Open Brethren
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The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren or "Plymouth Brethren", are a group of Protestant Evangelical Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement. They originated in England and Ireland and now have many assemblies world wide.
The Open Brethren form independent, autonomous assemblies and the name "Open" is given to them to distinguish them from "Exclusive Brethren", with whom they share historical roots. The division of the Plymouth Brethren into the Open Brethren and Exclusive Brethren took place in the 1840's[1] and has been well documented. The Open Brethren are committed to missionary work and hold that the Holy Bible is the first authority in matters of faith and practice. Each assembly (or congregation) is independent of the others in doctrinal matters, yet there is a high degree of communication and cooperation between those who share similar doctrine and practice. Open Brethren assemblies vary from tight gatherings which only extend fellowship to those who have first left the denominations to very loose gatherings which receive any stranger without question into fellowship. [2]
The buildings associated with the open brethren are usually called Gospel Chapel, Gospel Hall, Bible Chapel, Christian Assembly or other similar terms.
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[edit] Beliefs
[edit] Justification by faith
Justification by faith alone (sola fide) states that it is by grace through faith alone that Christians receive salvation and not through any works of their own (see Ephesians 2:8, Romans 3:23). Open Brethren have a strong emphasis on the concept of salvation. The brethren teach that the consequence of human sin is condemnation to eternal death in hell. Christ's death on the cross paid sin's penalty and his resurrection is evidence that eternal life is available to any who will have it. The only requirements being that each individual willfully repents of sin, accepts the substitutionary payment of his own sin by faith in Christ's death and declares that Jesus is Lord (see John 3:14-18 and Acts 10:34-43).
[edit] Believer's baptism
The Open Brethren teach that baptism plays no role in salvation and, being properly performed only after salvation, is performed after a person professes Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. It is an outward expression that is symbolic of the inward cleansing or remission of their sins that has already taken place. It is also a public identification of that person with Christianity and with that particular local church. An individual is often considered a member of the assembly once they are baptized.
Open Brethren emphasize baptism by full immersion. This mode is preferred for its parallel imagery to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
[edit] Leadership
One of the most defining elements of the Open Brethren is the rejection of the concept of clergy. Rather, in keeping with the doctrine of the Priesthood of all believers, they view all Christians as being ordained by God to serve and are therefore ministers.
Generally, Open Brethren recognize two Scriptural offices, those of elder and deacon. The office of pastor, common in some evangelical churches, is usually considered to be the same as that of elder, and not a separate office. The office of overseer or bishop is always considered to be the same as that of elder or presbyter.
The prevalent view among Open Brethren is that these offices are limited to men only, following the model of Christ and His apostles and interpretations of 1 Timothy 2:12-14. This is, however, a controversial issue among Assemblies, and since each Assembly is free to make its own decisions on such matters, it is not uncommon today to see women taking positions of leadership (especially in Assemblies with relatively young memberships).
Neither of these roles are served with pay in most cases, but larger assemblies may sometimes employ a paid bible teacher or evangelist if specific circumstances make it necessary.
[edit] Elder
The Open Brethren believe in a plurality of elders (Acts 14:23; 15:6,23; 20:17; Philippians 1:1) - men meeting the Biblical qualifications found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9. This position is also taken in some Baptist churches, especially Reformed Baptists. It is understood that elders are appointed by the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28) and are recognised as meeting the qualifications by the assembly and by previously existing elders, whereas in the time of the establishment of the first New Testament assemblies it was either the Apostles or their directly appointed delegates (Timothy and Titus) who ordained elders. This original order being consistent with the Christian concept that authority comes from above and does not arise from men.
[edit] Deacon
The main role of the deacon is to assist the elders with members' needs. Deacons are usually chosen from members who have demonstrated exceptional Christian piety. (see 1 Timothy 3:8-12). However, in many meetings there is no official list of deacons, the work of deaconship being shared by anyone willing to give a helping hand in a particular task.
[edit] Kerala Brethren
An important stream of the Open Brethren is the Kerala Brethren. Kerala is a small state in India, but has more than 500 Open or Plymouth Brethren Assemblies. Brethren members believe that these assemblies are the result of an independent movement of the Holy Spirit in India. Eventually the Plymouth Brethren and the Kerala Brethren recognized the similarities in both the movements and thus the Kerala Brethren came to be identified as a sub-set of the Open Brethren.
[edit] See also
- Plymouth Brethren
- Gospel Hall Brethren
- Loose Brethren
- Needed Truth Brethren
- Kerala Brethren
- Elder, Deacon
- Priesthood of all believers
- Believer's baptism
- Emmaus Bible College
[edit] Notes
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008) |
[edit] References
- Coad, Roy. "A History of the Brethren Movement", 1968
[edit] External links
- BrethrenPedia - The Plymouth Brethren Wiki - Documenting the history of the Plymouth Brethren movement, one assembly at a time
- Plymouth Brethren Discussion Forum The only Open Plymouth Brethren discussion forum on the web
- Brethren Assembly Portal
- Kawartha Lakes Bible College
- Plymouth Brethren.Org
- The Church under attack : George Muller & Bethesda Chapel, Bristol
- BrethrenOnline.org
- SBS of Brethren
- Scriptural Principles of Gathering (Why I Meet Among Those Known as Brethren) by Alfred P. Gibbs
- BrethrenPortal - Plymouth Brethren Missions Portal - Essentials Of Faith For The Generations To Come
- List of Open Brethren Assemblies in Australia
