Burkholder, Christian Charles (1865-1931) was born of Mennonite parents in New Danville, Pennsylvania. In 1885 he moved to Kansas, where he married Fannie Zook, a daughter of 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 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, 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 General Conference nine times. He was one of the leading exponents of the doctrine of sanctifcation as a second work of grace that came into his denomination in the early years of his ministry.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, pp. 111-112. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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