Who are we?
     We are Christadelphians.
    This may not seem like much of an answer to you, but if you take
    the time to get to know us, you will understand that saying that
    means a lot to us. Basically the name is derived from the Greek
    words for Brothers in Christ. We read
    the Bible every day and believe the message it contains is
    one of hope and joy. We are a friendly group of about 50
    men, women and children with a common love for the Bible
    and it's teachings. We hold regular meetings for worship and
    to teach and discuss the message of the Bible. We
    meet together each Sunday at 11:15 am for our Breaking of
    Bread Service. In remembrance of Christ, we break bread and drink
    the wine, just as He did at the Last Supper before His death.
    The bread represents Jesus' body, and the wine, Jesus' blood
    which was shed for us. We listen to an exhortation
    before we partake of the bread and wine. We hold a Sunday School
    for adults and children at 10:00am Our community is organized
    in the way that we understand the community of believers were
    organized by the Apostles in the first century. Believers living
    in the same locality come together to form what is called an
    "Ecclesia". Each Ecclesia is autonomous and has the
    freedom to organize themselves as they consider most appropriate.
    This normally involves appointing, in accordance with the principles
    laid down in the New Testament, serving brethren to carry out
    work to enable the Ecclesia to function. These brethren are servant
    leaders. They are usually called Arranging Brethren because they
    arrange the events required to perform the work of preaching
    God's word and caring for the believers. Each Ecclesia is responsible
    for the physical and spiritual well being of their own members
    and to further the knowledge of the word of God in their own
    locality. But in addition, there is a network of contacts and
    communication between Ecclesias throughout the world. All the
    Ecclesias are bound together by the one faith that we all share.
    They are also bound together by the fact that each believer,
    in whichever Ecclesia he or she attends, is part of the one body
    of Christ. The principles of fellowship therefore bind each individual
    and each Ecclesia together into one single entity. This is possible
    because we all believe the Bible to be our only guide to matters
    concerning true doctrine and practical living.

    Where
    did we come from? Although
    the religion we practice is the same religion taught by Jesus
    the Christ, the Christadelphian community, as it exists, has
    been around for nearly 150 years. Christadelphianism is a return
    to the principles and practices taught by Christ and his Apostles
    as evidenced by the Bible. Our Ecclesia was formed in August
    of 1998. Over the preceding 5 years, a number of us had moved
    to the LaPorte County area and felt there was enough interest
    to form our own Ecclesia here. Before that time we were members
    of the Kouts, Indiana Ecclesia. Lacking a permanent building,
    we met in the homes of various members until a time when we could
    acquire a building. Our members live in various communities in
    and around LaPorte County including LaPorte, Westville, Elkhart,
    Portage, and Wheatfield, Indiana. More on the History of Christadelphianism
    can be found below.
 

    
What
    are we doing here?   We
    are here for you. Our aim is to be a lightstand; a place from
    which will emanate the Spirit of God and shine brightly foretelling
    the glory of the Kingdom of God on Earth to come. We are not
    a proselytizing organization, meaning we are not here to force
    others to convert. After our initial introduction to the community,
    our presence will most likely mesh seamlessly with that of other
    citizens. We will not be going door to door, or stopping people
    on the streets. Our religion speaks for itself from the pages
    of the Bible. Anyone interested in exploring the Bible and discovering
    the forgotten Truths contained within is encouraged to attend.
    Members of our organization are very approachable and willing
    to discuss our beliefs in any appropriate setting. If you desire
    a private meeting, just let one of us know, or visit our website
    at

    
http://brosintruth.no-ip.net/


    
or


    
http://www.marknehemiah.com/gorrells.


    
Or you can contact us by e-mail.

    BrosInTruth@yahoo.com

    lemmonJim@yahoo.com

      

