Evangelical Brothers Association (Germany)

This article deals with the evangelization association working from Elberfeld. For the free church originating from Switzerland, which appeared under the same name until 2009, see Congregation for Christ .

The Evangelical Brothers Association was a Christian organization of the revival movement in Germany. The club was in 1850 in Elberfeld (now Wuppertal founded) and had evangelization of nominal Christians and non-believers the goal.

prehistory

Even before the revolution of 1848/1849 , the ideas of classical liberalism that had grown out of the Enlightenment had become increasingly popular. Both the revolutionary events and early industrialization brought about far-reaching social upheavals. One achievement of this time was the freedom of association , which was reflected in the establishment of numerous associations. Many awakened Christians also formed associations and communities, on the one hand to enable community experiences with Christians of the same character, on the other hand to become active in evangelistic , diaconal- social or missionary activities in the period of upheaval that was perceived as the end of time . These young Christian organizations were characterized by beliefs nourished by both Pietism and the Enlightenment, namely an emphasis on the individual and the need for individual conversion and rebirth , resulting in a life of sanctification . Correspondingly, spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ was seen as the only effective means of counteracting the perceived decline in church and civil conditions.

founding

The Evangelical Brothers Association came into being as a result of a founding call on July 3, 1850. One of the co-founders was the Elberfeld merchant and textile manufacturer Hermann Heinrich Grafe (1818–1869), who took over the chair not long after the association was founded.

Working method

The brothers' association sent "association messengers" or "emissaries" to make their contribution to spreading the gospel. Grafe had missionary pamphlets that he had written himself and that emphasized less repentance than the free, unconditional grace of God . The association's messengers were predominantly theological lay people who were able to act independently of the influence of the church authorities. Where possible, however, they also worked with the incumbent pastors , especially those who were considered "awakened" or "believers". Starting from Elberfeld, the area of ​​activity of the brother association grew and soon extended over large parts of western Germany and as far as Hesse and the Hunsrück . The work of the “messengers” resulted in house groups and communities in many places .

The Evangelical Brothers Association had an interdenominational self-image. Both members and messengers were drawn from different denominations . In the course of time, however, it came about that some members and messengers were active in free church . At the 1851 Kirchentag in Elberfeld, there were critical inquiries about the non-church and non-denominational activities of the association. Thereupon the association reaffirmed its alliance attitude and passed new statutes, in which “the nine teaching points of the Evangelical League” (i.e. the Evangelical Alliance ) were included as a creed. New members had to agree to these teaching statements. The “working brethren” were instructed to only take part in communion celebrations in those congregations that could be regarded as organized congregations within the framework of the Evangelical Alliance.

Effects

Some of the house groups and communities created by the Evangelical Brothers' Association developed an increasing distance from the national church . The reasons for this lay, on the one hand, in the knowledge developed through own Bible study and, on the other hand, in the fact that the work of the association was in part massively hindered by church and state organs and thus an independent development was provoked. The existing pastoral understanding of ministry and the church's sovereign rights were critically questioned in the communities, and only nominal church membership was criticized. With the rediscovery of the priesthood of all believers , separate “communion communities” formed. In many places the established regional church practice was increasingly questioned, for example by a largely unsacramental understanding of the Lord's Supper and baptism .

Some of these created circles remained within the existing churches. Others, however, developed increasingly separatist. It was mostly reasons of conscience that made it impossible for them to remain in a church in which no distinction was made between believers and non-believers in membership and participation in the Lord's Supper. Grafe himself founded a Free Evangelical Congregation in Elberfeld in 1854 together with five other men , for which he saw the criteria of the work of the Brothers' Association fulfilled, namely that it should be a congregation within the Evangelical Alliance.

Termination of the work of the association

The association was dissolved on November 5, 2008. The last chairman was Hans Horn , Waldbröl , who died shortly afterwards. The holdings of the brother association (files, records, books, pictures) were given to the archive of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland .

literature

• F. Koch: The Evangelical Brothers Association in Elberfeld from 1850–1900. Elberfeld 1900
• Hans Horn: The Evangelical Brothers Association. On the history of the mission association between the regional church and the free church . In: Monthly Issues for Evangelical Church History of the Rhineland, 24th year 1975.
• Hans Horn: Wilhelm Alberts (1829-1865). A pioneer of the so-called Brethren Movement from Oberberg . In: Monthly Issues for Evangelical Church History of the Rhineland, 76th year 1977, pp. 167–186.
• Rolf-Edgar Gerlach: Carl Brockhaus: a life for God and the brothers. R. Brockhaus Verlag, Wuppertal 1994, therein chap. 4.2: “The Evangelical Brothers Association in Elberfeld”, pp. 36–87
• Hartmut Weyel: Evangelical and free. History of the Federation of Free Protestant Congregations in Germany. Series: History and Theology of the Free Evangelical Congregations. Vol. 5.6, SCM Bundes-Verlag, Witten 2013, ISBN 978-3-86258-020-0 , pp. 1–12

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The article is mainly based on the statements of Hartmut Weyel: Evangelisch und frei. History of the Federation of Free Protestant Congregations in Germany. SCM Bundes-Verlag, Witten 2013, pp. 1–12
2. ↑ Tatjana Klein: The inventory "Evangelical Brothers Association" is now available online as a finding aid. On the blog of the archives of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, February 27, 2015, accessed on August 21, 2015. A finding aid is presented here in PDF format, which can be used to access the association's archives.
3. ↑ Jürgen Knabe: # x5D; = 155 & cHash = 1d126bf19d40fce2f2cff2aff247071d On the death of Dr. Hans Horn. ( Memento of the original from November 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Obituary for Evangelisch in Oberberg , November 14, 2008, accessed on August 21, 2015.