| Old Order River Brethren | |
|---|---|
| Type | Protestant |
| Classification | Anabaptist |
| Orientation | River Brethren |
| Origin | c. 1778 Pennsylvania, U.S. |
The Old Order River Brethren are a River Brethren denomination of Anabaptist Christianity with roots in the Radical Pietist movement. [1] As their name indicates, they are Old Order Anabaptists. [2]
The denomination began about 1778 in Pennsylvania. They share their early history with the Brethren in Christ Church. A group of brethren living near the Susquehanna River, who had previously separated from the Mennonites fellowshiped with German Baptist Brethren but eventually became known as the River Brethren. In 1856, there was a three-way split among the River Brethren and these folks established a separate, more conservative group. [3]
They were sometimes referred to as the York Brethren or Yorkers, because most of the members in 1843 were located in York County, Pennsylvania. This group believed the majority of the River Brethren churches were becoming too lax in their standard of Biblical non-conformity and non-resistance, and desired to return to older Scriptural doctrines and traditions. [4] With the increase of more progressive and modernizing groups in Christendom following the industrial revolution, and the emergence of clarifying naming of other traditional Old Order groups among the plain people such as Amish (Old Order Amish forming 1862–78), the Mennonites (Old Order Mennonites, 1872–1901) and the German Baptist Brethren (Old German Baptist Brethren 1882) in the late 1800s they defined themselves also as "Old Order".
Between 1921 and 1961 four splits occurred in the group, mostly regarding the use of cars, leaving the Old Order River Brethren divided into five subgroups. Three of the five groups reunited between 1969 and 1977 so that there are three subgroups currently. [5]
Traditionally meetings for worship are held in the homes and barns of the members. In recent times, meetinghouses and public buildings are sometimes used for church services. Ministers are un-salaried, with no formal training for preachers. Ministers are chosen from among the godly men of the congregation who fulfil the Scriptural description of church leaders in 1 Timothy 3.1–13, and Titus 1.5 – 3.11. A congregation traditionally has a bishop, two ministers, and one or two deacons. [6]
Testimonies are an integral part of every worship service, which opens by allowing all members, male and female to share personal testimonies, answers to prayer, or songs. There is no separate Sunday School, but all members learn, worship and study the Bible together.
The weekend long Lovefeast observance of Communion is practiced which includes preaching, singing, self examination, communal meals, and foot washing.
Believer's Baptism is practiced after conversion, most often during the teen years. Baptism is by trine immersion in the name of the Father, the name of the Son, and the name of the Holy Spirit, in natural, outdoor water (often a pond, a river or a stream), as with other plain Brethren. Outdoor baptism is practiced regardless of weather. Old Order River Brethren have broken ice to perform baptism. This is symbolic of the commitment being made, to follow Jesus regardless of the cost.
Old Order River Brethren wear a conservative form of plain dress. Male members wear beards usually without moustaches, long pants usually of dark colors and often with suspenders, and wear button up shirts with sleeves. Female members wear opaque white cotton head coverings along with long cape dresses in solid cloth, or very small print. The women's dress has a Mennonite type or attached cape on front, and a Brethren style, or loose cape back. As among many other plain groups, they do not require their children to dress according to the church member dress pattern until conversion, baptism and church membership; which is usually in their teens or 20s. Previous to this, children and youth wear modest, gender appropriate clothing. [7]
In 1919 the Old Order River Brethren forbade the use of automobiles and thus the use of horse-drawn vehicles was generally maintained until the Musser group allowed cars in 1951 and the Strickler group in 1954. A third smaller and shrinking subgroup, called the "Old Church", still uses horse and buggy transportation. [8]
Television is not allowed, but electricity, telephones and limited internet are accepted. Members who feel called to a certain occupation which requires college education are not uncommon, but most of these are in service-oriented occupations such as medical and dental training. This is seen as continuing the ministry which Jesus had among the sick and needy, when He walked on earth. [9]
During the 20th century the Pennsylvania German was replaced by English, which has been used exclusively in services since about the 1940s. Only a few members still spoke the Pennsylvania German of their ancestors by the 1990s. [10]
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1935 | 472 |
| 1960 | ~340 |
| 1986 | 327 |
| 2000 | 388 |
| 2019 | ~500 |
During the 20th century several settlements of the Old Order River Brethren in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Ontario dwindled and finally became extinct. For 1935 and 1937 the Association of Religion Data Archives lists 472 members for the Old Order Yorker River Brethren, that is the Old Order River Brethren. [11] In 1960 there were 340 members. [12]
In 1986 there were 327 members in three subgroups, the Strickler group with 172 members, located in Lancaster and Franklin counties, Pennsylvania, and Dallas County, Iowa, the Horst group with 121 members in Lancaster and Franklin counties and the "Old Church" with 34 members in Franklin County. [13]
In the year 2000 all groups of the Old Order River Brethren had together 328 members, organized in three subgroups and five congregations. The Strickler group had three districts, Franklin with 86 members, Lancaster with 83 and Dallas Center in Iowa with 33, all together 202 members. The Horst group had one district in Franklin County with 109 members, and the Old Church also one in Franklin County with 17 members. [14] The horse and buggy people have relocated to Clay County, Kansas, between 2000 and 2010. [15] In the 2010s a new church was planted in West Virginia.
