A logo is a symbol that represents a concept which projects a larger framework to the mind. The Church of the Brethren logo is a composite of three different shapes that symbolize three central messages of the life of Jesus: cross, wave, and circle.
CROSS - This symbol represents one of the most horrific methods of human execution, yet it has also become a singular logo for Christianity itself, because Jesus died on a cross for our sins.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” John 3:16.
Because of God's infinite love for humanity, He sent Jesus, the Word made Flesh, to fulfill the penalty justice required for our rebellion..
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it,” Luke 9:23-24.
Paradoxically, one saves their life by losing it through identification with Jesus. Jesus died physically on a cross, before being physically raised from the dead, defeating the hold of death forever. We who follow Jesus die to our wants, our desires, and look only to Him. We live a New life, in a New kingdom, which is only made possible through the sacrifice of Jesus.
The figure of a cross stands prominently in the Church of the Brethren logo, signifying our death to the World around us, and our devotion to new life in the Kingdom of God.
CIRCLE - A geometric symbol of unity as represented in a wedding ring or an international conference table. Through identification with Jesus, believers are spiritually unified into one body. Brethren believe strongly in the unity of believers and the body of Christ.
“So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members of one another,” Romans 12:5. “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism,” Ephesians 4:4-5.
We are all members of one body. We each are important. We each are chosen. We each have a function. Together we make a whole. Without one, we are incomplete.
The circle also represents the earth and the Great Commission which calls for all believers to teach and baptize people in all nations, spreading the gospel of God's grace to all who will accept it. The prayer of Christ on that final night with his disciples, before walking across the Kidron valley into the garden of Gethsemane, focused on His desire for believers to maintain unity and achieve perfection.
“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us...that they may be made perfect in one,” John 17:21,23.
An unending circle reflects the nature of eternity. Christian hope is predicated on the fact that we exist beyond this world. When our physical bodies die, we will join God the Father and Jesus in new existence. The figure of a circle reminds us to reach out to others that we may all be eternally unified in Christ.
WAVE - Water represents baptism through which a candidate enters into a new life, and then becomes united with the larger membership of believers.
In the Church of the Brethren we baptize by full immersion, in three successive forward motions as patterned after the words of Jesus in the Great Commission. In our early years, we were called "Dunkards", for our practice.
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” Matthew 28:19.
As Christ was buried in the grave and arose to new life on the third day, so also do we bury our sins and rise to newness of life in baptism. From a watery baptismal grave, converts depart from a lifestyle of death into a lifestyle filled with promise (Romans 6:8).
Water also evokes our compassion for service as Christ washed the feet of the disciples as a servant, with towel and basin (John 13:5),
Water also reminds us that justice will ultimately flow like a river (Amos 5:24). The wave prompts our compassion to serve, teach, and work for peace.
The CROSS - forgiveness of sins, and a turning away from the World and to the kingdom of God
The CIRCLE - Unity of the body of believers. A world in need of God's love. A reminder that we are one in Christ Jesus
The WATER - The Water of Baptism. The Water of New Life. Living water that satisfies eternally. Justice flowing like a river with Peace for all God's creation.
These three symbols together tell our story, our history, our mission.