Contra Peebs.net (Contra) This web site deals with the Exclusive Brethren from a critical perspective. The leader of the Exclusive Brethren church, Bruce Hales. "It's like the inside of a golf ball in there, everything is all tied together, with a very centralised structure and power dynamic.". Now 53, he's in his second marriage and runs a cartage business in his hometown, Christchurch. Darby held that true Christians should separate not only from the churches, which were corrupt, but also from those who were impure in faith or morals. Charlotte wrote a letter of recommendation for AUT's Bachelor of Communications degree, and I started working at TV3 as a first-year student. It maytake some overcoming yet the time to begin is now-send the fire, the Spirit and Scripture looked at anew and allow God to be God. On one occasion a senior leader asked if I was sexually attracted to a local priest. The Brethren movement began in Dublin in the 1820s, and split into the Open and Exclusive Brethren in the 1840s. I felt like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. Theologically, it is a cult of Christianity. Remembers Adrian: "Once you were out, you started to question it." The web site appears to be an attempt to counter the flow of negative publicity surrounding the Exclusive Brethren (example: The Brethren sent us to Hell), Members are not allowed to have televisions or radios and they are forbidden from using the internet, because the book of Revelation tells them that the devil is the prince with the power of the air. The Exclusive Brethren are a subset of the Christian evangelical movement generally described as the Plymouth Brethren. I was a seventh-generation member of the Plymouth/Exclusive Brethren. When his son, John Field Deck returned to England in 1859 to study Medicine, however, and gravitated towards the Open Brethren,[7] Exclusive leaders, including Darby, became concerned. For members of the Exclusive Brethren, a strict religious sect, constraints such as these are normal. The doctrine of separation from iniquity or separation from sin, makes the Exclusive Brethren unique. Why did their activism suddenly blossom almost simultaneously across the world? They adopted the new name, as did their counterparts in Australia (the Christian Community Churches of Australia) to avoid confusion with the similarly named Plymouth Brethren Christian Church. This is quite different from mainstream Christian belief, which says that Jesus was always fully God and fully man. I wrote "I'm gay" on a piece of paper and pushed it across the table to the priest. Brethren run at least 12 firms in Dargaville - mostly in trade and farm supplies - many clustered in an industrial complex on the town's southern edge. Charities researcher Michael Gousmett said it appeared Brethren businesses were being used to generate donations, which also reduced the amount of tax paid by those companies. Ensconced in the narrow world of the Exclusive Brethren, Craig realised he was gay and his only options were to live a lie or break free. Apart from a three-year period (1880-1883) in Dunedin, Forlong based himself in the Whanganui/Manawatu region. Brethren can't vote but are encouraged "to express a moral viewpoint of legislation" to politicians, and to pray for the guidance of "right Government which is clearly of God". Though their businesses bring them into daily contact with non-Brethrens, Brethren rules forbid socialising with "worldly" outsiders. I had no idea how to eat in restaurants, tune a radio dial, or engage in contemporary discussion about pop culture. A flowchart illustrates how the Exclusive Brethren - or Plymouth Brethren Christian Church - money-go-round works. Source: The Exclusive Brethren, BBC. Within this site you will find explanations, stories, history and Exclusive Brethren memorabilia ranging from the quaint to the shocking. We don't look down on other Christians because they don't live like us. Most of the jokes went over my head. It was a surreal transition. They are evil. Diana was drinking whisky with her family from age 13. Wikipeebia [Contra] An extensive website, with personal testimonies, historical documents, discussion forums, and more. I knew I was different and chafed against the rules, asking questions and talking back. If they leave the church, they lose their livelihoods - many former Brethren claim they were forced to sign over their own companies to relatives. Brethren and their companies are encouraged to buy their supplies, groceries, petrol, internet, insurance - the whole range of goods and services - from companies that give cash back to the church through a range of kickback arrangements. It's easier to control people when they're addicted. This magazine, founded in 1899 by Charles Hinman,[27] long played a leading role in keeping the highly independent Brethren assemblies together as a network. In Dargaville, the businessmen give the impression they're in the dark about the masterplan. There was a narrow window to say goodbye. Broadcast Mar. Like most ex-Brethren - they call themselves ex-peebs (short for people of the Exclusive Brethren) - the hardest thing has been losing family from their lives. Enter your email address to subscribe. Like Cambridge couple Diana and Adrian* who left the Exclusive Brethren 16 years ago after realising they couldn't live a lie. They weren't doing much; just watching the world go past from their vantage point at one of the many watering holes along Sydney's