|
Washington PA Newspapers:
|
Both Sites:
|
McDonald PA Newspapers:
|
|
Remainder of Genealogy / Family Sites
| Use every search for best results. |
Notice: In order to continue using the free side of
Pico Search, the 2 Sites had to be split into separate searches. |
Focusing on the lives
of any person or family who has lived in Little Washington,
Washington County, Pennsylvania at anytime throughout
history to recent times, through data and family stories.
NEW SEARCH BOX ADDED
OBITUARY OF BRETHREN HISTORIAN
DONALD F. DURNBAUGH
died Saturday, August 27, 2005
Donald F. Durnbaugh, "Dean of Brethren Historians" dies
Donald F. Durnbaugh is remembered as `Dean of Brethren historians.' -as clipped
from the COB Newsline.
Church of the Brethren historian, educator, and church leader Donald F.
Durnbaugh died on Saturday, Aug. 27, at Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, N.J., at
age 77. He and his wife, Hedda, were returning from a trip to Europe. He lived
in James Creek, Pa., and attended Stone Church of the Brethren in Huntingdon,
Pa. He was
born in Detroit, Mich., in 1927. The Durnbaughs have three children and two
grandchildren.
Durnbaugh held a unique position in the Church of the Brethren as "the dean
of Brethren historians," in the words of Dale W. Brown, a colleague when
Durnbaugh taught at Bethany Theological Seminary. He also was considered a
leading authority on the Historic Peace Churches and American communitarian
movements. "Don is
internationally known and widely considered to be the leading twentieth century
historian of the Church of the Brethren and other Brethren groups that
originated in Schwarzenau, Germany, in the early 18th century," wrote
seminary colleague Donald E. Miller in a 1997 "festschrift"
celebrating Durnbaugh's work.
Among his numerous books and articles are "European Origins of the
Brethren: A Source Book on the Beginnings of the Church of the Brethren in Early
Eighteenth-Century Europe" (Brethren Press, 1958), "Brethren in
Colonial America: A Source Book on the Transplantation and Development of the
Church of the Brethren in
the Eighteenth Century" (Brethren Press, 1967), "The Believers'
Church: The History and Character of Radical Protestantism" (Macmillan,
1968), and "Fruit of the Vine: A History of the Brethren, 1708-1995"
(Brethren Press, 1997). Durnbaugh served as editor-in-chief of the three-volume
"Brethren Encyclopedia,"
published in 1983-84. He was working on completing the editing of the fourth
volume that is to be published soon.
Durnbaugh taught at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., for four years before he
began teaching church history at Bethany Theological Seminary in 1962. In 1988
he became the J. Omar Good Distinguished Visiting Professor at Juniata, and in
1989 became the Carl W. Ziegler Professor of History and Religion at
Elizabethtown
(Pa.) College. He held degrees from Manchester College in North Manchester,
Ind.; the University of Michigan; and the University of Pennsylvania; and
studied at Philipps-Universitaet Marburg, Germany. His many professional
associations included affiliation with the Young Center for the Study of
Anabaptist and Pietist
Groups at Elizabethtown, and service as president of the Brethren Journal
Association.
Among Durnbaugh's Brethren mentors were Gladdys Muir and M.R. Zigler.
Commissioned by Zigler, he collected a book of documents entitled "On Earth
Peace: Discussions on War/Peace Issues Between
Friends, Mennonites, Brethren, and European Churches 1935-1975" (Brethren
Press, 1978). His biography of Zigler, "Pragmatic Prophet," was
published by Brethren Press in 1989.
Durnbaugh's career as a church leader began with volunteer service in Europe
through the Brethren Service Commission, beginning in 1949. He was in the third
unit of Brethren Volunteer Service and worked with refugees in Austria, later
returning to direct the Brethren Service program there. He met his wife, Hedda,
at a peace
seminar in Vienna. It was with her help in translating documents from the German
that Durnbaugh began his study of Brethren history in Europe.
