This week Worship in the Woods features the John Kline Riders. This group rides in on horseback, sings songs, and tells stories about Brethren elder John Kline. Come for the horses, stay for the faith formation! This is a great event for children and a wonderful opportunity to learn about one of the Valley’s most passionate and influential peacemakers.

The John Kline Riders, founded twenty three years ago by Emmert and Esther Bittinger of Bridgewater, take horseback pilgrimages to some of the communities Elder John Kline traveled as a preacher and practitioner of herbal medicine prior to and during the Civil War.

Elder Kline was vehemently opposed to the War and to Secession, and he continued to minister to people on both sides during the Civil War, making regular visits to churches in the North as well as the South. He was fatally shot in the back June 15, 1864, by a group of vigilantes while riding home on his faithful horse Nell, just after having the horse shod by someone in the Turleytown area north of Singers Glen.