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BRETHREN CHURCH NUMBER FIVE.
THIS IS THE FIRST OF FOUR CLOSED BRETHREN CHURCHES IN TOOWOOMBA.
EVER WONDER WHO PREACHES IN THE CBD OF YOUR CITY? IN AUSTRALIA, USA, UK, IN MOST CITIES THERE ARE MEN WHO "STREET PREACH" (ALWAYS IN THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT) - THEY ARE THE CLOSED BRETHREN. I.E. IN TOOWOOMBA AUSTRALIA, 3 MEN WHO DAILY PREACH AT THE MAIN CORNER OF MARGARET & RUTHVEN ST CORNER and the coffee shop area on SATURDAY EVENINGS. THESE ARE THE CLOSED BRETHREN. (Worldwide numbering 40,000. This Taylor/Symington/Hales Brethren are the largest of many off shoots. Although not the technical original Exclusive Brethrens. This is the Taylorite branch. Also known as Taylor Brethren, Peebs (short for PBs - Plymouth Brethren), or Jims by those who left. Those under James Taylor Junior after 1970 have remained cohesive. Current leader is Australian businessman accountant Bruce D. Hales, they call the "Man of God" or the "Elect Vessel".)
I WAS TURNED AWAY IN THE CAR PARK AND NOT ABLE TO ENTER THE BELOW 4.30PM SERVICE IN OCEAN ST.
1. NUMBER OF PEOPLE: Approx: 105. (Please note: All four churches combine at
Sunday night for this one "preaching" service. So why do these closed
Brethren have FOUR churches in Toowoomba when they could all easily fit into
one of the two large buildings in Ocean St or Gerrard St? Because, they believe
only a small amount of people can have communion together.)
2. NUMBER OF CHAIRS: Ocean St would have to be about 150.
*3. Type of person: Almost all Brethren men are blue collar self employed
as you are not allowed to do many occupations.
*4. Socio-Economic Status: Medium. I have been in several homes and they do
tend to live in expensive houses. (Maybe because they don't have to pay for
their Pastor's.)
*5. Amount of kids: Approx: 28. (They play in the closed car park during church
or at least the last 20 mins. The gate is seemingly not locked as the children
opened it and walked through it from at least 5.07pm.)
6. Ages of people: Mostly 30-50yo. 7. -% are men. 8. Weekly offering published:
-. 9. Lateness of people getting to church: -. 10. Any other interesting information:
-.
11. Time there AND date of visit: I talked to them on the street for many hours
over a 12 week period.
**12. Length of service: 51 mins, till 5.21pm. Gate closes at 6.02am.
13. This and other service times: 4.30pm; 6am; they meet almost every night
as well.
*14. Preacher: They have only unpaid Elders and these particular Brethren
do NOT financially support missionaries. 15. Feeling of building: -.
**16. Estimate style of belief: One of the most commonly asked questions
I get from my friends is "What about the Brethren?" I tell them "Look,
the Brethren church goers are fully committed, bible believing, born again,
fully immersed water baptised Christians! They very strictly adhere to scripture
but are not blindingly narrow minded. Really they are the highest moral conscience
in the church today, far more so than any other church."
***4/11/00. One of the evangelists said "We don't
believe in the pill, or any form of contraception as it's against scripture."
The other evangelist said "As Brethren, we do not take up arms in war either,
we have a conscientious objection which is legal since World War 2, you don't
get imprisoned. It can be costly as in the Vietnam war the army made us carry
shovels in place of rifles on parade. I myself served in the Army, most of us
work in the medical field. In the same way, we do not serve as jurors in courts
of law and we also never vote in elections. Our wives never work. We don't listen
or adhere to any woman who might have short hair or no scarf." "To
have fellowship with a non-Brethren relation is also wrong. But you must honour
your parents and give them money when needed and do chores if no one else can.
If people want to join us, they need to take informal preparatory steps towards
being closer to our teaching before they come to our preaching meetings. They
are welcome without full commitment into our preaching meetings on Sunday evenings
at 4.30pm after they receive initial but comprehensive instruction. They are
also welcome in the morning not including when we have communion at 6am. We
have communion in our small groups of 50 at first. We do this for management
reasons as too many people are too difficult to control. We meet in 3 different
halls. We are going to build very soon again. In Hoepper St." (As of 6/2002
it has been built.) There is a building in Gerrard St (Opposite Epworth Nursing
Home) and a school was built there for January 2003 and then Hunter St (Listed
as a "Gospel Hall" in most maps. Behind Centenary Heights.) The school
probably can employ a non-Brethren teacher but a church supervisor will be in
the room at all times. It seems many Closed Brethren churches started their
own school throughout Queensland in January 2003. Our children never go through
a formal process of becoming a Christian and it is up to them, they can come
to Christ at any age but we would expect some sort of a commitment by the age
of 20. Some in our church say they have always been Christians but that is incorrect
as each of us arrive at an understanding and accept Christ at a specific point
in time." (I found myself wholeheartedly agreeing with this often very
difficult area to teach on and this is in line with all evangelical as well
as Charismatic belief on salvation.) "We refuse to carry bar codes on our
products and one of us lost his business because of that, as there are the equivalent
anti- Christ's 666 numbers in the bar code."
