We have come into possession of a remarkable audio recording. It is a sound file dating from 2 or 3 years ago and is the complete recording of an Exclusive Brethren ‘Breaking of Bread’. You will find it at the end of this article.

It is remarkable for several reasons, not least of which is that this is today,  the cult’s most secret event – nobody is invited to attend this weekly 6am Sunday service unless they are a fully-established and credentialed member of the Exclusive Brethren.

It was not always so…

The Exclusive Brethren have changed radically from their early beginnings in Dublin, Ireland. The origins of the Plymouth Brethren are closely linked with one important spiritual event: Communion or, more coloquially known as ‘The Breaking of Bread’ or the ‘Lords Supper’.

Historically this was a simple service: here is an extract from a 19th century description of the weekly event. One fascinating observation is that in those days visitors were welcome to attend. There was even a place for them …

An extract from Unorthodox London (1874)

The Brethren have three principal places of meeting
in London, and to one of these, the Priory, 198,
Upper Street, Islington, I adjourned on a Sunday
morning at eleven o’clock, armed with a few of
the particulars above stated, and prepared to wit-
ness and report their exposition in public worship.
The room, which is a moderate-sized school, was filled
with a congregation of evident habitués, a very small
portion at the back being railed off “for those not in
communion.”

The service consisted principally of the
singing of a large number of hymns, without instru-
mental accompaniment of any kind, and the reading
of Scripture. There is nothing in the shape of pulpit
or reading-desk, nor any person occupying the posi-
tion of minister or president. There was, I suppose,
some preconcerted arrangement as to who should read,
pray, or give, out the hymn; but, to an outsider, it
appeared that any of the Brethren took part without
premeditation. Between each portion of the service
there was a long pause of several minutes, during
which the congregation sat with eyes closed, seemingly
engaged in private prayer.

The special object of the morning assembly was
“the breaking of bread.” This was done in the
most homely manner possible. A loaf of home—made
bread was placed, in common plates, on a table in the
centre of the room, divided into quarters, and passed
round the benches; each member helped himself or
herself to a portion, literally “breaking” it off the
quarter loaf. The wine was passed round in like
manner, in large common tumblers, the administra-
tion of each element being preceded by prayer. It
was a simple ceremony; but the idea could not fail to
strike one that its very homeliness made it a close
representation of the original supper in the long
upper room and the daily bread-breakings of Apostles.

After the Communion—as I suppose one may term
it-—followed another hymn, sung to the tune of ‘God
save the Queen.’ Whether this loyal melody was
designed to occupy anything like the position of our
Collect for the Queen I cannot say, but the effect was
slightly incongruous.

With this I imagined the proceedings would have closed,
as I had been told there would be no sermon; but a sort
of sermonette was introduced, it seemed — and, I believe,
really was – on the spur of the moment. It was delivered by a
very humble Brother indeed, in homely and not always
accurate English; but he displayed minute knowledge
of Scripture, and his sermon was intensely earnest—as
the whole service had been—consisting, I am sure, as
the preacher kept telling us, of “ thoughts that had been
pressing in upon his own soul.” The two concluding
prayers were offered by gentlemen of a very diiferent
mental calibre, and the congregation evidently num-
bered many persons of position and education. The
names of “ intending and accepted brethren ” were
then read, together with one who “sought restora-
tion”, and another who proposed to take to himself a
Sister; and so the proceedings terminated, without—-
as will be evident—anything having transpired to
inform one as to the special doctrines of the body.

Read the complete document in the peebs.net Archives

Over the years the Exclusive Brethren ‘Lord’s Supper’ has been altered so much it is virtually unrecognizable.

Today’s Lords Supper has a fixed format. First come the announcements (we have removed these from the recording for obvious reasons). Usually a random brother reads the announcements for the week, it’s a task carried out by someone that usually does not have another task within the assembly.

There is a period of several minutes between the giving of the announcements and the beginning of the service. In this recording it was 7 minutes. Following the wait, a brother goes to the table to give thanks for the loaf. He does not use the sound system so his first thanksgiving is a little hard to hear, but after that, the sound system clearly picks up every brother’s part, every sister giving out her number and the singing.

Remember, every individual is expected to take part in the Lord’s Supper. As soon as you can audibly voice a number, Exclusive Brethren mothers encourage their daughters to give out a hymn. The fathers coach the young boys at home as how to hold a microphone and what to say. There are  strict limits on what you can and cannot say at the Supper. Each segment of the time is highly regulated as to suitable words and participation.

Many ex-members remember the fear of going out of bounds and saying something unsuitable. The “Essential time” is not one remembered as one of liberty, more of making sure you crossed your t’s and dotted your i’s … and impressed everybody with what you knew about the rules and regulations of the Lord’s Supper. If you strayed, a faithful brother would likely seek you out  and help you with what these ‘great men have said’ so as to help you next time.

The early days of spiritual spontaneity have been replaced with yet more rules and regulations.

A Recording of the Exclusive Brethren Lord’s Supper:

 (This is an original recording and is uncut from the initial prayer. There is mostly silence as the emblems are passed around for the first 12 minutes or so.)

