Life in Community

The whole of life in church community must be a sacrament, a living symbol that illustrates God’s calling for humankind. We do not want to wait for peace and justice until the day of Christ’s return. We wish to demonstrate a shared life of work and worship in which the harmony of his coming kingdom can be seen and touched today, in our daily lives.

Eph 3:10–11
Matt 6:33; 2 Cor 5:17–21
1 Pet 2:9–12
2 Pet 3:11–15; Exod 34:10

Outwardly, our communal life will take a variety of forms, as the Spirit leads. Language, culture, and customs will differ with time and place. Some of our communities are rural, and others urban; some are made up of just a handful of members, while others number several hundred. Individual members may live away from our communities for months or years for the sake of spreading the gospel or undertaking some other assigned task. Yet pervading all these differences of circumstance will be the essential unity: our common faith in one baptism, one calling, one profession of vows, and one Spirit of love who guides us in all things.

Eph 4:1–6; Gal 3:26–28

Christ taught us how to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, and promised: “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” We are to pray without ceasing. Prayer is the lifeblood of church community, both in the personal life of each member and in daily communal gatherings.

Matt 6:9–15
Mark 11:24 NRSV
1 Thess 5:17
2 Cor 1:11; Phil 1:19
Acts 2:42; Eph 6:18

When we pray together we must approach God humbly. Spoken prayers are simple. We have no liturgies, no consecrated buildings, but want to worship “in spirit and truth.” We often meet outdoors where the beauty of nature lifts our hearts and reminds us of the greatness of our Creator.

Matt 6:5–8
John 4:21–24
Ps 121:1–2

Prayer can take many forms. Silent prayer is an essential part of our common life. We also recognize the importance of voluntary fasting (by adults) as a form of intensified prayer. In addition, singing and music can be a form of prayer. Many of the songs we sing might not appear to be religious at all – songs about nature or love may best express what moves our hearts and so bring honor to God, the maker of all things.

Rom 8:26–27; Ps 46:10
Matt 4:2; 6:16–18
Acts 13:2–3; Joel 2:12–13
Ps 98; Col 3:16

Community of goods and a common purse are the practical expressions of the vocation of church community. None of us receives a paycheck, stipend, or allowance from the church community. Once someone has become a member, all of his or her earnings and inheritances are given to the church community, and each receives necessities such as food, clothing, and housing. Each of us is accountable to the church community for money we spend. In our homes and daily lives, we seek to live frugally and give generously, to avoid excess, and to remain unfettered by materialism. In these practical ways we wish to witness that under the stewardship of the church, everything we have is available to anybody in need. This applies especially within our church community: no Bruderhof is to be richer or poorer than another.

Acts 2; Acts 4
1 Tim 6:6–10; Heb 13:5–6
Luke 6:38; Prov 11:24–26
Matt 13:22–23; Luke 12:13–21
Acts 4:34–35
2 Cor 8:13–15

Distinct legal entities with appropriate civil-law governance may be established to further the purposes of church community – for example, by holding title to property or operating businesses. Should any such entity ever be dissolved, however, no member would receive anything at all; any assets left would belong to the cause of Christ in church community and to the poor. The statutes of all legal bodies associated with our communities anywhere in the world reflect this understanding.

Each Bruderhof appoints a steward to oversee its temporal affairs and to make careful provision for the welfare of every person living within it. Stewards work in close collaboration with pastoral leadership. In this, the steward is accountable to God and to the body of members.

Acts 6:1–7

Work must be indivisible from prayer, prayer indivisible from work. Our work is thus a form of worship, since our faith and daily life are inseparable, forming a single whole. Even the most mundane task, if done as for Christ in a spirit of love and dedication, can be consecrated to God as an act of prayer. To pray in words but not in deeds is hypocrisy.

Col 3:17, 23–24; Jas 2:26
Is 58:1–10
Matt 25:31–46
Amos 5:21–24

Work is a command of God and has intrinsic worth. He gave the earth to humankind to enjoy, cultivate, and care for in reverence as good stewards in his stead. Therefore, we honor work on the land. We honor physical work – the exertion of muscle and hand – and the craftsman’s creativity and precision. We honor the activity of the mind and soul too: the inspired work of the artist, the scholar’s exploration of nature and history, the enterprise of the inventor, the skill of the professional. Whatever form our work takes, we are called to do it to the best of our ability in service to the kingdom of God.

