The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition ( "Schwarzenau New Baptists") that was organized in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Germany during the Radical Pietist revival. The denomination holds the New Testament as its only creed. Historically, the church has taken a strong stance for nonresistance or Christian pacifism—it is one of the three historic peace churches, alongside the Mennonites and Quakers. Distinctive practices include believer's baptism by forward trine immersion; a threefold love feast consisting of feet washing, a fellowship meal, and communion; anointing for healing; and the holy kiss. Its headquarters are in Elgin, Illinois, United States.
The first Brethren congregation was established in the United States in 1723. These church bodies became commonly known as "Dunkards" or "Dunkers", and more formally as German Baptist Brethren. The Church of the Brethren represents the largest denomination descended from the Schwarzenau Brethren, adopting this name in 1908. In 1926 there was an exodus of some conservative members of the Church of the Brethren, who formed the Dunkard Brethren Church.
History Early history The history of the Schwarzenau Brethren began in 1708 when a group of eight Christians organized themselves under the leadership of Alexander Mack (1679–1735) into a church and baptized one another in Schwarzenau, Germany, now part of Bad Berleburg in North Rhine-Westphalia. Five men and three women gathered at the Eder (pronounced ey-duhr), a small river that flows through Schwarzenau, to perform baptism as an outward symbol of their new faith. One of the members of the group first baptized Mack, who then, in turn, baptized the other seven.
They believed that the established European churchesCatholic, Lutheran, and Reformedwere missing the point of true Christianity as taught by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, and as revealed in the New Testament and exemplified by the Early Church. After searching for a church that taught New Testament discipleship and finding none in their area, they committed to follow the commands and example of Jesus in their daily lives regardless of the cost. They rejected established state churches, including infant baptism, existing Eucharistic practices, and the use of physical coercion against other humans. The founding Brethren were initially influenced by Radical Pietist understandings of an invisible, nondenominational church of awakened Christians who would fellowship together in purity and love, awaiting Christ's return; yet they embraced an Anabaptist understanding of the church as a disciplined faith community that enforced Christian standards of discipleship upon those who chose to join their fellowship. The eight founding members referred to themselves as "brethren," and New Baptists (). The name alluded to the use of the name Täufer (Baptists) by the Mennonites. They suffered persecution for their stand, much as the earlier Anabaptists had.
The Brethren soon moved to seek religious freedom in America. They founded the first American congregation on Christmas Day 1723 in Germantown, Pennsylvania, then a village outside Philadelphia.Donald B. Kraybill, Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites, JHU Press, USA, 2010, p. 83 They became known as German Baptist Brethren (although this name was not officially recognized until 1836, when the Annual Meeting called itself "The Fraternity of German Baptist Brethren"). In 1871, the denomination adopted the name, "The German Baptist Brethren Church." Until the early 20th century, Brethren were colloquially called Tunkers or Dunkers (from the German for immersionists).
In 1728, Conrad Beissel, a Brethren minister at Conestoga (Lancaster County, Pa.) renounced his association with the Brethren and formed his own group in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. They came to be known as the Ephrata Cloister. Beissel practiced a mystical form of Christianity. He encouraged celibacy, a vegetarian diet, and recognition of Saturday as the Sabbath.
Division in the 1880s After the Beissel split, the Brethren split several times because of doctrinal differences. The most traditionalist members emphasized consistency, obedience, and the order of the Brethren. They opposed the use of musical instruments, Sunday schools, revival meetings, and worldly amusements. They promoted plain dress, plain living, and church discipline. The progressives in the church focused on grace and acceptance. They promoted higher education, salaried ministers, Sunday schools, and revivalism. The majority of Brethren held a position between the two extremes.
In 1869 and 1880, a group of Brethren in the Miami Valley of Ohio submitted a petition to Annual Conference to stop liberalization and return to traditional Brethren practices, which they identified with the "primitive" apostolic faith. On both occasions, a more moderate petition was submitted to the delegates. Both times, the Miami Valley group found the rewording unacceptable.
In 1881, they resubmitted their petition to Annual Conference, and it was rejected for violating technical procedure. In November 1881, traditionalist Brethren led by the Miami Valley group met and formally split from the Church of the Brethren to form the Old German Baptist Brethren. They held their first annual meeting in 1882.
At the same time, Henry Holsinger, a leader of the progressives in the church, published writings that some Brethren considered slanderous and schismatic. As a result, he was disfellowshipped from the 1882 annual meeting of the Brethren. He met with other progressives on June 6 and 7, 1883, and together they formed the Brethren Church.
