The underlying facts here involve the heart-wrenching story of an Exclusive Brethren teenager who is confused as to his sexual identity. In any tolerant and modern social environment, this is a topic for discussion, understanding and above all, caring. It is an opportunity to display love and compassion.

This would be the case in almost any community, Christian or not, but here we deal with the Exclusive Brethren …

Exclusive Brethren @ Yahoo!7 Video

The Exclusive Brethren, self-defined as the ‘Bride of Christ‘ and self-titled as a ‘Christian Fellowship‘, take a somewhat different approach when dealing with young men who question the official view of ‘what is normal’. The homophobic cult bombarded 18 year old Craig Hoyle with threats of earthly discipline, excommunication and spiritual annihilation. Craig was dispatched to Sydney, the HQ of the worldwide cult where he met with the ‘Elect Vessel‘ EB Leader Bruce Hales. While there, one of the few remaining Exclusive Brethren medical practitioners (attending University has been banned for Exclusive Brethren members since the 1960’s) prescribed the teenager with a drug that many describe as a form of chemical castration.

You may find just the thought of giving a teen such a drug to be horrific enough, but what was to follow defies belief. When Craig made the decision that he wanted to be true to himself and find out who he really was rather than be dictated to or remain chemically abused, he was forced to leave his family home. Since that time Craig has suffered more emotional stress than many can imagine by being denied access to his family, friends and community.

With admirable strength of character the now 20-something young man decided to take his fight to the Exclusive Brethren and contacted the media with his story. Such a dramatic story was bound to interest all levels of media attention and Craig soon became a focal point and example of how the Exclusive Brethren treat those who dare to think for themselves, or do not conform, or are simply … different.

A few days ago, the Australian Today Tonight news show attempted to confront some of the key components of Craigs’ story. They took Craig and a camera crew to interview Radiologist Dr. Mark Craddock, the Exclusive Brethren physician who prescribed a year-long “trial” of Cyprostat, a drug that many, including the American Civil Liberties Union calls a “cruel and unusual punishment”.

Following a very unimpressive response from the Radiologist who stated that he was treating “a problem” and attempted to pass all responsibility onto his teenage client, the Today Tonight news crew headed toward the place from where Craddock had received his orders: Ermington NSW, home of Exclusive Brethren leader Bruce Hales. The camera crew located themselves outside the Ermington Exclusive Brethren Meeting Room and waited.

What occurred next, caught on camera as seen above, belongs more in a movie screenplay! Unmarked cars raced through the city streets a few intimidating inches from the rear of news crew vehicles. Eventually the crew were forced to call for police protection and we understand arrests followed.

The entire story is a public relations disaster for the only public Exclusive Brethren contact – Jackson Wells. This top Australian PR firm  has gone to great lengths to publicize the fiction that the Exclusive Brethren are just a misunderstood Christian church. Could it be said that they are paid to make wolves look like sheep?

There is no mistaking the message that the story of Craig Hoyle provides. The Exclusive Brethren display nothing of traditional Christianity in their dealings with any person or group that dares to criticize them. Their public testimony is proof enough of what the Bible teaches is a perfect litmus test for false Christianity and false leaders:

‘Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.‘ - Matthew 7:15-16

Follow a more detailed story of Craigs life here:

1 – WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE GAY IN THE EXCLUSIVE BRETHREN?
2 – EXCOMMUNICATION FROM THE EXCLUSIVE BRETHREN
3 – AFTER THE EXCLUSIVE BRETHREN – CRAIG HOYLE BEGINS LIFE

Many will recall the first cult smear advertising that first hit the streets in New Zealand in 2005. Later, Australia suffered the same influx of brochures, pamphlets and handouts. They all had one thing in common - the group behind the material was never mentioned.

Rather than provide any normal route to identity, the Exclusive Brethren intentionally obfuscate their publications. When you consider the way they hide their tracks, this is perhaps understandable: false addresses, misleading names, even the business premises of their unsuspecting tenants … One thing is constant, the name of the Taylorite / Symington / Hales Exclusive Brethren never appears.

9/11 and now 'Black Saturday'

And now, in perhaps their most cynical effort todate, they use their own children in an effort to extract money from a public for whom they care nothing and even seemingly entrap a Prime Minister who has publicly declared them an “extremist cult” to assist them. And their public relations lever? The killer bush fires that swept across Victoria in southern Australia during February, less than a year ago.

‘ Firestorm: Black Saturday’s Tragedy‘ is published by Dennis Jones & Associates of Byswater, Victoria, Australia and there is even a website dedicated to the PR cause: http://www.blacksaturdaysfirestorm.com.au

The Glenvale School is an Exclusive Brethren school – one of those campuses that is set to receive some of the over $70 million hand-out authorized by Kevin Rudd over the next two years:

The Prime Minister provided a letter, accompanied by a photo, congratulating the Exclusive Brethren-run Glenvale School in Victoria for producing the book. The Brethren yesterday confirmed Mr Rudd was aware the sect was involved in the book when he agreed to provide the letter.

The letter is reproduced on a full page at the front of the book, which is billed as a fundraiser for the Country Fire Authority.

About 55,000 copies of Firestorm: Black Saturday’s Tragedy have been printed and are on sale for $50. The preface says the book was the work of “parents and friends” of Glenvale’s Lilydale and Berwick campuses, but fails to note the school is run by the sect.

