The church formerly known as the River Brethren or Tunkers (or Dunkers), later as Brethren in Christ, and now as Be in Christ, has its roots in Mennonite, German Radical Pietist, and Wesleyan holiness traditions. They combine Mennonite notions of non-resistance and non-conformity; Pietist adherence to immersion baptism, a fervent devotional life, and evangelism; and Wesleyan focus on crisis conversion (the New Birth), assurance of salvation, and the so-called “second work of grace.”
The history of this church begins with a revival meeting held on a farm near the Susquehanna River west of Lancaster PA in 1767. One of the speakers at the meeting was Martin Boehm (1725–1812), a Mennonite minister who had previously had a dramatic conversion experience. In attendance was a Reformed pastor from York named Philip William Otterbein (1726–1813), who was moved by Boehm’s testimony to rise from his seat, embrace the preacher, and pronounce “Wir sind Brüder [We are brethren]!”
It seems that the revival amongst the Germans in that area extended into the 1770s, led mainly by Otterbein, Boehm, and John and Jacob Engel. Those who were converted (including Mennonites, German Baptists, and members of other reformed, non-conformist, and pietistic churches) formed a loose movement who met in homes, generally believed in adult baptism, crisis conversion, and a pietistic life, and informally called themselves the Brethren.
Fairly soon, there was disagreement about what form baptism should take. The Mennonites, of course, were used to pouring, while some of the other Pennsylvania German converts were more familiar with sprinkling or the so-called trine immersion, in which the convert is fully immersed three times. A minority, generally associated with the Engel brothers, felt strongly that trine immersion was the only biblical method, while the majority thought the candidate for baptism should choose which method they wished to undergo.
Sometime before 1780, the trine immersion group (mostly former Mennonites, apparently) separated themselves from the others, though they maintained friendly relations and all continued to call themselves Brethren (Wir sind Brüder!). Led by Jacob Engel, this group decided to baptise each other in Convoy Creek, which ran past Engel’s farm near Marietta and the Susquehanna River (an act reminiscent of those early Anabaptist leaders in Zurich, Georg Blaurock, Conrad Grebel, and Felix Manz).
Perhaps because of their location near the Susquehanna or because of their river baptisms, this group came to be known as the River Brethren or, more informally, the Dunkers. (The remainder of the Brethren, led by Boehm and Otterbein, went on to become a church known as the United Brethren in Christ. More on them at the end of this post.)
It seems that River Brethren arrived in Canada at the same time as the first Mennonites, settling first in the Niagara Peninsula in the 1780s. Soon they became known as Tunkers (from the German word for “to dip”). Sam Steiner writes that Samuel Betzner Sr—who was one of the very first settlers in Block 2, arriving in the summer of 1800—was a Tunker. It is quite likely that the first worship service held in the area along the Grand River was a Tunker service led by Betzner, since he is known to have held services in his own home for many years (although it isn’t known whether he was an ordained minister). The Brethren in Christ presence in Waterloo County was thus simultaneous with Mennonite settlement.
Until about 1820, the River Brethren were really an association of like-minded congregations, but growing numbers (now dispersed across a number of states and into Ontario) led them to create a more formal ecclesiastical organization. Similar to the Mennonite church, this organization included the local churches and a system of district councils, state councils, and a general conference. Church officers included self-supporting bishops, ministers, and deacons (mostly farmers) who were elected by the congregations. They did not accept any historical creeds or confessions, but stressed the authority of the Bible and the active guidance of the Holy Spirit.
There were several splits in the River Brethren church in the decades after 1820. In 1838, a small group in Ohio, led by John Wenger, joined up with a group of former United Brethren under the leadership of John Swank. A few decades later, Swank and a small faction left the Wenger group and eventually joined up with Daniel Brenneman’s Evangelical United Mennonites (the “New Mennonites” of 1850s Waterloo County) to form the Mennonite Brethren in Christ (later, the Missionary Church and, in Canada, the Evangelical Missionary Church). The remnant of the Wenger group eventually became the Pentecostal Brethren in Christ, which, in 1924, became part of the Pilgrim Holiness Church.
In 1843, a small group in Pennsylvania separated in order to use a church building (meeting house) rather than worshiping in homes; they adopted the name United Zion’s Children (and later the United Zion Church). A decade later, in 1853, another group broke away over what they saw as lax church discipline; they called themselves the Old Order River Brethren (sometimes referred to as Yorkers).
