Rosedale Network of Churches

1955 Article

The Conservative Amish Mennonite Conference was brought into being in 1910 at the invitation of the ministers of the Pigeon River congregation, near Pigeon, Michigan, who invited ministers of other similar churches to gather with them in a ministers meeting. The meeting was held 24-25 November 1910 (an error in the official report of this meeting sets the date as 24-25 November 1911.)

At this preliminary meeting, five ordained men were present: Bishop S. J. Swartzendruber and M. S. Zehr of the host congregation; Bishop Joshua King, Hartville, Ohio; Bishop John L. Mast. and Jonas D. Yoder of the Locust Grove congregation, near Belleville, Pennsylvania.

The purpose of the meeting was set forth in the first resolution: "That we stand more closely together in the work of the Lord, to maintain peace and unity in the so-called Conservative Amish Mennonite churches."

The name Conservative Amish Mennonite had been brought into use at the turn of the century by M. S. Steiner, compiler of Mennonite statistics, to distinguish these churches from the more progressive Amish Mennonite conferences on the one hand, and the more conservative Old Order Amish churches on the other.

The second meeting was held with the Maple Glen congregation, near Grantsville, Maryland, 27-28 May 1912. With this session the meeting became established as an annual conference, which it continued to be at this writing. Attending were 16 ordained men from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, and Missouri. For the most part, those participating in this conference session represented congregations which, as the name of the conference indicates, felt that the established conferences of that day came short of certain Scriptural requirements, and that a more conservative emphasis was needed in the application of the Word of God than these afforded. On the other hand, it was felt that the Old Order Amish churches left certain things to be desired in the way of an aggressive church program. Most of the congregations interested in this new conference movement stemmed from this latter group and had never been affiliated with any conference, while in several cases their background included contacts with the district Amish Mennonite conferences.

Conservative Amish Mennonite Congregations (with key)
Source: Mennonite Encyclopedia, v. 1, p. 701.

As the conference met year after year and its policies became more clearly outlined, other congregations applied for membership, while a few which had been represented at the first meetings withdrew. In this early stage of development, the conference functioned in a very informal way. It had no written constitution and bylaws to guide it in its work. In fact it did not adopt one until 1945. (Complete text of constitution and by-laws appears in conference report of that year.)

From its beginning, the conference accepted the 18 articles of the Dordrecht Confession of Faith as an official statement of its belief. It insisted on separation from the world for its membership in personal, social, and economic life, including such details as fashionable attire, use of tobacco and intoxicants, participation in war in any form, worldly business associations, secret societies, life insurance, and holding of government offices. Correspondingly it sought to promote a positive Christian testimony through evangelism, benevolence, and personal sanctification.

At its second meeting, in 1912, the conference took steps toward establishing an orphans' home, which plans materialized by 1914 in the Amish Mennonite Children's Home, near Grantsville, MD, an institution which cared for many destitute children until it was closed in 1938 because of state restrictions, which among other things made interstate placement of children impossible.

At this same 1912 session a Sunday-school conference followed the church conference sessions and has remained an annual feature for the promotion of Sunday-school work throughout the congregations.

In 1912 the conference approved a plan for systematic, yearly visitation of all its congregations by ministers appointed for that purpose, who were to preach a number of sermons for each congregation. By 1918, through conference sanction, some of these efforts took on the form of Bible instruction meetings, which were carried on in varied form and frequency since, in most of the congregations.

In 1917 the conference assumed joint responsibility for the publication of the Herold der Wahrheit, a German-English semimonthly periodical, launched in 1912 by a number of interested persons in the Old Order Amish churches.

