Church Order

We want our daily life together to be inspired and led by the Holy Spirit. Order and discipline are fruits of this, for “God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” Accordingly, a certain church order has been established in our communities based on Scripture and the example of the early church and shaped by the Anabaptist tradition and our own experience.

John 16:12–13; Eph 5:18–21
Col 2:2–5
1 Cor 14:33 NIV
2 Tim 1:13–14

No system of church order or organization, however good in itself, should ever be allowed to hold back the leading of the spirit of Christ. We belong first and foremost to him. He is the head of the church, and he supersedes all human authorities and traditions. His body is no organization, but a living organism.

Mark 7:6-9
1 Cor 2:2–5
Eph 1:22–23
Col 2:8–23
1 Cor 12:12–27; Eph 4:11–16

Membership in our church community is for life. It is entered into by taking vows. Through our vows, we give ourselves to Christ with all that we have and are, making a covenant of faithfulness to God and to our fellow members, whom we refer to as brothers and sisters.

John 17:20–21; Acts 2:42
2 Tim 4:6–7
Deut 6:4–9; 11:13–14
Mark 3:31–35

Lifelong commitment is integral to our vocation: we are convinced that Christ himself has called us to serve him in this particular way with these particular brothers and sisters, come what may. We cannot separate from one another, since “we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” Our promise of faithfulness is what makes mutual trust possible.

2 Pet 1:3–11
Eph 4:1–3
Rom 12:4–5

Membership is open to all who have received a call to the service of Christ in brotherly and sisterly community and who desire to follow this call with us. In order to take vows, a candidate must have reached the age of twenty-one, understood the teachings of Christ, received believer’s baptism and affirmed all points of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, and been accepted by the church community after a time of testing and discernment.

1 Jn 4:1

Those seeking membership should do so only out of love for Christ. Their vocation will become clear to them only as they obey him in the things of daily life, following him step by step on the way of discipleship.

John 21:15–19; Phil 3:7–11

Full surrender to Christ is the basis of discipleship. This means repentance and conversion, of which baptism is the sign. Anyone who has not yet received believer’s baptism – that is, baptism after reaching the age of accountability, as taught in the New Testament – should consider that this is a command of Christ. The church community will recognize a prior baptism performed by another church so long as both we and the person concerned are convinced that the baptism was genuine.

Luke 9:23–27; Mark 10:21
John 12:24–26
Acts 2:37–41
Mark 16:15–16
Matt 28:18–20

God wants voluntary service. Vows may be taken only on the basis of a well-tested decision and without any human compulsion. Anyone who cannot make this commitment freely and voluntarily should leave it alone.

1 Pet 5:2; Exod 35:4—36:7
1 Cor 2:4–5
2 Cor 9:6–7; Deut 23:21–23
Gal 5:1

No one should join for the sake of another – a man for the sake of a woman or a woman for the sake of a man, a friend for the sake of a friend, or children for the sake of their parents. Such a decision would be built on sand; it cannot endure. Instead, each one should build on the rock of Christ, seeking to please God alone.

Matt 10:34–39
Matt 7:24–27

Birthright membership is thus out of the question. When young people who have grown up within our communities come of age, they must take time to discern God’s will for their lives, either requesting to remain with us or pursuing life experience elsewhere.

John 1:12–13; 3:5–8

No one should join for the sake of personal security. The sixteenth-century Hutterites warned those who came to them: “Each should first count the cost carefully as to what he has to give up…. Those who would enter God’s service must be prepared to be attacked and to die for the truth and for the name of Christ, if it be God’s will, by water, fire, or the sword. For now we have house and shelter, but we do not know what today or tomorrow will bring. Therefore no one should join for the sake of good days. Rather each must be prepared to endure evil and good with all the believers.”1

Luke 9:57–58; 2 Cor 6:4–10
Luke 14:26–33
Matt 5:11–12; John 15:20
1 Pet 4:1
Phil 1:29–30; 2 Tim 3:10–13

A person enters into membership in stages:

Guests are welcome among us at the community’s discretion, regardless of whether they are interested in membership. Those wishing to remain longer to seek whether God has called them to this way of life can request to stay on as novices. If the church community agrees, and the person concerned is eighteen years of age or older, he or she may be accepted for the novitiate, a time of discernment and testing.

