Mennonite Weekly Review

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Mennonite Brethren and the 100th anniversary of the Conservative Mennonite Conference. This is a time to celebrate God’s faithfulness in and through these fellowships.

Gingerich Stoner

The Mennonite Brethren formed in 1860 out of a revival among Mennonites in Russia who felt that colony Mennonites had grown cold and formal.

The Conservative Mennonite Conference was formed in 1910 by ministers who came from both the Old Order Amish as well as more progressive Amish Mennonite conferences. Both groups have concern for holy living, conversion and mission.

These churches have nurtured faith and been witnesses to Jesus Christ in many ways. Lives have been transformed, and the gospel has been carried into many communities. Ministries of compassion and service have been birthed. Colleges, seminaries and Bible colleges have trained servant leaders. We give God thanks and praise.

Since these anniversaries in some ways celebrate conflicts that ended in division, this is also a time to ponder relations within the Anabaptist family.

Historian C. Arnold Snyder has noted that the part of Anabaptism that survived and became Mennonite was the word-centered and outward-oriented part of the movement. We have been strong on the head and hands dimensions of Christian life.

Every generation or two, however, a more heart-oriented group emerges, often becoming a separate body. These groups highlight God’s grace and the work of the Spirit.

This might aptly describe the Brethren in Christ, Mennonite Brethren and the Missionary Church, as well as the Conservative Conference, especially as it has become open to the charismatic movement.

With these divisions, things that belong together have been separated — discipleship and the Spirit; grace and peace; head, hands and heart — and I fear we all suffer from it.

There are a few points of ongoing contact between our fellowships: the annual meeting of moderators and secretaries, Mennonite Central Committee, Mennonite Disaster Service and this newspaper. But it seems we are steadily drifting apart.