DISCOVER ABBEYDALE CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
A. DOCTRINES REDISCOVERED
BY THE ANABAPTISTS
III. Historical
Developments of the Evangelical Mennonite Conference
A. FROM GERMANY/HOLLAND TO
PRUSSIA (now northern Poland)
C. FROM RUSSIA TO NORTH
AMERICA
Anabaptist Heritage and the Story of the Evangelical
Mennonite Conference
When Stephen faced
imminent death (Acts 7), he retold the highlights of God at work in Israel’s
history. It helped him to understand the current persecution in Jerusalem. It also gave him encouragement as he faced
the ultimate test of his life. The
heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11 and the stories of other faithful
believers serve a similar purpose for us.
They inspire us and give us courage to be bold for God in our age.
The founder of the
Christian church is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He said, “I will build my church.” (Matt. 16:18) His followers showed
their unreserved commitment to Him and His message. His disciples recognized Him as the Son of God. His teaching and works were marked by divine
authority.
The teaching of Jesus made
a life-changing impact on the people of His time. By preaching and aggressive sharing of the gospel message, the
disciples of Christ lead many to an understanding and acceptance of it. Committing themselves to it, the people were
radically transformed in their religion and lifestyle. Within one generation the message of Christ
was widely known in the civilized world.
In spite of persecutions
under various Roman emperors, the Christian movement became a dominant force in
the empire. In fact, after Constantine
gave legal status to Christianity in 313 A.D., it eventually became the state
religion of the Roman empire. Both the
church and the state were powerful and all-embracing institutions. A person had no choice in either; at birth
he became a member of both. Disloyalty
to the church was heresy and the penalty could be death. Disloyalty to the state was treason, also
punishable by death. In practice the
church and state often worked as one.
Various false teachings
regarding the person and ministry of Christ at times challenged the
church. Church Councils of Bishops
dealt with these and defined the Christian faith in the form of creed
.
With the decline of the
Roman empire, the Christian movement lost its fervor. The reality of the life and teachings of Jesus faded to a nominal
influence. Pious monks, however,
continued to study the Scriptures.
Also, there were groups of Christians who kept calling the church back
to the teachings of its founder, Jesus Christ.
By 1525, there were
several movements challenging some of the teachings and practices of the
established church. Martin Luther and John Calvin
were noted reformers. They attempted to
reform the church from within, without separating the church and the state.
Meanwhile, Huldrich
Zwingli, a preacher in Switzerland, was a serious student of the Bible and
preached justification by faith. Among
his followers were Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz and George Blaurock, who also felt
that the church did not live up to the Biblical model. In fact, they wanted to reform the church
more completely than the other reformers did.
They believed in a free church, one not ruled by the state, but
committed to the Scriptures. They
defined the church to be made up of those who believed in Jesus Christ and
voluntarily chose to follow Him in obedience to His teachings. They demonstrated their commitment to Him by
being baptized. They were called “Anabaptists” which means
“rebaptizers”.
In 1525 the Zurich town
council issued an order that these men and their followers stop meeting for
Bible study and immediately baptize their children. Failing to obey would mean arrest. After a lengthy prayer meeting they decided to obey God rather
than men. They proceeded to baptize
each other. This was the birth of the
Anabaptist movement, later also called “Mennonite”. Many died for their new-found faith.
At the same time Menno
Simons, a devout church leader in Holland, was forced to evaluate his life of
sin as well as his faith when he saw a man executed because he denied infant
baptism. He began to study the
Scriptures and came to the realization that baptism should be administered only
on profession of faith and that the Lord’s supper was a memorial rather than a
means of bringing God’s grace.
In 1536 Menno Simons left
the priesthood and joined the Anabaptists in Holland and northern Germany. He soon became the strong leader of these
north European Anabaptists. His
influence was so wide that they began to call the Anabaptists
“Mennonites”. Menno preached the Word
of God as he understood it. His
teachings included a strong emphasis on obedience to the teachings of the New
Testament. Non-violence, love in social relationships, and a life worthy of
Jesus Christ were emphasized. People
were baptized as a symbol of their faith in Jesus Christ, their commitment to
obey His words and their identification with the church.
Menno had a price on his
head for many years, but was able to elude arrest and ultimately died of
illness.
The two strains of
Anabaptists (Mennonite) continued their independent development. They had some meetings, trying to work
together. No formal union was formed,
however. The Swiss-South German Mennonites
continued their work. Many migrated to
the U.S.A. and form there to Canada. In
the New World they continued to live their faith. The Dutch-North German
Mennonites moved
to the Danzig area, from
there to Russia and from there to North America and South America.
