DARBITI (PLYMOUTH BRETHREN). – Protestant sect, originating in Ireland between 1827 and 1829 and spreading in England. Its adherents (among them A. N. Groves, founder of the Baghdad mission, Mr. Parnell [Lord Cogleton], and J. Nelson Darby [v.], who gave the sect its name and impetus) met privately to “break bread” and pray. From their English center at Plymouth they were also called plimuttisti.
They proposed remedying the ills of the Anglican Church by returning to the simplicity of the primitive Church, without bishops, liturgy, or confessions of faith. Among their doctrines, that of the absolute assurance of eternal salvation stands out, though under the obligation to perform good works as a pledge of final perseverance. Ministers are designated by the faithful without any special ceremony. They prefer to celebrate worship in private homes and halls. The Eucharist, or “the breaking of bread,” is a simple memorial of Our Lord. The d.’s numerous missions have organizations different from those of other Protestant missions and, in order to escape any form of control, reject the support of outside societies or organizations. There is nevertheless a society called “Christian Missions in Many Lands” (C.M.M.L.), formed by the d., which receives the missionaries’ reports and publishes them in certain journals, together with news about the countries and missions where they work; it makes their needs known, collects all alms and donations, and sends them to the missionaries without in any way interfering in their affairs. The American plimuttisti, or d., publish the journal Voice from the Vineyard, and the English publish Echoes of Service. The latter contains abundant information about their missions in Italy (on the Italian plimuttisti, or d., V. GUICCIARDINI, PIERO).