PRACTICES AND BEHAVIORAL STANDARDS: (See "Basic Beliefs," especially points 3 and 4). ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE: The Mennonite Church, located in Canada and the United States, has a modified congregational polity. The congregation is the locus of authority, although congregations belong to conferences, which in turn relate to the Mennonite Church General Board. Conferences send delegates to the biennial Mennonite Church General Assembly to which the General Board is responsible. Congregations are responsible to select their own leader (minister, elders, etc.), who then are acknowledged by the area conference. NATURE AND ROLE OF MINISTERIAL LEADERSHIP: In addition to responsibilities in worship services, ministers perform baptismal rites for receiving new members, lead in communion services, and officiate at marriages and funeral services as requested. Ministers may or may not have formal training in colleges and seminaries, and may be selected either from the congregation or from outside its membership. Ministers are normally members of Mennonite congregations. Any member may conduct Worship services. WORSHIP: Members are encouraged to attend a meeting with fellow members at least weekly, either in a church building or a member's home, but group worship is not required. No special "equipment" or facilities are required for worship. DIETARY STANDARDS: None. SPECIAL RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS: Sunday has traditionally been the day of special worship, congregation ally, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. FUNERAL AND BURIAL PRACTICES: No restrictions. A minister is encouraged to be present at the time of a member's death, but this is not a requirement. MEDICAL TREATMENT: No restrictions. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS: Mennonites believe they should have no part in organized warfare or conflict, between nations, nor in strife between groups, classes, or individuals, and that they should not, therefore, accept military service, either combatant or non combatant, of any kind, or prepare for such service in any form. This prohibition also includes indirect ways of supporting such conflicts, whether through the labor force, the financing of war, business dealings, factory work, or any other such resources, even when requested by the government. They are further urged not to take part in scientific, educational, or cultural programs designed to contribute to war, nor in any activity that tends to promote ill will or hatred among people or nations. While Mennonites also oppose all forms of military conscription, they seek ways of serving in wartime and peacetime, through which the demands of the state may be both satisfied and transcended. (Mennonite Disaster Service, and the relief work of the Mennonite Central Committee, are two well established organizations, demonstrating this resolve to serve any and all peoples in need, regardless of their creed.) If war does come, with its destruction, Mennonites willingly render such civilian help as conscience permits, so long as they thereby are helping to preserve and restore life, rather than destroying it. They further declare that in wartime, as well as in peacetime, they intend to live quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty: avoiding any and all wartime hysteria of hatred, revenge, and retaliation; manifesting a meek and submissive spirit; and being obedient to the laws and regulations of the government in all things including payment of the usual taxes except where such obedience would cause them to violate, conscientiously, their understandings of the teachings of Christ, before God. Mennonite Witness and Mission. Through friendships and other forms of Mennonite witness, people are made aware of the beliefs of the Mennonite Church. Interested persons are invited to attend services of the church and in that way are made aware of its beliefs. Those who wish to affiliate with the church may apply for membership and are received on the basis of their identification with the Christian faith of the Mennonite Church. The Mennonite Church is a believer's church, consisting of members who have voluntary committed themselves to membership, and to the disciplines of the church. GENERAL SOURCE BOOKS: Bender, Harold S. The Anabaptist Vision. Scottdale, PA.: Herald Press,1944. 44pp. Dyck, C. J. Introduction to Mennonite History. Scottdale, PA.: Herald Press, 1981. 324pp. Hershberger, Guy F. War, Peace, and Nonresistance. Scottdale, PA.: Herald Press, 1969. 382pp. Mennonite Encyclopedia. 5 Vols. Scottdale, PA.: Herald Press,1955 59,1990. The Schleitheim Confession. Trans. by John H. Yoder. Scottdale, PA.: Herald Press, 1977. 32pp. Weaver, J. Denny. Becoming Anabaptist. Scottdale, PA.: Herald Press, 1987. 174pp Yoder, John Howard. The Politics of Jesus. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdrmans Publishing Co., 1972. 260pp. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: James M. Lapp, Executive Secretary Mennonite Church General Board 421 S. Second St. Suite 600 Elkhart, IN 46516-3243 (219) 294-7131 |
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| Black Rose Spiritual Center, Inc : Belief Systems |
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| Mennonite Church |
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| ADDRESS: Mennonite Church General Board 421 South Second Street, Suite 600 Elkhart, IN 46516 3242 MEMBERSHIP: Ca. 100,000 (150,000 worldwide). (All Mennonite groups worldwide: ca. 800,000). HISTORICAL ROOTS: The Mennonites were part of the sixteenth century Reformation, originating in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1525. Early on, they were known as Anabaptists, and differed from the state churches of the day in several, distinct ways in faith and practice: They believed in the separation of church and state, and in (adult) baptism of believers, who hold to Christ's gospel of peace and love. Severely persecuted, they spread into Germany and Austria, and a few years later, into what is today Belgium and the Netherlands. Two outstanding early leaders were Michael Settler (d. 1527) and Menno Simons (d. 1561), after whom the Mennonites are named. The first Mennonite settlement in North America was in Germantown (today, part of Philadelphia), Pa., in 1683, immigrants of Dutch and North German extraction, from in and around Crefeld, Germany. Soon, Mennonites from Switzerland and South Germany also immigrated to Pennsylvania, settling in areas north of Philadelphia (Franconia Conference) and to the west (Lancaster Conference), with later settlements in Virginia, Western Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio and slowly, all the way west. BASIC BELIEFS: The Mennonites, who have a strong peace church tradition, are part of the larger Christian tradition, confessing the Apostles' and Nicene creeds (both of which are in The Mennonite Hymnal~). Specifically, in way of a synopsis of faith and teachings, Mennonites understand the church to be composed of disciples, gathered in the Spirit of Jesus, who attempt to live out and proclaim his gospel of peace (Oafishness 6: 15), his way of faith, hope and love. Already in 1527, when the Anabaptist Mennonites established their first (Schleitheim) Confession of Faith, the following points were confessed: |
| permits (Romans 13; Acts 5:29), no swearing of oaths (Mt. 5:33 37), and separating from the evils of society which lead away from a life lived in the spirit of God's love; 4) Nonviolence as a way of life: on a personal level, but also in times of national crisis saying yes to the way of love, and peace, and no to any and all participation in warfare, believing this to be at the crux of what it means to be disciples of Jesus, and conformed to his spirit of love and peace (Rom. 12 14); 5) Congregational discipline: in accord with Matthew 18:15 18 (mutual accountability). |
| 1) Adult (believer') baptism: all baptized members are Christ's disciples, who gather as the Body of Christ, and who have a mission in the world (unbaptized children possess the saving grace of God in Christ until they reach the age of accountability); 2) Holy communion: symbol of the gathered church, where each member experiences individually and corporately, the Spirit and strength of the suffering and risen Christ; 3) Separation of church and state: obedience to the state where conscience |
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