In the 1980s, General Board staff noted that there were persistent inquiries for a logo or seal to represent the Church of the Brethren. While the General Board had its own symbol for about 20 years and many short-term graphics had been used for certain ministries of the church, there was no image that represented the church as a whole.

In May 1983 the General Board’s Administrative Council appointed four employees to serve on a logo committee. Members were (after one change during the committee’s tenure) Howard Royer (chair), Wendy McFadden, Kermon Thomasson, and Kathy Kline.

The committee studied images from Brethren history, spoke with other denominations that had recently developed new logos, sought counsel from a number of designers and design firms, and invited broad input from the entire church. The invitation that was circulated offered a space for sketches, noting, “To make the logo truly a denominational one, the committee is soliciting ideas from you.” Those collected ideas—more than 100, in both word and picture—were used to guide the work of Chicago-based Mobium Corporation for Design and Communication.

The logo was approved by the General Board in March 1987 as a resource to be made available to the whole church. This way of proceeding seemed more in keeping with the character of the Brethren than to take a design to Annual Conference for official approval. In other words, the logo’s acceptance as a denominational image would really be determined by congregations and individuals. It did not take long for the logo to be embraced, and within a few years it was widely used at the local level in church signage, stationery, and artwork.

From the beginning, the logo was offered to all Church of the Brethren congregations and districts. It was also made available to agencies related to the Church of the Brethren upon clearance from the General Board Office of Interpretation. (That clearance is now given by staff within Brethren Press.) The only requirement has been that users respect the integrity of the design by adhering to guidelines of typeface, layout, and color.

The only evolution in the design has been an updating of typography made when the General Board introduced the tagline “Continuing the work of Jesus. Peacefully. Simply. Together.” Because the original typeface, Baker Sans Light, was not strong enough to be readable on signage or in a very small point size, it was changed to Venetian (also known as Centaur).

As use of the logo has become established, today’s guidelines are similar to those for use of the Church of the Brethren name. All Church of the Brethren congregations, districts, and official agencies may use the logo. Others must seek permission from the General Board’s Communication Team.