General Conference

Each Schwenkfelder Church is a separate entity and governs itself but there is a relationship among the churches. The Schwenkfelder Church is all the members of all the individual churches. The meeting of the members is called General Conference. The General Conference directs the churches in areas of collective interest. The pastors of the churches belong to a Ministerium and guide pastoral issues. Because it is unwieldy to call all members together to conduct the regular business of the Church, a representative group called the Executive Council meet on a regular basis to perform that function.

The Executive Council is made up of a Moderator, Vice Moderator, Secretary, Treasurer, and six At-Large Members who are elected by the General Conference members. Additionally, the Conference Minister, determined by the Ministerium, is a member of Executive Council. It is the Council’s job to manage the affairs in which all churches have an interest. Some areas are ongoing and occur every year, others may be a one-time event or of short duration. Each year a comprehensive report is presented at the Spring General Conference meeting, and in each Fall issue of The Schwenkfeldian, a summary report is provided to each church family.

A Short History

In August, 1782, the leaders of the Schwenkfelder Church (then called the Society of Schwenkfelders) mutually agreed to a document entitled The Fundamental Principles. This document, originally crafted by Christopher Schultz, along with many subsequent revisions and amendments, became the basis for operating and guiding what became the Schwenkfelder denomination. The last revision prior to the 21st Century was enacted in 1948, and it guided and directed the Schwenkfelders for the next 60 years. To operate as it was designed required serious participation by nearly 100 members. By the end of the 20th Century, it had become unwieldy and essentially inoperable as it had been designed. The Moderator of The Schwenkfelder Church* at that time, Jack Graham, had circumvented much of the operations as directed by the 1948 By-Laws because they were effectively unworkable. He had established a Steering Committee composed of the Officers of the General Conference**, the moderators from each church, and all the pastors from each of the churches to support and guide him in making decisions for The Schwenkfelder Church. While an improvement from the existing unworkable structure, this too, proved difficult at best and often inoperable. Furthermore, the pastors and the moderators in this role frequently felt overburdened as they already had significant responsibilities. Jack Graham openly acknowledged this weakness and spoke frankly about the need for a drastic and more realistic set of By-Laws. He, however, did not initiate a change, quite likely because he lacked the required energy as he was dealing with major health issues. He died in office in February 2003.

His replacement, Dave Luz, during the 2003 Spring General Conference, called for volunteers to redo the By-Laws. Many stepped forward and a working committee was formed. Changes were proposed, discussed, argued and eventually agreed upon. There were, however, certain issues generally revolving around actual or perceived restrictions to the freedom of each church to operate totally independently, and they were supported by several people with firm convictions. The inability to resolve the issues became a stumbling block. After several exhausting years, the committee stopped meeting because it could not overcome these obstacles.

Following a few quiet years, the committee resumed their meetings in 2007. By this time those with the firm positions had moved on and the committee was able to resolve all contentious issues. They then presented a revised and much simplified set of By-Laws to the 2008 Spring General Conference. After a thorough discussion of all the changes, the reasoning behind the changes explained, and all questions satisfactorily answered, the revised By-Laws were unanimously approved at the Fall General Conference in October 2008, to take effect on January 1, 2009.

The old By-Laws had various Boards, Committees and other organizations which frequently perceived themselves to be independent of General Conference, despite the fact that, in most cases, General Conference was responsible for appointing the members to these organization and the organizations were expected to report to General Conference. Several of these organizations even had their own bank accounts. In addition, the old By-Laws mandated significant and specific numeric membership requirements which had become impossible to meet.

The new By-Laws on the other hand clarified the names and responsibilities of the committees and established a clear line of responsibility. To assist in this clarification, the use of the word “Board” was eliminated. An addition to the new By-Laws required an elected Executive Council created with defined oversite responsibility for all committees. Those organizations not included clearly belonged outside the Schwenkfelder churches control. An example is The Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center, although having a Board primarily composed of Schwenkfelders, is not controlled by these By-Laws. While not doing the work of the new committees, the Executive Council now had clear responsibility for the successful functioning of them. Whereas General Conference met once or occasionally twice a year, Executive Council was now directed to meet at least quarterly. In fact, since its creation, it has met a minimum of six times or more times each year. Under the old By-Laws some organizations met occasionally or not at all. General Conference felt it lacked “the teeth” to help the organizations fulfill their responsibilities. The new By-Laws clarified where the ultimate responsibility resided – Executive Council. Most importantly the new By-Laws granted authority for Executive Council to act on behalf of The Schwenkfelder Church except for a few specifically delineated items. Executive Council was explicitly tasked with the responsibility for taking action to promote the purposes of The Schwenkfelder Church. The old By-Laws granted no such authority or direction.

