Broederschap, a Dutch word which in the 16th-18th centuries meant the meeting of the Broeders (male members of the church), who, usually after the service had finished, were asked to stay in the meetinghouse to decide on special questions as, for example, to choose preachers, elders, and deacons, to pronounce or lift the ban; nowadays this word, an equivalent of the English "brotherhood," is often used to indicate the Mennonite Church in Holland as a whole (Doopsgezinde Broederschap).

See also Brethren, Brotherhood and Bruderschaft.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 433. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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