Biblical Mennonite Alliance

In an August 1997 meeting, the Conservative Mennonite Conference (CMC) took a vote on the conference's stated position calling baptized woman to wear the prayer veiling. The motion also required ministers' wives to wear the veiling. Approval of the motion required a two-thirds vote; it fell short by one vote. There had earlier been a softening of CMC positions on modesty in dress, and in ministers performing marriages for persons who had been divorced. Some persons also expressed concern about greater use of contemporary worship styles in some CMC churches. A concerned group had been formed in the mid-1990s, but had been ineffective in its appeals to the conference leadership. In February 1997 an extended discussion on the prayer veiling was held in a conference business session, and the lack of conference unity on the issue became evident.

The vote on the prayer veiling was a "final straw" for some leaders who finally left the conference. A meeting of concerned leaders in October 1997 agreed to move toward formation of a new conference, rather than engender further dissension within the CMC. An organizational meeting was held 5-6 June 1998 at the Fairhaven Mennonite Church in West Salem, Ohio at which a constitution was approved and ministerial membership established. Fourteen ministers became charter members of the Biblical Mennonite Alliance (BMA). A Ministerial Enrichment Week was held in February 1999 by which time seven congregations had applied for membership in the Biblical Mennonite Alliance.

The first annual BMA conference was held on 6-8 August 1999 in Plain City, Ohio. At that time 43 ministers and nine congregations representing about 600 members joined the new denomination. Five congregations were formerly members of the Conservative Mennonite Conference: Followers of Jesus Mennonite Church in Brooklyn, New York; Pleasant Grove Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana; Snow Hill Mennonite Church in Maryland; Fairhaven Mennonite Church in West Salem, Ohio; and Bethel Mennonite Fellowship in Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania. The other four congregations were unaffiliated congregations dissatisfied with former conference relationships: Faith Mennonite Fellowship in Crawford, Mississippi; Shiloh Mennonite Church in East Donalds, South Carolina; Calvary Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia; and Mount Zion Mennonite Church in Bladensburg, Ohio. Since 1999, a number of other unaffiliated Mennonite congregations as well as congregations from other Mennonite denominations have joined the alliance.

The 1963 Mennonite Confession of Faith was adopted as the official confession of faith of the denomination. The alliance has operated the Elnora Bible Institute in Elnora, Indiana since 2004, though a Bible institute was held annually beginning in 2000. The mission arm of the BMA is DestiNATIONS International (DNI), which operates a training center in Queens, New York. The Alliance Newsletter, begun in 1998, is the conference periodical.

In 2016 there were 62 congregations in the conference, with 3,545 members. In 2023 the BMA directory listed 72 member congregations and another 12 church plants.

BMA Congregations in 2023

(not including church plants)