From The Australian – Kevin Rudd endorses Exclusive Brethren fire book

At best this ‘fund raiser’ is a feeble Public Relations effort but those who know the Exclusive Brethren and their ways see a more sinister intent – a transparent ruse to try and improve their irrepairably damaged public reputation – on the backs of a gut-wrenching disaster and by the use of children that continue to be indoctrinated at the expense of the Australian tax-payer.

It will not escape the attention of many that the last time the Exclusive Brethren attempted anything like this, they were trumpeting their ‘assistance during the aftermath of 9/11‘ – as to exactly what their assistance was at that time, no one knows.

The fact that Glenvale School, the Publisher and the Exclusive Brethren’s public relations firm do not disclose who is behind this effort speaks louder than words – the silence is the continuing sneaky hallmark of one of the most destructive religious cults around today.

As Simon & Garfunkel knew: “silence like a cancer grows...”

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share…
No one dare
Disturb the sound of silence

“Fools,” said I, “you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.”
“Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you.”
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls,
And whisper’d in the sound of silence.”

Answer: these three politicians came into contact with the Exclusive Brethren and have suffered political damage as a result.

Don Brash and John Howard are now history, but Kevin Rudd currently remains the Prime Minister of Australia. Will Rudd manage to retain his role in the next Australian General Election? Time will tell, but the informed media are sharpening their swords over a mounting list of unfathomable decisions that simply do not add up. Of greater import perhaps is the ‘chatter’ from members of the Australian electorate who are the final arbiters in the future of any politician.

For example, consider the voices of those who have objected to the seeming duplicity in Keven Rudd’s decision to allow over $70 million to be paid to the Exclusive Brethren school system in Australia. It is almost mystifying to watch the man who had the courage in late 2007 to call the Exclusive Brethren what they are – “an extremist cult and sect … who break up families” – and then just two years later, to fork out an almost obscenely disproportionate contribution to the school system blatantly designed by the cult for the cult.

These are not schools aimed at producing well-rounded citizens of the countries and communities in which they are located. They serve one main purpose – keeping children separate from other non-cult children so that by the time they might meet non-EB members of society, they are already pre-conditioned.

Once the children graduate from their Exclusive Brethren schools, they do not have the normal life adventure of deciding on a suitable university. Exclusive Brethren young adults are provided with one or two tertiary opportunities via correspondance courses, but the character-building adventure of beginning to fend for oneself is not an option the Exclusive Brethren allow.  In fact, it is the last thing they want!

Thinking, research, free access to all literature, thought and philosophy are luxuries that Exclusive Brethren children are trained to shun. With an unthinkable future of being disfellowshipped, thrown into outer-darkness and an eternity in hell fire, most succumb to the threat and obediently start working for one of the wealthiest religious international business networks which are in turn linked to one of the largest and most complex international charitable trust (read ‘tax-free’) organizations in the world today. Girls have one future ahead of them – Motherhood. The Exclusive Brethren do not recruit from outside and must therefore fill their schools by breeding from within.

It is this sub-culture that Kevin Rudd is enabling by allowing government funding. It will permanently damage his political future.

Listen to your electorate Kevin!

“I’m not opposed to the use of taxpayer funds to support so-called “private education”. It makes good economic sense, especially given the contribution some schools make to the education of rural students and those with disabilities. Many more students from such schools make immense contributions to the community in later life, more than repaying the money spent on their education. These things, however, are not true of the Exclusive Brethren.”

“The purpose of their schools is to isolate individuals from society and make them so dependent on the group that they are unable to leave because they have no external support network.”

“I suggest the Exclusive Brethren should show a willingness to participate in society before they receive taxpayer funds for education.”

“Brilliant stuff. Fund them all to run their loony schools and do away with sane, rational public education altogether.”

“Schools that accept taxpayers money are not “private”.”

“… whose only purpose is to groom the next generation to fund the religious cult, (illegal and unconstitutional in any other country in the world) otherwise the present religions would simply fade away like all the other thousands of invented religions have? “

“The facts are that the majority of Australian families will never afford to use these private religious cult schools or ever want to use them “

“We should have similar legislation here in Australia so that our taxes are not used by religious cults on political parties, advertising and the indoctrination of vulnerable young children (which many consider child abuse) “

“… by privately run outrageously expensive religious global corporations whose only purpose is to groom the next generation to fund the religious cult, (illegal and unconstitutional in any other country in the world)”

“Church tax in Germany dates from well before Hitler. It was levied back in 19th century, and was part of the Weimar Constitution of 1919 … The tax office collects the tax on behalf of the religion … Those who belong to other religious groups or who have no religion, do not pay the tax. Anyone who officially leaves their religious community is no longer liable for the tax.”

“Exclusive Brethren raise their daughters telling them that if they ever marry or sleep with a man not of their church they will never see their families again. This is child abuse. Plain. Simple. Shut this cult down.”

“this is an obscenity!”

Random quotes extracted from The Australian Letters Blog

“In early 2007, senior members of the Exclusive Brethren Christian Fellowship approached Jackson Wells seeking assistance dealing with a sudden and intense increase in media interest…”

“At the heart of Jackson Wells strategy to assist the Brethren was to increase the Church’s engagement with the wider community, mainly through the media.”

“The Brethren Church still has some way to travel in gaining an accurate public understanding of the lifestyle of its members”

Jackson Wells: ‘understanding’ the Exclusive Brethren

The Exclusive Brethren have a track record of hypocrisy. For example, while still maintaining that the Internet was a “pipeline of filth”, they created a website that even today spouts:

“The Exclusive Brethren practice separation from evil, recognising this as God’s principle of unity. They shun the conduits of evil communications: television, the radio, and the Internet…”

The Exclusive Brethren: Who are they?

