Some are. Some are not. A German Baptist has little interest in being identified as "we are similar to Mennonite".Josh wrote: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.
If given the opportunity, I like to refer to the early Anabaptist movement and then talk about the surnames that developed. and what we all have in common. The problem is that this lets curious Christians off the hook. If you simply say that we are Christians or people who try to follow Jesus, it makes some people uncomfortable because many of them claim to be doing the same thing and they don't want to have a conversation about what it means to follow Jesus.