Darling Harbour. Another ex-member, whom RNZ has agreed not to name, said he managed to hold onto his position in the family business, despite huge pressure from church leaders - but said many others were not so fortunate. They told me I was mentally unwell. "You'd get a new dress and you'd have to get the perfect scarf to match it, and the right shape. It remains the most painful experience of his life. It operates bookshops and a publishing house, and, for many years, published the Treasury magazine. Theyneedpeople around. The following few months were the worst of my life. Decline as with every previous testimony allowed the emergence in 1959 of a legal party which caused havoc and much suffering among the brethren. Like many other movements that came to be regarded as sectarian, the Brethren began with a profound and deeply anti-sectarian sentiment, and they still reject the designation sect. Exclusive Brethren Rules, with documentation This is a list of rules ("directives") made by James Taylor Junior for his followers, known as the Taylorite Branch of the Exclusive Brethren. Adrian is cynical about the Brethren culture. My gaze rested on them for a few seconds before I looked away. Although some run computer businesses, the technology is frowned upon for private use because it has the power to employ the satanic number 666. The local rainbow support group occasionally published contact details in the classified section of the newspaper, and for months I scanned The Southland Times waiting for the next listing. Says one, his smile like a plea: "We don't want to get into a media conflict. I had a whole drawer of Richard Allan and Liberty Silk scarves." All members must follow the rigid code of behaviour and rules that govern the contact they can have with outsiders. The marriage relationship is very much a partnership. "We made it our own fun." Nothing will ever be as bad as escaping my sect upbringing. So many, many tears, streaming over blackboards and permanent ink. Most work in Exclusive Brethren businesses, so leaving means losing their job. Church and business and family life are inextricably intertwined in a way that means all parts of their lives are controlled. My kids don't know their grandparents as grandparents. The ones that do, or buck against too many of the fellowship's numerous proscriptions, leave. I squirmed with embarrassment watching his fresh inexperience, realising how I myself must have seemed equally wet behind the ears. revealed the unusual structure of this charity, Manawat to Hawke's Bay highway build facing disruption in wet winter, 'I was given all these envelopes, I didn't know what was in them', Ex-Plymouth Brethren Christian Church members call for its charitable status to be stripped, 'A toxic environment': Ex-Celebration Church members felt exploited, 'A toxic environment': Former Celebration Church members felt exploited, Founding members of Arise Church resign over abuse allegations, Some freight railway lines will remain closed for months due to Cyclone Gabrielle damage - KiwiRail, Cyclone Gabrielle: Gisborne couple say council let their community down, Six Bailey bridges to help reconnect isolated North Island communities, Mpox vaccine: Two reports of possible link to pericarditis, Fresh appeal for sightings of missing Gisborne man Joseph Ahuriri, SAS trooper death: Charge dismissed, Army exempt from health and safety law, Rob Campbell 'very disappointed' over removal as EPA chair, Watch RNZ's documentary Boiling Point: 2 March on the Parliament protests. I followed anarchists for a documentary in Greece, and spent much of the past 18 months living in Hong Kong, where I reported from the frontlines of violent protests. However, their children live quite separate lives from other New Zealand children. READ MORE: * Exclusive Brethren cult leader's millionaire son accused of assault * Father of girl sexually assaulted by former Exclusive Brethren member wants abuser jailed * Exclusive Brethren members in 'clean-up' operation after fatal crash * Potential witness in Exclusive Brethren sex abuse case paid to remain silent * Former Brethren allege high rate of abuse in New Zealand * Exclusive Brethren: Sect's secretive leader tells followers to drink rat poison * Exclusive Brethren told to 'pray for the IRD' after favourable settlement * Baby Leo's dad Samuel Forrest to sue Exclusive Brethren church. But not all members can live such a controlled existence. Switzerland, Sweden, North and South America, UK, Australia and New Zealand. On 5 May 2009 the priests placed me in the first stage of excommunication being "shut up" when errant sect members are isolated in spiritual solitary confinement. Going to the movies meant planning an elaborate cover story, taking a circuitous route to avoid being followed, checking for sect members, and pulling a hood over my face before making the quick dash across Invercargill's Dee St and into Reading Cinemas. Members follow a rigid code of conduct based strictly on Bible teaching. He's had his own serious, serious loss. This, however, wasn't about what I'd done it was about who I was. While Open Brethren tolerate autonomy in individual congregations, Exclusive Brethren do not. - NZPA. "Ordinary Exclusive Brethren would still retain a view held deeply for many generations that they have nothing to do with the world, regard it as defiled, so would be disgusted with (the political activism)." 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