 At the Annual Conference of 1908 at Des Moines, Iowa, the name was officially changed to the Church of the Brethren.The Annual Conference justified the name change by citing the predominant use of English in the church, the fact that the name "German Baptist" frustrated mission work, and that it would disassociate the denomination from the Old German Baptist Brethren.During the early 20th century, the Church of the Brethren invested heavily in foreign missions in India, China, and other nations.