Old Order River Brethren

The Old Order River Brethren are a River Brethren

Old Order River Brethren
denomination of Anabaptist Christianity with roots in the Radical
Pietist movement.[1] As their name indicates, they are Old Order Type Protestant
Anabaptists.[2] Classification Anabaptist
Orientation River Brethren
History Origin c. 1778
Pennsylvania, U.S.
The denomination began about 1778 in Pennsylvania. They share
their early history with the Brethren in Christ Church. A group of brethren living
near the Susquehanna River, who had previously separated from the Mennonites
fellowshiped with German Baptist Brethren but eventually became known as the
River Brethren. In 1856, there was a three-way split among the River Brethren and
these folks established a separate, more conservative group.[3]

They were sometimes referred to as the York Brethren or Yorkers, because most of
the members in 1843 were located in York County, Pennsylvania. This group
believed the majority of the River Brethren churches were becoming too lax in their
standard of Biblical non-conformity and non-resistance, and desired to return to
older Scriptural doctrines and traditions.[4] With the increase of more progressive
and modernizing groups in Christendom following the industrial revolution, and the
emergence of clarifying naming of other traditional Old Order groups among the
plain people such as Amish (Old Order Amish forming 1862–78), the Mennonites
(Old Order Mennonites, 1872–1901) and the German Baptist Brethren (Old
German Baptist Brethren 1882) in the late 1800s they defined themselves also as
"Old Order". Old Order River
Brethren young
Between 1921 and 1961 four splits occurred in the group, mostly regarding the use man
of cars, leaving the Old Order River Brethren divided into five subgroups. Three of
the five groups reunited between 1969 and 1977 so that there are
three subgroups currently.[5]

Religious practice
Traditionally meetings for worship are held in the homes and barns
of the members. In recent times, meetinghouses and public
buildings are sometimes used for church services. Ministers are un-
salaried, with no formal training for preachers. Ministers are chosen
from among the godly men of the congregation who fulfil the
Scriptural description of church leaders in 1 Timothy 3.1–13, and Old Order River Brethren young
Titus 1.5 – 3.11. A congregation traditionally has a bishop, two women
ministers, and one or two deacons.[6]

Testimonies are an integral part of every worship service, which opens by allowing all members, male and
female to share personal testimonies, answers to prayer, or songs. There is no separate Sunday School, but
all members learn, worship and study the Bible together.
The weekend long Lovefeast observance of Communion is practiced which includes preaching, singing,
self examination, communal meals, and foot washing.

Believer's Baptism is practiced after conversion, most often during the teen years. Baptism is by trine
immersion in the name of the Father, the name of the Son, and the name of the Holy Spirit, in natural,
outdoor water (often a pond, a river or a stream), as with other plain Brethren. Outdoor baptism is practiced
regardless of weather. Old Order River Brethren have broken ice to perform baptism. This is symbolic of
the commitment being made, to follow Jesus regardless of the cost.

Old Order River Brethren wear a conservative form of plain dress. Male members wear beards usually
without moustaches, long pants usually of dark colors and often with suspenders, and wear button up shirts
with sleeves. Female members wear opaque white cotton head coverings along with long cape dresses in
solid cloth, or very small print. The women's dress has a Mennonite type or attached cape on front, and a
Brethren style, or loose cape back. As among many other plain groups, they do not require their children to
dress according to the church member dress pattern until conversion, baptism and church membership;
which is usually in their teens or 20s. Previous to this, children and youth wear modest, gender appropriate
clothing.[7]

In 1919 the Old Order River Brethren forbade the use of automobiles and thus the use of horse-drawn
vehicles was generally maintained until the Musser group allowed cars in 1951 and the Strickler group in
1954. A third smaller and shrinking subgroup, called the "Old Church", still uses horse and buggy
transportation.[8]

Television is not allowed, but electricity, telephones and limited internet are accepted. Members who feel
called to a certain occupation which requires college education are not uncommon, but most of these are in
service-oriented occupations such as medical and dental training. This is seen as continuing the ministry
which Jesus had among the sick and needy, when He walked on earth.[9]

During the 20th century the Pennsylvania German was replaced by English, which has been used
exclusively in services since about the 1940s. Only a few members still spoke the Pennsylvania German of
their ancestors by the 1990s.[10]

Members and congregations

During the 20th century several settlements of the Old Order River Brethren in Year Membership
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Ontario dwindled and finally became extinct. For
1935 and 1937 the Association of Religion Data Archives lists 472 members for the 1935 472
Old Order Yorker River Brethren, that is the Old Order River Brethren.[11] In 1960 1960 ~340
there were 340 members.[12] 1986 327