Novices are all those eighteen years of age or older (whether baptized or not) who have requested to take part in the communal life. Novices take part fully in the daily life of the church community, but not in members’ meetings. They must respect and uphold the order and spirit of our common life during their stay with us. Their novitiate can be long or short, involves no binding commitment regarding the possibility of membership, and can be broken off by either side at any time.

The novitiate is an opportunity for novices to deepen their life of faith. Through prayer and through intellectual and physical work they are to seek the will of God together with us. Like members, they must dedicate their talents and working strength to the church community, having no right to and receiving no remuneration for their labor or forgone income. Neither do they have any right to the return of any property they may contribute. Until accepted into membership, they retain ownership of any property not expressly contributed, but they must disclose their temporal affairs and must make arrangements with the community for how these are to be managed during their novitiate.

Matt 7:7–11

Novices who have become certain of their calling, have received believer’s baptism, and are twenty-one or older may declare to the church community their request to take lifelong vows of membership.

Before taking vows, candidates must first settle all their worldly affairs. They must give away all their property in obedience to the gospel, so that at the time of taking vows they own absolutely nothing. “...for as many as were possessors of land or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet; and distribution was made to each as any had need.” Our concern is not money or goods, but God-fearing hearts. Membership in any other church or denomination must be terminated. In addition, they must fully disclose their personal history, including all debts and outstanding commitments; any wrong dealings, criminal convictions, or acts punishable by law; and continuing obligations to anyone, including to children or to former or present spouses or partners. To enter membership while willfully hiding such matters or keeping back any possessions would be a grave sin of deception.

If the church community discerns that such a request is based on a clear call from God, it may decide to receive the candidate into membership. Membership vows are taken at a celebratory meeting of the church community where the vows are publicly professed.

Luke 12:32–34; 18:22–30
Acts 4:34-35
Heb 12:28–29
Acts 5:1–11

The act of taking vows is a sign of giving oneself completely and binding oneself unreservedly to the service of Christ in church community. Through this solemn and public act we pledge to no longer claim anything for ourselves, out of love to Christ. Our example is Mary the mother of Jesus, who said: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

Luke 14:33; Num 14:24
Acts 4:32–33; Phil 3:7–9
1 Tim 6:11–12
Luke 1:38 NRSV

Jesus told those who wished to follow him: “Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” He also taught: “When you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” It is in this sense that we take our vows.

Matt 16:25
Luke 17:10

Vows of membership are made in the spirit of the traditional monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience:

Poverty: We pledge to give up all property and to live simply, in complete freedom from possessions.

Luke 12:32–34; 2 Cor 9:7–8
Matt 6:25–32

Chastity: We pledge to uphold sexual purity and, if married, to stay faithful in the bond of marriage between one man and one woman for life.

Matt 5:27–32; 1 Cor 6:9–10
Heb 13:4
Matt 19:3–9

Obedience: We pledge to yield ourselves up in obedience to Christ and our brothers and sisters, promising to serve the church community wherever and however we are asked.

1 Peter 1:1–2
John 13:13–17
Eph 5:21

Vows of membership are made publicly, to God and before the church community, by answering the following questions:

1. Do you promise to proclaim Jesus in word and deed, for the rest of your life?

Mark 16:15–20; Luke 12:8–9
Rom 1:14–17; 15:17–20

2. Are you certain that this way of brotherly and sisterly community, based on a firm faith in God and in Jesus Christ, is the way to which God has called you?

2 Tim 1:12
John 15:15–17

3. Are you willing, for the sake of Christ, to put yourself completely at the disposal of the church community to the end of your life – all your faculties, the entire strength of your body and soul, and all your property, both that which you now possess and that which you may later inherit or earn?

