Samuel Heistand

Samuel Heistand was an American Bishop of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, elected in 1833. He was the ninth Bishop of this Christian denomination.

Birth and Family

Samuel was born 3 March 1782 in Page County, Virginia. He was the youngest child of Jacob and Elizabeth Heistand. Jacob was born in Pennsylvania. Elizabeth was born in the German Empire in Europe. They had eleven children: seven sons and four daughters. The family were devout members of the Moravian Church. Jacob came to an untimely death by drowning in the Shenandoah River in Virginia. Elizabeth is described as a woman of more than ordinary intelligence and piety. No doubt the exceptional religious character of this home is reflected in the fact that at least three of its sons became Ministers of the Gospel.

Early Life and Faith

Samuel and his brothers Abraham, Jacob, John and Joseph moved to Fairfield County, Ohio in 1804. Samuel married Mary Margaret Radenbach when he was twenty-eight. They too had eleven children: seven sons and four daughters (one child dying in infancy).

Samuel had made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ early in life. But his real conversion occurred under the influence of the Rev. George Benedum, a noted early itinerant minister. Benedum had come from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1806, two years after the Heistand brothers. Benedum immediately began preaching, and he and Abraham Heistand became the leaders of the U.B. movement in Fairfield County and neighboring communities. And it was upon these two Christian leaders the Bishop Christian Newcomer called when he first visited Ohio in 1810.

Call to Ministry

Soon after Benedum's arrival Samuel Hiestand was awakened to a new sense of Christian obligation. Almost immediately he began traveling with Benedum through Fairfield County and the surrounding area. Indeed, Samuel came to be regarded Benedum's "apprentice." Samuel's entrance into the ministry was a natural consequence of this association. He was "Licensed to Exhort" by the Miami Annual Conference of the U.B. Church in 1819.Fact|date=March 2007 He was "Licensed to Preach" in 1820.Fact|date=March 2007

Ordained Ministry

The Rev. Samuel Heistand became of great service to the U.B. Church nearly from the start of his ministry. For example, though he was licensed to preach only in 1820, he served as the Secretary of the U.B. General Conference of 1821. Indeed, the minutes of that conference show he was active in such important deliberations as the mode of Baptism to be practiced by this denomination, the discontinuance of the "ordination" of Bishops, and the establishment of the office of Presiding Elder as a full-time position. Rev. Heistand was named one of the incorporators of "The Benevolent Society of the United Brethren in Christ" in the charter granted it by the Ohio Legislature in 1826.

When the Scioto Annual Conference was formed in Ohio in 1824, the Rev. Samuel Heistand became a "charter member," since he lived within its bounds. His itinerancy within this conference included the Adelphos, Muskingum, Washington, and other circuits.

Ministerial Remuneration

Samuel Heistand ministered in a period when salaries were pitifully small. In 1832, for example, while appointed to the Muskingum Circuit, he and the Junior Preacher with him received "together" only $155.80. Another year, when he received $93 for his services, it was the highest salary any preacher in the Conference received that year! Indeed, no one could ever suggest that the Circuit Riders of the early days entered upon their duties with any idea of becoming wealthy!

Effectiveness in Ministry

Samuel Heistand was a thoroughly effective Pastor. The quiet, thoughtful influence of his Moravian background reflected in his preaching. One who knew him well said this of him::"He was a man of deep piety, a faithful and efficient expounder of the Holy Scriptures, by no means an orator, but a close practical reasoner. No many could be in his company without feeling that in him were sweetly blended the true characteristics of a friend, a Christian and a divine."

Episcopal Ministry

The Rev. Heistand was a member of the 1833 General Conference, too. This Conference authorized the printing establishment of the denomination, and the beginning of a denominational paper. Another action by this Conference also had a large impact on his ministry. Because of the death of Bishop Newcomer three years earlier, Henry Kumler Sr served to the end of the quadrennium as the only Bishop of the Church. The General Conference decided that because of the expanding Church and the increasing demands of time, travel, and the strength of its leaders, "three" Bishops should be elected. When the voting was complete, Bishop Kumler was re-elected, and Samuel Heistand and the Rev. William Brown were elected to serve with him!

References

*Behney, J. Bruce and Eller, Paul H., The History of the Evangelical United Brethren Church, (edited by Kenneth W. Krueger), Nashville, Abingdon, 1979.
*Koontz, Paul Rodes, and Roush, Walter Edwin, The Bishops: Church of the United Brethren in Christ, Dayton, Ohio: The Otterbein Press, 1950.