In an attempt to demonstrate a self-perceived commitment to public good deeds, The Exclusive Brethren used to trumpet the fact that they had offered unspecified assistance in the aftermath of 9/11 on their ‘evil’ website:

“The Exclusive Brethren assisted the rescue efforts at Ground Zero during the aftermath of the tragic attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.”

Previous Exclusive Brethren website

This changed following the February 2009 bushfires in Victoria Australia when Jackson Wells co-founder quietly leaked the fact that the Exclusive Brethren had donated $3 million to the Red Cross Appeal. (Source Peter Jackson blog )

Shortly afterward, the Exclusive Brethren website replaced their 9/11 self-congratulation with the Jackson Wells bushfire donation story:

“Members of the Exclusive Brethren donated more than A$3 million to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal to assist those affected by the devastating Black Saturday blazes in Victoria on February 7, 2009.

Many Brethren live close to areas burned and employ people who lost loved ones and property in the fires.”

Source – The Exclusive Brethren website

To ensure that the public get the message, an Exclusive Brethren school has now published a book labelled as a fund raiser. In a remarkable public relations coup, they even persuaded Kevin Rudd, the Australian Prime Minister to offer support for the enterprise!

The public relations smoke screen follows on the heels of the recent announcement that the Exclusive Brethren schools system have been granted over $70 million (AUS) in Australian federal funds over the next two years.

Brethren schools get $70m in funding
The Australian
by Rick Wallace
January 12, 2010

The Rudd government is handing more than $70 million to schools run by the Exclusive Brethren, a religious sect Kevin Rudd described as an “extremist cult” that breaks up families.

The sect’s schools have secured more than $8.4m under the government’s school building stimulus package and they will share in $62m in recurrent taxpayer funding.

Documents show a Brethren-run school at Swan Hill in northern Victoria was granted $1.2m for a library and $800,000 for a hall when its most recent annual report shows it had just 16 pupils and already had a library.

Grants data released by the commonwealth shows that Brethren schools in every state received funding under the $12.4 billion schools stimulus package. Despite the Brethren’s past disdain for computers, figures show its schools have received more than 300 under the commonwealth computers-in-school initiative.

Source: Brethren schools get $70m in funding

Although it might appear that ‘flying under the radar’ has recently proved beneficial to the secretive cult and their advisors, the confused signals from the Rudd administration have resulted in increased media scrutiny.  Rick Wallace of the Australian continues investigating the outrageous funding:

Exclusive Brethren enjoying $1m taxpayer windfall
The Australian
by Rick Wallace
January 13, 2010

Despite being assessed as wealthy, the Brethren’s mushrooming network of schools is being funded at a higher rate than independent schools in battling regional communities such as Bourke and Longreach.

The secretive but financially savvy sect has taken advantage of a “no-disadvantage” clause put in the funding system by the Howard government, of which the Brethren was a strong supporter.

…

The no-disadvantage clause means that despite the wealth of the Brethren schools’ communities, their funding level is preserved at that awarded to the original campus at Meadowbank in Sydney. Australian Education Union federal president Angelo Gavrielatos said the funding guarantee was costing taxpayers $3.5 billion a year and must be urgently reviewed.

“The over-funding of the Exclusive Brethren’s MET school is a prime example of a corrupted funding system, with half the private schools in the country funded above their entitlement,” Mr Gavrielatos said.

Source: Exclusive Brethren enjoying $1m taxpayer windfall

Now watch for security fences, steel padlocked gates, CCTV and blocked-out windows.

Exactly what persuaded Staffordshire’s Development Control Committee to grant approval for the conversion of a local pub to a very non-public house last week remains unclear. It seems, in a highly controversial decision, that the Lynton Tavern, Bodmin Avenue, Stafford, UK has now passed into the hands of a local cell of the Exclusive Brethren.

The Development Control Committee members cannot complain that they have no idea whom they are dealing with!  There has been excellently-organized community support in attempting to prevent this example of community self-mutilation. As always with the Exclusive Brethren, there are ‘wheels within wheels’ and only time will tell whether the town officials maintain their ‘ostrich-in-the-sand’ posture.

Controversial plan is set to get green light
Staffordshire Post
Jan 12, 2010

Councillors are set to approve controversial plans to convert part of a Stafford pub into a place of worship despite a raft of local objections.

Stafford Gospel Hall Trust members want to convert the Lynton Tavern, Bodmin Avenue, Stafford, into a place of worship for up to 25 people.

The plans, which have been recommended for approval, were due to be discussed at Wednesday night’s Development Control Committee meeting.

Neighbours fear there will be an increase in noise and traffic if plans go ahead.

But the trust plans to install new doors and the building, which has been vacant since September, would only be used for worship.

No music would be played at services and all members live within two miles of the site.

The application has been called before the committee by Cllr Susan Francis: “For the Committee to consider this material change of use and the adverse affect the loss of this local amenity will have on the community, in particular the shops opposite.”

The plans have also been ‘called in’ by Cllr Ann Edgeller: “For the Committee to look at the impact of change of use and loss of car parking in the area.”

Locals have questioned the need for a church in the area and say the new place of worship will be an intrusion on the privacy of nearby properties.

The Highways Authority has not objected to the plans providing the applicant can provide a parking layout for 25 spaces.

But the Head of Environmental and Health Services has said the plans should be refused unless certain criteria is met, including hours of use altered to no earlier than 9am.

