Brethren (religious group)

Brethren is a name adopted by a wide range of mainly Christian religious groups throughout history. The largest movements by this name are the Schwarzenau Brethren, Anabaptists, Moravian Brethren, and Plymouth Brethren.

Late Middle Ages

• Apostolic Brethren (13th century), mendicant order similar to the Franciscans
• Kalands Brethren (13th century), German charitable organization
• Brethren of the Free Spirit (13th century), mystical reform movement
• The Brethren of the Common Life (14th century), intentional communities dedicated to service
• The Moravian Church, also known as United Brethren, Unitas Fratrum, and Bohemian Brethren, descend from the followers of Jan Hus, a Czech reformer burned at the stake in 1415 and Bohemian 15th-century nobleman and theologian Petr Chelčický
• The Unity of the Brethren, also traces its roots to the work of Hus and Chelčický

Anabaptist groups

These groups grew out of the Anabaptist movement at the time of the Protestant Reformation (16th century).

• The Hutterites, also known as Hutterian Brethren, originated from German, Swiss, and Tyrolean Anabaptists led by Jacob Hutter in the 1520s
• The Swiss Brethren, the name Swiss Anabaptists used from 1525 until their split into Amish and Mennonite groups in 1693
• The Mennonite Brethren, originated among Russian Mennonites in 1860

Schwarzenau Brethren

The Schwarzenau Brethren originated in 1708 in Schwarzenau, Bad Berleburg, Germany, with Alexander Mack. Their roots are in the Radical Pietism movement but they were strongly influenced by Anabaptist theology. They have also been called "Dunkers" or "German Baptist Brethren". The group split into three wings in 1881–1883:

Traditionalists

• Old German Baptist Brethren, part of the Old Order Movement
  • Old Brethren, a denomination that split from the Old German Baptist Brethren in 1913 and 1915
    • Old Brethren German Baptist, also known as Leedyites, the most conservative denomination of Schwarzenau Brethren. They live in Indiana and Missouri
  • Old Order German Baptist Brethren, a small very conservative denomination
  • Old German Baptist Brethren, New Conference, formed in 2009 as a result of a split among the Old German Baptist Brethren

Conservatives

• Church of the Brethren, based in Elgin, Illinois
  • Dunkard Brethren, a small conservative denomination that withdrew from the Church of the Brethren in 1926

Progressives

• The Brethren Church, based in Ashland, Ohio
  • Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, a theologically conservative denomination that split from the Brethren Church in 1939
  • Conservative Grace Brethren Churches, International, a conservative denomination that separated from the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches

Plymouth Brethren

The Plymouth Brethren originated in the 1820s work of John Nelson Darby and others in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and India. Plymouth Brethren divided into two branches in 1848:

• Exclusive Brethren
  • Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, also known as Raven-Taylor-Hales Brethren
  • Local churches (affiliation), also known as Church Assembly Hall
• Open Brethren
  • Gospel Hall Brethren, also known as Gospel Hall Assemblies
  • Needed Truth Brethren, also known as Churches of God
  • Indian Brethren, an Evangelical premillennial religious movement
  • Kerala Brethren, Assembly, also known as Verbada Sabha

River Brethren

The River Brethren owe their origins to the combined labors of Reformed pastor Philip William Otterbein and Mennonite Martin Boehm, beginning in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the latter half of the 18th century. They were also influenced by the Schwarzenau Brethren and include (amongst others):

• Brethren in Christ Church, an Anabaptist Christian denomination with roots in the Mennonite church, pietism, and Wesleyan holiness. They have also been known as River Brethren and River Mennonites
• Church of the United Brethren in Christ, an evangelical denomination based in Huntington, Indiana. It split in 1889 when the majority adopted a new constitution:
  • Church of the United Brethren in Christ (New Constitution)
  • Church of the United Brethren in Christ (Old Constitution)
• Evangelical United Brethren
• Old Order River Brethren

Other religious groups

• Apostolic United Brethren, a Mormon fundamentalist group
• The Brethren (Jim Roberts group), an apocalyptic Jesus people movement from the 1970s
• Brethren of Purity, a secret society of Muslim philosophers in the 8th or 10th century CE
• The Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America is neither Anabaptist nor Pietistic, but is the result of a late 19th-century spiritual awakening among Lutheran congregations in the upper Midwestern United States. They formed a separate synod in 1900.
• Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, a Czech Lutheran–Reformed Protestant church
• The Polish Brethren, also known as Socinians, were an Anti-trinitarian group, forerunners for the Unitarians
• The Social Brethren originated in Saline County, Illinois in 1867, the result of an attempt to put the slavery issue away in favor of uniting on a common belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ
• Studite Brethren, a society in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
• United Brethren, a group of Methodists who later joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• The United Seventh-Day Brethren, an Adventist body
• "The Brethren", a collective name for the general authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints