BRF Witness
September/October 1988
Volume 23, Number 5
By James F. Myer
Brethren Revival Fellowship was begun in 1959 at the Ocean Grove Conference. It took BRF a half dozen years to get its bearing, to develop some organizational characteristics, and to begin to get its focus and activities in place. Since that time, the list of BRF involvements has steadily grown. At this Annual Conference in St. Louis, five activities are planned by BRF.
To the careful observer of modern Brethren development, BRF has been a more visible force in recent years. There are of course still quite a few people who do not even know that BRF exists, and certainly are unaware of what the movement stands for. It does seem that there is a slowly growing number of loyalists who hold to a BRF point of viewbut also, there is intense antagonism in some quarters against the BRF. We are aware that over the years many stereotypes have arisen about who we are. A “stereotype” is an oversimplified and inaccurate understanding of a person or a group of people. It is our purpose to shatter some of the common misconceptions about BRF. We will look first at four accurate statements about BRF, and then we will examine four false Impressions that people often have.
1. TRUE: BRF IS A SUB-GROUP.
A “subgroup” is a portion of a larger group that has some relationship with that group. A subgroup becomes a unit with characteristics peculiar to that group of persons. BRF is a movement that has grown out of the grassroots of the church. It has never been officially recognized by the Church of the Brethren, and in fact, there is no desire on the part of BRF personnel to be officially recognized. There is no official tie between the General Board and the BRF. Brethren Revival Fellowship plans programs and sponsors activities all within the framework of the Church of the Brethren. BRF aims to make its witness within the Church of the Brethren and not apart from it –but all this has been done without official ties.
2. TRUE: BRF IS BRETHREN-FOCUSED.
It is primarily because of our excitement about Brethren history and Brethren heritage that we exist. We make no apologies for subscribing to the timetested historic Brethren understandings of the Christian faith. During the past year, we reprinted several thousand copies of what has been commonly known as the Brethren Card. Every member of the Church of the Brethren should have one of these doctrinal summaries in his Bible at all times. The Card, in seven brief paragraphs, describes Brethren doctrines.
When I was Annual Conference Moderator in 1985, 1 was told that the Brethren Card is too controversial a document to print inside the front cover of the Conference booklet. BRF makes no apologies for the fact that we are Brethren focused. We are not totally anti-ecumenical. We are aware of the fact that there is a universal church which is made up of people from all language groups and all races, but we are putting our focus and energies in the direction of trying to preserve an accurate Brethren understanding of the Christian faith.
Our Brethren focus rescues BRF from being labeled as mere fundamentalists and being identified with the broad network of fundamentalism in our nation. It is fair to say that while BRF is very conservative in doctrine and practice, we would find ourselves somewhat uncomfortable with people who are in the independent fundamentalist camp. Primarily that is because we are Brethren focused.
3. TRUE: BRF IS EVANGELICAL IN BELIEF.
The word “evangelical” can hardly be understood apart from the word “evangel” (the Good News) which relates to the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the Cross and His shed blood, which is the basis for our salvation. We believe that the Bible is a completely trustworthy Book. We teach the importance of entering into a lifechanging relationship with Jesus Christ through Holy Spirit regeneration. This really is the rock-bottom reason for BRF’s existence.
The Church of the Brethren has tried to promote a broad and open approach toward the use and understanding of the Bible. Sometimes I try to illustrate the futility of such an approach by asking an audience how comfortable they would be in building a house, if after the contract was awarded to the lowest bidder, the contractor who landed the job would say, “Perhaps I should explain that one of the reasons why we were able to underbid everybody else is that we believe in tremendous freedom with our workers. We allow all workers to use any kind of ruler they want to use, and some employees believe that a foot is about this long, and we allow that; others believe that a foot is about this long, and we allow that; still others believe that a foot is about this long, and we allow that. We believe in being broadminded and that is the reason we were able to underbid everyone else. We insist that all our workers have a common commitment to build a house–but the means by which they do it and the directions by which they work-there is lots of freedom, and perhaps you ought to know that.” (Do you think that if you were to find out about those attitudes after you awarded the contract, you would want to change your mind?) BRF stands firmly for accepting the evangelical pillar of believing that the Bible is trustworthy and that it is totally reliable.
4. TRUE: BRF WANTS TO RELATE TO ALL BRETHREN.
On the surface, it may appear that we are only interested in the evangelicals and the more conservative people in the church. A deeper purpose of BRF is to want to relate to all Brethren. That includes Brethren who may have basic differences with us, and over the years we have engaged in a fair amount of dialogue and exchange with others in the Church of the Brethren. We try to relate to the General Board, the General Board staff, Bethany Seminary, the Brethren colleges, and to all other subgroups. You say, “Does BRF actually want to relate to the homosexuals?” Yes, we do. God forbid if even to the homosexuals we would say, “We want no relationship.” We underscore and accept the 1983 paper that suggests (regarding human sexuality) that we offer Christlike grace and acceptance to homosexuals and all people as persons for whom Christ died. Do we believe that means condoning homosexuality, or offering homosexuals a platform at Annual Conference to display their wares and promote their cause? No, we don’t believe that. We need to have a genuine concern about a paragraph on page 78 of this year’s Annual Conference booklet. BRF wants to relate to all Brethren.
