THE PASSION & THE VISION
The young people who founded the movement both in Dublin and New Zealand (for all of them were young) had a tremendous vision. It was a vision for the restoration of the church. They were the children of the evangelical revival. They, like so many others, accepted the power of the gospel, the truth of the Scriptures, the emphasis that the grace of God was the basis of salvation, and that God wanted all people, rich and poor, to come into the experience of knowing him. Of course, many others believed this, too.
Yet, they had seen that revival split into innumerable denominations because the great leaders of the revival: Whitefield, Wesley and others, could not agree upon church practices nor with those content to divide converts into different denominations - each with their own insistence on loyalty to the institution's view on baptism, the Lord's supper, creeds, and the structure of the church. They were aware that Evangelical Christians were becoming more concerned about respectability, more concerned to build great institutions, and more anxious for approval from the state. They rejected this completely. It is significant that the Brethren came from Ireland, for there, where Protestantism was so weak, institutional religion had no appeal. They saw the need for a radical change.
A.N. Groves' statement (16 December 1828) to his former Anglican vicar makes clear the reasons upon which he now viewed the existing denominations:
To really understand them, we must try to listen to their deep motivations. This is hard for us. Many Brethren have been raised to think that Brethren in the past must have been terribly, unbearably narrow, and we seem to be a little embarrassed about our forbears. I want you to begin to realise that the Brethren are religious radicals. Within the Christian world, most denominations have an origin in a "National Church" linked with the state Catholicism, Presbyterianism, Anglicanism, or Lutheranism. Our heritage is very different. In a very interesting book, Donald Durnbaugh has identified several denominations as "believers' churches". Others call such churches "gathered churches". That is exactly the character of the Brethren. Their basic character lies in the fact that they are gatherings of believers. The other basic character is that the Brethren are one of those churches who want to get back to the New Testament. Some churches emphasise tradition or current revelation. The Brethren are a group which has always sought to get back to the patterns of the early church. This belief of "restorationism" is not unique to the Brethren, but it is very important to understanding them.
'You say I quitted your communion; if you mean by that, that I do not now break bread exclusively with the Church of England, this is not true; but if you mean that I do not exclusively join you, it is quite true, feeling this spirit of exclusiveness to be the very essence of schism, which the apostle so strongly reproves in the Corinthians. I therefore know no distinction, but am ready to break the bread and drink the cup of holy joy with all who love the Lord ... I do not object to ordination by men, if it be exercised on principles consistent with Scripture, but if they think they confer any thing more than their permission to preach in their little part of the fold of Christ, I should decline it until they show how they came by that authority from the word of God, and what are the scriptural rules and limitations of this authority. ... As bodies, I know none of the sects and parties that wound and disfigure the body of Christ; as individuals, I desire to love all that love Him. Oh! when will the day come, when the love of Christ will have more power to unite than our foolish regulations have to divide the family of God.' (Cited by Coad, p 23 24.)