Chapter 16: every tradition · Christianity

Church of the Brethren

A congregation of the Church of the Brethren, one of the historic peace churches, founded in 1708 at Schwarzenau. It has no creed but a commitment to follow Christ in simple obedience, with the New Testament as its rule of faith and practice. Believers are baptized by trine immersion, kneeling in the baptistry and immersed three times forward, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Its communion is the love feast, once or twice a year: self-examination, feetwashing, a fellowship meal, and the bread and cup. The sick are anointed with oil, usually at home. Members hold war unacceptable for Christians, affirm rather than swear, and serve through Brethren Volunteer Service and Brethren Disaster Ministries. The congregation calls its pastor with the district executive's help; the district holds credentials, and the church's polity holds congregational property in trust, though courts have not always agreed.

All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it; How people feel, what every factor is.

At a glance

Faith	Christianity
Its words	church, church, sanctuary; the pastor leads the worship; the sermon; Sunday; the Bible
Worship	word focus, reserved, low formality (0.33 of 1); seated on pews
Music	piano expected; chant discouraged; recorded discouraged
The room's sound	no strong preference
Its year	western; major observance; fasts none
Leans	neutral on moral questions, neutral on economic ones
Polity	congregational; leaders come by call; property trust
Leaders	one leader, full time, trained by seminary; marriage any
Belonging	high commitment, pastoral discipline, admitted by clergy
Giving	tithing taught; collected by plate, online
Way of life	alcohol abstinence, dress casual, sabbath relaxed

The week's services

Day	Time	Service	Led by	People look for it
Sunday	10:30 am	Preaching service	the pastor	expected

Leader: a pastor. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the church holds a Lay-led service in place of its own, led by the laity, which costs everyone at it 0.04; on sabbatical a supply pastor stands in ($800 a month).
Communion (2 times a year), passed among the people: nothing needs to be placed to serve it. People receive from age 12; anyone younger who comes forward is blessed instead.
Baptism: needs a baptistry or an immersion font, built and installed; until there is one, those wanting baptism wait.
Love Feast needs foot-washing basins: without it the rite is missed, and its regulars mind.

Rites

Love Feast (yearly, +0.04 to those there): The Church of the Brethren's love feast, once or twice a year and often on Maundy Thursday: a time of self-examination and reconciliation, then feetwashing, as members wash one another's feet and share an embrace and a word of blessing; a simple fellowship meal at tables; and the bread and cup. It closes with a hymn, and everyone helps clear up. It is the Brethren's communion.
Anointing of the Sick (on request, +0.02 to those there, asked for 0.03 times a year by a household, at home (20 minutes and half an hour's journey each way)): A priest or the elders pray over someone who is seriously ill, lay hands on them, and anoint them with oil, following James 5. It is usually done at home or in the hospital, sometimes at a communal service.
Child Dedication (per birth, +0.02 to those there): Parents bring their baby to the front, promise to raise the child in the faith, and the pastor prays a blessing over the family while the congregation promises to support them.

Baptism, confirmation, and joining

Baptized elsewhere: it recognizes a believer's baptism in the name of the Trinity (not one given as a baby). Someone so baptized is received at a service after about 4 weeks (a week from another of its churches).
Not baptized (or baptized where it doesn't recognize it): a candidate who prepares for 3 months (only months its class can meet count), then is baptized and received at the same service.
Joining age: 15.
The church's children are baptized as believers at about 15, most within a year or two of it.
Kinds of belonging: members (votes, may hold office); received by the pastor.
What it means: being baptized, confirmed, or received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home each Christmas Eve and Easter for ten years.

Giving, and what goes up

How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.

How it's given: the offering, by a plate passed at each main service, and giving online. A visiting household puts $5 to $25 in the plate. Those who give online give whether or not they come (8% more a month).
Fundraisers: only the modest ones (below).
Owed above: District support, 3% of what it takes in, to the District (voluntary).
Owed above: Core Ministries Fund, 1% of what it takes in, to the Annual Conference (voluntary).

