About Us

The Brethren believe that the true church was established on the day of Pentecost.

The two guiding principles of the ‘Brethren’ movement were to be the breaking of bread every Lord’s Day, and ministry based upon the call of Christ rather than the ordination of men.

They follow and obey the Scripture, refusing to follow human tradition and creed. Others call them Brethren—they prefer to be called Christians.

During the first part of the 1800’s, some Christians began to feel uncomfortable about denominationalism, a clerical hierarchy, and certain “compromises” creeping into their churches. They resolved to simply read their Bible and try to gather in the same simple manner as early Christians did in the New Testament pattern.

As some of these Christians began to travel and preach, they found believers in other cities and countries who were doing the same thing. Early gatherings originated in Dublin and in Plymouth. Prominent among the pioneers was Dr. A. J. Cronin, Mr. J. G. Bellett, Mr. H. Hutchinson, and Lord Congleton. Plymouth became prominent, so others began to call them as ‘brethren from Plymouth’.

In 1827, John Nelson Darby joined this group. J. N. Darby saw the church as a special work of God, distinct from the program for Israel. This truth, integrated with his pre-millennial eschatology, led him to believe that the rapture would occur before the tribulation and that during the tribulation, God would turn again to deal specifically with Israel.

Until Darby’s time, Christians believed that the church was a continuation of Israel, and some others believed that the church replaced Israel. As an early leader among the Plymouth Brethren and developer of dispensational pre-millennialism, John Darby invested his life in strengthening the saints as they gathered simply “to His name” and awaited their Lord’s imminent return. Most of his papers and articles are gathered into thirty-four volumes in The Collected Works of J. N. Darby, which was edited by his long-time associate and friend, William Kelly.

Acknowledged as the father of modern dispensational pre-millennialism, Darby is remembered especially for his recalling the church to expectancy for its rapture at the return of the Lord before Daniel’s seventieth week. He interpreted Daniel’s seventy weeks based on world history.

Sir Robert Anderson – Scotland Yard detective and writer; Sir Lancelot Brenton – translator of the Greek-English edition; F. F. Bruce – Bible commentator; Jim Elliot – missionary martyred in Ecuador; Trevor S. Francis – composed the hymn; “O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus”; Antony N. Groves – pioneer missionary in India; H. A. Ironside – well-known Bible commentator and pastor of Moody Memorial Church; William Kelly – authored many Bible commentaries; William MacDonald – author of the Believers Bible Commentary; C. H. Mackintosh – author of “Genesis to Deuteronomy: Notes on the Pentateuch, and other miscellaneous writings”; Andrew Miller – author on church history; George Muller – lived in Bristol, England, and ran a chain of orphanages which operated on the principle of faith and prayer; Thomas Newberry – well known for the Newberry Reference Bible, which uses a system of symbols to explain verb tenses; Joseph Scriven – composed the hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”; Samuel Tregelles – noted scholar of Biblical languages; W. E. Vine – author of Vines Expository Dictionary and numerous commentaries; G. V. Wigram – author of Wigram’s Hebrew/ Chaldee Concordance and Wigram’s Greek Concordance; Lord Congleton; J. G. Bellet; Dr. Edward Cronin; J. L. Harris; R. C. Chapman; Henry Craik; Dr. Thomas Neat; J. B. Stoney; F. W. Grant; Charles Stanley; Henry Moorhouse; John Ritchie; Hudson Taylor

All denominations in Kerala proudly claim that they are the true descendants of the church established by the apostle Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. Most Christians believe that St. Thomas came to Kerala in 52 A. D. An impartial study of Christianity in Kerala would prove that the St. Thomas Christians of Kerala followed the doctrines and practices similar to the present-day Plymouth Brethren movement.

In 345 A. D., seventy-two families belonging to seven Jewish clans emigrated to Kodungalloor (Kerala, India) from Mesopotamia (Iran and Iraq) under the leadership of Thomas of Kana. Thomas of Kana came to know that the local Christians had no episcopate priesthood or hierarchical structure. So he imported bishops and deacons, and changed the lives and practices of the Kerala Christians.

