The Church of the Brethren is distinct in combining Anabaptist and Pietist roots, with ordinances that include trine immersion baptism and the love feast with foot washing.
The Church of the Brethren traces its beginning to 1708, when Alexander Mack and seven others were baptized by immersion near Schwarzenau in Germany. The Brethren are a historic peace church, practicing nonresistance, simple living, and service, and they take the New Testament as their rule of faith and practice rather than a written creed.
Sources
Primary
- The Brethren Card, adopted by the Church of the Brethren in 1906 as a summary of its beliefs and practices
Secondary
- Donald F. Durnbaugh, European Origins of the Brethren (1958)