love and follow Him. The progressives in the Brethren church focused on grace, novel practices, assimilation and acceptance. They promote higher education, salaried ministers, liturgical services and Sunday Schools, and revivalism. The majority of Brethren hold a position between the two extremes. In 1869 and 1880, a group of Brethren in the Miami River Valley of Ohio submitted a petition to Annual Conference to stop the liberalization and return to traditional Biblical Brethren values. On both occasions, a more moderate petition was submitted to the delegates. Both times, the Miami River Valley group found the rewording unclear and ambiguous, and therefore unacceptable. In 1881, they resubmitted their petition to Annual Conference, and it was rejected for violating a technical procedure. In November 1881, conservative Brethren led by the Miami River Valley group met and formally split from the Church of the Brethren to form the Old German Baptist Brethren. They held their first annual meeting in 1882. At the same time, Henry Holsinger, a leader of the progressives in the church, published writings that some Brethren considered slanderous, anti-Jesus, and unscriptural and schismatic. As a result, he was dis-fellowshipped from the 1882 annual meeting of the Brethren. He met with other progressives on June 6 and 7, 1883, and together they formed The Brethren Church. The remaining middle group retained the name German Baptist Brethren. At the Annual Conference of 1908 at Des Moines, Iowa, the name was officially changed to the Church of the Brethren. Their Annual Conference justified the name change by citing the predominant use of English in the church, the fact that the name "German Baptist" frustrated some mission work, and that it would helpfully disassociate the denomination from the Old German Baptist Brethren. Departure of small conservative groups In the early 20th century several more conservative Brethren left the Old German Baptist Brethren and formed their own churches. In 1913, a group broke away in Indiana and formed the Old Brethren. In 1915, another congregation of Old Brethren was organized in California. The issue which is often given as the initial cause for division was the changes brought in with acceptance of automobiles and telephones among the Old German Baptist Brethren. Generally, the Old Brethren also wanted more unity and wanted to uphold the old order form of annual meeting which was simpler than had recently developed among the Old German Baptists. There was more