The total population of all Old Order River Brethren groups including children and young not yet baptized members was between 530 and 535 around the year 2000. [16] In 2014 all Old Order River Brethren groups together had about 550 members in five congregations, of which the "Old Church" had only about half a dozen members. [17]
Poet and historian G. C. Waldrep (born 1968) is a member of the Old Order River Brethren as author Stephen Scott (1948 –2011) was until his death.
The Old Order River Brethren publish a newsletter called The Golden Chain. In 1984 Sonlight River Brethren School was started in Lancaster County. [18]
Plain people are Christian groups characterized by separation from the world and by simple living, including plain dressing in modest clothing. Many Plain people have an Anabaptist background. These denominations are largely of German, Swiss German and Dutch ancestry, though people of diverse backgrounds have been incorporated into them. Conservative Friends are traditional Quakers who are also considered plain people; they come from a variety of different ethnic backgrounds.
The Old German Baptist Brethren (OGBB) is a Schwarzenau Brethren denomination of Anabaptist Christianity.
Old Order Mennonites form a branch of the Mennonite tradition. Old Order are those Mennonite groups of Swiss German and south German heritage who practice a lifestyle without some elements of modern technology, still drive a horse and buggy rather than cars, wear very conservative and modest dress, and have retained the old forms of worship, baptism and communion.
The New Order Amish are a subgroup of Amish that split away from the Old Order Amish in the 1960s for a variety of reasons, which included a desire for "clean" youth courting standards, meaning they do not condone the practice of bundling during courtship. Tobacco and alcohol are also not allowed. They also wished to incorporate more evangelical elements into the church, including Sunday school and mission work. Some scholars see the group best characterized as a subgroup of Old Order Amish, despite the name.
The Beachy Amish Mennonites, also known as the Beachy Mennonites, are an Anabaptist group of churches in the Conservative Mennonite tradition that have Amish roots. Although they have retained the name "Amish" they are quite different from the Old Order Amish: they do not use horse and buggy for transportation, with a few exceptions they do not speak Pennsylvania Dutch anymore, nor do they have restrictions on technology except for radio and television. In the years 1946 to 1977 a majority of the Beachy Amish incorporated certain elements of revivalist practice, such as the preaching of the New Birth. The traditionalists who wanted to preserve the old Beachy Amish ways then withdrew and formed their own congregations. Today they are known as Midwest Beachy Amish Mennonites or Old Beachy Amish.
The Groffdale Conference Mennonite Church, also called Wenger Mennonites, is the largest Old Order Mennonite group to use horse-drawn carriages for transportation. Along with the automobile, they reject many modern conveniences, while allowing electricity in their homes and steel-wheeled tractors to till the fields. Initially concentrated in eastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, their numbers had grown to 22,305 people resided in eight other states as of 2015. They share the pulpit with the Ontario Mennonite Conference but have some differences in Ordnung.
