Do you know why the Followers of Jesus choose not to identify as Mennonite or Anabaptist? Not being critical, just wondering.
Question about Followers of Jesus (State College, PA)
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Question about Followers of Jesus (State College, PA)
This question came up in another discussion forum:
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Re: Question about Followers of Jesus (State College, PA)
The people who started this church come from Catholic, Assemblies of God, Beachy Amish-Mennonite, Nationwide Fellowship, Old Conference German Baptist, Independent Baptist, Washington/Franklin Conference, Charity, BMA, and Southeastern Conference backgrounds. These folks aren't really interested in trying to find a surname that means something historically but has very little meaning to the unchurched. If pushed, they would all say they fit under the Anabaptist umbrella and they are happy to be identified as such when the term is understood, even though most of them have not been rebaptized.
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Re: Question about Followers of Jesus (State College, PA)
Would they be comfortable saying "we are similar to Mennonites"?Ernie wrote:The people who started this church come from Catholic, Assemblies of God, Beachy Amish-Mennonite, Nationwide Fellowship, Old Conference German Baptist, Independent Baptist, Washington/Franklin Conference, Charity, BMA, and Southeastern Conference backgrounds. These folks aren't really interested in trying to find a surname that means something historically but has very little meaning to the unchurched. If pushed, they would all say they fit under the Anabaptist umbrella and they are happy to be identified as such when the term is understood, even though most of them have not been rebaptized.
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Re: Question about Followers of Jesus (State College, PA)
I think the reason (some) people are leary of groups that "drop" the Mennonite name (as seems the case with this church beings the leaders people know were mostly some variant of Menno's) is because this historically was a common path for churches becoming culturally assimilated and generally protestant evangelical. Also, in times past when the name Mennonite was shunned often it was (rightly for the most part) perceived as a reactionary movement (think Charity).
In more recent times though, the name Mennonite has been left behind for other motives, as is the case at FOJ State College. And I don't think these folks are influenced by the same voices the prior folks were/are.
Interestingly, I once had a personal conversation with Walter Beachy, and he told me he was advocating for not using the term Mennonite in the BMA name. However, he didn't feel super strong on it and acquiesced to prevailing thought. He told me he would have liked the moniker "Anabaptist" in place of Mennonite.
Personally I don't know why we use the name Mennonite since we were specifically instructed not to by none other than Paul himself...but I don't see it as a weightier matter of the law. Probably right about in the same place as prayer veilings.
In more recent times though, the name Mennonite has been left behind for other motives, as is the case at FOJ State College. And I don't think these folks are influenced by the same voices the prior folks were/are.
Interestingly, I once had a personal conversation with Walter Beachy, and he told me he was advocating for not using the term Mennonite in the BMA name. However, he didn't feel super strong on it and acquiesced to prevailing thought. He told me he would have liked the moniker "Anabaptist" in place of Mennonite.
Personally I don't know why we use the name Mennonite since we were specifically instructed not to by none other than Paul himself...but I don't see it as a weightier matter of the law. Probably right about in the same place as prayer veilings.
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Re: Question about Followers of Jesus (State College, PA)
"Mennonite" is a name that other people gave us, and eventually, it's the name that stuck.
I personally like the idea of calling ourselves "Anabaptists", and that's what one church in Australia did. As a bonus, they find they get along very well with the Baptists in Papua New Guineau, who are delighted to have a preacher visit them from a church with "Baptist" in the name.
A simple reality to deal with is that if we pick some non-distinctive name, we become virtually impossible to find. One Anabaptist fellowship near me simply calls itself "Christian Fellowship". That's not helpful at all for someone who is seeking kingdom Christianity, Jesus-following, conservative Anabaptism, or whatever you want to call it.
I personally like the idea of calling ourselves "Anabaptists", and that's what one church in Australia did. As a bonus, they find they get along very well with the Baptists in Papua New Guineau, who are delighted to have a preacher visit them from a church with "Baptist" in the name.
