23 Facts About Schwarzenau Brethren

German Baptist Schwarzenau 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.

Hopeful of the imminent return of Christ and desiring to follow Jesus in their daily life, the founding Schwarzenau Brethren abandoned State churches and officially formed a new church in 1708.

The Schwarzenau Brethren rejected some Radical Pietists' focus on emotionalism and direct revelation, and emphasized early New Testament Christianity as the binding standard for congregational practices.

The founding Schwarzenau Brethren were in fellowship with other Anabaptists, such as the Mennonites, and influenced by their writings.

In German-speaking Europe, the Schwarzenau Brethren became known as, in distinction from the older English Baptist groups with which they had no formal ties.

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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, now part of Bad Berleburg in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Many members of the Schwarzenau Brethren came from the Southwest of Germany, the same region where the Pennsylvania German dialect originated.

In 1871 these Schwarzenau Brethren adopted the title German Baptist Schwarzenau Brethren at their Annual Meeting.

Some of the early Schwarzenau Brethren believed in universal restoration, a variant of universal salvation that foretold that after the judgment and harsh punishment described in the New Testament, God's love would one day restore all souls to God.

Schwarzenau Brethren typically kept this teaching to themselves, and it was largely abandoned by the late nineteenth century.

Old Order Schwarzenau Brethren opposed 19th-century Brethren adoption of innovations in the United States such as revival meetings, Sunday Schools, and foreign missionary work.

Dunkard Brethren Church, a conservative Schwarzenau Brethren denomination, maintains traditional theological beliefs and practices, while widely using modern conveniences.

In 1913 and 1915 the Old Schwarzenau Brethren, centered in Salida, California, Dayton, Ohio and Camden, Indiana, withdrew from the Old German Baptist Schwarzenau Brethren.

Old Schwarzenau Brethren subsequently divided into two groups, the Old Order of which took the name of Old Schwarzenau Brethren German Baptists and was centered in Camden, Indiana and Missouri.

Paradigmatic conservative Schwarzenau Brethren denomination remains the Dunkard Brethren Church, in that they have preserved the distinctives of plain dress and headcovering while widely using modern conveniences.

The Dunkard Schwarzenau Brethren Church withdrew from the Church of the Schwarzenau Brethren in 1926 because of what some believed was a gradual drift away from apostolic standards.

In 2019, after trying for many years to find reconciliation and a mutual commitment to follow New Testament principles regarding personal morality, many congregations who were leaving the Church of the Schwarzenau Brethren chose to form a new denomination called the Covenant Schwarzenau Brethren Church.

Schwarzenau Brethren are noncreedal, but have summarized their beliefs in a variety of ways for the purpose of evangelical outreach.

For example, the Grace Schwarzenau Brethren are varied on the requirement of trine immersion, do not practice the Christian salutation, do not oppose war, and do not formally adhere to plain dress or modesty.

Only the Conservative Grace Schwarzenau Brethren Churches have retained a published use of the motto, "The Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible".

The Plymouth Schwarzenau Brethren arose in England and Ireland early in the 19th century.

The United Schwarzenau Brethren originated in 18th-century Pennsylvania with William Otterbein and Martin Boehm.

Today, the Old Order River Schwarzenau Brethren are very similar to the Old Schwarzenau Brethren—both being part of the Anabaptist tradition.