Why have the Anabaptists FAILED at Reaching the Masses

[Valerie]

Do you and your friend find such discussions to be spiritually upbuilding and do they help you draw closer to God? I would feel rather perverted if I were to start tracking such things among other denominations and then discussing them regularly with people who are neither part of the problem nor part of the solution.

It is primarily because he believed I was putting Anabaptists on a pedestal & was trying to discourage me from that direction. There are a lot of good things shared too about experiences with people doing the "people work".

I would view an ex Anabaptist discouraging people from following the path of Jesus about the same way I would an ex Christian or ex evangelical who is promoting atheism.

He's Mennonite but leans towards Evangelicals

[Sudsy]

It is primarily because he believed I was putting Anabaptists on a pedestal & was trying to discourage me from that direction. There are a lot of good things shared too about experiences with people doing the "people work".

I would view an ex Anabaptist discouraging people from following the path of Jesus about the same way I would an ex Christian or ex evangelical who is promoting atheism.

He's Mennonite but leans towards Evangelicals

Leaning reminds me of this song and my testimony -

The joy I cant explain filled my soul
The day I made Jesus my king.
His Blessed Holy Spirit is leading my way,
He's teaching and I'm learning to lean.

Sad broken hearted, at an alter I knelt.
I found peace that was so serene.
And all that He asks is a child like trust,
And a heart that is learning to lean

There's a glorious victory, each day now for me.
I've found peace so serene.
He helps me with each task, If I'll only ask.
Everyday now I'm learning to lean.

Chorus -

Learning to lean,
Learning to lean,
I'm learning to lean on Jesus.
Finding more power than I've ever dreamed,
I'm learning to lean on Jesus.

[Ken]

... a tiny rural church in the middle of wheat fields ...

... that's immediately adjacent to an interstate highway exit.

So what? It is literally in the middle of nowhere and well outside the DFW metro area.

I've driven by there many many times over the years but never went in so I admittedly don't know anything about the congregation. Do you? Is is mostly local Menno families who settled in the area to do farming, construction and such? Which is fine. I'm absolutely not criticizing this local congregation in any way. But it very much strikes me as a rural transplant congregation from PA, IN, or OH. You move to a place like Grandview because you are looking for rural farmland. Not because you are seeking to be part of the DFW metro area.

My larger point is that the DFW area provides a very good picture of where this country is going demographically and economically. It is the 4th largest metro area in the country and within a decade will probably be 3rd after only New York and Los Angeles. Demographically it also looks a lot like the America of 2024 and especially the future of the country. Increasingly diverse and trending young. And Anabaptism hasn't made even the slightest inroad. Well, that isn't 100% true. According to the MCUSA directory there are 3 small Spanish-language MCUSA-affiliated churches within the metro area and the one small English-speaking one in the northern suburbs that advertises itself as inclusive and LGBT-friendly. And no, rural farm town churches way outside the actual metro area don't count.

So come up with whatever reasons for this that you want. But it is a good example of what the OP is talking about.

[ken_sylvania]

... a tiny rural church in the middle of wheat fields ...

... that's immediately adjacent to an interstate highway exit.

So what? It is literally in the middle of nowhere and well outside the DFW metro area.

I've driven by there many many times over the years but never went in so I admittedly don't know anything about the congregation. Do you? Is is mostly local Menno families who settled in the area to do farming, construction and such? Which is fine. I'm absolutely not criticizing this local congregation in any way. But it very much strikes me as a rural transplant congregation from PA, IN, or OH. You move to a place like Grandview because you are looking for rural farmland. Not because you are seeking to be part of the DFW metro area.

My larger point is that the DFW area provides a very good picture of where this country is going demographically and economically. It is the 4th largest metro area in the country and within a decade will probably be 3rd after only New York and Los Angeles. Demographically it also looks a lot like the America of 2024 and especially the future of the country. Increasingly diverse and trending young. And Anabaptism hasn't made even the slightest inroad. Well, that isn't 100% true. According to the MCUSA directory there are 3 small Spanish-language MCUSA-affiliated churches within the metro area and the one small English-speaking one in the northern suburbs that advertises itself as inclusive and LGBT-friendly. And no, rural farm town churches way outside the actual metro area don't count.

