Jacob Albright

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Part of a series on Evangelical United Brethren

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Background Christianity · Protestantism Reformed · Brethren · Mennonite Evangelicalism · Pietism · Lutheranism Methodism · Anglicanism · Arminianism
Doctrinal distinctives Articles of Religion Prevenient Grace Governmental Atonement Imparted righteousness Christian perfection
People Philip William Otterbein · Martin Boehm Jacob Albright Christian Newcomer · John Seybert Andrew Zeller · Joseph Hoffman Bishops · Theologians
Predecessor groups Church of the United Brethren in Christ Evangelical Association United Evangelical Church Church of the United Brethren in Christ (Old Constitution)
Related movements Holiness movement Salvation Army Personalism Pentecostalism This box: view • talk • edit

Jacob Albright (originally German Jakob Albrecht) (1759 - May 17, 1808) was an American Christian leader, founder of the Evangelical Association (later the Evangelical Church), born near Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

A German Lutheran in his heritage, he was converted in about 1790 to Methodism. Preaching and forming classes among his converts in the German settlements, he was ordained a minister in 1803 by representatives from these classes and elected bishop at the first annual conference held by his followers in 1807.

The movement did not take the name Evangelical Association until after Albright's death. Albright's Methodist followers formed their own German-speaking church due in part to a lack of cooperation with the English-speaking majority of American Methodists. The Evangelical Church united in 1946 with the United Brethren in Christ to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church and that body in turn united with The Methodist Church in 1968 to form United Methodist Church.

Albright is thus considered one of the founders of the United Methodist Church.

Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania is a United Methodist affiliated school. The highest scholarship the college awards is the Jacob Albright Scholarship.

The main source for his life is a short biography written in 1811 by George Miller, an elder of the Evangelical Association.