This Frequently Asked Questions list (FAQ) concentrates on the so called "Open Brethren" since this is the background of the author. However, an attempt is made to explain some of the positions of "Closed and Exclusive Brethren". This FAQ should not in any way be considered to be an authoritative document representing the view of any local church or any individual (including the author). At almost every point in this FAQ, you will find Brethren churches that will disagree or differ. Variation is even greater between different countries. The author could probably best be described as from the traditional end of the open Brethren in North America. Suggestions and corrections should be emailed to: Shawn Abigail

This FAQ now has an official home page! You can see it at:

http://www.storm.ca/~sabigail

http://huizen.dds.nl/~rbsant/brethren.html

Changes

Contents

1) Why are you producing this FAQ?

2) Why don't you like the name "Brethren"?

3) What is the history of the "Brethren"?

In short, during the first part of the 1800's, some Christians began to feel uncomfortable about denominationalism, a clerical hierarchy and certain "compromises" creeping into their churches. They resolved to simply read their Bibles and to try to gather in the same simple manner as Christians did in the New Testament. As some of these Christians began to travel and preach, they found believers in other cities and countries who were doing the same thing. Early gatherings were established in Dublin and Plymouth, from which the term Plymouth Brethren was obtained. Through zealous evangelistic work and church planting, churches were established all over England, Scotland, Europe and North America.

4) What is a "Brethren" church service like?

The Breaking of Bread is our communion service. It is usually about 1 hour in length and is usually held Sunday morning or evening. It is unstructured and non-liturgal. Brothers will rise to their feet to pray, suggest a hymn, or read and expound upon a passage of Scripture. The purpose is worship, not teaching or exhortation, and most comments will address some aspect of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Often, a theme will develop. Sisters remain silent and most wear a headcovering in our services, however, their silent participation is valued and certainly sets a tone for the meeting. Usually towards the end, a brother will give thanks for the bread and give thanks for the wine. The emblems are passed around, with all in fellowship participating. This is usually the only meeting at which a collection is taken up.

One or two preaching meetings are usually scheduled for Sunday. Often, one of these will have a gospel emphasis. Usually there will be 20 minutes of hymns, announcements, etc. and a 40 minute sermon. Often baptisms will take place at the Sunday morning meeting (often referred to as the Family Bible Hour or Family Gospel Hour), although some churches will choose to baptize outside. Sometimes brothers from this local church will preach, and sometimes visiting brothers or full-time workers will preach.

A mid-week prayer meeting is also held. In addition to the prayers, a shorter sermon is often given. Some churches have replaced their mid-week meeting with small group fellowships. It is interesting to note that some churches have their mid-week meetings on a Tuesday rather than in the middle of the week on a Wednesday, because many of these churches at one time had 2 mid-week meetings (Tuesday and Thursday). Sometimes sermons will be preached at a mid-week meeting (in addition to prayer) and sometimes a discussional study is held with no predecided topic.

Although not really considered church meetings, many will also have a Sunday school, youth meetings, ladies Bible study and coffee hour. Many will also have special evangelistic meetings. Some churches will put together special meetings in nursing homes or prisons.

5) What is the doctrinal position of the "Brethren"?

• verbal, plenary inspiration of the original manuscripts of the Bible
• pretribulational, premillenial and dispensational
• non-charismatic, but recognizing the "non sign" gifts
• no salaried ministry. Gifted brothers minister as they are able. Gifted sisters will often minister among each other at ladies Bible studies, conferences, etc. However, we do not believe in an "every man" ministry (that is to say, we believe that every believer has a ministry but not every believer is called to be a preacher), but only ministry by those who are gifted
• church government by a plurality of elders who meet the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1
• some have deacons to attend to physical ministry (e.g. taking care of the chapel). Deacons are not in a decision making position.
• often, the meetings are unstructured. This is especially true of the breaking of bread (communion service), but can also apply to Reading Meetings and Open Meetings
• clear evangelistic witness
• most open assemblies hold a middle of the road position with respect to election and free-will. Some can be found at either extreme. Most exclusive meetings hold to election.
• trinitarian
• most hold to the doctrine of Eternal Security
• believers baptism by immersion. A significant number of brethren in the "non-open" assemblies believe in and practise household baptism.
• eternal sonship of Jesus Christ

• Assembly Distinctives by Harold Mackay (Everyday Publications)
• Scriptural Principles of Gathering by A.P. Gibbs (Walterick)

6) Who were some well known members of the "Brethren"?