With the outbreak of the civil war in 1861, the main body of River Brethren realized that, in order to avoid conscription, they needed legal recognition as a religious organization that upheld the (Anabaptist) doctrine of non-resistance. At a council held in Lancaster in 1862, church leaders set in motion the steps to register the church legally and decided to replace the informal name “River Brethren” with “Brethren in Christ.” The church was finally incorporated under this name in 1904, with headquarters in Harrisburg, PA.
As with the Mennonites, the Brethren in Christ gradually adopted church buildings and full-time ministers supported by the congregation. Church boards were established to direct and oversee such functions as education, publications, and charitable and missionary endeavors. Several colleges, academies, high schools, children’s homes, retirement homes, and camp/retreat centres were established in various American states and in Ontario.
During the 20th century, the Brethren in Christ church became more ecumenical, participating in various Evangelical organizations and working increasingly with the Mennonite General Conference and the Mennonite Central Committee, while retaining their distinctive Wesleyan holiness theology and practices. They put a very high priority on evangelism and mission work, both domestic and foreign.
In 2012, the North American Brethren in Christ separated into two conferences, one for Canada and one for the USA. In 2017, Brethren in Christ Canada changed its name to the Be in Christ Church of Canada, to better reflect their “inclusive and egalitarian values,” according to their website.
Today there are dozens of Be in Christ churches across Canada, including five congregations in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, two of them meeting in local cinemas.
Meanwhile, the faction led by Boehm and Otterbein after the original split back in 1780 soon spread from Pennsylvania into Maryland, Virginia, and Ohio. In 1800, thirteen ministers assembled for their first conference in Frederick, Maryland. There, they adopted the name the United Brethren in Christ and elected Otterbein and Boehm as their first bishops. In 1815, the church adopted a new Confession of Faith, which was revised in 1842.
The origins of the United Brethren in Christ church in Canada are interesting and local. It seems that Jacob Erb, a grandson of old Christian and Maria Erb, arrived in Waterloo County from Pennsylvania around 1825, moved to New York state in 1837, and eventually became a United Brethren in Christ minister. In 1854, while visiting relatives in Preston, Erb met with John Cornell, an unattached itinerant revivalist from Sheffield, Ontario, who had started a number of congregations in Upper Canada, including at least one in Waterloo County. As a result of the discussions between Erb and Cornell, all of the latter’s congregations joined the United Brethren in Christ in October of that year.
There was another major split in the church in 1889 over a number of issues. In both the United States and Canada, the more conservative factions carried on with the name United Brethren in Christ, while the more liberal factions eventually merged with other churches and took on new names (the Canadian faction eventually became part of the United Church of Canada). The current United Brethren in Christ churches do not seem to include non-resistance as an important principle, nor do they advertise any formal relationships with Mennonite or other Peace churches.
There are three United Brethren in Christ churches in Waterloo Region—in Kitchener, Cambridge, and Roseville—and thirteen across southern Ontario.
Sources:
“History,” Be In Christ Church Canada (https://beinchrist.ca/history/).
Bender, Harold S. and Richard D. Thiessen. “Church of the United Brethren in Christ.” Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. February 2012. Web. 11 Jan 2023. (https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Church_of_the_United_Brethren_in_Christ&oldid=136537).
Bender, Harold S. and Richard D. Thiessen. “Mennonite Brethren in Christ.” Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. May 2013. Web. 11 Jan 2023. (https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mennonite_Brethren_in_Christ&oldid=145868).
“Brethren in Christ Church,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brethren_in_Christ_Church).
“Church of the United Brethren in Christ,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_United_Brethren_in_Christ).
Hostetter, C. Nelson, E. Morris Sider and Samuel J. Steiner. “Brethren in Christ Church.” Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. September 2018. Web. 10 Jan 2023. (https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Brethren_in_Christ_Church&oldid=165954).
Steiner, Samuel J. “Betzner, Samuel (1738-1813).” Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. March 2009. Web. 11 Jan 2023. (https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Betzner,_Samuel_(1738-1813)&oldid=172421).
“UB Church History,” The United Brethren Church in Canada (http://www.ubcanada.org/ub-church-history/).
500 Years of Migration 