History of the Bluffton Churches
 

-- As found in "Marching to Zion: A History of the Apostolic Christian Church of America: 1847-1982" --

Bluffton, Indiana

    The roots of the Apostolic Christian Church at Bluffton, Indiana can be traced directly to the emigration to America of several Swiss Mennonite families.  This sect of people left their homeland in Europe to pursue greater freedom, both economically and spiritually, on this side of the Atlantic.
    It is interesting to note that the pattern which was earlier established in Lewis County, New York; Rittman, Ohio; Congerville and Partridge Prairie, Illinois, also took place in the Bluffton area.  Namely, many of the church's first converts were of the Mennonite background.
    Specifically, the Bluffton church evolved from early Swiss Mennonite settlers who first migrated to Wayne County, Ohio.  Some of these people later moved to Adams County, Indiana.  Other Mennonite settlers moved to the Adams and Wells County area directly from Switzerland.
    Delbert Gratz, in Bernese Anabaptists, the refers to the "Baumgartner Settlement" in Indiana in these words:

On September 15, 1838, Christian Baumgartner and his bride settled near Vera Cruz in Adams County, Indiana.  with then came his brother, Peter.  In August of the following year, their father, David, who was a minister, together with several other families, joined them.  Under the guidance of David Baumgartner, meetings were held in the various homes.  In March, 1852, a number of Bernese Anabaptists from that be the Emmental region located near Vera Cruz and joined the Baumgartner group.  Among them were two ministers, Ulrich Kipfer and Matthias Strahm.

