EASTWOOD CHURCH
OF THE BRETHREN
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WHO ARE THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN?

Antietam Dunker Church
1860's -- Maryland

We are a small denomination that was started in Germany in 1708. The small group of believers who started the church wanted to
have a deeply personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which
showed itself in daily living. Like the other Anabaptists of the time, they practiced adult baptism. Due to persecution, they moved to Pennsylvania and the church spread from there. The heaviest concentration of churches is in PA, Maryland, Virginia, spreading west through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, all the way to
California. We number about 130,000 in size, with about 1000 churches. This makes for a small denomination where everyone
has a voice. Our headquarters are in Elgin, Illinois. We support a seminary in Indiana, and six colleges, spread all over the US.
In church circles, we are widely known for our practical ways of carrying out the gospel . We
started Heifer Project, which delivers healthy
animals to other countries. The animal is free,
with the provision that the first offspring be given away. Our volunteer service (BVS) became a
model for the Peace Corps. We developed SERRV, which encourages artisanship in other countries,
by passing a larger part of the profit to the artists. These are just some examples.
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