In the same year the first definite action was taken in mission work, when it was decided that M. S. Zehr should go to the Ozark Mountains of Missouri to preach there if opportunity afforded and investigate the possibility of opening mission work. By 1919 a mission board was appointed by the conference. Besides numerous missionary efforts carried on locally by individual congregations, the conference established under its general mission board in 1929 a city mission at 2124 E. Williamson St., Flint, Michigan, and in 1946 a rural mission on Turner's Creek, near Talbert, Kentucky, with a branch station on Bowling's Creek, near Beech, KY, about one year later. In 1948 the Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities invited the conference to appoint representatives to its board, and after that time it had two representatives on this board. In 1950 the conference appointed its first foreign missionaries, a couple to serve under the Eastern (Lancaster) Mennonite Board in Luxembourg, and established its own work in Espelkamp, Germany. In the 1950s the following additional home missions were established: Austin, Indiana, Gays Creek, Kentucky, Mount Morris, Michigan, and Blountstown, Florida.

In 1937 the conference elected a representative on the Peace Problems Committee of the Mennonite General Conference (MC). In 1941 it appointed a representative on the Mennonite Central Committee. In co-operation with this committee it contributed material aid and personnel for relief after World War I and during and after the last war, as well as participating in the Civilian Public Service program.

In 1948 a ministers' Bible study-discussion meeting was held which became a regular annual feature.

Not officially affiliated with the conference, but working with it in matters of mutual interest such as relief and the recent CPS program, were a number of congregations generally known as "Conservative Amish Mennonite—Not under Conference," which were usually listed with this conference in Mennonite statistics. These congregations in 1954 numbered 1,664 members.

The conference ministers were almost always drawn from among the brotherhood of the congregations which they were to serve. Most of the ministers were ordained through the lot, but this practice has changed considerably by the 1950s..

Among the founders and earliest supporters of the conference, the following bishops may be named: S. J. Swartzendruber of Pigeon, Michigan, who proposed and guided the first meeting; Joel J. Miller of Grantsville, Md., in whose congregation the first general public conference was held, as a result of the preliminary meeting in Michigan; C. M. Nafziger of Lowville, New York; Jonathan Troyer of Indiana; John L. Mast of Belleville, Pennsylvania; Joshua King of Ohio; and the ministers, M. S. Zehr of Pigeon, Michigan; Jacob S. Miller and Jonas B. Miller of Grantsville, Maryland; Jonas D. Yoder of Pennsylvania, and Gideon A. Yoder of Iowa.

Among those who later entered the service of the conference only a few may be named here: Elmer G. Swartzendruber and Amos Swartzendruber of Iowa; Emanuel Swartzendruber, Peter Swartz, and Earl Maust of Michigan; Sam T. Eash and Edwin Albrecht of Indiana; Roman Miller, Harry Stutz-man, John Swartzentruber, and M. J. Swartzentruber of Ohio; Christian Roggie, Joseph Lehman,and Joseph J. Zehr of New York; C. W. Bender, Emanuel B. Peachey, Sam T. Yoder, and Shem Peachey of Pennsylvania; Noah Brenneman of Maryland; and Nevin Bender and Eli Swartzentruber of Delaware.

In 1954 the total membership of the conference was 4,259. There were 36 congregations, of which five were in Pennsylvania and Maryland, two in Delaware, four in New York, one in Virginia, three in Kentucky, six in Michigan, seven in Ohio, four in Indiana, one in Illinois, two in Iowa, and one in Kansas. Fourteen bishops, 42 ministers, and 8 deacons served in these congregations. -- Ivan J. Miller

1990 Update

The Conservative Mennonite Conference was organized in 1910 as the Conservative Amish Mennonite Conference. The word Amish was dropped from the name with the adoption of a revised constitution in 1957. The Amish Mennonites were that segment of the Swiss Brethren who followed Jakob Ammann in the Amish division of 1693-97, in part under influence of the strict discipline of North German and Dutch Mennonites. From their first American settlement in Berks County, Pennsylvania (1710-20), and strengthened by later immigration, they moved westward with the North American frontier so that by mid-century they were scattered in autonomous congregations from eastern Pennsylvania to Ontario and Iowa. To unify these scattered churches, Amish Mennonite ministers' conferences were held in 1862-78. After 1878 these meetings were discontinued, and three district Amish Mennonite conferences were formed: Eastern Amish Mennonite, Indiana-Michigan Amish Mennonite, and Western Amish Mennonite. Some Amish Mennonite congregations did not join the conference movement, and others withdrew during the ministers' meetings or after their termination. These nonconference churches met for worship in private homes, held to former worship patterns, including the German language, and generally tended to reject innovations. They came to be known as Old Order Amish, Mennonites and finally as Old Order Amish. The term Amish has come to refer nearly exclusively to Old Order Amish as the conference Amish Mennonites merged with Mennonite groups, primarily the Mennonite Church (MC).

