Brethren
The name Brethren (German brothers , siblings ) or Brethren Church have several Protestant churches and denominations in their names in the English-speaking world . Roughly speaking, three directions can be identified among the Brethren Churches :
- Anabaptist Brethren
- Plymouth Brethren
- Moravian Brethren
No common historical roots can be inferred from the common part of the name “Brethren”.
Anabaptist Brethren
Schwarzenau Brethren
The largest group of the Brethren Churches refers to the movement of the Tunkers (English Dunkards ). The Tunkers combined Anabaptist - Mennonite approaches with the ideas of radical Pietism . In North America, these Pietist-Anabaptist churches are best known under the name Schwarzenau Brethren , which is reminiscent of their place of origin, Schwarzenau . From Schwarzenau and other places in Germany, many of them emigrated as religious refugees to Pennsylvania in the 18th century , from where the Schwarzenau Brethren movement spread as the Church of the Brethren . In order to differentiate the movement, which originated in Germany, from the Baptists , it was also sometimes referred to as German Baptists .
Most of the Schwarzenau Brethren are close to the Mennonites and practice the baptism of believers , which they carry out like the Baptists by immersion. The following churches emerged directly from Schwarzenau Brethren:
- Brethren Reformed Church
- Church of the Brethren
- Conservative Grace Brethren Churches, International
- Dunkard Brethren
- Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches
- The Brethren Church
River Brethren / River Mennonites
Influenced by the Schwarzenau Brethren, the River Brethren or River Mennonites emerged from 1780 in mostly Mennonite settlements on the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania . The River Brethren today include the Brethren in Christ Church , the Calvary Holiness Church , the Old Order River Brethren and the United Zion Church . The Brethren in Christ later also adopted Methodist approaches.
Hutterian Brethren
The first Hutterian Brethren ( Hutterite brothers ) came to North America in 1874, where they live in separate settlements to the present.
Mennonite Brethren
Like the Hutterites, the first Mennonite Brethren ( Mennonite Brethren ) moved to North America at the end of the 19th century .
Plymouth Brethren
The Plymouth Brethren originated in Ireland and England in the 19th century. In the German speaking they are, or individual groups of them known by various names: Christian Assembly , meetings of the Brethren , Brethren , Brethren assemblies , Darbysten . They are generally referred to as the Brethren Movement .
The brother movement goes back to John Nelson Darby , Georg Müller and Carl Brockhaus , among others . It is part of the 19th century revival movement . Since 1848 it has been divided into two main currents: the " Open Brethren " and the "Closed Brethren" ( Open Brethren and Exclusive Brethren ).
Moravian Brethren
The Moravians are in the English language as the Moravian Church ( Moravian Church ) referred to what their historical roots in the Czech Hussite recalls. Officially they are called in English Unitas Fratrum (dt. Unity of the Brethren ). There is also another church officially named Unity of the Brethren after the Bohemian Brothers .
Other
The Arminian Church of the United Brethren in Christ emerged as a relatively loose movement among German-Americans in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and Ohio in the late 18th century. It goes back to the Mennonite preacher Martin Boehm and the Reformed pastor Philip William Otterbein. The first conference was held in 1800, at which both were elected bishops and the fledgling church in United Brethren was named in Christ . After the Second World War, the majority of the United Brethren in Christ joined forces with the American Methodists to form the United Methodist Church . The remaining Church of the United Brethren in Christ sees itself as its own denomination .
In the 20th century, under the influence of the revival movement, the Lutheran Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America emerged . The Adventist United Seventh-Day Brethren also emerged in the 20th century . The Apostolic United Brethren Church is a fundamentalist Mormon community.