Prominent in any study of the Church and the Brethren movement has been the story of the search for primitive biblical practice that led some to insist that they had discovered the one pure model. The first section of this book examines influential individuals such as J. N. Darby and George Müller, while the second treats the variety of views of the church found within the movement. A final section examines such practices as the weekly Lord’s supper, the appointment of elders, household baptism, and preaching.
1. Timothy C. F. Stunt, ‘The Early Ecclesiastical Identity of John Nelson Darby’, 7–23
2. Neil Summerton, ‘Was George Müller Brethren?’, 23–46
3. Ian Randall, ‘“I felt bound to receive all true Christians as brethren”: The expansive Ecclesiology of Andrew Jukes (1815–1901)’, 47–62
4 Elisabeth Wilson, ‘“Gathering and Receiving”: A Reassessment of the Role of Rice Thomas Hopkins in Australia’, 63–77
5. Roger N. Holden, ‘The Chicago Notes Controversy: James Taylor and Developing Views of the Assembly amongst the Exclusive Brethren’, 79–101
6. James I. Fazio, ‘The Elements and Ordinances of Proto-Brethren Assemblies, 1818–20’, 105–15
7. Crawford Gribben, ‘Brethren and the Legacy of the Reformation’, 117–38
8. David A. Smith, ‘Brethren Ecclesiology in Historical Perspective’, 139–53
9. Tim Grass, ‘What’s in a Name? Theology And the Names of Brethren Places of Worship’, 155–65
10. Mark R. Stevenson, ‘The Office of Elder in Brethren History’, 167–83
11. Neil Summerton, ‘Charisma and Organization: An Unresolved Theological Tension in the Open Brethren’, 185–200
12. Neil Dickson, ‘The Body and the Circle: Church Metaphors in the Open Brethren’, 201–15
13. Peter Conlan, ‘“What are you doing for Christ in Birmingham?” The History, Strategy, and Legacy of a Missional Brethren Assembly founded by Alexis Jacob in 1924’, 217–27
14. Tim Grass, ‘Ecclesiology in a Hostile Environment: Brethren in Franco’s Spain’, 229–43
15. Elisabeth Wilson, ‘“A Revolution in thought and practice”: The Reconciliation of the Hopkins and Open Meetings in Australia, 1950s–1960s’, 245–57
16. T. J. Marinello, ‘New Brethren in Flanders: Changing Views of their Identity’, 259–74
17. Neil Dickson, ‘“Sweet feast of love divine”: The Lord’s Supper in the Brethren Movement’, 277–306
18. Mark R. Stevenson, ‘The Language of Worship: Brethren Use of the Song of Solomon’, 307–21
19. Neil Summerton, ‘Charisma and Organization: Institutionalism in the Open Brethren in the United Kingdom’, 323–49
20. Roger Shuff Yatol, ‘Romantic Expressions: Brethren and the Value of Art’, 351–70
21. Jean DeBernardi, ‘Startling, Stubborn Things: Prayer and the Ministry of Deliverance in China and southeast Asia’, 371–87
22. Roger N. Holden, ‘Household Baptism., not Infant Baptism: Taylorite Exclusive Brethren and Baptism’, 389–412
23. Kenneth B. E. Roxburgh, ‘Preaching among the Open Brethren in the Mid-Twentieth Century’, 413–26
24. T. J. Marinello, ‘Opening of the Closed: The Worldwide Breakup of the Kelly-Lowe-Continental Brethren at the End of the Twentieth Century’, 427–48
25.Peter Lineham, ‘Open Worship and its Decline: Changes in Brethren Identity in New Zealand’, 449–72