The editorial team is having fun digging into the early days of the Brethren periodicals that merged over and over, eventually becoming today’s Messenger. This month’s blast from the past comes from 1869, and we are both surprised and amused by how snarky our ancestors were.
How this exchange began: Brother Asa Ward from Sykesville, Md., wrote a letter complaining about the big words used in the Christian Family Companion. A few pages later, in the very same issue, there was a response to poor Brother Ward that is more than four times as long as the original letter and throws one merciless jab after another. It seems a touch uncharitable, if not even unchristian.
The unsigned response was surely written by publisher Henry R. Holsinger, who was described by various friends and peers as combative, idealistic, and uncompromising. He himself said he was “unamiable, outspoken, sarcastic, and austere” (Ashland Theological Journal, Fall 1982). For years he railed away at the leadership of Annual Meeting, one year comparing Standing Committee to a secret society or lodge (which were verboten to the Brethren). So maybe Brother Ward got off easy.
Finally, in 1882, the church leaders had had enough. Holsinger was disfellowshiped, and the Progressives followed him out the door. Thus was born a new denomination, the Brethren Church. (By 1908, the original Brethren, considered the Conservatives, adopted the name Church of the Brethren. Both bodies continue today in friendly coexistence.)
Holsinger was “one of the great leaders of the 19th-century Brethren,” says the Brethren Encyclopedia. “If on the one hand, his work led to division and trouble, on the other hand, it forced the pace of change and brought the gospel to life for many who might have missed it in the old familiar form.”
You might be able to think of other Brethren heroes who were idealistic and opinionated, or even downright difficult. Without the benefit of later hindsight, how can we tell when a cranky, combative person is, well, not wrong?
While I don’t generally welcome division and trouble, I’m ready to be on the lookout for unexpected people who are bringing the gospel to life.
Wendy McFadden is publisher of Brethren Press and executive director of communications for the Church of the Brethren.