Rom 12:1–2
Acts 4:34–37

4. Will you accept admonition, when justified, and will you yourself admonish others if you sense within our community life something that should be clearer or would more fittingly express the will of God?

Matt 18:15–17
Luke 17:3–4; Col 3:15–16

5. Because a living church will always be a repenting church, do you affirm and uphold the practice of church discipline, and will you be ready to ask for it yourself if necessary?1

Luke 15:7; Acts 3:17–26
1 Pet 4:17; Rev 2—3
2 Cor 7:8–13

6. Are you firmly decided to remain loyal and true, bound with us in the service of love as brothers and sisters in building up church community, outreach to all people, and the proclamation of the gospel?

Upon answering yes, the new member receives the laying on of hands in the prayer that God will fill him or her anew with the Holy Spirit.

Gal 6:9–10; Heb 10:23–25

Because vows of membership are made to God, no human being has the authority to dissolve them. Accordingly, if members leave our fellowship, the church community has no obligation to return any property or to remunerate them for the labor or anything else they may have contributed while they lived within it. To do so would violate the vow to renounce all possessions. Any who are unsure about such a commitment should rather stay away, keep what is theirs, and leave us in peace.

Deut 23:21; Acts 5:4
Eccl 5:1–7
Luke 9:62
Luke 14:28–33

While we are accountable to God and our brothers and sisters for our vows, no one should remain in our church community who does not do so “with joy and to the delight of his soul.”2 Members who leave our fellowship are provided with transitional support. Such assistance is not a right, but is offered at the discretion of the church community, as an expression of its continuing love.

Acts 2:46–47

The church community is made manifest through the body of all members worldwide under lifelong vows. To this body each member and each local community is accountable. In all it does it must act in deepest reverence for the Holy Spirit and for the mystery of Christ’s church. The convening of this body is referred to as a “worldwide membership meeting.”

1 Cor 12:12–13
Acts 15:1–35
Eph 3

The membership of a local community (referred to as a “Bruderhof”) is only a constituent part of the worldwide body of members. Following the example of the itinerant early Christians, members must be ready to live at any Bruderhof or any other place, as the needs of the church community as a whole may require.

Mark 16:15; Acts 16—21

As part of this greater whole, each individual Bruderhof forms a distinct household, having a unique name, character, and expression. Each Bruderhof orders its own life as an individual fellowship of believers, yet in connection with its sister communities.

Rom 16:5; Col 4:15
1 Cor 16:15–19
Rom 15:23–33

The worldwide body of members bears the final responsibility before God for the spiritual and temporal life of the church community: its faith, unity, mission, work, church order, daily life, deeds of charity, and the education and health in body and soul of everyone in the communal household.

Acts 6:1–7

To carry out these responsibilities, the membership appoints individual members to various tasks of leadership, giving them its trust and authorizing them to represent it inside and outside the church community. They are accountable to the body of members in the fear of God for the tasks entrusted to them.

Acts 11:29–30; 14:23
Exod 18
Heb 13:17

In keeping with the biblical teaching of the priesthood of all believers, the collective responsibility for the spiritual life of church community rests on each member individually, as a matter of conscience. Our common life belongs to Christ; each member must ensure that nothing but Christ’s love fills and guides us.

1 Pet 2:5–9
Eph 4:11–13
Jas 4:17; Rom 14:22–23

No excuse relieves any member of this responsibility. If anything is wrong in the church community, every member without exception has the responsibility before God to work tirelessly to reestablish the rule of Christ among us. This means persevering in humility, without fear of man, sparing no effort or sacrifice, until the matter is set right. The church community thus depends on the faith of each member.

Heb 3:12–13; 10:24–25
Col 1:28–29
2 Cor 2:4
Acts 20:26–35; Phil 4:1–3
Eph 4:16

There are times when a member estranges himself or herself from the church community, for example by leaving its fellowship or by willfully violating his or her vows. Any member so estranged ceases to be a member in good standing.