Source: Controversial plan is set to get green light

It is a remarkable decision in that there is such a dramatic difference between the English concept of a community public house where friends and neighbours gather for an opportunity to relax, chat and … be a community  …  and the Exclusive Brethren who avoid all contact with those who are not members of the group by following their viciously misguided doctrine known as ‘Separation from evil’..

Superficially the town planners can be forgiven for assuming that the Exclusive Brethren are just another church. A group that sports the name ‘Stafford Gospel Hall Trust’ is easily categorized as probably evangelical Christians who are intent on benefiting and  assisting the communities in which they live.  The truth is rather different.

The Exclusive Brethren do not call their halls ‘Gospel Halls’ – they call them ‘Meeting Rooms’. The use of the words ‘Gospel Hall’ is a contemporary camouflage due to the fact that their plans were starting to be questioned by intelligent councils and municipalities around the world who bothered to investigate who the group actually were rather than being dazzled by the size of their cheque-books.

The Exclusive Brethren love to obfuscate matters with attempting to ride on the coat-tails of the truly evangelical historically-linked ‘Open Brethren’. The Open Brethren were formed in 1848 as a result of a division in the Plymouth Brethren caused by John Nelson Darby. Those that followed Darby became increasingly ‘Closed’ and gained the name Exclusive Brethren.

The most extreme of the several resulting groups are the so-called Taylor / Symington / Hales Exclusive Brethren (categorized by the last name of their leaders) who were described recently by Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia as “an extremist cult and sect … who break up families”. This is the group that has now taken over possession of the Lynton Tavern, Bodmin Avenue, Stafford, UK.

If this planning permission is confirmed, the residents will see the following changes:

1 – The windows will be blocked – no-one will be able to see inside.

'All Are Welcome!' - - Not!

2 – A security fence will be erected – probably steel and up to 2m high.

3 – A padlocked steel gate will appear.

4 – The promised ‘new doors’ wil be securely locked BOTH when the Exclusive Brethren are present AND when they are not present.

5 – A state-of-the-art digital recording system will be installed to enable each Meeting to be recorded – and transmitted to the Bible & Gospel Trust HQ if required.  Every word of the current leader, Australian Bruce D. Hales and other wealthy leaders of the internationally-based cult are transcribed and must be purchased by all members world-wide.

A typical Exclusive Brethren 'Welcome'

6 – A sign will be erected outside like this one, that far from inviting the community to hear the promised ‘Gospel’, will demand the curious to call a telephone number. If progressed, the enquiror would be visited to check if they are ’suitable’ to attend a meeting. Don’t bother if you have a TV, radio, pets, smoke or are unwilling to leave your family should it become necessary.

7 – Should you manage to scale the fence, cross the parking lot and reach the door, you will find a bell-push. If a meeting is in session, someone will come to the door and you WILL be turned away. Try it!

8 – Oh – and did you know they have to meet at 6:00 AM on a Sunday morning? That is the unearthly time of their ‘communion service’ and it is always held at 6:00 AM everywhere that there is a local assembly meeting room. Watch the stated “9:00 AM limit” change!

9 – Finally, the greatest con of all … the Exclusive Brethren will expect the community of Weeping Cross to subsidise the loss of their community pub and the creation of a barred and gated Exclusive Brethren Meeting Room. They will expect to be granted full tax-exemption as a public place of worship!

Only public for Tax Evasion purposes

We strongly suggest that the residents of Weeping Cross insist that their elected officials deny this ridiculous request.

The Exclusive Brethren are a group that truly live up to their name. The Excluded are those who are not members.

That means You! And they expect you to pay?  Come on Weeping Cross – that is just insulting!

In Australia, the Brisbane city planners heard the community plea and responded correctly forcing the Exclusive Brethren to reconsider their application.

We urge the Weeping Cross community to follow suit.

The following December 2009 blog entry presents in a refreshingly clear and concise manner exactly what is wrong with the Exclusive Brethren interpretation of what it is to be ’separate from the world’. The author Milt Rodriguez (never an Exclusive Brethren member) also portrays a perfect summary of why Brethren divide so many times – how many ex-Exclusive Brethren have heard the dread words: ‘I can no longer walk in fellowship with you… I therefore withdraw from iniquity‘ …

“My view is fact; your view is opinion. My view is correct; your view is incorrect. And since your view is incorrect, that makes it erroneous. Therefore, I cannot fellowship with someone who is in such obvious error.”

- Milt Rodriguez in ‘ The Dominion of Opinion’

The Dominion of Opinion that follows is recommended as one of the better doctrinal explanations of where the Exclusive Brethren went wrong with their malformed hypothesis of what ‘Separation from Evil’ really entails.

The Dominion of Opinion
by Milt Rodriguez
December 2009

There is an interesting event that has been going on in my life recently. I have been reading a book by G.H. Lang about the life of Anthony Norris Groves. This book is both a biography on Groves and a history of the early Brethren movement in Ireland and England in the 1800’s. I definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn the history of Christians who walked outside of organized Christianity.

The interesting thing about the Brethren (sometimes called the Plymouth Brethren) is that they set out to meet outside the religious system in a biblical way and one of their strongest founding principles was that of unity and acceptance of all true believers. However, later on in the movement, the Brethren became the most divided movement among all the groups outside the system. How could this happen? I have become determined to find out. I believe it is very important to learn from their mistakes.

The other interesting thing that is going on in my life to coincide with the book is that there have been several believers who have come to me recently who have either left or considered leaving their groups because of doctrinal differences. Hmmm . . . very interesting! Historical lessons being learned in the fires of current dilemmas. So, for me, this has brought up the question (again and again) of when and/or if Christians should ever separate from one another. So I will be quoting from the above mentioned book and the scriptures to share some of my thoughts with you.

