The new name for our men’s work program did not come by chance, but by long, hard process. It was not easy for the church to give up the name Brotherhood. The Albright Brotherhood and the Otterbein Brotherhood were significant names. They represented important experiences and lasting contributions to the total church program. When these two organizations merged in November of 1946, to form the Brotherhood of The Evangelical United Brethren Church, care was taken to preserve the values and the traditions of both former Brotherhoods.
With the growing concept of men’s work which gives it status as a total program for all of the men of the church, a General Conference held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in November of 1954, changed the name of the men’s work program from the Brotherhood to Evangelical United Brethren Men.
The change in name came inevitably. The word Brotherhood, meaning as it is, was not big enough for the growing concept of men’s work in the church. It was also in line with what was being done in other communions as they faced the problem of relating every man in the church to the total church program. Our own Constitution points out the fact that the men’s work program embraces all men of the church who are above 16 years of age.
The new name, Evangelical United Brethren Men, simply recognizes that relationship and indicates that every man in the church should be a participating member of the men’s work program. At the same time, Evangelical United Brethren Men does not take the place of any on-going program in which men are engaged. It becomes the comprehensive program for all men. It calls for a unified program so that the Men’s Class, the Brotherhood Class, the Usher’s League, and other men’s groups, are activities of Evangelical United Brethren Men.
Evangelical United Brethren Men, as the successor to The Brotherhood, moved out into a day in which there is a revival of the “Priesthood of Believers.” In the spirit of Bishops Albright and Otterbein, it took its place with men’s work programs in other Protestant communions as a part of the “new awakening” among the men of the church.