I'd like to learn more about Anabaptists

[Canadian75]

Are there anabaptists on this board that can answer some questions for me about your church? I'm thinking of going to a local Mennonite church this weekend...is there anything I should know first?

I've been reading some information and I am particularly attracted to the Pacifist message. I've always been a pacifist in principle and I'm convinced that is the way of Christ.

Any help would be appreciated.

Peace.

 

[Crazy Liz]

Are there anabaptists on this board that can answer some questions for me about your church?

Sure. What kind of questions do you have?

I'm thinking of going to a local Mennonite church this weekend...is there anything I should know first?

Nothing I can think of. I don't think you'll find the service much different from any other protestant church, unless they happen to have a baptism. For Anabaptists, baptism is a very important lifelong covenant, which is always directly connected with church membership. So if there is a baptism (or if a new member is accepted who has already been baptized) there may be charges to the congregation, and/or the congregation may be asked to stand to indicate their acceptance of the new member.

If this happens, just listen carefully to what the pastor says. Often, only members of the congregation are asked to stand or respond verbally, then everyone is invited to stand in prayer. If you're not a member it is OK to remain seated or not to respond when members are asked to respond.

I can't think of anything else Mennonites do that is much different and unfamiliar to other protestants.

I've been reading some information and I am particularly attracted to the Pacifist message. I've always been a pacifist in principle and I'm convinced that is the way of Christ.

Any help would be appreciated.

Peace.

I'm glad you're taking the time to check this out! May you have a joyful worship experience!

 

[ZiSunka]

Are there anabaptists on this board that can answer some questions for me about your church? I'm thinking of going to a local Mennonite church this weekend...is there anything I should know first?

I've been reading some information and I am particularly attracted to the Pacifist message. I've always been a pacifist in principle and I'm convinced that is the way of Christ.

Any help would be appreciated.

Peace.

Is it a mennonite USA church or a more conservative church like Amish?

 

[Canadian75]

Is it a mennonite USA church or a more conservative church like Amish?

Mennonite Brethren Canada, from their website they don't strike me as a very conservative (Amish-like) church.

 

[Crazy Liz]

I grew up Mennonite Brethren. You will probably find their service much like a Baptist or non-denomintional church, with the exception I noted above if they have a baptism or receive new members. Very evangelical.

Bring your Bible. Otherwise, nothing special by way of dress, etc. MBs have never worn distinctive or "plain" dress.

 

[Maeyken]

I can't think of anything "special" or strange about Mennonite services... At my church we don't bring bibles generally (there are bibles in the chairs). A few ppl bring their own.

I dunno if this is a Mennonite thing, or just something my churches have done, but we have Sunday School either before or after the service for everyone, not just the kids. We call it "adult sunday school".

 

[Canadian75]

Sure. What kind of questions do you have?

I'll start slow with one topic. What can you, or anyone else, tell me about the role of public confession, excommunication, etc? I've been reading and many things are pretty straight forward, but the reference to public expulsion and re-entry after repentance was not expanded upon. I don't know if this a regular event or under what circumstances it occurs. I may be way off base.

Everything else I've been reading on the websites make perfect sense to me (somewhat surprisingly I must admit). I was surprised also to find a prohibition on divorce (something that reminds me of the RCC), but then again that is pretty much in line with Jesus' teaching anyway.


Peace.

 

[Crazy Liz]

I'll start slow with one topic. What can you, or anyone else, tell me about the role of public confession, excommunication, etc? I've been reading and many things are pretty straight forward, but the reference to public expulsion and re-entry after repentance was not expanded upon. I don't know if this a regular event or under what circumstances it occurs. I may be way off base.

I don't know. The Mennonite Brethren mostly dropped that practice about 50 years ago. I remember about 30 years ago one MB pastor who refused to marry couples if the bride was pregnant and they refused to confess publicly, so there were a lot of weddings from that church in the MB church in the next town.

Everything else I've been reading on the websites make perfect sense to me (somewhat surprisingly I must admit). I was surprised also to find a prohibition on divorce (something that reminds me of the RCC), but then again that is pretty much in line with Jesus' teaching anyway.


Peace.

Again, for the MB, you won't find the same kind of divorce prohibition as in the RCC. Divorce is considered a serious matter, and you are likely to see much more serious efforts at intervention to prevent it than in most other protestant churches, but I have not seen MB churches treat marriage and divorce in the same way as the RCC. First of all, you will not hear Mennonites speak of sacraments, whereas the RCC position is based on its sacramental position on marriage. Also, today you are not likely to find many MB pastors saying, as does the RCC, that divorce does not really dissolve a marriage. While they will discourage both divorces and remarriages, in general, their reasoning is based more on 1 Corinthians 7 (remain as you are or reconcile, if you can), rather than on any theory that the first marriage still exists.

I can't speak for other Mennonites. I have heard of one or two Mennonite groups taking the extreme view that a divorced and remarried person must divorce the second spouse, but I'm sure most Mennonite pastors and lay people would consider this unbiblical, since both Jesus and Paul taught against divorce in general, not only against divorcing a first spouse.

