Mennonite Church USA
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The Mennonite Church USA represents the largest group of Mennonite Christians in the United States. Though the organization is recent, the body has roots in the Radical Reformation of the 16th century. Mennonites make up a large portion of a movement within Christianity called Anabaptism (meaning "baptized again"). The formation of an Anabaptist congregation in Zürich, Switzerland in 1525 is considered by many to be the beginning of a recognizable "Mennonite" doctrinal and historical existence. They were nicknamed after the Dutch Anabaptist leader Menno Simons (1496-1561).
Mennonites first arrived in America chiefly through the efforts of William Penn of Pennsylvania. Penn visited Mennonite districts in Europe, offering them freedom from persecution and an invitation to come to Pennsylvania.
The Mennonite Church USA came into existence through the merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church. Total 2005 membership in the Mennonite Church USA was about 114,000 members in 943 congregations.[1] There are about 1.3 million Mennonites worldwide.
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[edit] (General Assembly) Mennonite Church (MC)
Dutch and German immigrants from Krefeld, Germany settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1683. Swiss Mennonites came to North America in the early part of the 18th century. Their first settlements were in Pennsylvania, then in Virginia and Ohio. These Swiss immigrants, combined with Dutch and German Mennonites and progressive Amish Mennonites who later united with them, until 2002 made up the largest body of Mennonites in North America (in the past often referred to as the "Old Mennonites"). They formed regional conferences in the 1700s, and a North American conference in 1898. The year 1725 is often considered the date of organization in the United States, when a ministers' conference met in Pennsylvania and adopted the Dordrecht Confession of Faith as their official statement of faith.
[edit] General Conference Mennonite Church (GCMC)
The General Conference Mennonite Church was an association of Mennonite congregations based in North America from 1860 to 2002. The conference was formed in 1860 by congregations in Iowa seeking to unite with like-minded Mennonites to pursue common goals such as higher education and mission work. The conference was especially attractive to recent Mennonite and Amish immigrants to North America and expanded considerably when thousand of Russian Mennonites arrived in North America starting in the 1870s. Conference offices were located in Winnipeg, Manitoba and North Newton, Kansas. The conference supported a seminary and several colleges. By the 1980s, there remained little difference between the General Conference Mennonite Church and the "Old" Mennonite church. In the 1990s the conference had 64,431 members in 410 congregations in Canada, the United States and South America.[2]
[edit] Merger
In 1983 the General Assembly of the Mennonite Church met jointly with the General Conference Mennonite Church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in celebration of 300 years of Mennonite witness in the Americas. Beginning in 1989, a series of consultations, discussions, proposals, and sessions (and a vote in 1995 in favor of merger) led to the unification of these two major North American Mennonite bodies into one denomination organized on two fronts - the Mennonite Church USA and the Mennonite Church Canada. The merger was "finalized" at a joint session in St. Louis, Missouri in 1999, and the Canadian branch moved quickly ahead. The United States branch did not complete their organization until the meeting in Nashville, Tennessee in 2001, which became effective February 1, 2002.
The merger of 1999-2002 at least partially fulfilled the desire of the founders of the General Conference Mennonite Church to create an organization under which all Mennonites could unite. Yet not all Mennonites favored the merger. The Alliance of Mennonite Evangelical Congregations represents one expression of the disappointment with the merger and the events that led up to it.
[edit] Faith and practice
The doctrinal faith of the Mennonite Church USA is set forth in Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective.[3] This confession was adopted in 1995 at the joint session in Wichita, Kansas. It contains 24 articles on the following: "God; Jesus Christ; Holy Spirit; Scripture; Creation and Divine Providence; the Creation and Calling of Human Beings; Sin; Salvation; The Church of Jesus Christ; The Church in Mission; Baptism; The Lord's Supper; Foot Washing; Discipline in the Church; Ministry and Leadership; Church Order and Unity; Discipleship and the Christian Life; Christian Spirituality; Family, Singleness, and Marriage; Truth and the Avoidance of Oaths; Christian Stewardship; Peace, Justice, and Nonresistance; The Church's Relation to Government and Society; and The Reign of God."
[edit] Colleges and seminaries
Mennonite Church USA provides denominational oversight through Mennonite Education Agency to five colleges and universities and two seminaries in the United States. These are:
- Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana
- Bluffton University in Bluffton, Ohio
- Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas
- Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia
- Hesston College in Hesston, Kansas
- Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana
- Eastern Mennonite Seminary on the campus of Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia
[edit] Status
Mennonite Church USA maintains four church-wide ministry agencies: Mennonite Mission Network,[4] Mennonite Education Agency,[5] Mennonite Publishing Network[6], and Mennonite Mutual Aid.[7] A Delegate Assembly is the primary decision-making body within the church. It includes representatives from congregations and meets every two years. The main offices of the denomination are located in Newton, Kansas and Elkhart, Indiana. The church maintains several higher education institutions as well as numerous elementary and secondary schools. The Mennonite[8] is a semi-monthly magazine published by the church. In 2005 membership was 111,038 in 943 congregations[9] and 21 conferences.
[edit] Regional conferences
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[edit] Notes
- ^ Mennonites in the United States, Mennonite Weekly Review, 2005-06-20 (pdf format). Accessed 2006-03-14.
- ^ Mennonite Directory, p. 16
- ^ Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective (1995), Herald Press ISBN 0-8361-9043-2. Online copy, accessed 2006-03-14.
- ^ Mennonite Mission Network official website. Accessed 2006-03-14.
- ^ Mennonite Education Agency official website. Accessed 2006-03-14.
- ^ Mennonite Publishing Network official website. Accessed 2006-03-14.
- ^ Mennonite Mutual Aid official website. Accessed 2006-03-14.
- ^ The Mennonite official website. Accessed 2006-03-14.
- ^ Mennonites in the United States, Mennonite Weekly Review, 2005-06-20 (pdf format). Accessed 2006-03-14.
- ^ Allegheny Mennonite Conference
- ^ Atlantic Coast Conference
- ^ Central District Conference
- ^ Central Plains Mennonite Conference
- ^ Eastern District Conference
- ^ Franklin Mennonite Conference
- ^ Gulf States Mennonite Conference
- ^ Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference
- ^ Lancaster Mennonite Conference
- ^ Mountain States Mennonite Conference
- ^ New York Mennonite Conference
- ^ North Central Conference of the Mennonite Church
- ^ Ohio Conference of the Mennonite Church
- ^ Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference
- ^ Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference
- ^ South Central Mennonite Conference
- ^ Southeast Mennonite Conference
- ^ Western District Conference
[edit] References
- Encyclopedia of American Religions, J. Gordon Melton, editor
- Handbook of Denominations in the United States, by Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Craig D. Atwood
- Mennonite Church USA, 2003 Directory
- Mennonite Directory (1999), Herald Press. ISBN 0-8361-9454-3
- Mennonite Encyclopedia, Cornelius J. Dyck, Dennis D. Martin, et al., editors
