Hello Elwyn - if someone misbehaved themselves in the baptist church at Adulam then they were expelled from the brethren and excluded from attending church. When they repented of what they had done then they were reinstated. People received by letter were those that had come from other places - usually from another baptist church. Those that were released were those that moved for some reason and went to live in another area. Usually they were given a letter of introduction from the church they had left to show the new church they would be attending that they were bona fide baptists. So if you have a relative that was released then you know the year that they moved away from Adulam and if you have a relative that was received by letter you know that they came from somewhere else originally. This practice is still used in some churches today - especially the brethren church. hope this helps Diana