Only members in good standing are to be regarded as members in the sense described in these pages; in particular, only they may participate in the life of the church community, remain on the grounds of a Bruderhof, serve in positions of spiritual or temporal responsibility, or represent the church community publicly.

Titus 3:10–11
1 Jn 2:19; 3 Jn 1:9–11

In case of doubt, it is for the body of members, spoken for by its appointed leadership, to declare whether or not a person is a member in good standing. We will go to great lengths to reconcile with any member not in good standing, in the hope that he or she may be restored to full fellowship.

Jude 1:20–23; Jas 5:19–20

In our fellowship, “there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” Some members receive the gift to teach, some to counsel and encourage, some to proclaim the gospel, some to praise God through music and art, some to care for the needy, some to contribute in other practical ways. But the greatest gift, offered to each of us, is the ability to love.

1 Cor 12:4–7
Rom 12:3–8
1 Cor 13:13; Gal 5:6

Just as the various parts of the human body work together selflessly, so the members of Christ’s body should serve one another. Each Bruderhof, in connection with its sister communities, appoints brothers and sisters to be responsible for the various spiritual and practical aspects of the common life: pastoral leadership; stewardship of money and goods; education of children and youth; work departments such as the farm, workshop, kitchen, and offices; and hospitality. In this, we follow the example of the early church with its elders and overseers, deacons and deaconesses, teachers, and widows.

John 13:1–17; Gal 5:13
1 Tim 3:8–13; 5:1–16

Whatever our gifts and responsibilities, we must use them to advance God’s glory, never our own. God can work through us only if our personal power – our desire for influence, recognition, and success – is dismantled and put away. This does not happen in a single heroic decision, but piece by piece, through the constant working of grace. If we assert our own power even a little, God’s spirit and authority will retreat from our lives to the same degree. But if we are spiritually poor, he can use us as his instruments to build up his church.

John 15:8; 1 Pet 2:12
2 Cor 12:8–9; Jer 9:23–24
Phil 2:12–13; 3:12–14
John 3:27–30
Matt 5:3; 1 Cor 1:18–31

The service of pastoral leadership was instituted by Christ himself when he made the apostle Peter the shepherd of the first church, asking him, “Do you love me?” and commanding him, “Feed my sheep.” We affirm the shepherd’s task in this sense as a gift of God to the church.

John 21:15–19
1 Thess 5:12–13; Heb 13:17

Leadership must be based on trust. Such trust has to be earned; no one can demand it as a right by virtue of office. Pastoral leadership does not depend on fixed offices, natural talents, or seminary training, but on God’s grace and the working of the Spirit. Not even the most gifted person has anything to say in the church community if what he represents is himself.

1 Cor 9:1–18
Eph 4:7–13; Num 11:24–25
1 Sam 16:14
2 Cor 3:4–6; 4:5

A person entrusted with leadership must always let himself be guided by the Holy Spirit. He must remain deeply humble and must honor and respect the body of members. Under no circumstances may he force anything on those around him; he is not placed in this task to control or dominate, but to serve. When Jesus entrusted his church to Peter, he did not give him any rights over the other disciples. Instead he taught: “The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

John 14:26; Zech 4:6
Num 12:3
2 Cor 1:24; 1 Thess 2:7–12
1 Pet 5:3; 2 Tim 2:24–26
Matt 20:25–28 NRSV

Because pastoral leadership means service, we call those who carry this responsibility “servants of the Word.” According to the New Testament, this task can be given only to a brother who fulfills scriptural requirements as regards his personal conduct and life of faith.

1 Tim 2:11–12; 3:1–7
Titus 1:5–9

Any brother who is baptized and has taken membership vows can be suggested for the service of the Word by any other member, and if the church community agrees, he may be appointed. If he is married, he does this service together with his wife, who shares and is essential to his particular obligation to care for souls. An appointment to the service of the Word is made on a trial basis. If after a time of testing and preparation a brother’s service is unanimously recognized as given by God, the appointment will be publicly confirmed through the laying on of hands on him and his wife, conferring the authority of the church.

