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 116 meetings: but when this became impractica- ble annual conferences were appointed, where preachers were licensed, examined, disciplined, and directed in their labors. (See OTTEBBEIN, PIIILIP WILLIAM.) The first annual conference met in 1800, the first general conference in 1815 In 1875 this denomination had 43 annual conferences, 4,010 organized churches, 1,967 ministers, and 136,076 members. It has at Dayton, Ohio, an extensive printing establish- ment, where several periodicals and a variety of books are issued in English and German. The aggregate circulation of the periodicals published by this church, in July, 1874, was 181 500 copies. At the quadrennial meeting of the general conference in 1873, the receipts of the book concern during the preceding four years were reported at $322,370, the expen- ditures at $318,628, and the excess of as- sets over liabilities at $96,525. In 1875 the church owned ten institutions of learning, viz. : Lebanon Valley college, Annville, Pa. ; Otter- bein university, Westerville, O. ; the Union Biblical seminary, Dayton, O. ; Hartsville uni- versity, Hartsville, Ind. ; Green Hill seminary, Poolsville, Ind. ; Roanoke seminary, Roanoke, Ind. ; Westfield college, Westfield, 111. ; West- ern college, Western, Iowa ; Lane university, Lecompton, Kansas; and Philomath college, Philomath, Oregon. The United Brethren in Christ are Arminian in theology, and supply their churches with preaching on the itinerant plan. They have quarterly, annual, and gen- eral conferences. The highest e6clesiastical body is the general conference, which meets every four years. Until 1873 it consisted ex- clusively of clerical delegates ; but in that year it adopted the principle of lay delegation, and the church ratified it when it was submitted to a general vote. It elects bishops (in 1873, four) for a term of four years, and assigns to each a district. No slaveholder, no adhering member of any secret combination, and no manufacturer, seller, or drinker of intoxicating liquors can be a member of the church. They regard a change of heart as indispensable to membership. Baptism is administered by either sprinkling, pouring, or immersion, each member being permitted to exercise his own judgment in regard to the mode ; infants are baptized when it is desired. Open communion is practised. Until about 1825 the United Brethren in Christ confined their labors almost exclusively to persons speaking German, but most of the communicants now speak English. Being one of the most outspoken anti-slavery churches, they had before the civil war hardly any congregations in the southern states ; since then they have established several there. In some of the western states this church is among the largest denominations. Foreign missions have been established in Africa and Germany. See "History of the United Brethren in Christ," by G. Lawrence. UNITED EVANGELICAL CHURCH, an ecclesiasti- cal denomination in Germany, which arose in UNITED EVANGELICAL CHURCH 1817 out of a union of the Lutheran and Re- formed churches. Attempts at uniting these two churches were made as early as 1529 when leading theologians of both schools held a conference at Marburg. These attempts were often renewed, and other religious con- ferences between theologians of the two de- nominations were held at Leipsic in 1631, and at Cassel in 1661. In 1703 Frederick I. of Prussia convened several Lutheran and Re- formed theologians at Berlin, to discuss the practicability of a union. He erected union churches at Berlin and Charlottenburg, and had the orphans of the two denominations brought up in the same establishments ; but the Lutheran clergy successfully resisted the pro- gress of these schemes. A " Plan of Union " proposed by Klemm and Pfaff, theologians of Tubingen (1710-1722), met with little favor. Frederick William I. issued several decrees designed to promote a union. The rise of rationalism, toward the close of the 18th cen- tury, disposed the theologians generally in favor of a union of the two churches, whose distinctive tenets, it was generally admitted, had but few believers among the clergy of either. Schleiermacher proposed to establish at first only an external church unity, and to leave the controversies of scientific the- ology open to discussion. The tercentenary of the reformation in 1817 led at length to the practical establishment of the union, which, however, in the opinion of many of its advo- cates, was to consist at first only in the estab- lishment of a common church government and the common celebration of the Lord's supper. The leadership in this movement was assumed and has ever since been maintained by the government of Prussia. The clergy of Berlin issued a declaration in favor of the union, and a circular of the minister of the interior con- firmed it, and decreed that the united church should bear henceforth the name Evangeli- cal Christian church. It was thought that the union would be gradually and peaceably consummated by an agreement respecting a constitution, church property, and ordinary usages. It was also decided that the Lord's supper should be celebrated by a mere break- ing of the bread and a faithful recitation of the words used in the original institution. For several years this work appeared to be in process of accomplishment in the several ec- clesiastical corporations, sometimes by public enactments and sometimes as the government directed, by a practical acceptance of the break- ing of the bread and an acknowledgment of the authorities of the united church ; but it was considerably disturbed by the introduc- tion of a new liturgical book, the Agenda. A theological commission, appointed to compose such an instrument, accomplished nothing. The king then published an Agenda, which had been introduced by his cabinet (1822) into the court church, gave orders that it should be introduced into the garrison churches of his