In the late 1950s and early 1960s, various scattered congregations of the Mennonite Church (MC) withdrew from the regional conferences and formed independent churches with a congregational church government. These congregations opposed the way the conferences were abandoning biblical principles and conservative practices. Though not homogenous, these congregations began fellowshipping together for mutual edification and encouragement. Other congregations left the conferences and joined them in subsequent years. In time these non-conference churches formed into groups called "Fellowships." One such group became known as the Fellowship Churches, later known as Nationwide Fellowship Churches.

The Fellowship Churches have upheld seven Bible principles that they believe were being compromised or abandoned in the Mennonite Church: (1) The supreme authority of the Bible for life and doctrine. Cutting across time and cultures, Bible principles find a consistent practical application among God's people in every generation. (2) Believer's baptism. Only those who show evidence of real conversion and a change of life are fit candidates for baptism. (3) Scriptural church government. Not an ecclesiastical authority legislating to a carnal people, but Spirit-led men leading a body of committed disciples to confront sin and current issues. (4) Clean communion. Prompt dealing with sin and carnality to maintain the purity of the church and her communion table. (5) Mutual aid. A commitment to meet each other's material needs, without depending on government aid or insurance programs. (6) Scriptural separation from the world based on radical discipleship (nonconformity) and an uncompromising stand against the pressures, trends, and fads of the world. (7) Every-member involvement in evangelism.

The Fellowship Churches have not maintained organizational ties but are bound together by common purposes and practices. The ordained brethren have met annually for inspiration and conferring. From small beginnings, the Nationwide Fellowship Churches by 2001 had grown to 3,369 members in 91 congregations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, the Philippines, and Nigeria.

The Fellowship Churches actively support missions and the distribution of literature. Rod and Staff Publishers, Crockett, KY, were supported by the Fellowship Churches in developing a private Christian school curriculum for grades one through ten in 1990. The Fellowship Churches consider providing a Christian education for children a scriptural requirement for the preservation of the faith.

See also Conservative Mennonite Church of Ontario; Conservative Mennonites

Bibliography

Additional Information

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