What is the Source of Our Unity?

In the very beginning of the Brethren movement, unity was of the utmost importance. Later on in the movement, when John Darby was separating from certain brothers, Anthony Groves wrote him a letter. In 1845 Groves wrote:

“One point only is fixed on my mind; to receive all, as Christ receives them, to the glory of God the Father. More than twenty years this point has been deepening in my mind; and all I hear and see makes it more precious: indeed amidst so much weakness and infirmity, with such partial and imperfect views of truth, I see no other way but committing all judgment to the Son, to whom the Father hath committed it.”

Read the full letter in the Peebs.Net Archives

One common slogan among the Brethren at the time was “life not light is the basis of union.” This makes perfect sense to me. If I make light (or revelation) the basis of union then I would need to separate from all Christians who do not have the same revelation of truth as I have. That would be a lot of separating! But if life is the basis of union then I would receive all those who have the life of Christ within them. But how will I know who has this life and who doesn’t? Usually we can sense these things. However, I really don’t know, so if someone professes to have His life then I must receive him because I am leaving all judgment to the Son. He who has the Son has the life. So, if life is our basis, then it’s all about the Son.

A Difference of Opinion

In 1848 problems arose within the Brethren assemblies in Plymouth and Bristol. Some leaders in Plymouth were accused of erroneous teachings and others rose up to stop them. This problem was not dealt with scripturally and some others traveled to Bristol and spread the controversies to that assembly. This “virus” continued to spread and divided the assemblies into two camps; the Exclusive Brethren and the Open Brethren. The Exclusive groups would only fellowship with those who agreed with their doctrines, and Open groups would receive all believers. These two “camps” still exist to this day. Ironically, many divisions have since occurred within Brethren groups over the issue of light or life. Do we receive believers based upon the light they have or the life they have?

In 1932 eight believers from Exclusive Brethren groups in England, Australia, and the U.S. went to visit the assembly in Shanghai, China and other places. These were some of the churches that Watchman Nee and his associates had raised up. The Brethren invited Nee to come and visit them overseas the next year which Nee did. However, on his trip, he also visited several other groups of Christians not of the Exclusive Brethren circle. This action by brother Nee was deemed by these Exclusive Brethren as having compromised his fellowship with them. The brothers in China wrote them a long letter about their position on this matter. Basically, it was a plea for open fellowship among all the saints everywhere. This, however, was unacceptable to these Exclusive Brethren and later that year it was decided that they would break off all fellowship with the saints in China.

To me, it is unbelievable and inconceivable that believers would treat one another like this. Here is an excerpt from the letter that the Chinese brothers sent to the Exclusive Brethren:

“The Scriptures plainly show us that the basis of our receiving one another is “even as Christ also received you” (Rom. 15:7). The reason why we receive anyone is because “God hath received him” (Rom. 14:3). Hence the command of God to us is: “him that is weak in faith receive ye” (Rom. 14:1). This command is explicit, distinctive and irrevocable. It is a sin to refuse acceptance of him whom God has received, however weak or lacking in light he may be.”

I must stand with these brothers from China and say a hearty “Amen!” We cannot reject or separate from our fellow believers because of doctrinal, structural, or theological differences. I like the way that Augustine put it:

“In the essentials – unity
In the non-essentials – freedom
In all things – love”

- Augustine (354-430 AD)

I would say that the “essentials” are the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostles Creed is a good basic guideline. However, someone could mentally agree on the basic tenets of the Apostles Creed and still not possess the life of Christ. Here again, it comes down to a matter of life. The early Brethren had it right! However, when they began to divide it was over matters of light. They didn’t all agree on their eschatology (study of end times). And this is definitely one of those non-essentials!

The Dilemma of Disagreement

I personally know of Christians who have separated from other believers because of their views on tongues, gifts, prophecy, end times, baptism, spiritual warfare, evangelism, leadership, hell and heaven, social action, tithing, ad infinitum. Yet all of these things are merely our own opinions of what the Bible teaches. And yet we are willing to take a knife and chop up the living Body of Jesus Christ for these opinions!

You see, herein lies the problem: We don’t believe they are opinions, we think they are facts! Our line of reasoning goes something like this: My view is fact; your view is opinion. My view is correct, you view is incorrect. And since your view is incorrect, that makes it erroneous. Therefore, I cannot fellowship with someone who is in such obvious error.

This was the line of reasoning used by some in the Brethren movement in the 19th century and that is why it became the most divided group of believers outside of institutional Christianity.

Life or Knowledge

Do you see this for what it really is? There were two trees in the middle of the Garden. One contained the knowledge of good and evil, right and wrong, truth and error. And the other contained God’s very own life. We chose to become judges over good and evil and it has brought us death ever since. Yet the Lord is calling to us and beckoning us to come to Him and partake of His abundant life.

I work with many groups of believers who want to experience organic church life. They want to live and function as the Body of Christ as did the early church. Most of them have been in the institutional church for many years. Some have been in various kinds of house churches. But they all have many opinions! More than once I have found myself sitting in a living room with half fundamentalists and half charismatics. How will this ever work? How can these people ever live as a community under the headship of Christ? There is really only one way.

They must lay down all of their opinions at the foot of the cross. They must present their bodies as a living sacrifice to God. They must be transformed by the renewal of their minds (See Rom. 12:1, 2).

