What we see here is a continued effort of those elders to try and dislodge the rudiments of dynamic change in the Apostolic Christian Church of America. ACCA is a long standing denomination, first settled in upper New York within Mennonite-Amish circles in the foot hills of the Adirondack Mountains in Lewis County. Newly appointed elder missionary Brother Benedict Weyeneth was the first missionary for the Evangelical Baptist Church in Switzerland to travel to Croghan in hopes of settling a dispute that arose between various factions in the Anabaptist churches there. But what he discovered was a real awakening for lost souls to repent and be baptized in their faith with God, the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and The Holy Ghost. Brother Weyeneth's ministry caused many souls to turn to God in deep contrition and withdraw from the erring doctrines of those Anabaptist believers. Within a short period of time even the leading Elder Virkler followed Weyeneth's preaching and was immediately converted to the new faith. Whereupon that was the blossoming of a brand new movement in America with a name of Evangelical Baptist but very much loosely denominated.
Brother Weyeneth began many more mission trips across the fruited plains in the latter half of the 19th century, and starting many new churches with a magnitude beyond imagination. All because, indeed, God blessed the spiritual works of repentance and conversion certainly in those areas. Weyeneth did not choose to go to any seminary, but embarked upon pure graceful efforts to preach out the true callings of God into the burdened hearts of men all around him. As the loose denomination grew rapidly mostly in the central USA, other leaders were called into ministry and elderships. Brother Weyeneth finally settled in Woodford County, IL near Roanoke. He passed away in 1887 and his gravestone remains in a small cemetery. The next generation of leaders from late 1900 to 1940 took up the leadership roles and established much of the remaining doctrines with in the church today. In the '20s the name of the denomination changed to Apostolic Christian Church because of fierce persecution of brothers in the first world war conscription. The elders chose to rename the church to eliminate aligning with other baptist theologies.
When the next generation of leaders came into play, many many deep seated traditions were established in place of doctrines that today seem rather obtuse. For example is the practice of Holy Kiss among the members in the denomination. That practice is really fruitless toward love as it really just means a method of discipline even to keeping an erring member from participating with it. Such error from the Holy Word of God to be judgmental and unloving to a stumbling brother.
This blog really gives indication that many traditions pale in promoting compassion and true love among fellow believers in Christ.
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