Check.Church

Addison

Brethren · 1986 · United States; worldwide

On April 3, 1985 the assembly at Shrewsbury NJ silenced a brother in its local meetings. On April 24, 1986 the assembly at Dorothy NJ declared that "the assembly at Shrewsbury, N.J. is no longer to be considered as an assembly". The assembly at Addison IL endorsed that action in its letter of May 18, 1986, the circulated statement of this position.

Addison was formed in 1986. Addison continues today. Addison's institutional line runs back through The Brethren movement, Church of England, Roman Catholicism to the post-apostolic church. No body on this tree is the assembly of Acts 2; where a body claims that, the claim appears in the claimed-lineage layer.

Between the post-apostolic church and Addison stand 4 divisions along the institutional line, counting separations and disputed forks, not mergers, renewals or national organizations.

At a glance

Formed
In 1986
Family
Brethren
Region
United States; worldwide
Cause tags
Governance
Also known as
Dorothy/Addison

Is Addison Biblical?

Left divine ground.

April 24 and May 18, 1986. On April 3, 1985 the assembly at Shrewsbury NJ silenced a brother in its local meetings. On April 24, 1986 the assembly at Dorothy NJ declared that "the assembly at Shrewsbury, N.J. is no longer to be considered as an assembly". On May 18, 1986 the assembly at Addison IL endorsed that action in a letter to other assemblies.

Addison judged Shrewsbury's "action of local discipline to be an unscriptural, practical denial of the one Head, the one body, and the unity of the one Spirit". A paper by a brother answers that being able only "to universally silence" in reality "LIMITS the Head and goes against God's order of having home assemblies deal with their own local circumstances". "It is not scriptural to cast an assembly out from a distance in a case not involving leaven." The paper closes: "If Addison should repent of the doctrine and their actions taken in connection with it, they would find a path of restoration." Nothing here is a judgment of any individual.

Sources: Letter from the assembly at Addison, Illinois, May 18, 1986; "New Light from Addison", a paper by a brother (assembly ministry).

This verdict concerns the ground of gathering, not the salvation of any individual. Whoever truly believes on the Lord Jesus Christ is a member of the one body, wherever they gather; ‘[The] Lord knows those that are his’ (2 Timothy 2:19).

What it separated from

On the tree

Addison and its institutional line back to the post-apostolic churchAD 33The church at Pentecost: On divine groundThe church at Pentecost: on divine groundtoday1004244314511054153418271986The post-apostolic church (The spine)The post-apostolicchurchDepartureChurch of the East (Church of the East)Church of the EastChurch of the EastThe conciliar church (The spine)The conciliar churchDepartureThe Chalcedonian church (The spine)The Chalcedonian churchDepartureOriental Orthodoxy (Oriental Orthodox)Oriental OrthodoxyOriental OrthodoxEastern Orthodoxy (Eastern Orthodox)Eastern OrthodoxyEastern OrthodoxRoman Catholicism (Catholic)Roman CatholicismNot gatheredChurch of England (Anglican)Church of EnglandAnglicanThe Brethren movement (Brethren)The Brethren movementOn divine groundAddison (Brethren)AddisonLeft divine ground

Solid lines are separations and unions; dashed lines are renewals that began inside a body; dotted gray lines are national organizations of one communion; a diamond marks a fork event where neither side is drawn as the one that left. Every line runs back to the post-apostolic church; no body descends from the assembly of Acts 2. Dashed gray boxes mark the institutional line after the apostles, shown as departure; no line of descent is drawn from Pentecost. A verdict appears on a box once its section is published.

Sources

  • Letter from the assembly at Addison, Illinois, May 18, 1986
  • "New Light from Addison", a paper by a brother (assembly ministry)
  • "An Examination of the Dorothy/Addison Position"

Research compiled July 2026. Page data built 2026-10-31.