Surnames and Sectarianism

[Soloist]

With the invention of the internet, it is very easy to identify as Anabaptist or Mennonite or Brethren and what that means to the church, without including it in the name of the church. Those who really care about the identity will read the website. Those unfamiliar with Christianity won't really care what name, and they will care more about the people at the church and how the people at the church treat them.

Those who don't use internet can't read a website that doesn't exist. This was why we ultimately tried RZehr's church before the one we attended. They had a website and I liked everything I read. Then we showed up and discovered it was time to flee this cult.

[RZehr]

With the invention of the internet, it is very easy to identify as Anabaptist or Mennonite or Brethren and what that means to the church, without including it in the name of the church. Those who really care about the identity will read the website. Those unfamiliar with Christianity won't really care what name, and they will care more about the people at the church and how the people at the church treat them.

Those who don't use internet can't read a website that doesn't exist. This was why we ultimately tried RZehr's church before the one we attended. They had a website and I liked everything I read. Then we showed up and discovered it was time to flee this cult.

And didn’t stop fleeing until he finally reached the sea, 3,000 miles away.

[Josh]

In Australia few had heard of Mennonites (especially recent immigrants) but it seems most knew about Amish. When asked about my faith such as eg to a kiosk salesperson in the mall, or a Muslim person who mistook me for a Muslim, I would say we were like Amish except we drive cars. That explanation made a lot of sense to them.

[HondurasKeiser]

But not all of us were Mennonites or Amish, as I said earlier. Why should we adopt a name that does not describe us as a group?

Because a group is more than the sum of its disparate parts. The name of the group implies a cohesive vision and belief structure and it doesn’t nor should it take into account every idiosyncratic and esoteric background of its various members. People join groups to leave old identities behind. That was my experience growing up. Our group was 50 percent ethnic Mennonite and some BIC and the other 50 percent ran the gamut from former Catholic to former Wiccan. The non-ethnic Mennos in our group joined because they were drawn to Mennonite beliefs and had no desire to see their particular theological backgrounds represented in something like the name of the church.

Curiously, it was always the ethnic Mennos that pushed for a potential dropping of the Mennonite name on our sign out front and a dropping of certain Mennonite traditions; whilst it was usually the non-ethnic members that wanted to hold the line.

I honestly tire of this constant refrain in so many Mennonite and Brethren circles of the need to drop the Menno/Brethren name, identity, distinctive. It strikes me as cloying, sad and market-driven. Be who you are - lean into it. How can you expect anyone to care about, much less join, your particular tradition/group/theology if it’s clear you have an identity crisis and are actively sawing yourself off from your roots?

It is no different in the rest of the Protestant realm.

Baptist churches right and left are dropping the Baptist or Southern Baptist name.

For example, Rick Warren's Saddleback church in CA used to be the Saddleback Baptist Church

And Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston used to be Lakewood Baptist Church.

Around here the biggest local Baptist churches have mostly dropped the name, at least in the suburbs. The older rural churches still keep it.

I think that's right for a lot of Protestant churches that slowly become a host for a kind of parasitic "non-denominationalism/evangelicalism". I notice though that some groups are more susceptible to it than others. You rarely (but not never) see it in the Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopalian or Presbyterian worlds. Even congregations of those groups that are fairly conservative theologically, tend to retain their denominational name.

[Josh]

Mainline Protestants generally tried to take over the “brand” of their denomination (Mennonite Church USA tried to do this too, but has largely not been successful.)

Meanwhile evangelicals and conservatives are OK getting consigned to a ghetto with no identity at all. The nearest Methodist affiliate to me is now just <tiny village name> Community Church.

[Praxis+Theodicy]

I see the pragmatism of identifying denominational labels. They communicate what the fellowship's unique convictions are. I have not yet met any Christian fellowship that perfectly follows Jesus, so identifying with "Paul or Appollos" is an unfortunate but practical way of identifying tour specific convictions about what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

There are groups that eschew the denominational labels. These groups tend to grow super exclusionary against other followers of Jesus. The 12 Tribes, for example, refuse to call themselves "Christians" at all. The Local Churches tends to talk about themselves as the one true church among numerous apostates.
I think the marker of a humble fellowship to accept a denominational label as a way of communicating (1) We believe strongly in our unique convictions, but (2) we can't pretend that we are perfect and truly know the One Way to follow Jesus, over and against all other Christians.

Personally, I don't like denominations named after humans. I'd prefer not to call myself a Lutheran or a Mennonite or a Wesleyan... preferring instead Reformed, or Anabaptist, or Methodist, even if that required extra explanation.

[Ernie]

We never would have gone to Payette church. Payette Mennonite church on the other hand, we would have tried.

How many years ago was that? Might it be different today with all the online resources?
Will Church Index be a resource for folks like yourself? Or must the website have the name Mennonite in it?

If the latter, which of the following do you think is the better domain?
amishmennonite.org
amish-mennonite.org

[Ernie]

There are groups that eschew the denominational labels. These groups tend to grow super exclusionary against other followers of Jesus. The 12 Tribes, for example, refuse to call themselves "Christians" at all. The Local Churches tends to talk about themselves as the one true church among numerous apostates.
I think the marker of a humble fellowship to accept a denominational label as a way of communicating (1) We believe strongly in our unique convictions, but (2) we can't pretend that we are perfect and truly know the One Way to follow Jesus, over and against all other Christians.

I hear what you are saying and this is true for some groups including Followers of the Way.

But for those of us who neither eschew denominational labels, nor embrace them, I think we are more accepting of other groups who believe and practice Christianity similar to the way we do.
For example: Our church (Followers of Jesus) and Disciples' Fellowship in Massachusetts, Church Index, Church Planters Forum, etc. are much more open to fellowshipping with others than what Mennonites, Amish, and Brethren tend to be.

Personally, I don't like denominations named after humans. I'd prefer not to call myself a Lutheran or a Mennonite or a Wesleyan... preferring instead Reformed, or Anabaptist, or Methodist, even if that required extra explanation.

Agreed!

[Josh]

We never would have gone to Payette church. Payette Mennonite church on the other hand, we would have tried.

How many years ago was that? Might it be different today with all the online resources?
Will Church Index be a resource for folks like yourself? Or must the website have the name Mennonite in it?

If the latter, which of the following do you think is the better domain?
amishmennonite.org
amish-mennonite.org

Church Index is rather opaque about what it is; it uses the brand of “We are just Christians who obey the Bible.” The issue is that virtually every church claims the same thing. If I were looking for a Mennonite/Brethren church I would have a hard time knowing if I’d come to the right place.

My denomination does not put church directories online although you can buy one for $10 from Gospel Publishers. They think it better to focus on tract work to raise awareness of our church’s existence.

[Ernie]

Church Index is rather opaque about what it is; it uses the brand of “We are just Christians who obey the Bible.” The issue is that virtually every church claims the same thing. If I were looking for a Mennonite/Brethren church I would have a hard time knowing if I’d come to the right place.

All you need to do is click on the Learn More tab and you get this.

Our mission is to create and maintain a public database of Anabaptist and similar churches from around the world who strive to live out the teachings of the New Testament and who recognize other churches with similar faith and practice, as being part of the church of Jesus.