A controversial church that has been accused by former members outside the United States of imposing restrictions on its members has been buying up land in Delaware County, writes Jesse Bunch for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, a 200-year-old evangelical church with about 54,000 members worldwide, has grown significantly in Delaware County in the past 10 years.
“Our relatively small congregation of 150 members has roughly doubled over the last 12 years,” said a U.S.-based Plymouth Brethren representative, who asked to be identified as a church spokesperson.
The church made its first Delaware County purchase in 2016, at 40 State Road in Media. In 2022, it bought a single-story Chester Heights property.
It has since bought three more Middletown Road properties in Middletown, including one that is their main meeting hall, seating 300.
It plans to build a new meeting hall in Middletown, breaking ground this year.
There have been allegations and news investigations in the United Kingdom and Australia that the church limits outside contact for its members, sometimes ending relationships with families.
The allegations have been denied by Plymouth Brethren.
The church leadership says it is modernizing and integrating more into public life.
Read more about the Brethren church expansion in Delaware County in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
