History
The community descended from the pietistic Schwarzenau Brethren movement of Alexander Mack of Schwarzenau in Germany. The first schism from the general body occurred in 1728—the Seventh Day Dunkers, whose distinctive principle was that the seventh day was the true Sabbath.
In 1732, Beissel arrived at the banks of Cocalico Creek in Lancaster County. Around this charismatic leader a semi-monastic community (the Camp of the Solitary) with a convent (the Sister House) and a monastery (the Brother House) was established, called "Ephrata" after Biblical Ephrath. The members of the order were celibate. Members were required to sleep on wooden benches 15 inches (380 mm) wide, with wooden blocks for pillows. They slept six hours per night, from 9 P.M. to midnight, and from 2 A.M. until 5 A.M., with a two-hour break to "watch" for the coming of Christ. They ate one small vegetarian meal a day. The only time the followers of Beissel were permitted to eat meat was during the celebration of communion when lamb was served. The members of the cloister spent much time at work or praying privately. Services every Saturday were led by Beissel, often being several hours long.
During the time that this group formed, there was a hint of dissatisfied intellectualism of churches. Many wanted to be away from state established churches. Strict religious lives caused these brothers and sisters to come together to worship God in other ways. Instead of practicing their religion, they applied it by helping others to become more spiritual and celibate.
Among the sisterhood and brotherhood there included a married order of householders, which were families who supported and engaged in the everyday activities. Other than practicing quiet lives by praying and doing charity work, [5] the Cloisters had a duty to keep up with the tasks of living at Ephrata. Farming and industrial work were the typical workload on a daily basis. Although the Cloisters often practiced their religion by interpreting Biblical works, they also engaged in carpentry and papermaking. Other tasks included gardening, preparing meals, and mending. [6] Not only were the cloisters famous for their writings and hymns on the printing press but they became very busy people especially when it came to chores. They manufactured clothing on a mill and kept their lives busy by creating duties and obligations.
The Cloisters had a positive outlook on life; they respected their neighbors, land and environment. Education was also important in their society. It was important that every child maintain their education. Children that came from families were also encouraged to be educated in the German school. Educating the young was one of the charity works that the Cloisters accomplished. They also helped the poor by passing around bread to the poor families.
Other believing families settled near the community, accepted Beissel as their spiritual leader and worshipped with them on Sabbath. These families made an integral part to the cloister, which could not be self-sustaining without them. The brothers and sisters of Ephrata are famous for their writing and publishing of hymns, and the composition of tunes in four voices. [7] Beissel served as the community's composer as well as spiritual leader, and devised his own system of composition. The Ephrata hymnal (words only) was printed in 1747.
The Ephrata Cloister had the second German printing press in the American colonies and also published the largest book in Colonial America. The book, Martyrs Mirror , is a history of the deaths of Christian martyrs from 4 B.C. until 1660. Before the publication began at the request of a group of Mennonites from Montgomery County, it had to be translated from the original Holland Dutch into German, which was completed by Peter Miller of the Ephrata Community. Work began in 1748 and was finished about three years later. Many of the books were purchased by the Montgomery County Mennonites who had initiated the process.
Beissel died in 1768, and this contributed to a declining membership. The monastic aspect was gradually abandoned, with the last celibate member dying in 1813. In 1814, the Society was incorporated as the German Seventh Day Baptist Church (or The German Religious Society of Seventh Day Baptists). Branches were established in other locations; two of them still exist today. In 1941, a 28 acres (110,000 m2) Ephrata tract of land with remaining buildings was conveyed to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for use as a state historical site. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission led excavations there which, among other things, uncovered the Cloister's use as a hospital during the Revolutionary War (1775–83). Of special note, the only glass trumpet of its kind in North America was unearthed by archaeologists in 1998 at the Cloister. The trumpet, which likely came from Germany, was found in excellent condition which led archaeologists to believe it was intentionally buried. The mouthpiece was the only part missing from the trumpet, so it is unknown if it has ever been played.
At its height, the Ephrata community grew to 250 acres (1.0 km2) inhabited by about 80 celibate men and women. The married congregation numbered approximately 200.
Anabaptism is a Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation.