The remaining middle group—called "conservatives"—retained the name German Baptist Brethren. 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.
20th century During the early 20th century, the Church of the Brethren invested heavily in foreign missions in India, China, and other nations. They also embraced the American temperance movement.
The denomination's two-hundred year old peace position was tested when delegates at the Goshen Conference in Goshen, Indiana, adopted the 1918 Statement on War and Violence, nine months after the United States entered the war, to address the issue of conscientious objectors. In July of that year, leaders of the conference were threatened with punishment by the US government under the Sedition Act. The church leaders agreed not to retract the statement, but to withdraw it from circulation.
Discipline for violating church teachings during the church's first two hundred years ranged from setting members "back" from communion to disfellowshipping them as members to, in rare cases, "avoidance" (or shunning). These practices gradually subsided as the earlier emphasis upon unity of practice (the "order of the Brethren") gave way during the 1920s and 1930s to an emphasis upon individual moral autonomy. Martin Grove Brumbaugh—a Brethren minister and historian who became governor of Pennsylvania in 1915—played a leading role in disseminating a more progressive vision of Brethren history and practice. His questionable claim that "no force in religion" had been a Brethren teaching since their founding reinforced his calls to relax church discipline. See also These changes led to an exodus of many conservative Brethren in the 1920s, who organized the Dunkard Brethren Church, which continues to uphold the Brethren practices of plain dress and headcovering.
During the 1940s and 1950s, acts of global Christian service flourished and energized the denomination. Service work was centered at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., after Brethren purchased a former college campus there for that purpose. Many Brethren joined Brethren Volunteer Service and Heifers for Relief, which incorporated independently in 1953 and eventually became Heifer International. The Brethren helped establish the Christian Rural Overseas Program (CROP), which was originally housed at Bethany Biblical Seminary, the Brethren seminary in Oak Brook, Illinois. Well-known leaders of the Brethren Service initiatives included Dan West and M.R. (Michael Robert) Zigler.
From the end of the Second World War to the present, Brethren have continued to be active in service and missions around the world. Differences have also remained, with Brethren individuals, churches, and districts disagreeing about issues including Biblical authority, ordination of women, homosexuality, climate change, and ecumenism.
The 1958 Annual Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, decided that trine immersion would not be required of all members, allowed ordination of women, opened love feast to members of any church, and permitted bread and cup communion outside of love feast.
At the Annual Conference in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, the next year, a group of conservative Brethren responded by forming the Brethren Revival Fellowship (BRF). The BRF describes itself as "a loyal concern movement within the Church of the Brethren." The BRF advocates simple dress, Biblical inerrancy, church discipline, and an evangelical understanding of faith. It has been critical of the denomination's involvement in political and social causes, as well as its association with the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches.
Progressive-leaning groups have also grown. Groups including the Womaen's Caucus, Voices for an Open Spirit, Open Table Cooperative, and Brethren-Mennonite Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Interests advocate changes to church doctrine and practice. Proposed changes have include giving the denomination a gender-neutral name, allowing LGBT Brethren to be ordained as ministers and get married, and increasing the political and social mission of the church.
Although a divide exists within the church on these issues, the official position of the church is that the Bible is the Word of God, and that covenant relationships between homosexuals are unacceptable. However, the church also affirms "unity in diversity", which generally allows for church districts and congregations to set doctrine.
21st century In July 2019, the Association of Brethren Churches, since renamed the Covenant Brethren Church (CBC), organized as a movement to explore separation from the Church of the Brethren. The CBC began with a vision cast in July 2019, as Church of the Brethren leaders from thirteen districts gathered in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, to pray, discern, and discuss a new vision for Brethren in the 21st Century. A temporary executive board was called, and sub-teams were tasked with working at various aspects of the vision. Subsequent, steadily growing gatherings of Brethren from across the United States met in Winchester and Woodstock, Virginia and widely affirmed these developments.
On November 16, 2019, at the Antioch Church in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, the assembled group was first called The Covenant Brethren Church, and moved toward establishing an office in north-central West Virginia. A Statement of Faith and by-laws are in development for this new movement. The CBC has stated that it fully affirms biblical authority, the sanctity of marriage as expressed in Genesis 2 and affirmed by Jesus Christ in Matthew 19, the sanctity of human life from conception, and the historical New Testament ideals and practices held by the Brethren since 1708.