Page 16 - C.A.L.L. #47 - Winter 2020/2021

Detention River Christian Community, Australia

Detention River Christian Community is a mixed gender religious order located on the Island
of Tasmania, Australia. The functional set up of the community is, in many ways, consistent
with the historical set up of an Anabaptist Hutterite community and at the same time has
aspects that are more consistent with a biblical Christian Community.

The community was established in 2005 by the
Elmendorf Christian Community from Mountain
Lake Minnesota, a community consisting of
predominantly ethnic Hutterites.

The Hutterites came together in 1528 as a
result of persecution from The Roman Catholics
and Protestant reformers of the time. The main

reasons for the persecution were:

- their practice of baptising or rebaptising based
only on the candidates expressed desire to

follow Jesus Christ, there by rejecting infant
baptism and geographical identification as a Christian which was the practice at the time.

- their belief that the Kingdom of the world ( local rulers, territorial kings, governments) and

the Kingdom of God were entirely separate entities and were not to be confused. This
position is often referred to as the separation of Church and State.

- their refusal to take up arms against other human beings under any circumstances.

Consistent with the historical practice of Hutterite communities, Detention River has a
common purse economy where by all the funds earned are pooled and all the expenses

covered from the pooled funds. This practice began is 1528 and has been the economic
standard for all Hutterite communities for most of their history. All members of the
community have made the commitment of non accumulation of personal property or wealth
often referred to in religious orders as a vow of poverty.

Major differences with other Hutterite communities exist in the areas of the role and
function of women, access to information regarding finances, the treatment of children, the
form and function of male leadership and in the decision making process. In each of these
areas Detention River has established positions that they regard as based more accurately
on the biblical standard set out by Jesus himself, as opposed to the traditional Hutterite
manner based on the historical structure found in most cultures worldwide.

Detention River is a partially self sufficient having made major investments in solar heating,
gardens and pastures. Currently there are four families with a total of 24 people.

16