The various Mennonite
bodies have been finding each other and are learning to understand each other. Various groups are engaging in several
cooperative efforts in the area of missions, education and Mennonite Central
Committee, a world-wide relief and development agency.
When the people who
identified with Menno Simons during the 16th century reformation
were called “Mennists”, it was a derogatory nickname given by those who
despised Menno’s position on adult believer’s baptism, Christian non-violence,
and a pure believers’ church.
Persecution scattered these Dutch and Swiss Mennonites to other European
countries and many came to North and South America in search of religious
freedom. Through the migration and
missionary efforts of the Mennonites, there are some 7500 Mennonite churches
around the world worshiping in dozens of different languages.
The faith of the
Mennonites was an active one. They
outlined their beliefs as they understood the Scriptures and then tried to live
these truths in daily life.
Through the serious,
personal study of the Scriptures, the Anabaptists recaptured a vision for the
teaching and life of the New Testament church.
These teachings also influenced other reformation groups and today you
will find most of these beliefs held by other evangelicals as well.
a) Conversion. Conversion is necessary in
becoming a Christian. One must accept
Christ by faith (John 1:12). Infant baptism does not bring conversion or
make one a Christian
.
b) Adult Believer’s Baptism. Baptism is a symbol and an initiation
rite. It is to be administered only to
those who are old enough to accept Christ by faith. Baptism is a symbol of inner cleansing and the gift of the Holy
Spirit. (Matt. 28: 18-20; Acts 2: 38).
c) Believers’ Church Membership. A person becomes a member of the church
following conversion and baptism (Acts 2: 41), in contrast to the
state-church where one becomes a member through infant baptism.
d) Discipleship. Being a Christian involves more than mere acceptance of the
right beliefs. Faith implies a life
lived out in faith. A Christian is one
who obeys Christ, who lives a life of discipleship. You cannot know Christ truly unless you follow Him daily in life. Faith and living are inseparable. To be a Christian means you are a disciple
of Christ (Eph. 2: 8-10; James 2: 14-26).
e) Separation. The church is separate from the state. The state cannot dictate to the church what it should
believe. The church is Christ’s body
and therefore He is her Lord. This was
a crucial doctrine, especially in the 16th century when the concept
of a free church was unthinkable.
Separation does
not include only church and state, but also separation of the believer from the
world. The Christian is to be in the
world but not of the world. He does not
join associations of the world which conflict with Christian principles. Also, the believer refrains form practices
that are non-Christian (Rom. 13: 1-7; I Cor. 6; 12-20; I Peter 2: 11f)
f) Church Discipline. The state-church has difficulty in exercising
full church discipline. The Anabaptists
believe that the church is responsible to help its members stay on the right
path. This is called church discipline.
Church discipline involves
counseling, exhorting, restoring, and ultimately, expulsion from the
fellowship. The Anabaptists believe
that the church should be kept as pure as possible (Matt. 18: 15-20; Rom.
16: 17; I Cor. 5: 1-5; Gal. 6: 1-5).
g) The Way
of Love. Perhaps the most widely
known belief of the Anabaptists is that the believer is to walk in love towards
all. Commonly this is called the
doctrine of non-resistance.
The Anabaptists believe
that the Bible teaches that we are to walk in love in all relationships. We are to love our enemies and bless them
that curse us.
The way of love
involves not going to war, returning good for evil, and avoiding selfish
advantage over the next person. It is
seeking the welfare of the other person regardless of personal cost (Matt.
5: 10-12; Rom. 12: 12-21).
h) The
Non-Swearing of Oaths (Matt. 5: 33-37; James 5: 12). Some governments have passed legislation
permitting a simple affirmation.
The Mennonites,
in particular the EMC, hold many of the same doctrinal beliefs that other
evangelical Christians do. They include
the following:
a) The Bible is the inspired revelation of God
and the only rule for faith and conduct.
b) Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became
man to die for the sins of the world.
c) Man is saved by grace through faith in
Christ alone.
d) Christ is
coming again.
e) The final
destiny of man is heaven or hell.
Most of the early Anabaptists were either Swiss-South German or
Dutch-North German people. (The EMC
trace their roots to the Dutch-North German Group.) As the Anabaptists migrated and shared the gospel, people of many lands and nationalities
accepted Jesus as Saviour and joined with the Mennonites in a life of worship,
discipleship and service. Today there
are large contingents of Mennonite churches in Africa, India, Europe, Latin and
North America. They speak dozens of
different languages, yet have a common bond of faith and fellowship.
