JohnH wrote: ↑Sun Sep 13, 2026 10:10 pm
Deep down, I think many are indeed closeted liberals and really don’t see much of a problem with liberal progressivism; the same disease that those who have embraced right wing politics harbour. (Sometimes you’ll see them step out of the closet, such as attending left wing protest rallies in Richmond or Boston.)
AP staff have attended protest rallies?
Yes, Ernie, this is a reckless mischaracterization. I know the home church that many of them attend well, and about half of it's ministery. It is based in Athens, TN, and I would be totally shocked if ANY of them were involved in such activities in "Richmond or Boston." I could make some calls, but I really do not have to.
I suspect that John H. is conflating Wellspring, a solid moderate conservative Mennonite church, with the "Boston" people.
I know the people of Wellspring, and that simply does not fit.
I had a childhood friend who was, at one point, seeking, and who lived not too far from Richmond. Someone (a conservative Anabaptist, or at least they were at the time) referred me to some fellowship in Richmond which was also purportedly conservative Anabaptist.
I later found out people from there were completely comfortable attending left wing protest rallies.
My friend also found it not spiritually beneficial at all (in contrast to some positive experiences she had in Holdeman congregations, including my own home one). Nowadays she has no interest at all. So I’d say the overall experience was quite negative. (The people there kept talking about whether or not to have TVs in the home. Such discussion is puzzling to a seeker.)
Ernie wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2026 7:28 am
AP staff have attended protest rallies?
Yes, Ernie, this is a reckless mischaracterization. I know the home church that many of them attend well, and about half of it's ministery. It is based in Athens, TN, and I would be totally shocked if ANY of them were involved in such activities in "Richmond or Boston." I could make some calls, but I really do not have to.
I suspect that John H. is conflating Wellspring, a solid moderate conservative Mennonite church, with the "Boston" people.
I know the people of Wellspring, and that simply does not fit.
I had a childhood friend who was, at one point, seeking, and who lived not too far from Richmond. Someone (a conservative Anabaptist, or at least they were at the time) referred me to some fellowship in Richmond which was also purportedly conservative Anabaptist.
I later found out people from there were completely comfortable attending left wing protest rallies.
My friend also found it not spiritually beneficial at all (in contrast to some positive experiences she had in Holdeman congregations, including my own home one). Nowadays she has no interest at all. So I’d say the overall experience was quite negative. (The people there kept talking about whether or not to have TVs in the home. Such discussion is puzzling to a seeker.)
That is not connected with either church that the AP people come from. If it is who a think it is, it has Boston like. Stop hurling charges that you have not fully confirmed.
Yes, Ernie, this is a reckless mischaracterization. I know the home church that many of them attend well, and about half of it's ministery. It is based in Athens, TN, and I would be totally shocked if ANY of them were involved in such activities in "Richmond or Boston." I could make some calls, but I really do not have to.
I suspect that John H. is conflating Wellspring, a solid moderate conservative Mennonite church, with the "Boston" people.
I know the people of Wellspring, and that simply does not fit.
I had a childhood friend who was, at one point, seeking, and who lived not too far from Richmond. Someone (a conservative Anabaptist, or at least they were at the time) referred me to some fellowship in Richmond which was also purportedly conservative Anabaptist.
I later found out people from there were completely comfortable attending left wing protest rallies.
My friend also found it not spiritually beneficial at all (in contrast to some positive experiences she had in Holdeman congregations, including my own home one). Nowadays she has no interest at all. So I’d say the overall experience was quite negative. (The people there kept talking about whether or not to have TVs in the home. Such discussion is puzzling to a seeker.)
That is not connected with either church that the AP people come from. If it is who a think it is, it has Boston like. Stop hurling charges that you have not fully confirmed.
This happened around 6 or 7 years ago.
Anyway, what I said was a supposition about left-sympathetic Anabaptists in general, along with my suspicion they are secretly quite sympathetic to left wing political movements. It doesn’t take a genius to see that when they are always busy criticising anything remotely right wing but stay strangely silent about the left wing.
In case clarification is needed...
As I understand it,
In this thread we are talking about Anabaptist Perspectives as an organization. Not the varied and sundry perspectives of fringe Anabaptists, pseudo-Anabaptists, or parasitical groups that take in folks from Anabaptist upbringing.
0 x
A wee little man can’t say, I’m sorry. A big man owns his mistakes and apologizes.
A wee little man trusts himself and his own discernment. A big man is humble enough to know that he needs the counsel and input of others.
ohio jones wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2026 10:35 am
Like you, I generally prefer to download audio and listen offline. But these are not ordinary talking head videos. A major point of the Origins series is the on-location component, discussing the history in the actual places where it happened. Not watching the video deprives the non-viewer of a significant part of the experience. Especially for me since I'm a geographically-oriented learner.
Generally speaking, a conservative or Old Order Anabaptist doesn't watch videos. Those who are less conservative, or transitioning to not being plain at all, do.
ohio jones wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2026 10:35 am
Like you, I generally prefer to download audio and listen offline. But these are not ordinary talking head videos. A major point of the Origins series is the on-location component, discussing the history in the actual places where it happened. Not watching the video deprives the non-viewer of a significant part of the experience. Especially for me since I'm a geographically-oriented learner.
Generally speaking, a conservative or Old Order Anabaptist doesn't watch videos. Those who are less conservative, or transitioning to not being plain at all, do.
I'm curious where you come out in that spectrum? Do you watch videos?
ohio jones wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2026 10:35 am
Like you, I generally prefer to download audio and listen offline. But these are not ordinary talking head videos. A major point of the Origins series is the on-location component, discussing the history in the actual places where it happened. Not watching the video deprives the non-viewer of a significant part of the experience. Especially for me since I'm a geographically-oriented learner.
Generally speaking, a conservative or Old Order Anabaptist doesn't watch videos. Those who are less conservative, or transitioning to not being plain at all, do.
I'm curious where you come out in that spectrum? Do you watch videos?
Watching videos (particularly ones on theological topics) happens, but is discouraged. I usually take the opportunity to download the video, pull out the audio, and then transcribe it so I can simply read what was said, which often takes far less time than watching a video.
Watching worldly videos is also discouraged, but it also does happen. Most people would be okay with watching a few minutes of videos of the news, but would never watch a full 30 minute news program.
Note that the term "Anabaptist" in general is now a synonym in plain / more conservative Anabaptist circles for "liberal". As in, "Well I wouldn't want to call myself an Anabaptist or our church an Anabaptist church; we aren't that worldly." Probably due to the rise of denominations like ADC.
Generally speaking, a conservative or Old Order Anabaptist doesn't watch videos. Those who are less conservative, or transitioning to not being plain at all, do.
I'm curious where you come out in that spectrum? Do you watch videos?
Watching videos (particularly ones on theological topics) happens, but is discouraged. I usually take the opportunity to download the video, pull out the audio, and then transcribe it so I can simply read what was said, which often takes far less time than watching a video.
Watching worldly videos is also discouraged, but it also does happen. Most people would be okay with watching a few minutes of videos of the news, but would never watch a full 30 minute news program.
Note that the term "Anabaptist" in general is now a synonym in plain / more conservative Anabaptist circles for "liberal". As in, "Well I wouldn't want to call myself an Anabaptist or our church an Anabaptist church; we aren't that worldly." Probably due to the rise of denominations like ADC.
So 1-5 minutes of watching a video is somehow more acceptable than watching 30 minutes?