    The Strahm and Kipfer Families came from a long line of Mennonite families.  The Strahms were of Swiss origin, but many later moved to Germany to avoid religious persecution.  Johannes Strohm (1771- 1852), a preacher of Schway, Bavaria, 1821- 1847, emigrated to America with some children and many grandchildren.  One of these was the preacher Matthias Strahm.
    Matthias Strohm was born in 1813 at Oberamt Langnau, canton Bern, Switzerland.  He and his family were among a group of forty to sail on Easter Sunday, 1851, and arrived in American after an ocean trip of thirty-three days.  During this trip, his five year old daughter died.  A short funeral service was held, and the hymn “Meine Lebenszeit Verstreicht” (No. 253 in the Zion’s Harp) was sung.  Following a prayer, a stone was tied to her feet, and she was lowered into the ocean.
    The Kipfer’s, too, had deeper roots in the Mennonite faith with several serving as elders and deacons. One ancestor, Ulrich Kipfer (born in 1772 and the father and grandfather of the two Ulrich Kipfers who emigrated to America), was a deacon in the Emmental and wrote the detailed account of the division in 1835 at Langnau, Switzerland, when Samuel Froehlich drew over 318 members from the Mennonite church, creating what became known as the Neutaufer movement.
    It is evident that the Strahm and Kipfer families, along with many others, were familiar with the Neutaufer movement in Switzerland, and many were sympathetic to its views.  There was much religious dissension at Langnau in the early 1830’s.  When these families later emigrated to America in 1852, they joined the “Baumgartner” Mennonite Church Community in Adams County, Indiana.  In the same year, the aged leader, David Baumgartner, passed away.  This resulted in much confusion and dissension in the church community during the ensuing years.  In 1858, remembering the Froehlich movement, Matthias Strahm and Ulrich Kipfer’s son, also named Ulrich, decided to search out this faith in America.
    So determined were these two men to find a “true” religious faith, that in March, 1858, approximately seven years after arriving in eastern Indiana, they set out on foot for Sardis, Ohio, a distance of 260 miles.  It was a long and strenuous journey.  Often they would become discouraged and occasionally would hitch rides on wagons.  Although walking had been the chief mode of transportation in their native Switzerland, it hardly prepared them for the rigors of walking to and from Sardis.
    Their objective was to visit with Isaac Gehring and Joseph Bella, Ministers of the Apostolic Christian Church (for at that time called Neutaufer) at Sardis, Ohio, and to discuss the basic principles of the religious faith these two men espoused.  Kipfer and Strahm, being familiar with the Froehlich movement in Europe, desired to apply these beliefs to their own lives and community.
    It took only one evening of talking with Gehring and Bella to ignite a flame in their hearts.  They stayed a few days in the Sardis area and became fully convinced they had truly found the “firm foundation” in Christ Jesus.  Subsequently, they fully committed their lives to the Lord in repentance and embraced the new church.
    When these two men arrived back in the Newville community (a small town near the Adams-Wells county border, later named Vera Cruz), they enthusiastically told their relatives and friends of the new faith they had acquired. It was with joy and conviction that they related the “new birth” experienced and how God, in mercy, will grant piece of heart and mind to all who will surrender to the Lord and humbly follow his teachings.
    There was an immediate response to the gospel, resulting in the beginning of what is now known as the Bluffton Apostolic Christian Church.  A total of eighteen souls were ready for baptism when Elder Joseph Bella later came to the Newville area.  When he arrived, there arose a lengthy discussion about where to conduct the baptisms.  Although the Wabash River was close by, a heavy rain the previous evening had filled a pond in a nearby meadow and this was thought to be a more convenient spot.  Ulrich Kipfer was the first of eighteen to be baptized in the pond.  Later, many souls were baptized in the Wabash River about one-quarter mile west of the steel bridge spanning the Wabash River at Vera Cruz (formerly Newville).
    Thus, the fateful trip made by Matthias Strahm and Ulrich Kipfer to Sardis, Ohio, in 1858 proved to be of enormous importance.  Little did they realize when they accepted the Biblical views of Isaac Gehring and Joseph Bella that their actions would subsequently affect countless souls over many generations.  The action of these two, sincere men of God precipitated a following that by 1981 had grown into a church with approximately 1,100 members and over 485 families.  Thousands, over the years, have heard the glorious, pure, and unadulterated gospel sounded from the pulpit of the Bluffton, Indiana church.
    In addition to working out their souls’ salvation, these early settlers faced great hardship and privation as they attempted to carve an existence out of virgin land.  It was often necessary to clear the land of forest in order to begin planting.  Also, it was necessary to deal with the soil to which is of the heavy impermeable variety.  It was with the will encourage other Swiss heritage that they overcame the obstacles of the Adams and Wells county soil, just as they had conquered the unyielding soil of the Jura Mountains of their native Switzerland.
    Significant to their success, but second, of course, to the benevolence of Divine Providence (the foundation of their spiritual well-being), were the ideals deeply embedded in their hearts: the fear and love of God, obedience to His Word, brotherly love, faith, charity, honesty, hard work, and an unceasing persistence in His true.
    In 1867, the church community group to the extent that a church building was required.  A 2,040-square-foot structure was built in the area of Newville.  Elder Joseph Bella watched over the new congregation.  Matthias Strahm was chosen as the first minister.  In 1865, Nicholas Baumgartner (1831-1901), son of Benedict Baumgartner If, moved with his family from Elgin, Iowa, to Newville, Indiana, and became the second minister.  Jacob Schar, who later moved to Oregon in 1879, was chosen as the third minister.  The fourth minister, Adam Hartman (1838-1888), was elected the first resident Elder in 1887 and served for approximately one year until his death in 1888.  In 1897, church membership had grown to 130, and new accommodations were needed.  The new building, erected on the same site, seated 450 people.  It was approximately three times larger than the first building.  Skilled carpenters worked eleven-hour days at a $1.40 per day during this construction period.
    During these days, the church was known as the Newville Apostolic Christian congregation.  In about 1900, when many families moved to Bluffton, Newville faded as a settlement, the church became known as the Bluffton Apostolic Christian church.
    Construction of the third (existing) church, which replaced the structure built an 1897, began in March, 1949.  It is a large structure of 27,800 square feet, with a seating capacity of approximately fifteen hundred.  A fellowship hall was built in 1969 to accommodate various church functions.  In 1976, an addition to the church was constructed to provide additional Sunday School facilities.  To the existing Sunday school area was used to expand the dining area.  In 1980, due to crowded conditions and difficulties associated with enlarging the existing assembly room, the church decided to build a second church, with a seating capacity of six hundred, on the northeast edge of Bluffton.  Construction began in November, 1981.
    The present church stands in the middle of a peaceful farming area.  This large cathedral-like building stands as both a majestic milestone and ringing monument to the work God has wrought in the hearts of all who have sat under the sound of the gospel message since 1858 when eighteen humble souls submitted to baptism in a nearby pond.
    The church has been faithfully served by several Elders over the years:

    The church has experienced many large "in-gatherings.”  These are times when the Spirit of God seems to sweep over the congregation with a vigorous force, prompting many into repentance and a firm commitment to God.  In the early days, when a soldier and toward independence, he or she would sit on the schamelie bonk or “mourners bench” until peace with God was acquired.  A special section in the church was reserved for those seeking souls.  Although the schamelie bonk is gone, the doctrine of a born-again conversion, through repentance, remains strong in the church.  Great emphasis is placed on the price Christ paid in His sacrifice for sin and the ensuing responsibility of the converted souls to live their lives in harmony with the teachings of the Scripture.

Bluffton North, Indiana

    In 1981, construction began on a 25,000-square-foot church building at 602 East Dustman Road on the north edge of Bluffton.  This church was built to relieve the large attendance at the country church east of Bluffton.
    First worship services were held here on Thanksgiving Day, 1982.
    The sanctuary at this church, although smaller, resembles the one at the larger church east of Bluffton.  The two congregations maintain a warm fellowship and special closeness.
    The following poem was written when the large country church was divided into two loving congregations. 

One Church is Two
Two Churches Are One

Excepts taken from "Marching to Zion" by Perry A. Klopfenstein
Sekan Publishing Company
Fort Scott Kansas, pages 145-152