Open Brethren
| Open Brethren (or Christian Brethren) | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Plymouth Brethren |
| Polity | Congregationalist |
| Region | c. 130 countries |
| Founder | George Müller and others |
| Origin | 1848 Bristol, England |
| Separated from | Plymouth Brethren (N.B. The Open Brethren and the Exclusive Brethren, which emerged from the schism, dispute which party was responsible for it) |
| Separations | Needed Truth Brethren, 1892 |
| Congregations | 25,000 |
| Members | 2 million est. |
The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren, are a group of Protestant Evangelical Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement. They originated in Ireland before spreading throughout the British Isles, and now have an estimated 26,000 assemblies worldwide.
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 1848. Open Brethren are also commonly known as Plymouth Brethren, especially in North America. Many Open Brethren outside of North America, however, are unwilling to use the Plymouth Brethren designation because it is associated with the Exclusive Brethren, particularly the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, which has often been accused of being a cult and has attracted a considerable degree of unfavourable publicity in the media.
The Brethren are committed to missionary work and hold that the 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 among those who share similar doctrine and practice. Open Brethren assemblies form a continuum, from tight gatherings which extend fellowship only to those who have first left other denominations, to very loose gatherings which receive into fellowship any stranger without question.
A building associated with a group of open brethren is usually called a "Gospel Chapel," "Gospel Hall," "Bible Chapel," "Christian Assembly," or other similar term. A sub-set of the Open Brethren are the Gospel Hall Assemblies who tend to be more conservative than their fellow-Brethren in their practices. Theologically, however, they differ very little.
The separation of the independent or open brethren from the Exclusive Brethren occurred when John Nelson Darby denounced Benjamin Wills Newton, an elder of the Plymouth assembly, at that time the largest of the Brethren assemblies, over disagreements concerning prophecy and church organisation. Darby forced him to admit to theological errors, then attacked George Müller and Henry Craik at Bethesda Chapel in Bristol for accepting two others of that assembly, even though they were not implicated in any of Newton's errors.
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