Between the Old Order Amish Mennonites and the conference Amish Mennonites were some congregations, interested in missions and social service, publication, use of meetinghouses, Sunday schools, etc., that had not joined the Amish Mennonite conferences. In the early 1900s the Mennonite Yearbook (MC) began listing these churches as Conservative Amish Mennonite. When these congregations met in their first conference in 1910 they adopted the name as their own.

Since 1950 the Conservative Mennonite Conference has representatives on the major boards of the Mennonite Church (MC) but has declined to be organically affiliated, thus maintaining a rather loose, fraternal relationship with the Mennonite Church (MC) General Assembly.

In 1964 the Conservative Mennonite Bible School was moved from the Pleasant View meetinghouse near Berlin, Ohio, to the village of Rosedale on Rosedale Road, Irwin, Ohio. Known as Rosedale Bible College (formerly Rosedale Bible Institute), the school offers courses in Bible, theology, evangelism, teacher training, music, and related subjects on both high school and college levels. Credits are transferable to various colleges and seminaries. The conference missions and service offices, known as Rosedale Mennonite Missions (also known as Conservative Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities), are located on the same campus. So also are the conference archives.

In 1961 Rosedale Mennonite Mission opened mission work in Costa Rica. By 1974 the Costa Rica Mennonite Conference had been formed, with fraternal ties to the parent conference. The Costa Rica conference in 1986 had 1,053 members in 19 congregations with 20 ordained or licensed ministers. In 1968 mission work was opened in Nicaragua. By 1977 the Nicaragua Mennonite Conference had been formed, with fraternal ties to the parent conference. The Nicaragua conference in 1986 had 723 members in 30 congregations with 21 ordained or licensed ministers. In 1982 mission work was opened in Ecuador. There were 27 members in 1986. The conference launched the Brotherhood Beacon, an official monthly periodical in 1971. -- Ivan J. Miller

2010 Update

In 2010 the conference had 104 congregations with 11,141 members:

