The “Plymouth Brethren”
Historically those commonly known as Plymouth Brethren have their beginnings in the early part of the nineteenth century in Great Britain and Ireland. It would seem that around the late 1820’s (about 1828 or so) several brothers in several parts of Great Britain and Ireland came to the same thinking about the doctrine of the church and how it should meet. What they had in common was that they went to the Bible for their authority and saw in Scripture that the early church met at least weekly for worship in the breaking of the bread, known as communion. They also noted that the Bible did not make it a requirement that a member of the clergy be present. This was directly against what the established church taught. As a result, they separated themselves from the established church and began meeting simply for the reading of the Bible and the Lord’s Supper.
After a short time, those who were in these groups “found themselves” and as they talked they began to see they had much in common and began fellowshipping together. One of the biggest congregations of these believers was in the city of Plymouth, England where the movement got its name, “Plymouth Brethren”.
From the beginning the movement has held to at least 10 principles:
- The centrality of the Lord’s Supper
It appears in the New Testament that the early church believed and practiced that the Lord’s Supper was central to their meeting. They met together regularly to “break bread”. It is because of this emphasis of the New Testament that we hold that the central meeting of the local church should be a weekly remembrance of the Lord’s Supper.
- Unity
Jesus prayed in John 17 that the believers may “be one” as He is one with the Father. It has been the practice over the years that as church denominations sprang up that they divided the Christians into groups. The early brethren leaders saw this and wanted to remedy it. They accepted into their fellowships all who professed faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. If Jesus accepted them into his Body then who were they to reject them? Today we practice this principle and allow any professing believer to participate in the Lord’s Supper upon their confession of faith.
- The Authority of Scripture
The early brethren all held this in common. They all went to the Bible for their authority in faith and practice. As they looked around them at the established churches they observed that they did not truly hold to the authority of Scripture alone. This principle is at the core of all the other principles since the Bible is God’s Word.
- Church Truth
Since the early brethren held to the authority of the Bible they studied and read the Bible regularly. In the New Testament they found that there was much to be said about the doctrine of the church and how it should meet. If taken literally and simply, the New Testament teaches and illustrates how the early church met and what they practiced.
- Devotion to Christ
Jesus taught many things and the early believers saw this in Scripture. It was their desire to follow as closely as possible the teachings of Christ. This manifested itself practically in the weekly remembrance meeting of the breaking of the bread.
- The Priesthood of all believers
One of the New Testament doctrines that impressed the early brethren was the priesthood of all believers. They did not see in Scriptures a division of clergy and laity. They saw that all believers have “equal footing” before God. No one believer was to be over another believer.
- Freedom to exercise gifts
A practical result of the priesthood of all believers is the freedom of each believer to exercise the spiritual gifts that the Lord has given to them. The local church should be a place where the believer can fulfill his calling that the Lord has given him.
- Dependence upon God for financial needs
This principle is practically expressed in the practice of only taking an offering at the Lord’s Supper. The Bible teaches that we should only look to God to supply our needs and that the believers should minister to the needs of other believers.
- Expectation of the soon return of Christ
The leaders of the early Plymouth Brethren movement saw in Scripture that the early church anticipated the return of Christ to the earth. This led them to the study of prophesy and soon was born what we know today as the doctrine of the Premillennial, pre-tribulation return of Christ.
- Imperative of the Gospel
Jesus told his disciples “to go into all the world and preach the gospel” and make disciples. The early brethren took that literally and some as early as 1828 were going to the foreign mission field. They also were diligent in personal evangelism and the public preaching of the gospel. This resulted in many new converts.
You can read more about the history of the Plymouth Brethren movement in the book My People:History of the Brethren by Robert Baylis published by Gospel Folio Press.