The new Executive Council eagerly took on its responsibility. It initially met unofficially before its inauguration to begin understanding its role and to plan. From that point forward, it met regularly. In addition to many smaller procedural issues it began by directing the consolidation of financial accounts. It then requested the Ministerium to prepare a document which eventually became the Procedures Manual for Ordination, Licensing and Authorization for Ministry within The Schwenkfelder Church.

Executive Council reviewed the status of the various churches in the denomination which eventually led to a
policy on active/inactive churches. The policy described both, and also the process by which one might change from one to another. Executive Council took on the responsibility of the repairs, improvements and continual maintenance of the Yeakel Cemetery, and then later, issues concerning the Dresher Cemetery.

When it became time for Pastor Ed Winslow of Missionary Church to retire, Executive Council helped arrange his pension and manage a smooth transfer of leadership. It continued to support that situation with Pastor Alfred Duncan’s leadership and his effort to re-establish the church in Germantown.

When Advanced Living had issues with Board members and their terms, Executive Council clarified that situation. When Shepherd’s Heart Church applied to join the Schwenkfelder denomination, with the Ministerium‘s help, Executive Council established a process to direct that. When their pastor died suddenly, Executive Council arranged pastoral help for them.

The School of Christ is regularly reviewed by them. The Executive Council took the lead in revising the By-Laws to deal with the challenging problem of attaining a quorum at meetings.

The most significant, difficult, and time-consuming issue Executive Council dealt with was the Perkiomen School divestiture. During the summer of 2010, Executive Council was unexpectedly forced to deal with that major issue confronting The Schwenkfelder Church.

The Perkiomen School had been established by The Schwenkfelder Church through its General Conference in
1884. For more than 100 years, the Schwenkfelders and their families had supplied both considerable assets and significant leadership including nearly all staff in the early years. The Schwenkfelders had maintained effective control over the school through the Board of Directors, nominating 2/3’s of the Board and maintaining approval power of any change to the School’s By-Laws. After several decades of contentiousness at the turn of the last century between the Schwenkfelders and Headmaster and alumni members of the Board, the Headmaster and some alumni members of the Board took secretive action which culminated in the School taking formal action to divest itself from the Schwenkfelders in August 2010. Executive Council, confronted with this blatant development, consulted several lawyers. Believing the School’s action to be illegal, it challenged the School. For four years the School and the Church battled with lawyers and court cases. Finally, in 2014 the case was resolved with a negotiated settlement. The Schwenkfelders were granted a substantial monetary settlement covering all their legal fees along with some other satisfying directives for the School to follow and knowledge that the Courts had confirmed unanimously by legal ruling that the School’s action had been illegal. Perkiomen School, however, by the negotiated settlement, was able to completely separate itself from the Schwenkfelder Church.

It is impossible to believe that this limited success could have successfully happened under the directives and leadership available under the old By-Laws.

* The Schwenkfelder Church is the official name of the body of Schwenkfelder believers as granted by Pennsylvania charter in October 1909.
** General Conference is the name given to the official meeting of the members of The Schwenkfelder Church.

General Conference Today

There are four activities that are scheduled by the Executive Council during the year. They are: Spring General Conference Meeting, Salford Pilgrimage, Gedächtnistag (Schwenkfelder Memorial Day), and School of Christ, which is held in conjunction with Fall General Conference Meeting. They also oversee actions taken by sub-organizations or committees.

• There is the Publication Committee which produces The Schwenkfeldian and other printed material.

• The Viehweg Committee which tends to the monument in Twardocice, Poland.

• They maintain the Yeakle and Dresher Cemeteries in southeastern Montgomery County.

• They co-ordinate Schwenkfelder representation on Advanced Living Board.

• They interact with The Pennsylvania Council of Churches and Migrant Worker Support Group.

• They direct a Conference Mission Fund, Charity Fund, and Student Ministers Seminary Fund.

There are other actions that are under current consideration by Executive Council. There is the stewardship of funds received from Perkiomen School litigation, the David H. Anders Fund, and the involvement with Shepherd’s Heart Church and Missionary Church Worship Center. There is support for a Schwenckfeld-based book and partnering with Dock Academy for education. It is the intention of Executive Council to make the general
congregation members more aware of their activities in the coming months and encourage participation at the activities they administer.