‘Forgiven and free’

Except the Peacemaker is no ordinary tall ship. This three-masted barquentine belongs to the Twelve Tribes, a religious group whose members believe that their lives most resemble the way humans lived as described in the Bible: in modesty, in tightly knit communities under one roof, sharing all duties, and putting the needs of the group over personal goals.

Scattered in small clusters throughout the United States and eight other countries, they operate successful businesses and hold frequent open houses and discussion sessions. They also know their appearance puts off the general public - people “out in the world,’’ as they describe it. The men wear beards and tie back their shoulder-length hair; women wear plain dresses or baggy pants and loose-fitting blouses. The group’s members say they are aware of people’s misgivings about insular religious groups, honed by the disasters of Jonestown and Waco.

In an effort to overcome such fears and suspicions, they are sailing their 150-foot vessel into some of America’s most renowned harbors and opening it to the public. Thursday the Peacemaker made port in Plymouth after sailing from Vineyard Haven and on Friday docked next to the Mayflower II; next month the barquentine will join Sail Boston.

“The Peacemaker is like a small microcosm of the way we live on land,’’ said Lee Philips, the ship’s captain. “We want to show that it’s possible for humans to live together in a community where they share all their resources and live not for themselves but for others.’’

“People come on board to see the boat, and we can show them our lifestyle,’’ Philips said.

“The boat’’ is quite an attraction. The Peacemaker is well-appointed with a sturdy frame of Brazilian Ipe ironwood, and mahogany cabins, doors, and furnishings. Commissioned but never finished in the 1980s by a Brazilian industrialist, the vessel was purchased in 2000 by the Twelve Tribes for a sum no one on board divulged. The group raised and rigged the sturdy extruded aluminum masts which, along with twin 400-horsepower diesel engines, global positioning equipment, and electronic charts provide modern stability and security. But to the untrained eye the ship evokes the tall ships of yore, and yesterday in Plymouth, tourists streamed onto the vessel for a closer look.

“Our whole purpose is to be somewhere where people can come in,’’ said Pat Dufford, who joined the Twelve Tribes with her husband, Chet, 30 years ago. “We don’t want to be cloistered.’’

Members of the Twelve Tribes interact more with the modern world than their quaint appearance and strict interpretation of Scripture would suggest. They have cellphones and e-mail accounts. They have thriving businesses everywhere their communities are located - including a popular bakery and general store in Plymouth, where the group recently purchased two additional Main Street properties valued at over $2 million. There, the community hopes to open a plaza with retail and office space, connected by a stairway up to the historic Burial Hill and its view of the Mayflower and Plymouth Rock.

The interaction can be awkward for both sides. During one stop on the voyage from Savannah, Ga., a couple of young women, noticing a brass supporting pole in the middle of a bedroom, put on a mock strip-tease that horrified community members, Pat Dufford said. Yesterday, the pole was roped off during visiting hours.

More troubling confrontations with society in the past have resulted in fines by authorities in New York for violating child labor laws. The group has been criticized for using rods to discipline children. Allegations of child abuse led to a 1984 raid on a Twelve Tribes community in Vermont when authorities took 112 children from the community. But the children were returned the same day after the case was dismissed in what a judge called a “grossly negligent misuse of state power.’’ And, as with any secluded group that makes lots of money, there have been questions about where it all goes. Philips did not deny that the group “believes in spanking.’’

“As for the other stuff, once someone takes the time to get to know us, these things are cleared up,’’ he said. “The stigma has been lessened.’’

The movement, formed in the early 1970s by Elbert Eugene Spriggs, believes that society has drifted away from a standard of morality and that relationships among humans have been degraded. Now the group has several thousand members, including communities in Plymouth, Hyannis, and Dorchester. Members say their purpose is to show themselves for who they are, not necessarily to convert visitors.

“We are not trying to cram something down people’s throats,’’ Philips said.

The crew of the boat, about a dozen strong, are mainly young men in their mid-teens through early 20s. Some have been aboard for years, others for months. All are members of the first generation to live by the rules of the Twelve Tribes as they come of age - unlike the adults who came to the group with outside experience.

Yachiyl Signorelli, 23, the senior-most crewmember on the Peacemaker who has grown up in the group, designs one of its webpages. He has an e-mail account, but, he said, “I don’t use the computer for entertainment,’’ and scoffs at the “needless entertainment’’ out in the world. He makes sure the younger men in the crew focus on “team-building exercises’’ such as learning to climb masts, diving to free the keel of unwanted debris, tying knots, and navigating shoals, currents and tides. The Peacemaker has a television on board, but the crew uses it only to watch educational DVDs.

Like the elders, the younger members keep in touch with the outside world; they are aware of current events, though not entirely fluent in popular culture. Some eventually opt out of the community when they reach legal age.

“It’s not an uncommon thing,’’ said Takif Stringer, 15, two of whose six siblings have left the community. “They want to see what’s out there in the world.’’

Twelve Tribes children are home-schooled. They do not experiment with drugs or alcohol. And as for sex? When a young man and a young woman show interest in each other, the community sanctions a “waiting period’’ for them to spend time together, so that everyone - especially the couple - can see if the relationship will work forever (the group does not believe in divorce). If all goes well, the couple is “betrothed,’’ meaning that a wedding date is set - and they can hold hands. Any other conjugal contact can happen only after the wedding, when the bride kisses the groom.

On the Peacemaker, Signorelli and Mary Burleigh, 22, are in the later stages of their waiting period. They seek out private moments on a busy ship: in a quiet corner of the galley; on the bowsprit; at the highest point on the main mast.

The view from atop yardarms is spectacular, but it comes at a steep price. Crewmembers scamper up and down the “ratlines’’ - a web of nylon ropes that ascend nearly 100 feet from the deck. Reporters cling to them for dear life. Aloft, the gentle rolling to the ocean swells on the deck becomes a violent pitch.

Signorelli and Burleigh sat together as the Peacemaker rode at anchor in Buzzards Bay on Wednesday night, when everyone gathered for music and song in the ship’s common room. Some of the crew are proficient musicians; they play mostly traditional folk music, and songs with words that describe their beliefs.

“We’re thankful, hopeful, forgiven and free,’’ the group sang. “Nothing else we’d rather do, nowhere else we’d rather be.’’

David Filipov can be reached at filipov@globe.com.