In 1986 he served in the highest elected position in the Church of the Brethren
as Annual Conference moderator. Other church leadership positions included a
Conference study committee on church and state, leadership of the Brethren
Colleges Abroad program in Europe 1964-65, membership in the Brethren Historical
Committee and the Germantown Trust, leadership in a Brethren-Russian Orthodox
Exchange in 1971, and service in the
Fraternal Relations Committee. With John Howard Yoder he was a co-coordinator of
Believers' Church conferences that gathered "free church" traditions
in a new configuration.
Most recently, he was a member of the committee planning the celebration of the
300th anniversary of the Church of the Brethren. He served a term as chair
and was a key leader in contacts with other Brethren bodies, who held him in
high esteem. In recent years, he and Hedda also led Brethren history tours of
Europe.
A memorial service is being planned for a future date.
Subscribers to the BRETHREN-L@rootsweb.com List added these remarks.
This list has been discussing the Brethren Encyclopedia in several recent
messages and I just wanted to mention, with great respect and sadness, that the
historian Donald Durnbaugh passed away recently (Aug. 27). My family is deeply
indebted to him for researching, illuminating and preserving aspects of our
history, as well as that of the
Brethren churches.
More information can be found at the "BMH
Editor's Blog" where there is a picture of Donald F. Durnbaugh (back
row, second from left in the Brethren Encyclopedia Board).
And, regarding the Brethren Encyclopedia, these emails were received in
September 2005:
Fellow Researchers--I believe we need to make a little space available on this
net work to discuss the development of the Brethren Encyclopedia. Mention has
been made that the encyclopedia does not adequately address some church
organizations and that it contains omissions/errors in research.
The decision was made to not include church organizations that existed less than
five years. Yes, you will find some churches not listed. I have found one not
mentioned. The only clue to its existence are the letters of membership given to
several persons who transferred their membership to an existing church in
another state. Gratefully, these letters of membership had been saved through
the years and eventually found their way into an archive. How long this church
existed and how many members it had is yet to be researched. I am sure there are
other examples that have come to light related to unlisted church organizations
within the fellowship of the brethren.
Creating the Brethren Encyclopedia was a monumental undertaking considering we
had not quite made it to the age of computers, on-line websites, and the ability
to locate information instantaneously. The encyclopedia was published in 1984.
Research went on for years before that in collecting data, finding writers for
the articles printed, and providing footnotes for each article written.
"Someone" was responsible for the huge volume of correspondence
included as well as locating the material used in the publication. At that time,
not even district meeting minutes of all districts were available, let alone the
history of individual churches.
This encyclopedia was a much needed tool for researchers. It was a dream of M.
R. Zigler to get the brethren bodies together to work on such an undertaking.
Zigler was able to encourage the brethren bodies to work together to see it
published. The editor was Donald F. Durnbaugh with a huge support system of
researchers. Every article is annotated with material used and the article
signed by the writer. A key to the writers and the annotated works is included
as well as all material [known] published by Brethren. Other listings are of
congregations by denominational body and state or country and all known ordained
ministers within the brethren bodies, not including those licensed but never
advanced. There were no previous encyclopedias of this caliber within the
Brethren. And yes, there are mistakes. There always will be mistakes when humans
write articles--simply because we are human.
Vol. 4 of the encyclopedia is to be soon ready for purchase. It will contain
corrections to many of the glaring errors/omissions found in the first three
volumes as well as an update of information from 1984 to the present. Let us
pray that those responsible for this long awaited volume will be able to
complete their assignments and present it to us.
Links on this
Site
Site History and Updates: Dec '05; Jan '05; Mar
'06
Email
Washington.Co.PA.Webmaster
(c) Judith Ann Florian
159 E. Main St.
Girard, Ohio 44420
Copyright Notice - Data / info. for individuals and surnames may be
reproduced for personal family histories only, but not for any commercial use or
sale. Please give credit to Judith Florian and Catherine L. Caldwell for
locating newspaper items and original documents. You may use J. Florian's
research conclusions if credit is given. No other data or images may be
reproduced without permission. © 2005-present, Judith Florian, Copyright All
rights reserved.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 24, 2006 04:03
|
|
The background was chosen specifically to
emphasize the matriarchal role of women in "the life" of
children and families, and the resilience of all the women of
southwestern Pennsylvania. |
|