The Amish, formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches, a separate Anabaptist denomination. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, Christian pacifism, and slowness to adopt many conveniences of modern technology, with a view neither to interrupt family time, nor replace face-to-face conversations whenever possible, and a view to maintain self-sufficiency. The Amish value rural life, manual labor, humility and Gelassenheit.
Conservative Mennonites include numerous Conservative Anabaptist groups that identify with the theologically conservative element among Mennonite Anabaptist Christian fellowships, but who are not Old Order groups or mainline denominations.
Over the years, as Amish churches have divided many times over doctrinal disputes, subgroups have developed. The "Old Order Amish", a conservative faction that withdrew in the 1860s from fellowship with the wider body of Amish, are those that have most emphasized traditional practices and beliefs. There are many different subgroups of Amish with most belonging, in ascending order of conservatism, to the Beachy Amish, New Order, Old Order, or Swartzentruber Amish groups.
The Weaverland Conference, also called Horning Church or Black-bumper Mennonites, is a Christian denomination of Old Order Mennonites who use cars.
The Noah Hoover Mennonites, called "Old Order Mennonite Church (Hoover)" by the Mennonite World Conference, and sometimes called "Scottsville Mennonites”, are a group of very plain Old Order Mennonites that originally came from the Stauffer Mennonites and later merged with several other groups. Today it is seen as an independent branch of Old Order Mennonites. The group differs from other Old Order Mennonites by having settlements outside the US and Canada and by attracting new members from other groups on a larger scale. They have more restrictions on modern technology than all other Old Order Mennonite groups. They are rather intentionalist minded than ultra traditional.
The Virginia Old Order Mennonite Conference, also called Cline Mennonites or Cline-Showalter group, is an Old Order Mennonite group to use horse-drawn carriages for transportation. It separated from the Virginia Mennonite Conference in 1901. The members of the group speak English only, unlike almost all other horse and buggy Old Order Mennonite groups, who speak Pennsylvania German as their first language. In recent years the group sometimes uses the name "Riverdale Old Order Mennonite Church".
The John Dan Wenger Mennonites are an Anabaptist Christian denomination that belongs to the Old Order Mennonites. They use horse and buggy transportation and are mainly located in Virginia. Under the leadership of Bishop John Dan Wenger, they separated from the Virginia Old Order Mennonite Conference in either 1952 or 1953.
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.
The Byler Amish, also called Alt Gemee, are a small conservative subgroup of the Amish. They are known for the yellow color of their buggies, which earned them the nickname "yellow-toppers" and for wearing only one suspender. They are the oldest Old Order Amish affiliation that separated for doctrinal and not for geographical reasons.
Old Order Anabaptism encompasses those groups which have preserved the old ways of Anabaptist Christian religion and lifestyle.
The Old Beachy Amish or Old Beachy Amish Mennonites, also called Midwest Beachy Amish Mennonites, are a Plain, car-driving Beachy Amish group, that preserves the old ways of the Beachy Amish including the German language. They live in Kentucky and Illinois. They are part of the Amish Mennonite movement in a broader sense, but they are not an organized denomination.
Charity Ministries, also called Charity Christian Fellowship, is a Conservative Anabaptist network of churches that was formed in 1982 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
The Kauffman Amish Mennonites, also called Sleeping Preacher Churches or Tampico Amish Mennonite Churches, are a plain, car-driving branch of the Amish Mennonites whose tradition goes back to John D. Kauffman (1847–1913) who preached while being in a state of trance and who was seen as a "sleeping preacher". In 2017 the Kauffman Amish Mennonites had some 2,000 baptized members and lived mainly in Missouri and Arkansas. In contrast to other Amish Mennonites they have retained their identity over the last hundred years and also largely the Pennsylvania German language and other Amish Mennonite traditions from the late 1800s.
The New Order Amish Fellowship or New New Order Amish, most commonly called New Order Christian Fellowship, is the most progressive affiliation among the New Order Amish. Because some scholars see the New Order Amish just as a subgroup of the Old Order Amish, the New Order Christian Fellowship is thus the most progressive affiliation among the Old Order Amish. In spirituality, they are close to Beachy Amish. Their use of horse and buggy transportation and their preservation of the German language distinguishes them from the Beachys, except for the Old Beachy Amish who have also retained the German language but drive cars.