Congregation	City	State	Founded	Members
Abundant Life Christian Church	San Antonio	Texas	1985	29
Abundant Life Church	Sarasota	Florida	1999	208
Agape Community Fellowship of Hilliard	Hilliard	Ohio	1988	128
Agape Community Fellowship of Marysville	Marysville	Ohio	2005	38
Allensville Mennonite Church	Allensville	Pennsylvania	1861	235
Bean Blossom Community Church	Morgantown	Indiana	1945	49
Berea Mennonite Church	Cannelburg	Indiana	1921	290
Berean Mennonite Christian Fellowship	Tallahassee	Florida	1964	58
Bethany Conservative Mennonite Church	Hartville	Ohio	1972	160
Bethel Mennonite Church	Sarasota	Florida	1975	318
Bethel Springs Mennonite Church	Calico Rock	Arizona	1938	25
Bowlings Creek Mennonite Church	Altro	Kentucky	1947	26
Bowne Mennonite Church	Clarksville	Michigan	1866	40
Boyer Mennonite Church	Middleburg	Pennsylvania	1954	72
Buckhorn Creek Mennonite Church	Rowdy	Kentucky	1958	40
Caney Creek Mennonite Church	Lost Creek	Kentucky	1952	37
Cannon Mennonite Church	Bridgeville	Delaware	1977	200
Carthage Mennonite Church	Carthage	New York	1957	43
Cherry Glade Mennonite Church	Accident	Maryland	1881	358
Cloverdale Conservative Mennonite Church	Nashwauk	Minnesota	1950	40
Cornerstone Mennonite Church	Hartville	Ohio	1955	111
Covenant Fellowship	West Liberty	Ohio	1997	18
Crenshaw Community Church	Brockway	Pennsylvania	1952	6
Croghan Mennonite Church	Croghan	New York	1833	178
Crossroads Christian Fellowship	Phoenix	Arizona	1997	27
Dayspring Community Mennonite Church	Salley	South Carolina	1998	18
Dayspring Mennonite Church	Midland	Virginia	1996	46
Fairhaven Community Church	Bay Port	Michigan	1965	103
Fairlawn Mennonite Church	Apple Creek	Ohio	1949	161
Fairview Mennonite Church	Kalona	Iowa	1936	180
Fairview Mennonite Church	Albany	Oregon	1894	193
Faith Community Church	El Dorado	Arkansas	1968	40
First Mennonite Church	Montgomery	Indiana	1980	200
Fuente de Vida (Fountain of Life)	San Antonio	Texas	1991	82
Grace Christian Fellowship of Flint	Flint	Michigan	1928	21
Grace Mennonite Church	Phoenix	Arizona	1969	50
Grace Mennonite Church	Berlin	Ohio	1981	234
Greenwood Mennonite Church	Greenwood	Delaware	1914	213
Hicksville Mennonite Church	Hicksville	Ohio	1961	151
Iglesia Cristiana Dios Con Nosotros (God With Us Christian Church)	Phoenix	Arizona	1994	23
Iglesia Cristiana Hispana (Hispanic Christian Church)	Hilliard	Ohio	2001	55
Iglesia Cristiana Vida Abundante (Abundant Life Christian Outreach)	Albuquerque	New Mexico	1987	55
Johnsville Conservative Mennonite Church	Johnsville (Shauck)	Ohio	1952	56
Light-in-the-Valley Chapel	Sugarcreek	Ohio	1959	150
Living Word Christian Outreach	Albuquerque	New Mexico	1983	20
Locust Grove Mennonite Church	Belleville	Pennsylvania	1898	446
London Christian Fellowship	London	Ohio	1984	60
Lowville Mennonite Church	Lowville	New York	1913	186
Manbeck Mennonite Church	Beaver Springs	Pennsylvania	1960	43
Maple City Chapel	Goshen	Indiana	1974	563
Maple Glen Mennonite Church	Grantsville	Maryland	1877	121
Maple Grove Community Church Mennonite	Gulliver	Michigan	1942	21
Maple Grove Mennonite Church	Hartville	Ohio	1922	221
Maple View Mennonite Church	Burton	Ohio	1945	115
Maranatha Community Fellowship	Plain City	Ohio	1969	120
Maranatha Fellowship	Dover	Delaware	1997	63
Maranatha Mennonite Church	Hutchinson	Kansas	1978	85
Mattawana Mennonite Church	Lewistown	Pennsylvania	1818	60
Mechanicsburg Christian Fellowship	Mechanicsburg	Ohio	1978	177
Mennonite Christian Assembly	Fredericksburg	Ohio	1987	228
Ministerio Manantiales de Vida (Springs of Life Ministry)	El Paso	Texas	2003	16
Mision Iglesia Cristiana Siloé (Siloam Christian Mission Church) (Los Angelos)	Los Angeles	California	1979	65
Mountain View Mennonite Chapel	Reedsville	Pennsylvania	1974	88
Mt. Joy Conservative Mennonite Church	Goshen	Indiana	1961	58
Mt. Zion Mennonite Chapel	Leon	Iowa	1982	18
National City Mennonite Church	National City	Michigan	1945	15
Naumburg Conservative Mennonite Church	Castorland	New York	1964	491
New Beginnings Fellowship	Cincinnati	Ohio	1978	23
New Boston Mennonite Church	Donnellson	Iowa	1974	20
New Life Community Outreach	Cuthbert	Georgia	1999	21
North Wayne Mennonite Church	Dowagiac	Michigan	1974	23
Oak Dale Mennonite Church	Salisbury	Pennsylvania	1966	170
Oak Grove Mennonite Church	Adair	Oklahoma	1927	30
Oasis Community Church	Lexington	Kentucky	1985	33
Palm Grove Mennonite Church	Sarasota	Florida	1953	127
Panco Community Fellowship	Oneida	Kentucky		28
Paradise Valley Mennonite Church	Phoenix	Arizona	1960	32
Pigeon River Mennonite Church	Pigeon	Michigan	1904	190
Pine Grove Community Church	Castorland	New York	1949	50
Pineview Mennonite Church	Vassar	Michigan	1938	44
Plainview Conservative Mennonite Church	Hutchinson	Kansas	1948	136
Pleasant View Mennonite Church	Millersburg	Ohio	1912	182
Providence Mennonite Church	Virginia Beach	Virginia	1952	34
Red Lake Mennonite Church	Red Lake	Ontario, Canada	1959	56
Riverside Mennonite Church	Au Gres	Michigan	1911	103
Riverview Christian Fellowship	White Pigeon	Michigan	1952	53
Shiloh Mennonite Church	London	Ohio	1972	191
Siloam Fellowship	Goshen	Indiana	1998	140
Southmost Mennonite Church	Florida City	Florida	1965	13
Sunnyside Mennonite Church	Arthur	Illinois	1945	125
Sunnyside Mennonite Church	Kalona	Iowa	1957	147
Sunrise Chapel Mennonite Church	Harlan	Indiana	1982	125
Templo Cristiano Camino a Jesus (The Way to Jesus)	San Antonio	Texas		40
Templo Vida Abundante (Abundant Life Church)	Ciudad Juarez	Chihuahua, Mexico	1993	32
The River's Edge Community Church	Pigeon	Michigan	1999	164
Townline Mennonite Church	Shipshewana	Indiana	1876	64
Trinity Chapel	Tavares	Florida	1982	45
Trinity Christian Fellowship	Millersburg	Ohio	1998	67
Trinity Mennonite Church	Prospect	Virginia	2002	50
Turkey Run Mennonite Church	Logan	Ohio	1803	51
Turners Creek Mennonite Church	Talbert	Kentucky	1947	45
United Dayspring Mennonite Church	Berlin	Ohio	1988	211
Upper Deer Creek Mennonite Church	Wellman	Iowa	1877	100
Zion Mennonite Church	Pryor	Oklahoma	1911	131
Total				11,141

