Chapter 1 EARLY HISTORY OF THE BRETHREN IN CHICAGO

Chapter 2 THE HASTINGS STREET ERA    

Chapter 3 BROADENING OF THE HASTINGS STREET OUTREACH

Chapter 4 LEADERSHIP ROLES AT YORK CENTER

Several persons come to the fore when one delves into the early years of the Hasting Street Congregation, with that facility a fertile seedbed for people of creativity and purpose. From that milieu, three areas of Brethren interests were brought into reality, which led to the establishment of institutions in existence today. One person was a graduate student, who along with a fellow Brethren student from the University of Chicago, with both being visionaries, saw the opportunity to enlarge the denomination's interest in biblical education in the then early years of the new millennium. The first, a deeply religious man was also a capable administrator, and his fellow classmate's interest was concentrated in wanting to further Brethren ideals and way of life through higher education. Today we recognize A.C. Wieand and E.B.Hoff as the founders of the Bible Training School in 1905 that later became Bethany Seminary. It is reported that their early efforts were questioned, not by rural Brethren as one might expect, but by other Brethren institutions of higher learning afraid of having their enrollment affected by students changing schools.

Another person, from Ohio, Dr. Van Dyke , while not involved in the Bible School, was a man of conscience interested in the physical well-being of humanity, and was attracted to the work of the Dispensary that was originally set up under the direction of the three Brethren women mentioned in the previous chapter. In 1897, he was called to direct the work of the Dispensary. His becoming part of the small dispensary broadened the discipline and activities of that early health facility. Some years later, it gradually blossomed into the larger institution of Bethany Hospital as it was named after its move to the larger Van Buren location.
Mission, the third area of endeavor by these early Brethren could be likened to any successful venture, for it had many fathers. No one person stands out for it seems that almost all of the early Brethren recognized Chicago as a fertile mission field with its great unchurched masses needing to hear the word of God.
The more one reads of the early efforts, one becomes further impressed with these early Brethrens' zeal in reaching out in the burgeoning and restless city, stretching thin their somewhat limited resources. Several missions were established, with the first recorded one set up in 1894 at 195 West 14th Street, in an area then known as "Jerusalem." Unfortunately, this site at its opening received opposition from the community, but those involved in the effort stayed true to their purpose and eventually became accepted as a needed part of the community. (Remember, the rumors early on that were spread in that community, suggesting that crosses were being burned with red-hot pokers on the hands of girls attending bible study there.)

In spite of many difficulties and shortage of funds, soon there were five locations in all where the Brethrens' educational presence was extended. Besides Hastings Street and the one mentioned above at West 14th Street, three other Sunday School Extensions were established; one at 1298 Ogden, another at California Avenue and Ogden in 1898, and the fifth, the more ambitious establishment of the Douglas Park Extension in 1908. None of these was thought of at the time as missions, but simply as Sunday School Extensions with attendant activities.

The California at Ogden venture proved interesting and caught the attention of other caring groups in that area of the city. For here, besides religious teaching, they established a clothing reception center, receiving clothing and food items from Aid Societies and others, and distributing them by either sale or as gifts to the needy. This calls to mind, as a forerunner to, the present day brotherhood-wide activities at the New Windsor Service Center.

However, the Douglas Park extension generated more promise, and it caught the attention of the wider Brethren denomination who looked on it as a worthwhile effort; in fact, it had both the denominational blessing and financial backing from its inception. An early brotherhood-wide campaign popularized the effort with the slogan "Buy a brick for a dime." Brethren Sunday Schools around the country aided in raising funds. Many children's Sunday School classes became enthusiastically involved, with the Brethren children from all around the country contributing their nickels and pennies, raising a worthwhile $5,616.66 for the Douglas Park start up.

Soon, even with much of the energy directed to these mentioned endeavors, there still remained a concentrated focus for the Hastings Street Bible School to be elevated into a full-fledged seminary, with a name change in 1905 to Bethany Biblical Seminary. As this concept became a reality, its acceptance was soon so great that newer and larger quarters needed to be found. This led to the purchase in 1909 of property at 3435 West Van Buren Street to where the school was moved. The first building erected at the new site was simply referred to as Building A, with its name later changed to Alexander Mack Apartments, of which some of you, even today, have a familiarity.

According to Dean Frantz's account, it was at this point that Bethany Seminary and the Chicago congregation were placed in juxtaposition. Hastings Street had been the center, the focus, and the clearinghouse for Brethren work in Chicago, as the main meeting place of the congregation, but the attention was now changed to the Van Buren site with the congregation called Bethany Center. Hastings Street remained an organization until 1943, but its influence waned, and Bethany Center became the "mother" congregation, with Hastings Street and Douglas Park assuming the status of mission points. Dean further observed that this caused tension until Bethany Center (the congregation) became disassociated from Bethany Bible School. There were other stress points due to the change from rural to urban-mindedness, not the least of which was the dress question. And it was conflicts such as these that represented the birth pangs of a changed mode of thought in both the Chicago church as well as slowly spreading nationwide. These might be referred to as hot button issues today.

An organization was formed in 1920 and was called "The Chicago Church of the Brethren Fellowship Association," largely made up of resident members and of business and professional men employed in the city, many of whom had succumbed to the westward shift of the membership. Its purposes were to promote Christian fellowship, increase church attendance, and enlist for Christian service, members of local congregations. It was important in that it provided an outlet for emotions that surfaced during this period, thus promoting a strong bond of fellowship between a number of church members.

By 1924, the new seminary building on Van Buren Street could not adequately handle the congregation's space needs, so a separate location was sought which would establish the church as a separate entity from the Seminary, freeing the Seminary to pursue its goals of education. It was at this time that they discovered the nearby church property at the corner of Congress and Central Park, now vacated by the United Presbyterians. You'll recall the story of Dr. Farney's daughter's estate sale in 1925 in which the sale proceeds were given to the congregation for purchasing the Presbyterian property.

Only eighteen years later in 1943, it was the First Church congregation, now numbering over 800 members that provided the impetus for the starting of the York Center Church of the Brethren. That membership number made it one of the largest Churches of the Brethren. By way of contrast, and in some way surprising to think about here in the new millennium, York Center once had a high of 300 members. It is not known whether either of these numbers of membership reflects a later and certain amount of pruning to more accurately count active membership.

Editor's note: The early thought at the outset for this series was to present York Center's second thirty-year history as a follow-up to Leroy Grffm's first thirty-year history. However, Leroy's account may not be readily available to all, so we might be better served if his account were presented in a synopsized version as part of this series. This then will be the content of a later chapter or two. Also, to fully round out York Center's early period, we will include an additional and delightful chapter written by Mary Elizabeth Wieand. It presents a historical perspective of that era by one who was here and contributed greatly to York Center's inception; and of course, is still one of our cherished members. In this manner, we can cover that interesting earlier period of York Center's life, as well as supplying additional background for our readers. JAY

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