The early Anabaptist
leaders gave witness to the love and power of God in their generation. They took the Bible seriously and sought to
pattern their lives after the Master. Let
us do the same.
As noted in the
previous pages, the people who were part of the Anabaptist reformation suffered terrible persecution and thousands
were killed. To escape the persecution
the Anabaptists fled, settling in secluded places. The majority found a haven in the swamps of the Vistula delta of
Poland. Here they prospered, for their
skills at draining the land soon made them valuable to the noblemen on whose
land they farmed. Gradually, through
the 250 years that they lived in Prussia, their prosperity brought increasing
hostility from their neighbors. As well,
Mennonites refused to pay the taxes levied to support the state church since they
did not participate in it. Their
non-resistant beliefs also led them to refuse the payment of military
taxes. With the defeat of their
territory by Frederick the Great, the entire climate changed and the Mennonites
found themselves once again a hated minority.
The new
Prussian rule placed more pressure on the Mennonites to pay civil and state church taxes and in 1774 brought
further pressure to bear on the Mennonites with an edict prohibiting land
purchase without royal permission. A
later law specifically prohibited Mennonites from buying land not owned by
Mennonites. As a result there began to
be increasing fear of renewed persecution.
It was during
this time (1762-63) that Catherine II of Russia invited Germans and other
Europeans, including the Mennonites in Prussia, to settle in Russia. It was an attractive alternative. They were offered complete religious
freedom, exemptions from military service and land. The renewed threat of persecution, military involvement and the
inability to secure more land in Prussia became the driving force for a large
migration to the Ukraine in Russia.
3. THE BEGINNING OF THE EMC (EVANGELICAL
MENNONITE CONFERENCE).
Though the move
proved to be good economically, spiritual life in the Mennonite church declined.
Klaas Reimer, who had been elected a minister in Prussia (1801), joined
the many new Mennonite immigrants in Russia in 1804. He was appalled at the lack of spiritual life in the
churches. The church had become lax in
church discipline and condoned questionable practices such as card playing,
smoking, drinking, etc. The church had
also become too closely aligned with the Russian government as evidenced by
their contributions to the cost of the Napoleonic War. Reimer also felt very uneasy about the force
employed by local Mennonite police as they enforced colony regulations.
In 1812 this
prompted Reimer and several others to begin meeting separately for worship
services and by 1814 they were organized as a separate church. The others mockingly called this minority
group the Kleine Gemeinde (small church), a name which the group itself
soon accepted fully as indeed indicating the true nature of the faithful church
in a hostile world. In 1952 the Kleine
Gemeinde changed its name to The Evangelical Mennonite Church(EMC) and
several years later the word “Church” was replaced with the word “Conference”.
The group grew
slowly, with various factions threatening the disintegration of the newly formed church. There were also new pressures looming in Russia. By 1866 Russia wanted Mennonite schools to
teach the Russian language and become assimilated into the culture. The Mennonites resisted. In the 1870s, a universal military service
was imposed and the Mennonites were included, contrary to an earlier agreement.
.
By 1874 there
were two groups of Kleine Germeinde in Russia.
Both groups decided to immigrate
to North America, with one group settling in Nebraska, U.S.A. and the other
group in Manitoba. Again, the desire to
have religious freedom was a major factor in the decision to migrate.
The name
Evangelical Mennonite Conference, chosen in 1952 to replace the name Kleine Germeinde, expresses the nature of the
EMC. We are evangelical in that we
stand for the truth of the gospel message of Jesus Christ. We are Mennonite in that we hold to the
historic distinctive of the faith of the Mennonites. We are a Conference in that we work together as a group of
churches in carrying on the ministry Jesus left to His followers.
Our logo
includes an emblem of a world of people to whom we minister, both spiritually and physically. We do so in the name of Jesus Christ who died for man on the
cross and was raised to life by God the Father. We extend the hand of fellowship to all like-minded Christians in
a spirit of brotherhood and cooperation (I Cor. 3: 9).
In 1999 there
were 51 Canadian churches with a combined membership of about 6900.
The Messenger, the bi-weekly
publication of the Conference, is published 22 times a year. The
subscription price for EMC churches is funded by church contributions. It helps the conference churches to keep in
touch with each other.
