Philipp Wilhelm Otterbein

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Philipp Wilhelm Otterbein

Philipp Wilhelm Otterbein (Philip William Otterbein; born July 3, 1726 in Dillenburg , †  November 17, 1813 in Baltimore , Maryland ) was a German-American preacher and one of the founders of the Church of the United Brothers in Christ .

After his ordination as a Reformed clergyman in 1749, Otterbein emigrated to North America in 1752 and served several parishes in Pennsylvania . In 1770 he returned to Germany for a short time. From 1773 until his death he was pastor of the Second Evangelical Reformed Church in Baltimore.

In 1767 or 1768 there was a momentous encounter with the Mennonite preacher Martin Boehm (1752–1812), as a result of which both worked closely together and alienated each other from their denominations. While Boehm was excluded from the Mennonite Church, Otterbein remained a Reformed pastor, but inwardly joined the emerging Methodist Episcopal Church . So he was involved in the introduction of the first Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury in 1784 . Together with Boehm, he formed the Church of the United Brothers in Christ on September 29, 1800, which had also extended to Germany since 1869.

Of Otterbein's nine siblings, all of his five brothers also became pastors.

The Otterbein Church in Baltimore , Maryland, and the Otterbein Church in Evans, West Virginia, were named after him.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Otterbein, Philipp Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Otterbein, Philip William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American preacher and one of the founders of the Church of the United Brothers in Christ
DATE OF BIRTH July 3, 1726
PLACE OF BIRTH Dillenburg
DATE OF DEATH November 17, 1813
Place of death Baltimore , Maryland