Martin Boehm was an American clergyman. He was a Mennonite bishop from 1756 to 1800 and then a United Brethren bishop.
Background
Martin Boehm was born on November 30, 1725, in Conestoga Township, Pennsylvania, United States, the son of Jacob Boehm, one of the Mennonites from the Palatinate, who settled in Conestoga Township in the early eighteenth century. Jacob married into the Kendig family, early settlers in the county, became a deacon in the Mennonite Church, and prospered as farmer and blacksmith.
Education
Martin Boehm received his early education at home. He knew both German and English.
Career
Like his father, Martin Boehm was a farmer; but religion early became the main interest of his life. He inherited the paternal estate which he cared for until his own son Jacob was old enough to manage it. About three years later he was chosen by lot as a preacher for the Mennonites. In 1759 he became a bishop. Because formalism characterized the Mennonite Church, as it did many of the religions of the day, his task as preacher proved difficult. After experiencing a spiritual conversion he gradually broke away from the orthodox manner of worship, and was influenced to preach a more vital faith. During a preaching tour in the Shenandoah Valley he heard of the teaching of George Whitefield. Later, preachers of the "new light" movement found their way into Lancaster County where they were welcome in Boehm's home.
Of great significance in his later life was his connection with William Otterbein. The two preachers met sometime between 1766 and 1768. Boehm was addressing an overflow congregation in an orchard not far from Lancaster. Otterbein was among the listeners, and at the close of the service he is said to have clasped Boehm in his arms, exclaiming, "We are brethren. " Otterbein and Boehm were chosen at the first annual conference in 1800 as the first bishops of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Long before 1800, however, Boehm's connection with the Mennonites had been broken. The Mennonites had censured him for his doctrine and his method of preaching because they thought he was lacking in respect for the ordinances of the church, and because he associated with men of other denominations. Reproofs failed to bring Boehm back into the narrow ways of the sect. Bishops, ministers, and deacons, in conference, therefore, decided to exclude him and his followers from communion and the counsel of the brotherhood. He continued his itinerant preaching, nevertheless, and became more and more successful. He still wore the long beard and plain costume of the Mennonites, and maintained also their simplicity of manner.
Boehm traveled widely through southern Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, holding service in barns when the regular meeting places failed to accommodate the crowds of Lutherans, Reformed, Mennonites, and Dunkards who flocked to hear him. Boehm often united in services with other preachers who laid emphasis upon the things of the spirit. He was present at the conference in Baltimore where the Church of the United Brethren in Christ was first organized. He also attended the second conference in 1791, the first annual conference in 1800, and every succeeding conference, with the exception of those in 1806 and 1808, until two years before his death. While thus playing an important part in the Church of the United Brethren, Boehm also formed a connection with the Methodists. A "class" was formed at his house in 1775, and Methodist ministers frequently preached in his father's home until the Methodists built a chapel on land which had belonged to the Boehms. In 1802 Boehm allowed his name to be placed on the class book to comply with Methodist rules of attendance, but evidence that he ever left the Church of the United Brethren is lacking. Boehm's liberality, which had caused his break with the Mennonites, made the dual connection with Methodists and United Brethren possible. Thus affiliated with two churches, he continued to serve in the ministry, preaching occasionally, though growing more and more feeble, till his death, March 23, 1812.
Achievements
Views
Quotations:
"For myself, I felt my heart more greatly enlarged towards all religious persons and to all denominations of Christians. "
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
"He read with great pleasure and profit; among others, Wesley's Sermons and Fletcher's Checks. " - Henry Boehm
Connections
In 1753 Boehm married Eve Steiner, a woman of Swiss ancestry.