Christianity: Details about 'Plymouth Brethren'
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The Plymouth Brethren is a Christian religious movement that began in Ireland and England in the late 1820s and was made prominent by John Nelson Darby, Dr. Edward Cronin, John Bellett, and Francis Hutchinson who felt that the established Church had become too involved with the secular state and had abandoned many of the basic truths of Christianity. The 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 Brethren are divided into "open" and "closed" or "exclusive" branches. The Closed Brethren maintain a very isolationist and traditional view, with many of their children home schooled, a strict smart dress code for church meetings and members commonly self employed or working for Christian organisations. The Open Brethren are less prone to these practices and are more open to visitors. When arriving at one church from another, it is common practice for the leaders to send a "letter of commendation" with the newcomer 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. Open Brethren remain affiliated with one another, mostly through common support of missionaries, area conferences, and the ministry of traveling preachers. 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 celebrated weekly - both of which are common to Open, Closed and Exclusive groups alike.
TerminologyThe 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 whom local assemblies are accountable to. Local assemblies 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 Rememberance Meeting," which is how they refer to communion. Many Plymouth Brethren assemblies meet in a building called a "Gospel Hall", "Gospel Chapel", "Bible Chapel", or "Bible Church". ServicesSunday services are mostly similar among different 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. (A few PB Assemblies in the US 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 an assembly include missionary report meetings, and mid-week prayer meetings, and Bible readings or studies. In Open 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. CharacteristicsThe Plymouth Brethren are basically conservative evangelical Christians and are in substantial agreement with other conservative evangelical Christian groups. Their distinction lies in a combination of the doctrinal and practical matters which they teach with special emphasis. The Brethren believe in the divine inspiration of the Bible and that the same Bible gives clear instruction about how services of worship are to be held. These instructions include:
Two Major branches in the Brethren Assemblies are "open" and "closed." Open Brethren are generally more progressive and some may allow fellowship with any Christian, regardless of denomination,provided they have been saved and baptised by immersion. Closed Brethren, however, have a much more traditional stance, only allowing fellowship with those that can be verrified as Brethren by a Letter of Recomendation from another Brethren Assembly. Baptism and communion are the only two ordinances. 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. InfluenceThe influence of the Plymouth Brethren upon evangelical Christianity exceeds their relatively small numerical proportion. The movement today has many small churches in Great Britain, Canada, the US, New Zealand, Australia, and the European, African and Asian continents. Christian Missions in Many Lands (CMML) in the United States, Missionary Services Committee (MSC) in Canada and Echoes of Service in the UK, 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.". Many leaders of the contemporay evangelical movement have come from Brethren backgrounds including Geoff Tunnicliffe, CEO of the World Evangelical Alliance; the late British scholar F. F. Bruce; Brian MacLaren of the emergent church "conversation"; 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 Ironside. J. N. Darby, one of the original members and perhaps the most well known of the movement, has published over fifty books and is often credited with the development of the theology of dispensationalism. Some Brethren writers have made unique contribution in the field of Christian Apologetics the most notable being Johnson C. Philip a physicist and theologian. Exclusive or Closed Brethen
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Brüdergemeinde Plymouthbröderna 普利茅斯弟兄会
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