Practices And Practises Of Brethren In Christ Church Of Canada

n about 1789 two families made the journey from central Pennsylvania to Pelham, Ontario. As they left Pennsylvania they did so with a desire to both maintain the faith practises learned in their homeland and also the relationship with their fledging faith “family” in Pennsylvania. From 1789 till 1879 the two churches (US and Canada) grew, shared ministers, evangelists and a common set of practises and values. In 1879 the two churches affiliated together formally but operated under two different names. In the United States they were known as the Brethren in Christ Church, in Canada they were known as The Tunkers. It wasn’t until 1933 that Canada adopted the name Brethren in Christ Church of Canada.

The North American Church operated

As Bishop in the US it always struck me how diverse we were as a church. Within my conference one church would highlight our Anabaptist Peace perspective while another would highlight our Wesleyan holiness perspective as sacred. Churches while subscribing to the same Articles of Faith and Doctrine had radically differing perspectives and practises on everything from the gifts of the spirit to the role of women in ministry and the pulpit. What is true of one regional conference is certainly true between general conferences. Theological differences are likely and certainly practises differ within the world wide Brethren in Christ around issues such as the role of the state, the place and method of evangelism, the role of women and the means, method and look of marriage. None of this trumped our sense of shared community.

The formation of two general conferences - one in the US and one in Canada is brought about by differences in culture, society and likely even theological nuances. While this structural adjustment frees both churches to be vibrant faith communities within their societies, culture and world it does not limit our ability to cooperatively work together. The Canadian and US churches have a common history and a common theology, we have a long term relationship of working together as one and a largely

It is through the collaborative discussions of this group that the mutual needs and opportunities in our global church can be discussed and responded to best. The financial resources of the North American churches do allow us to bless the Global South financially. The spiritual stagnation of the much of the North American Church leads us to a dependence on the Global South for spiritual teaching, encouragement and guidance. IBICA is uniquely qualified to help us learn from and resource each other appropriately.

BIC Canada recognizes the special place the US church has in our history. For generations our people have served one another well. American’s have served the Canadian church and Canadians have served the US Church (I being one of them). As the two churches move forward there is much we can learn from one another. The new Canadian church is in the midst of building its own systems and practises. in this work we can learn from our US family experience. At the same time the Canadian church is innovating in church planting, structure, etc. There may be things the US church can learn from