Check.Church

Little Glanton

Brethren · undated · Britain

A company that withdrew from the main Glanton group, with Hamilton Smith among its leaders, because of Open Brethren practice tolerated among the Glantons. It still exists.

Little Glanton was formed at a date the sources do not give. Little Glanton continues today. Little Glanton's institutional line runs back through Glanton Brethren, Raven–Taylor Brethren (PBCC), 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 Little Glanton stand 6 divisions along the institutional line, counting separations and disputed forks, not mergers, renewals or national organizations.

At a glance

Formed
At a date the sources do not give
Family
Brethren
Region
Britain
Key figures
Hamilton Smith
Cause tags
Governance

Is Little Glanton Biblical?

Left divine ground.

No year given. A company withdrew from the main Glanton group, with Hamilton Smith among its leaders.

"The withdrawal took place because of tolerated OB-ism among the Glantons, particularly at Kingsland, England." OB-ism here means Open Brethren practice. It left over that, and not over Raven: L. W. Ames wrote that those who withdrew "have never made a complete break with the F. E. Raven association". Nothing here is a judgment of any individual.

“The point of departure is the point of recovery, of restoration.”

R. A. Huebner, How the Leaven of Evil Mergers by the KLCs Came About (PTP, 2nd ed., 2007), ii

Sources: R. A. Huebner, How the Leaven of Evil Mergers by the KLCs Came About (PTP, 2nd ed., 2007), pp. 37–38, 47.

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

Little Glanton and the institutional line back to the post-apostolic churchAD 33The church at Pentecost: On divine groundThe church at Pentecost: on divine groundtoday10042443145110541534182718901908The 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 groundRaven–Taylor Brethren (PBCC) (Brethren)Raven–Taylor Brethren(PBCC)Left divine groundGlanton Brethren (Brethren)Glanton BrethrenLeft divine groundLittle Glanton (Brethren)Little GlantonLeft 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 or branches of one family; 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

  • R. A. Huebner, How the Leaven of Evil Mergers by the KLCs Came About (PTP, 2007), pp. 37-38, 47 — courtesy of Present Truth Publishers

Brethren division and merger chronology: R. A. Huebner, courtesy of Present Truth Publishers (free PDF).

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