    
A brief History of The Christadelphians 

    
As for the History of the Christadelphians, the original Statement of Faith was drafted in about
1860 by Dr. John Thomas.  Dr. Thomas was from London, England, the son of a Baptist
Minister.  He came to America in 1835 as a ship’s physician.  Upon his arrival in America he fell
into a group of reformationists known as The Cambellites.  He joined their organization and
started ministering the Gospel.  Dr. Thomas was a retrospective man who believed not in what he
was told, but what could be proven.  Around the year 1850 he fell out of favor with the governing
body of the Cambellite organization because they were accepting members into their
congregations who were not Baptized into the Faith; meaning that the persons were Baptized into
another faith and subsequently converted.  Dr. Thomas believed that one must have an
understanding of the Truth of the Gospel at the time of Baptism.  Dr. Thomas stated that the
officials of the Cambellite organization were risking a contamination of the Truth by allowing
persons who did not have full understanding to become members.  The schism only widened when
Dr. Thomas published a number of articles in the organization’s magazines of the times
condemning openly the practice.  Dr. Thomas believed that while their fundamental beliefs were
the same, the Cambellite organization was eager enough to gain new members for their growing
movement that they were willing to compromise the Truth of the Gospel by allowing persons who
did not have the same fundamental beliefs to become members.  
	Dr. Thomas continued with the Cambellite movement until a time when he, along with a
large group of former Cambellites who were no longer recognized by their parent organization, 
formed the Christadelphians.  At that time they did not have a name.  It was not until the advent
of the Civil War that a name was chosen and the Christadelphians became an official organization. 
The situation crystallized when the American Civil War broke out on April 12, 1861. It was not
just that to register as conscientious objectors required the loosely organized congregations to
choose a name, the war itself required believers to make a stand for what they believed. The name
"Christadelphian" was first registered by Bro. Sam Coffman and six others at the County
Courthouse in Ogle, Illinois, but then quickly spread to be used by most of the other
congregations in North America, and across the Atlantic to their fellow believers in the British
Isles. 
	In the following year, 1862, with the Civil War still raging, Dr. Thomas returned to
England. In that same year one of his most fervent supporters, a young journalist by the name of
Robert Roberts, published a book "Christendom Astray" which set out to present Bible teachings
in contrast to the current beliefs. From this point onward, Roberts became the principal energy
driving the Christadelphian body forward, and the number of Christadelphians in the UK and
Australia soon surpassed the numbers in the US.
	Dr. Thomas returned to America to concentrate his studies first on Revelation ("Eureka")
and later on the name and manifestation of God ("Phanerosis"). He was warmly received on a
final visit to England in 1869, but, on March 5 1871, Dr. John Thomas fell asleep in New York
aged 65 and was buried in Brooklyn. 
	In the year 1875 it became apparent that Christadelphian Statement of Faith needed some
clarification.  There were those among us who believed that only those who were baptized into
the Faith would be raised to judgment while the majority believed that all of those who had a
knowledge of God and His Son would be held accountable; thus, clarifying that it is impossible to
avoid Judgment by refusing Baptism.  After two years of searching the Scriptures and many
discussions worldwide, the Statement of Faith was amended.  This is the Statement of Faith that
most of the Christadelphians in America, Canada, and England adhere to and is known as the
Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (BASF).  There are a few scattered Ecclesias in the
United States and Canada who have not accepted the Amended Statement. These Ecclesias are
known as Unamended and efforts are underway as we speak to clarify the language and 
reconcile these two groups
	Around the year 1890, a young man in Wales had the opportunity to hear a
Christadelphian presentation.  This man was Eli Joseph Williams.  He was immediately recognized
the logic and adherence to Biblical Truths set forth by the Christadelphians and joined the group. 
Mr. Williams with his wife and children, migrated to Chicago, Illinois in 1926.  There he found a
small group of believers already existed.  He followed the typical migration pattern of the times
from Chicago to Gary, then Glen Park, Indiana.  The family would all board a train to meet with
other believers in Chicago until such time when there were enough members in the area to form a
new Ecclesia in the Gary area.  After renting a place for meetings for 25 years, the Ecclesia
purchased a building in Kouts, Indiana in the early 1960’s.  That Ecclesia still exists today and is
thriving.  Because that Ecclesia had continued to grow over the preceding 40 years, and because the
building had not, we eventually found ourselves with seating capacity and parking problems. 
There were quite a number of us in the LaPorte and Westville, Indiana areas.  So in 1998 a small
group started meeting in Westville.  Our aim was not only to ease the congestion of the Kouts
Ecclesia, but also to provide yet another lightstand; a place from which would emanate the Spirit
of God and would shine brightly foretelling the glory of the Kingdom of God on Earth to come.
We are still deeply connected with our Brothers and Sisters in Kouts and have committed to
remain so in the future.   
	For three years we met in the homes of various members until a suitable building could 
be acquired. Today we meet in the Historic "Old Christian Church Building" on Illinois Street in 
Wanatah, Indiana. Our Ecclesia has grown slowly, but steadily.