Category Archives: Mennonites

4. What are some doctrinal distinctives of the Mennonites?Most obvious, of course, would be our peace position. This is almost universal among Mennonites (whether liberal, conservative, or fundamentalist/legalistic). The reason my strain of Mennonites came to Canada was because the Canadian government gave us the freedom to not be drafted into military service. Service in the police force, the justice system, and higher (provincial or federal) political office is quite strongly discouraged. Service on town council or municipal government is fairly common, as these levels of government don’t legislate. Mennonites have historically emphasized that we belong to the kingdom of God, and therefore don’t see it wise to become too involved in the affairs of the kingdom of the world.

Perhaps related to this is our position on swearing oaths. In Canada, we have the freedom to affirm rather than swear an oath in court.

While those last two distinctives make us somewhat unique in the wider evangelical world, Mennonites are actually pioneers in two major areas that many evangelicals take for granted today.

The first is separation of church and state. Menno Simons and other Anabaptists went further than the magisterial Reformers did when it came to the church. We were known as part of the “Radical Reformation” largely because we went further than many others during the Reformation. The Mennonites saw the church as being a group separate from the state and from the world. It was for believers. While many Anabaptists/Mennonites were persecuted not only by the Catholic Church but also by some of the other Reformers for this position, today it is merely assumed by most evangelicals.

The second distinctive is related to the first – believer’s baptism. This is the point over which the Mennonites were originally called Anabaptists (“re-baptizers”). The early Anabaptists were among the first and fiercest proponents of sola Scriptura, and as such saw no biblical warrant for paedobaptism. One of the first defining moments for the early Anabaptists was January 21, 1525 when Conrad Grebel, George Blaurock, and Felix Manz repudiated their infant baptism and re-baptized each other upon their profession of faith.

Many of our Reformed, Presbyterian, and Lutheran brothers continue to baptize their babies, but for those of us who don’t, the practice of being baptized upon profession of faith is originally an Anabaptist/Mennonite distinctive. The practice spread to current-day Baptists through John Smyth’s contact with early Mennonite leaders.

5. How about distinctives in practice?

I already touched on baptism, but related to that are other ordinances. Here again we see variation among Mennonite denominations, but in my own tradition, we celebrate communion three times a year in a separate evening service. In addition to the bread and the cup, we celebrate foot-washing. Brothers wash the feet of brothers, and sisters the feet of sisters. This has always been a special practice for me. I love the way that it fosters humility, an attitude of service, and a special kinship with those whose feet we have washed.

Another practice that is perhaps somewhat unique is our plural lay-ministry. We select ministers and pastors from within the church body. My local church has never hired an outside pastor; all have come from within. In the 90 years that our church has existed, we have only had four pastors! Some may see this as boring or stagnant, but I see it as a sign of stability. We also have a ministerial of several ministers and deacons who all provide leadership. Currently, we have 6 ministers who preach on a rotating basis. The only ministerial members who are on staff are the head pastor and the youth pastor.

Additionally, there is a strong emphasis among Mennonites on living a Christ-like lifestyle. Menno Simons agreed with Luther and Calvin on justification by faith alone, but was perhaps a little more prone to emphasizing the other side of the coin – “faith without works is dead”. One Low German saying that has been popular among Mennonites is translated “when a man is converted, even his cows should notice”. In other words, while being “in Christ” is by grace alone, the necessary result of that grace is a change in lifestyle. Perhaps part of my affinity for Calvinism came as a result of me starting to understand the Calvinistic view of repentance and sanctification. There’s no such thing as having Jesus as saviour and not as Lord.

I think this is where modern day evangelicalism has sadly gone astray. We have people claiming to be “born again” that have never truly repented, never turned from sin, care little for sanctification, and have a faulty view of eternal security. This shows itself every time we see statistics that suggest that Christians live just like the rest of the world. I interpret that data to say that there are many unregenerate, unconverted people who claim to be “born again” but are not.

To be continued…

Thanks go to my friend Matt Plett, author of Seeking to be Faithful, for agreeing to this interview.I chose to interview Matt because he belongs to a group that most of us are relatively unfamiliar with. I’ve found that the more I know about my brothers and sisters who are outside of my particular denomination, the more I am able to see common ground.