**17. Dress code so as not to stand out: One of the reasons I was so easily
identified in getting turned away from this church was that I came in a tie
and a suit jacket. I noticed every man was wearing a white, open necked, short
sleeved shirt. Every woman had a scarf over her hair. I often get questions
whether it is the closed Brethren women down town who wear their hair with a
scarf with their children or are they the Cooneyites? These are closed Brethren,
Cooneyites all have their long hair tied up simply.
**18. How to get there: Hmmm. The only way to "get in" to this church
is by first talking to the evangelists down the street. Eat St (Margaret between
Ruthven and Neil Sts) 6pm Saturdays and midday weekdays Bell and Ruthven Sts.
You'll only get invited to a 5pm Sunday non- communion service as they will
not have communion with you.
* 6.00am CLOSED BRETHREN Ocean St
1. NUMBER OF PEOPLE: Approx 23.
2. NUMBER OF CHAIRS: Approx 150.
3. Type of person: -.
4. Socio-Economic Status: QUITE WELL OFF BLUE COLLAR ENTERPRISING or business
types.
5. Amount of kids: Approx 9.
6. Ages of people: Approx 0-50yo.
7. -% are men.
8. Weekly offering published: -.
*9. Lateness of people getting to church: None! (Hehehe)
10. Any other interesting information: -.
*11. TIME THERE AND DATE OF VISIT: I was not allowed in. 17/11/02. Once in
2001. Spoken for 20 hours some 12 times to evangelists downtown.
12. Length of service: 50 mins.
*13. This and other service times: 6.00am, 4.30pm.
14. Preacher: Any man can preach.
*15. Feeling of building: No windows, no signs saying it's a church, gates
are locked during church. 2 metre fence.
16. Estimate style of belief: -.
*17. Dress code so as not to stand out: Men must wear white open necked pressed
cotten shirts. Women and girls must wear dresses and scarfs.
**18. How to get there: See evangelists downtown first. Eat St 6pm Saturdays.
Weekdays Bell St Mall at midday.
*1. NUMBER OF PEOPLE: Approx: 32 (Interestingly in all these churches none
of the cars were early models, there were about 7 sedans, with 4 large Tarargo
type vans and frequently 2 of the people walked to church).
2. NUMBER OF CHAIRS: Hunter St about 100.
3. Type of person: -.
4. Socio-Economic Status: QUITE WELL OFF BLUE COLLAR ENTERPRISING or business
types.
5. Amount of kids: Approx: 8.
6. Ages of people: Approx: 3yo- 60yo.
7. -% are men.
8. Weekly offering published: .
9. Lateness of people getting to church: .
10. Any other interesting information: .
11. TIME THERE AND DATE OF VISIT: 17/11/02 6.12am- 6.15am. I was not allowed
in. I only ever tried once in 2001. Spoken for 20 hours some 12 times to evangelists
downtown.
12. Length of service: 50 mins.
13. This and other service times: 6.00am.
*14. Preacher: Any man can preach.
*15. Feeling of building: 1.5 metre fence and gate. No windows, no signs saying
it's a church, gates are locked during church.
16. Estimate style of belief: -.
17. Dress code so as not to stand out: Men must wear white open necked pressed
cotten shirts. Women must wear dresses and scarves.
18. How to get there: See evangelists downtown first. Eat St 6pm Saturdays.
Weekdays Bell St Mall at midday.
1. NUMBER OF PEOPLE: Approx: 38.
2. NUMBER OF CHAIRS: Gerrard St about 250.
3. Type of person: -.
4. Socio-Economic Status: QUITE WELL OFF BLUE COLLAR ENTERPRISING or business
types.
5. Amount of kids: Approx: 12.
6. Ages of people: Approx: 3yo- 50yo.
7. -% are men.
8. Weekly offering published: -.
9. Lateness of people getting to church: -.
10. Any other interesting information: -.
11. TIME THERE AND DATE OF VISIT: 6.22am- 6.26am 17/11/02. I was not allowed
in. 17/11/02. Once in 2001. Spoken for 20 hours some 12 times to evangelists
downtown.
