Comparison of horse and buggy Anabaptists that are accepting of seekers

[HansMacDonald]

Another group to consider are the Old Brethren German Baptists from Camden, Indiana and Trenton, MO. They are the most conservative German Baptist group in existence. No tractors, no electricity, and no phones. They are of course English speaking.

What is this groups view towards seekers? Are they similar to the Covington German Baptists which are apparently 1/3rd outsider background?

They must be open towards seekers; I know of at least one seeker that has joined their church. They are similar to, but more conservative than the Covington German Baptists.

[Southerner]

Which groups do not accept seekers?

Hutterites in Washington definitely don’t.

Do you know which branch of Hutterites they were?

All the Hutterites in WA are Dariusleut. And in the past seekers have joined some of the colonies there.

[HansMacDonald]

Hutterites in Washington definitely don’t.

Do you know which branch of Hutterites they were?

All the Hutterites in WA are Dariusleut. And in the past seekers have joined some of the colonies there.

Okay, thank you for that interesting tidbit of knowledge.

[HansMacDonald]

Hutterites in Washington definitely don’t.

Do you know which branch of Hutterites they were?

I don’t know, there might be more then one type (in Washington) but the minister I spoke to literally told me to go to the charity type Hutterites.

I would like to know more about these "Charity type Hutterites". I didn't know there was such a thing.

[Judas Maccabeus]

The Old Order River Brethren are, for the most part, NOT horse and buggy, except for a group in the Midwest. They are very seeker-friendly.

That's interesting, do you know which area/state in the Midwest the horse and buggy one is located?

Kansas, I think. Clay Center. But is a small group. I have quite a number of friends in the OORB, but I have never been here.

[JohnH]

I would like to know more about these "Charity type Hutterites". I didn't know there was such a thing.

The communities used to be known as the Hutterite Christian Communities, consisting of Fort Pitt (Canada), Elmendorf, Altona, Grand River, and Detention River (Australia).

As I understand it:

Detention River migrated to Paraguay and has moved in more traditional direction. They never really embraced the “Charity” mindset.

Elmendorf / Altona / Grand River have functioned like Charity congregations, with repeated attempts by Steve Sutzman to influence them. (I attended one of their conferences once where Stutzman kept standing up and interrupting the conference, because he’d been asked to stop organising his own independent excursions for the youth group and he felt offended by this.) Nearly all the young people I befriended there ended up leaving the colonies and living independently, usually with 1 or 2 other similar families nearby.

These groups also stopped accepting outsiders a few years ago.

Fort Pitt as I understand it tightened things down and has moved back in the direction of more traditional Hutterianism.

The Paraguay group as far as I know is still open for anyone who wants to join. I almost joined them.

[Soloist]

Hutterites in Washington definitely don’t.

Do you know which branch of Hutterites they were?

All the Hutterites in WA are Dariusleut. And in the past seekers have joined some of the colonies there.

What the minister had told me was that longer ago there was a young man who joined, but that didn’t work out very well as he never learned their language so they don’t allow it and I ask him about the other colonies and he said they don’t either.

[HansMacDonald]

I would like to know more about these "Charity type Hutterites". I didn't know there was such a thing.

The communities used to be known as the Hutterite Christian Communities, consisting of Fort Pitt (Canada), Elmendorf, Altona, Grand River, and Detention River (Australia).

As I understand it:

Detention River migrated to Paraguay and has moved in more traditional direction. They never really embraced the “Charity” mindset.

Elmendorf / Altona / Grand River have functioned like Charity congregations, with repeated attempts by Steve Sutzman to influence them. (I attended one of their conferences once where Stutzman kept standing up and interrupting the conference, because he’d been asked to stop organising his own independent excursions for the youth group and he felt offended by this.) Nearly all the young people I befriended there ended up leaving the colonies and living independently, usually with 1 or 2 other similar families nearby.

These groups also stopped accepting outsiders a few years ago.

Fort Pitt as I understand it tightened things down and has moved back in the direction of more traditional Hutterianism.

The Paraguay group as far as I know is still open for anyone who wants to join. I almost joined them.

Very interesting. Thanks.

[Southerner]

Do you know which branch of Hutterites they were?

All the Hutterites in WA are Dariusleut. And in the past seekers have joined some of the colonies there.

What the minister had told me was that longer ago there was a young man who joined, but that didn’t work out very well as he never learned their language so they don’t allow it and I ask him about the other colonies and he said they don’t either.

Maybe AI could help??? But I understand the insularity.

[readrevelations1to22]

I found a study titled "Old German Baptist Brethren: Plain but Different"
It's an interesting read. They mention that one noticable difference between the OGBB and other plain groups is a thing called "Orthopraxis"

3. Orthopraxis: An Emphasis on Conformity to Specific Practices Rather Than on Detailed
Doctrinal Convention
A noteworthy feature of Old German Baptist culture is the surprising degree of diversity that the
group tolerates with regard to differences of opinion—including toward beliefs that would be
considered nonnegotiable to many other Christian groups. Indeed, the Brethren place a much
greater emphasis on orthopraxis—uniformity of practice, particularly noticeable in relation to
their conduct of the ordinances—than they do on rigid doctrinal conformity.

They mention in this study a discussion where some of the members were holding views similar to calvinism, another was similar to an arminian viewpoint, and yet another held a view that was simlar to a greek or russian orthodox view. To openly discuss such wide ranging views is apparantly rare in other plain groups.

It seems like these groups might be ideal for someone who has unusual beliefs or interpretations of scripture but is willing to conform to a community in terms of the practices they emphasize.

I would assume this might be relevant regarding the 2 horse and buggy sub groups of the Old German Baptist Brethren:
- Old Order German Baptist Brethren
- Old Brethren German Baptists

Link to study part 1 (the quote): https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... ent_Part_1
Link to study part 2: https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... ent_Part_2