Exploring Creative Engagement and Community Practices: Bruderhof Study

This essay provides an analysis of the Bruderhof Community, a Christian communal group known for its intentional living and community-focused practices. The study explores the community's history, values, and their approach to creative engagement, particularly through their children's furniture business, Community Playthings. The author, a member of the Bruderhof Community, reflects on their personal experiences, highlighting the community's emphasis on youth development, education, and providing for those in need. The essay also identifies a flaw in the community, the lack of Participatory Action Research (PAR), which could help them in dealing with environmental disasters. The assignment emphasizes how the community's beliefs and values align with their activities, particularly in the context of youth development, and how their product, Community Playthings, serves its purpose by supporting children's education and well-being. The author concludes by reflecting on the community's positive impact and their commitment to providing for those in need.

Running head: CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH YOUR COMMUNITY
CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH YOUR COMMUNITY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

The chosen community for this study is the Bruderhof Community, a Christian community that
was established in the year 1920 by Eberhard Arnold (Oved, 2017). The braches of Bruderhof
community is scattered throughout United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Paraguay
and Australia. The community members of Bruderhof practices baptism, nonviolent activities as
projecting it as an intentional community. They have a wide variety of products, but as an early
adaptor of internet services, initiated in 1996, they publish their e-books, which represent the
policies, beliefs of the community. They also operate in mainstream businesses providing income
to the members of the community; as well, it helps in collecting resources to operate the
community.
The product that will be represented in this study that is sold by Bruderhof community is the
children furniture or it can be referred as Community Playthings (communityplaythings.com,
2020). They sell quality wooden furniture’s, and even they decorate classroom with their high
quality wooden that is provided to various schools and daycare centers, hospitals and many
more. The origin of the community came from the student philosophy and was first initiated by
the German Youth Movement, which later grew as a renowned church community by the help of
the local churches. The Community faced many changes at the time of Adolf Hitler taking his
control over Germany, the community members repeatedly revolted against non-participation in
war and accepting Nazism philosophy. This eventually led to many community members to flee
from the country. Due to constant forces from polices to leave their country, first they shifted to
England and then to parts like Paraguay and Australia.
In the initial stage, the members used to work for common people interest, they used to be
devoid of any personal salaries and bank account. They believe in sharing everything, therefore,
the wooden business relate to development of the youth, making them more focused on
education. The community beliefs and values align their activities to the youth development.
Even in the present times, they have nursery, kindergarten, schools in their community
infrastructure. Beliefs and values of Bruderhof community, believes in goodness, purity, and
innocence of youth. It also provides free education, food and shelter to many needy peoples;
therefore, the product they have developed helps them to decorate their nursery, schools and
kindergarten, and giving an extravagant experience to their students.

In the beginning, they kept on the belief that acquiring money or having bank account will
indulge them in luxury, as they are devoted to God, being associated with many church
communities (Randall, 2018). In the present scenario, they have developed their business and
develop their product, which can be outsourced to their other consumers from searching from
websites. This provides employment to the people residing in the community, earning money to
standardize their life, implement more changes in the development of the community.
As a community member in the Bruderhof Community, I will like to reflect on my experience
within this community, the beliefs and values certainly align with my mentality. They have also
developed a lot of liberal thinking about being part of the community, a person willing to
participate in the community is given ample of time to think, and they are given liberty to
withdraw if they are uncertain. I like to create some different to children who are devoid of
education and food, the community has developed such an environment, so that this kind of
children can get all the facilities.
The flaw I encountered in the community is the lack of Participatory Action Research (PAR),
which will help them from taking measures to sudden environmental disasters, lacking in enough
capacity within the community people (Van Twist, 2015). Therefore, the product they have
developed has serve their purpose rightfully, which inclines in the development of children and
providing them provisions so that they can focus on education and does not have to struggle
much for education, food and shelter.

References
communityplaythings.com - Community Playthings - Childcare Furniture for over 60 years.
(2020). Retrieved 6 April 2020, from https://www.communityplaythings.com
Oved, Y., 2017. The witness of the brothers: a history of the Bruderhof. Routledge.
Randall, I.M., 2018. A Christian Peace Experiment: The Bruderhof Community in Britain,
1933–1942. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Van Twist, A.V.E.D., 2015. Perfect children: growing up on the religious fringe. Oxford
University Press.