:''To be distinguished from the United Brethren in England'' The United Brethren were a group of former

Primitive Methodists The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834). In the United States, the Primiti ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

and

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, that converted en masse to the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The chu ...

in 1840. In the mid-1830s, a group of approximately 600 Primitive Methodists led by Thomas Kington left the Primitive Methodism movement and established an independent religious organization, which they called the United Brethren. The church was divided into many small congregations scattered among the Three Counties, with 50 designated preachers for the group. In 1836, the United Brethren built the

Gadfield Elm Chapel The Gadfield Elm Chapel near the village of Pendock in Worcestershire, England, is the oldest extant chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The structure was built in 1836 as a religious meeting house by the U ...

, near

Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane and High Street ...

. In March 1840, Latter Day Saint

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

and

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

Wilford Woodruff Wilford Woodruff Sr. (March 1, 1807September 2, 1898) was an American religious leader who served as the fourth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1889 until his death. He ended the public practice of ...

was brought to Hill Farm,

Fromes Hill Fromes Hill is a hamlet in the civil parish of Bishop's Frome, in Herefordshire, England, and is about east from the city and county town of Hereford, north from Ledbury and west from Worcester. The hamlet is a linear settlement, with most r ...

by William Benbow, a recent English convert to

Mormonism Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects of t ...

. Benbow introduced Woodruff to his brother John Benbow, who was a member of the United Brethren. Woodruff received permission to preach to United Brethren congregations, and in the first 30 days he had

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

45 preachers and 160 members of the United Brethren into the Latter Day Saint church. By December 1840, 300 members of the church had been converted to Mormonism, and ultimately all the members of the United Brethren except one became Latter Day Saints. Woodruff and other Latter Day Saint missionaries also had success among the non-United Brethren in the area, baptizing a total of 1800 people by January 1841. The United Brethren's Gadfield Elm Chapel was converted into a Latter Day Saint chapel, and today it is the oldest extant chapel of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

in the world."Do you know where the oldest Mormon chapel in the world is?: Gadfield Elm chapel is in our two counties"

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

, 2007-03-23.

Notes

References

*James B. Allen, Ronald K. Esplin, and David J. Whittaker. ''Men with a Mission: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles, 1837–1841''. (Salt Lake City, Utah:

Deseret Book Deseret Book () is an American publishing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that also operates a chain of bookstores throughout the western United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation (DMC), the ...

, 1992) *James B. Allen and Malcolm R. Thorp
"The Mission of the Twelve To England, 1840–41: Mormon Apostles and the Working Classes"
''

BYU Studies ''BYU Studies Quarterly'' is an academic journal covering a broad array of topics related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( Mormon studies). It is published by the church-owned Brigham Young University. The journal is abstracted ...

'', vol. 15, no. 4 pp. 1–23 (Summer 1975) *

Richard L. Evans Richard Louis Evans (March 23, 1906 – November 1, 1971) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) (1953–71); the president of Rotary International (1966–67); and the wri ...

, "Wilford Woodruff and the United Brethren" in ''A Century of "Mormonism" in Great Britain'' (Salt Lake City, Utah:

, 1937), reprinted 2007 by Kessinger Publishing, *Tim B. Heaton, Stan L. Albrecht, and J. Randal Johnson
"The Making of British Saints in Historical Perspective"
''

'', vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 119–135 (Spring 1997)

External links

{{commonscat-inline, Gadfield Elm Chapel 1830s establishments in England 1840 disestablishments in England Organizations disestablished in 1840 *United Brethren United Brethren History of the Latter Day Saint movement History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints History of Worcestershire Methodism in England Religious organizations established in the 1830s Religion in Worcestershire The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)