From: Young Center <youngctr@etown.edu>
Date: Tue, Mar 22, 2022 at 4:27 PM
Subject: Please Announce Mar 27 & April 3
To: info@gehmanmennonitechurch.org <info@gehmanmennonitechurch.org>
Greetings!
Please include this announcement in your church bulletin or announcement list on March 27 and April 3.
Elizabethtown College's Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies presents the 2022 Kreider Lecture, "The Unknown Story of Naming the Brethren in Christ", by Jonathan R. Stayer on Tues, April 5 at 7 pm, in the Bucher Meetinghouse at the Young Center or via Zoom.
Since the early twentieth century, the Brethren in Christ—formerly known as the River Brethren—have claimed that they adopted their current denominational name during the American Civil War when the United States government required them to register or go on record as a Peace Church in response to the draft. The conscription laws did not include such a requirement, nor has contemporary documentation of such action by the church been found. So what really happened and how did the Brethren in Christ get their name? Join a retired state government archivist on a fascinating romp through church sources, government records, newspapers and historical accounts as he unravels the true story. For details and the link for Zoom visit www.etown.edu/youngctr/events
Jonathan R. Stayer was supervisor of reference services at the Pennsylvania State Archives when he retired in 2019 after 35 years of employment. He is vice president of the South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society (SCPGS) and serves on the boards of the York County History Center and the Friends of Camp Security. Stayer volunteers at both the State Archives and the History Center.
Thank you,
The Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies
Elizabethtown College
One Alpha Drive, Elizabethtown, PA 17022
Phone: 717-361-1470
Fax: 717-361-1443
Website: www.etown.edu/youngctr
