ECCTI: About Us

Founded in 1530 upon the peaceful principles of Jesus Christ, our community survived its immediate “baptism by fire”—the fierce opposition of late mediaeval authorities. Driven from South Tyrol (in what is now northern Italy) to Moravia (now the Czech Republic) and from there through Romania and Russia to North America, we not only survived but grew into a movement of many thousands of people in more than 450 communities today.

Wherever we have lived, even under great adversity as in Turkish-held Romania or on the Russian and American frontiers, our handcrafts, agriculture and industry have been our mainstay. For this, we have continued through the centuries to train our youth in ever more involving technical skills.

Bon Homme, our first community in North America, stood on the banks of the Missouri River in South Dakota. The Elmendorf community in Minnesota developed from expansions of Bon Homme, beginning in 1950.

It is our desire to continue in good faith what our ancestors, with God’s help, began.