View source for Burkholder, Christian Charles (1865-1931)

 Burkholder, Christian Charles (1865-1931) was born of Mennonite parents in New Danville, [[Pennsylvania (USA)|Pennsylvania]]. In 1885 he moved to [[Kansas (USA)|Kansas]], where he married Fannie Zook, a daughter of [[Brethren in Christ Church |Brethren in Christ]] bishop Samuel Zook. He was elected a deacon of the local Brethren in Christ Church in 1891, and became a minister four years later.

In 1896 the couple moved near Glendale, [[Arizona (USA)|Arizona]] to pastor a small group of Brethren in Christ who had settled there a few years earlier. Five years later they moved to Upland, [[California (USA)|California]], where he became a building contractor, organized a Brethren in Christ congregation, and became its bishop in 1904. Under his leadership, several other congregations were established in the state, and a mission was begun in San Francisco (1910). He helped to found a church school, Beulah College (later Upland College) in 1920 and served as its first president until his death.

Burkholder was an active churchman, a much requested evangelist, a member of the Home Mission Board and the Examining Board, and moderator of [[Brethren in Christ Church |General Conference]] nine times. He was one of the leading exponents of the doctrine of [[Sanctification|sanctifcation]] as a second work of grace that came into his denomination in the early years of his ministry.


= Bibliography =
 Sider, E. Morris. <em class="gameo_bibliography"> Nine Portraits. </em> Nappanee, IN: Evangel Press, 1978: 278-307.

Wittlinger, Carlton O. <em class="gameo_bibliography">Quest for Piety and Obedience: The Story of the Brethren in Christ</em>. Nappanee, IN: Evangel Press, 1978: 303-304.

<em class="gameo_bibliography"> Evangelical Visitor </em> (26 October 1931): 344.


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