Plymouth Brethren

American  

plural noun

1. a loosely organized body of Christians founded in Plymouth, England, about 1830, having no ordained ministry, no formal creed or ritual, and accepting the Bible as the only guide.

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Plymouth Brethren British  

plural noun

1. a religious sect founded c. 1827, strongly Puritanical in outlook and prohibiting many secular occupations for its members. It combines elements of Calvinism, Pietism, and millenarianism, and has no organized ministry

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Etymology

Origin of Plymouth Brethren

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

Dolafon Gospel Hall Trust, part of Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, is renovating the chapel for use as a meeting place.

From BBC • Sep. 6, 2023

Mr. Wallis, now 74, was raised in what he described as a “very evangelical” family in Detroit, where his parents were lay leaders in a Plymouth Brethren church.

From New York Times • Feb. 20, 2023

In 1938, still a teenager, he was brought from Vienna to London where the Plymouth Brethren took him in and provided for him.

From Washington Post • Jul. 30, 2015

Darby was a founding father of the Plymouth Brethren Church, which has its roots in Anglicanism, and he explored a concept called “dispensationalism.”

From Washington Times • Jun. 26, 2014

I rather think that the Plymouth Brethren should have the lengthiest treatment of all, seeing that no shred of the Church resembles so closely the original type of Christianity.

From Literary Tours in The Highlands and Islands of Scotland by Holmes, Daniel Turner