Martin Boehm

Boehm married Eve Steiner in 1753 and in 1756 he was chosen by lot to become the minister of the local German-speaking Mennonite church.

Although raised a Mennonite, he lacked the assurance of the presence and power of Jesus Christ in his life and he prayed for a heart-warming experience, to deepen his personal faith.

On May 10, 1767, in a Great Meeting held at Long's Barn near Lancaster, Pa., Boehm met Philip William Otterbein, an ordained missionary to German speaking residents in America for the Reformed Church in Germany.

In 1800, after being expelled by the Mennonites for being too evangelical, Boehm and Otterbein formed the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, and they were elected the denomination's first two bishops.

The resolution was presented, and a written confession signed, by three Mennonite bishops at the 225th anniversary of Boehm's Chapel on June 26, 2016, to a crowd of more than 250 witnesses.