The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition that was organized in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Germany during the Radical Pietist revival. The denomination holds the New Testament as its only creed. Historically, the church has taken a strong stance for nonresistance or Christian pacifism—it is one of the three historic peace churches, alongside the Mennonites and Quakers. Distinctive practices include believer's baptism by forward trine immersion; a threefold love feast consisting of feet washing, a fellowship meal, and communion; anointing for healing; and the holy kiss. Its headquarters are in Elgin, Illinois, United States.
Ephrata is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located 42 miles (68 km) east of Harrisburg and about 60 miles (97 km) west-northwest of Philadelphia and is named after Ephrath, an ancient Israelite town, Bethlehem, that is now a Syriac Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic speaking community in Palestine. Ephrata's sister city is Eberbach, Germany, the city where its founders originated. In its early history, Ephrata was a pleasure resort and an agricultural community.
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The Old German Baptist Brethren (OGBB) is a Schwarzenau Brethren denomination of Anabaptist Christianity.
The Schwarzenau Brethren, the German Baptist Brethren, Dunkers, Dunkards, Tunkers, or sometimes simply called the German Baptists, are an Anabaptist group that dissented from Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed European state churches during the 17th and 18th centuries. German Baptist Brethren emerged in some German-speaking states in western and southwestern parts of the Holy Roman Empire as a result of the Radical Pietist revival movement of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Johann Conrad Beissel was a German-born religious leader who in 1732 founded the Ephrata Community in the Province of Pennsylvania.
Peace churches are Christian churches, groups or communities advocating Christian pacifism or Biblical nonresistance. The term historic peace churches refers specifically only to three church groups among pacifist churches:
Martyr's Mirror or The Bloody Theater, first published in Holland in 1660 in Dutch by Thieleman J. van Braght, documents the stories and testimonies of Christian martyrs, especially Anabaptists. The full title of the book is The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians who baptized only upon confession of faith, and who suffered and died for the testimony of Jesus, their Saviour, from the time of Christ to the year A.D. 1660. The use of the word defenseless in this case refers to the Anabaptist belief in non-resistance. The book includes accounts of the martyrdom of the apostles and the stories of martyrs from previous centuries with beliefs similar to the Anabaptists.
The Community of True Inspiration, also known as the True Inspiration Congregations, Inspirationalists, and the Amana Church Society) is a Radical Pietist group of Christians descending from settlers of German, Swiss, and Austrian descent who settled in West Seneca, New York, after purchasing land from the Seneca peoples' Buffalo Creek Reservation. They were from a number of backgrounds and socioeconomic areas and later moved to Amana, Iowa, when they became dissatisfied with the congestion of Erie County and the growth of Buffalo, New York.
Radical Pietism are those Christian churches who decided to break with denominational Lutheranism in order to emphasize certain teachings regarding holy living. Radical Pietists contrast with Church Pietists, who chose to remain within their Lutheran denominational settings. Radical Pietists distinguish between true and false Christianity and hold that the latter is represented by established churches. They separated from established churches to form their own Christian denominations.
Marie Elizabeth Kachel Bucher was an American school-teacher and the last surviving resident member of the German Seventh-Day Baptists religious congregation of the Ephrata Cloister, a United States National Historic Landmark located in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.
Christoph Sauer was the first German-language printer and publisher in North America.
Alexander Mack was a German clergyman and the leader and first minister of the Schwarzenau Brethren in the Schwarzenau, Wittgenstein community of modern-day Bad Berleburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Mack founded the Brethren along with seven other Radical Pietists in Schwarzenau in 1708. Mack and the rest of the early Brethren emigrated to the United States in the mid-18th century, where he continued to minister to the Brethren community until his death.
Sabbatarianism advocates the observation of the Sabbath in Christianity, in keeping with the Ten Commandments.
Kachel is a German surname meaning "tile". Notable people with the surname include:
A Seeker is a person likely to join an Old Order Anabaptist community, like the Amish, the Old Order Mennonites, the Hutterites, the Old Order Schwarzenau Brethren or the Old Order River Brethren. Among the 500,000 members of such communities in the United States there are only an estimated 1,200 to 1,300 outsiders who have joined them.
Brethren is a name adopted by a wide range of mainly Christian religious groups throughout history. The largest movement is Anabaptist.
Old Order Anabaptism encompasses those groups which have preserved the old ways of Anabaptist Christian religion and lifestyle.