12. Length of service: 50 mins.
13. This and other service times: 6.00am.
14. Preacher: Any man can preach.
***15. Feeling of building: There is a 2 metre fence with
a 2 metre barb wired metal gate. No windows, no signs saying it's a church,
gates are locked during church. The car park is huge. The first car park could
hold 200 cars, the second car park made of granite chunks could hold another
100 cars.) This building is the biggest of the four but it's not used regularly,
maybe because numbers are down. Maybe because of a church split. (Brethren churches
worldwide are known for fragmenting. Perhaps in Australia there are reportedly
40 variations of the Brethren, in Toowoomba, there's at least 5 variations.)
16. Estimate style of belief: -.
17. Dress code so as not to stand out: Men must wear white open necked pressed
cotten shirts. Women must wear dresses and scarves.
18. How to get there: See evangelists downtown first. Eat St 6pm Saturdays.
Weekdays Bell St Mall at midday.
*1. NUMBER OF PEOPLE: Approx: 22.
2. NUMBER OF CHAIRS: Approx: 80.
3. Type of person: -.
4. Socio-Economic Status: QUITE WELL OFF BLUE COLLAR ENTERPRISING or business
types.
5. Amount of kids: Approx: 7.
6. Ages of people: Approx: 3yo- 50yo.
7. -% are men.
8. Weekly offering published: -.
9. Lateness of people getting to church: -.
10. Any other interesting information: Not spelt "BRETHeREN" but "BRETHREN".
11. TIME THERE AND DATE OF VISIT: 6.35am- 6.57am. (First people left church
at 6.46am and gates locked at 6.53am.) Was not allowed in 17/11/02.
12. Length of service: 50 mins.
13. This and other service times: 6.00am.
14. Preacher: Any man can preach.
*15. Feeling of building: A 1.5 metre wooden fence and gate left open during
church. No windows, no signs saying it's a church, gates are locked during church.
16. Estimate style of belief: -.
17. Dress code so as not to stand out: Men must wear white open necked pressed
cotten shirts. Women must wear dresses and scarves.
18. How to get there: See evangelists downtown first. Eat St 6pm Saturdays.
Weekdays Bell St Mall at midday.
CONCLUSION: THERE ARE 115 "CLOSED" BRETHREN PARISHIONERS (115 meet in the morning, spread over 4 churches.)
NINTH BRETHREN CHURCH IN TOOWOOMBA.
1. Number of people: 7.
2. Number of chairs: -.
3. Type of person: -.
4. Socio-Economic Status: -.
5. Amount of kids: -.
6. Ages of people: -.
7. 50% are men.
8. Weekly offering published: -.
9. Lateness of people getting to church: -.
10. Any other interesting information: They meet once a fortnight in various
peoples homes.
*11. Time there AND date of visit: (I didn't visit as they don't meet yet
in a public place but I know the people from this split from Liberty Brethren.
It's important that I mention this group as they list the name "Grace Fellowship"
or "Grace International Fellowship"on signing on as Religious Instruction
teachers at various schools.)
12. Length of service: -.
13. This and other service times: Prob 10am.
*14. Preacher: Elder Dennis Kronk was a prolific writer to the editorial
of the Chronicle during the 80's. 15. Feeling of building: -.
*16. Estimate style of belief: Dennis Kronk believes that very little of what
Jesus said has any application to today's Christian and that the Apostle Paul's
writings are more relative. This view got quite a reaction at Liberty where
Dennis Kronk was an Elder so he left in 2001 with not a lot of people, perhaps
8. I went to Dennis Kronks well to do house in 2000 for a bible study where
he showed me his 1500 year old gold coin collection. Kronk owns the Antique
shop on Herries between Ruthven and Neil Sts. The Kronk family are networked
extensively on the Downs as Dennis has 4 brothers. For example, Ps Rolley Sondergeld
from the West Presbyterian church is married to a Kronk. Dennis has a web site
dedicated to largely proving that speaking in tongues is evil. I suggested to
Dennis in 2000 that "If it is the Holy Spirit that they are doing these
things, then what your saying is speaking injuriously to the Holy Spirit or
your blaspheming the Holy Spirit as the Pharisees told Jesus He was casting
out demons as He was demonic himself. Jesus said that if it was by the spirit
of God He had done this, then they were speaking injuriously toward the Holy
Spirit." He understood, as Brethren are well grounded in scripture but
his reaction was non-plussed.
17. Dress code so as not to stand out: Casual to smart.
18. How to get there: -.
TENTH BRETHREN CHURCH IN TOOWOOMBA.
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