Plymouth Brethren
The
Plymouth Brethren are a
Christian Evangelical
religious movement that began in Dublin,
Ireland and
England in the late
1820s.
The Brethren are divided into "
Open Brethren" and "
Exclusive Brethren", as well as an outshoot of the Exclusive Brethren called the "Closed Brethren"
[http://www.reachouttrust.org/articles/othergrp/exbreth.htm]. The Exclusive Brethren maintain a very isolationist and traditional view, with many of their children home schooled, a strict dress code for church meetings, and members commonly self employed or working for Christian organisations.
[http://www.brethrenonline.org/faqs/PBHIST.HTM]The Open and Closed Brethren differ on few theological issues, often no clear distinction is made between the two by the general public. The main difference is in openness to visitors, that is, the Open Brethren allow anyone who is a believer to participate in the Lord's Supper (communion) while the Closed generally require a "letter of commendation" as discussed below. The Closed Brethren also will usually have a back row set up for anyone who does not have this letter so that the individual may observe, though not participate, in the "morning meeting" as they call the communion service.
When arriving at one church from another, it is common practice for the visitor to carry a "Letter of Commendation" from the leaders of their local assembly to inform the new church that they are in fellowship at another assembly and can be allowed to fully participate in all services from the point of their arrival. It is customary to send one of these letters even when only one service will be attended, and individuals often take these letters on holiday when they will be away from their local church and wish to attend another.
A second difference between the Open and Closed Brethren is the willingness of association with other Christian churches. While the Open Brethren will often hold Gospel meetings, youth events or other activities with other Evangelical Christian churches, the Closed Brethren support only their individual assembly. A third difference is in the use of instrumental accompaniment during the meetings. While both generally do not use musical instruments during the Lord's Supper, the Open Brethren will have someone play piano, guitar or, although rare, a full worship band accompany the congregation during the other services.
In some parts of the world, the Exclusives and Closed are placed together as Closed, while the Exclusives are called Darbyites. Most of those who attend Closed Brethren assemblies are quick to distinguish themselves from the Exclusive Brethren
[http://www.reachouttrust.org/articles/othergrp/exbreth.htm].
Open Brethren remain affiliated with one another, mostly through common support of missionaries, area conferences, and the ministry of traveling preachers, as do Closed Brethern. Over the years, they have come to resemble
Protestant evangelical churches in doctrine, except that there are no officially recognized
clergy and
the Lord's Supper is observed weekly - both of which are common to Open, Closed and Exclusive groups alike.
The Plymouth Brethren are unusual in not recognising a
denominational name; they do not generally refer to themselves as "Plymouth Brethren," nor do they regard themselves as a denomination. Thus there is no denominational headquarters and no governing body to which local assemblies are accountable. Local assemblies are autonomous but are often informally linked with each other.
The Plymouth Brethren refer to themselves as "the assemblies," and members are called "the brethren," "saints," or "believers." Members are usually aware of the term "Plymouth Brethren" but deny it applies to them since they don't consider themselves a denomination.
A common distinguishing characteristic of a Plymouth Brethren meeting place is an outdoor sign indicating a weekly service set apart for "Breaking of Bread," "The Lord's Supper," or "The Remembrance Meeting," which is how they refer to
communion.
Many Plymouth Brethren assemblies meet in a building called a "Gospel Hall","Evangelical Room", "Gospel Chapel", "Bible Chapel", or "Bible Church".
Sunday services are similar among various congregations, and a distinctive of the Brethren is a separate weekly communion service. This is a solemn affair during which any of the men can, at any time, temporarily lead and direct the service. Women pray silently and sing all hymns but generally do not pray or exort the congregation audibly as this is often seen as violating the order set out in 1 Corinthians 11, 14 and 1 Timothy 2. (A few PB Assemblies in the US and Canada allow women to participate verbally in the weekly Breaking of Bread service. These assemblies are seen as "progressive" and may not be well accepted by other more traditional assemblies.)
The Brethren also have weekly meetings such as a teaching or preaching service. The teaching service of an Open Brethren assembly might resemble that of a conservative, evangelical church such as an Evangelical Free church or Baptist church. Other meetings in a Open or Closed assembly include missionary report meetings, and mid-week prayer meetings, and Bible readings or studies. In Open and Closed Brethren assemblies there is frequently a Sunday School for children and youth groups for teens. Exclusive Brethren assemblies often meet daily from house to house for Bible readings.
