Iowa Band

Last updated

The Iowa Band was a home missionary initiative that worked at northwest frontier in the nineteenth century.

Contents

History

The Iowa Band started as a group of 12 Christian ministers, all trained at Andover Theological Seminary, who agreed to carry the gospel into a frontier region. The band was a part of the American Home Missionary Society that included Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and Baptists as members. Some prominent men from this organization of home missionaries were Daniel Lane (leader of the Keosauqua Academy where he stayed and trained young people), Harvey Adams, Erastus Ripley, Horace Hutchinson, Alden B. Robbins, William Salter (Influential in starting Iowa College), Edwin B. Turner, Benjamin A. Spaulding (stationed in Muscatine), William Hammond, James J. Hill (Missionary to Mt. Pleasant), Ebenezer Alden, Ephriam Adams (scribe) and C.E. Brown who came earlier in the Maquoketa area. (Bates was an Iowa native that joined.) [1]

The spirit with which these home missionaries went forth was ably expressed by one of the Iowa Band when he said: "The understanding is among us all, that we go west not for a temporary purpose, unless the great Head of the Church shall make it so. We go to remain permanently -- to live and die there -- and God grant us grace to carry out this purpose." [2]

The group arrived in 1843, and each minister selected a different town in which to establish a congregation. Many stayed in the above mention towns while others continued on west past Iowa into Kansas and Nebraska. The Iowa Band's motto was "each a church; all a college."

After a number of years when each minister worked independently, the ministers collectively helped to establish Iowa College in Davenport. [3] Later board officials moved the college to Grinnell and changed its name to Grinnell College. The letters and journal of William Salter, a member of the Iowa Band, depict the commitment and philosophy of this small group. At one point, Salter wrote the following to his fiancée back East: "I shall aim to show that the West will be just what others make it, and that they which work the hardest and do the most for it shall have it. Prayer and pain will save the West and the Country is worth it, "Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered. "

While attending Charles Finney’s Church (Oberlin, OH) in 1842 at an American Home Missionary Society Conference ,5 of the 12 men received a what they believed was a prophecy that was the mandate of the Puritans and God’s purpose for America. Beecher prophesied,” if this nation is, in the providence of God, destined to lead the way in moral and political emancipation of the world; it is time she understood her high calling, and was harnessed for the work." [2]

The 5 men took that confirmation of the call and with Beecher’s laying on of hands, went to Iowa in 1843, and were set apart in a training academy in Keosauqua, and set out for the NE corner to establish, “ God's Living Word in the hearts of all men”.

In 1845, 3 of the 5 men of the Iowa Band moved on further to the west, leaving others, including C.E. Brown and John Bates, new recruits of the work in Iowa.

During the American Civil War the church was at a decision point: Bates addressed denominational leaders and ministers in the state at the time; “Brethren, we need more of the spirit of God, more of a Missionary spirit, individual zeal, and enlarged benevolence in sustaining Sabbath Schools, and a better support could and ought to be given by the Churches to those ministers who labor in word and doctrine. Let us take heed that we are not absorbed too much in war. We are Christians as well as patriots. The first honor is to be self-denying and ready to die as martyrs in the cause of Christ; the next honor is to be self-denying and ready to die as patriots in the cause of our county.” [4]

By 1859, the religious movement led by Charles Brown and John Bates began to show signs of slowing down. Brown states, “It has been a year of very limited spiritual fruitage, and great destitution, the church has fallen asleep”. [4]

Members

Source: [5]

What the Iowa Band established

  1. Iowa College 1846
  2. Grinnell College 1859
  3. First Christian State Convention 1845
  4. Over 600 churches
  5. 200 schools and bible classes
  6. Organized the civil government in Burlington and Iowa City and Des Moines
  7. Established a sending and training center for young people in; Keosauqua, Denmark, Maquoketa, Burlington, and Muscatine. 1845 - 1857
  8. Trained nearly 1,000 Men and Women ministers to go into the Western United States [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grinnell College</span> Private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, U.S.

Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established Iowa College. It has an open curriculum, which means students need not follow a prescribed list of classes. The college's 120-acre campus includes several listings on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grinnell, Iowa</span> City in Iowa, United States

Grinnell is a city in Poweshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,564 at the time of the 2020 census. It is best known for being the home of Grinnell College, as well as being the location of the Merchants' National Bank building, designed by famous architect Louis Sullivan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evangelical United Brethren Church</span> American Protestant group formed in 1946

The Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) was a North American Protestant denomination from 1946 to 1968 with Arminian theology, roots in the Mennonite and German Reformed, and communities, and close ties to Methodism. It was formed by the merger of the Evangelical Church and the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. The United Brethren and the Evangelical Association had considered merging off and on since the early 19th century because of their common emphasis on holiness and evangelism and their common German heritage. In 1968, the United States section of the EUB merged with the Methodist Church to form the United Methodist Church, while the Canadian section joined the United Church of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorenzo Snow</span> American LDS Church leader (1814–1901)

