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A scholarly new work entitled “The Six: The Founders of the Brethren Church” by Dr. Dale Stoffer has just been released by Brethren Encyclopedia. Featuring the biographies of six men who laid the foundations for the Brethren Church following the division with the German Baptist Brethren in the early 1880s, the 711-page hardbound book is lavishly illustrated and its stamped, hardbound cover is accompanied by a handsome dusk jacket featuring an 1883 photo of the book’s six subjects.
Henry Holsinger, Stephen Bashor, P.J. Brown, E.L. Yoder, J.H. Swihart and Edward Mason are the six subjects of Stoffer’s scholarship. Their ministry within the German Baptist Brethren and then the Brethren Church spanned the years from the 1860s to the early 1900s. According to the author, “Their stories add significant detail and texture to this period, and much new research from a variety of sources surfaces in the book.”
The Brethren Church, headquartered in Ashland, Ohio, is one of nine Anabaptist groups descended from Alexander Mack, who founded the Brethren movement in Schwarzenau, Germany, in 1708. These biographies all include much historical material of interest to all Brethren groups leading up to the division of the 1880s, according to the author.
 The author, Dr. Dale Stoffer, is a graduate of Ashland College, Ashland Theological Seminary and holds a Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Marcia, started a Brethren congregation in Columbus, Ohio, that he served from 1980 until 1992. Stoffer has taught church history and theology as well as courses in Anabaptism, Pietism, and Brethren studies.
Stoffer was academic dean of Ashland Theological Seminary from 2001 to 2012. He resides in Ashland, Ohio. He and Marcia have two children and six grandchildren. “The Six” is published as Number 10 in the Brethren Encyclopedia Monograph Series. Stoffer has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Brethren Encyclopedia since 2003 and currently serves as editor of the group’s monograph series.
The ISBN number for “The Six” is 978-1-7323543-4-0 and its retail price is $40 (plus $12 shipping and handling). In addition to 507 pages of text, there are also 12 pages of preliminary matter, plus approximately 200 pages of appendixes, endnotes and indices. Its three indices relate to Persons, Places, and Institutions; Brethren Related Topics; and Secular Historical Events, Movements, and Groups.
“The Six: The Founders of the Brethren Church” may be ordered from Brethren Encyclopedia’s website at www.brethrenencyclopedia.org or by contacting the organization at 5137 Waltersdorff Road, Spring Grove, PA 17362 or by calling (717) 817-6025.
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