Mennonite Christian Fellowship
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The Mennonite Christian Fellowship churches, or just Fellowship churches, are a Amish Mennonite constituency within the conservative Anabaptist faith and tradition. The group is theologically and historically similar to the Beachy Amish Mennonite constituency.
The constituency originated from several congregations separating from the Old Order Amish in the 1950s and 1960s. The congregations resembled the more conservative end of the Beachy Amish Mennonite constituency at that time. The two groups shared fellowship to the extent that these churches were incorporated into the Beachy affiliation. In 1977, however, some of the ordained men in these churches expressed concern about perceived worldly trends among the Beachys. They met with other ordained Beachy men. Some concerns included members baptized without a true Christian conversion, worldly fads in clothing and lifestyle, and churches conglomerating in communities instead of spreading out. After this meeting, the concerned men decided to withdraw from the Beachys and organize the Mennonite Christian Fellowship. In 1978, these churches started holding their own annual Minister’s Meetings (Miller 2004). In 2006, the Fellowship churches had 1,518 members in 34 congregations (Mennonite Church Directory 2007).
[edit] References
Mennonite Church Directory. 2007. Harrisonburg, VA: Christian Light Publications.
Miller, A.A. (ed). 2004. The Origin of the Fellowship Churches. Renick, WV: Yoders’ Select Books.
Miller, D (ed). 2005. Amish Mennonite Directory 2005. Millersburg, OH: Abana Books.
Yoder, Elmer S. 1987. The Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship Churches. Sugarcreek, OH: Schlabach Printers.
