Brethren in Christ Church
Encyclopedia
The Brethren in Christ Church (BIC) is an Anabaptist
Christian
denomination with roots in the Mennonite
church, pietism
, and Wesleyan holiness
. They have also been known as River Brethren
and River Mennonites.
. It loosely shares an early connection with the United Brethren
back to 1767. The Brethren in Christ trace their denomination back to a group of Mennonites who lived just north of Marietta, Pennsylvania
on the east side of the Susquehanna River
. As they met to study the Bible and to experience God, the people of this group (who became known as the River Brethren) developed a conviction that believer's baptism
(triune immersion) was the scriptural form of baptism. The River Brethren of the 18th century also held to a firm reliance on the centricity of Scripture. As their Pietist lifestyles and their beliefs regarding baptism continued to develop, they began to distance themselves from other Anabaptist
denominations such as the Mennonites and German Baptists, of which groups they had previously been a part. Jacob Engle
is noted as one of the early leaders (sometimes considered the "founder" of the BIC Church) who promoted this position. The first confessional statement of this group was formulated around 1780.
During the American Civil War
, when required by the Union government of the United States
to register as a body that held non-resistance values, the name Brethren in Christ was adopted. River Brethren remained the popular usage into the 20th century for the American members of the denomination while "Dunkers" was the popular moniker given to the Canadian denomination members until the 1930s. The denomination still holds strongly to its pursuit of peace, but within the denomination there are many different interpretations of how this peaceful lifestyle should be lived out. Many live out pacifism
, while others do not view Christ's call to peace as an antiwar statement, but as a call to live peacefully on an interpersonal level. The history of the denomination is rife with stories of conscientious objection.
About the turn of the century, the Brethren in Christ embraced the teachings of Wesleyan holiness
. Members of the Brethren in Christ Church founded Messiah College
in 1909 (Grantham, Pennsylvania
), and the Niagara Christian Community of Schools (founded as Niagara Christian College, a Canadian preparatory school) in 1932 (Ontario, Canada).
, the "centrality of Christ
" in the divine revelation, the necessity of holiness, nonviolence and the importance of community. God
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit reveals Himself through the divine record of the Scriptures. Salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is received through the response of personal faith and repentance. Baptism
(by triune immersion) and the Lord's supper are considered ordinances of the church. Foot washing, the dedication of children, prayer for the sick, laying on of hands, and anointing with oil are important accepted practices, but are not called ordinances.
, next to the Grantham BIC Church and Messiah College
. There are 1,100 churches in 23 countries with a worldwide membership of around 80,000. The BIC church maintains some connection to its Mennonite-influenced heritage by partnering in ministry with the Mennonite Central Committee
. The church organization is divided into eight regional conferences (each represented by a bishop who sits on the Leadership Council) and one subconference. The conferences are as follows: Allegheny, Atlantic, Canadian, Great Lakes, Midwest, Pacific, Southeast, and Susquehanna; the subconference is centered around Miami, Florida
and focuses on Hispanic
Ministries. Messiah College
in Grantham, and Niagara Christian Collegiate
in Fort Erie, Ontario
, Canada
, are affiliated with the BIC. The church is also has affiliations with a number of camps, conference centers, and ministries, as well as Evangel Publishing House in Nappanee, Indiana
, and Christian Light Bookstores in Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
Other divisions of the River Brethren include the Old Order River Brethren
(org. 1843), the United Zion Church
(org. 1855), and the Calvary Holiness Church
. The Calvary Holiness Church began in 1963 when the Philadelphia Brethren in Christ congregation (org. 1897) withdrew from the Brethren in Christ, rejecting perceived changes in the denomination's faith and practice. The body incorporated in 1964, and had two congregations with about 40 members in 1980.
The Brethren in Christ group usually known as Christadelphians
have no doctrinal or historical links with the Brethren in Christ Church.
Anabaptist
Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....
Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
denomination with roots in the Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
church, pietism
Pietism
Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late 17th century to the mid-18th century and later. It proved to be very influential throughout Protestantism and Anabaptism, inspiring not only Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement, but also Alexander Mack to...
, and Wesleyan holiness
Holiness movement
The holiness movement refers to a set of beliefs and practices emerging from the Methodist Christian church in the mid 19th century. The movement is distinguished by its emphasis on John Wesley's doctrine of "Christian perfection" - the belief that it is possible to live free of voluntary sin - and...
. They have also been known as River Brethren
River Brethren
The River Brethren is a name used to indicate certain Christian groups originating in 1770, during a revival movement among German colonizers in Pennsylvania....
and River Mennonites.