In 1986 there were 327 members in three subgroups, the Strickler group with 172 2000 388
members, located in Lancaster and Franklin counties, Pennsylvania, and Dallas 2019 ~500
County, Iowa, the Horst group with 121 members in Lancaster and Franklin counties
and the "Old Church" with 34 members in Franklin County.[13]

In the year 2000 all groups of the Old Order River Brethren had together 328 members, organized in three
subgroups and five congregations. The Strickler group had three districts, Franklin with 86 members,
Lancaster with 83 and Dallas Center in Iowa with 33, all together 202 members. The Horst group had one
district in Franklin County with 109 members, and the Old Church also one in Franklin County with 17
members.[14] The horse and buggy people have relocated to Clay County, Kansas, between 2000 and
2010.[15] In the 2010s a new church was planted in West Virginia.
The total population of all Old Order River Brethren groups including children and young not yet baptized
members was between 530 and 535 around the year 2000.[16] In 2014 all Old Order River Brethren groups
together had about 550 members in five congregations, of which the "Old Church" had only about half a
dozen members.[17]

Poet and historian G. C. Waldrep (born 1968) is a member of the Old Order River Brethren as author
Stephen Scott (1948 – 2011) was until his death.

Publishing
The Old Order River Brethren publish a newsletter called The Golden Chain. In 1984 Sonlight River
Brethren School was started in Lancaster County.[18]

Literature
Margaret C. Reynolds: Plain Women: Gender and Ritual in the Old Order River Brethren,
University Park, PA, 2001.
Laban T. Brechbill: History of the Old Order River Brethren, Wrightsville, PA, 1972.
Laban T. Brechbill: Doctrine of the Old Order River Brethren, 1967.
Myron Dietz: The Old Order River Brethren, in "Brethren in Christ History and Life 6", June
1983, pages 4–35.
Stephen E. Scott: The Old Order River Brethren Church, in "Pennsylvania Mennonite
Heritage I", July 1978, pages 13–22.
Donald B. Kraybill: Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites and Mennonites,
Baltimore, 2010.
Donald B. Kraybill and Nelson Hostetter: Anabaptist World USA, Scottdale, PA, and
Waterloo, ON, 2001.

Links
Beulah S. Hostetler: An Old Order River Brethren Love Feast (http://digitalcommons.ursinus.
edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=pafolklifemag) in Pennsylvania Folklife,
Winter 1974·1975 Vol. XXIV, No. 2, pages 8–20.

References
1. Shantz, Douglas H. (2013). An Introduction to German Pietism: Protestant Renewal at the
Dawn of Modern Europe. JHU Press. ISBN 9781421408804.
2. Byrne, Jamie M. (1998). An Ethnographic and Rhetorical Study of Women Scribes for Die
Botschaft, an Old Order Newspaper. Pennsylvania State University. p. 11.
3. Donald B. Kraybill: Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites and Mennonites,
Baltimore, 2010, page 247.
4. Frank S. Mead (1975). Handbook of Denominations in the United States (6 ed.). Abingdon
Press. p. 72.
5. Simon J. Bronner: Encyclopedia of American Folklife, London and New York, 2006, page
909.
6. Old Order River Brethren at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (http://game
o.org/index.php?title=Old_Order_River_Brethren)
 7. Old Order River Brethren at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (http://game
o.org/index.php?title=Old_Order_River_Brethren)
8. Donald B. Kraybill: Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites and Mennonites,
Baltimore, 2010, page 247.
9. Old Order River Brethren at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (http://game
o.org/index.php?title=Old_Order_River_Brethren)
10. Old Order River Brethren at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (http://game
o.org/index.php?title=Old_Order_River_Brethren)
11. Old Order Yorker River Brethren (http://www.thearda.com/Denoms/D_1376.asp) at
Association of Religion Data Archives.
12. Ira Landis: The Origin of the Brethren in Christ Church and its Later Divisions in The
Mennonite Quarterly Review, XXXIV (1960), page 304.
13. Old Order River Brethren at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (http://game
o.org/index.php?title=Old_Order_River_Brethren)
14. Donald B. Kraybill and Nelson Hostetter: Anabaptist World USA, 2001, Scottdale, PA, and
Waterloo, ON, pages 246 and 272.
15. Old Order River Brethren Counties (2010) (http://www.thearda.com/ql2010/QL_C_2010_2_1
131c.asp) at Association of Religion Data Archives
16. Margaret C. Reynolds: Plain Women: Gender and Ritual in the Old Order River Brethren,
University Park, PA, 2001, page 41.
17. Donald B. Kraybill: Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites and Mennonites,
Baltimore, 2010, page 247.
18. Old Order River Brethren at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (http://game
o.org/index.php?title=Old_Order_River_Brethren)

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