Impediments to membership in an Anabaptist fellowship

[Judas Maccabeus]

I am not a member of Eastern nor a defender of their positions.
I do however hold to the view that their position of separation and non-resistance is fundamental to Anabaptist thought.

I do think there is merit, note I said merit, not across the board they are “right”, that most more liberal Mennonite groups are on the road to liberal mainstream evangelical Protestantism.

FWIIW, I play golf. I would not belong to a country club type setting ever ( i.e. what I can afford is irrelevant) under any circumstance.
But who am I. I view liberal Mennonites (I mean such as general conference) as far worse than mainstream Protestants! L

Do you believe EPMC is the “one true church”. They would disagree vigorously.

Do you believe they were “right” in pushing a more conservative line, than the one that THEY had agreed to when they were part of the Lancaster Conference? Your mileage may vary on that point, they created a split through this effort, when not getting agreement to this move from all of their Bishops? Ever hear of Homer Bomberger, and the MAMF departure.

And, no, conservatives that were never part of EPMC are not on a road to liberalism. If anything, some seem to have gotten a bit more conservitive, and maybe EPMC a bit less so.

[Ernie]

What would keep me from considering some Anabaptist fellowships is their isolation and non-involvement with the world.

I seem to recall, perhaps incorrectly, that Ernie created a chart that showed the spectrum of various fellowships regarding their level of separation from the secular pursuits. Those groups who eschew all secular pursuits and practices were on one end and those who do not ban secular activities on the other with all manner of degree in-between.

https://churchplantersforum.org/wp-cont ... 3-2012.pdf

https://churchplantersforum.org/wp-cont ... e-2022.pdf

[Ernie]

Some things I have compiled.

https://churchplantersforum.org/wp-cont ... urches.pdf

Do you think that an NMB walking into a church plant stands a better chance of success, as a strong cultural tradition has not yet formed?

Do you think that an NMB walking into a church plant stands a better chance of success, as a strong cultural tradition has not yet formed?

Probably. Depends a bit on if it was started as an outreach and attracted outreach-minded people or if it started as a farmland acquisition opportunity.

Even in the latter, it can be easier for a community person to “slip in”. There are a couple of examples of these in our own circles.

There are so many variables that contribute to seekers not doing very well in a Plain Anabaptist church.

But assuming that those in the church love each other and love those not part of the church, and assuming that the seekers know what stripe of Plain church they are looking for before they arrive, and assuming that the church is not trying to reinvent the wheel, a newer church plant with just a few families and singles may be a better option for some seekers as they do not have to work as hard to penetrate the social barrier. But this is not true for all seekers. Some seekers enjoy the stability of being part of a large, multi-generational church.

Seekers come in all stripes and flavors. If a faith tradition doesn't provide a variety of healthy flavors, many seekers won't find what they are looking for.

But a faith tradition can have a variety of healthy flavors, but some will get lost in the search before they find what they want. Some get too wounded and battered to even keep searching and they give up the search.

So... from my perspective... the best chance for a seeker is to get them into a healthy church, and one that is a good fit for them, from the very beginning.

[Josh]

The seekers I was thinking of actually weren’t looking for a plain church at all. They just somehow got associated with the new church plant when it was very small.

[Ernie]

The seekers I was thinking of actually weren’t looking for a plain church at all. They just somehow got associated with the new church plant when it was very small.

And many of these folks become great pillars in Anabaptist churches as they take on the character of the group and did not come with a whole list of expectations and non-negotiables.

[Judas Maccabeus]

The seekers I was thinking of actually weren’t looking for a plain church at all. They just somehow got associated with the new church plant when it was very small.

And many of these folks become great pillars in Anabaptist churches as they take on the character of the group and did not come with a whole list of expectations and non-negotiables.

Hmmmmmm................

[Josh]

The seekers I was thinking of actually weren’t looking for a plain church at all. They just somehow got associated with the new church plant when it was very small.

And many of these folks become great pillars in Anabaptist churches as they take on the character of the group and did not come with a whole list of expectations and non-negotiables.

Yes, I think it’s far more fruitful to focus on people who want to become believers and start attending a Christian church, as opposed to searching for “seekers” who want to find a plain church with a list of qualities they already came up with.

Having been part of an institution that was the latter, I am impressed it is not the way to go. In particular the “conservative homeschooler” demographic is about impossible to form a stable church body out of.

[Soloist]

Yeah us seekers are too complicated. Much easier to teach someone convictions that align with ours then face challenges about if ours are Scriptural or not.

[steve-in-kville]

The logic I’ve heard for allowing it, is that golfing has largely lost its reputation as a sport only for the rich. With the rise of municipal courses, rental clubs, what all, it is now more of a middle class sport. So I guess that mean we are more comfortable associating with middle class sensibilities and norms and values, and have a bit of discomfort with the upper crust.

At one point, fly fishing was viewed the same way.

[Verity]

I am not a member of Eastern nor a defender of their positions.
I do however hold to the view that their position of separation and non-resistance is fundamental to Anabaptist thought.

I do think there is merit, note I said merit, not across the board they are “right”, that most more liberal Mennonite groups are on the road to liberal mainstream evangelical Protestantism.

FWIIW, I play golf. I would not belong to a country club type setting ever ( i.e. what I can afford is irrelevant) under any circumstance.
But who am I. I view liberal Mennonites (I mean such as general conference) as far worse than mainstream Protestants! L

Do you believe EPMC is the “one true church”. They would disagree vigorously.

Do you believe they were “right” in pushing a more conservative line, than the one that THEY had agreed to when they were part of the Lancaster Conference? Your mileage may vary on that point, they created a split through this effort, when not getting agreement to this move from all of their Bishops? Ever hear of Homer Bomberger, and the MAMF departure.

And, no, conservatives that were never part of EPMC are not on a road to liberalism. If anything, some seem to have gotten a bit more conservitive, and maybe EPMC a bit less so.

I agree with most of what you said. While Eastern may not claim in so many words to be the one true church, the actions of many say otherwise. I know countless situations where an adult child chose to join another fellowship and was considered "lost". One couple was bemoaning this only last week- one of their children is now Pilgrim, the other Northeastern. I was told by my father-in-law that if we joined anything other than Eastern or Washington County he would consider us apostate, and the extended family agrees with this position. This was with us joining a congregation that was more conservative in practice than the Eastern congregation we were part of. One minister went so far as to tell me that transferring from Eastern to another conservative group was equivalent to divorce "which is forbidden in the Scriptures, so you are on a dangerous course".