Video of Virginia Mennonites from 1980

[mike]

Because we think our congregation would be better off if it allowed for a bit more diversity and not so much rigidity.
It is either embarrassing, or uncomfortable to start over in a different congregation, so we would rather the congregation adjust to become more "Biblical". It is hard work to relocate or start a new congregation/gain credibility if there isn't already a church of our flavor in the area.

Is stasis in a church of conference really the ideal?

Good point. We look back 150 years and see the ones who stayed in the church and pushed changes such as Sunday School, revival meetings, foreign missions, etc. as the good guys. Why wouldn't we want to stay in the church today and push it toward what we feel is a better direction for the future?

It's sometimes hard for Anabaptists who value stability, tradition, structure, etc. to remember that in the larger picture, radical reformation-derived groups are hardly a historic bastion of stasis within the Christian tradition. We originated as radicals and disruptors. I think the Anabaptist tradition is at its best when it constantly looking to Jesus and the apostles as its guide and is willing to restore and renew based on that guide, rather than strictly on what Grandpa and Grandma did, or the conference decided thirty years ago, while at the same time not just throwing out the wisdom of those who went before us, either.