The pastor, the staff, and who decides

How the pastor comes: advertised and called: the members vote, consulting the District.
Paid: full time; housed or given an allowance, as you set.
Candidates: three apply; trained at seminary; women among them (about a third); most married; about one married candidate in seven comes as a couple, caring for 75 more.
Tenure: settled for about 7 years, then may be called elsewhere.
Ranks: Licensed minister, Ordained minister; a candidate holds one by skill, and rises with the years.
Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Bivocational pastor ($22,000–$38,000; cares for 75)
- Pastor ($55,000–$85,000 + $18,000 benefits, full time; cares for 150)
- Associate pastor ($42,000–$62,000 + $15,000 benefits, full time; cares for 100 more)
- Deacon (up to $6,000; from the members; cares for 30 more)
- Choir director / organist / pianist ($15,000–$35,000; leads the music (up to +0.06))
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Church secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
Its boards: the church board (deciding, over everything); the trustees (deciding, over the building).
Renovations: The members vote.
New construction: The members vote.
Calling a leader: The members vote, consulting the District.
Who votes: members, 16 and over.

Life together

What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.

Ministries of its own: Choir.
Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
Fundraisers of its own: Soup supper.
Shared fundraisers it may hold (only the modest ones): Bake sale, Car wash, Raffle, Rummage sale.
Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, A twelve-step group, Another congregation, Dance classes, Parties and receptions, Polling place and forums.
Outreach: invitation Sunday (Community → Evangelism).
Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): A petition for cushions, The bells, again.
Dilemmas its code of life brings: A candidates' forum, A Masonic funeral, A matter of oaths, A raffle for the roof, Champagne at the reception.

What the building needs

required BaptistryBeliever's baptism by immersion needs a baptistry: a tank large enough for an adult, with plumbing to fill and drain it.
required Communion tableThe Lord's Supper is served from a communion table, recalling the table of the Last Supper.
required Foot-washing basinsBasins, towels and warm water for the feetwashing.
required PulpitPreaching is the center of worship, so the pulpit stands at the center of the platform.
expected Upright pianoThe congregation expects singing led from a piano.
expected fellowship hallTables are set for the meal, in the fellowship hall or the sanctuary.
expected kitchenThe meal and the communion bread are prepared in the kitchen.
discouraged CrucifixThis tradition uses an empty cross, proclaiming the risen Christ, rather than a crucifix.
discouraged Flaming chaliceThe flaming chalice is another tradition's symbol.
discouraged IconIcons are not part of this tradition's worship.
discouraged National flagThis tradition keeps the nation's symbols out of worship.
discouraged StatueStatues are not part of this tradition's worship space.

What people here feel

Architectural style: Colonial brick +0.052; Modern synagogue +0.034; Gurdwara +0.028; Japanese temple +0.016; Islamic +0.01; Shinto shrine +0.01; Chinese temple +0.004; Dravidian temple -0.002; Nagara temple -0.002; Thai temple -0.002; Jain marble -0.008; Gothic -0.014.
Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
Acoustics: it wants a room between ringing and dry, about 2.2 seconds of reverberation: neither bare stone nor a carpeted low room. Up to ±0.05.
Seasonal decor: it keeps the church year: paraments and the season's decor are worth up to ±0.013.
The sermon lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the pastor's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.
Communion: each communion service runs longer; a slow one costs 0.05 for every 10 minutes the service runs over (0.2 at most).

How each sermon lands

The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.

Biblical Stories+0.015
Blessed Are the Peacemakers+0.015
Called by Name+0.015
Doubt & Faith+0.015
Eternal Life & Resurrection+0.015
Grace & Forgiveness+0.015
Gratitude+0.015
Hope & Comfort+0.015
Joy in All Things+0.015
Love One Another+0.015
Sabbath Rest+0.015
Saints & Witnesses+0.015
Servant Leadership+0.015
Songs of the Psalms+0.015
Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
The Church Year+0.015
The Life of Prayer+0.015
The Parables of Jesus+0.015
Care for Creation-0.02
Faith & Family-0.02
Faith of Our Fathers-0.02
Healing for All-0.02
Interfaith Understanding-0.02
Obedience & Discipline-0.02
Personal Holiness-0.02
Reading Scripture in Context-0.02
Resisting Temptation-0.02
Spiritual Warfare-0.02
Swords into Ploughshares-0.02
The Authority of Scripture-0.02
The Great Commission-0.02
The Prophets' Call-0.02
Wealth & Poverty-0.02
Welcome the Stranger-0.02
Women Who Led-0.02
Marriage as God Designed-0.03
Racial Justice & Reconciliation-0.03
Radical Inclusion-0.03
Sanctity of Life-0.03
Social Justice Call-0.03
The Last Days-0.03
Fire & Brimstone-0.04

Every item, for this tradition

Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.

