2. Who convenes them?Fraternals can be convened by four or five different possible agencies.
An individual minister who invites likeminded friends to join him in fraternal. This seems to be the origin of the Westminster fellowship, although it has moved well beyond that. I have heard of others doing similar things here in London.
A group of ministers may agree to meet together. I currently belong to such a group of West London ministers. We first aranged to meet during a Banner of Truth Conference a few years back.
A denomination making use of its networking to organise fraternals in more than one place. I have attended an FIEC fraternal in the past. The EMW fraternals in Wales are well known and have been going for some time. I have also attended fraternals organised by the Association of Grace Baptist Churches (South East). Affinity also seeks to draw men together.
A separate organisation that serves as an umbrella chiefly for the ministers’ fraternal. This is the current status of the Westminister Fellowship. I believe the same is true of the Whitefield Fraternal that meets down in Sussex. I have also spoken at fraternals in Bedfordshire and Kent that seem to meet on this sort of basis.
(Next I hope to make a biblical case for fraternals)
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