Jakob Albrecht

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Jakob Albrecht.

Jakob Albrecht (also Jacob Albrecht , Americanized Jacob Albright ) (born May 1, 1759 near Pottstown , Province of Pennsylvania ; † May 17, 1808 in Kleinfeltersville , Pennsylvania ) was the founder and first bishop of the Methodist Evangelical Community and is therefore considered to be one of the founders of the United Methodist Church .

Live and act

Jakob Albrecht was the son of German immigrants from the Palatinate and grew up in a Lutheran church in Pennsylvania. In 1785 he married Catherine Cope with whom he had three children. He lived with his family in Pennsylvania, where he worked as a brick burner on his farm and with a kiln . In 1790, after the death of several of his children, he had an internal crisis. Through his neighbor, the lay preacher Adam Riegel, he came to the Methodists .

Since October 1796 he began to preach to German immigrants in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia as an itinerant preacher without theological training and without church commission . Agriculture and brick-making became a secondary occupation. He didn't want to gather a local community around him. He was constantly pushing forward, to new regions, to sheep lost in sin . to collect. He did not preach in churches, but in the open air. B. in forest meetings or in barns. He had not planned a church organization. The converts , he started from 1800 for an order following the example of John Wesley together in classes that were to each other spiritually responsible. Albrecht gave the class leader and the necessary instructions. At the council meeting in 1803 he was unanimously convinced that he had proven a good test through his six years as a successful travel preacher and should be ordained. So Albrecht was solemnly introduced to the ministry with prayer and the laying on of hands. This corresponded to the tradition from the Acts of the Apostles.

In 1807 the organization was called the Reformed Methodist Conference . On the advice of Albrecht, she decided to draft a doctrine of the faith and church order, in which the episcopal form of government should be the basis of the church's budget. Albrecht was elected general superintendent. Today this office is equated with the episcopate.

In 1807 he began translating the Methodist Church Order into German, a work that was completed by George Miller after his death.

In 1808 Albrecht died exhausted from his travels and his preaching activities.

Albrecht's love of order is mentioned as a particularly pronounced trait in all areas. He particularly emphasized church discipline . His modesty, his masculine demeanor , straight person and almost military gait gave the impression that he was a man of firm conviction and strong determination. As a preacher, he was thorough, original, and biblical. He often spoke in parables.

The main source of his life is a short biography written in 1811 by George Miller, an elder (preacher) of the Evangelical Community.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl-Heinz Voigt: Albrecht, Jacob . (1759-1808). In: Helmut Burkhardt and Uwe Swarat (ed.): Evangelical Lexicon for Theology and Congregation . tape 1 . R. Brockhaus Verlag, Wuppertal 1992, ISBN 3-417-24641-5 , p. 34 .
  2. ^ A b Arthur C. Core: The Evangelical United Brethren Church in the United States of America (Evangelical United Bethren Church; in Germany Evangelical Community). In: Karl Steckel and C. Ernst Sommer : History of the Evangelical Methodical Church , Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-7675-7496-9 , p. 64f.
  3. ↑ a b Ruben Jäckel: The Church Spirit of the Evangelical Community ; published under the title The Genius of the Evangelical Church Cleveland (Ohio) 1900, reissued and edited by Karl Steckel; Contributions to the history of the UMC 34, Stuttgart 1989, p. 12.
  4. ↑ ( Acts 13 : 1-3  GNB ), Acts 13
  5. ↑ See the official church list of United Methodist Bishops ( Memento of April 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on May 9, 2008, here Jacob Albright .
  6. ↑ Ruben Jäckel: The Church Spirit of the Evangelical Community ; published under the title The Genius of the Evangelical Church Cleveland (Ohio) 1900, reissued and edited by Karl Steckel; Contributions to the history of the UMC 34, Stuttgart 1989, p. 9ff.

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Albrecht, Jakob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Albright, Jacob; Albrecht, Jacob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American founder of the Evangelical Community (Methodism)
DATE OF BIRTH May 1, 1759
PLACE OF BIRTH near Pottstown , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH May 17, 1808
Place of death Kleinfeltersville , Pennsylvania