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The Old Brethren German Baptists, also called Leedyites, are the most conservative group of Schwarzenau Brethren. They live in Indiana and Missouri.
The history of the Old Brethren German Baptists dates back to 1708, when the Schwarzenau Brethren were formed in Schwarzenau, now part of Berleburg under the leadership of Alexander Mack. Soon they moved to Pennsylvania to escape religious persecution in Europe.
For the history of the Old Brethren German Baptist Brethren before the division see Old German Baptist Brethren: History.
In 1860s and '70s the traditionalists among the Brethren opposed the adoption of innovations such as revival meetings, Sunday schools, and foreign missionary work. Stressing church discipline, Annual Meetings, and the preservation of the "older order" of church ordinances, worship, and dress, they formed the Old German Baptist Brethren in 1881. [1]
In 1913 conservative members of the Old German Baptist Brethren centered around Camden, Carroll County, Indiana (Deer Creek), withdrew from their church and formed the Old Brethren. In 1915 the same happened among the Brethren centered around Salida, Stanislaus County, California. In 1921, the Old Order German Baptist Brethren, centered around Dayton, Ohio, broke with the Old German Baptist Brethren.
Attempts in 1929 and 1930 to reunite the Old Brethren and the Old German Baptist Brethren were unsuccessful. The Old Brethren subsequently divided into two groups. The more conservative of the two groups, centered in Camden, Indiana, was organized in 1939 and took the name Old Brethren German Baptists. [2] Some members of the Old Order German Baptist Brethren joined them. [3]
Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions describes the emergence of the Old Brethren German Baptists: [4]
Around 1930 members of the Old Brethren Deer Creek congregation near Camden, Indiana, began to fellowship with the Old Order Brethren in the Covington, Ohio, area. However, by 1935 the traditionalist Old Brethren found themselves unable to continue their affiliations with the Ohio Brethren. They continued as an independent congregation until they made contact with a few Old Order Brethren near Bradford, Ohio, who met in the home of Solomon Lavy. In 1939 the two groups merged and adopted the name Old Brethren German Baptist Church. They were joined in 1953 by a group of Old Order Brethren from Arcanum, Ohio.
The Old Brethren German Baptists are the result of three subsequent departures of conservatives among the German Baptists between 1881 and 1939.
Old Brethren German Baptists differ from their predecessor groups by stricter adherence to traditions, such as the use of horse and buggy, instead of automobiles, as a means of transportation. They also use neither electricity nor telephones. Production and use of tobacco, acceptance of pensions, and insurances on life and property are also ruled out.
They are distinct from the Old Order German Baptist Brethren, another group with similar traditions that split off from the Old German Baptist Brethren in 1921. The Old Brethren German Baptists farm with horses, while the Old Order German Baptists use tractors and other motorized equipment in their farming.
Many families are engaged in agriculture, growing produce and producing sorghum syrup.
Annual meetings are held at Pentecost. In the past it was in a meetinghouse near Camden, Indiana. [5] As of 2016, annual meetings are alternating between Camden, Indiana, and the new settlement in Missouri.
In spite of the name, Old Brethren German Baptists do not use the German language anymore, neither a German dialect in everyday life nor Standard German for Bible and church as Old Order Amish and many Old Order Mennonites do. Old Brethren German Baptists had already given up the use of the German language when the first split of conservatives from the main body occurred in the early 1880s.
Around 1980, the Old Brethren German Baptists had three congregations and 45 members in 28 households. The largest congregation was at Camden, Indiana, followed by a congregation at Goshen, Indiana. The smallest congregation was at Arcanum, Ohio. [5]
Around 2015, the group has grown to about 130 members. Camden, Indiana, is still the main settlement. The church at Arcanum, Ohio, does not exist anymore and the congregation at Goshen, Indiana, is down to two elderly members, but there is a new settlement between Trenton and Spickard, Missouri. This group has many members who came from the car-driving Old German Baptist Brethren and who withdrew over concerns about a perceived slide to modernity in their church.
Beyond the groups they divided from, there are some similarities between the Old Brethren German Baptists and Old Order Amish and also the horse and buggy groups among the Old Order Mennonites. Besides horse and buggy transportation, Plain dress and low technology, they share traditions stemming from their common Pennsylvania German heritage.
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.
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.
The Old Order German Baptist Brethren, also called Petitioners, are a small group of very conservative Schwarzenau Brethren.
The Dunkard Brethren Church is a Conservative Anabaptist denomination of the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition, which organized in 1926 when they withdrew from the Church of the Brethren in the United States.
The Old Order River Brethren are a River Brethren denomination of Anabaptist Christianity with roots in the Radical Pietist movement. As their name indicates, they are Old Order Anabaptists.
A horse and buggy or horse and carriage refers to a light, simple, two-person carriage of the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, drawn usually by one or sometimes by two horses. Also called a roadster or a trap, it was made with two wheels in England and the United States. It had a folding or falling top.
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.
Amish Mennonites came into existence through reform movements among North American Amish mainly between 1862 and 1878. These Amish moved away from the old Amish traditions and drew near to the Mennonites, becoming Mennonites of Amish origin. Over the decades, most Amish Mennonites groups removed the word "Amish" from the name of their congregations or merged with Mennonite groups.
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 Old German Baptist Brethren, New Conference is a church belonging to the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition, that formed in 2009 as a result of a split among the Old German Baptist Brethren.
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 Old Brethren Church is a Schwarzenau Brethren denomination in the Anabaptist tradition of Christianity.
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".
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 Brethren are Old Order plain groups of the Schwarzenau Brethren, as well as the River Brethren—both Anabaptist Christian traditions. There are five of these “Old Order” groups of the Schwarzenau Brethren:
Old Order Anabaptism encompasses those groups which have preserved the old ways of Anabaptist Christian religion and lifestyle.