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.

Of course, there is the weekly, monthly and 6 monthly market cycle as well. Each windowless Exclusive Brethren Meeting Room (only the Public Relations folk call them ‘churches’) is equipped with state-of-the-art digital recording equipment. Any recording of Bruce D. Hales or a recognized leader in Hale’s hierarchy is shipped to Chelwood House where the recording is painstakingly transcribed, checked and printed.

The monthly results of this process, ring-bound on white paper with a white card cover (the color of the ‘Elect Vessel’ Bruce D. Hales), are shipped to every Exclusive Brethren Assembly, where it is mandatory for each head of household to purchase a copy. Periodically, a bound version is also published which contains all the monthly material and few other choice excerpts. This process is the main business cash flow for Bible & Gospel Trust.

All Exclusive Brethren members (men, women and children) own their own bibles and hymn books. These too are produced by the Bible & Gospel Trust.

The bibles, hymn books and the ‘ministry’ are traditionally only for members of the Exclusive Brethren. From a business perspective, the market is big enough to allow the BGT to retain $Millions on deposit. With encouragement for Exclusive Brethren to marry young and produce families early, the market grows at a fair clip.

So how can the Bible & Gospel Trust be classified as a public charity when it really is only a private publishing house?

A good question, but the Exclusive Brethren have an answer. They produce other materials too. In order to retain their tax-exempt status for their private Meeting Rooms, they practice street-preaching (this is designed to demonstrate that they are ‘evangelical’). They do not encourage people to join them of course, Bruce Hales makes that clear in the clearly ghost-written ‘Living Our Beliefs’ available on the EB website.

“While Brethren engage in open-air preaching (street preaching) and we distribute Bibles and gospel tracts to attract people to Jesus as Savior, we do not seek to attract members of the public to join the Exclusive Brethren.”

Living Our Beliefs

As long as they continue to go through the motions of being seen as being evangelical, they can assist the retention of their tax-exempt status. Any comparison between other Christian Evangelical efforts, where sharing the message is also an invitation to join others of like mind and enjoy their company, is quite remarkable and leaves an unanswered question as to their spiritual sincerity.

So the Bible & Gospel Trust do produce other material and they do give it away. But like many things the Exclusive Brethren do, it is for a reason.

OK, so what’s the ‘Epiphany’?

The cult-safe version of the PC

It is no secret that the Exclusive Brethren have a little problem with the internet.

The global ban on them using computers was over once they worked out a way to force internet filters on those Exclusive Brethren who purchased a Wordex Exclusive Brethren computer through an Exclusive Brethren computer supplier – a brilliant business manouver that solved the educational curriculum problem …

and provided the ability to block websites like this one from their members!

Despite their continued insistence that the internet is a “pipeline of filth” :

“They shun the conduits of evil communications: television, the radio, and the Internet.”

Exclusive Brethren website (Website? WEBsite? As in on-the-Internet? Yeah, really!)

… they have their own websites now and are busy buying up domain names all over the world.

And now, the Bible and Gospel Trust has stated that they are planning one too!

a)  The distribution of Bibles, and other Christian literature entirely in
accord with the Holy Scriptures for the furtherance of Christian knowledge
amongst mankind.

b)  The promotion of Christain [sic] values through the spread of the gospel.

c)  To make literature available at or below cost to disadvantaged persons.

d)  To provide literature suitable for use by those engaged in street
preaching activities.

e)  Improved marketing material and the provision of a website.

f)  Setting up stockists of Christian literature in different parts of the world
for free distribution.

From Bible & Gospel Trust 2010 Statement

What are your charity’s main objectives for next year?

To further increase the range of publications, and make Christian literature
more available thereby reducing the decline in Christian values and
principles.

To set up a bookstore where the general public can review and purchase
Chistian literature.

To launch a website which will allow persons worldwide to access free
downloadable Christian gospel literature.

From Bible & Gospel Trust 2010 Statement

Wow!

It would appear that the probable domain will be BGTUK.ORG and/or BIBLEANDGOSPELTRUST.ORG – both sites seem ‘under construction’. BGTUK.ORG is the current email domain.

BGTUK.ORG is owned by NOA(UK) Ltd – the Exclusive Brethren National Office Assist empire that silently spans the Exclusive Brethren world. Note on the link that NOA (UK) currently owns another 949 domains!

It remains to be seen whether the Exclusive Brethren will make available the collected writings of Bruce D. Hales, John S. Hales, James H. Symington and James Taylor Jr. This website suggests that this cannot happen, because if the ramblings of these Exclusive Brethren ‘elect vessels’ were to be freely downloadable, the business structure of Bible & Gospel Trust would collapse and there would be a growing outcry as to what this cult practices and their real attitude toward “Mankind”.

But perhaps the Exclusive Brethren are simply being philosophical in their transition to huge internet use?  They call it a “pipeline of filth”, but after all, as everyone knows:

“Where there’s muck, there’s brass“.

After a grueling full day in court, settlement was reached in the long-running law suit between Peebs.Net and the Exclusive Brethren. The fact of settlement is public, but not the terms.

We will publish what we are able as and when lawyers advise.

Meanwhile, the wording used by the Court Reporter seems to underline the effort of the process!

Case Name: Bible & Gospel Trust v. Twinam et al
Case Number: 1:07-cv-00017-jgm
Document Number: 159

MINUTE ENTRY for proceedings held before Judge J. Garvan Murtha: Status/Settlement Conference held in chambers on 11/23/2009. Present were Matthew Kirtland, Esq. on behalf of pltf; Ronald Shems, Esq. and Rebecca Boucher, Esq. on behalf of dft Timothy Twinam. Statements by counsel. After extensive negotiations and discussions between the parties, a confidential settlement was reached. The parties shall prepare a written settlement agreement and file a stipulation of dismissal. The record of this conference shall remain SEALED until further order of the Court.