Brethren International Network

Partnership strongly supports the Brethren International Network and is helping to establish it.

There are local churches connected with the (Open) Brethren movement in 130 or more countries of the world. There are in total some 26,000 congregations and preaching points with over 2,000,000 regular attendes (including children). They are testimony to the vigour of the missionary endeavour associated with the Brethren over the years.

It was normally the aim to establish churches which could very quickly be handed over to local leadership. Today, there is a strong desire on the part of leaders in many countries to retain contact with others in the movement on an international basis.

In discussions at the International Brethren Conference on Mission in Romania in 2003, there was a stong consensus that a permanent network should be established to enable information and ideas to pass between leaders in the different countries. At present, information can be found on the websites of the International Brethren Conferences on Mission (www.ibcm.net) and of the Brethren Educational Network (www.benrff.org).

The Brethren Movement Worldwide: Key information (Ed. Harold Rowdon) (revised edition, 2009) gives summary information and contact details for 81 countries. Paper copies of the revised edition can be obtained from Neil Summerton. A further edition is being prepared for the IBCM5 conference in 2011.