Gen 2:5; 2 Thess 3:6–13
Gen 1:26–28; 2:15
Acts 20:34–35; Eph 4:28
Exod 31:3–5
Luke 1:1–4
Titus 3:13–14

Work within the church community is not primarily an economic activity valued on the basis of profit or productivity. No kind of work brings either privilege or stigma: work in the community laundry is valued as highly as the work of an expert technician or doctor. We are all brothers and sisters, none higher and none lower. Thus there can be no place in our common life for contractual obligations or relationships based on control, as between a master and servant. We are called to give witness to a different social and economic order based on faith, love, and mutual trust.

1 Cor 12:12–31
Jas 2:1–9
Phlm 1:14–16
Matt 20:20–28

Because our work is integral to our calling, we cannot accept payment for it from the church community or from one another. Care in the form of food, housing, medical care, and other personal subsistence expenses is received not as a right or in proportion to services rendered, but according to need. Consistent with members’ vow of poverty and the faith and practice of our common life, all members, novices, and guests and their dependents who participate in the church community do so on a voluntary basis without expectation of wages, salary, vacation, or compensation of any kind.

Acts 4:34–35

To work in the service of love is our joy. We contribute our talents and energies in whatever ways we are able until the end of our lives. Our vocation is not a trade or profession, but rather the common life itself; none of us has a career. We agree to work wherever we are needed, regardless of our preferences or prior training and experience, ready to change at any time from one task to another.

Luke 19:11–27; 1 Pet 4:10–11

Each Bruderhof appoints work distributors to coordinate the common work. They must attend to the welfare of all who work and ensure that those unable to work are cared for.

Income from the church community businesses is used to fulfill our mission: spreading the gospel, building up and sustaining community life, carrying on educational work, offering hospitality to visitors, and giving aid to the needy.

Of necessity, these businesses engage with an economic system whose values can be at variance with those that guide our life within the church community. All the more, every enterprise of the church community must reflect and yield to our mission and witness, even at the expense of efficiency or profitability:

Luke 16:1–13

Solidarity:  Christ’s Golden Rule – to do to others as we would have done to ourselves – requires solidarity with all people and respect for their dignity as fellow human beings made in the image of God. To treat others merely as the means to an economic end is a sin.

Matt 7:12
Is 10:1–4
Jas 5:1–6

Ethical practice:  Scripture requires that we act honestly, respecting the law of the land and having regard for the rights and needs of others. The way we conduct business ought to be a testimony to this.

2 Cor 8:16–21; 1 Pet 2:12–17
Prov 11:1
Deut 5:19–20

Workmanship:  We strive to work industriously and to maintain a high quality of workmanship in all we do, as an expression of the love we put into our work.

Prov 6:6–11
Exod 35:4—36:7

Stewardship of creation:  Nature is a work of God that reveals his love and glory; he entrusted it to our care. Reverence for his creation ought to guide us in relation to our use of the earth and its resources.

Ps 19:1–6; Rom 1:20
Ps 8:3–9

We recognize that any income earned by church community businesses is ultimately not our own achievement, but a provision from God to be used for his service.

Deut 8:17–18

Our life together gives us opportunities to show love to one another at every stage of life, from welcoming a newborn baby to attending older brothers and sisters in their last years. Deeds of love are not routine but personal – a matter of following Christ’s command to “wash one another’s feet.” We want to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

1 Jn 3:16–17
John 13:1–17
Gal 6:2

In doing this, we seek to remember especially those with burdens to carry: widows and widowers, orphans, the disabled and sick, those with mental and emotional ailments, and those who are lonely. Then Jesus’ promise will come true: that everyone who has left family and home for his sake will receive back “a hundredfold…houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands.”

Jas 1:27; 1 Tim 5:1–16
Phil 2:25–30
Mark 10:28–31

We are grateful for the God-given help of medical science to preserve life and alleviate suffering. We seek to ensure that a high standard of medical care is provided to all brothers, sisters, and children in the church community. Many of our Bruderhofs have doctors and dentists who provide professional care whenever this is appropriate, or support patients who require attention in a hospital.

At the same time, we acknowledge the limits of medicine, particularly at the end of life, recognizing that ultimately our lifespan is determined by God. If a brother or sister decides to decline aggressive medical intervention, for example when facing a terminal illness, that decision is respected. All the more, such a person is surrounded by the prayers, care, and support of brothers and sisters.

Matt 6:27
Job 1:20–21; Deut 32:39

Upon a death in our communities, brothers and sisters keep a constant watch around the one who has died during the time before burial, while as many as possible come to take leave. Then the church community gathers to do the last service of love: carrying the body to one of our burial grounds and laying it to rest in the earth until the day of resurrection.

