Plymouth Brethren
The Brethren movement began in Dublin, Ireland, where several groups of Christians met informally to celebrate the Eucharist together, the first meeting being in 1825.
They did not have any liturgy, order of service, or even any ministers; in their view, since their guide was "the Bible alone" they sought to do it according to their own interpretation of the biblical text.
An important early stimulus was the study of prophecy, which was the subject of a number of annual meetings at Powerscourt House in County Wicklow starting in 1831.
Lady Powerscourt had attended Henry Drummond's prophecy conferences at Albury Park, and Darby was espousing the same pre-tribulational view in 1831 as Edward Irving.
[5] Believers in the movement felt that the established Church of England had abandoned or distorted many of the ancient traditions of Christendom, following decades of dissent and the expansion of Methodism and political revolutions in the United States and France.
People in the movement wanted simply to meet together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ without reference to denominational differences.
Darby had instituted a second meeting at Plymouth, and in 1848 he complained of the Bristol Bethesda assembly,[clarification needed] in which George Müller was prominent; he was concerned because they had accepted a member from Ebrington Street, Newton's original chapel.
[12] Itinerant preachers from Scotland and Ireland established most of the early Open Brethren assemblies in America in the second half of the 19th century.
Conversely, Open assemblies aware of that disciplining would not automatically feel a binding obligation to support it, treating each case on its own merit.
Reasons for being put under discipline by both the Open and Exclusive Brethren include disseminating gross Scriptural or doctrinal error or being involved in unscriptural behavior.
Many Open Brethren will hold gospel meetings, youth events, or other activities in partnership with non-Brethren Evangelical Christian churches.
In their view, fellowship includes dining out, business and professional partnerships, membership of clubs, etc., rather than just the act of Communion (Lord's Supper), so these activities are done only with other members.
Some chapels, on the other hand, will allow practically anyone to participate who walks in and says that they are a Christian, based on the newcomer's profession of faith.
Gospel Hall Brethren, on the other hand, generally believe that only those formally recognised as part of that or an equivalent assembly should break bread.
Among other distinctions, the Gospel Halls would generally not use musical instruments in their services, whereas many Chapels use them and may have singing groups, choirs, "worship teams" of musicians, etc.
Henry K. Carroll performed an analysis of United States census data in 1912 to assign Roman numerals to various Brethren groups.
The Brethren embrace the most extensive form of that idea, in that there is no ordained or unordained person or group employed to function as minister(s) or pastors.
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.
Traditionally, only men are allowed to speak (and, in some cases, attend) these decision-making meetings, although not all assemblies follow that rule today.
[37] Open Brethren consider, however, that this reveals a mistaken understanding of the priesthood of all believers which, in the Assemblies, has to do with the ability to directly offer worship to God and His Christ at the Lord's Supper, whether silently or audibly, without any human mediator being necessary—which is in accordance with 1 Timothy 2:5, where it is stated that Christ Jesus Himself is the sole Mediator between God and men (men being used here generically of mankind, and not referring simply and solely to males).
In place of an ordained ministry, an itinerant preacher often receives a "commendation" to the work of preaching and teaching that demonstrates the blessing and support of the assembly of origin.
In the last twenty years, many Open Assemblies in Australia, America, and New Zealand, and some elsewhere, have begun calling their full-time workers pastors, but this is not seen as ordaining clergy and does not connote a transfer of any special spiritual authority.
[38][39] The Plymouth Brethren have been active in foreign missionary work, principally in Central Africa, India and Latin America.
Ironside and Watchman Nee, twentieth-century preachers who spent time associated with both the Open and Exclusive Brethren.
