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What I Have Found
My introduction to "brethren" assemblies.*
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I desire to tread carefully here, for generalities are always dangerous, and nothing could be more incongruous than boasting about one's apprehension of Christ, whether as an individual or as a group of churches. So I hope the reader will understand the spirit in which I write, and will forgive me if, as one who has been immeasurably blessed, I desire to share that blessing with others. For my personal observation is that, whatever weaknesses may certainly be noted in "brethren" assemblies, there is by and large a keener delight in and apprehension of the Person and work of Christ than can normally be found elsewhere. I understand if the reader should take issue with this statement, and I have never heard any in the assemblies claim this for themselves, but I cannot but speak what I have seen and heard.
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One of my first surprises after I began to meet with the small assembly of "brethren" was the arrival of a series of special meetings with a visiting speaker. My background had taught me to expect such events to be preceded by plenty of build-up and promotion, crowned by the arrival of the travelling star preacher, who, if he were not a former athlete or an ex-convict, would at least be a riveting speaker, primed to deliver an arsenal of dynamic, well-rehearsed sermons on a variety of topics. If such I expected, I was disappointed, for what I saw was an eager group of believers gathering, uncoaxed and unprodded, to hear an unpretentious servant of Christ give a few warm-hearted messages on the life of our Lord from the book of Mark.
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