2023 Update

In July 2018 the ministers of the Conservative Mennonite Conference voted to change the legal name of the denomination to: Conservative Mennonite Conference doing business as CMC.

In a 2017 interview, CMC executive director Brian Hershberger expressed concern with the name "conservative," due to its connotations of political conservatism or plain dress. At the July 2017 meeting, other ministers said "Mennonite" associated them with Mennonite Church USA.

On 23 February 2023 the conference made a more permanent name change to Rosedale Network of Churches--a global family of Anabaptists.

Bibliography

Anabaptist (Mennonite) Directory 2011. Harrisonburg, VA: The Sword and Trumpet, 2011: 45-56.

Conservative Mennonite Conference. Conservative Conference Reports. Irwin, Ohio, 1910-86.

Huber, Tim. "CMC becomes Rosedale Network" Anabaptist World 15 March 2023. Web. 19 March 2023. https://anabaptistworld.org/cmc-becomes-rosedale-network/.

Mennonite Directory (1999).

Mennonite Yearbook (1988-89): 49-52.

Miller, Ivan J. History of the Conservative Mennonite Conference. Grantsville, MD: the author, 1985.

Stella, Rachel. "Conservative Conference rebrands with initials." Mennonite World Review 30 July 2018. Web. 21 February 2022. https://anabaptistworld.org/conservative-conference-rebrands-with-initials/.

Additional Information

Rosedale Network of Churches

Conservative Mennonite Conference Statement of Doctrine

Author(s)	Ivan J Miller
Date Published	March 2023

Cite This Article

MLA style

Miller, Ivan J. "Rosedale Network of Churches." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. March 2023. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Rosedale_Network_of_Churches&oldid=179199.

APA style

Miller, Ivan J. (March 2023). Rosedale Network of Churches. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Rosedale_Network_of_Churches&oldid=179199.

---

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, pp. 700-702; vol. 5, p. 192. All rights reserved.

©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.