Credit: Reproduced with permission from the Methodist collections of Drew University Library
Ordained into the ministry of the German Reformed Church in 1749, Phillip William Otterbein (1726-1813) emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1752. At a large barn meeting in Lancaster County, Otterbein was so moved by Mennonite Martin Boehm's story of becoming a Christian and a minister that he embraced Boehm and said "Wir sind bruder." [We are brethren]. The two men later joined to form the United Brethren in Christ, which took its name from Otterbein's words.