• Anderson, Sir Robert - Scotland Yard detective and writer. Anderson was associated at various times and various ways with the "Brethren"
• Brenton, Sir Lancelot - translator of what is probably the most widely available Greek-English edition of the LXX.
• Bruce, F.F. - Bible commentator and former editor of the New International Commentary on the New Testament series.
• Darby, John Nelson - inaccurately referred to as the founder of the "Plymouth Brethren". This former Church of Ireland clergyman preached, wrote, planted churches and translated the Bible into English, German and French. He also wrote a number of hymns.
• Elliot, Jim - Missionary marytered in Ecuador. Well known for his statement, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
• Francis, S. Trevor - composed the hymn "Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus".
• Groves, A.N. - pioneer missionary in India
• Ironside, H.A. - well known Bible commentator. Ironside started with the Salvation Army, became a "Brethren" worker and finally the pastor of Moody Memorial Church.
• Kelly, William - authored many Bible commentaries
• MacDonald, William - author of the Believers Bible Commentary which has just been printed by Thomas Nelson
• Mackintosh, C.H. - wrote "Notes on the Pentateuch" and "Miscellaneous Writings"
• Miller, Andrew - author on Church history
• Muller, George - lived in Bristol England and ran a chain of orphanages which operated on the principle of faith
• Newberry, Thomas - well known for the Newberry Reference Bible, which uses a system of symbols to explain verb tenses
• Scriven, Joseph - composer of "What a Friend We Have in Jesus"
• Tregelles, Samuel - noted scholar of Biblical languages
• Vine, W.E. - author of "Vines Expository Dictionary" and numerous commentaries
• Wigram, G.V. - author of "Wigrams Hebrew/Chaldee Concordance" and "Wigrams Greek Concordance"

7) What hymnbooks do the "Brethren" use?

• Hymns of Worship and Remembrance - often used at the Breaking of Bread Meeting
• Hymns of Truth and Praise - often used at meetings other than the Breaking of Bread
• Choice Hymns of the Faith
  Hymns of Worship and Remembrance, Hymns of Truth and Praise, and Choice Hymns of the Faith were originally published by "Gospel Perpetuating Fund/Publishers -Fort Dodge, Iowa - USA" NOW they are published by "Truth and Praise Publishers - 201 Schlief Drive - Belle Chasse, LA. (Louisiana) - USA". Phone (Good News Book Store): (504) 394-3087 e-mail (Good News Book Store): GoodNewsBookStore@Juno.com
• Spiritual Songs
• Little Flock Hymns
• Echoes of Grace Hymnbook
• Believers Hymnbook
• Hymns of Light and Love

• Geistliche Lieder (Spiritual Songs - German)
• In the Netherlands the used hymnbook is 'Geestelijke Liederen' (same meaning as the German) and, in some assemblies 'Lichtbundel' (meaning 'Collection of light', same word as 'Lightbeam', referring to the Light coming through the songs from God(?) ).
• Himnario Mensajes del Amor de Dios (Spanish -used in over 125 assemblies in Spain and Latin America - mainly Exclusive meetings)
• Himnos y C nticos del Evangelio (Spanish - used in over 1000 assemblies in Latin America)
• Cantici Cristiani (used by Italian "open" assemblies in Italy and the United States)
• Inni e Cantici Spirituale (used by Italian "non-open" assemblies in Italy)
• Hymnes et Cantiques (used by French "non-open" assemblies in France, Belgium, Switzerland, French Africa, and French Canada. Originally edited by Dr Henri Rossier, co-laborer of JN Darby's.) Most of these hymns have been issued in cassette and CD (6 or 7 volumes) recorded by the Choer Evangelique de Lausanne, Switzerland)

Note: Mr John Sinclair has produced a French hymnbook of songs suitable for the breaking of bread. Contact me for more information.

