{"id":27095,"date":"2026-05-14T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/?p=27095"},"modified":"2026-05-16T17:19:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T17:19:23","slug":"campaign-supports-germantown-property","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/campaign-supports-germantown-property\/","title":{"rendered":"We walk alongside their footsteps: A campaign to preserve the historic Germantown property"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By Nancy McCrickard and Matt DeBall of the Church of the Brethren Mission Advancement<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mission Advancement has launched a campaign to preserve the historic Germantown property in Pennsylvania, and the history of the Church of the Brethren in the Americas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>We invite you to prayerfully consider helping us to take the next step by supporting this effort to raise $300,000.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Germantown Meetinghouse and Cemetery in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia dates back to 1723. It is the site of the first Brethren meetinghouse in the Americas, and celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The historic meetinghouse continues in use today by the congregation at Germantown Church of the Brethren, pastored by Richard Kyerematen. The cemetery located behind the meetinghouse is where several of the most prominent early Brethren leaders are buried. The property also includes the church parsonage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"409\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Germantown-property-campaign-banner-photo-May2026.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27096\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Germantown-property-campaign-banner-photo-May2026.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Germantown-property-campaign-banner-photo-May2026-300x205.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Germantown-property-campaign-banner-photo-May2026-560x382.jpg 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The property is owned by the Church of the Brethren denomination and is cared for by the Germantown Trust. Members of the trust include representatives from the Germantown congregation, Atlantic Northeast District, the Church of the Brethren\u2019s Mission and Ministry Board, and several other Brethren denominations that descend from the Germantown congregation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By caring for and preserving this site where the faith of our spiritual ancestors began in this country, we can strive for faithfulness in the present as we walk alongside their footsteps and share the witness of the Church of the Brethren into the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gifts to this restricted fund include a Ministry Enablement Contribution of 9 percent to help cover the cost of carrying out the intended purpose of the gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A PowerPoint about the Germantown Property Campaign may be downloaded from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brethren.org\/missionadvancement\/germantown-campaign-resources\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"www.brethren.org\/missionadvancement\/germantown-campaign-resources\">www.brethren.org\/missionadvancement\/germantown-campaign-resources<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Support this special campaign by giving online at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brethren.org\/giveGermantown\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"www.brethren.org\/giveGermantown\">www.brethren.org\/giveGermantown<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8212; For additional information, find out more about the history of Germantown at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bhla\/germantowntours\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"www.brethren.org\/bhla\/germantowntours\">www.brethren.org\/bhla\/germantowntours<\/a>. A Newsline article about the 300th anniversary celebration at Germantown at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2023\/celebrating-300-years-at-germantown\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"www.brethren.org\/news\/2023\/celebrating-300-years-at-germantown\">www.brethren.org\/news\/2023\/celebrating-300-years-at-germantown<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">#MissionAndMinistryBoard #StrategicPlan #RacialJustice #LoveOurNeighbors #Discipleship #NewTestamentGiving<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Find more Church of the Brethren news:<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__list wp-block-latest-posts\"><li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/six-awards-from-associated-church-press\/\">Messenger and Communications receive six awards from the Associated Church Press<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/pastoral-care-in-focus-in-honduras\/\">Pastoral care in focus on a trip to Honduras to support deported church members<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/learnings-from-l-e-a-d-conference\/\">\u2018What got us here won\u2019t get us there\u2019: Learnings from the L.E.A.D. Conference<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/wfc-hiroshima-seeks-volunteers\/\">World Friendship Center in Hiroshima seeks volunteer co-directors through Brethren Volunteer Service<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/virtual-delegate-briefing-may-27\/\">Annual Conference officers to host virtual delegate briefing on May 27<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mission Advancement has launched a campaign to preserve the historic Germantown property in Pennsylvania, and the history of the Church of the Brethren in the Americas. We invite you to prayerfully consider helping us to take the next step by supporting this effort to raise $300,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":27096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1703],"tags":[1387,1819,1766,3760,2645,348,1403,1386,2195],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-27095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-of-the-brethren-newsline","tag-atlantic-northeast-district","tag-brethren-heritage","tag-brethren-history","tag-campaign","tag-fundraising","tag-germantown-church-of-the-brethren","tag-matt-deball","tag-mission-advancement","tag-service"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27095"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27100,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27095\/revisions\/27100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27095"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=27095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}