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.
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The BIC Church began about 1778 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, 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 current Articles of Faith and Doctrine were adopted in 1986. They emphasize the understanding of the inspired scriptures by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, 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.
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.[1] Pennsylvania remains the hub of the denomination, with nearly half its congregations and a majority of its members.[2] However, there are numerous congregations in other states, particularly Florida, Ohio, and California.[2] Denominational headquarters is in Grantham, Pennsylvania, 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[3] 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.
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