8) What type of church government do the "Brethren" have?

"Closed and Exclusive Brethren" do not like the idea of independence and have circles of fellowship. There is no governmental body over a circle of fellowship, but rather it is a tie between those of like mind. Many of these churches believe the church is in ruins and thus they do not feel they can recognize Elders. Instead a number of "leading brothers" take many of the responsibilities of Elders.

Alexander Strauch's defense of biblical eldership, entitled Biblical Eldership (3d. rev. ed., Littleton, Colorado: Lewis and Roth Publishers, 1995, 337 pp. Also available are a Study Guide and a Mentor's Guide. Contact: Lewis and Roth Publishers, P. O. Box 569, Littleton, Colorado 80160, U. S. A. Phone: 1-800-477-3239. International phone: (303) 794-3239) may be a helpful introduction to this topic for many people.

9) How many "Brethren" assemblies are there?

There are many assemblies in Latin America. Besides whatever "open" meetings there are there, there are 85 assemblies in Bolivia, 31 in Peru, 8 in Argentina, 33 in the Dominican Republic, more than 8 in Brasil, and about 28 in Mexico in fellowship with the "TW" (exclusive) meetings. In total, Brasil has about 800 assemblies (including Open meetings). There are at least 30 Gospel Halls in Chile.

The February 1996 issue of MISSIONS magazine (from CMML), indicates there are 230 open assemblies and 300 exclusive assemblies in Germany.

There are about 50 English speaking assemblies in Malaysia with another 30 or so Chinese and Tamil speaking Assemblies (Mostly Chinese). There are 173 assemblies in South Korea.

The southern most state of India, called Kerala, with a population of 29 million has more than 400 assemblies. In the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh also there will be not less than 500 Assembleies. Tamil Nadu may have around 400 assemblies while Karnataka may have 200 assemblies. (thanks to John Abraham for this information).

From some of the information in the book Operation World together with some educated guesses and Canadian census data, there are about 1,000,000 people in the world who would call themselves or be called Plymouth Brethren.

10) What "Brethren" publishing houses exist?

11) What "Brethren" publications exist?

Mail only:

PO Box 190,

Wheaton, Illinois

USA, 60189

U.S.A.:

UPLOOK

P.O. Box 2041

Grand Rapids, MI

USA, 49501-2041

www.uplook.org

Canada:

UPLOOK

Uplook Ministries

P.O. Box 427

St. Catherines, Ontario

Canada, L2R 6V9

12) What "Brethren" Bible schools exist?

13) What "Brethren" missionary organizations exist?

14) How many missionaries have the "Brethren" sent out?

15) Current issues among the Brethren

• should we hire a pastor or guarantee salaries to workers?
• should the sisters participate audibly in the meetings?
• should elders be elected or appointed, and for how long?
• should we have musical instruments in our meetings?
• should we have more modern music
• should we form a recognized denomination?
• should we use only the KJV, or permit modern translations?
• should we receive visitors to the breaking of bread openly, or only those who carry letters of introduction?
• should we have ties/links to denominational churches?

16) Theological contributions of the Brethren

• pre-tribulational rapture
• dispensationalism
• priesthood of all believers
• difference between the Church and Israel
• lack of a clergy/laity division

17) What books have been written about the Brethren

18) What WWW sites carry Brethren information?

19) Other items of interest to Brethren

Brother J.L. Hodgett has produced 2 CD-ROMs of interest.

The Darby Disk
-----------------
KEY POINTS All writings known to the compiler at the time of publication ---54 volumes, about 1,000 articles. 80 articles not in his generally available publications. A Search Program, ISYSC working under Windows 3.1 or 95.C The names of the correspondents of many of his letters. A biography, by courtesy of Chapter Two, London. Geographical Index and Table of his Travels, by courtesy of Chapter Two. Charts and some pictures using Adobe Acrobat Reader.C Listings of the Darby material held in the John Rylands Library of Manchester University. J N Darby Bible Translation.