Notice with me that Paul only recommended the separation of believers in two instances. One case was the brother in Corinth involved in extreme unrepentant immorality (I Cor. 5: 9-13). The reason for the separation was to bring the brother to repentance and restoration with the church. Paul also told the believers not to associate with those who cause divisions (Rom. 16:17). But nowhere does he tell anyone to separate from other believers because they have different opinions!

Full Article: The Dominion of Opinion

John Nelson Darby was a brilliant academic, a God-fearing man and devoted his life to furthering an idea and a cause – no-one doubts his motives. History also shows that JND made an error over the Bethesda Issue in 1848 the impact of which is still being felt today.

The most visible reside of Bethesda is a group of 45,000+ individuals who are now self-protected behind security fences, windowless ‘fortress’ Meeting halls, separatist elementary and high schools owned and run by themselves … a group who are better known as the Taylorite / Symington / Hales Exclusive Brethren.

They are also correctly defined by many as a modern-day cult.

Who says Public Relations firms are ineffectual?

The news that Daniel Hales, brother to the Exclusive Brethren leader Bruce D. Hales, is to present a paper at the ICSA Annual Conference in New York in early July 2010 marks a new step in a carefully choreographed transformation.

Daniel Hales has lived in the shadow of his younger brother since not being selected as a suitable leader of the EB following the death of their father John S. Hales in 2002. Always heavily involved in the business and monetary aspects of the cult, he has nevertheless been carefully groomed over the past several years by Jackson Wells (http://www.jacksonwells.com.au/), the EB’s Public Relations Agency, to act as a spokesman for the group.

Several spokesmen have come and gone since Bruce Hales gained control in 2002. Due to the reluctance (some say inability) of Bruce Hales to face the media, a series of personalities have attempted to divert attention away from what many view as firm evidence of cultic behavior. Indeed, the Exclusive Brethren were recently described by current Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as “an extremist cult and sect” who went on to state that he believed “they break up families“.

The ‘Daniel Hales’ paper, scheduled to be presented in New York USA at the ICSA’s Conference 2010 July 2nd, 2010 will be fascinating study material for the many thousands of ex-members who have been cut-off from their families and friends by the harsh rigidity of the Exclusive Brethren ‘Separation from evil’ keystone doctrine.

The ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) is a global network of people concerned about psychological manipulation and abuse in cultic groups, alternative movements, and other environments.

The ICSA Annual Conference organized in collaboration with Info-Cult/Info-Secte of Montreal, Canada (http://infosect.freeshell.org/infocult/ic-home.html) will be held July 1st through July 3rd, 2010. Full details are available at: http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_conferences/conference_home_2010_ny.asp

ICSA state that the Conference is aimed at:

• anyone interested in cults, psychological manipulation, and related groups
• former group members
• people born or raised in cultic groups
• families of group-involved persons
• helping professionals
• researchers

An outline of the proposed Hales Address:

Exclusive Brethren: Is It a Sect or Is It a Cult?
by Daniel W. Hales

The address is a plea to professional persons internationally to consider carefully and dispassionately the parameters under which the words sect or cult can legitimately be used to designate a religious minority group. Are we judging by fact and dispassionate evaluation, or by hysteria and sensational media pressures? The question is raised as to what special regard needs to be given to Christianity in social, legal, and governmental arenas because of its impact on and benefit to society for thousands of years. This presentation seeks to place in an accurate context such matters as the history of the Brethren movement and its position in mainstream Christianity. The paper demonstrates why ‘separation from evil’ has always been foundational to Christian beliefs as a basis for true fellowship. It further explains how Exclusive Brethren (EBs), as fundamentalists, discharge their secular responsibilities in the areas of education and business, and also their interaction with non-EBs in such areas as the educational, medical, legal, and accounting fields.

Source: ICSA – Exclusive Brethren: Is It a Sect or Is It a Cult?

Although the Exclusive Brethren appear keen to take the opportunity to do some much-needed Public Relations, they may well find that this is not the ideal forum for attempting to publish PR-generated revisionism. A number of eminently qualified people will be presenting a wide variety of papers and discussion material during the conference.

Jill Mytton (Middlesex University), brought up in the Exclusive Brethren, is scheduled to speak on Friday, July 2nd on ‘The Mental Health of Second-Generation Adult Survivors of High-Demand Groups: A Quantitative Study’.

On Saturday, July 3rd, Daniel Hales will give his prepared address entitled ‘Exclusive Brethren: Is It a Sect or Is It a Cult?’ at 9:00am

Hales will be followed by Dr. Peter Caws (of George Washington University) with a scheduled address titled: ‘Entrapment and Rejection: The Abusive Treatment of Young People Who Have Been Born into Cultic Groups and Wish to Leave, With Special Reference to the Case of the Exclusive Brethren’.

The two addresses will be followed by a 90 minute Discussion ‘Exclusive Brethren and the Concept of Cult’:

Exclusive Brethren:
Keith Birch (UK)
Peter MacGregor (USA)
Bruce Robertson (UK)
Daniel W. Hales (Aus)

non-Exclusive Brethren:
Peter Caws, Ph.D. (USA)
Lois Svoboda, M.D. (USA)

Moderator:
Eileen Barker, Ph.D.

Meal Discussion Tables are scheduled during the Conference lunch and dinner breaks, but it is unknown if any Exclusive Brethren members would be able to attend these as their ‘Separation from evil’ doctrine bans them from eating at the same table as non-Exclusive Brethren members.

It is hoped that a number of ex-Exclusive Brethren members will also be present. One fact that even a public relations company can not whitewash is a history of broken families, vicious discipline, sociophobic attitudes toward non-members and a male-only business dominated hierarchy that intentionally entraps its members, work force and children.

