Biblical Mennonite Alliance and credential removal of past abusers

[JetsforJesus]

I was really relieved to see that at least one conservative mennonite conference/alliance does have a policy and takes it seriously to protect their churches from ministerial credentials tainted with past abuse. I am referring to their action regarding Oak Hill Mennonite Church in VA pastor credentials. It was refreshing to see the immediate and honorable behavior from them, as it seems to be more the rule in many other communities to protect predators in leadership roles. Are there other conferences that take this issue seriously as well, or what are your thoughts on this?

[I Timothy]

I was really relieved to see that at least one conservative mennonite conference/alliance does have a policy and takes it seriously to protect their churches from ministerial credentials tainted with past abuse. I am referring to their action regarding Oak Hill Mennonite Church in VA pastor credentials. It was refreshing to see the immediate and honorable behavior from them, as it seems to be more the rule in many other communities to protect predators in leadership roles. Are there other conferences that take this issue seriously as well, or what are your thoughts on this?

There is much more to this story.

BMA isn't clean as you are made to think.

This is an attempt at damage control by the leadership of BMA.

Did you read anything about Mexico? Nope.

That is the much bigger issue.

Crimes happened, suddenly BMA has to look tough. But they don't mention the crimes?

[I Timothy]

I was really relieved to see that at least one conservative mennonite conference/alliance does have a policy and takes it seriously to protect their churches from ministerial credentials tainted with past abuse. I am referring to their action regarding Oak Hill Mennonite Church in VA pastor credentials. It was refreshing to see the immediate and honorable behavior from them, as it seems to be more the rule in many other communities to protect predators in leadership roles. Are there other conferences that take this issue seriously as well, or what are your thoughts on this?

There is much more to this story.

BMA isn't clean as you are made to think.

This is an attempt at damage control by the leadership of BMA.

Did you read anything about Mexico? Nope.

That is the much bigger issue.

Crimes happened, suddenly BMA has to look tough. But they don't mention the crimes?

https://biblicalmennonite.com/missions/

Click on the Mexican orphanage. They used to have their own site, now it goes to Eicher's church page. Wasn't Eicher separated?

On August 2 2026 Eicher is still preaching. And still connected to BMA.

This wasn't immediate nor honorable.

Why were the children removed from the BMA orphanage in Mexico?

[JohnH]

There is much more to this story.

BMA isn't clean as you are made to think.

This is an attempt at damage control by the leadership of BMA.

Did you read anything about Mexico? Nope.

That is the much bigger issue.

Crimes happened, suddenly BMA has to look tough. But they don't mention the crimes?

And this is why we can't have nice things.

BMA is an alliance, not a dictatorship. The amount of control they exert basically means having a church listed in a directory. Each congregation is free to decide if they want to remain in the alliance, or else if they don't want to. All BMA can do is pull the association.

[I Timothy]

There is much more to this story.

BMA isn't clean as you are made to think.

This is an attempt at damage control by the leadership of BMA.

Did you read anything about Mexico? Nope.

That is the much bigger issue.

Crimes happened, suddenly BMA has to look tough. But they don't mention the crimes?

And this is why we can't have nice things.

BMA is an alliance, not a dictatorship. The amount of control they exert basically means having a church listed in a directory. Each congregation is free to decide if they want to remain in the alliance, or else if they don't want to. All BMA can do is pull the association.

I understand that BMA is an alliance and individual congregations retain autonomy. That explanation can also create convenient plausible deniability for alliance leadership.

If an organization can recognize churches, credential or recognize leaders, list congregations in its directory, establish standards for affiliation, and ultimately remove a church from the association, then it does have influence and accountability mechanisms. BMA is not powerless.

Congregational autonomy should not become an excuse when serious wrongdoing occurs, BMA is saying “They’re independent, so there’s nothing we can do.”

If an alliance is meaningful when everything is going well, it should mean something when accountability is needed too.

BMA is trying to use autonomy as an excuse for institutional silence.

[joshuabgood]

I was really relieved to see that at least one conservative mennonite conference/alliance does have a policy and takes it seriously to protect their churches from ministerial credentials tainted with past abuse. I am referring to their action regarding Oak Hill Mennonite Church in VA pastor credentials. It was refreshing to see the immediate and honorable behavior from them, as it seems to be more the rule in many other communities to protect predators in leadership roles. Are there other conferences that take this issue seriously as well, or what are your thoughts on this?

There is much more to this story.

BMA isn't clean as you are made to think.

This is an attempt at damage control by the leadership of BMA.

Did you read anything about Mexico? Nope.

That is the much bigger issue.

Crimes happened, suddenly BMA has to look tough. But they don't mention the crimes?

https://biblicalmennonite.com/missions/

Click on the Mexican orphanage. They used to have their own site, now it goes to Eicher's church page. Wasn't Eicher separated?

On August 2 2026 Eicher is still preaching. And still connected to BMA.

This wasn't immediate nor honorable.

Why were the children removed from the BMA orphanage in Mexico?

Did Oakhill take over the orphanage?

[JohnH]

I understand that BMA is an alliance and individual congregations retain autonomy. That explanation can also create convenient plausible deniability for alliance leadership.

If an organization can recognize churches, credential or recognize leaders, list congregations in its directory, establish standards for affiliation, and ultimately remove a church from the association, then it does have influence and accountability mechanisms. BMA is not powerless.

Congregational autonomy should not become an excuse when serious wrongdoing occurs, BMA is saying “They’re independent, so there’s nothing we can do.”

If an alliance is meaningful when everything is going well, it should mean something when accountability is needed too.

BMA is trying to use autonomy as an excuse for institutional silence.

BMA isn't an episcopal hierarchy, and has already taken steps to remove that minister's credentials, and I guarantee they will eventually remove that church from their association if a congregation rebels and allows him to keep preaching, counseling, and so forth.

It is interesting that the response of some "abuse advocates" to these problems is that denominations need to become ultra-powerful and ultra-controlling. How well did that work for the Catholic church?

[I Timothy]

Did Oakhill take over the orphanage?

Mexican authorities implemented an unplanned, government-mandated 100% reduction in minor child occupancy following adverse findings in the facility’s child-safety performance metrics.

Keep digging.

[joshuabgood]

https://oakhillmennonite.com/light-of-hope

[QuietlyListening]

There are 2 sides to this story about the Mexican orphanage. My niece was there teaching and agrees there were some problems that had to be dealt with but they were working on it when others came in and a big mess ensued.