The Mennonite Christian Fellowship churches, or just Fellowship churches, are an Amish Mennonite constituency within the conservative Anabaptist faith and tradition. The group is theologically and historically similar to the

Beachy Amish Mennonite The Beachy Amish Mennonites, also known as the Beachy Mennonites, are an Anabaptist group of churches in the Conservative Mennonite tradition that have Amish roots. Although they have retained the name "Amish" they are quite different from the O ...

constituency. They are somewhat closer in thought to the

Conservative Mennonites Conservative Mennonites include numerous Conservative Anabaptist groups that identify with the theologically conservative element among Mennonite Anabaptist Christian fellowships, but who are not Old Order groups or mainline denominations. Con ...

in matters of doctrine and conservatism. The constituency originated from several congregations separating from the Old Order Amish in the 1950s and 1960s. The congregations resembled the more conservative end of the Beachy Amish Mennonite constituency at that time. The two groups shared fellowship to the extent that these churches were incorporated into the Beachy affiliation. In 1977, however, some of the ordained men in these churches expressed concern about perceived worldly trends among the Beachys. They met with other ordained Beachy men, to address concerns that included members baptized without a true Christian conversion, worldly fads in clothing and lifestyle, and churches conglomerating in communities instead of spreading out. After this meeting, the concerned men decided to withdraw from the Beachys and organize the Mennonite Christian Fellowship. In 1978, these churches started holding their own annual Minister's Meetings. In 2006, the Fellowship churches had 1,518 members in 34 congregations, located mostly in the United States. The Mennonite Christian Fellowship publishes a monthly newsletter entitled ''The Fellowship Contributor''.Mennonite Church Directory 2007 There are mission outreaches in

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

and

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

Notes

References

*''Mennonite Church Directory''. 2007. Harrisonburg, VA: Christian Light Publications. *Miller, A.A. (ed). 2004. ''The Origin of the Fellowship Churches.'' Renick, WV: Yoders’ Select Books. *Miller, D (ed). 2005. ''Amish Mennonite Directory 2005.'' Millersburg, OH: Abana Books. *Yoder, Elmer S. 1987. ''The Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship Churches.'' Sugarcreek, OH: Schlabach Printers.

External links

Mennonite Christian Fellowship
in Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO)
Pilgrim Ministry: Mennonite Christian Fellowship churches
Mennonitism in the United States Christian organizations established in 1978 {{US-church-stub