Anabaptist Acronyms

[Dan Z]

I've been on MD & MN for nearly from the start, and around the various Swiss Brethren groups for over 30 years, and there are still lots of them that I don't recognize by their abbreviations.

It's a regular alphabet soup out there.

[Josh]

"Conservative Conference" usually means the CMC, the Conservative Mennonite Conference, which is not particularly conservative, is Amish-Mennonite in origin, and is not a conference structure of leadership.

On MennoDiscuss we invented the terms "AB" to mean Anabaptist background, "NAB" to mean non-Anabaptist background, and "CA" to mean Conservative Anabaptist.

[Sudsy]

EMC- Evangelical Mennonite Church
EMMC -Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference
UMC - United Mennonite Church
MCC - Mennonite Central Commitee
MDS - Mennonite Disaster Serevice

WIM - Women In Ministry
D&R - Divorce and Remarriage

BTW - By the way
LOL - Laughing out loud

[MaxPC]

BT Bunny Trail: when a post goes off topic or takes a different direction from the original subject matter of the thread.

[Heirbyadoption]

Let me see if I can add a few:

OBGB Old Brethren German Baptist

OOGBB Old Order German Baptist Brethren

OGBB-NC Old German Baptist Brethren-New Conference

OGBB-OC Old German Baptist Brethren-Old Conference

OORB Old Order River Brethren

YMMV Your Mileage May Vary

C-OMW Caution-Old Man Walking

Lo, I have returned. Technically, the Old refers to themselves as the OGBBC, and New Conference go by OGBBC-NC. The Old Conference can be referred to as OGBBC-OC, but a lot of them really, really don't like to be called the "Old" Conference; if anything, they prefer "Original" Conference, as it sounds decidedly less implicative of guilt or responsibility in the 09 expulsion. Plus, to imply an Old and a New Conference suggests that there are two Conferences within the Church, and while the Holdeman version of the One True Church isn't taught, many OCs will admit they operate as The One True Church because they aren't sure of anyone else and don't want to be seen as endorsing someone or a group who might be outside the Church. Thankfully, not all feel that way, but it makes for some interesting conversations.

The OBGBs do not go by an abbreviations; if anything, they are "Deer Creekers" or "Leedyites".
Same for the OOGBBs: no abbreviation, only "Petitioners" or "horse and buggy GBs".

[Josh]

"Holdeman" is shorthand for "The Church of God in Christ, Mennonite", founded by John Holdeman in 1859. Non-Holdeman people tend to refer to such churches as "Holdeman" churches. People who are part of that church will refer to each other as "Holdemans", but refer to their own church as "the church of God", or sometimes by its full name.

"CGCM" is an acronym a few of us on MennoNet for the above. To my knowledge, it is not in use elsewhere.

"H" is an abbreviation some people who have left the CGCM use on other message boards. For example, "There is an H church there.", "When I was an H.", and so forth.

Just to keep things interesting, Holdeman Mennonite Church, just outside of Wakarusa, Indiana, is a member of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference, which is affiliated with Mennonite Church USA, and is not associated with the CGCM.

Likewise most people with a last name of "Holdeman" are not "Holdemans" in the sense they are not members of the CGCM. LIkewise, most members of the CGCM don't have a last name of "Holdeman", despite referring to each other as "Holdemans".

[MaxPC]

Let me see if I can add a few:

OBGB Old Brethren German Baptist

OOGBB Old Order German Baptist Brethren

OGBB-NC Old German Baptist Brethren-New Conference

OGBB-OC Old German Baptist Brethren-Old Conference

OORB Old Order River Brethren

YMMV Your Mileage May Vary

C-OMW Caution-Old Man Walking

Lo, I have returned. Technically, the Old refers to themselves as the OGBBC, and New Conference go by OGBBC-NC. The Old Conference can be referred to as OGBBC-OC, but a lot of them really, really don't like to be called the "Old" Conference; if anything, they prefer "Original" Conference, as it sounds decidedly less implicative of guilt or responsibility in the 09 expulsion. Plus, to imply an Old and a New Conference suggests that there are two Conferences within the Church, and while the Holdeman version of the One True Church isn't taught, many OCs will admit they operate as The One True Church because they aren't sure of anyone else and don't want to be seen as endorsing someone or a group who might be outside the Church. Thankfully, not all feel that way, but it makes for some interesting conversations.

The OBGBs do not go by an abbreviations; if anything, they are "Deer Creekers" or "Leedyites".
Same for the OOGBBs: no abbreviation, only "Petitioners" or "horse and buggy GBs".

Thank you, Heir. That's quite helpful.

I guess no one likes being called "Old" I have to agree that "Original" does provide a better concept.

I know some Brethren who use those acronyms when referring to the OBGBs and OOGBBs. Perhaps language is changing as it often does.

[Josh]

I guess no one likes being called "Old" I have to agree that "Original" does provide a better concept.

They're still Old Brethren German Baptists (Original Conference).

I know some Brethren who use those acronyms when referring to the OBGBs and OOGBBs. Perhaps language is changing as it often does.

Would you mind sharing with us who these Brethren are? Perhaps just the city/state if you'd rather not get as specific as their district?

[ohio jones]

To save a few minutes of hitting the Page Down key in case this comes up again:

MAP = Mission to Amish People

[steve-in-kville]

COB - Church of the Brethren
DB - Dunkard Brethren
BBF - Biblical Brethren Fellowship (not to be confused with the Bible Brethren which is far more conservative!)