Background
The BIC Church began about 1778 in PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. It loosely shares an early connection with the United Brethren
Church of the United Brethren in Christ
The Church of the United Brethren in Christ is an evangelical Christian denomination based in Huntington, Indiana. It is a Protestant denomination of episcopal structure, Arminian theology, with roots in the Mennonite and German Reformed communities of 18th century Pennsylvania, as well as close...
back to 1767. The Brethren in Christ trace their denomination back to a group of Mennonites who lived just north of Marietta, Pennsylvania
Marietta, Pennsylvania
Marietta is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,689 at the 2000 census. It is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River just north of Columbia.-Geography:Marietta is located at ....
on the east side of the Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
. As they met to study the Bible and to experience God, the people of this group (who became known as the River Brethren) developed a conviction that believer's baptism
Believer's baptism
Believer's baptism is the Christian practice of baptism as this is understood by many Protestant churches, particularly those that descend from the Anabaptist tradition...
(triune immersion) was the scriptural form of baptism. The River Brethren of the 18th century also held to a firm reliance on the centricity of Scripture. As their Pietist lifestyles and their beliefs regarding baptism continued to develop, they began to distance themselves from other Anabaptist
Anabaptist
Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....
denominations such as the Mennonites and German Baptists, of which groups they had previously been a part. Jacob Engle
Jacob Engle
Jacob Engle is considered the father of the River Brethren, or Brethren in Christ, denomination. He was involved in their separation from the Mennonites. Engle was born in Switzerland and was an infant when his family emigrated to Pennsylvania to flee religious persecution.Jacob Engle was the...
is noted as one of the early leaders (sometimes considered the "founder" of the BIC Church) who promoted this position. The first confessional statement of this group was formulated around 1780.
During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, when required by the Union government of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to register as a body that held non-resistance values, the name Brethren in Christ was adopted. River Brethren remained the popular usage into the 20th century for the American members of the denomination while "Dunkers" was the popular moniker given to the Canadian denomination members until the 1930s. The denomination still holds strongly to its pursuit of peace, but within the denomination there are many different interpretations of how this peaceful lifestyle should be lived out. Many live out pacifism
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
, while others do not view Christ's call to peace as an antiwar statement, but as a call to live peacefully on an interpersonal level. The history of the denomination is rife with stories of conscientious objection.
About the turn of the century, the Brethren in Christ embraced the teachings of Wesleyan holiness
Wesleyanism
Wesleyanism or Wesleyan theology refers, respectively, to either the eponymous movement of Protestant Christians who have historically sought to follow the methods or theology of the eighteenth-century evangelical reformers, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, or to the likewise eponymous...
. Members of the Brethren in Christ Church founded Messiah College
Messiah College
Messiah College is a private Christian college of the liberal arts and applied arts and sciences located in Grantham, Pennsylvania, near the capital city of Harrisburg...
in 1909 (Grantham, Pennsylvania
Grantham, Pennsylvania
Grantham is an unincorporated community in Upper Allen Township, Cumberland County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, best known today for the Christian liberal arts college, Messiah College, whose students make up most of its population....
), and the Niagara Christian Community of Schools (founded as Niagara Christian College, a Canadian preparatory school) in 1932 (Ontario, Canada).
Articles of Faith and Doctrine
The current Articles of Faith and Doctrine were adopted in 1986. They emphasize the understanding of the inspired scriptures by the illumination of the Holy SpiritHoly Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
, the "centrality of Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
" in the divine revelation, the necessity of holiness, nonviolence and the importance of community. God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit reveals Himself through the divine record of the Scriptures. Salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is received through the response of personal faith and repentance. Baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
(by triune immersion) and the Lord's supper are considered ordinances of the church. Foot washing, the dedication of children, prayer for the sick, laying on of hands, and anointing with oil are important accepted practices, but are not called ordinances.
Status
At the denomination's 2006 General Conference, the Brethren in Christ Church in North America (U.S. and Canada) had about 295 churches. As of 2001, in the United States there were 20,739 members in 232 churches. Pennsylvania remains the hub of the denomination, with nearly half its congregations and a majority of its members. However, there are numerous congregations in other states, particularly Florida, Ohio, and California. Denominational headquarters is in Grantham, PennsylvaniaGrantham, Pennsylvania
Grantham is an unincorporated community in Upper Allen Township, Cumberland County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, best known today for the Christian liberal arts college, Messiah College, whose students make up most of its population....