It is worth noting that the Exclusive Brethren website (http://theexclusivebrethren.com/exclusive-brethren.html) only has the single route of communication available – through their commercial public relations company, Jackson Wells. It is also worth considering how many other self-styled ‘fundamentalist’ ‘christian’ ‘evangelical’ organizations offer the same level of public access to enable their stated function:  ‘to provide for the increase and improvement of christian knowledge and the spread of the gospel’ ?

References / ICSA Bio’s

Peter Caws:

Peter Caws, Ph.D., is University Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Human Sciences at the George Washington University in Washington DC. He has degrees in physics (from London) and in philosophy (from Yale) and has published widely in the philosophy of science, ethics, existentialism, and structuralism, among other things. He grew up in England among the Exclusive Brethren and his articles on “Belief and Morals Among the Taylorites” appeared in the Evangelical Times in the year 2000.

ICSA Bio – http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/caws_peter.asp

Jill Mytton:

Jill Mytton, MSc., CPsychol., is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist and Principal Lecturer in the School of Psychology, London Metropolitan University where she is the course director for the Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology. She is currently studying for a doctorate at the Metanoia Institute affiliated to Middlesex University. She is the only psychologist listed on the British Psychological Society media list for Cults and Thought Reform and has been involved in several TV and Radio broadcasts. Her primary research interest is the mental health of Second Generation Adults, i.e., those born or raised in cultic groups. She has presented at several conferences, including INFORM London, April 2008 and the annual Division of Counselling Psychology conference Dublin, June 2008. She was born and raised in the Exclusive Brethren, leaving at the age of 16, when her parents decided to leave. Apart from a small private practice, she also runs an email support group for former Exclusive Brethren and has become the first point of contact for leavers of several groups

ICSA Bio – http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/mytton_jill.asp

Daniel Hales:

Daniel Hales is a senior elder in the universal fundamental Christian fellowship known as “Exclusive Brethren.” He was born and has lived all his life in Sydney, Australia. He is the eldest son of the past leader of the Exclusive Brethren and an older brother of the present leader. He is a mechanical engineer by training and operates a family owned business in Sydney with international affiliations. He has engaged in extensive world travels since 1970; and since 1984 has been deeply involved in world-wide issues on behalf of the Exclusive Brethren in legal, government, and media areas. He has visited and worked extensively with charity projects and Exclusive Brethren interests in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, India, USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Sweden ,and elsewhere in Europe. He has been coordinator for two addresses on behalf of the Exclusive Brethren in France and Sweden and to the European O.S.C.E. Conference in Warsaw in October 2006.

ICSA Bio – http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/hales_daniel.asp

Keith Birch:

Keith Birch is an elder among the Christian fellowship known as the “Exclusive Brethren.” He was born in the UK in 1948 and has lived for the past 30 years in Nottingham. He had some training in chemical research but the majority of his working life has been in merchandising, and he now has a business distributing packaging materials sourced from around the globe, and his three sons are co-directors with him. He has travelled extensively around the world and has investments in a business in Jamaica. Amongst his honorary roles for the church, as a senior elder in the UK, is to represent aspects of Christian conscience and morality to parliamentarians, government committees, councils, and other official bodies that call for submissions and responses from all parts of society.

ICSA Bio - http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/birch_keith.asp

Peter McGregor:

Peter MacGregor, a lifelong resident of New York, is an elder among the group of Christians known as “Exclusive Brethren.” He was born in 1939 and trained as a chemical engineer at the Cooper Union School of Engineering. He completed advanced computer science studies in the industry’s infancy in 1959. A retired businessman, he does marketing consulting for various organizations.

ICSA Bio – http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/macgregor_peter.asp

Bruce Robertson:

Bruce Robertson is an elder in the universal fundamental Christian fellowship known as ‘Exclusive Brethren’. He was born in 1944 and has lived almost all his life in Oxford, UK. He has been involved in the textile trade in Oxford since 1961 and has been senior partner in a family owned business with an international clientele since 1979. He has had personal acquaintance with four generations of the leaders of the Exclusive Brethren. He has travelled since 1962 to many countries universally in the interests of the Church. He has been involved since 1996 in making submissions to Members of both Houses in the UK Parliament (Lords and Commons) in relation to wide issues affecting the consciences of all Christians. He frequently attends parliamentary debates and committee meetings with an interest in legislation as it progresses through the democratic process. He attended the ICSA Conference in Geneva in July 2009.

ICSA Bio – http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/robertson_bruce.asp

Lois Svoboda:

Lois Svoboda, M.D., is a former family medicine physician who has been trained in Marriage & Family Therapy and worked as a medical family therapist for 23 years in Wichita Kansas. Since retiring to Fremont, Nebraska four years ago, she opened a counseling practice and is working almost exclusively with people who have exited cults. In the past year she has planned and been responsible for a full day workshop for former cult members in Omaha, Ne., as well as a one day symposium for medical, law enforcement, clergy, mental health professionals, and the public on Cults and Gangs in Omaha in April of this year.

ICSA Bio – http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/svoboda_lois.asp

Eileen Barker:

Eileen Barker, Ph.D., OBE, FBA, is Professor Emeritus of Sociology with Special Reference to the Study of Religion at the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London. A former President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Dr. Barker has written or edited eleven books and written over 275 articles and book chapters. Her books include New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction and The Making of a Moonie: Brainwashing or Choice? She is the Founder and Chair of INFORM, a charity supported by the British Government and Mainline Churches which helps enquirers with information about alternative religions that is as objective and up-to-date as possible.

