For the course in the History and Doctrines of the Churches of God at Winebrenner Theological Seminary we have been able to use and partially edit letters and other documents relating to John Winebrenner made available to the seminary by our Publishing House in Harrisburg.

      These documents were given to the Publishing House many years ago by one of Winebrenner's daughters, Emma Winebrenner Christman. Included in them are Mrs. Christman's copies of portions of Winebrenner's letters and notebooks which, we have reason to believe, are no longer in existence.

      The following items are copies of some Winebrenner documents from the pen of Mrs. Christman. They are reproduced exactly as received (i. e., changes have not been made in grammar or spelling). Assistance in preparing these extracts for publication was given by Mr. Richard Beery, Chicago, Illinois, and by Pastor Robert Bistline, Toledo, Ohio.

            --RICHARD KERN, Editor      
Winebrenner Theological Seminary      

      THE FOLLOWING quotations from the letters and notebooks of John Winebrenner illustrate some of Winebrenner's concerns about the church and ministry of his day. Some of the statements have a nineteenth century flavor about them, but more noteworthy is the way in which so many of the quotations reflect continuing concerns of the twentieth century.

      Once again we see Winebrenner's tremendous concern for missions. Likewise we begin to feel his interest in bringing some degree of union among Christians. Here then is pastor John Winebrenner speaking to his fellow pastors in the Church of God over 100 years later.

      The following quotation is from a letter written by John Winebrenner to the Rev. James Kirkwood Colder, a Methodist Episcopal minister. It was written in September, 1850, probably in Harrisburg, Penna., after Colder had asked for the hand of Winebrenner's daughter in marriage.

      Rev. Colder and Ellen Winebrenner were married on December 25, 1850, and shortly thereafter left for the mission field in China. The Colders later returned and, for a time, Rev. Colder was a pastor in the Churches of God. (A summary of the Winebrenner-Colder relationship will be found in the Pastor's Page for August).

      As the quotation indicates, Winebrenner is dubious about the propriety of propagating Christianity "under sectarian names and forms" (in this case the Methodist Episcopal). However, it does not keep him from granting his daughter's hand to Colder. The quotation:

      The cause of Missions I hold to be the cause of God, and incomparably the noblest and best of all causes. I could most cheerfully entertain your proposition and lay you both on the sacred and benevolent altar of Christian Missions, were I fully satisfied of two things viz: 1st. That your call to China as a Missionary is of God and 2dly that it is right and scriptural to propogate christianity under sectarian names and forms. I am free to confess that I am not without strong doubts and fears.

      The following quotation is from the same letter as above (Winebrenner to Colder, September, 1850). For the greater part of his ministry Winebrenner was concerned over the "sectarianism" in Christianity. The divisiveness promoted by giving human names (various denominational titles) to what was God's (i.e., "God's Church," or "the Church of God") was damaging to the church, especially in its missionary or evangelistic outreach. So Winebrenner writes:

      Were all sects and parties who profess pure christianity merged into one Holy Catholic Church, and all Ministers and Missionaries act in harmony and concert with each other to bring the nations and kindreds of the earth to the obedience of the cross of Christ how soon would the Heathen be given to Christ for an inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession! Here lies the great secret of success among primitive Christians, and here lies the disparity between the success of ancient and Modern Missionaries. Their union made them strong--our divisions make us weak.

      The following is an extract copied from one of Winebrenner's notebooks by his daughter. The date is unknown. The quotation:

We want more,--
      1. Educated ministers,
      2. Union among Christians,
      3. A Church going and Sabbath Keeping people
      4. A devoted and Effecient ministry.

      The following is an extract copied from one of Winebrenner's [11] notebooks by his daughter. The date is unknown. (Among other things we have here a good sound basis for the establishment of Winebrenner Theological Seminary--Ed.). The quotation:

      Any system of religion which cannot Endure the ordeal of searching investigation & scouting, God never intended should flourish on soil consecrated to liberty.

      The following statements are also extracts copied from the notebooks of John Winebrenner by his daughter. No known date can be attached to any of them.

• As a Protestant, I am not prepared to admit any practice which cannot be proven from the Scriptures.
• Conscience: an application of the rule of right to the regulation of our conduct. "God within the mind".
• (Proverb) "The rich draw friends to them--the poor draw angels".
• Long and deeply have I deplored, the sin & folly of sectarianism, in other words, the division, bigotry and strife among the people of God.--
• Man's entire ability, is the measure of his duty.
• The exact embodiment of that conservatism which glories in doing thus & so, because father or mother did it so--
• "When all attempts at a pacific arrangement have miscarried, there is no room for choice, and what cannot be avoided becomes a duty."

[The Church Advocate, October 12, 1963, pp. 11, 30.]

      The electronic version of Richard Kern's "Some Notable Quotes from the Winebrenner Manuscripts" has been transcribed from a copy of The Church Advocate, 128 (October 12, 1963), pp. 11, 30. Thanks to Jean Leathers, Archivist of the Churches of God Historical Society, for lending a copy of that issue of the periodical.

      Pagination has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page.

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 21 September 1997.
Updated 14 July 2003.