, next to the Grantham BIC Church and Messiah College
Messiah College
Messiah College is a private Christian college of the liberal arts and applied arts and sciences located in Grantham, Pennsylvania, near the capital city of Harrisburg...
. There are 1,100 churches in 23 countries with a worldwide membership of around 80,000. The BIC church maintains some connection to its Mennonite-influenced heritage by partnering in ministry with the Mennonite Central Committee
Mennonite Central Committee
The Mennonite Central Committee is a relief, service, and peace agency representing 15 Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and Amish bodies in North America. The U.S. headquarters are in Akron, Pennsylvania, the Canadian in Winnipeg, Manitoba.-History:...
. The church organization is divided into eight regional conferences (each represented by a bishop who sits on the Leadership Council) and one subconference. The conferences are as follows: Allegheny, Atlantic, Canadian, Great Lakes, Midwest, Pacific, Southeast, and Susquehanna; the subconference is centered around Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
and focuses on Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
Ministries. Messiah College
Messiah College
Messiah College is a private Christian college of the liberal arts and applied arts and sciences located in Grantham, Pennsylvania, near the capital city of Harrisburg...
in Grantham, and Niagara Christian Collegiate
Niagara Christian Collegiate
Niagara Christian Community of Schools is a private school located on the Niagara River just outside of Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1932 by the Brethren in Christ Church. The site it is now situated on was bought in 1938. The purchase was for $13 000...
in Fort Erie, Ontario
Fort Erie, Ontario
Fort Erie is a town on the Niagara River in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly across the river from Buffalo, New York....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, are affiliated with the BIC. The church is also has affiliations with a number of camps, conference centers, and ministries, as well as Evangel Publishing House in Nappanee, Indiana
Nappanee, Indiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 6,710 people, 2,521 households, and 1,792 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,818.9 people per square mile . There were 2,647 housing units at an average density of 717.5 per square mile...
, and Christian Light Bookstores in Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
Other divisions of the River Brethren include the Old Order River Brethren
Old Order River Brethren
The Old Order River Brethren is a small Christian denomination with roots in the Mennonite church and German pietism.This body began about 1778 in Pennsylvania. It shares an early history with the Brethren in Christ Church. A group of brethren near the Susquehanna River that had separated from the...
(org. 1843), the United Zion Church
United Zion Church
The United Zion Church is a small Christian denomination with roots in the Mennonite church and German pietism.A body that became known as River Brethren began about 1778 in Pennsylvania. They were a group of brethren near the Susquehanna River that had separated from the Mennonites. As such groups...
(org. 1855), and the Calvary Holiness Church
Calvary Holiness Church (Philadelphia)
The Calvary Holiness Church is a small Christian denomination in the pietistic and holiness tradition. It is a division from the Brethren in Christ Church....
. The Calvary Holiness Church began in 1963 when the Philadelphia Brethren in Christ congregation (org. 1897) withdrew from the Brethren in Christ, rejecting perceived changes in the denomination's faith and practice. The body incorporated in 1964, and had two congregations with about 40 members in 1980.
The Brethren in Christ group usually known as Christadelphians
Christadelphians
Christadelphians is a Christian group that developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century...
have no doctrinal or historical links with the Brethren in Christ Church.
See also
- Calvary Holiness Church (Philadelphia)Calvary Holiness Church (Philadelphia)The Calvary Holiness Church is a small Christian denomination in the pietistic and holiness tradition. It is a division from the Brethren in Christ Church....
- Messiah CollegeMessiah CollegeMessiah College is a private Christian college of the liberal arts and applied arts and sciences located in Grantham, Pennsylvania, near the capital city of Harrisburg...
- Niagara Christian Community of Schools
- Old Order River BrethrenOld Order River BrethrenThe Old Order River Brethren is a small Christian denomination with roots in the Mennonite church and German pietism.This body began about 1778 in Pennsylvania. It shares an early history with the Brethren in Christ Church. A group of brethren near the Susquehanna River that had separated from the...
- United Zion ChurchUnited Zion ChurchThe United Zion Church is a small Christian denomination with roots in the Mennonite church and German pietism.A body that became known as River Brethren began about 1778 in Pennsylvania. They were a group of brethren near the Susquehanna River that had separated from the Mennonites. As such groups...
External links
- Official website
- In Part magazine
- Brethren in Christ Historical Library and Archives – Archives of Messiah College
- The Sider Institute
- LibraryThing.com BIC Catalog – unofficial listing of librarything.com catalog of BIC related books.
- Profile of Brethren in Christ Church on the Association of Religion Data Archives website