Does anyone know much about the Brethren?

[carlycurly]

There are plenty of indications that our new neighbours may be part of the Brethren and I suspect that the house has been bought by the church for let to Brethren families.

I'm fascinated by such a different way of life and am really just interested in finding out some more about it all. I'm guessing I won't find any on here due to the restrictions on using internet. we've had a few interesting situations with them so far and it's certainly not the usual neighbour interaction.

Hi - there's different levels to Brethren.

Do the ladies dress differently?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-12182333

Can I ask whereabouts roughly you live? And as pp said, can you describe the dress?

I used to work for a Brethen owned and run company. It was 'interesting' and definitely a culture shock. Fascinating to have done so though as its highly unusual as an outsider.

I've read In the Days of Rain by Rebecca Stott. It's very good. I'd imagine current Brethren might say it was outdated.

We had a whole Brethren community in my primary school. The girls all had long hair and wore small square scarves like a bandana over their hair and wore only long skirts. They never had lunch at school, and always went home to eat lunch. They seemed like happy children to me, I was only 6-9years old.

Are they like Jehovah’s Witnesses? I’d really like to know what happened to the children I went to school with and whether they’re still Brethrens. I haven’t seen anyone dressed like them in my city in adulthood.

OP, have you read Gosse, 'Father and Son'? That would give you some insights.

I have known some Brethren people, and suffice it to say that I am not in the slightest bit hostile to organised religion (am not a believer, but have no objections to any of it) - but I do not like what I know about their beliefs and way of life.

Lots of Brethren in my area.

Generally, women don’t wear trousers or cut their hair. They wear hats for religious ‘meetings’. Only men are allowed to deliver the service/speak to the congregation, and the women must wear a hat (usually a felt beret) and serve the teas. Alcohol is supposed to be forbidden, though some do drink behind closed doors. They don’t have televisions or read newspapers, but nowadays they have smart phones and therefore access to the internet. Women can go to university and work, even when they’re married. However, as far as I know they usually work as teachers or nurses. I know of one female architect though.

My cousin works gor a company which is owned by Plymouth Brethen.

If anything happens in their area they are the first there to help out, provide refreshments for emergency services and assist people.

My dd’s primary school had quite a few Brethren children, I think all the families live in houses Nextdoor to each other.
The parents (mums, I’ve never seen a dad) don’t really mix apart from with each other. The children went home for lunch & if there was a school trip there was always a brethren mum who had all the Brethren kids in her group - at lunch time they would sit & eat separately to the other kids & parents.
I think I remember DD saying the child in her class had to leave the room if the class watched anything on the tv.
They were never problematic, just very separate.

They also run a kids’ club in the school holidays providing free childcare for 3 hours every morning and a mother & baby crèche twice a week. This is open to everyone, regardless of religion.

Woman who worked at our company was 22. She had recently married and didn't have children yet. She wore long skirts and tops and a hair covering but if you saw her down the street you'd genuinely never know.

Nice woman. Her and her husband didn't really 'fit' with rest of the company and I always got the sense they were wasted in it (unlike many of the others who were useless but supported by the community).

I thought she'd definitely have gone to uni and made something of herself given the chance in other circumstances rather than settling so young. He was marked by the elders as being one to elevate quickly in their ranks. Smart guy and very pleasant unlike quite a few of the others who were utter sexist pigs.

I do wonder what happened to them, how many kids they have, whether they stayed in the community or whether they left. I kind of hoped they would at some point but i doubt it.

I very much liked them.

@nancy75

My dd’s primary school had quite a few Brethren children, I think all the families live in houses Nextdoor to each other. The parents (mums, I’ve never seen a dad) don’t really mix apart from with each other. The children went home for lunch & if there was a school trip there was always a brethren mum who had all the Brethren kids in her group - at lunch time they would sit & eat separately to the other kids & parents. I think I remember DD saying the child in her class had to leave the room if the class watched anything on the tv. They were never problematic, just very separate.

They aren't allowed to eat with people outside their community which is more difficult than you think. Its to keep them separate - you think about how eating together brings you together and you talk at the same time. It makes socialising outside the community really difficult.

DH is an elder in a brethren chapel. It's not a very strict one though and there are a lot less rules than pp have mentioned.

RedToothBrush yes the women at DDs school were totally separate, there were (I think) 6 of them and I never saw them speak to anyone apart from each other. I always felt it was a bit of a shame to cut themselves off like that.
The children in dds year were all boys so she wasn’t really friendly with them - I always wondered if the children were allowed go on play dates

There are different types of Brethren communities. Do not mix them up.

Exclusive Brethren you would recognise by their desire to not be part of the modern world. No TV, radio, Internet, mixing outside of group, women with hair covered, long skirts

Plymouth Brethren you wouldn't even notice - very caring community, quite strict on biblical beliefs, but willing to share, communicate and socialise with all

I know someone who was raised in a strict brethren community, and left as an adult. They’re still a Christian (so am I) but describe the church they left as a cult.

I live next door to a Plymouth Brethren couple. We are Pagans and host the local Pagan and coven groups. This has resulted in a religious vendetta from their community and we are now embroiled in Police case with them. They are the worst people we have ever dealt with. They have to have everything their way. Land grabbers, lack of planning permission, I could go on

The curate who baptised my godson had been brought up in the Exclusive Brethren. When he decided to leave and be ordained in the C of E, his family and Brethren community disowned him. He said it was as though he'd never existed.

Not the best advert for it.

@campion - Brethren by their very nature are non-conformists, a break away from the CofE. They don't have much time for organised religion.

Didn’t Johnny Mercer (Tory MP) grow up in a brethren family? Or am I completely misremembering?

[quote DOINGOURBIT]@campion - Brethren by their very nature are non-conformists, a break away from the CofE. They don't have much time for organised religion.[/quote]
But they ARE conforming. Can they not see that?

They are manipulative and controlling too.

Why do these 'exclusive organisations' cults (as well as some other strict organisations,) forbid ANYthing that is enjoyable or fun? ie, TV, cinema, pop music, wine, sex, gambling (I mean like buying a scratchcard or playing bingo?) Why are you made to give all of this up? (As well as your money and possessions.)

Why do they never expect people to give up apples? spinach? Exercise? housework? walking in torrential rain, and other things that are not much fun? It's ALWAYS the nice/good/things they want you to give up. Fuck that. I bet the people in charge in these 'organisations' get plenty of booze and shagging.

Along with them stopping you mixing with/dating/going to school or work with, or do ANYTHING with anyone else outside the organisation, means you couldn't pay me enough to join something like this.

Who on earth would join something like this voluntarily? As @ColdTattyWaitingForSummer said, they are cults.