A few more basics on Anabaptism!

[DarkNLovely]

I have been looking for a church for a while. I have been dealing with a struggle that has kept me out of church for a good year, but I would like to attend a different church than I have been attending. Nothing wrong with it, but I would like to grow deeper in faith and there are some things I don't really like about it (it's a very famous megachurch ). I have been reading more on Anabaptism and I have seen the strong commitment to scripture and I like it. I have considered many churches and Christian groups and I would love to visit them all and now I have narrowed it down to 3, one being Anabaptist. I guess I am simply asking for direction and suggestions as to what you may recommend, as I recently found a local church in my area, though I fear it may be part of a breakaway group. I am simply looking for anymore information you may offer or suggest and other general info you may provide. Thanks a lot!

 

[MrJim]

What kind of anabaptist church is it~there are many all across the theological spectrum.

 

[DarkNLovely]

What kind of anabaptist church is it~there are many all across the theological spectrum.

Mennonite! I found one other, but I think they are of the same persuasion.

 

[MrJim]

Mennonite! I found one other, but I think they are of the same persuasion.

I'm gonna guess it's not a "conservative" mennonite church~you just have to go in and see what they are about. Mennonite on the door really means nothing more than Baptist or Presybterian does~every congregation is different, you may find them to be faithful to scripture and the historic anabaptist faith, or you may find them so far to the left they'd make Spong blush ;)

 

[DarkNLovely]

I'm gonna guess it's not a "conservative" mennonite church~you just have to go in and see what they are about. Mennonite on the door really means nothing more than Baptist or Presybterian does~every congregation is different, you may find them to be faithful to scripture and the historic anabaptist faith, or you may find them so far to the left they'd make Spong blush ;)[/QUOTE]
[B][COLOR=indigo]Thanks! What's a Spong?[/COLOR][/B]

 

[DarkNLovely]

Another quwstion!

How are Baptism performed in general and I am assuming Baptism is required right?

 

[MrJim]

Thanks! What's a Spong?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Spong

sorta the epitome of liberal christianity...

 

[MrJim]

Another quwstion!

How are Baptism performed in general and I am assuming Baptism is required right?

The mennonite church I was member of practiced pouring, but the preacher would take you out to the creek and dunk ya if you wanted

 

[progressivegal]

Another quwstion!

How are Baptism performed in general and I am assuming Baptism is required right?

Quaker's don't baptize with water at all (but don't prohibit it either, basically as long as you don't see it as a replacement for a relationship with God or anything, it's fine, you just wouldn't do it at a quaker meeting) but I'm pretty sure Mennonites do.

 

[nzguy]

can I suggest reading Real Churches or a Fog, by S.E Anderson, and The Trail of Blood by Carroll, these two books really show the history of Ana-baptist churches, as distinct from Catholicism and Protesant churches.

Some key features of these churches:

Church is always seen as a local congregation, in the Greek, ecclessia.. which is an assembly. There is no 'universal church' idea... that is the family of God for these churches.

They are fully bible-believing, seeing it as the Word of God, and believing in the Genesis account of creation.

Jesus is God, the Son part of the one triune God.

They will only baptise people after salvation, and will re-baptise people if they have been baptised in an unscriptural church. Baptism is always by immersion, not sprinkling, and no babies are baptised.

most of these churches see ministry and charismatic gifts ceasing with the completion of the Bible.. with faith, hope and love remaining.

These churches are spread all over the world, having started with Jesus Christ and His disciples as the first church, spreading with the apostles sharing the good news and planting churches.

They are recorded in history by historians as having been around at least since approx 100 A.D.

Anyway, that's alot of meat to throw at you, sorry, but this is really what Ana-baptist churches are historically!

churches that have these features:

there are alot in the American Baptist Assocation, as Missionary Baptist churches, with a strong number around Arkansas and Lousiana, spreading more thinly upward.

Since these churches aren't one universal church, they can be found all over the world under different names, but with the same teaching.