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2 Year Anniversary for Breakout by David Tchappat

Two years ago this week, Australian David Tchappat launched his autobiographical Breakout: How I escaped from the Exclusive Brethren – and last weekend David married Rachel – they are currently on honeymoon.

A Double Congratulation is therefore due to a brave young man who managed to escape the clutches of the Exclusive Brethren, wrote the most recent story of what life was like in the secretive cult, used his media power to launch the book following his appearance in Australia’s ‘Big Brother’ TV show and doggedly rebuilt his life.

peebs.net has reached agreement with David and the publishers of Breakout to serialize a portion of his book. We are hoping that the limited serialization will raise interest in David’s story and help spread the truth regarding the Exclusive Brethren.

As part of the peebs.net coverage of this 2 year anniversary, we hope to arrange a live Webinar where David will answer questions over a live Internet video feed about his life in the cult, his escape and subsequent new life.  The Webinar is yet to be scheduled – it will be recorded and made available from this website for those who miss the live event. We will be providing members of the public an opportunity to submit questions for David Tchappat prior to the event.

Enter your email address below to be notified by email of when there is news of the Breakout serialization and forthcoming Webinar.

There are many aspects to this work that deserve consideration. The writer draws upon quotes and writings from Brethren, ex-Brethren and other authors. His focus is not upon the ‘Open’ Plymouth Brethren, but upon the Darbyite followers of J.N. Darby – the original Exclusive Brethren.

Key quotations:

“The first thing which strikes us on marking the piety of Brethrenism, is its exclusiveness. The theory of those composing it is, that all the churches are wrong – that all sects are unscriptural – that Christendom is in ruins. Were it so, the natural conclusion would be, to set to work and build up what has fallen, and reunite what is scattered. But no. To end sectarianism, as John Duncan used to say, the Brethren began by making a new sect, and that sect, of all sects, the most sectarian.” – William Reid

“Have you tried these brethren – the Darbyites? I have tried them (try the spirits whether they are of God), and found them false prophets – in every sense of the word, false. They are false in what they say of their brethren, they are false in doctrine, and they are false in their walk” – Lord Congleton

“Your union will daily become one of doctrines and opinions, more than of life and love;
Your government, unseen perhaps and unexpressed, will soon become one wherein is overwhelmingly felt the authority of men;
You will be known more for what you witness against, than by what you witness for; and practically this will prove that you witness against all but yourselves.”
- Anthony Groves (historical founder of the Brethren)

James Grant carefully traces the progress of the Plymouth Brethren and the major figures involved from the origins in Ireland to Plymouth and then to Bethesda. He quotes from the tracts and pamphlets of the time and leaves the reader in no doubt who was in control and by whose orders the Bethesda division was instigated.

Grant has a number of unique insights and information about the Darbyites following Bethesda, not least of which is a remarkable chapter dealing with Brethren Hymnology.

The publishers of the first Brethren hymnals were apparently adept at taking a well-known hymn and altering the words very subtly so that the Brethren doctrines would be thus embedded. Grant provides a number of examples of this practice – which seem to be an early form of subliminal advertising?

Grant proves his point and states: “There lies against the compilers of the Darby hymn book the double charge of transposition and unjustifiable mutilation …”.

London in the 1870's - PAUL-GUSTAVE DORÉ (1832–83)

An unusual and fascinating compilation of one man’s journey through a wide variety of sects, religions, faiths and weird places during the 1870′s in London. This is a large book with over 450 pages and we recommend a rainy weekend to fully appreciate and enjoy. The articles were mostly originally published by the author in the ‘Daily Telegraph’ with the instruction: “they should be strictly descriptive articles, expressing no opinion pro or con.”

Rev. Davies visits two groups of particular interest: a Plymouth Brethren group and Mr. Newton – we supply those below as an extract.

The writer has the opportunity to watch a Plymouth Brethren Communion Service, listen to William Kelly and then to hear Mr. Newton teach on prophetic matters. As to whether the Priory, Islington is exclusive by nature, Rev. Davies answers that by remarking on their ‘calm’ self-description: ‘The One Assembly of God in London‘.

The beliefs and teachings of Newton seem complex and a strange brew, but one can see that the rift runs deep and Davies seems to record with a smile the fact he is speaking with one “… whose doctrines are described as ‘Satantic,’ ‘blasphemous,’ ‘deep, damnable fundemental heresies.‘”.

Peter Mearns was a Presbyterian minister who was attempting to protect his parishioners from Plymouth Brethren proselytizing in Northumberland and Berwickshire in 19th century England. Rev. Mearns gives many examples of the ways in which the ‘Darbyites’ attempted to infiltrate and lure members from congregations into their meetings.

Although the Exclusive Brethren today do not attempt to recruit from the outside, in the early days of the Brethren, this was how they increased their numbers. It generated intense bad feeling among many churches and their ministers at the time.

“Among all the Christians I ever met, I never saw such intolerance and bigotry – such denial of the right of private judgment, and such miserable oppression, as among this sect.”

