Editing Open Brethren (section)

==Brethren worldwide==

A number of factors make it very difficult to know how many Brethren there are today, and estimates vary from 1 million<ref>{{citation | last = Abigail | first = Shawn | title = "Plymouth Brethren" FAQ | year = 2006 | url = http://www.brethrenonline.org/faqs/Brethren.htm | access-date = 2007-01-19 | url-status = dead | archive-url = http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160518150855/http://brethrenonline.org/faqs/Brethren.htm | archive-date = 2016-05-18 }}
</ref> to as many as 2.5 million attenders in 25,000 congregations.<ref name="partnershipuk.org">{{citation|url=http://www.partnershipuk.org/qwicsitePro2/php/docsview.php?docid=1659|title=The 'Brethren' movement - a briefing note|date=Jan 2013|access-date=12 Feb 2013|archive-date=1 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201050358/http://www.partnershipuk.org/qwicsitePro2/php/docsview.php?docid=1659|url-status=dead}}</ref> The factors hampering the gathering of statistics include the general lack of formal organization, as well as ambiguity over just what churches and networks form part of the Brethren network. In [[Kerala]], the [[Kerala Brethren]] was established through  [[Anthony Norris Groves]] one of the founders of the Brethren Movement, who was also the brother in law of [[George Müller]]. There are a considerable number of independent evangelical churches in Australia and New Zealand, and some in the United Kingdom and Canada, that work closely with networks generally considered to be "Brethren", and there are also networks, such as the [[Assemblies Jehovah Shammah]] of India, which closely resemble the Brethren and are often counted by Open Brethren as part of their movement, but which are nevertheless historically distinct from it. There is no universally agreed criteria among Brethren to determine what assemblies and networks comprise part of Open Brethren movement, which partly explains the widely different statistics given.<ref>{{cite web|last1=McQuoid|first1=Stephen|title=A Great Way to do Church|url=http://www.partnershipuk.org/php/view_persp.php?docid=15|website=Perspectives|publisher=www.partnershipuk.org|access-date=7 June 2015|pages=22}}</ref> Most assemblies that regard themselves as Brethren will "recognize" similar assemblies which regard themselves as such, however. The largest numbers of Open Brethren are to be found in India (450,000 adults and children in 2,200 assemblies, not counting another 300,000 adults and children in the Assemblies Jehovah Shammah); there are also over 1,000 assemblies each in Angola, Zambia and Chad as well as the United Kingdom and the United States, 800 in Brazil and over 600 in Germany. Assemblies are found in over 70 countries.<ref>{{Citation|title=Brethren assemblies worldwide|publisher=Chiesa "dei Fratelli" in Italia|url=http://www.chiesacristiana.info/chiese/chieseit.htm|access-date=Dec 10, 2014}}</ref> Piepkorn estimated the number of Open Brethren in North America in 1970 as 60,000 in 1,050 assemblies.

===Mission work===
Open Brethren are noted for their commitment to [[missionary]] work. In the earliest days of the Brethren movement, [[Anthony Norris Groves]] became one of the earliest "[[faith mission]]aries", travelling to [[Baghdad]] in 1829 to preach the gospel and the Bible without the aid of an established [[missionary society]].<ref>Dann, Robert Bernard, ''Father of Faith Missions: The Life and Times of Anthony Norris Groves'', (Authentic Media, 2004), {{ISBN|1-884543-90-1}}</ref> Many later Brethren missionaries took the same stance, and included notable missionary pioneers such as [[George Müller]] (founder of orphanages in [[Bristol]], England), [[Dan Crawford]] (Scottish missionary to central Africa), Charles Marsh (missionary to [[Lafayette, Algeria]] from 1925 to 1969),<ref>Marsh, CR, ''Too Hard For God?'', Echoes of Service 1970, ASIN: B0007ARR40</ref> and [[Jim Elliot]], [[Ed McCully]] and [[Pete Fleming]] (missionaries to [[Ecuador]] killed by members of the [[Huaorani]] tribe).

