Welcome to Maitland Church of the Brethren!
The Maitland Church of the Brethren is a Bible-based, prayerful group of believers. There is a strong Sunday school program for all ages. Morning worship services are a blend of traditional hymns and contemporary music. Music is a strong part of the services. A bell choir leads worship on special occasions and holidays, while a ladies' choir, instrumental and vocal soloists participate regularly. Highlights of the year include an annual candlelight Christmas Eve Service, with musical selections from our bell choir, a Community Good Friday Tenebrae Service and an Easter Sunrise Service, complete with breakfast. Working through the Middle PA District of the Church of the Brethren a State Park, Prison, Trucker/Traveler (Breezewood), and Brethren Disaster Ministry are supported, as well as a College, Retirement Home and Recreational Camp. The church pays half of registration cost for children and youth to attend summer camp at Camp Blue Diamond.
The Maitland Church of the Brethren is a Bible-based, prayerful group of believers. There is a strong Sunday school program for all ages. Morning worship services are a blend of traditional hymns and contemporary music. Music is a strong part of the services. A bell choir leads worship on special occasions and holidays, while a ladies' choir, instrumental and vocal soloists participate regularly. Highlights of the year include an annual candlelight Christmas Eve Service, with musical selections from our bell choir, a Community Good Friday Tenebrae Service and an Easter Sunrise Service, complete with breakfast. Working through the Middle PA District of the Church of the Brethren a State Park, Prison, Trucker/Traveler (Breezewood), and Brethren Disaster Ministry are supported, as well as a College, Retirement Home and Recreational Camp. The church pays half of registration cost for children and youth to attend summer camp at Camp Blue Diamond.
STAFF
Pastor: Rev. Jeannine Leister
Ministers: Rev. Scott Criswell & Rev. Charles Eldredge
Board Chair: Nelson Kratzer
Moderator: Rev. Kate Gandy
Financial Secretary/Key Controller: Louise Shilling
Custodian: Brian Brower
Youth Leader: Rich Royer & Rev. Jeannine Leister
Ministers: Rev. Scott Criswell & Rev. Charles Eldredge
Board Chair: Nelson Kratzer
Moderator: Rev. Kate Gandy
Financial Secretary/Key Controller: Louise Shilling
Custodian: Brian Brower
Youth Leader: Rich Royer & Rev. Jeannine Leister
OUR BELIEFS
The central emphasis of the Church of the Brethren is not a creed, but a commitment to follow Christ in simple obedience, to be faithful disciples in the modern world. As do most other Christians, the Brethren believe in God as Creator and loving Sustainer. We confess the Lordship of Christ, and we seek to be guided by the Holy Spirit in every aspect of life, thought, and mission.
We hold the New Testament as our guidebook for living, affirming with it the need for lifelong and faithful study of the Scriptures. Brethren believe that God has revealed an unfolding purpose for the human family and the universe through the Hebrew Scriptures (or Old Testament), and fully in the New Testament. We hold the New Testament as the record of the life, ministry, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and of the beginnings of the life and thought of the Christian church.
Faithful following of Jesus Christ and obedience to the will of God as revealed in the Scriptures have led us to emphasize principles that we believe are central in true discipleship. Among these are peace and reconciliation, simple living, integrity of speech, family values, and service to neighbors near and far.
(Drawn from “The Brethren Heritage,” Elizabethtown College)
We believe the Bible is God's Word, the final and absolute authority in faith and life. We believe in the Triune Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, His vicarious death through the shedding of His blood for the remission of sin. We believe man sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death but spiritual death. Salvation of sinners is wholly of grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by virtue of His redemptive work on the cross.
Baptism
Before making any serious commitment—to marry, to accept a responsible office, to practice healthier living—a person considers the meaning and consequences of that choice. Often, he or she undergoes a public ceremony to acknowledge the momentous personal decision. For Brethren, the ordinance of “believers baptism” marks just such a deliberate, thoughtful commitment.
Choosing to follow the example of Jesus begins with repenting, or humbly re-examining one’s relationship with God. Jesus himself showed us the way: He asked to be baptized by John, and he instructed his disciples to baptize others who wanted to be symbolically “reborn” through God’s grace, into a new life of mature belief and service.
Three hundred years ago, the first Brethren chose adult baptism as their ceremonial response to God’s saving act—the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Today, in the presence of the congregation, a newly committed person kneels in the water of the baptistry, publicly acknowledges his or her decision, and is immersed three times forward, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Through this symbolic cleansing and rebirth, the person becomes a full member of the Brethren congregation and of the larger body of Christ. The decision to be baptized indicates a willingness to take on both the joy and the responsibility of living Jesus’ teachings.
