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Our Story
 The
Mennonite Brethren
In the year that Mennonite Brethren
wrote their first major confession of faith, back in 1902,
they made a point of saying they embraced the historic creeds
of the church. Then they went on to describe what distinguished
them from others. Why did they do that?
Mennonite Brethren want to be
known as a denomination that stands in the broad stream of
historic Christianity, but as a wing of the Anabaptist movement
they also want to be known for what they distinctively contribute
to the witness of the larger Christian church. Today congregations
of Mennonite Brethren are found in more than twenty countries
of the world. Remarkably, the largest conferences are located
in India and Congo, a testimony to the missionary impulse
which has nurtured the Mennonite Brethren since their origins
in southern Russia in 1860. In fact, they embrace between
a quarter and a fifth of the worldwide Anabaptist community
largely because of that missionary activity.
At the turn of the millennium,
at a time when the markers for many denominations have become
blurred, do Mennonite Brethren stand for anything in particular?
We believe they do. As a denomination that was cradled in
Anabaptism, but stimulated by missionary Pietist influences
and challenged by the vigor of visiting evangelical leaders,
Mennonite Brethren from their beginning were a fellowship
who reflected an encounter between different influences.
To begin to describe Mennonite
Brethren, we might say they have always been anchored by an
evangelical and Anabaptist core which has nurtured their life
together. What does that core represent?
WHAT 'S AT THE CORE?
For one, it means a simple biblicism. In many settings and
to many questions, the question asked has been: "What
does the Bible say?" When the writing of the current
Confession of Faith was happening, the attempt consistently
was to echo the language of the Scriptures in ways that address
the world in which we live. It means that Christ is seen as
the centre and source of our life.
For Mennonite Brethren the Bible is never read as though
every part carries the same authority. Rather we understand
it to be read through the eyes of the New Testament, because
Christ has come as God 's ultimate self-disclosure. Furthermore,
Christ is both our Saviour and the model of how we are to
live. When we find our life in him, we are disciples, serving
him by serving others. It means we see the church as a community
of faith. Entrance into its membership occurs through confession
of faith in Christ and baptism upon that confession. In that
community people are accountable to one another.
Our congregational church government grows out of that sense
of accountability. So does also our obligation to attempt
to live so our personal witness does not compromise the witness
of others within the church. We see ourselves responsible
to support and encourage others in their journey of faith.
We cannot become mature believers without other parts of the
body of Christ. The notion of a people of God distinct from
our society puts us in tension with the kingdoms of this world.
We see the gospel as good news. When we put our faith in
Christ, a process of transformation takes place. Certainly,
we believe that such faith gives us reason to believe that
we will one day spend eternity in heaven. But much more it
removes the barriers between God and ourselves, it gives us
peace within, and it sets us on a path of living as reconciled
people in our world. We become peacemakers, no longer at war
with God, ourselves or the world around us.
We see ourselves as people with an urgent calling. We are
called to witness to the presence of Christ in our lives.
The evangelistic impulse has been strong among Mennonite Brethren
from the beginning. It is little wonder that within the first
half century of their history, they had come to embrace a
fifth of the Mennonite population in Russia, and that their
leaders helped give birth to the Baptist movement of that
country, that missionaries were soon sent out to India and
Africa, and that many hundreds of missionaries and evangelists
have come from their midst in the years since.
In all but a handful of the countries in which Mennonite
Brethren churches are found today, they came about because
of the witness of missionaries. The desire to plant new churches
and be involved in seeing friends and neighbours come to know
Christ has strongly characterized Mennonite Brethren.
MANY ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS
Being Mennonite Brethren does not mean being part of a certain
ethnic group. The church lives by the conviction that God
loves all people and that every congregation is to become
a home for those of any background who come to faith in Christ.
Today many congregations have embraced people of a wide range
of ethnic and religious backgrounds You can 't claim that
certain names are "Mennonite " and others aren't
in a Mennonite Brethren church, even though the church had
its origins in a German-speaking Russian setting.
Despite their relatively small numbers in Canada, Mennonite
Brethren are well known to the wider Christian community.