Music
During the weekly breaking of bread service, hymns are usually sung
unaccompanied by any
musical instrument. Hymns sung during the other types of meeting are often accompanied by
piano or
electronic organ, though this practice varies from place to place. Other musical instruments are used at some assemblies. One of the unifying features in each of the different branches of the Brethren is a common
hymnbook. One such hymnbook that dates back to
1856 is called,
Hymns for the Little Flock, the first edition of which was compiled by
G. V. Wigram.
|
Sancta Simplicitas
Orthodox Old Maid. "But, Rebecca, is your place of worship consecrated?"
Domestic (lately received into the Plymouth Brotherhood). "Oh no, Miss - It's galvanised iron!"
Cartoon from ''Punch, Vol. 102, April 23, 1892 |
The Plymouth Brethren are basically conservative evangelical Christians, generally
dispensational in their theology, and have much in common with other conservative evangelical Christian groups. Their notable distinctions lie in a combination of the
doctrinal and practical matters related to the conduct of the "meeting of the church."
The Brethren believe in the divine inspiration of the
Bible and that the same Bible gives clear guidance about how services of worship are to be held. These include:
* the primary importance of the weekly communion service
* the communion is not led or administered by a single individual
* the freedom and the responsibility for men to vocally participate in services
* the silence of women (whose heads must be covered during meetings of the local church) in most Plymouth Brethren assemblies
* the importance of preaching the gospel
* the rejection of a separation of believers into clergy and laity classes, and
* the plurality of leadership (usually as elders and deacons) as opposed to an ordained, professional clergy class.
Baptism and
communion are the only two
ordinances. All assemblies adhere to the practise of full immersion baptism, which is required before participation in fellowship. Sharing the exact beliefs of a local assembly may be a necessary condition for fellowship in some local assemblies, though this condition is much less common in "open" assemblies. Some Exclusive Brethen practice infant or household baptism.
The movement was begun by several men who felt that the
established Church had become too involved with the
secular state and had abandoned many of the basic
truths of Christianity. They included:
*
John Nelson Darby* Dr. Edward Cronin
[http://www.homeoint.org/seror/biograph/cronin.htm] — a pioneer of homeopathy
*Dr. Edward Wilson
*
John Gifford Bellett[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/brethren/history.shtml] — prized Classics researcher of Trinity College, Cambridge
* ex-Quaker
Benjamin Wills Newton[http://www.spurgeon.org/s_and_t/pb2.htm] or
Benjamin Wills Newton (in German)
*
Francis William Newman[http://sof.wellington.net.nz/maindonald0501.doc] — younger brother of Cardinal
John Henry Newman*
George Müller[http://www.mullers.org/history.html] — founder of the Bristol Orphanage and a stated teacher in Bethesda Chapel, Bristol
* missionary
Anthony Norris Groves*
Francis Hutchinson[http://www.plymouthbrethren.com/]One group began by meeting in households in
Ireland, and were dubbed "brethren" because of their practice of calling each other "brother" instead of the titles favoured by other denominations. The movement soon spread throughout the
UK and by
1831, the group assembled in
Plymouth,
England had over 1,500 members. These members became known as "The brethren from Plymouth" and soon were simply called the "Plymouth Brethren". The group is also known as the
Assembly Movement. The term
Darbyites has also been used, although is uncommon and refers mainly to the Exclusive branch.
The influence of the Plymouth Brethren upon evangelical Christianity exceeds their relatively small numerical proportion. The movement today has many congregations around the world.
Christian Missions in Many Lands (
CMML) in the
United States,
Missionary Services Committee (
MSC) in
Canada and
Echoes of Service in the
United Kingdom, serve as support agencies for Brethren missionaries, helping with logistics and material support. These agencies help to train, equip, and support those sent from local churches.
The Brethren have been productive writers and publishers including George Cutting's "Safety, Certainty, and Enjoyment" and
W.E. Vine's "Dictionary of NT Words.".
J. N. Darby, one of the original members and perhaps the most well known of the movement, wrote over fifty books and is often credited with the development of the theology of
dispensationalism.
Many leaders of the contemporary evangelical movement came from Brethren backgrounds. These include Geoff Tunnicliffe, CEO of the
World Evangelical Alliance; the late British scholar
F.F. Bruce;
Brian McLaren of the
Emerging Church movement;
1950s Auca missionary
martyrs
Ed McCully,
Jim Elliot, and
Peter Fleming;
Walter Liefeld, NT professor at
Trinity Evangelical Seminary; and the late preacher Dr.
Harry A. Ironside.
Watchman Nee, an early Chinese Christian evangelist and founder of the
Church Assembly Hall movement (
local churches), was greatly influenced by the works of many brethren writers including
J. N. Darby,
George Müller, and George Cutting
.
