20 Reasons Why I Left The Plymouth Brethren (So-Called) Denomination

 

  1. An old man can publicly preach things that are spiritually unsound and not be publicly or even privately challenged on them. Last week someone over 75 was talking about how the 4 gospels correspond to the ancient 4 elements of alchemy - my 10-year-old asked after church “Is that right?” No one had said anything during the meeting to correct it.

  2. There is no grace for children to be children. They must sit quietly during the meetings, and not disturb the meeting. During breaks they MIGHT be able to play, if there is a designated area and they aren’t disturbing the adults.

  3. The needs of children and families are not a priority. Many assemblies have no space provided for children, no programming for children, no provision made for nursing mothers.

  4. Children are expected to be seen and not heard in the meetings. Women, the same, but to a slightly lesser extent.

  5. There is no accountability for leadership.

  6. There is a distinct “us vs. them” mentality between brethren assemblies and any other Christian group

  7. Believers who seek help, teaching or healing from anyone not a “brethren source” are judged as less spiritual, in spite of the fact that these ministries are often non-existent at the local gathering.

  8. Younger people (under 40) are regularly seen as upstarts if they are serving in a public manner. 

  9. There is no requirement except age and long-standing attendance for elders. 

  10. There is no way to discipline an unruly person who is in leadership. 

  11. There is no way to appeal to an authority if the local leadership will not act. 

  12. Teachers are judged based on whether or not what they say uses “brethrenese” and on whether they are familiar with brethren writings, not on the fruit of their teaching.

  13. A person’s credibility is based more on whether or not they were raised among brethren, rather than on their actual character and the quality of their ministry.

  14. People are strongly discouraged from reading literature that is not “brethren”.

  15. Fellowship with believers from other churches is also frowned upon practically, if not directly.

  16. To “leave the assemblies” is almost universally presented as equivalent to “leaving the Lord”.

  17. There is a fear-based response to anything new and non-traditional 

  18. In most camps and conferences, there is more emphasis placed on dressing up because “the Lord is here” than on making “outsiders” feel welcome by dressing casually.

  19. We have no idea how to support people who are broken and hurting. The inherent assumption is that someone who is experiencing eg a divorce, a miscarriage, homelessness, gender confusion, is guilty of some kind of sin. 

  20. Who you know, and who you are related to, are more important for status than whether or not you have a good testimony. This is called “showing partiality”

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