1 Cor 15:51–57

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Children belong at the heart of the church community, for they remind us what it means to trust and to be free of heart. We welcome every child, just as Jesus welcomed each one. In all children, and especially in the unborn, we recognize the link between human life and eternity.

Matt 19:14
Matt 21:16
1 Pet 2:1–3
Matt 18:1–6; Is 11:6
Luke 1:39–45; Ps 139:13–14
Eccl 11:5; Matt 18:10

The family of father, mother, and children is a creation of God and must be held sacred. Parents have the God-given task of raising their children in his stead. Reverence for this relationship between parent and child is the essence of true family life. Such families form the basic unit of church community.

Our communities also include single-parent families. Single parents receive support from fellow members to ensure that their children grow up with both men and women as mentors and role models.

Each family in the church community is provided with its own living quarters in which to make its home in an atmosphere of security and peace. It is important to us to make good use of time at home with our children, including daily meals around the family table, and to avoid work-related distractions and other interruptions.

Gen 1:27–28; 2:21–25
Eph 6:1–4; Col 3:20–21

Unmarried men and women form an integral part of our common life. Single people whose families live elsewhere are welcomed into one of the families in their community for meals, weekends, and holidays such as Christmas.

We have reverence for the task of those members who remain single, whether by choice or by circumstance. They have a noble calling in the service of love, since they in a special way can give themselves selflessly for others. In their life of chastity, they give visible witness to Jesus’ call to purity and singleness of heart, testifying to the fulfillment that comes from leaving all for him.

1 Cor 7:25–40
1 Tim 5:9–10
Matt 19:10–11
Mark 10:28–30

Jesus loved his mother and siblings, yet declared in strong terms that obedience to the gospel must come before family ties: “While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, ‘Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.’ He replied to him, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ Pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’”

John 19:25–27
Luke 14:26; Matt 10:35–37
Matt 12:46–50

Placing loyalty to Jesus above all else can be difficult, but his words cannot be ignored. Family relationships within or beyond the community must not draw us away from following him.

Luke 9:59–62

Church community is a school for young and old in the discipleship of Christ. True education is a matter of awakening the soul, of quickening the inner life so that the whole person is attuned to Christ and his cause. All members must learn to do concentrated work with mind and spirit to the full extent of their capabilities. If we love Christ, we will take an interest in the work of God throughout history and will have concern for the social, political, and cultural movements of our time.

Titus 2:1–8
Acts 7:22
Acts 14:15–17; Rom 1:18–20
Acts 17:16–31; Dan 1:3–4, 17

It is in this context that the education of children and young people takes place. Children should not be molded to conform to the wishes or ambitions of their parents or anyone else. Every child is a thought of God. Education means nurturing the innate divine spark within each child and helping him or her to become the person God intends.

Jer 1:4–5

The Ten Commandments and the New Testament state with good reason, “Honor your father and your mother. . . that it may go well with you.” Children’s emotional and spiritual well-being begins in their relationship to their parents; it is parents, not any school or community, who have the primary authority and responsibility for educating their children. Obedience and respect for parents and other adults is the basis of a strong character.

Deut 5:16; Col 3:20
Eph 6:1–4
Prov 6:20–24

Permissiveness and indulgence must be avoided in the education of children, but so too must moralism and legalism. Parents and teachers must be mentors to children as they guide them on their path to adulthood. Anyone who seeks to coerce or assert power over the soul of a child commits a grave sin. Corporal punishment in any form is prohibited.

Mark 7:1–13
Col 2:20–23; 3:21
Matt 18:5–7

Where possible, our communities run their own nurseries and schools. Bruderhof schools seek to provide each child with a happy and constructive childhood and to educate the whole child; this includes rigorous academic instruction; craftsmanship and practical skills; singing and the arts; unstructured play and sportsmanship; and the experience of nature. Beyond this, history and literature are studied in a way that traces connections across centuries and cultures.

Our schools emphasize respect, self-discipline, and a strong work ethic. But what matters most is that children develop their capacity to love by caring for and serving others.

1 Tim 4:7–8
2 Pet 1:5–9

Adolescence and young adulthood, like childhood, have their own God-given qualities. A church community, just like every other human society, needs the disruptive exuberance of youth and should welcome it, otherwise it cannot remain flexible and alive. We should never force young people to act as if they were grown adults, but should help them to focus their enthusiasm constructively. We must enable them to arrive at their own convictions and, so long as they remain sincere and respectful, to bring their thoughts to expression, even if the result is awkward or unusual.