I congratulate you for doing some research on historical Anabaptist theology and practice. However, I think you'll find most MB churches (at least in the US - Canada might be a bit more conservative) closer to mainstream Evangelical theology and practice than traditional Anabaptist theology and practice. I think in someways this is good and in some ways unfortunate.

If any other Mennonites here have experience with such issues, I would be interested to learn more too - especially about any churches that still practice public confession.

 

[Canadian75]

I congratulate you for doing some research on historical Anabaptist theology and practice. However, I think you'll find most MB churches (at least in the US - Canada might be a bit more conservative) closer to mainstream Evangelical theology and practice than traditional Anabaptist theology and practice. I think in someways this is good and in some ways unfortunate.

I hadn't realized there was more than one group of Mennonites. Then I searched and found that in this country there is the Mennonite Church Canada and the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (which the congregation in my city is part of). I don't know what the differences are, but it is likely (at least from what I know so far) that the local church is probably more like what you described. I'll know more after this weekend (since my vehicle recently broke down, I hope to make it there on Sunday).

Are you still a member of an Anabaptist church? If so (or if not), why? If you don't mind my nosey questions.

 

[Crazy Liz]

Are you still a member of an Anabaptist church? If so (or if not), why? If you don't mind my nosey questions.

No prob. I currently belong to an Evangelical Friends church. There are no English-speaking Mennonite churches nearby. The nearest Mennonite churches are Spanish-speaking and Indonesian.

 

[mamabear4]

I'm a Mennonite too. Our church is a member of the Biblical Mennonite Alliance (a mostly U.S. and Canadian conference.) There are many different kinds of anabaptists and if I'd begin to name them all you'd be scratching your head in confusion. It's a bit humorous, but if you're around them long enough you can get one glimpse of someone, even a total stranger, and know immediately which kind of anabaptist they are. Our head coverings vary, our clothes patterns vary, even our vehicles vary. It's a little like the American language. Most everyone speaks English but by our dialect you can tell where we grew up, what class of people we are, etc. So it is with Mennonites/Amish/Brethren.

Canadian75 says: I'm thinking of going to a local Mennonite church this weekend...is there anything I should know first?

I think you're very open minded to want to attend services in another denomination. Our family has made it a practice to do that quite often and it really broadens your sense of who the body of Christ actually consists of. When you restrict your worship to your particular denomination, your culture, your class of people, you begin to believe, whether you admit it or not, that Heaven is made up of your kind of people, and in reality it isn't. (There is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female in Christ. We could translate that to say there is neither Baptist or Pentecostal, Catholic or Mennonite in Christ.)

You will find the Mennonites to be a different culture, with some beliefs that you'll agree with and others that you might not, but let's hope, unless you get into a really different sort of church, that you'll find them to be down to earth, friendly folks. But there's no guarentee of that and if you get into a church that's arrogant, don't scratch us all off that way. Just pick up and go to another church and in the end, you should find one that's open minded enough to accept you just as you are. I think that's the way Jesus intended for all churches to be - able to eat with the Simons, the Matthews and the Mary Magdalenes alike. Keep us informed about how your visit to that Mennonite church went.

 

[MrJim]

As a former member of the Mennonite Church here in US I can say that Liz is correct in that it mostly resembles the generic evangelical/protestant view with a "pacifist" twist. With the merger of Mennonite Church and the more liberal General Conference Mennonite Church into Mennonite Church USA the conference I was a part of is ripping itself apart due to the liberal/conservative issues found in most other denominations. It is a sad thing to see-I am still in touch with that conference. The conservative element of the MC denomination isn't the plain people but an evangelical/Republican form of conservatism. The liberal element isn't so much an "enlightened plain people" sort of thing as it is the usual suspects of homosexuality, questioning authenticity of scripture, women in ministry, etc.

When talking about pacifism there is a difference between what the anabaptists taught regarding non-resistance and what is currently called pacificism. I would recommend the book War, Peace and Non-Resistance by Guy F. Hershberger. There is a big difference between the two. Pacifism teaches the use of non-violent force (think Ghandi or MLK) and non-resistance teached the use of no force. While some elements will appear the same on the outside (just like communions in Lutheran, Catholic, and Baptist services would basically appear the same-intake of bread and red/purple beverage) they are very different.

I left many years ago-the changes and tensions in the congregation and conference were not good and things still are not going very well. I cannot speak for the Mennonite Brethren. If you would like good information about historical anabaptists I would strongly recommend visiting www.scrollpublishing.com. There is this guy, David Bercot, that was a Baptist that eventually converted to anabaptist (via Anglicanism-yeah he actually became an Anglican priest for a while) through the study of scripture and the early church. His books Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up & The Kingdom That Turned The World Upside Down explores many of the elements of what the early church taught and what many of us believe regarding anabaptist theology. He also has lots of great and very inexpensive CD's-I have a couple dozen-and they are really good. He teaches as a regular guy-not some professor-and has had the same issues as anyone trying to find his/her way in the journey through the Kingdom of God.

 

[Canadian75]

I didn't make it to the church this weekend. My wife had made plans that I didn't know about. Hopefully, I'll make it this Sunday. In the mean time I'm hoping to get a hold of the pastor and introduce myself. Thanks for all the comments and answers. I'll likely have more questions.

Peace.