Truth for Today's Bereans
----------------------------
Disk Contents: Approaching fifteen hundred articles and books, and a thousand hymns including, All writings known to the compiler by: C H Mackintosh F B Hole Hamilton Smith W W Fereday G Davison N Anderson W H Westcott J McBroom F A Hughes H L Rossier (in English) Other ministry by: J N Darby W Kelly J G Bellett E Dennett G V Wigram J B Stoney A J Pollock F G Patterson F W Grant L M Grant E C Hadley W R Dronsfield T Oliver H J Vine J W H Nichols J Muller H L Rossier etc. and many others in the magazines: The Scripture Quarterly 1941 - 1943 Truth And Testimony 1991 - 1995. Church History by A Miller. Photographs are included of many of these authors. The Bible Translation by J N Darby. Greek and Hebrew fonts. The text of 500 devotional hymns. The text of 500 gospel hymns. ISYS4 search program and indices for all the above text. Picture Viewer

Both disks use the search and viewing program -- ISYS4. This program was chosen because it can show Greek and Hebrew, its ease of use and its fast and powerful search facilities. The disks are currently available for Windows only. The program also runs under Windows 95 though not with all its features. Apple Macintosh users should contact us for information concerning their platform.

A Windows 3.1-capable computer is needed (386 or better), a 486 with 8Mb RAM is recommended.

The full price for each disk is L99, but they are offered at L75 each inc. p & p, to encourage reading these gifts which the Lord has given to His Church.

20) Are the Plymouth Brethren related to the Quakers?

Likewise, there is no relationship between the "Plymouth Brethren" and the "Grace Brethren" or any of the Menonite Brethren groups.

21) Are the Brethren forbidden to use computers?

However, there is one small group that does forbid the use of computers, and this bears some explanation. After the original split between the Open Brethren and the Exclusive Brethren, the Exclusives had many more splits. Doctrinal purity was their most absolute consideration, so whenever a difference of doctrine came up, they split. One of the branches, referred to as the Raven Brethren (after Mr Raven) denied the Eternal Sonship of Christ. They believed that He existed in eternity past, but that he only became the Son at His Incarnation. For this reason, most of the rest of the Brethren avoided the Raven Brethren. Some of the Raven Brethren then followed a teacher by the name of Mr James Taylor and some of those followed his son, Mr James Taylor Jr. This group fell into what most other Christians would feel to be doctrinal and moral excesses. Most Plymouth Brethren have never heard of the Taylor group. Most of those who have heard of them consider them to be a cult. They number several thousand among approximately 1,000,000 people worldwide who would be considered to be Plymouth Brethren. Among the followers of Mr James Taylor Jr., there are some who forbid the use of computers.

22) Do the Plymouth Brethren believe in ...?

Blood Transfusions?              - no restrictions



Injections/Organ Transplants?    - no restrictions



Television/Movies?               - individual conscience



Union Membership?                - individual conscience



Military Service?                - individual conscience*



Communal Living?                 - no



Distinctive Clothing?            - no**



Keeping O.T. Law Required?       - no



Baptism Necessary for Salvation? - no







*  note that many of the early Plymouth Brethren from 130



   years ago were former military men who left the military



   for the sake of conscience



** during church meetings, many sisters will choose to wear



   some form of headcovering or hat.  Many of the churches I



   have encountered like to see the men wearing jackets and



   ties, but I suspect this attitude occurs in many North



   American churches.

Disclaimer:

this FAQ is provided for information purposes only and does not necessarily represent the practice of any particular group of Christians. This FAQ is in no way intended to be a statement of faith. The author is not responsible for any errors or omittions, and will gladly receive any corrections. This FAQ is copyrighted to maintain the integrity of the material. This FAQ may be redistributed freely provided it is redistributed in its original form (unedited and unmodified). This FAQ may not be redistributed for financial gain. Where necessary this FAQ may be cited as follows:

Abigail, Shawn G., "Plymouth Brethren FAQ, Version 1.59, December 1997, Distributed on The Internet by Shawn G. Abigail (sabigail@storm.ca)"

© 1997 by Shawn G. Abigail

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