While the majority of Open Brethren missionaries do not belong to a missionary society, there are a number of supporting organisations that give help and advice for missionaries: in the UK, [[Echoes of Service]] magazine,<ref>{{citation|title=Echoes of Service|publisher=Echoes.org.uk|url=http://www.echoes.org.uk/|access-date=2015-05-25}}</ref> [[Medical Missionary News]] and the [[Lord's Work Trust]]<ref>{{citation|title=The Lord's Work Trust|publisher=TheLordsWorkTrust.org|url=http://www.thelordsworktrust.org/|access-date=2015-05-25}}</ref> are notable organisations. Today, missionaries are found all over the world, with high concentrations in [[Zambia]] and Southern Africa, Brazil, India, Western Europe and South East Asia. Brethren missionaries are still active in many parts of the world (1,223 from England, North America and Australasia<ref>{{harvnb|Abigail|2006}}</ref>) and there are assemblies in Chile, Dominican Republic, Peru and South Africa, among others.<ref>{{citation|title=Plymouth Brethren|publisher=Adherents.com|bibcode=1987Natur.329..578B|url=http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_513.html#3117|access-date=2012-06-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805040624/http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_513.html#3117|archive-date=2011-08-05|url-status=usurped|last1=Bayne|first1=Brian L.|journal=Nature|year=1987|volume=329|issue=6140|page=578|doi=10.1038/329578b0|s2cid=4371393|doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== United Kingdom ===
Along with other evangelical churches in the United Kingdom, the Brethren have been declining in numbers since the 1950s, especially among the more conservative assemblies. Assemblies with more progressive approaches have grown, however. There has been a blurring of distinctions between some assemblies and other non-denominational and house church congregations.<ref>G.Brown. "Whatever Happened to the Brethren?" Partnership, Paternoster Press. 2003.{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref>

=== Europe ===
Outside the British Isles, the brethren have a large presence in the [[Faroe Islands]], forming the largest non-conformist group amongst a population that predominantly belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Faroe Islands.<ref>{{cite web | title = Plymouth Brethren in the Faroes | url = http://www.visitfaroeislands.com/Default.aspx?ID=8946 | access-date = 4 August 2015 | archive-date = 6 August 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120806173842/http://www.visitfaroeislands.com/Default.aspx?ID=8946 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

JN Darby's visits to Switzerland between 1835 and 1840 with critiques of [[Methodist perfectionism]] resulted in the establishment of meetings in [[Vevey]] in 1838 and [[Lausanne]] in 1840 drawn from some of the dissenting churches.<ref>{{harvnb|Neatby|1901|p=41}}</ref> Later he moved to France establishing outposts in the [[Montpellier]] region. During this time he was also translating the New Testament into French. "During the five years that followed Darby's arrival in Lausanne, his principles spread far and wide in French Switzerland, and obtained some successes in Berne and Bâle."<ref>{{harvnb|Neatby|1901|p=44}}</ref>

The next move came from a visit by [[George Müller]] to a Baptist church in [[Stuttgart]] in 1843 at the invitation of a lady who had visited him in Bristol. "One or two of the elders having determined to reject him, a meeting "for the breaking of bread" was started in his private room the same evening. Seventeen persons were present." In 1854, Darby visited Germany with meetings being set up at [[Elberfeld]] and [[Düsseldorf]] among others.<ref>
{{citation|title=Early Beginnings|first=John Nelson|last=Darby|year=1853|url=http://www.bruederbewegung.de/pdf/darbybeginnings.pdf}}
</ref>

=== India ===
{{main|Indian Brethren|Assemblies Jehovah Shammah}}
The expansion of the Plymouth Brethren outside of the British Isles started early, when Anthony Norris Groves left to become a missionary in 1829, first in [[Baghdad]] and then in India. Although his work as a dentist in the [[Godavari]] delta area of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu progressed slowly, it produced in time a flourishing movement of [[Indian Brethren]] with a particular emphasis in [[Kerala Brethren|Kerala]]. According to [[Operation World]], there are 135,000 adult believers in 1929 assemblies throughout India (449,550 if children are included).<ref name="Mandryk 2010 408">{{citation|first=Jason |last=Mandryk|title= Operation World |publisher=Biblica Publishing|year=2010|page = 408}}</ref> Internal Brethren sources say that the number of assemblies has increased to 2200 and the number of adult believers in fellowship to 200,000, since Operation World was published in 2010.

The [[Assemblies Jehovah Shammah]] movement, founded by the evangelist [[Bakht Singh]], are organized largely on Brethren principles with adaptations to Indian culture. Despite some differences from the older Brethren movement that was the fruit of British missionary efforts (such as his encouragement for women to take part audibly in worship), many Indian and foreign Brethren "recognize" the Assemblies Jehovah Shammah as a subset of the Open Brethren movement, albeit one that developed independently. Operation World claims 910 Assemblies Jehovah Shammah with 310,000 affiliates, 95,000 of them adults.<ref name="Mandryk 2010 408"/>

