Brethren, German Baptist religious group. They were popularly
known as Dunkards, Dunkers, or Tunkers, from the German for "to
dip," referring to their method of baptizing. The Brethren
evolved from the Pietist movement in Germany. The first
congregation was organized there in 1708 by Alexander Mack.
Persecution drove them to America where, under Peter Becker,
they settled (1719) in Germantown, Pa. From that and other
settlements in Pennsylvania they spread westward and into
Canada. The Brethren oppose war and advocate temperance, the
simple life, plain dress, and "obedience to Christ rather than
obedience to creeds and cults." The original group, at present
the largest in the United States, is the Church of the Brethren
(Conservative Dunkers); the local churches are united by an
annual conference that elects a general board to supervise the
national church program. From the Church of the Brethren there
have been separations into the Seventh-Day Baptists, German
Baptists (1728; see Beissel, Johann Conrad); Chu