Congregation	City	State	Year Founded	Joined BMA	Membership
Abundant Life Christian Fellowship	Townville	Pennsylvania
Calvary Mennonite Church	Paden	Oklahoma	1995	February 2006	38
Calvary Mennonite Fellowship	Harrisonburg	Virginia	1990	February 1999	190
Central Mennonite Church	Dover	Delaware	1954	August 2002	156
Christ's Ambassadors	St. Elizabeth	Jamaica	1974	2007	130
Churchtown Mennonite Church	Narvon	Pennsylvania
Cornerstone Mennonite Fellowship	Ephrata	Pennsylvania	1998	August 2005	206
Crossroads Missionary Church	Belvidere	Tennessee	2010	2010	20
Crossway Mennonite Fellowship	Bird in Hand	Pennsylvania
East Hanover Mennonite Church	Palmyra	Pennsylvania	1953	July 2004	30
East Union Mennonite Church	Orrville	Ohio	1945	2011?	66
Fairhaven Mennonite Church	West Salem	Ohio	1965	February 1999	14
Faith Community Fellowship	Harrisonville	Pennsylvania	2011	2011	19
Faith Mennonite Fellowship	Crawford	Mississippi	1985	February 1999	69
Faith Mennonite Mission	Shellman	Georgia	1979	February 2008	24
Faith View Ministries	Jamesport	Missouri
Family Harvest Mennonite Church	Fredericksburg	Pennsylvania	2013	2013	25
Followers of Jesus Mennonite Church	Brooklyn	New York	1986	February 1999	67
Goshen Mennonite Church	Laytonsville	Maryland	1949	February 2001	26
Gospel Haven Mennonite Church	Whiteville	Tennesee
Great Trail Christian Churvh	Minerva	Ohio
Haven of Home Fellowship	Auburn	Kentucky
Heritage Mennonite Church	Stevens	Pennsylvania
Herr Street Mennonite Church	Harrisburg	Pennsylvania	1953	February 2006	26
High Country Mennonite Church	Westcliffe	Colorado	2011	2011	47
Juanita Christian Church	Port Royal	Pennsylvania	2005	August 2007	55
Kossuth Community Chapel	Bolivar	New York	1983	February 2006	33
Lamb of God Mennonite Church	Butler	Indiana	2000	August 2000	40
La Road Fellowship	Los Angeles	California
Leon Mennonite Chrisitan Fellowship	Leon	Iowa
Life in Christ Mennonite	Elmhurst	New York
Living Hope Mennonite Church	Urbana	Ohio	2014	2014	18
Living Home Mennonite Fellowship	Pottstown	Pennsylvania
Living Water Christian Fellowship	Lott	Texas	2009	July 2010	22
Living Water Mennonite Church	Goshen	Indiana	1999	February 2000	91
Madison Mennonite Fellowship	Madison	Indiana	1993	August 2001	7
Millwood Mennonite Church	Gap	Pennsylvania	1877	February 2012	105
Mohican Valley Door of Hope	Danville	Ohio	2006	2007	78
Mountain Springs Mennonite Church	New Holland	Pennsylvania
New Holland Mennonite Church	Batesburg	South Carolina	1986	July 2009	94
New Hope Mennonite Church	Orrstown	Pennsylvania	2003	August 2004	40
New LIfe Mennonite Church	Madison	Tennessee
Nickel Mines Mennonite Church	Paradise	Pennsylvania	1935	August 2002	67
North Vine Mennonite Church	Arthur	Illinois	1957	August 2008	85
Oak Hill Mennonite Church	Cumberland	Virginia	1970	August 2000	57
Oasis Mennonite Fellowship	New Holland	Pennsylvania
Palm Grove Mennonite Church	Sarasota	Florida	1953	February 2011	115
Pleasant Grove Conservative Mennonite Church	Goshen	Indiana	1948	February 1999	190
Potter's House Mennonite Chapel	Downing	Missouri	2008	July 2011	16
Prairie Christian Fellowship	Magrath	Alberta	1986	July 2004	57
Quitman Gospel Light Mennonite Church	Quitman	Arkansa
Redeemer Christian Fellowship	Harrisonburg	Virginia
River of Hope Fellowship	Vaughn	Montana	2008	2008?	23
River of Life Fellowship	Clam Gulch	Alaska
Seeds of Truth Mennonite Church	Warsaw	New York
Sharon Conservative Mennonite Church	Sugarcreek	Ohio	1951	July 2011	100
Shekinah Mennonite Fellowship	Castorland	New York	1997	August 2001	41
Sheridan Mennonite Church	Sheridan	Oregon
Shiloh Mennonite Church	Due West	South Carolina	1995	February 1999	77
Skyline Mennonite Church	Caon City	Colorado	2004	July 2004	62
Snow Hill Mennonite Church	Snow Hill	Maryland	1953	February 1999	43
Solid Rock Mennonite Church	Liberty	Kentucky	2007	August 2007	12
Strickler's Mennonite Church	Middletown	Pennsylvania	1837	February 2006	37
Sunny Mennonite Church	Kalona	Iowa
The Vine Community Church	Monterey	Tennessee
Truth and Grace Mennonite Church	Elnora	Indiana	2013	2013	15
Two or Three Church	White Cloud	Michigan	2004	2013?	10
United Bethel Mennonite Church	Plain City	Ohio	1940	February 2000	225
United Covenant Mennonite Church	Etowah	North Carolina	1994	February 2000	28
Way of the Cross Chrisitan Fellowship	Hamburg	Pennsylvania
Womelsdorf Mennonite Church	Womelsdorf	Pennsylvania	1993	2008	102
Word of Life Mennonite Church	Hutchinson	Kansas	2005	August 2007	42
Totals					3,545

Bibliography

Biblical Mennonite Alliance. "Geograghical Directory of BMA Congregations." Web. January 2023. https://biblicalmennonite.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-Cong-DIRECTORY-for-open-web-Jan-23.pdf.

Canadian Mennonite (13 September 1999).

Emerson, Paul M. BMA: The First Ten Years. Biblical Mennonite Alliance, 2009.

Oswald, Laurie L. "New Conference Carves More Conservative Niche: Former Conservative Conf. Congregations and Others Form a 'Biblical Alliance.'" Mennonite Weekly Review (19 August 1999): 1-2.

Additional Information

Website: Biblical Mennonite Alliance.

Author(s)	Richard D. Thiessen
	Samuel J. Steiner
	Alf Redekopp
Date Published	August 2023

Cite This Article

MLA style

Thiessen, Richard D., Samuel J. Steiner and Alf Redekopp. "Biblical Mennonite Alliance." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. August 2023. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Biblical_Mennonite_Alliance&oldid=176483.

APA style

Thiessen, Richard D., Samuel J. Steiner and Alf Redekopp. (August 2023). Biblical Mennonite Alliance. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Biblical_Mennonite_Alliance&oldid=176483.

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