First posted five years ago The beginning of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite in Western Canada owes much to the spiritual vision of one man. Peter Toews was the Elder of the largest part of the Kleine Gemeinde (Little Church) which had separated from the main body of the Mennonite church on the … Continue reading There is no valid baptism without the new birth
John Holdeman
The Origin of the Mennonites
Trying to trace the origin and history of the Mennonite faith by ethnic or genealogical lines leads to confusion and error, much like those who trace the lineage of their church through a continuous line of ordination from the days of the apostles. One might be able to establish a historical connection from person to … Continue reading The Origin of the Mennonites
How Mennonite became an ethnic label rather than a religious one – Part five
The Kleine Gemeinde Klaas Reimer was elected minister of the Flemish Mennonite church in the Danzig area in 1801. He began to study the Bible, the Martyrs Mirror, and other books and came to the conclusion that there was no future for the Mennonites in the Danzig area. In 1804 he and 30 members of … Continue reading How Mennonite became an ethnic label rather than a religious one – Part five
To know and to do the will of God
There are striking similarities in the stories of the three men mentioned in Monday’s post. Their study of the Martyrs’ Mirror and the writings of Menno Simons and Dietrich Philips led them to see that the Mennonite church to which they belonged was adrift from the anchor of the old faith. Each one found that … Continue reading To know and to do the will of God
A little history, and a little mystery
Levi Young was a young man on fire for the Lord. He couldn’t have been more than 21 when he was ordained a minister in the Evangelical Mennonite Association. This was a small group with a few congregations in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. Levi Young served as an itinerant evangelist, but soon began to feel that … Continue reading A little history, and a little mystery
Self-chosen humility
Peter Toews was the Elder, or bishop, of the portion of the Kleine Gemeinde Mennonites who emigrated from Ukraine to Manitoba in the 1870’s. (Kleine Gemeinde means little church, a means of distinguishing themselves from the large Mennonite church among whom they lived.) Another portion of the Kleine Gemeinde, led by Elder Abram Friesen, settled … Continue reading Self-chosen humility
There is no valid baptism without the new birth
The beginning of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite in Western Canada owes much to the spiritual vision of one man. Peter Toews was the Elder of the largest part of the Kleine Gemeinde (Little Church) which had separated from the main body of the Mennonite church on the Molotschna Colony in Ukraine in … Continue reading There is no valid baptism without the new birth
The brief career of a fervent preacher
Levi Young was born in Eastern Pennsylvania in 1841. The date of his conversion is not known, but he became a member of a small Mennonite denomination at the age of 21. Not long after, he became an itinerant minister and evangelist in that group. He never married. He was on fire for the Lord, … Continue reading The brief career of a fervent preacher
Keeping the faith
Most Amish trace their families back to Mennonites from the Canton of Berne in Switzerland. An Old Order Amish bishop once said to me, "There must have been a special strength of character in those Bernese Anabaptists that has enabled their descendants to keep the faith for hundreds of years." The Amish divided from the … Continue reading Keeping the faith
Holdeman Mennonites
I have been a member of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite for half my life (in a few weeks it will be 37 years out of 74). The church name is a bit of a mouthful. Ideally we would like to simply call ourselves the Church of God, but at least 50 other … Continue reading Holdeman Mennonites
Flatlander Faith 