Way of life

The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church is built upon core values that emphasise faith, community, and moral integrity. Central to these values is a strong commitment to biblical teachings, which shape church members’ approach to daily living and interactions with others.

The Church was established some 200 years ago in Plymouth, in Southern England, and today has around 55,000 members spread across the world, in countries including the United States, New Zealand, the Caribbean, Australia and the United Kingdom.

We are a mainstream Christian church, but like all religions we have our own traditions, culture and way of life. There is some curiosity about the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church in wider society, and also a lot of misconceptions about our beliefs and practices.

We are Christians, and we seek to live a full, good life, as guided by the Holy Bible. We connect with our Community on a regular basis in simple Gospel Halls around the globe, and we come together every Sunday to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, which you may know as Holy Communion.

We don’t believe ourselves to be superior to anyone else, and we live alongside people of other faiths and no faith every single day.

The Brethren men and women of our Church have shared values of care and compassion, and community participation, ownership and decision-making. We actively practice Christianity through service to our family, our Church, and to our local and global communities. Our mutual Christian fellowship is an integral part of our way of life.

We refer to ourselves as the “Brethren” because we are a close tight-knit community of families held together by our shared Christian belief founded on the Holy Bible. That said, just like everyone else, Brethren women and Brethren men live harmoniously alongside all people regardless of whether they are of other faiths or no faith.

Our values include:

• Proactive engagement with society, actively contributing to the local communities where we live, work and serve.
• Seeking opportunities to support local, regional and global initiatives with care and compassion.
• Education is utterly important, so much so that we created OneSchool Global, one of the largest networks of independent schools in the world. There is also no religious instruction at our schools, other than information about different religions as is included in the curriculum.
• Not recruiting new members. People are welcome to join us if values align, but members are generally born into our Church.

For our members, the Holy Bible is an essential companion and authoritative guide throughout life. From the earliest age, young members are read and taught Bible stories that have inspired millions down through the ages.

We believe that the Bible is no ordinary book, but rather that it is the absolute, infallible, inspired Word of God, provided by God for man.  All members of the Church are expected to have the highest levels of moral integrity, and to act in accordance with the teaching of the bible at all times.

We gather daily to pray together and read from the Holy Bible. We also congregate every Sunday in our Gospel Halls to celebrate the Lord’s Supper and to preach the Gospel.

The bible is very clear about the virtues of humility, including at 1 Peter 5:5 which says “ all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

 The men and women of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church dress neatly and modestly, with the men wearing long pants and avoiding facial hair, and the women wearing dresses and minimal makeup.

And the men and women of our Church value community participation, ownership and decision-making. In business and in the home, we will work together to come to mutual decisions wherever possible.

Family is central to the lives of the members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church.

Brethren families spend a lot of time together – not just immediate families but extended families. In particular, Brethren families often spend their free time together, playing music and singing, cooking together and enjoying outdoor activities.

Brethren families remain close knit as their children grow, and young Brethren adults remain living at home until they marry.

Brethren also value being helpful, caring and compassionate members of their communities. Members of our Church will not hesitate to help their neighbours, and many volunteer and do charitable work.