Brethren church to open in Ipswich
The Queensland Times
AustraliaThe cult Meeting Room in Ipswich, Queensland
The Exclusive Brethren Christian Fellowship will open its doors in Ipswich at the weekend.
Labelled a cult by former prime minister Kevin Rudd in 2007, the Brethren will open its new church at the end of Windle Road, Brassall, on Saturday.
The move has outraged local residents, who say the church is a threat to their way of life.
“We didn’t know we’d end up with a stinking church down there,” said one long-term Windle Road resident, who wished to remain anonymous.
“We don’t need this in our street. I’m really cheesed off about it. The more you read about these people, the more you start to worry about what’s going on.
“I thought about putting my house on the market when I heard about it. You live here, you pay your bloody rates and now a church can come in and do whatever they want.
“It’s been built, it’s opening and that’s it. There’s nothing we can do about it now.”
Workmen were putting the finishing touches on the rendered brick building yesterday.
It is surrounded by a black steel picket fence and has a sprawling car park and landscaped gardens.
…
… another concerned Brassall resident who contacted The QT said the Brethren should practice what it preached.
“How can you talk about inclusion when the church hides behind fences and concrete walls? This whole process was kept very quiet,” the resident said.
“You have to wonder what they’re hiding and why more people haven’t been asking questions about the building appearing out of nowhere.
“I don’t think this will go away very quietly.”
The 1st Exclusive Brethren pub
It appears that after leaving the Lynton Tavern empty for months, the Exclusive Brethren are possibly considering a deal that might enable the unhappy residents of Weeping Cross, Staffordshire, UK to get their pub back. Whether their decision is based on the difficulty of bricking up all the windows on the building is not clear. What is apparent is that they are increasingly anxious to move.
The following Express and Star news item refers to some work that has started in converting the pub to a cult Meeting Room. The level of alteration and changes are not specified, but knowing the Exclusive Brethren love for alcohol, some might expect that the bar would remain intact.
The Weeping Cross community initially set up a Facebook-based effort to try and save the pub, but failed when the Exclusive Brethren pulled out their favorite trick – their checkbooks. The wealthy cult obviously now feels that they have a bargaining chip and perhaps the residents of this small Staffordshire community will benefit after all.
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It is not clear whether the male residents of Manly West, Brisbane, Australia have succumbed to the Emmy-nominated Old Spice advertising. What is certain, is that an increasing number of communities around the world have had enough of the devious ways the Exclusive Brethren cult operate when it comes to their real estate dealings.
One of the classic symptoms of a cult are methods used in enforcing control of the flock. When a Leader says “Jump!”, the only safe response is “how high?”.
Exclusive Brethren cult members endure tightly-controlled lives that revolve entirely around their fellow members and their virtually daily gatherings. Being separate from the world is not only their primary doctrine, it is the main chain welded to each individual. Only by ensuring minimal contact with outsiders and the media can Bruce D. Hales keep his members from learning too much.
Manly residents rally against Exclusive Brethren plans to build churches in their suburbsCourier MailResidents are calling it a cult “invasion”. The secretive Exclusive Brethren Christian sect has been buying land and businesses at Manly West on Brisbane’s bayside and in Gympie and moving in.Continue reading »
Powerscourt Estate, Ireland
The Plymouth Brethren have several contenders for the title of Founder and Early Church Father. There is however probably only one woman who would fill the role of ‘Mother of the Church‘. Lady Theodosia Wingfield Powerscourt was a young and wealthy widow, and like Darby, was a member of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy in the early 19th century. Viscountess Powerscourt was a powerful advocate in the formative years of the movement that became known as the Plymouth Brethren.
J.N. Darby, recognized as one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren, was a very close friend of Lady Powerscourt. It is believed that they at one time planned to marry but mutually decided that their lives were headed in different directions. Some say that they were ‘dissuaded’ by other members of the early Plymouth Brethren.
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John Nelson Darby
Although not published until 1864, this collection of letters between Rev. Kelly and J.N. Darby commences in 1839 and the views of Darby are therefore significant in the light of his later actions and attitudes.
Topics covered include Darby’s own feelings regarding the Roman church as well as the C of E.
Darby outlines his belief in the importance of having one (Darby-approved) church in a town – an aspect of the Exclusive Brethren that remains to this day.
Darby used this principle notably in the English town of Plymouth, from where the Plymouth Brethren gained their name. Following a doctrinal dispute with an old friend, Darby forced a split in the Plymouth congregation by setting up a second communion table. This action precipitated a chain of events that led to the entire Plymouth Brethren being ripped apart during the mid 1840′s … an event known as the Bethesda Division.
