Open Brethren - can they be considered Baptistic?

My opinion:

If a local church subcribes to and practices the Baptist distinctives, yet does not use the word "Baptist" in their name then they could call themselves baptistic but not Baptist.

On the other hand some "Baptist" churches that I have been acquainted with should probably drop the name.

HankD

 

"From my point of view" I think doctrine is more important that the name we put on our churches. Now I know that some of my hard line Baptist bro., and sisters are going to scream at me and say; "your not a Baptist!" I had that to happen to me several years back where I was the associate pastor in an Independent Baptist Church, and the adult mens Sunday school teacher by the pastor who was in the class meeting one Sunday morning. I am Baptist doctrinally, and Christian Spiritually.
With the love Jesus gave me,
irwin

 

Aren't they rather legalistic?

 

There are several forms of the Brethren, some certainley are legalistic like the Plymouth Brethren where the women have to wear head coverings and unmarried ones cannot cut there hair and women must all wear skirts not pants.

Yet the open Brethren group is a great Chrisitian Church, there heritage is in the Anabaptist Church. Mennonite Brethren come from the same pathway.

 

I attended for 6 mos., as a new believer, a Brethren group (though they claimed they were not a denomination but that they were "associated" with Brethren). They had no pastors, only elders. Women wore head coverings and could not speak in the service (we could ask for hymns in the SS hour before the service - thanks for that!). They were hard-core pre-trib. Although they were godly and I am sure were solid believers, the atmosphere was oppressive -- I finally realized the HS did not seem to have the freedom to operate there as it was legalistic, and my sister (also a new believer at the time) and I left that place for the church we are in now. I am leaving out some other things that happened that helped us make a decision to leave, which I am very clear on as far as that being what God wanted us to do.

The Mennonite churches, at least in this area and in PA, run the spectrum of conservative to quite liberal.

 

Perhaps we "ought" to call them "closet Baptists!"

 

I don't believe in 'istic'..... Either you ARE something or you aren't.

 

I want to correct something in my previous post -- women were allowed to speak in the SS hour.

There were some very nice people in that group - though it was quite small (maybe 25 or so attended on average). However, I am very happy I left because the church I'm in now is a really great church -- good pastors, solid teaching, more Bible teaching, strong missions emphasis, etc.

 

Matt Black,

The Open Brethren are "baptistic" in that they practice believer baptism by immersion. That is the sine qua non of being baptistic.