Daniel Brenneman (June 8, 1834 – September 10, 1919) was an influential

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

minister and modernizer of the Mennonite Church (MC), who later founded his own church. Born in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

he was ordained there to the ministry in the Mennonite Church in 1857. He moved to Elkhart County, Indiana, in 1864, where he lived until his death. The first revival meetings known to be held in the Mennonite Church were conducted by him and by

John F. Funk John Fretz Funk (April 6, 1835 - January 8, 1930) was a publisher and leader of the Mennonite Church. Funk published the ''Herald of Truth'' from 1864 until 1908 when it merged with the ''Gospel Witness'' to form the ''Gospel Herald''. Jacob Clemen ...

in 1872. As a progressive he began to preach in English instead of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

. The changes he and Funk introduced in Indiana led to the expulsion of Jacob Wisler and others from the Mennonite church in 1872, who then formed the first of all

Old Order Mennonite Old Order Mennonites (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania German: ) form a branch of the Mennonite tradition. Old Order Movement, Old Order are those Mennonite groups of Swiss people, Swiss German and south Germans, German heritage who pract ...

churches, the Wisler Mennonites, that later adopted the name

Ohio-Indiana Mennonite Conference The Ohio-Indiana Mennonite Conference, also called Wisler Mennonites, is an Old Order Mennonite church body, whose Ordnung allows the ownership and private use of cars. They are quite similar to the Weaverland Old Order Mennonite Conference. Histo ...

. With Solomon Eby, Brenneman helped establish the Reforming Mennonite Society which later joined the

Mennonite Brethren in Christ The Missionary Church is an evangelical Christian denomination of Anabaptist origins with Wesleyan and Pietist influences. Faith and practice The Missionary Church is a Trinitarian body which believes the Bible is the inspired Word of God and au ...

church. He compiled a hymnbook, ''The Balm of Gilead'', and 1878 he began publishing the ''Gospel Banner'', the official organ of his new church. Later he edited and published a monthly newsletter titled ''Youth's Monitor''. He died at his home in

Goshen, Indiana Goshen ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. It is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka ...

on September 10, 1919.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brenneman, Daniel 1834 births 1919 deaths American Mennonites 19th-century Mennonite bishops