Item	Fit	Rule
Seating
Box pew	-0.333
Choir stalls	-0.167
Meeting bench	no fit
Oak pew	no fit
Row of chairs	+0.333
Liturgical furniture
Altar	-0.333
Baptismal font	-0.333
Baptistry	no fit	required Believer's baptism by immersion needs a baptistry: a tank large enough for an adult, with plumbing to fill and drain it.
Bishop's chair	-0.333
Brass eagle lectern	-0.333
Columbarium niches	-0.333
Communion rail	-0.333
Communion station	no fit
Communion table	no fit	required The Lord's Supper is served from a communion table, recalling the table of the Last Supper.
Communion trays	no fit
Confessional screen	no fit
Coptic cross	0
Epitaphios	-1
Flaming chalice	-1	discouraged The flaming chalice is another tradition's symbol.
Foot-washing basins	no fit	required Basins, towels and warm water for the feetwashing.
Haikal screen	-1
Iconostasis	-1
Immersion font	-0.333
Lectern	no fit
Litany desk	-0.333
Mercy seat	no fit
Octagonal stone font	-0.333
Paraments	no fit
Pulpit	no fit	required Preaching is the center of worship, so the pulpit stands at the center of the platform.
Readers' desks	no fit
Rood screen	-1
Sanctuary lamp	-0.333
Tabernacle	-0.333
Three-bar cross	0
Thurible and stand	no fit
Music
Brass band stands	0
Chanter's stand	-0.667
Drum kit	+0.167
Electronic organ	0
Grand piano	+1
Hammond organ	0
Handbell table	0
Pipe organ	-0.167
Sound system	+0.167
Upright piano	+1	expected The congregation expects singing led from a piano.
Decor
Advent wreath	no fit
Banner	0
Christmas Eve candles	no fit
Cross	0
Crucifix	-1	discouraged This tradition uses an empty cross, proclaiming the risen Christ, rather than a crucifix.
Easter lilies	no fit
Eternal flame	no fit
Flag of the church	0
Great dome	-0.333
Icon	-1	discouraged Icons are not part of this tradition's worship.
Memorial plaque	no fit
National flag	-1	discouraged This tradition keeps the nation's symbols out of worship.
Painting of Christ	0
Paschal candle	no fit
Plain spire	no fit
Small dome	no fit
Stained glass window	-0.333
Statue	-1	discouraged Statues are not part of this tradition's worship space.
Steeple and bells	-0.333
Votive candle stand	no fit
Furnishings
Alms box	no fit
Coffee pot	no fit
Commercial coffee pot	no fit
Computer	no fit
Crib	no fit
Desk	no fit
Desk chair	no fit
Folding table	no fit
Full-length mirror	no fit
Pillar	-0.333
Prie-dieu	-0.333
Projection screen	+0.333
Vestment cabinet	-0.333
Wooden table	no fit
Utility
A/V rack	no fit
Camera	no fit
Cast-iron boiler	no fit
Central air conditioner	no fit
Commercial HVAC plant	no fit
Commercial stove	no fit
Congregation van	no fit
Ductless heat pump	no fit
Electric wall heater	no fit
Gas furnace	no fit
Hearing loop	no fit
Lift	no fit
Packaged heat pump	no fit
Plumbing stack	no fit
Ramp	no fit
Shuttle bus	no fit
Sink	no fit
Solar panels	no fit
Stairs	no fit
Toilet	no fit
Used school bus	no fit
Wall camera	no fit
Window air conditioner	no fit
Grounds
Evergreen tree	no fit
Flower bed	no fit
Fountain	no fit
Garden bench	no fit
Hedge	no fit
Lychgate	-0.333
Playground	no fit
Shade tree	no fit
Standing cross	no fit

Sources

What we believe (Church of the Brethren) (link)
Practices (Church of the Brethren) (link)
Yearbook reports statistics for 2022 (Newsline, January 2024) (link)
Withdrawal of Churches (Church of the Brethren polity, 2022) (link)
Congregational vacancies (Office of Ministry) (link)
Annual Conference 1958, Women in the Ministry (link)
Treasurer's year-end financial report (Newsline, 2024) (link)