How is the Brethren in Christ Church in North America doing in its desire to be a Peace Church?
A Statement to Mennonite World Conference
January 1, 2011
The earliest confession of faith of what is now the Brethren in Christ Church in North America
(BICNA) asserted that “the sword is completely forbidden for revenge or defense.” The current Articles
of Faith and Doctrine express the belief that “preparation for or participation in war is inconsistent with
the teachings of Christ” and that we reject “all other acts of violence which devalue human life.” One of
the ten core values of the BICNA is “Pursuing Peace: We value all human life, and promote forgiveness,
understanding, reconciliation, and nonviolent resolution of conflict.” Two other core values flesh out
ways that this is lived out: “Serving Compassionately: We value serving others at their point of need,
following the example of Jesus,” and “Living Simply: We value uncluttered lives, which free us to love
boldly, give generously, and serve joyfully.” Foundational documents like these confirm the church’s
longstanding commitment to nonviolence, belief in the centrality of peacemaking to the gospel of Jesus
Christ, and understanding that genuine Christian faith is expressed in outward acts of compassionate
service.
These statements are in clear agreement with the Shared Convictions of our brothers and sisters in
Mennonite World Conference. The Brethren in Christ are compassionate people, committed to living out
our faith in very practical ways in a world in need of redemption. Most Brethren in Christ members in
North America would also affirm that “the Spirit of Jesus empowers us to trust God in all areas of life so
we become peacemakers who renounce violence, love our enemies, seek justice and share our
possessions with those in need” (#5) and that “as a worldwide community of faith we transcend
boundaries of nationality, race, gender, and language, and seek to live in a world without conforming to
the powers of evil” (#7). Whereas previous generations may have primarily expressed their commitment
to peace with a general spirit of nonresistance and by being conscientious objectors to war, today we
emphasize the holistic nature of genuine Christian peacemaking. We believe that God’s spirit in us
requires us to be peacemakers in every area of our lives. For our core value of “pursuing peace” to have
integrity, it must permeate the way we respond to conflict not only with nations on the other side of the
world, but also with members of our family, fellow church members, co-workers, neighbors, friends and
even those who are very different from us and difficult to understand and value as fellow human beings
made in God’s image.
There is a gap, however, between what our foundational documents declare that we believe and
value—and what we officially teach—and what reality shows. The 2006 Church Member Profile, the
most recent general survey of beliefs, attitudes and practices of the Brethren in Christ, reveals that
while 88.2 percent of Brethren in Christ respondents in the U.S. agree that peacemaking is a central
theme of the gospel, only 40.7 percent say that peacemaking and nonviolence are very important, and
58 percent say they would be willing to engage in some sort of military service in the event of a draft.
How can we account for the seeming contradiction between official church statements of faith and
values and the actual beliefs of people in the pew? Several factors help to explain what has happened
over the past several decades.
A gradual process of acculturation
Whereas the early Brethren in Christ separated themselves from the world—a separation that included
nonresistance and nonparticipation in war—since the middle of the 20th century the church has become
much less distinguishable from the surrounding culture and many members and attendees identify
strongly with national values, including the importance of national security and the accompanying
reliance on military might.
Influence of theologically conservative evangelicalism
Simultaneous with the process of acculturation has been the growing influence of mainstream
conservative evangelicalism most of whose adherents take the just war position and accept violence as
an acceptable response to evil. More Brethren in Christ now identify themselves more strongly with the
evangelical movement than with Anabaptism.
Church growth among people not familiar with the peace church tradition
As the church has grown, many new people have come to the Brethren in Christ not knowing or
understanding that there is an alternative interpretation of scripture that rejects violence and war as
acceptable responses to evil.
Ministers recruited into pastoral service without a clear commitment to foundational beliefs in peace
Church growth has also meant that it has been necessary to recruit pastors from outside the
denomination. Despite the requirement that all pastors seeking ministerial credentials agree to support
denominational doctrine and practice in their teaching and preaching, and despite training and
continuing education efforts, there are a significant number of pastors who don’t emphasize this
particular core value of the Brethren in Christ, and at least some who clearly disagree with it.
The absence of contemporary stories of peacemaking and nonviolence
Brethren in Christ members of earlier eras heard the stories of people like Canadian Bishop Ernie Swalm
who went to jail during World War I for refusing to join the army. While there are undoubtedly
individuals who have done courageous things that demonstrate a commitment to peace and
nonviolence, their stories have for the most part not become part of the narrative of the church.
The association of “peace” with the ”fighting” spirit of the anti-war movement of the 1960s
For some in the church, the word peace itself is almost a dirty word because it is associated with political
movements and rhetoric that are perceived as being antithetical to the ideals of peace. While not
everyone who has passionately articulated the conviction that nonviolent peacemaking is central to
Christian discipleship has done so with love, care and respect for other points of view, many have had
their passionate convictions about peace unfairly characterized as evidence of a “fighting spirit” that is
inconsistent with peacemaking.
Strategies to strengthen our peace commitment and witness
To address the gap between official denominational beliefs/core values and the actual beliefs and
practice of people in the pew, a number of strategies could help us strengthen our peace commitment
and witness:
1. We in North America need a stronger connection with our Mennonite World Conference (MWC)
brothers and sisters around the world so that we can learn from those who peacefully live out
their faith in dangerous and violent circumstances. In addition, the Brethren in Christ have been
a part of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) since 1940. But we need to promote greater
awareness and involvement of our members in the mission and ministries of MCC: to share
God's love and compassion for all in the name of Christ by responding to basic human needs and
working for peace and justice. Participation and ownership in both the MWC and MCC will
strengthen Brethren in Christ peace commitment.
2. We need to collect a new generation of peace stories from individuals who are living out their
commitment to peace in a variety of contexts. We need a new churchwide conversation on
peace with these stories informing the conversation and assisting us in developing
contemporary responses to the conflict and violence around us.
3. For almost two decades, there has been no denominational structure with specific responsibility
to promote the peace commitment of the church. Such a structure could intentionally focus
attention on developing a church-wide peace education plan. This plan could include the
following elements:
a. Emphasizing the holistic nature of peacemaking that goes beyond conscientious
objector to war and permeates all areas of life and is rooted in a strong biblical and
theological framework that connects with our North American context;
b. Offering skills in disciplining children, dealing with bullies, and managing in healthy ways
the conflicts we all have with our spouses, co-workers, friends, neighbors and fellow
church members;
c. Telling the stories of Christians who during times of war chose alternatives to joining
their countries’ armed forces;
d. Telling the history of nonviolence and times when nonviolent resistance to armed
conflict successfully diffused conflict (some of these stories could potentially come from
our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world);
e. Developing a world view that rejects the self-centered nationalism that can lead to war;
f. Cultivating an understanding of and concern for issues of social justices that must be
addressed in order to achieve peace.
4. The ministerial credentialing and continuing education program needs to insure better
understanding of the Brethren in Christ peace commitment. Pastors who serve in the
denomination should be able to do more than agree not to undermine our peace commitment
in their preaching and teaching; ideally, they should be able to affirm and be prepared to teach
peace the same way they teach other central elements of the gospel.
It is significant that despite the pressures of our culture and the growth and changes that have occurred
in the Brethren in Christ Church in North America in recent decades, there remains a foundational
commitment to pursuing peace and following Jesus in being “a people of peace and reconciliation”
(AFD). We join with the Mennonite World Conference community in “seeking to live and proclaim the
good news of reconciliation in Jesus Christ.”
—Prepared by Curtis W. Book and Harriet Sider Bicksler