Lorenzo Snow was an American religious leader who served as the fifth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1898 until his death. Snow was the last president of the LDS Church in the 19th century and the first in the 20th.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andover Theological Seminary</span> Theological seminary in Newton, Massachusetts, United States

Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Mack Smith</span> Religious leader and mother of Joseph Smith

Lucy Mack Smith was the mother of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. She is noted for writing the memoir, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations and was an important leader of the movement during Joseph's life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Alden Adams</span> American religious leader (1925–2019)

Don Alden Adams was president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (2000–2014), the principal corporation of Jehovah's Witnesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Salter (minister)</span> American congregational minister, public orator, social activist and historian

William Salter was an American congregational minister, public orator, social activist and historian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orson Spencer</span> American Mormon leader

Orson Spencer was a prolific writer and prominent member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in several highly visible positions within the church and left an extensive legacy of theological writings. Orson Spencer is one of the examples William Mulder cites of highly educated people becoming Mormons during the time of Joseph Smith

Erastus is a masculine given name which may refer to:

The American Baptist Home Mission Society is a Christian missionary society. Its main predecessor the Home Mission Society was established in New York City in 1832 to operate in the American frontier, with the stated mission "to preach the Gospel, establish churches and give support and ministry to the unchurched and destitute." In the 19th century, the Society was related to the Triennial Convention of Baptists. Today it is part of that Convention's successor, the American Baptist Churches, USA, and is the successor by merger of several 19th century Baptist organizations related to missions and education, including publications (1824), women (1877), and education (1888)

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shadrach Roundy</span>

Shadrach Roundy was an early Latter Day Saint leader born in Rockingham, Vermont. Roundy was the second oldest (59) member of Brigham Young's Company, which arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, and was one of the advance party which arrived in the valley ahead of the main party in order to start planting crops. He was one of the three men who, on July 23, 1847, were the first Mormon pioneers recorded to plow soil in what became Utah. He is also mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants 124:141 and was a bodyguard of Joseph Smith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska</span> Diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States

The Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America with jurisdiction over the state of Nebraska. It is in Province VI. Its cathedral, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, is in Omaha, as are the diocese's offices. As of 2019, the diocese contains 52 congregations and 7,096 members. Average Sunday attendance is approximately 2,418 across the diocese.

Reuben Gaylord was the recognized leader of the missionary pioneers in the Nebraska Territory, and has been called the "father of Congregationalism in Nebraska." Writing in memory of Gaylord in the early 1900s, fellow Omaha pioneer George L. Miller said, "It was Reuben Gaylord, the brave Christian soldier who brought Sunday into Omaha and the Trans-Missouri country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Carter Adams</span> American economist and professor

Henry Carter Adams was a U.S. economist and Professor of Political Economy and finance at the University of Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Leo Hayes</span> American prelate

Ralph Leo Hayes S.T.D. was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Helena in Montana from 1933 to 1935, and as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Davenport in Iowa from 1944 to 1966.

In the theology of the Latter Day Saint movement, an endowment refers to a gift of "power from on high", typically associated with the ordinances performed in Latter Day Saint temples. The purpose and meaning of the endowment varied during the life of movement founder Joseph Smith. The term has referred to many such gifts of heavenly power, including the confirmation ritual, the institution of the High Priesthood in 1831, events and rituals occurring in the Kirtland Temple in the mid-1830s, and an elaborate ritual performed in the Nauvoo Temple in the 1840s.

The Alabama Baptist Convention is an autonomous association of Baptist churches in the U.S. state of Alabama formed in 1823. It is one of the state conventions associated with the Southern/Great Commission Baptists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George E. White (missionary)</span>

George Edward White was an American Congregationalist missionary for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions for forty-three years. Stationed in the Ottoman Empire during the Armenian genocide as President of the Anatolia College in Merzifon, White attempted to save the lives of many Armenians, including "refused to tell" where Armenians were hiding so to save them from getting deported or killed. Thus he became an important witness to the Armenian Genocide.

References

  1. ↑ "Gale Catalog - the American Home Missionary Society Papers, 1816-1894 - 222182". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  2. 1 2 3 "Protestantism in America: A Narrative History". Archived from the original on 2010-06-25. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  3. ↑ "History of the Pioneer Fund - Development | Grinnell College". Archived from the original on 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  4. 1 2 "The Baptist Church History in Northeastern Iowa, 1886, Part II". iagenweb.org.
  5. ↑ Nollen, John Scholte (1953). Grinnell College. State Historical Society of Iowa. pp. 227–230. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.