Acts 14:21—15:2
Acts 18:26; 1 Cor 9:5
2 Cor 12:15
1 Tim 4:14

Each Bruderhof usually has several servants of the Word. They work together as a pastoral team among themselves and with the other brothers and sisters who are responsible for the various spiritual and temporal aspects of the common life.

Acts 14:23; 20:17

The task of a servant of the Word is to care for all in the church community in body and soul and to witness to the gospel.

1 Pet 5:1–4; 1 Tim 4:12–16

A servant of the Word’s main concern should be pastoral care. He and his wife are called to bear the compassion of Christ toward each person, with the goal that each one can flourish with the fullness of life of the gospel. They both must seek to be led by the Spirit in offering counsel and guidance in reverence for any soul who turns to them for advice or to find freedom from sin through confession.

John 21:15–17
John 10:10
Acts 20:28–35; Gal 6:1
Jas 5:14–16

A servant of the Word is charged to express that which is from God and which moves in the hearts of the members. He is authorized to baptize, to serve the Lord’s Supper, to perform weddings, and to pronounce forgiveness of sins. A servant of the Word must be ready at all times to be sent out to proclaim the gospel, wherever the church community may send him.

1 Cor 2:12–16
Matt 16:18–19
Matt 28:18–20
2 Tim 4:1–5

Ultimately, carrying out the service of the Word simply involves a sharpening and intensification of the responsibilities laid on every member. This also holds true the other way around: every member is called to carry out the shepherd’s task in his or her own family and sphere of life, caring for souls and proclaiming the gospel.

1 Pet 2:9
Gal 6:2; Phil 1:27–28

Just as a ship needs a helmsman, so the church community needs clear leadership. For this reason, the body of members unanimously commissions one brother for the shepherd’s task for the church community as a whole, to serve together with his wife for as long as he is able. Known as the elder, he is entrusted to the fullest degree with the care of souls, the spiritual oversight of all communities, the order and authority of the church, and the proclamation of the gospel.

Eph 4:11–13

Like every other servant of the Word, the elder must follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit speaking among the members. He must not isolate himself or put his trust in his own abilities. In deep humility and in close cooperation with the body of members and all those it has appointed to various tasks, a clear direction in all matters can be found.

1 Cor 2:1–5; 2 Cor 3:4–6

To support the elder in his task, the members may appoint servants of the Word as bishops who care for the communities in a particular geographic region. Bishops are responsible not just to the members of the communities they serve, but to the elder and the worldwide body of members.

Titus 1:5

If anyone appointed to a service of leadership falls into serious sin or abuses his position, or if his service is ineffective or harmful, he should lay it down, or he will be relieved of his service by the body of members. In accordance with our vows, each member has a duty to intervene if someone is misusing a position of leadership.

1 Tim 5:20
3 Jn 1:9-10

If there is a question of relieving the elder of his service, this step, in light of its seriousness, can be taken only by the worldwide body of members after meeting day by day for prayerful consideration and in the fear of God, heedful of Scripture’s warning never to admit a charge against a church leader except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

1 Tim 5:19

In a church united by love, the service of leadership will always point to Christ. Among us we know no difference in rank. We are all brothers and sisters, all members of the one body, each serving the other. Governing this body is its sole head, Jesus Christ.

Col 1:28–29
Matt 23:8–12
Eph 1:22–23

Decisions in the church community should be the expression of a unanimity freely arrived at through common discernment and prayer within the fellowship of believers. Unanimity in decision-making is a fruit of the unity of the body of Christ, to which we seek to belong. It comes from listening together to God’s Spirit, who speaks the same message to all who desire to hear him, in practical as well as spiritual questions.

