Anabaptist Native Fellowship of Churches
The Anabaptist Native Fellowship of Churches (ANF) formed in 2001 when like-minded Mennonite Native congregations came together after United Native Ministries, a ministry of Mennonite Board of Missions, and Mennonite Indian Leadership Council, a ministry of the General Conference Mennonite Church discontinued. Leaders met twice a year for several years to discuss common core values, vision. and purpose for developing a new fellowship of churches. Eventually a formal leadership team was formed; Daniel Smiley served as chairperson, Liz Detweiler as Treasurer, Gerald Hayes & Cindi Toews as co-Secretaries and Leonard Burkholder as General Secretary.
The ANF ascribed to an evangelical, Anabaptist understanding of Scripture. The leaders within ANF were committed to encourage one another to be faithful servants of God. ANF has been committed to First Nations and cross-cultural outreach by developing effective Native leaders for church planting and community leadership.
In 2012 ANF had four congregations committed to the vision and core values of ANF. However, ANF needed time to add more member churches and time to mature as an organization, and affiliated with the Harvest Fellowship of Churches (HFC). One of HFC’s visions was to help develop new fellowships of churches. The two groups were similar in their understanding of Anabaptist theology. Leonard Burkholder served on the HFC Oversight Leadership Team. The Harvest Fellowship of Congregations describes itself as a non-denominational organization of Evangelical Anabaptist congregations.
In 2012 the following congregations were members of the Anabaptist Native Fellowship of Churches:
| Congregation | City | State/ Province |
|---|---|---|
| Bacavi Community Church | Hoevilla | Arizona, USA |
| Black Mountain Mennonite Church | Chinle | Arizona, USA |
| Cross Christian Community | Shiprock | New Mexico, USA |
| Morson Community Bible Fellowship | Morson | Ontario, Canada |
Bibliography
"Anabaptist Native Fellowship." Harvest Fellowship of Churches. Web. 20 March 2012. http://harvestfellowshipofchurches.org/anf/
| Author(s) | Sam Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | March 2012 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Sam. "Anabaptist Native Fellowship of Churches." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. March 2012. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Anabaptist_Native_Fellowship_of_Churches&oldid=79227.
APA style
Steiner, Sam. (March 2012). Anabaptist Native Fellowship of Churches. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Anabaptist_Native_Fellowship_of_Churches&oldid=79227.
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