So there you go, I hope that helps,

from

NZGuy

 

[nowsthetime]

"They will only baptise people after salvation, and will re-baptise people if they have been baptised in an unscriptural church. Baptism is always by immersion, not sprinkling, and no babies are baptised."

I don't actually believe this to be true. Mennonites may just pour water over the head. I was baptised in a Church of the Brethren/Mennonite church (they are affiliated with Mennonite USA). I had the option of pouring water over my head from the Mennonite site, and the Brethren side practiced usually immersion, so I had a choice.

 

[progressivegal]

"They will only baptise people after salvation, and will re-baptise people if they have been baptised in an unscriptural church. Baptism is always by immersion, not sprinkling, and no babies are baptised."

I don't actually believe this to be true. Mennonites may just pour water over the head. I was baptised in a Church of the Brethren/Mennonite church (they are affiliated with Mennonite USA). I had the option of pouring water over my head from the Mennonite site, and the Brethren side practiced usually immersion, so I had a choice.

And Quakers typically do not practice water baptism at all.

 

[nzguy]

the ana-baptists that I have studied are different from mennonites.. because 1) mennonites are a 'universal church'

and

2) they came out of the Protestant reformation

Ana-baptists were always seperate from Catholicism and Protestants.. having been around as independent churches since before both.

I learned this from reading The Trail of Blood, and Real Churches or a Fog

 

[WayneinMaine]

And Quakers typically do not practice water baptism at all.

But Quakers are not Anabaptists in any case.

 

[WayneinMaine]

the ana-baptists that I have studied are different from mennonites.. because 1) mennonites are a 'universal church'

and

2) they came out of the Protestant reformation

Ana-baptists were always seperate from Catholicism and Protestants.. having been around as independent churches since before both.

I learned this from reading The Trail of Blood, and Real Churches or a Fog

Whatever you read really has nothing to do with Anabaptism. I am familiar with some Baptist groups claiming the heritage you mention. That's all fine and well, but historically the groups identified as "Anabaptists" are those that were separate and distinct from Rome and the Reformers during the Reformation. These eventually became the Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites and a variety of groups identified as "Brethren" or "German Baptists".

 

[progressivegal]

But Quakers are not Anabaptists in any case.

They're included in this forum anyway, so I thought I'd trow it out there.

 

[nzguy]

Have a read of the Trail of Blood

 

[WayneinMaine]

Yes.

Have you read the "Hutteritan Chronicles", "The Radical Reformation", "The Theology of Anabaptism" "The Origins of Sectarian Protestantism" or any of hundreds of articles in the Mennonite Quarterly Review or other historical research journals detailing the history of Anabpatism and of the church(es) in general?

 

[nzguy]

sound like interesting books, but are you know for me.. Quakers and Mennonites shouldn't really be classed as Ana-baptists.. because Ana-baptists from what I studied always saw the body of Christ as a congregation or assembly.. never universal.. the universal is the Family of God.. not a church. Anyway, I think both Quakers and Mennonites are universal church movements.. maybe I am mistaken.. but yah.. that was one of the main key markers of an ana-baptist church (Waldenses, Paulicians, Donatists etc) as seeing a body of Christ as an assembly or congregation.

 

[progressivegal]

sound like interesting books, but are you know for me.. Quakers and Mennonites shouldn't really be classed as Ana-baptists.. because Ana-baptists from what I studied always saw the body of Christ as a congregation or assembly.. never universal.. the universal is the Family of God.. not a church. Anyway, I think both Quakers and Mennonites are universal church movements.. maybe I am mistaken.. but yah.. that was one of the main key markers of an ana-baptist church (Waldenses, Paulicians, Donatists etc) as seeing a body of Christ as an assembly or congregation.

I really don't know a lot about Anabaptists actually. I know what the word means, and I knew they share similarities with Quakers and Mennonites.
I would love to learn more though (I go to Quaker meetings myself).