BIO:Alexander Mack 1679-1735 

   Alexander Mack (1679-1735) is considered the founder of the Brethren
Movement, oftentimes called the Tunker Movement because of insistance
upon trine immersion as a proper mode of baptism. Following careful
study of Scripture, Mack found himself out of harmony with the three
state churches of Germany because of their formality, laxity in
practice, and failure to observe all the New Testament teachings. In
1708, at Schwarzenau, Germany, with seven other likeminded persons, he
organized a new denomination with a Christo-Bible-centered emphasis.

   Persecution caused flight from Germany by way of the Netherlands.
They followed others of like faith to Amer- ica in 1729. Germantown,
Pennsylvania, became their American head- quarters. From Mack's initial
efforts, three main groups have emerged--the Church of the Brethren,
the old German Baptist Brethren, and a progressive Brethren church,
recognized as the Brethren Church, Ashland, Ohio, and the National
Fellowship of Brethren Churches (Grace Brethren), Winona Lake, Indiana,
whose motto is: The Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible.