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AN Groves & JN Darby
This is a facsimile of an 1836 letter written to John Nelson Darby (JND) by the man who many credit as being the originator of the movement that became known as the Plymouth Brethren: A. N. Groves.
The letter indicates clearly that Anthony Norris Groves (ANG) was concerned by signs of sectarianism and rigidity in Darby’s teachings and he gently remonstrates with his old Trinity friend before returning as a missionary to India. Unfortunately, history proves that Darby ignored the warnings.
The Exclusive Brethren today treat Darby’s theory and interpretation of ‘Separation from evil’ as their foundational principle. It has led to heartache, ripped-apart families, suicide and even murder.
It is not often that a historical document such as this one can point so clearly to a moment when a future cult could have been avoided.
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It’s an unusual event for peebs.net to post an article that actually defends the Exclusive Brethren! Let’s get it over and done with, shall we?
Matthew Lindqvist (left) and Andrew Doven from the Exclusive Brethren stand opposite Wagga City Council and the corner they used for street preaching for years. Picture: Les Smith, Daily Advertiser
The Daily Advertiser today describes a battle in Wagga, Australia where the Exclusive Brethren are defending their right to free speech on the streets of their town.
In a nut-shell, Wagga City Council have implemented a ‘street activities policy’ that allows just one complaint to halt any street activity. In the case of the Exclusive Brethren, this affects their requirement for regular street preaching. Of course people are going to object to this and it most certainly would be wrong of any organization to attempt to muzzle another simply because they did not agree with their beliefs or what they said.
What Wagga City Council possibly doesn’t understand is that the Exclusive Brethren have to publicly be seen to preach even if this evangelical zeal doesn’t extend beyond the “bellowing“. Their Meeting Room is doubtlessly tax-exempt as a public place of worship and because they do not allow the public full access to their windowless, padlocked buildings, they have to ensure a little public presence somehow.
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Exclusive Brethren Schools
The following extracts are from Sect pupils in a class of their own, The New Zealand Herald, published on Sunday May 9th, 2010.
This furore commenced on May 2nd, 2010 when a former Exclusive Brethren school teacher was fired for using a non-approved textbook. The fired teacher spoke of clauses within her employment contract that includes proof that the cult attempts to prevent any of their children from going onto university education.
Why? They’re scared!
Imagine a school whose books had words blacked out or pages removed and large parts of the curriculum – particularly anything to do with puberty and sex – was simply not taught.
A school where teachers received unexpected late-night visits at home to check on their moral probity.
And where all aspects of school life are governed in every detail by a sacred text, but a committee has absolute discretion in deciding how to interpret it.
It may sound like the worst excesses of the Taliban in Afghanistan or the Iranian mullahs, but this is the prevailing orthodoxy in 15 Westmount schools across the country run by the Exclusive Brethren.
The Exclusive Brethren have replaced conscience with rules and directives. They do not practice faith, rather they separate themselves from society. They do not allow the strength of character that is built by learning right from wrong and the normal development of self-control – instead, they rip out pages from books!
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Bible & Gospel Trust - April 2010
The latest insight into the Exclusive Brethren comes from a document submitted to the UK Charity Commissioner just a few weeks ago. The Bible & Gospel Trust’s Summary Information Return (2009) has some remarkable details and a rather embarrassing typo for a printing company.
To begin with, what is the Bible & Gospel Trust?
If the Exclusive Brethren had a soul, perhaps a debatable concept, then it would reside at Chelwood House, Cox Lane, Chessington, Surrey, UK. This is the address of the printing and printed material distribution center for the Exclusive Brethren. The primary function since its birth, in the years following the 1970 death of James Taylor Jr, is to publish the words spoken by its recognized leaders, sometimes with embarrassing accuracy.
Very similar to the Watchtower relationship with Jehovah Witnesses, the Bible & Gospel Trust has an assured market within the Exclusive Brethren cult. Exclusive Brethren must purchase ‘ministry’, hymn books and bibles from this single source. As an EB teenager begins to earn money, the local EB Assembly ‘BGT Agent’ will approach the young person and let them know that they are expected to purchase the collected writings of all EB leaders, right back to J. N Darby and the mid 1800′s. It’s quite an investment – and the purchase is mandatory.
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10 things Scientology and the Exclusive Brethren have in common
Scientology
The Exclusive Brethren
1 – They are both considered by many to be bona fide cults
2 – They both have had to have the word ‘church’ added to their official names
3 – Scientology borrows the Christian cross, the Exclusive Brethren have to insert the word ‘Christian’
4 – Both have extraordinarily wealthy leaders who are obsessed with security – David Miscavige (Scientology) and Bruce Hales (Exclusive Brethren).
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