Bible Reading Tea
Short Account by Miller of one of these meetings.
A very common meeting was the Bible reading held in
people's homes.
Andrew Miller, one of the early Brethren writers, recounts
that some thirty members gathered together at about 5:30 in the evening for tea
[the evening meal].
They were plain in their dress with no ornaments. They
did not discuss general news, and politics would have been regarded as
profanity. [He points out that the Brethren did not vote at elections]. When
tea was ready, things became quiet and they waited until someone prayed. At
about seven o'clock people found a seat all having their Bibles and a hymnbook.
After a little wait a hymn was sung and a prayer given. The head of the house
then asked if any brother had a portion of the word on his mind that he would
like to share.
Discussion [by the men] continued until about nine o'clock
and then after a hymn and prayer the meeting dispersed at about ten o'clock.
These meetings were different from the Fellowship Meeting which was a more
serious Bible study on a predetermined topic and involved only men, and the
Social Tea Meeting which was a home social gathering although it may end in a
worship time at about nine o'clock.