56th Annual Dunker Church Service at the Antietam National Battlefield is set for Sept. 20

By Paul Mundey

On Sunday, Sept. 20, at 3 p.m. (Eastern time), the 56th Annual Dunker Church Service will be held at the historic Dunker Church on the Antietam National Battlefield—one of the most hallowed and iconic landscapes of the American Civil War.

Set against the backdrop of the bloodiest single day in US history, this annual gathering offers a striking and hopeful counter-witness: a testimony to peace, reconciliation, and the enduring call to shalom.

For more than half a century, people have made a pilgrimage to the Dunker Church on the Sunday closest to the anniversary of Antietam. In this sacred space, they encounter a compelling alternative to the violence that has so often shaped human history—glimpsing instead a vision of reconciliation, healing, and peace for all.

The service reflects the simplicity and spiritual depth of the German Baptist Brethren, the church’s founding community. Emerging from Schwarzenau, Germany, in 1708, this tradition—now expressed through the Church of the Brethren and related denominations—stands among the historic peace churches, alongside the Mennonites and Quakers. Early members were known as “Dunkers,” a name derived from their practice of full-immersion baptism.

*The small Dunker Church on the Civil War battlefield at Antietam, shown in the background of cannons displayed on the battlefield. Photo by Joel Brumbaugh-Cayford*

The service will include a welcome, call to worship, congregational hymns, scripture readings, special music, prayers, and a featured message from Denise Kettering-Lane, associate professor of Brethren Studies and director of the Master of Arts Program at Bethany Theological Seminary.

A respected scholar of German Pietism and gender studies, Kettering-Lane has held research fellowships at the University of Iowa and the Institute for European History in Mainz, Germany. She also serves as editor of Brethren Life and Thought and resides in Dayton, Ohio, with her family.

The Annual Dunker Church Service is sponsored by the Church of the Brethren’s Mid-Atlantic District. The service is free and open to the public. Seating inside the historic meetinghouse is limited and early arrival is encouraged. A livestream will be available via the Annual Dunker Church Service Facebook page: www.facebook.com/groups/dunkerchurchservice.

About the Dunker Church

Built in 1852 by Dunker farmers, this simple and unadorned meetinghouse became a focal point during the Battle of Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862. The church stood in the midst of intense fighting and later served as a field hospital for Confederate soldiers.

Though heavily damaged during the battle, the structure was repaired and continued to host worship services into the early 20th century. After being destroyed by a storm in 1921, the site eventually came under the care of the National Park Service, which reconstructed the church in 1962 for the battle’s centennial using original materials wherever possible and preserving its historic character.

Today, the Dunker Church remains one of the most recognizable and symbolically powerful sites in American religious and military history—a quiet but enduring witness to peace in the shadow of war.

— Paul Mundey, chair of the Dunker Church Service Planning Committee, is a former moderator of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference and also a former member of the denominational staff as well as a longterm pastor in the Church of the Brethren. Karen Johnson contributed the article to Newsline.

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