So come up with whatever reasons for this that you want. But it is a good example of what the OP is talking about.

My list was not meant to be comprehensive, and there are churches in the DFW exurban metro area.

MCUSA churches? There are a couple of those.

The greater DFW metro area is the size of New Jersey and has a population north of 8 million. And yet I suspect you are including places like the Pilgrim church in Grandview which is maybe 40 miles south of downtown, completely outside the DFW metro area, and completely rural. https://maps.app.goo.gl/5VoB6ZkU2DKNnaVKA?g_st=ic

I suggest you might do better to talk about things you know rather than things you "don't know anything about."

[Ernie]

So far it seems like some CA's are thinking that we should not be trying to reach the masses, some think we are already doing as good as we can, and some think we should not be looking at numbers.
I'm thinking that Plain Anabaptists (of kingdom Christians as defined by Bercot) will never see the sorts of numbers that Augustinians (Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants) are able to register, due to our view of a pure church.
However, I think we could do 100X or 1000X more than what we are doing now, so we could discuss this.

[Josh]

The Grandview congregation was started by “intentionalists”, that is, intentionally trying to reach seekers and converts.
It is the same environment Chester Weaver is in. (I think that’s his congregation but I’m not sure.) It would be in the same vein as Shippensburg, Bastrop, Chambersburg, Rocky Cape/Detention River, City Light (Waynesboro), and so forth.

Describing it as a bunch of back-woods farmers is a tad ridiculous.

You move to a place like Grandview because you are looking for rural farmland.

Mennonites don’t move 35 minutes from Dallas for farmland. They would move to Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, New York State, Missouri and so forth for that.

[Ernie]

The Grandview congregation was started by “intentionalists”, that is, intentionally trying to reach seekers and converts.
It is the same environment Chester Weaver is in. (I think that’s his congregation but I’m not sure.) It would be in the same vein as Shippensburg, Bastrop, Chambersburg, Rocky Cape/Detention River, City Light (Waynesboro), and so forth.

Chester has been in a number of churches since being at Grandview. And I don't think the Grandview folks would be happy to be associated with the churches you mention.

[Josh]

The Grandview congregation was started by “intentionalists”, that is, intentionally trying to reach seekers and converts.
It is the same environment Chester Weaver is in. (I think that’s his congregation but I’m not sure.) It would be in the same vein as Shippensburg, Bastrop, Chambersburg, Rocky Cape/Detention River, City Light (Waynesboro), and so forth.

Chester has been in a number of churches since being at Grandview. And I don't think the Grandview folks would be happy to be associated with the churches you mention.

Interesting. I put them together because they are all intentionalist.

If I recall correctly, Bastrop was a plant from the same origins as Grandview but it went in a more conservative direction (filtered Internet, flip phones, and solid (no prints) shirts for men were the standard when I visited in 2019).

[Ernie]

The Grandview congregation was started by “intentionalists”, that is, intentionally trying to reach seekers and converts.
It is the same environment Chester Weaver is in. (I think that’s his congregation but I’m not sure.) It would be in the same vein as Shippensburg, Bastrop, Chambersburg, Rocky Cape/Detention River, City Light (Waynesboro), and so forth.

Chester has been in a number of churches since being at Grandview. And I don't think the Grandview folks would be happy to be associated with the churches you mention.

Interesting. I put them together because they are all intentionalist.

If I recall correctly, Bastrop was a plant from the same origins as Grandview but it went in a more conservative direction (filtered Internet, flip phones, and solid (no prints) shirts for men were the standard when I visited in 2019).

Bastrop is a conservative Beachy church. I don't know anything about its origins.

[Josh]

It is classified as Intentionalist and it certainly feels that way. (It isn’t a typical conservative Beachy church, even though it is conservative and it is Beachy.) For some reason, the cluster of churches in Texas are intentionalist.

I really valued my time visiting with the members there. We talked about meaningful things. There were a few seekers (who were members) that particularly stick in my mind because of how much I enjoyed visiting with them.