The Errors of the (Exclusive) Plymouth Brethren

Feelings ran high in the established churches as disaffected parishioners left to taste the Plymouth Brethren during the early to mid-19th century.

It wasn’t so much that they were leaving other churches or the fact that the early Plymouth Brethren actively prosetalyzed established churches and their members. It was the fact that many saw errors in their doctrine and already, the public testimony of the now multi-split Exclusive Plymouth Brethren, was anything but attractive.

This is an 1869 transcript of three sermons delivered by one Rev. James Carmichael in Montreal, Canada.

The Right Rev. Carmichael was eventually the 4th Bishop of Montreal.  He was born in 1835 around the time that the ‘Brethren from Plymouth‘ began to be noticed. Rev Carmichael died in 1908.

“Once it was a compact body, composed soley of believers … now its ranks are broken; its body of believers split up into antagonistic parties, who not only will not commune together, but who speak in anything but a Christian way of each other.”

“The Brethren glory in the fact they have no creed … [their] creed runs thus:-

I BELIEVE that the Church is composed of believers.
I BELEIVE that we constitute that Church.
I BELIEVE that all professing Christians outside of the Church are connected with Apostacy, Infedality and Socianism, that no denomination owns the spirit of God…”

“We cannot – dare not, allow a false idea to go forth unrebuked…”

J N Darby (1800-1882) - Architect of the Exclusive Brethren

Originally published in 1866, Groves produced two later editions (1876 and 1880) explaining “It has been my aim to soften what seemed harsh … endeavoured to avoid all judgment of motives.” So in this edition, the reader is receiving the softest version possible. (We know how some of you will appreciate this.)

Groves outlines the history leading up to Bethesda and the aftermath very succinctly. By creating a narrative of facts and by the use of quotations from published words by the participants, Groves has produced a concise explanation of the doctrinal components in a fairly readable form.

There are some rare extracts and quotations which are difficult to locate elsewhere. The one constant of Plymouth Brethren early history that  all commentaries of the time agree upon is the immense influence that J. N. Darby accumulated.

Although not the Originator of the Plymouth Brethren, Darby began to be seen as the architect of its future development. Unfortunately, history shows that some of his decisions led his ‘flock’ right back into the sectarianism from which the movement wished to escape.

There are one or two hints of activities that will remind some of more recent Exclusive Brethren techniques, that of ‘The Lord moving on‘ and of incriminating quotations being edited from view.

The title page to an anonymous 1852 pamphlet deriding the teachings of Darby

This anonymous 1852 pamphlet is written by someone with considerable ‘inside’ knowledge of the Plymouth Brethren and, as it is published just 4 years after Bethesda, some may consider it an important addition.

The last section of the pamphlet contains a controversial theory – it builds upon the Darbyite belief that the Exclusive Brethren represented the ‘One Assembly of God’ and the author presents these principles in full.

The author then suggests that the Plymouth rift was seen as an opportunity by Darby to establish himself and his pre-millenial rapture theories – by linking together Newton and his alternate prophetic versions and branding them as “evil”. It is a section worth reading twice – if you can deal with the intense doctrinal debate.

F W Newman (1805-1897) - describes the impact J. N. Darby had on his spiritual quest for knowledge

Francis William Newman (brother to Cardinal F. H. Newman) was well-connected to the early founders of the Plymouth Brethren. Indeed, in the early 1830′s, he served as an assistant to Anthony Norris Groves, considered by many to be the original founder of the ‘separatists’ who eventually came to be better known as the ‘Brethren from Plymouth‘.

In 1850 F.W. Newman published his Phases of Faith, or Passages from the History of my Creed. There is little doubt in reading the full document that Darby held immense sway over him.  A description of a later visit to Oxford describes with awe the impact that Darby had on those around him.

Newman’s descriptions of Darby are quite dramatic, but even more than his word pictures of “the Irish clergyman” is his obvious love and admiration for JND. There are some telling insights into Darby and the manner in which he was able to take control rapidly among any level of society.

Of particular resonance must be:

“This was a young relative of his, – a most remarkable man, – who rapidly gained an immense sway over me. I shall henceforth call him ‘the Irish clergyman’. His ‘bodily presence’ was indeed ‘weak’! A fallen cheek, a bloodshot eye, crippled limbs resting on crutches, a seldom shaven beard, a shabby suit of clothes and a generally neglected person, drew at first pity, with wonder to see such a figure in a drawing-room.”

“When I had returned to Oxford, I induced the Irish clergyman to visit the University, and introduced him to many of my equals in age, and juniors. Most striking was it to see how instantaneously he assumed the place of universal father-confessor, as if he had been a known and long-trusted friend. His insight into character, and tenderness pervading his austerity, so opened young men’s hearts, that day after day there was no end of secret closetings with him.”

“In order to learn divine truth, it became to me a surer process to consult him, than to search for myself and wait upon God: and gradually, (as I afterward discerned,) my religious thought had merged into the mere process of developing fearlessly into results all his principles, without any deeper examining of my foundations.”

- F. W. Newman