After secondary school, many of our young people pursue some form of training at the university level or in a trade (although the church community is under no obligation to provide them with such training). Others find opportunities to volunteer, or learn practical skills in the workplace.

1 Jn 2:12–14; Eccl 11:9; 12:1
1 Tim 4:12; Jer 1:6–7

When young people who have grown up within our communities choose other paths in life, the church community will provide support on a case-by-case basis as they establish themselves on their own. We welcome continuing relationships with such young people, provided there is mutual respect. Whether they stay or go, our prayer is that they find God’s will in a life of service to others.

Phil 1:9–11

Just as in a prism we can see the different colors of the spectrum, so in a fellowship of brothers and sisters we will find diverse reflections of God’s image. We rejoice in each of these, and reject all attempts to make people uniform. Since all are of equal worth, all must be free to be themselves. The more originality there is among us, the more vibrant our fellowship will be.

1 Cor 12
Rom 15:7

At the same time, we must distinguish between healthy self-determination – being true to one’s conscience – and the self-centered individualism that sees everything from its own perspective and seeks its own advantage. While the former is vital in a living community, the latter will destroy it.

Phil 2:1–5

Jesus called his disciples “friends” and openly shared his heart with them. In the same way, we should be friends to one another, appreciating each other just as we are with brotherly and sisterly affection.

John 15:14–15
Rom 12:10

Each of us has certain natural gifts that make us unique. But in themselves these are neither a help nor a hindrance in serving Christ. We must be liberated from the whole idea of measuring our own worth, so that we are neither conceited about our achievements nor plagued by feelings of inferiority for our deficits. We each must give our all.

Eph 2:10
Phil 3:3–11
Eph 2:8–10
Matt 25:14–30
Luke 21:1–4

In the outward expression of our life together, we seek independence from the conformist pressures of consumer culture. Though it appears to offer boundless choice, it is in fact often artificial and hostile to the growth of true individuality and integrity.

Rom 12:1–2; Jas 4:4
1 Jn 2:15–17

That is why in our manner of dress we reject trends and fashions, driven as they so often are by status-seeking and the exploitation of sexuality. Members dress in a manner that expresses our values of simplicity, equality, and modesty, in reverence for the way God created man and woman different from each other yet both in his image.

Matt 6:28–33
1 Pet 3:1–5; Jas 2:1–8
1 Cor 11:2–16

The only sure basis for individual integrity is a living relationship with Christ. Our life together in church community will wither away unless each of us remains personally connected with him. For this reason, times of quiet alone before God are important for every brother and sister. Each one has to find the right rhythm between silence and fellowship, that is, between encountering God in solitude or through community with others.

Phil 1:21; Col 3:1–3
John 15:1–8
Mark 1:29–39; Matt 14:22–23

All members must be diligent in taking time for personal prayer mornings and evenings and throughout the day. All must take an active part in seeing that Christ alone is Master among us. Then God will be free to pour out his love on us and the world; then he can perform great deeds and “do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.”

John 14:12–14
Eph 3:14–21

Our common meals, which we share daily, are an important and joyful part of church community life. Each meal is a time of thanksgiving. We often invite visitors, neighbors, friends, and newcomers as guests to our table, whether in our family homes or communal dining hall; through practicing hospitality as commanded by Scripture, everyone is enriched. When eating together, we celebrate occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries, often with children’s performances, music, or other presentations. We observe the major holidays of the church calendar with special festivity: Advent and Christmas, Holy Week and Easter, Ascension Day and Pentecost.

Acts 2:46; 1 Tim 4:4
Heb 13:1–2; 1 Pet 4:9

Taken in a spirit of thanksgiving, every mealtime gains deep significance through Jesus’ example. He ate and drank with outcasts and sinners, fed the five thousand, and broke bread with his disciples as a sign of friendship. In Scripture he speaks of his wish to be with us in the same way: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

Mark 2:13–17; Luke 14:12–24
John 6:1–15
John 21:1–14
Rev 3:20

In this way, our common meals can become consecrated festivals of community. They point to the goal of our hope: the coming of the kingdom of God. Jesus spoke of this day as the wedding feast, one to which the whole world is invited. As described symbolically in the book of Revelation, this feast will be a vast gathering from every people and nation to celebrate the triumph of the love and justice of God: “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunder peals, crying,

Matt 22:1–14

Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come.”

Rev 19:6–7