BRETHREN

a group of Protestant churches that trace their origin to Schwarzenau, Hesse, in 1708, in which year a group of seven persons under the leadership of Alexander Mack (16791735) covenanted to form a brotherhood following the commandments of Jesus Christ as revealed in the New Testament. The course of the brotherhood was shaped by three influencesthe Protestant faith in which its organizers had been raised, the Pietist reform movement (see Pietism), and Anabaptist teachings from the Radical Reformation of the 16th century. The first Brethren were known in Europe as New Baptists (to distinguish them from the Mennonites , the direct descendants of the Anabaptists, whom they resembled in many ways) or as Schwarzenau Baptists (because of their place of origin). The largest congregation after Schwarzenau was organized in the Marienborn area near Bdingen, Ger. In 1715 the Marienborn congregation was forced to leave because of a change in the religious policy of the local government. The members moved to Krefeld on the Lower Rhine, where they soon came into conflict with the authorities because of their proselyting. Several were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. Added to this pressure was internal disagreement, which facilitated the decision of the majority of the congregation to move from Krefeld to Pennsylvania in 1719. In the meantime, a new and intolerant count, together with low agricultural productivity, forced the original congregation out of Schwarzenau. In 1720 the group under Mack's leadership migrated to West Friesland. In 1729 they joined the earlier migrants in America. Others left Europe in the 1730s with the result that no organized congregation of Brethren was left on the Continent after 1750, other than a group in Denmark that claims to trace its origin to the Schwarzenau Brethren. From the initial stronghold in Germantown, north of Philadelphia, the Brethren settled in the surrounding areas of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Some moved into Maryland and the southern colonies. By 1770 the Brethren had 1,500 adult members with a total following of about 5,000 in 28 congregations along the Atlantic seaboard. An interesting offshoot of the colonial Brethren was the monastic Ephrata Community (q.v.) in Lancaster County, Pa. The most influential family connected with the 18th-century Brethren was that of Christopher Sower (Sauer; 16951758), the noted Germantown printer. Although the first Sower was a Separatist in his religious views, he shared many convictions with the Brethren. His namesake, Christopher Sower II (172184), continued his father's business and became a Brethren elder. The Sower Press was famed for its three editions of the German Bible (1743, 1763, 1776). The Eliot Indian Bible of New England was the only previous biblical publication in the Colonies. As pacifists, the Brethren were put in a difficult position by the outbreak of the American Revolution. Some of them tended toward loyalism, because they were grateful to the British crown for freedoms enjoyed in America. There were scattered instances of mob violence and deprivation of Brethren property by action of the American revolutionary government. The shock that the Brethren suffered at this time may well have been a cause of their isolation and withdrawn character in the 19th century. The Brethren joined in the general push westward following the Revolution and were the first settlers in some sections of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois and other prairie states. Almost all Brethren were agriculturalists, and they sought good limestone soil to establish their fertile farms. They tended to settle in groups, often migrating as colonies to new locations. The first Brethren reached the Pacific coast by 1850. When the transcontinental railroads were completed, more Brethren moved west, settling in the Dakotas, the Pacific Northwest, and California. Although the Brethren avoided schism during the Civil War (unlike most American denominations), the cultural changes of the latter half of the 19th century shattered their unity. A younger and progressive element pressed for the adoption of new methods and practices such as other American churches used. These included Sunday schools, revival services, institutions of higher learning, salaried pastors, foreign missions, and a free religious press. As the Brethren emerged from rural cultural isolation, which had been enhanced by their rural life and Germanic speech, such practices seemed essential to a vocal minority in the brotherhood. The periodicals of Henry Kurtz (17961874) and James Quinter (181688), although moderate in their proposals, were influential in creating these demands. The reform issue precipitated a three-way split among the Brethren in the early 1880s. The conservative wing called itself the Old German Baptist Brethren to emphasize the conviction that it was holding to the earlier beliefs. The liberal party, led by Henry Holsinger (18331905), chose to be called the Brethren Church. The middle-of-the-road majority continued as the German Baptist Brethren until 1908 when the title Church of the Brethren was officially adopted. In 1939 the Brethren Church divided into the Brethren Church (Ashland, Ohio) and the National Fellowship of Brethren Churches (Grace Brethren). In general, the Brethren churches accept no creed but the New Testament and stress obedience to Christ and a simple and temperate way of life. Members old enough to confess their faith are baptized by being immersed three times. The love feast (Holy Communion) is observed twice each year and includes feet washing, a fellowship meal, and anointing for physical and spiritual health. The Brethren are considered one of the three historic peace churches, along with the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and Mennonites, because of a continuing (but not unanimous) adherence to the principle of conscientious objection to all wars. They usually affirm rather than swear oaths. All branches of the Brethren have been active in sponsoring missionaries, with the exception of the Old German Baptist group. During the 19th century the Brethren uniformly wore the plain style of dress similar to the Amish, with beards and broad-brimmed hats for the men and aprons and bonnets for the women. This garb now has almost entirely disappeared, except for the Old German Baptist Brethren and, in some parts of eastern Pennsylvania, the Church of the Brethren.