History
The Dunker movement began in Germany in the early eighteenth century. The peace treaty that ended the Thirty Years War ( 1618 –1648 ) recognized three state churches. Dissenters were persecuted and forced to meet in communities where some degree of tolerance prevailed. In 1708 the denomination was formed with the baptism of eight believers by full immersion. The name Dunker derives from this method of baptism. However they were more commonly known as the German Baptist Brethren. In 1908 the official name became Church of the Brethren. One misnomer concerning the Germans is that they were all "Plain People" or "Sect People". The Schwarzenau Brethren were first organized in 1708 under the leadership of Alexander Mack in the Schwarzenau, Wittgenstein community of modern-day Bad Berleburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
They believed that the Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed churches were taking extreme liberties with the true, pure message of Christianity as revealed in the New Testament. As they began to have the New Testament available in German and read it for themselves, they rejected the established state church liturgies and sacraments, including infant baptism and Eucharistic practices in favor of following plain New Testament practices. The founding Brethren were broadly influenced by Radical Pietism understandings of an invisible church of awakened Christians who would fellowship together in purity and love, reaching out to the lost and hurting in Jesus' name and working together as equal brethren while awaiting Christ's return.
A notable influence was Ernst Christopher Hochmann von Hochenau, a traveling Pietist minister. While living in Schriesheim, his home town, Mack invited Hochmann to come and minister there. Like others who influenced the Brethren, Hochmann considered the pure church to be spiritual, and did not believe that an organized church was necessary. By 1708, the date of the first Brethren baptisms, Mack had rejected this position in favor of forming a separate church with visible rules and ordinances—including threefold baptism of repentant adults by immersion, a Love Feast (that combined communion with feetwashing and an evening meal), anointing, and church discipline according to Matthew 18 culminating in use of the "ban" against members who fall into sin and refuse to repent.
They believed that the Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed churches were taking extreme liberties with the true, pure message of Christianity as revealed in the New Testament. As they began to have the New Testament available in German and read it for themselves, they rejected the established state church liturgies and sacraments, including infant baptism and Eucharistic practices in favor of following plain New Testament practices. The founding Brethren were broadly influenced by Radical Pietism understandings of an invisible church of awakened Christians who would fellowship together in purity and love, reaching out to the lost and hurting in Jesus' name and working together as equal brethren while awaiting Christ's return.
A notable influence was Ernst Christopher Hochmann von Hochenau, a traveling Pietist minister. While living in Schriesheim, his home town, Mack invited Hochmann to come and minister there. Like others who influenced the Brethren, Hochmann considered the pure church to be spiritual, and did not believe that an organized church was necessary. By 1708, the date of the first Brethren baptisms, Mack had rejected this position in favor of forming a separate church with visible rules and ordinances—including threefold baptism of repentant adults by immersion, a Love Feast (that combined communion with feetwashing and an evening meal), anointing, and church discipline according to Matthew 18 culminating in use of the "ban" against members who fall into sin and refuse to repent.
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