Since 2004 Plymouth Brethren have become politically active. Plymouth Bretheren have been responsible for the production and distribution of political literature in Australian, United States, Canadian and New Zealand national elections
.
*
Open Brethren*
Exclusive Brethren*
Catholic Apostolic Church — founded by
Edward Irving and others during the same period as birth of the Plymouth Brethren.
Open Brethren
*
BrethrenPedia Documenting the history of the brethren movement one assembly at a time
*
Bruederbewegung About the Brethren Movement in Germany
*
Bible Archive Web Log (blog) system based in the US.
*
BrethrenAssembly.Com*
BrethrenAssembly.Com Forum Discussion Forum operated by Indian Brethren.
*
Brethren Online.Org*
Emmaus Bible College Brethren Bible College based in the US (Dubuque, IA).
*
Kawartha Lakes Bible College Brethren Bible College based in Canada
*
Plymouth Brethren Discussion Forum Discussion Forum operated by Canadian Brethren
**
Updated list of assemblies *
Plymouth Brethren.Org*
Plymouth Brethren.Com*
ShawnCuthill.com - A Canadian web site for PB assemblies
*
BibleTruth.net - A portal for PB information for locating and contacting individual assemblies
*
GospelHall.org - A conservative Open Brethren forum site
*
MSC (Missionary Service Committee) - A Canadian site with an address book of many PB assemblies and overseas missionaries
*
CMML (Christian Missions in Many Lands) - A US site with an address book of many PB overseas missionaries
*
Echoes of Service — a UK based missionary service agency
Exclusive Brethen
*
The Exclusive Brethren — The only 'Exclusive Brethren' endorsed site
*
My Brethren.Org (Exclusive Brethren)
*
Brethren from 1827*
InTheBeloved.org ("Non-Taylorite", Positive and sound)
Resources
*
The Plymouth Brethren — article on the
Victorian Web*
Precious Seed Magazine*
Truth & Tidings Magazine*
Uplook Magazine*
Voices For Christ Audio Sermons *
Words in Season Magazine*
Bible Truth Publishers*
The Bible Centre*
The Brethren Writers' Hall of Fame — a biographical gallery of several prominent writers from the Plymouth Brethren and several others who had similar views.
*
THE CHRISTIAN magazineBooksellers & Publishers
*
Gospel Folio*
John Ritchie, LTD*
Pilkington and Sons* Loizeaux Brothers, 3301C Route 66, Neptune, NJ 07753 USA, Telephone: 1-732-918-2626
* Christian Year Publications, The Glebe House, Stanton Drew, Bristol BS39 4EH. Tel 0044 1275 332475.
* Walterick Publishing Ministeries, INC., 6549 State Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66102 Fax 913 334 0153 [
1]
*
Bible Study Center, c/o Floyd Pierce, P.O. Box 3841, Springfield, Illinois, USA 62708-3841, Telephone (217) 544-7419 e mail: fpierce@ameritech.net
*
Scripture Truth Publications in Northumberland, UK.
*
Stem Publishing — a source of Brethren writings in electronic media.
* Bible Truth Publishers > [
2]
* Christian Year Publications, The Glebe House, Stanton Drew, Bristol UK, BS39 4EH
* Everyday Publications Inc., 310 Killaly St. W., Port Colborne ON L3K 6A6 Canada Tel. 905-834-5552
Bibliography
* Adams, Norman -
Goodbye, Beloved Brethren. (1972, Impulse Publications Inc) ISBN 0901311138
* Coad, F. Roy -
A History of the Brethren Movement: Its Origins, Its Worldwide Development and Its Significance for the Present Day. (2001, Regent College Publishing) ISBN 1573831832
* Ironside, H. A. -
Historical Sketch of the Brethren Movement. (1985,Loizeaux Brothers) ISBN 0872133443
* Neatby, William Blair -
A History of the Plymouth Brethren, (1901); Reprinted by Tentmaker Publications [
3] covers the first seventy years of the Brethren movement.
* Pickering, Henry,
Chief Men Among the Brethren, (1st ed. 1918 London: Pickering & Inglis), Loizeaux Brothers, Inc. Neptune, NJ, 1996, ISBN 0872137988
* Smith, Natan Dylan. -
Roots, Renewal and the Brethren. (1996, Hope Publishing House) ISBN 0932727085
* Strauch, Alexander. -
Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership. (1995, Lewis & Roth Publishers) ISBN 0936083115
* Stunt, Timothy C. F.,
From awakening to secession : radical evangelicals in Switzerland and Britain, 1815-35, Edinburgh : T&T Clark, 2000, ISBN 0567087190
References
Research libraries
*
Christian Brethren Collection at the
The John Rylands University Library of
Manchester University