We have seen four accurate statements about BRF; now we want to examine four false impressions that have developed about the Brethren Revival Fellowship.
1. FALSE: BRF IS A MOVEMENT CONFINED TO THE EASTERN PART OF THE BRETHREN HEARTLAND.
We are aware that some folks hold that view, but it is a false impression. It is true that the addresses of committee members indicate a Pennsylvania concentration, but that has resulted primarily as a convenience factor for getting together, even though over the years there have been some committee members from more distant areas. BRF is not a provincial but a national organization–and the BRF WITNESS, BRF announcements and invitations, and various appeals–go nationwide. Some of us travel extensively in preaching (not always specifically representing BRF causes), but wherever we go we undoubtedly reflect our beliefs. During the first six months of this year I have spoken in Church of the Brethren congregations in eight states.
It is true that BRF activities east of the Mississippi River are more numerous than in the West, but it is also true that most of the Brethren concentration lies east of the Mississippi, and so all Brethren activities are more numerous in the East. Eighty-eight percent of current Brethren membership live east of the Mississippi River. So if sometimes BRF activities are viewed as being more centered in the eastern part of the nation, it is simply because most of the Brethren live in those areas.
2. FALSE: BRF IS EXCLUSIVELY FOR PLAINLY DRESSED BRETHREN.
We are aware of the fact that some of us who get our pictures in the Messenger more often may be those who wear the standing collar coat (the plain suit). But if we were to stand the BRF Committee members up here, dressed in their Sunday-go-to-meeting best, five of them would be wearing a plain suit, five would be dressed with a coat and tie, and one (there are eleven members of the Committee) would have a lapel coat and no necktie. I don’t know how more evenly divided one can get than that! The fact is, the plain garb has never been a major issue with BRF, even from its beginning in 1959. It is true that BRF is concerned about the twin doctrines of nonresistance (which relates to the peace position), and nonconformity (which relates to separation from the world). It is true that distinctive (or plain and simple) dress is one way of seeking to stand against letting the world squeeze us into its own mold, but we recognize that it is only one way, and not the only testimony against worldliness.
BRF tries to speak for all evangelical Brethren, not just the more conservative and plainly dressed persons in the church. We are committed to what might be called a two-pronged emphasis: One prong of emphasis relates especially to the more ultraconservative, distinctively dressed Brethren (who are more concentrated in Eastern Pennsylvania). The other prong causes us to be just as vigorous in relating to the more general group of evangelical Brethren that are spread more widely nationwide, and so some activities of BRF relate more directly to them.
3. FALSE: BRF IS USUALLY “AGAINST IT.”
This charge more accurately characterizes conservatives of another generation than it does the present set of BRFers. The description, “BRF is usually against it,” is definitely a false impression. The design of our WITNESS articles is not by accident. We aim to “zero in” on critical Brethren issues once or twice a year, but sometimes that is the only article which is remembered. And because an article may step on somebody’s toes (or make some individuals unhappy)–it is often remembered -while the other more positive articles tend to be forgotten.
My own personal feeling is that the Church of the Brethren has become as liberal as it will likely get in our generation. We actually believe the pendulum has been swinging back a little bit. It is true that when the pendulum is swinging out, anyone who opposes the far-out swing has to be almost totally negative trying to get the movement stopped. But when the pendulum begins to swing back the way you would like to see it, there are more things of a positive nature that can be welcomed. Much of our time in BRF committee meetings in recent years is spent planning for activities which conservative Brethren can be a part of, and can in good conscience participate in. Some examples include the BRF sponsored BVS program, the summer Bible Institute, and the BRF Dinner Meeting at Annual Conference. It is not true in a general sense that “BRF is against it.”
4. FALSE: BRF WILL ULTIMATELY DIVIDE THE CHURCH.
That was the big yellow light that came up when BRF got started. When we consider that there are only five major Brethren bodies over the 280 year period of Brethren history, we have relatively few divisions within the Church of the Brethren. In my more than twenty years on the BRF Committee, I have yet to hear a serious discussion about whether or not we ought to separate from the Church of the Brethren. Our spirits have hit rock bottom at times, but we have never lost the vision even for a moment that BRF is primarily in the business of revival. We have lived through COCU, and we said at that time that if the Consultation On Church Union materializes, we will not go along with the merger, but in doing so, we would not be leaving the Church of the Brethren-the Brethren would be leaving us! We lived through the human sexuality study, which was pretty traumatic. And are you aware of the fact that there are some congregations and individuals who actually left the denomination over that study? They left the Brotherhood against the advice and the counsel of the BRF Committee.
Consistently we have said, “Stay with it.” In fact, we are not happy when people leave the Church of the Brethren to go elsewhere. If there is a verse in the New Testament (and I usually give my text at the beginning rather than at the end of a message) which characterizes the Brethren Revival Fellowship, it is likely the third verse of the Book of Jude: “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (NASB). Brethren Revival Fellowship does not favor people leaving the Church of the Brethren, but we are sincerely concerned about obedience to the Lord and loyalty to His Word.
