Evangelical Mennonite Church
The Evangelical Mennonite Church is a fundamental and evangelical denomination of Christians with a Mennonite heritage. They are governed by a congregational form of governance. The congregations elect their local delegates to the leadership conferences. Their purpose is to magnify God with a joyful heart in love and in honor and to serve their neighbors in love and share Jesus.
The Evangelical Mennonite Church is part of the Anabaptist movement. Their headquarters are located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. They are members of the National Association of Evangelicals.
History
The Evangelical Mennonite Church was formed when several members of the Amish Mennonite Egly family immigrated to North America in the 19th century. Henry Egly, born in 1824 and died in 1890, was influenced by the Revivalism movement in America. He had a personal experience of salvation after suffering an illness. Bishop Egly felt the Amish should only be baptized if they had first undergone a similar experience. He called this a regeneration of the heart.
He accused his Amish congregation with having an outward appearance instead of having spiritual vitality. He also accused them of possessing looseness in old customs and traditions.
Henry Egly re-baptized those who had not experienced a regeneration of the heart at the time of their first baptism. This action immediately divided the congregation. Henry Egly was also very strict with his congregation on dress and discipline.
The Egly Amish split from the Amish Mennonites in 1865. Henry Egly was elected bishop of his Amish Church in 1858. Because of his insistence on having a new birth experience he was forced to withdraw from being a minister and bishop in the Amish church. He spent the rest of his life attempting to reform the Amish church from within, instead of evangelizing to non-Christians in the community.
He withdrew from the main congregation of Amish and founded the Defenseless Mennonite Church in 1865 in Berne, Adams County, Indiana. The Evangelical Mennonite Church began missionary work in 1896. The Egly Amish became the Evangelical Mennonite Church in 1949. The Defenseless Mennonite Conference published the Confession of Faith, their rules and their disciplines in 1917.
The Evangelical Mennonite Church has considered merging with other denominations. It was in 1950 when they took steps to merge with the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Conference. Then in 1960 they considered merging with the Missionary Church Association. The Missionary Church Association was an evangelical church with Mennonite roots and they eventually merged with the United Missionary Church. The Evangelical Mennonite Church decided against any kinds of mergers in 1975 and tabled any other merging discussions, deciding to keep their independent organization.
Belief
The Evangelical Mennonite Church believes the doctrines obtained through the American Revivalism and Holiness movement. This includes divine healing, Baptism of the Holy Spirit (also called the second work of grace), and premillennialism (the belief that Jesus Christ will return to earth for the Last Judgment just before the one-thousand-year reign of peace (millennium) mentioned in the Bible). The Lords Supper is an open communion.
They believe Jesus Christ is the Savior for all who sincerely ask for His forgiveness for their sins. They believe Jesus is the model for their lives and they should relate to one another in the same loving way that Jesus practiced.
The Evangelical Mennonite Church believes the Bible is the Word of God and they should live in obedience to the Bible. They believe the Spirit of God helps them to understand and utilize the Bible in their daily lives. They believe the Word of God is inspired and is infallible.
The Evangelical Mennonite Church believes there is one eternal unchangeable God who has revealed Himself in three persons. They believe man was created in the image of God. They believe it was through disobedience that man has fallen into sin and is in need of salvation.
The Evangelical Mennonite Church believes Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for the sins of mankind, was raised from the dead, ascended to the Father in glory, and will one day return and establish an eternal kingdom of peace and righteousness. They believe those who have a faithful relationship with Jesus will enter that kingdom, and those who have resisted the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives will experience an eternity without Christ.
The Evangelical Mennonite Church believe the church is the body of Christ and is composed of all believers. They believe they are commissioned to preach the Gospel throughout the world and to Baptize and to train Christians to live the life of discipleship. They believe Christians should be committed to a lifestyle of selfless love.
The Evangelical Mennonite Church believes repentance and the forgiveness of sins are personal experiences. They believe a convert should rise to their feet during the sermon and ask the church for their prayers, and ask for forgiveness from parents and friends. They believe the convert should make wrongs right and hold on to prayer until he receives the atoning blood through faith. The atoning blood is the evidence that his sins were forgiven.
The Evangelical Mennonite Church have changed their early teaching of strict discipline and dress. The prayer head covering and bonnet were originally worn and the veil was made longer and larger. More recently they abandoned the veil altogether. The wearing of decorative jewelry was banned as was the use of strong drink and tobacco. These strict discipline requirements were also relaxed by the church.
The early church spoke German, but English is now part of the service. The early church made arrangements for their congregations to have meals, which usually consisted of bread and butter with apple butter and coffee.
The early Evangelical Mennonite Church was exclusive and lived independently of all other religious denominations. The church was conservative in relationships with other people. They had no musical instruments in their early church, but they did have singing. They have had organs and other instrumental music since 1950 as a vital part of their worship service.
The worship service of the Evangelical Mennonite Church has testimonies and singing for all the members and preaching is done by the minister. In the case the minister can’t preach, then the deacons take over. The Evangelical Mennonite Church usually has two services on Sunday, one in the morning and then an afternoon service, and also have prayer and special testimony meetings.
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “Evangelical Mennonite Church:.” Becker Bible Studies Library Jan 2006.<https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2693,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2006, January) “Evangelical Mennonite Church:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2693,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2006) “Evangelical Mennonite Church:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (January), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2693, (accessed).
