Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches
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The Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches (FEBC) is a small evangelical
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
denomination with an
Anabaptist Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...
Mennonite heritage. Most of the denomination's approximately 5000 members are in congregations located in the U.S. and Canada.


Background

The Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches was founded at
Mountain Lake, Minnesota Mountain Lake is a city in Cottonwood County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,104 at the 2010 census. Mountain Lake was initially composed mostly of the 1,800 Low German (or more specifically, Plautdietsch) speaking Mennonite ...
on October 14, 1889 as the ' (Conference of United Mennonite Brethren in North America). This body originated among Russian Mennonite immigrants that came to Canada and the United States from Russia around 1874. Their desire was to place greater evangelical emphasis on such doctrines as repentance, conversion, scriptural discipline and non-conformity to the world. Instrumental in the founding of the conference were Elder Isaac Peters of the Ebenezer Church in
Henderson, Nebraska Henderson is a city in York County, Nebraska, York County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 991 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History Henderson was platted in 1887 when the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad ...
and Elder Aaron Wall, founder of the Brudertaler Church in Mountain Lake. For many years member congregations used the name "Brudertaler," (or Bruderthaler) probably under the influence of the Mountain Lake founding church, and the conference itself was popularly called the Brudertaler (Bruderthaler) Conference. In 1914 the name was officially changed to The Defenceless Mennonite Brethren in Christ of North America. Then, in 1937 the name was formally changed to Evangelical Mennonite Brethren (EMB). In 1956, the conference's headquarters were moved to Omaha, Nebraska from Mountain Lake, Minnesota. The Evangelical Mennonite Brethren and the
Evangelical Mennonite Church The Fellowship of Evangelical Churches (FEC) is an evangelical body of Christians with an Amish Mennonite heritage that is headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. It contains 60 churches located in Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, ...
began talks of merger in 1953, but the effort ended without success in 1962. In this period, the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Conference was also strengthening ties with the ' (Evangelical Mennonite Brethren of South America). These South American brethren shared similar background, language, doctrine, and practice. Affiliation was accomplished in 1958, with the South American group being made a district of the general conference, but with self-government. Until 1983, the conference officially held the Mennonite position of
non-resistance Nonresistance (or non-resistance) is "the practice or principle of not resisting authority, even when it is unjustly exercised". At its core is discouragement of, even opposition to, physical resistance to an enemy. It is considered as a form of pri ...
and not bearing arms in war. Since that year, their constitution, while maintaining the official position, has also recognized the individual's right to their own conscience concerning these matters. In the 1980s, a Canadian group which was originally known as the New Covenant Apostolic Order, separated from the EMB church, eventually becoming the Saskatchewan Diocese of the Evangelical Orthodox Church. The Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Conference changed its name to the Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches on July 16, 1987. At that time the conference consisted of 36 congregations with a membership of 4583 (of which 1981 members in 20 congregations were in Canada and 423 members were in South America).


Beliefs

The Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches holds an orthodox Trinitarian theology, the
infallible Infallibility refers to an inability to be wrong. It can be applied within a specific domain, or it can be used as a more general adjective. The term has significance in both epistemology and theology, and its meaning and significance in both fi ...
inspiration Inspiration, inspire, or inspired often refers to: * Artistic inspiration, sudden creativity in artistic production * Biblical inspiration, the doctrine in Judeo-Christian theology concerned with the divine origin of the Bible * Creative inspirat ...
of the Scriptures, and is dispensational premillennial in eschatology. The body recognizes two ordinances — baptism and the Lord's supper. They practice water baptism of believers by immersion, but will recognize as valid other modes when administered by others, or when immersion is impossible due to a medical condition. Open communion is observed with bread and fruit of the vine. The Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches exists to increase fellowship between member congregations, promote evangelism and missions, and represent the congregations through membership in boards and organizations outside the FEBC.


Membership

In 2003 the FEBC in North America had 3620 members (Canada - 2170; USA - 1450) in 36 congregations (Canada - 20; USA - 16),Mennonite World Conference website — 2003 North America Mennonite and Brethren in Christ Churches as well as 5 churches in Argentina and Paraguay. ''The Fellowship Focus'' is a bi-monthly magazine published by the FEBC. The conference headquarters are located in Omaha, Nebraska, having been moved there from Mountain Lake, Minnesota in 1956. They hold membership in the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (org. 1964), the National Association of Evangelicals (USA, org. 1942) and the Mennonite World Conference. In 2013, there were 44 congregations included on the FEBC rolls. Most of the churches were in the U.S. and Canada, with one being in Paraguay.


Notes


References

*Dyck, Cornelius J.''An Introduction to Mennonite History''. Herald Press, 1993. *''Encyclopedia of American Religions'', J. Gordon Melton, editor *Enns-Rempel, Kevin. “A Merger That Never Was: The Conference of Evangelical Mennonites, 1953-1962,” ''Mennonite Life'' 48 (1993): 16-21. *Enns-Rempel, Kevin. “The Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches and the Quest for Religious Identity,” ''Mennonite Quarterly Review'' 63 (July 1989). *''Handbook of Denominations in the United States'', by Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Craig D. Atwood *''Leaving Anabaptism: From Evangelical Mennonite Brethren to Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches'', by Calvin Wall Redekop, . *''Mennonite Encyclopedia'', Cornelius J. Dyck, Dennis D. Martin, et al., editors


External links


Official website

Historical sketch 1889–1953
of Evangelical Mennonite Brethren church

in ''Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Fellowship Of Evangelical Bible Churches Evangelical denominations in North America Mennonite denominations Mennonitism in the United States Anabaptist denominations in North America Christian denominations established in the 19th century Religious organizations established in 1889