Brethren in Christ
| Brethren in Christ Church | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Anabaptist |
| Origin | c. 1778 Marietta, Pennsylvania |
| Branched from | River Brethren |
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.
The Brethren in Christ have their headquarters in Pennsylvania. 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 in the 1770s, the people of this group who became known as the River Brethren developed a conviction that believer's baptism by trine 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.
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