Grace Brethren

I recently started attending the Grace Brethren Church. Where does this fall in denominations and do they have any different beliefs? This may be a stupid question but I am new!

Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches

I attended a Grace Brethren Church for some time when I was younger. We parted ways when I learned that they accept no other form of baptism than their own (dipped three times in water).

The statement of faith does not answer much about what they believe about a lot of important issues .


i can understand why your not sure about their beliefs .

you propably should write some of your questions down and ask one of their members that you feel comfortable in asking..

If you really think that a teaching of there is not biblical . and after you show them and they defend it any way . Dont go to their worship services or bible studys .

But if they serve good food and have good cooks. do what a lutheran would do on those days ----- it never hurts to ask
if you can just attend the meal time after their prayer time is over.

I believe Brethren are Anabaptists, like Mennonites, or at least related. Grace Brethren are more conservative of the Brethren denominations. Baptists and Anabaptists are very particular about the forms of baptism they accept, so they might want you to get re-baptized (definitely if you were baptized as a baby or young child). However, they look more like conservative Evangelicals than the Amish, but you probably realized that already

The Statement of Faith was pretty much standard Evangelical. I looked at the Resolutions page to see their moral stances. I appreciated that they not only took a stand against abortion but also in vitro fertilization (test tube babies). It would have been nice to see a stand against birth control and euthanasia under that heading as well.

Wikipedia says they are "more Calvinistic than the Ashland Brethren". From the article, it seems to imply that there is no definite stance on Calvinist beliefs but that it's open to different Calvinist or Arminian beliefs depending on the individual pastor so you'll have to ask him about it.


There are usually more differences within denominations than between them. So if you're going to be receiving spiritual direction from anyone, such as a new pastor, talk to them about their theology and where they're coming from. Compare their teachings with the Bible and with teachers/authors you trust. Never quit searching!

Yes, I found that the pastor made quite a difference. The church I attended had a Bible College student leading it and I thought he was really good. It was a new church and he did not stress formal membership so the vast majority of us were not members.

Apparently, the denominational folks wanted to see membership growing, Thus, the pastor left the church and was replaced with an ordained Grace Brethren pastor who stressed membership. Although I had been baptized both as a baby and as an adult, they did not accept either baptism because neither had me dipped three times in water.