From its
beginning, until the early 1950's, the EMC was more concerned about preserving
the faith than
sharing it. Though the early
Anabaptists exemplified a strong missionary spirit, the persecutions, migration
and general spiritual decline had almost doused the flame.
It was during
the late 1940's and early 1950's that God, through various means, fanned the smoldering embers of the missionary
spirit into a burning torch. In several
of our churches there were groups of people who felt burdened to share the
gospel with unsaved people in Canada and abroad. Some went as missionaries to foreign fields while others helped
to plant churches in Canada. In 1953
the Conference formed a Board of Missions which helped to sponsor people
wishing to serve as missionaries. Many
responded. This was a major new
beginning.
Mission work
was begun in a number of towns in the Prairie Provinces and churches were
established. Some have since
closed. Work was also begun in Mexico,
Paraguay Nicaragua, and Germany. The
Board of Missions also sends and supports missionaries who are led of the Lord
to a field where the Board is not directly involved. These workers then serve with other evangelical missions. The missionary spirit is growing.
At present the
Conference is actively working at planting new churches both at home and abroad
and God is blessing. The goal is to
lead people into a living relationship with Christ, establish them in sound
doctrine, and get them to function effectively in the church. Ministries include evangelism, agricultural
assistance, health care, literature, education, radio, etc. Gifts and donations form EMC church members
help support personnel, ongoing programs, and special projects..
The Board of
Missions is involved in three types of service programs:
a) Career
Missionary Service In this
program the person involved makes a
commitment to
missionary work as a career.
b) Short-term
Service The
volunteer in this program makes a commitment to a two-year term of
service. Involvement is usually in the
area of a vocation, such as teaching, nursing, construction, etc. This type of service assists and contributes
to the regular missions programs on the field.
c) Summer
Service In
this program the volunteer offers his or her services for a period of up to
three months. Involvement is in the
area of camp work, VBS, construction, and pastor’s relief.
Each one of us
can participate in the outreach of the EMC missions program. There is the need to uphold in prayer the
workers, the work, the national church and the Board of Missions. Regular support of workers, field projects
and special needs depends upon the faithful giving of God’s people.
Another way
some of us can be involved is to volunteer our services to the Lord and the Board.
If God calls you to offer yourself for services, the first step is to
make this known to the Executive Secretary.
Get acquainted with the practices and principles outlined in the
Missions Handbook which is available upon request.
Grade school
and self-education were the tools for preparing for life and vocations in the EMC tradition until the 1930's. Farming, gardening and household skills were
learned in the family. The village
schools provided instruction in the basics --reading, writing and
arithmetic. The ministers were
self-educated, with the Bible as the key text, supplemented by other study
aids.
With a growing
missionary vision and the need for qualified teachers in their schools, the need for further education grew as
well. Private high schools and Bible
institutes were the first institutions of higher learning where EMC teachers
and leaders prepared for service.
Bible school education has really flourished since the
1960's.
The EMC is
affiliated with the Steinbach Bible College.
Many ministers, missionaries and
volunteer church workers have received their
education there. Many others
have gone to a variety of independent Bible colleges, universities and
vocational schools for career and professional preparation.
The churches
also developed programs for better Christian education. Church family nights, choir, Sunday school and club programs were
designed to teach the Word of God. The
variety of programs has grown to include camps, home Bible studies, vacation
Bible schools and others. Many of these
programs also teach the Christian faith to those not yet saved or integrated
with the church.
We work
together as a conference in missions, education, relief, social concerns, etc.,
corporately accomplishing much more than we could as individual churches. Conference office staff help to coordinate
these ministries.
The churches of
the EMC are grouped into regions (see Appendix). Many of the regions sponsor their own conferences, youth
events, ministerial meetings, etc. Each
region is represented on the Conference General Board by one or more members
according to the number of church members in the region. The Conference moderator presides over the
General Board meetings as well as the Conference ministerial and council
meetings.
Twice a year
ministers, deacons and church delegates meet in a council session to hear
reports and give direction to the varied ministries of the Conference. Also constructive criticism, advice and
endorsement are given to projects of Conference-wide interest. These programs are financed by the gifts
received form members in our local churches.
Conclusion
God has called
us as individuals, as churches and as a Conference to faithfully serve Him in
our generation. Let us joyfully and
sacrificially give ourselves, our abilities and our resources so that many
people will turn to God in our generation.
From the
booklet “The Christian Life” (1989) Evangelical Mennonite Conference