal life
BornMarch 25, 1797
DiedSeptember 11, 1860 (aged 63)
EducationDickinson College
Known forFounding the Church of God
Religious life
ReligionChristianity
DenominationChurch of God
ChurchGeneral Eldership of the Church of God

John Winebrenner (March 25, 1797 – September 11, 1860) was a Christian pastor, author and religious reformer who founded the Churches of God General Conference.

Life

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Winebrenner was born in Walkersville, Maryland. He studied at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and was ordained in the German Reformed Church in 1820. He pastored at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where his revival preaching and his Revival Hymn-Book (1825) brought about a break between his followers and the Reformed Church.[1]

His Christian testimony can be found in the book The Testimony of a Hundred Witnesses (1858) edited by John Frederick Weishampel. In 1830, he and five other ministers founded the Church of God (whose members are sometimes called "Winebrennerians"). He served as speaker at the first eldership and subsequently edited and published the Church of God paper, first called The Gospel Publisher (1835–1845) and later The Church Advocate (beginning in 1845).[1]

In January 1836, he established the first Anti-Slavery Society of Harrisburg, where he became an ardent abolitionist and represented his society at the State Convention, and later served as its Corresponding Secretary.[2]

Winebrenner was also a pacifist, seeing no justification for war except in cases of self-defense. This opinion put him and his nascent denomination in accord with the Peace Churches movement in the United States. He was particularly outspoken in his opposition to the Mexican War of 1846-1848.[3]

He died from cholera in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and was interred at Harrisburg Cemetery.[4]

Bibliography

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  • A Prayer Meeting and Revival Hymn Book. First issued in 1825, this book (words only) went through over twenty editions.
  • A Brief View, of the Formation, Government and Discipline, of the Church of God (First issued in 1829)
  • A Sermon on Christian Baptism (Harrisburg, 1830)
  • Das Christliche Gesang=Buch (First issued in 1834)
  • Reference and Pronouncing Testament (First issued in 1836)
  • A Popular Treatise on Regeneration (First issued in 1844)
  • The Seraphina (Harrisburg, 1854)
  • The Church Hymn Book (First issued in 1859)
  • Doctrinal and Practical Sermons (First issued in book form in 1860)
  • The History of all the Religious Denominations in the United States (First issued in 1844 with I. Daniel Rupp.)

References

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  1. ^ a b  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Winebrenner, John". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 729.
  2. ^ "John Winebrenner (1797-1860) | Dickinson College". archives.dickinson.edu. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  3. ^ Kern, Richard (1974). John Winebrenner: 19th Century Reformer. Harrisburg, PA: Central Publishing House. pp. 141–149.
  4. ^ "Two Historic Cemeteries: Beautiful Reminders of Those Who Came Before – Harrisburg Magazine". harrisburgmagazine.com. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
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