Dunkard (Dunker)
Dunkard is a name popularly used throughout the 19th century and into the 20th for the denomination now called Church of the Brethren. It is a corruption of Dunker, English for Tunker, a German word meaning "Dipper" or "Immerser," referring to the mode of baptism practiced by the group. The name is still used today by two minor conservative bodies deriving from the original body namely, Old Order Dunkards, and Dunkard Brethren. The name Tunker, once the official name for the Brethren in Christ in Ontario, has no doubt a common origin, since this group adopted immersion from the Church of the Brethren at the time of the former's founding in Pennsylvania in the 1770s. However, "Dunkard" has never correctly been used as a name for this group.
| Author(s) | Harold S Bender |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1956 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Bender, Harold S. "Dunkard (Dunker)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 31 Mar 2025. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Dunkard_(Dunker)&oldid=120209.
APA style
Bender, Harold S. (1956). Dunkard (Dunker). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 31 March 2025, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Dunkard_(Dunker)&oldid=120209.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 109. All rights reserved.
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