members. Here Albright was elected bishop. He also assigned preachers and did what business was needed. The Conference also adopted the episcopal form of government, articles of faith, and a book of discipline. Albright was asked to prepare a Book of Discipline. Albright died in 1808. A Book of Discipline, based on a German translation of Methodist Episcopal Church Book of Discipline, was introduced six years later. In 1816, the church took on the name "The Evangelical Association" at its first annual conference. It was not until 1839 that a bishop was elected to replace Albright. John Seybert was elected as part of the young denomination's move towards centralized leadership, and 1843 saw the institution of a general conference, composed of delegates chosen by the annual conferences and constituting the highest legislative and judicial authority in the church. By 1892, the association numbered 148,506 members, not including children, with 1,864 ministers and 2,043 churches, in the United States, Canada, and Germany. In 1891, some members of the Evangelical Association left in a controversy over the ownership of the churches to form the United Evangelical Church. Thirty-one years later, in 1923, the two groups reunited under the name "The Evangelical Church". Those congregations which chose not to re-unite formed the Evangelical Congregational Church which, despite its name, has no historical relation with the Congregational churches derived from New England settlement. Rather, the name refers to its organizational structure, which is based on the local congregation. It continues today. In 1946, the Evangelical Church merged with the United Brethren in Christ at a meeting in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church. This body, in turn, united with the Methodist Church (USA) in 1968 to form the United Methodist Church. A group of clergy and about fifty local churches withdrew at this time, probably in protest against theological and social liberalism in American Methodism, and formed the Evangelical Church of North America. See also Evangelicalism Notes References External links Evangelical Congregational webpage Religious organizations established in 1800 Methodist denominations United Methodist Church Former Christian denominations Evangelical United Brethren Church Protestant denominations established in the 18th century United Methodist Church predecessor churches 1800 establishments in Pennsylvania