If conservative Anabaptist was "right", why are there virtually no churches in major cities?

[Chris]

Jesus Christ came for humanity.

In every major city I see a plethora of Roman Catholic Churches, Eastern Orthodox Churches, and depending on location varied protestant type churches.

Anabaptists are always just about in the boonies. (Yes I know of the count on one hand amount that is the exception to the rule).

If the Anabaptist theology is correct, why has it not spread to major cities?

Let's get real, in places like NYC, Cincinnati OH, Nashville TN, Houston TX, Los Angeles CA - I can google dozens and dozens of Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. As for conservative Anabapists - nada. Nothing. Nope.

If conservative Anabaptists are correct, shouldn't God's church be where the people are?

EDIT: Conservative Anabaptist defined = any church that is Anabaptist where women cover their head.

[Soloist]

I’ve responded to you before about this, my church is in a large city. Certainly not New York or Los Angeles size though.

Edit: many of these churches also aren’t found on Google without fairly specific searches.

[Chris]

I’ve responded to you before about this, my church is in a large city. Certainly not New York or Los Angeles size though.

Edit: many of these churches also aren’t found on Google without fairly specific searches.

Which city? Because I can find 30-60 in every major city of the Catholic variety. Not just 1, and yours is probably a rare gem. We know this.

[HondurasKeiser]

Jesus Christ came for humanity.

In every major city I see a plethora of Roman Catholic Churches, Eastern Orthodox Churches, and depending on location varied protestant type churches.

Anabaptists are always just about in the boonies. (Yes I know of the count on one hand amount that is the exception to the rule).

If the Anabaptist theology is correct, why has it not spread to major cities?

Let's get real, in places like NYC, Cincinnati OH, Nashville TN, Houston TX, Los Angeles CA - I can google dozens and dozens of Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. As for conservative Anabapists - nada. Nothing. Nope.

If conservative Anabaptists are correct, shouldn't God's church be where the people are?

EDIT: Conservative Anabaptist defined = any church that is Anabaptist where women cover their head.

This past March my mother and I had the privilege of visiting Barnhart’s congregation in NYC. To my knowledge they are not the only conservative Mennonites at work there.

[Ken]

Immigration and settlement patterns.

Most ethnic Anabaptists (Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, etc.) immigrated to rural areas for farming (rural Ohio, PA, Kansas, Iowa, etc.) and when their descendants later migrated within the US in the 20th century they also chose rural areas. So those are the areas where they built churches. Within my own family there was an enormous bias towards farming that did not really start to dissipate until my father's generation came of age in the 1950s and 1960s. My grandfathers, great grandfathers, and generations before really couldn't conceive of doing anything else by farming. I'm not exactly sure why. But it was a very deep-seated bias.

You see the same patterns of Anabaptist settlement elsewhere in the western Hemisphere: Mexico, Belize, Paraguay, Bolivia, etc. I expect you can trace it to a very deep-seated Anabaptist desire to build intentional self-sufficient communities and that is far easier to do in empty rural areas than in the middle of cities.

Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, etc. immigrants mostly migrated to the cities in the 19th and early 20th Century and so that is where they built churches. Especially Catholics who were largely immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and Poland. They flooded into the cities because that is where the work was.

[Chris]

Immigration and settlement patterns.

Most ethnic Anabaptists (Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, etc.) immigrated to rural areas for farming (rural Ohio, PA, Kansas, Iowa, etc.) and when their descendants later migrated within the US in the 20th century they also chose rural areas. So those are the areas where they built churches. Within my own family there was an enormous bias towards farming that did not really start to dissipate until my father's generation came of age in the 1950s and 1960s. My grandfathers, great grandfathers, and generations before really couldn't conceive of doing anything else by farming. I'm not exactly sure why. But it was a very deep-seated bias.

You see the same patterns of Anabaptist settlement elsewhere in the western Hemisphere: Mexico, Belize, Paraguay, Bolivia, etc. I expect you can trace it to a very deep-seated Anabaptist desire to build intentional self-sufficient communities and that is far easier to do in empty rural areas than in the middle of cities.

Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, etc. immigrants mostly migrated to the cities in the 19th and early 20th Century and so that is where they built churches. Especially Catholics who were largely immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and Poland. They flooded into the cities because that is where the work was.

Not 100% accurate. Cities were much smaller and most people farmers during strong immigration periods from Europe. Even in the Great depression many Americans were farmers. Anabaptists just never came to the cities.

Again folks, I'm happy for the 1 church in some city.

But there are 30-60 Catholic types in each major city if not more. Why?

[ohio jones]

What percentage of the US population is Catholic, compared to the percentage of cAs? That might explain why there's a Catholic parish in practically every small town and rural area, let alone multiple in cities. Cities are not the only places where there's a cA desert.

[Josh]

Not everything is found on Google, and most plain Anabaptist things are not found on Google.

Modern day cities are population “sinks” and have a large amount of churn. We have a church in NYC and so do 2 other conservative Anabaptist groups.

Nearly all members who join from the world in NYC end up moving to a more rural congregation:

- Business opportunities
- Better schools for their children
- They can afford to buy a home or at least get cheaper rent

Having lived in metro NYC, DC, Melbourne, San Diego, and having spent significant time in San Francisco/Bay Area and Tel Aviv, the only city I’d ever want to live in especially with a family is Tel Aviv. But if I did live in Israel I’d choose Nazareth in heartbeat.

[MaxPC]

What percentage of the US population is Catholic, compared to the percentage of cAs?

Quite.

Not everything is found on Google, and most plain Anabaptist things are not found on Google.

Modern day cities are population “sinks” and have a large amount of churn. We have a church in NYC and so do 2 other conservative Anabaptist groups.

Nearly all members who join from the world in NYC end up moving to a more rural congregation:

- Business opportunities
- Better schools for their children
- They can afford to buy a home or at least get cheaper rent

Having lived in metro NYC, DC, Melbourne, San Diego, and having spent significant time in San Francisco/Bay Area and Tel Aviv, the only city I’d ever want to live in especially with a family is Tel Aviv. But if I did live in Israel I’d choose Nazareth in heartbeat.

Indeed. In a related query I have wondered why there seems to be a dearth of Anabaptists in Southern states.

[Josh]

I have wondered why the southern states are so thick with Anabaptists everywhere - but you might not find them on Google.