Choosing to follow the example of Jesus begins with repenting, or humbly re-examining one’s relationship with God. Jesus himself showed us the way: He asked to be baptized by John, and he instructed his disciples to baptize others who wanted to be symbolically “reborn” through God’s grace, into a new life of mature belief and service.
Three hundred years ago, the first Brethren chose adult baptism as their ceremonial response to God’s saving act—the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Today, in the presence of the congregation, a newly committed person kneels in the water of the baptistry, publicly acknowledges his or her decision, and is immersed three times forward, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Through this symbolic cleansing and rebirth, the person becomes a full member of the Brethren congregation and of the larger body of Christ. The decision to be baptized indicates a willingness to take on both the joy and the responsibility of living Jesus’ teachings.
LOVE FEAST & Communion
In an act of great love, Jesus gave his life for ours. The Brethren, as Jesus’ followers, love God and each other—and take that love into the world. Once or twice a year, Brethren celebrate what the earliest Christians called agape: the outflowing love that seeks not to receive but to give.
Jesus taught us this practice, sharing with his disciples a last, loving meal the night before he died. He washed the disciples’ feet, ate supper with them, sought to draw them closer into the fold of his love, and offered them the symbolic bread and cup.
During love feast, we repeat these simple, meaningful acts. After reconciling any discord among ourselves, we lovingly wash each other’s feet, then enjoy a meal together. Quietly we share communion, the bread and the cup that remind us of Jesus’ great gift; we renew our commitment to follow his example of sacrificial love. Congregations may also observe the eucharist, or bread-and-cup communion, at other times and in other settings.
Love feast closes with a hymn; then follows the humble task of cleaning up, in which all are invited to participate. When we leave the feast, reunited in our dedication to Christ and to each other, the deep, nourishing love goes with us.
Jesus taught us this practice, sharing with his disciples a last, loving meal the night before he died. He washed the disciples’ feet, ate supper with them, sought to draw them closer into the fold of his love, and offered them the symbolic bread and cup.
During love feast, we repeat these simple, meaningful acts. After reconciling any discord among ourselves, we lovingly wash each other’s feet, then enjoy a meal together. Quietly we share communion, the bread and the cup that remind us of Jesus’ great gift; we renew our commitment to follow his example of sacrificial love. Congregations may also observe the eucharist, or bread-and-cup communion, at other times and in other settings.
Love feast closes with a hymn; then follows the humble task of cleaning up, in which all are invited to participate. When we leave the feast, reunited in our dedication to Christ and to each other, the deep, nourishing love goes with us.
FEET WASHING
Jesus knew that this evening, this meal, was the last time he and his twelve disciples would gather as a group. He wanted his followers to remember, in the difficult days ahead, why he had come and what he had taught them. When the disciples began to argue about which of them was more important, Jesus decided to make his lesson plain: Taking a towel and a basin of water, this great teacher knelt beside the first disciple—and did not stop until, like a lowly servant, he had washed the feet of each one there.
By including the service of feetwashing in our love feast, Brethren imitate Jesus’ actions and honor his lessons. No person ought to be greater than another, Jesus taught. Love has no need to prove status or position; love simply gives—and keeps on giving.
A symbolic, cleansing act, feetwashing prepares us for the meal and communion that follow. It reminds us that, in God’s sight, everyone needs loving attention, and everyone can offer that service to others. First we humbly accept attention and care from the one who washes our feet. Then we in turn wash someone else’s feet. After each act of feetwashing, the two people embrace and share a simple phrase of blessing.
In receiving this emblem of God’s cleansing grace, we remember that as followers of Jesus, we can help distribute God’s blessing to others—through steady, loving service, symbolically washing the feet of the world.
By including the service of feetwashing in our love feast, Brethren imitate Jesus’ actions and honor his lessons. No person ought to be greater than another, Jesus taught. Love has no need to prove status or position; love simply gives—and keeps on giving.
A symbolic, cleansing act, feetwashing prepares us for the meal and communion that follow. It reminds us that, in God’s sight, everyone needs loving attention, and everyone can offer that service to others. First we humbly accept attention and care from the one who washes our feet. Then we in turn wash someone else’s feet. After each act of feetwashing, the two people embrace and share a simple phrase of blessing.
In receiving this emblem of God’s cleansing grace, we remember that as followers of Jesus, we can help distribute God’s blessing to others—through steady, loving service, symbolically washing the feet of the world.
Brethren have a long tradition of “gathering around the Word.” Taking the New Testament as our guide, we discuss what Jesus did—and why. Then we try to pattern our own lives after his.