The historians who support organized churches think that the Indian Christians had no leadership, due to their weakness and opposition from others. However, the truth of the matter is that Kerala Christians had been following the New Testament pattern given in the Bible. Kerala churches were independent and led by local elders only. Child baptism was introduced in India only after the sixth century A. D.

The Brethren movement in England sent missionaries all over the world. In 1833, Anthony Norris Groves, a selfless, dedicated, and saintly man came to Andhra Pradesh, India. His disciple, John Arulappan, a native missionary and preacher from Tamil Nadu, came to Kerala and conducted numerous revival meetings. The second wave of great revival started in Kerala by the arrival of Tamil David in 1894. He was an effective preacher, and thousands of people accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Another great missionary who established assemblies in the northern part of Kerala was Handley Bird. The distinct work of the Holy Spirit is visible in the formation of the Brethren movement in Kerala.

A Baptist missionary and Bible teacher, J. G. Gregson, visited Kerala in 1896. Mr. Gregson conducted numerous Bible studies and meetings organized by Marthoma Church. In 1897, he was a speaker of the world renowned “Maramon Convention.” Under the leading of the Holy Spirit, Mr. Gregson started leaning toward the Brethren doctrines, and he is known as one of the founders of the Brethren movement in Travancore, Central Kerala. Another German missionary who worked for the Basal mission in India, studied Scripture thoroughly and accepted the Brethren doctrines and practices. Another pioneer was a Marthoma Vicar, Rev. P. E. Mammen. In March 21, 1899, the first Brethren assembly meeting in Travancore took place at Kumbanad. Brother Mammen was the leader of that assembly. In 1902, Mr. K. V. Simon (1883-1944) received believer’s baptism and came out of the Marthoma Church. K. V. Simon organized a separatist group called “Malankara Viyojithan” assembly. Later, this group merged with the Brethren movement.

K. V. Simon was a polyglot who knew the languages of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindustani, English, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Sanskrit, and Syriac. In his mastery of Sanskrit, he can be compared with any great scholar in India. In his native language, which was Malayalam, he was a gifted poet who combined in himself classical grandeur and lyrical flavour. He was a prose writer of rare charm, a composer of soul-stirring Christian hymns, an eloquent and scintillating speaker, an outstanding teacher, and an invincible debater. He also had a profound knowledge of the Hindu Darmasastras, and a remarkable mastery of Christian theology. Above all, Simon was a towering spiritual leader who lived a life of great sacrifice, and had steadfast faith in his Master, for whom he walked with great zeal and devotion. Such chosen instruments of God are rare in life.

Some prominent leaders of the Brethren Movement in Kerala include J. G. Gregson Handley Bird, V. Nagel, E. H. Noel, Alex Souter, J. M. Davies, Mr. Black, Mr. Fountain, Mr. S. Fox, K. V. Simon, K. G. Kurien, K. G. Thomas, V. T. Mathai, Y. Ezekiel, M. E. Cherian, K. Varghese, Mammen Kurien and T. K. Samuel.

Brethren Assembly Ahmedabad is the first Brethren assembly testimony in the state of Gujarat. And the Lord of increase has blessed the land immensely. Today, there are over 22 brethren assemblies in 13 districts.

Yet it is a matter of burden that still twenty other districts don’t have any assemblies’ or evangelists’ presence. The land is ready for harvest, and we trust the Master to send more workers to His field.

Brethren Assembly Ahmedabad is actively engaged in gospel outreach and scripture teaching ministry in various parts of Ahmedabad, on a weekly basis. We also engage in Lord’s work in Kutch District—the largest district of India with land area more than the whole of Kerala state—in joint labour with the Telugu Brethren Church at Gandhidham.

The Lord has enabled us to reach with the good news of the gospel in 120 villages out of the 969 villages, across 10 talukas in Kutch district, in the past four years of our Kutch ministry. We were blessed to have the great joy in witnessing many people receiving Christ through this ministry.