The Brethren is one of several informal names for a nameless religious movement created by Jimmie T. "Jim" Roberts.
The movement's members shun material things and family, living essentially as vagrants and doing odd jobs to pay their expenses.
Roberts had become convinced that mainstream churches were too worldly and wished to create a wandering discipleship patterned on the New Testament apostles.
Upon Jim Roberts’ death, the leadership role of the organization was passed to Jerry Williams, who is commonly known as "Brother Hatsair," and three other elders.
[3] The movement directs new members to sell their possessions and break ties with their families as a necessary part of discipleship.
[citation needed] The Brethren also maintain that there is no actual sacrament of the Eucharist, and that the bread and wine should be understood only as a metaphor for fellowship.
[2] After several police raids and arrests in the 1970s, Roberts ordered members to keep their locations secret and not to communicate with their families.
[3] In 2011, Evangeline Griego's documentary film God Willing[6] explored the experiences of parents trying to reestablish contact with children who had joined the Brethren and disappeared.