==== Kerala Brethren ====

{{main|Kerala Brethren}}

An important stream of the Open Brethren is the [[Kerala Brethren]]. Kerala is a small state in India, but has more than 600 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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralabrethren.net/ |title=The Kerala Brethren website |access-date=2015-08-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801161825/http://www.keralabrethren.net/ |archive-date=2015-08-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== North America ===
Itinerant preachers carried both the open brethren to North America after the middle of the nineteenth century.<ref>
{{citation|first=Arthur Carl |last=Piepkorn|title= Plymouth Brethren (Christian Brethren) |publisher=Concordia Monthly|year=1970|url=http://www.bruederbewegung.de/pdf/piepkorn.pdf|access-date=2012-06-11}}
</ref> Darby made a number of visits in the 1870s and his emphasis on prophecy was influential. The Brethren movement has spread throughout the United States and Canada through evangelistic endeavours, immigration from the UK and Commonwealth countries, and by attracting Christians from other backgrounds with its emphasis on Biblicism, centrality of the Lord's Supper and equality of all believers under Christ, as well as its avoidance of denominational governance. Open Brethren congregations in America often are barely distinguishable from other evangelical denominations on the outside and often engage in joint efforts with other Christians in their communities. On the other hand, some previously thriving Brethren assemblies have seen dwindling attendances in recent years due in part to the lack of strong denominational loyalties and cultural discomfort with some brethren practices, such as head covering for women and silence of women in preaching and teaching in main services. In America, the designation of the building in which Open Brethren assemblies meet most often include the word "Chapel" in their formal name, combined with a biblical place name or principle or otherwise a local geographic feature—for instance, Bethany Chapel, Central Gospel Chapel, Park Road Bible Chapel, Riverview Believers Chapel. But unlike many other Christian groups, the names of Christian saints, (e.g. Paul, Luke) are rarely or never used. Closed groups, however, avoid "taking a name" to their group. A Closed group building is referred to as a "Meeting Room" or "Gospel Hall", and the word "Chapel" is avoided.

=== Oceania ===
{{Main|Christian Community Churches of Australia|Christian Brethren Church of New Zealand}}
[[File:Victoria_Avenue_Gospel_Hall,_Palmerston_North_on_13_July_2024.jpg|thumb|A Gospel Hall in [[Palmerston North]], New Zealand]]

According to the Evangelical publication, [[Operation World]], there are 320 Brethren congregations in Australia<ref>{{citation|first=Jason |last=Mandryk|title= Operation World |publisher=Biblica Publishing|year=2010|page = 118}}</ref> and 202 in New Zealand,<ref>{{citation|first=Jason |last=Mandryk|title= Operation World |publisher=Biblica Publishing|year=2010|page = 632}}</ref> with 46,176 affiliates in the former and 16,164 in the latter. Some Brethren sources claim the latter number to be underestimated, with internal sources indicating as many as 38,000 adults and children attending Brethren assemblies — almost one percent of New Zealand's population.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://aspects.org.nz/category/church-issues/ |title=The State and Growth of Brethren Churches in New Zealand (2011) |access-date=2015-05-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150522134839/http://aspects.org.nz/category/church-issues/ |archive-date=2015-05-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Brethren in both countries have diversified greatly in the last generation. "Gospel Chapels" tend to be conservative; "Gospel Halls" even more so. "Bible Chapels" include both conservative and progressive assemblies, while "Community Churches" (often similar to the Brethren-affiliated "Evangelical Churches" of the United Kingdom) tend to be at the progressive end of the spectrum, often with salaried pastors, women taking an audible part in worship — and sometimes in leadership, and varying degrees of openness to the [[Charismatic movement]]. "Bible Churches" tend to embrace many progressive trends, but generally retain a male-only leadership and continue to disassociate themselves from the Charismatic movement.

Although Brethren leaders throughout New Zealand unanimously rejected the Charismatic movement in 1964,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lineham|first1=Peter J.|title=Tongues Must Cease: The Brethren and the Charismatic Movement in New Zealand|url=https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/cbr/34_07.pdf|website=biblicalstudies.org.uk|access-date=3 June 2015}}</ref> attitudes today are much more diverse. Complete rejection, and uncritical acceptance, of this movement are both minority positions among New Zealand Brethren today.

It is worth nothing that although many "Community Churches" and "Bible Churches" in New Zealand are part of the Open Brethren movement, others — such as [[Mairangi Bay Community Church]] and [[Auckland Bible Church]] — are not. This is often seen as one of many signs that the line of demarcation between Brethren assemblies and other independent Evangelical churches is becoming blurred — a situation that some Brethren welcome, and some do not.

The Brethren movement in Australia, too, has diversified, with the more progressive assemblies generally growing and the more conservative ones declining.

In both Australia and New Zealand, Open Brethren have been embarrassed by negative publicity surrounding the [[Plymouth Brethren Christian Church]], a hardline branch of the Exclusive Brethren (and the only Exclusive group to exist in significant numbers in either country), which some defectors have accused of being a [[cult]]. In Australia, the Open Brethren network has rebranded itself as the [[Christian Community Churches of Australia]], partly because of public confusion between their own movement and the Exclusives.