Matt has not just given us an edifying and interesting interview; he has also given us a lesson in church history. I hope you will read what follows. In order to help you do that, I am breaking the interview into two–perhaps even three–parts. Here is part one:

1. Tell us about yourself.

I am a 29 year old dairy farmer from Manitoba, Canada. After arriving in Manitoba from Russia in 1874, my family settled in a small village called Blumenort. In 1919, a number of the families in Blumenort moved about 8 miles northwest and started a new village, (originally called Prairie Rose, but now called Landmark). My great-grandpa was in that group, and he bought the land we’re now farming on. My grandpa and dad were both dairymen. When I was 12, my dad sold our dairy farm and moved our family to Oregon. I always wanted to come back to Manitoba, and did so after graduating high school. It was always a dream of mine to start dairying again on the old home place. After working 9 years as a dairy nutrition advisor for a local feed company, it was in God’s providence that the farm I grew up on came up for sale. My wife and I bought the farm and started milking cows 6 months later. I am often amazed at how God’s providence works – farming at the place I grew up on after it was out of the family for 16 years!

2. What denomination do you belong to, and how did you come to be a part of it?

I belong to Prairie Rose Evangelical Mennonite Church. We are part of the Evangelical Mennonite Conference. This is the local church and conference I grew up in. My great grandpa was a song leader in this church, and my grandpa has been a deacon here for almost 30 years. Again, I see God’s hand of providence in that I am a member here.

Part of the reason our farm was sold was because my parents separated and eventually divorced. They were church members, and divorce was a very foreign concept at the time – at least in our community and our church. Neither of my parents continued to be members after their divorce. I know that many dear people were praying for the situation and especially for my sister and me, as we were 11 and 9 at the time.

My dad remarried, and we attended another church (Nazarene) outside of the community until we moved to Oregon. In Oregon we also attended a Nazarene church. I was baptized at age 17 at Valley of the Rogue Chapel – Church of the Nazarene in Rogue River, Oregon.

When I moved back to Manitoba in 1999, I transferred my membership to Prairie Rose EMC. It felt somewhat odd at first to be a member in a church that my parents were no longer part of (as I recall, my dad was excommunicated and my mom withdrew her membership). I have loved it here. The Word is faithfully taught, the fellowship is warm, and the singing is wonderful.

My wife is from the town of Blumenort (where my great-grandpa originally settled), and also grew up in the Evangelical Mennonite Conference.

As the Lord saw fit, one year ago my sister, her husband, and their two boys moved back here from Arizona (my brother-in-law is from California). Last Sunday we received them into membership in the morning, and I had the immense privilege of doing foot-washing with my brother-in-law at our communion service in the evening.

Sometimes my life feels a little “back-to-the-future-ish”!

3. Are there variations in doctrine and practice within the Mennonites?

Yes! There are considerable variations among Mennonites. At times I have felt like no longer describing myself as a Mennonite because the word didn’t seem to describe anything in particular.

To many people, the word Mennonite conjures up images of beards, black suits, head-coverings, horse-and-buggies, etc. This is certainly true of many sects of Mennonites. However, many of the mainline Mennonite denominations have become very liberal theologically. There are Mennonite churches that work with controversy over rubber vs. steel wheels. Others are dealing with homosexual ordination and the denial of substitutionary atonement. So yes, we have legalism, liberalism, and lots in between. Hopefully some that is gospel-centric!

I would consider my own church to be a typical conservative, orthodox evangelical body. We affirm the inerrancy, infallibility, sufficiency, and clarity of the Scriptures, as well as the gospel of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We’re not a confessing Calvinistic church (although there are a solid and growing number of us, especially among the under-30 crowd), but in many areas we would have much in common with conservative Presbyterian or Baptist churches. We are not fundamentalist.

Most recently, our church has clarified our position on gender and ordination. As a body, we have (re)affirmed our complementarian understanding of the Scriptures, which mirrors the wider evangelical world. While we have always held this position, re-affirming it in response to a specific situation caused considerable controversy among some. Sadly, a number of people have left over this.

I trust that God continues to use theological controversy to magnify and glorify Himself as His people are forced to study the Bible, pray, think, refine their doctrine, and strive to honour Christ’s commands for the church.

To be continued…