ICSA Bio – http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/barker_eileen.asp

The Exclusive Brethren sent their then current PR Spokesman, Anthony ‘Tony’ McCorkell to attempt to diffuse the growing scandal in New Zealand. McCorkell failed rather dismally and returned to his Australian employer, Exclusive Brethren leader, Bruce D. Hales. McCorkell’s efforts on behalf of the Exclusive Brethren attracted the attention of some investigative journalists and shortly thereafter he also faded from view.

So the Exclusive Brethren washed their hands of the man who had grown up within them, expelled him and left him to the courts. The law took its course …

Former Brethren jailed for sex crimes
The Nelson Mail
Dec 8th, 2009

An elderly former Exclusive Brethren member has been jailed for 2½ years for sexual crimes against four young girls and will pay them a total of $20,000 in reparations.

Clive Allen Petrie, 74, of Enner Glynn, was sentenced in the Nelson District Court this morning.

He had been found guilty by a Nelson jury in September of nine charges of indecently assaulting girls and one charge of inducing a girl under 12 to do an indecent act on him.

Petrie had admitted one charge of indecently assaulting a girl under 12 on the first day of his trial.

The four girls involved were aged five to nine when the offending happened, between the 1950s and 1980s.

In sending Petrie to prison, Judge Tony Zohrab said he appreciated that it would be a difficult sentence but said that, in some ways, he saw it as a merciful sentence, in contrast to the lack of mercy Petrie had shown his victims by offending against them and then making them go through the court process.

Petrie was ordered to pay $20,000 reparation, which was an amount he had offered to pay. It was to be divided equally between the women.

Judge Zohrab said Petrie had lived a lot of his life without being called to account for the offending, and the impact on at least three of the victims had been significant.

Two of the victim-impact statements were read to the court.

In those, both women said the effects of Petrie’s offending against them had been long lasting and traumatic. One woman said she had to carry the secret of the offending as she knew she could not raise it within the Exclusive Brethren church because noone would believe her.

She said she did not blame Petrie as much as she blamed the Exclusive Brethren for his offending. Both women said the offending had affected their self-esteem.

Petrie’s lawyer, Hamish Riddoch, said Petrie had been brought up within the Exclusive Brethren church and as a result he was “sheltered, naive and immature”.

Since the charges had been laid he had been withdrawn from the church and had lost its support. He stood to lose his house to pay the reparations.

Petrie apologised through Mr Riddoch to the four victims.

Crown prosecutor Glen Marshall said aggravating factors were the extended period of the offending and that a lot of it was premeditated against vulnerable girls.

The court had previously heard the offending against three of the victims happened in the 1950s and early 1960s – at a Nelson home for one of the women, and at a farm in the Motueka area for the other two, who were sisters. Those women are now in their 50s and 60s.

All three women said Petrie would get them alone and indecently touch them.

Petrie indecently assaulted the fourth victim, now 31, at his house in the 1980s.

Source: Former Brethren jailed for sex crimes

Craig Hoyle also featured in a December 2009 episode of 60 Minutes on NZ TV

Final Part of the Craig Hoyle story

And immediately, we refute our own heading – no way is this the final instalment in the story of Craig Hoyle! The bubbly infectious personality that Craig enjoys means that this 20 year old man has many more pages to write.

Craig had the courage to publicize his experiences as a young gay male both within and then outside the homophobic Exclusive Brethren cult. The stories he has told of disciplinary measures, ‘chemical castration’ and the manner in which even his own family was forced to disown him has shocked all who have followed his story.

This website has received hate-mail for even reproducing his story! Comments from several Exclusive Brethren members have been so obnoxious that they could not be printed even after editing. How a group that attempts to call themselves ‘christian’ can produce members who offer such hate-filled correspondence is beyond extraordinary, it is perhaps the most compelling argument of all that the Exclusive Brethren are no longer Christian.

They have extensive historical Christian roots and up to 40 years ago, they were well respected in all areas of society. The impact of American James Taylor Junior in the 1960’s and subsequent leaders has been spiritually catastrophic. The Taylor/Symington/Hales branch of the Exclusive Plymouth Brethren is rightly described as a cult by many today.

The story of Craig Hoyle was published in late 2009 by GayNZ.com and it led to Craig’s appearance on NZ’s 60 Minutes. (Click here or the image above to watch the TV3 episode)

Read the three Craig Hoyle Articles:

Part 1 – What is it like to be gay in the Exclusive Brethren?

Part 2 – Excommunication fron the Exclusive Brethren

and Part 3 - After the Exclusive Brethren: Craig looks ahead

Craig Hoyle, NZ

Part 2 of the Craig Hoyle story

If you ever wondered how the Exclusive Brethren treat those who dare to question their rules and lifestyle, Craig Hoyle’s continuing story will tell you far more than you probably want to know.

Craig Hoyle is gay – a ‘mortal sin’ and, as far as the Exclusive Brethren cult are concerned, a sickness that must be suppressed and cured. The way that Craig was treated is both heart-rending and anger-inducing.

How dare these people call themselves ‘Christian’!

We continue Craig’s story below. The first part of his journey can be read here - ‘What is it like to be gay in the Exclusive Brethren’ -

20-year-old Craig Hoyle, who was brought up in the Exclusive Brethren Church, risked losing everything when he told his priests and family he was gay.

After several meetings with church leaders, and a period under hormonal suppressant medication given to him by a Brethren doctor, Craig just couldn’t take it anymore. He was placed into the first stage of ‘excommunication’.

Craig continues his extraordinary story (Part 2).