A simple reality to deal with is that if we pick some non-distinctive name, we become virtually impossible to find. One Anabaptist fellowship near me simply calls itself "Christian Fellowship". That's not helpful at all for someone who is seeking kingdom Christianity, Jesus-following, conservative Anabaptism, or whatever you want to call it.
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Re: Question about Followers of Jesus (State College, PA)
Acronym lovers, as well as Lamb of God Mennonite Church, would have preferred that name.joshuabgood wrote:Interestingly, I once had a personal conversation with Walter Beachy, and he told me he was advocating for not using the term Mennonite in the BMA name. However, he didn't feel super strong on it and acquiesced to prevailing thought. He told me he would have liked the moniker "Anabaptist" in place of Mennonite.
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I am a Christian and my name is Pilgram; I'm on a journey, but I'm not alone -- NewSong, slightly edited
Re: Question about Followers of Jesus (State College, PA)
I see the but I have often wondered about why there are so many Mennonites that have identified themselves with the person who started their particular brand of Mennonite when Paul really did speak out against doing that. But then again, Paul's writings are quite picked over in selecting orthopraxy for a Christ follower, are they not ?joshuabgood wrote: Personally I don't know why we use the name Mennonite since we were specifically instructed not to by none other than Paul himself...but I don't see it as a weightier matter of the law. Probably right about in the same place as prayer veilings.
Our church was originally know as Mennonite Brethren and about 15 or so years ago was changed to the name of a city subdivision close by called Meadow Brook. So the 'MB' was retained, that pleased some, and the word 'Fellowship' was added. Meadow Brook Fellowship. Recently it was changed again to Meadow Brook Church and I am not familiar with why this was changed but I see various churches using the word 'Church' in their naming. The Pentecostal church, for instance, was originally called Full Gospel Tabernacle and has evolved through name changes to now be called Lake Pointe Church.
The original change away from the word 'Mennonite' in our case was to make it more inviting to folks not from a German/Russian background. I remember when I first started attending how folks on the outside could not understand why I would be going to a church they suspected still had services in German as some in our area do.
We have just completed a series called 'Roots' where we studied Anabaptist history in the main Sunday services. All of this is available on the Internet website for anyone curious about our church beliefs and/or background.
Seems to me Mennonite churches are the most fragmented amongst all Christian churches in their brand of Mennoniteism. My preference would be to keep the name more by location and have the members and a website share with the public the kind of Anabaptist beliefs are followed.
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Re: Question about Followers of Jesus (State College, PA)
That's what my particularly group does, simply calling ourselves the "church of God" and identifying a congregation by its location.
However, nobody else does, and they call it the Holdeman church, and call its members Holdemans. So even if you try hard not to be identified by a leader in your past, everyone else will still do so.
However, nobody else does, and they call it the Holdeman church, and call its members Holdemans. So even if you try hard not to be identified by a leader in your past, everyone else will still do so.
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Re: Question about Followers of Jesus (State College, PA)
I don't see labels as being all that bad. I think an issue is present when someone first identifies as "Mennonite" (or whatever denomination) and not as "Christian".
Labels are more helpful for those already within the Faith as well as for those seeking something specific. To the general public, though, I don't think we should be quick to toss around our "brand name" and stir up additional confusion and divisiveness. If someone earnestly asks, I don't see an issue with using a label for clarification.
One interesting piece, of the three largest Southern Baptist Churches in the tricounty area, only one ever had "Baptist" in the name. Now, though, even this church has dropped the "Baptist" from it's name.
Labels are more helpful for those already within the Faith as well as for those seeking something specific. To the general public, though, I don't think we should be quick to toss around our "brand name" and stir up additional confusion and divisiveness. If someone earnestly asks, I don't see an issue with using a label for clarification.
One interesting piece, of the three largest Southern Baptist Churches in the tricounty area, only one ever had "Baptist" in the name. Now, though, even this church has dropped the "Baptist" from it's name.
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Re: Question about Followers of Jesus (State College, PA)
A bigger question is just what does a label like "Christian" communicate (and why is it, as a label, so sacrosanct).
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