One of the lesser known movements of Christian history is the Brethren, also known as Christian Brethren or sometimes (unhelpfully) Plymouth Brethren. They are known for their Bible knowledge, their commitment to global mission, and their belief that local churches (often called ‘assemblies’) can function perfectly well without the need for ordained clergy to lead them. But why do they often call their buildings ‘Gospel Halls’? What is the difference between Exclusive Brethren and Open Brethren? And why do some Brethren congregations prefer not to be known as ‘Brethren’ at all?
The story begins early in the 19th century. Politically and socially, this was a turbulent period in Britain and Ireland - after the French Revolution many feared that similar events might occur here. The Industrial Revolution and later economic depression brought widespread unrest and hardship. It was a time of rapid change in all aspects of life. You have only to think about the impact of the railways, also celebrating their bicentenary this year.
Spiritually, unsettlement took the forms of dissatisfaction with the perceived worldliness of the churches and a longing for more intense spiritual experience. Several renewal movements emerged from 1800 onwards and one of them was the Brethren. Their earliest meetings were in Ireland (Dublin especially, from 1825) and later Plymouth (hence ‘Plymouth Brethren’). Their aim was to provide a fellowship in which all true believers in Christ could worship and study the Bible together as they gathered round the Lord’s Table, without being divided by differing denominational allegiances. Early leaders included:
- The Irishman John Nelson Darby (1800-82), one of many clergy who joined the movement
- George Müller (1805-98), famous for the orphanages he founded in Bristol to demonstrate that God was a living reality and could provide for the needs of those who had no other source of help
- Anthony Norris Groves (1795-1853), a pioneer of Brethren mission from 1829.
The study of Bible prophecy quickly became a Brethren passion. They developed the idea that God’s dealings with humanity could be divided up into a series of eras known as ‘dispensations’. In each one, God offers a way of salvation through grace, and calls those who belong to him to be his people. But each ends with the failure of God’s people to fulfil their calling, and the commencement of a new dispensation.
Furthermore, this approach distinguishes between God’s heavenly people – the Church – and his earthly people – the Jews. The Church is seen as a temporary interruption in God’s purposes for Israel; it does not replace Israel, whose restoration is promised in prophecy. But the Church on earth has also failed, and Brethren differed over whether the ruin was irreparable or whether its restoration along New Testament lines should be sought.
Numbers of serious and frustrated Christians left their churches to join the Brethren. But from 1845-8 the movement experienced a catastrophic division. What became known as Open Brethren asserted that each assembly had the right to conduct its own affairs, as directly responsible to Christ. Exclusive Brethren followed Darby in asserting that ‘separation from evil’ was the only true basis for the unity of believers, and that this required assemblies to act together to keep spiritual evil at bay.
Exclusive Brethren saw a succession of divisions. The largest and most controversial, now known as the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, has developed in ways that early Brethren could not have imagined. Other Brethren groups, whether Open or Exclusive, should not be confused with them.
Little love was lost between Open and Exclusive Brethren, but both saw sustained growth as they turned outwards and increased their commitment to evangelism. When revival affected the English-speaking world around 1859, Brethren shared in the harvest. Hundreds of mission halls came into being, often known as ‘Gospel Halls’. Whereas the movement’s first generation had been led by gentry and clergy, now evangelists and itinerant Bible teachers came to the fore. New converts, rather than members of other churches, formed an increasing proportion of those joining assemblies.
Theologically, Brethren have always been evangelical. But their prophetic beliefs, their rejection of a formally-recognised ministry, their categorisation of most members of existing churches as unsaved, and their tendency to assert that the Church was irreparably ruined and that Christians should leave their churches to join assemblies all helped to make Brethren ‘Public Enemy Number One’ in the eyes of many other evangelicals. Of course, opposition did nothing to make Brethren any more sympathetic to the churches!
After World War I, British Evangelicalism was largely demoralised: theologically weak, often poorly led, and on the defensive against the world and the religious establishment. But Open Brethren in particular offered a contrast: evangelistically active, an emphasis on teaching, growing, and with a lay leadership that was often alert to the issues of the day. They experienced continued growth, especially in the new suburbs springing up all over Britain. It seemed to many that Brethren had the ball at their feet.
Sadly, expectations would be unfulfilled. World War II produced a questioning spirit in all areas of public life, from which churches were not exempt. Brethren engaged in vigorous evangelism, but many could not understand why so much of the blessing from Billy Graham’s visits to the UK in 1954/5 was experienced by churches which Brethren had tended to write off as dead. This helped to stimulate a process of self-questioning. With that has come a tendency for some individuals and congregations to reject their Brethren heritage, while others in reaction insist all the more firmly on traditional understandings and practices. Open Brethren thus experienced increasing internal tension. They were having to respond to rapid cultural change, the rise of Reformed theology, unfavourable media coverage of ‘Exclusives’, the Charismatic movement, and the more general decline of British Christianity.
Many Brethren have left the movement, reversing the early flow into it: some reject their past, but there are ministers and members in all denominations who speak of what they owe to their Brethren upbringing. Ideas which used to be Brethren distinctives are now widely accepted in other churches, such as the belief that every member is gifted by God to serve him and build up the body of Christ. Brethren have thus contributed much to wider Evangelicalism. The Scot F. F. Bruce (1910-90), who became Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester, played a key part in the growth of evangelical biblical scholarship. Other Brethren filled prominent roles in public life, such as the building contractor John Laing (1879-1978).
During the second half of the 19th century, Brethren had developed into a remarkable missionary movement. It is claimed that no other Christian tradition, apart perhaps from the Moravians, has seen such a high proportion of its members become cross-cultural mission workers.
My book, Brethren: A Brief Introduction, written to mark the bicentenary this year, outlines the story and some key Brethren principles and practices. Comprehending the sheer diversity of the global Brethren movement was quite a challenge, but you can find out more about that in an online publication, The Open Brethren: A Global Movement. This is freely available at www.brethrenhistory.org.
Brethren are now found in 160 countries worldwide, sometimes in much larger numbers than in Britain. Membership globally is somewhere between two and three million. Like Anglicans, their centre of gravity now lies in the global South. Yet the same ‘big ideas’ which have motivated Brethren throughout their history are proving translatable in a range of cultural contexts today.
Dr Tim Grass is a Visiting Scholar at Queen's University Belfast and author of Brethren: A Brief Introduction.