They are the second largest of the Mennonite church constituencies
in Canada, and because of their active involvement within
the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada as well as within Mennonite
Central Committee Canada, have built strong relationships
in both directions. From their early Canadian beginnings in
Manitoba in the late 1880s,Mennonite Brethren have spread
out across the country, with the largest grouping of churches
in British Columbia, and smaller groupings in Manitoba, Ontario,
Saskatchewan, Alberta, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
In British Columbia, where Mennonite Brethren have nearly
a hundred churches, they have become known as one of the strongest
evangelical communities in the province. In recent years,
efforts of the national church to support church growth where
Mennonites are few have concentrated especially on Quebec
and Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
The Conference has also embraced the idea of naming certain
cities for special church planting attention and recently
Calgary was chosen for such a focus. The goal was to plant
ten churches there in five years. As Canadian Mennonite Brethren
began the new millennium, they had approximately 33,000 members
in some 220 churches. Their church community probably represented
another 15 to 20 thousand. Worldwide there are about 225,000
Mennonite Brethren church members.
STRONG SPIRIT OF COOPERATION
What has characterized Mennonite Brethren church life has
been a high level of co-operative work. In Canada, provincial
conventions usually draw very good delegate participation
and strong support. Support for Canadian Conference and for
joint Canada-United States conference projects has normally
been good too, especially for overseas missions.
To illustrate: Canadian Mennonite Brethren have carried the
work of mission and church extension boards in five provinces.
They have Bible or Christian liberal arts colleges in four
provinces and secondary schools in three provinces. They have
a radio ministry that reaches around the world and camping
programs in a half dozen or more settings.
They support seminary training and do overseas mission work
through Mennonite Brethren Missions Services. All of this
and much more is done through official conference support.
To do this has required the generous financial support of
many members, usually well above an average of a thousand
dollars per member per year. Many are equally generous with
their time.
Names like Bethany Bible Institute of Hepburn, Sask.; Camp
Crossroads at Torrance, Ont.; Mennonite Brethren Communications
and the Family Life Network of Winnipeg; or the Mennonite
Educational Institute of Abbotsford, B.C.; all have a familiar
ring to Mennonite Brethren because they are so widely supported.
In addition, Mennonite Brethren are active partners in the
work of Mennonite Central Committee at provincial, Canadian
and international levels. Many churches can claim current
or former volunteers in their ranks, people who've spent years
in service assignments with MCC. Within their congregations
these help keep alive a vision for Christlike service to a
suffering world. Mennonite Brethren are active partners in
the work of Mennonite Central Committee at provincial, Canadian
and international levels. Many churches can claim current
or former volunteers in their ranks, people who've spent years
in service assignments with MCC. Within their congregations
these help keep alive a vision for Christlike service to a
suffering world.
In addition, there are many programs of an inter-denominational
nature, especially those linked to others of evangelical or
Mennonite persuasion, in which Mennonite Brethren are actively
involved.
Church members can also be found at work in virtually every
professional group, occupation and kind of workplace, living
out their calling as followers of Christ. Open the pages of
the Mennonite Brethren Herald , the national paper of the
Canadian churches, and you'll quickly sense the impulses that
unite this denomination. The roots in the Anabaptist spiritual
tradition are clearly there.
Ours is a history which has included great suffering (think
of the people who were murdered or exiled in the former Soviet
Union),a thirst for a vital and lively relationship with God
(from the earliest beginning to recent renewal movements),and
a keen desire to connect Christianly to the culture in which
we live.
The eagerness to share Christ is clearly there. And so is
the sense that we are more than thousands of individuals who
attend churches of the same denomination. We are communities
of believers.
Furthermore, every edition of the Herald reflects the commitment
to work together at ministries or tasks that are larger than
any of our congregations can assume alone. It is easy to paint
an idealized picture of a church or denomination. We often
fail. We struggle to hold on to precious doctrines and values.
Yet we have much for which to praise God. Mennonite Brethren
began out of a longing for a renewed encounter with God and
transformed living.
Where that is found in Mennonite Brethren churches today,
they have become places of invitation to all who enter their
doors. You may be seeking such a church. Test the one in your
neighbourhood. If it represents such Christianity, why not
consider becoming a part of it?
Written by Harold Jantz, member of River East
Mennonite Brethren Church, Winnipeg, and former editor of
Mennonite Brethren Herald and Christian Week . © March,2000.Published
by the Canadian Mennonite Brethren Board of Faith and Life.
For additional copies, contact: Canadian MB Conference,3-169
Riverton Ave., Winnipeg, MB R2L 2E5.
Quick links:
Becoming a Member of Central Heights Church:
- Connecting BAPTISM and MEMBERSHIP
- Identifying What You Would be JOINING
- Wrestling With the Logic of MEMBERSHIP
- Illustrating Why MEMBERSHIP is Logical
and Practical
- The Benefits of BECOMING A MEMBER
- Becoming a MEMBER at CENTRAL HEIGHTS
If you would like more details, please contact Pastor
John.
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