Dear Letha, Hey, you ask interesting questions! John Dorcas was pastor of the United Brethren Church in Lexington, Troy Twp., correct? So far as I can determine, there is not currently any Brethren Church of any persuasion in Lexington proper. However, my A.A. Graham says that the United Presbyterians erected their house of worship at Troy, 1.5 miles NW of Lexington. It then says that the United Brethren "bought the house sold by the Presbyterians in 1836. It was torn down, enlarged, remodeled and furnished, affording a neat and pleasant house." Well, in 2003 there happens to be a church located at 1905 Lexington/Springmill Rd N. known as the Cornerstone Grace Brethren Church. That is the closest "Brethren" Church to Lexington today. As a "Grace Brethren" Church, it would be part of Grace Brethren faction (devotees of the theology of Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana, as opposed to the Ashland Brethren, who adhered to the theology of Ashland College in Ashland, Ohio) that emerged from the 1939 division of the Brethren Church, itself organized in 1883 by the "Progressive Brethren" followers of Henry Holsinger who were expelled from the German Baptist Brethren (Dunkard) Church in 1882. Who ever said church history was boring? For more details, go to: http://www.brethrenchurch.org/home/history.cfm For a summary of the beliefs of the Brethren Church (the Ashland Brethren, as I couldn't find one for the Grace Brethren), go to: http://www.brethrenchurch.org/home/beliefs.cfm If you think it might le! ad anywhere, go straight to the horse's mouth: Cornerstone Grace Brethren Church 1905 Lexington/Springmill Rd N Mansfield, Ohio 44906 Phone: (419) 747-5012 Email: [email protected] Don Smith, Pastor On the other hand, the United Brethren church claims the distinction of being the first denomination to actually begin in the United States. In 1889, this church also split in 1889,and eventually the larger faction became the United Methodist Church. However, the remnant is still around, known as the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, almost all of their churches bearing the name "United Brethren Church" of Somewhere. For more of this history, go to http://www.ub.org/AboutUs/Intro1_HowBegan.shtml Keep following the links in this History and you will also get a summary of their beliefs. At the Homepage, you will find a church directory. When I did a search for Ohio, I found several listed, but the nearest to this mind which is not to well "up" on Ohio geography seemed to be in Columbus. I have a nifty picture of the Richland Church of the Brethren, located in Franklin Twp. I can e-mail you if it is of interest. I hope some of this helps! Cheers, Jim Oh, by the way, it had no theological or institutional connection with the Quakers (or the Shakers, for that matter).