Acts 15:1–35
Acts 4:31–32; Eph 4:1–6
John 16:13

We therefore reject decision-making by democratic or congregational vote. The rule of human opinions, whether of the majority or the minority, is the enemy of the rule of the Holy Spirit, and accordingly the checks and balances of representational government are not of God’s kingdom.

1 Cor 1:10–17

Unanimity in the Spirit is not conformity. It cannot be manufactured through consensus-building, persuasion, or pressure. In our experience, the dissent of a single voice has at times proved to be prophetic. Members must be able to speak their minds freely, especially in matters of conscience. A false unanimity produced by conformism or fear drives away the spirit of Christ.

Rom 12:3–8; 1 Pet 4:10–11
Rom 14; 1 Cor 8

If we are unable to come to agreement, the reason may simply be that the moment is not yet ripe for a decision, or it may be that members feel differently on a particular matter of conscience. In that case, the matter should be left open for the time being. Then the Spirit must lead us to a common conviction that each can embrace naturally and from the heart.

Phil 3:15–16

On the other hand, a lack of unanimity may be caused by something quite concrete that is blocking us from hearing God’s will together – for instance, wounded vanity, hidden grudges, selfishness, or arrogance on the part of many or a few. In that case, these hindrances must be recognized and overcome, so that we do not become guilty of disobeying the Spirit out of human pettiness.

Titus 1:10–14
1 Thess 5:19; Eph 4:29–30

Local communities are autonomous in directing their day-to-day administration. Nevertheless, they serve in connection with sister communities around the world. We entrust each bishop with oversight for the communities within his assigned region and the elder with general oversight for all communities, exceeded only by the authority of the body of members at a worldwide membership meeting. The elder is the authorized spokesman of the body of members. He will honor local communities’ decisions as having great weight, yet he may object to them or even set them aside until the body of members has considered the matter. Each member is free at any time to bring his or her concerns directly to the regional bishop or to the elder.

2 Cor 8

There is no law but that of love.1 Love is joy in others. To preserve this love, Christ teaches us to speak directly to our brother or sister whenever there is anything between us. We are to make peace with our brother or sister before the sun goes down; Christ even warns us to stay away from common prayer until we have done so: “If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

Matt 22:35–40; 2 Jn 1:5
Jas 2:8; Gal 5:14
Matt 18:15–20
Eph 4:25–27
Matt 5:23–24

It is therefore out of the question for someone in our community to hold something against a brother or sister or to talk behind his or her back. Relationships within and to the church community are spiritual bonds based on trust and on the readiness to forgive again and again.

Jas 4:11–12
Luke 17:3–4; 2 Cor 6:11–13
Gen 42—50

Like the early Christians and those faithful to their example through the ages, we insist on the need for mutual fraternal admonition. Misunderstandings, conflicts, and honest differences of opinion are bound to arise, and this does not surprise or disturb us. But whenever there is tension between brothers and sisters, we must use the way of direct address taught by Christ. We owe this service to anyone in the church community whose real or imagined weaknesses cause a negative reaction in us. A frank word spoken and received in love and humility serves only to deepen friendship and renew trust. If our concern turns out to be unjustified, so much the better.

1 Thess 5:14; Col 3:16
Acts 15:36–41; Gal 2:1–14

If two people are unable to come to peace on their own, it is necessary to take the additional steps that Jesus sets forth in Matthew 18: first to draw in one or two others to help; and then, as a last resort, to lay the situation before the church to be resolved by its authority. According to Christ’s teaching, anyone who refuses at that point to listen even to the assembled church should leave and go his or her own way.

Matt 18:17–18

Likewise, if there is division in the church community or abuse of authority by its leadership, the matter will if necessary be brought before the worldwide body of members for final resolution, in the prayer that the Spirit may lead to clarity, repentance, and renewed love. All conflicts within the church community can and must be settled in this way. In accordance with Scripture, they may never be taken to any adjudicator outside the church community, certainly not to a court of law.2

Rom 16:17–20; 1 Cor 1:10–13
1 Tim 5:19–20
Matt 5:25–26; 1 Cor 6:1–8