Mission Boards

The first mission board to be organized by North American Mennonites was established by members of the General Conference Mennonite Church in 1872. The Mennonite Brethren followed in 1878, Mennonite Church (MC) in 1882, and Brethren in Christ in 1895. Most groups formed these boards with a mandate to conduct missionary work both in North America and internationally. Since World War II several groups have reorganized the domestic and foreign programs under separate boards. The Mennonite Brethren look to their districts to administer domestic church extension.

North American Mennonite/Brethren in Christ Mission Boards Wilbert Shenk, compiler and author
Name	Address	Founded	No. of Countries (1987)	No. Workers Abroad (1987)
*Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission	Elkhart, IN	1911	5	80
#*Brethren in Christ Missions	Mount Joy, PA/ Stevensville, ON	1895	8	38
Church of God in Christ, Mennonite	Moundridge, KS	1933	10	152
Evangelical Mennonite Brethren	Omaha, Nebraska	1936	28	87
*Evangelical Mennonite Church, Commission on Overseas Missions	Fort Wayne, IN	1943	5	20
*Evangelical Mennonite Conference Board of Missions	Steinbach, MB	1953	4	95
*Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference	Winnipeg, MB	1939	4	19
General Conference Mennonite Church	Newton, KS	1872
*Commission on Overseas Mission			15	162
#Commission on Home Ministries
#*Mennonite Brethren Board of Missions and Services	Hillsboro, KS/ Winnipeg, MB	1878	23	149
Mennonite Church
#*Conservative Mennonite Board of Mission and Charities/              Rosedale Mennonite Missions	Irwin, Ohio	1919	4	21
#*Eastern Mennonite Missions	Salunga, PA	1914	21	132
#*Franconia Mennonite Conference Mission Commission	Souderton, PA	1917	1	6
Franklin Mennonite Conference	Chambersburg, PA		1	12
#*Mennonite Board of Missions	Elkhart, IN	1882	26	130
Mennonite Mission Board of Pacific Coast Conference	Salem, OR	1906	1	2
Virginia Mennonite Board of Missions	Harrisonburg, VA	1919	3	8
# *Mennonite Central Committee	Akron, PA	1920	48	527
Other Mennonite Bodies:
Bible Mennonite Fellowship Missions Committee	Albany, OR		1
Caribbean Light and Truth	Keats, Iowa	1976	1	2
Conservative Mennonite Fellowship	Logan, Ohio	1964	1	11
Mission Board, Inc./Guatemala
Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church/	Lititz, PA	1968	2
Mennonite Messianic Mission Board	Ephrata, PA	1967
Fellowship Churches Mission Programs:
Open Door Ministries (Mexico)	West Liberty, KY
West Indies Witness (Dominican Republic)	Farmington, NM
Conservative Mennonite New Life Endeavor (India)	Hensall, ON
Philippine Witness (Philippine Islands)	Tilley, AB
Light of Life Mission (Nigeria)	Columbiana, Ohio
Mennonite Air Missions Board	Guatemala	1972	1	7
Mid-Atlantic Mennonite Fellowship Mission Board	Bethel, PA	1978
Northern Light Gospel Mission Conference	Red Lake, ON
Southeastern Mennonite Conference Mission Board	Dayton, VA	1972
Washington-Franklin Mennonite Conference Home Missions Committee	Greencastle, PA
Home Missions Committee
Mission Interests Committee of Beachy Amish Church	Christiana, PA	1953	4
*Denotes members of Council of International Ministries.
#Denotes members of Inter-Mennonite Horne Ministries Council.

 

Lack of a clear or uniform polity among Mennonites is reflected in the way mission agencies have been formed. Since most groups did not have strong denominational organizations prior to 1945, the mission health and welfare, and educational programs enjoyed considerable autonomy. The Mennonite Church (MC) developed mission structures at the district conference level. Each district mission board, in turn, appointed members to the Mennonite Board of Missions. After the early 1930s several of these district conferences, most notably Lancaster Mennonite Conference, developed substantial programs, including international projects. Since the 1950s a number of new agencies have been formed by groups which either were never formally a part of a Mennonite conference or deliberately separated themselves from such a body.

The Evangelical Mennonite Brethren (since 1987 known as the Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches) have never created their own mission program overseas. Rather they pursued the policy of recruiting workers and providing support to various interdenominational and faith missions. The Mennonite Brethren Board of Missions and Services has given support to members of their constituency serving with interdenominational agencies while administering Mennonite Brethren mission program as well.

The Northern Light Gospel Mission was founded by Irvin Schantz in Minnesota in the late 1930s and then relocated to Red Lake, ON, about 1953. Schantz raised his support from interested individuals and congregations. In 1965 the churches of the Red Lake region were organized into an independent conference (Northern Light Gospel Mission Conference) without ties to other church bodies or agencies.

Early in the 20th century mission interest among Mennonites had the effect of fostering inter-Mennonite cooperation. Such cooperation was generally focused on a specific mission and did not lead to a union movement in North America. Thus the China Mennonite Mission Society was formed out of initiatives by the Bartel family, Krimmer Mennonite Brethren, Mennonite Brethren, Evangelical Mennonite Brethren, and Missionary Church Association. The Evangelical Mennonite Brethren supported a couple for service in India in association with the Mennonite Church (MC) in 1907. This arrangement lasted several years only. The most enduring cooperative effort has been the Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission, formerly the Congo Inland Mission, founded in 1911. Six Mennonite groups were participating in AIMM in 1987.

Formation of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in 1920 as a cooperative relief effort, eventually involving all Mennonite and Brethren in Christ groups, has become the major united effort. MCC has had a variety of programmatic relationships with the constituent mission agencies. In 1958 the Council of Mission Board Secretaries, known since 1976 as the Council of International Ministries (CIM), was formed as a vehicle for better coordination between MCC and the mission agencies. CIM meets semiannually. CIM has been a means of contact and consultation with the Europäische Mennonitische Evangelisationskomitee (EMEK; European Mennonite Mission Committee).

The Inter-Mennonite Home Ministries Council was organized in 1968. It meets annually as as forum for exchange between administrators of mission and service programs in Canada and the United States. Some Mennonite mission agencies publish mission magazines to promote their work: Missionary messenger (Eastern Mennonite Missions [MC]), AIMM Messenger (Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission), and Therefore (Brethren in Christ Missions). Others rely on their denominational periodicals or women's missionary association magazines to promote their work.

Bibliography

Barrett, Lois. The Vision and the Reality: the Story of Home Missions in the General Conference Mennonite Church. Newton, KS: Faith and Life, 1983.

Juhnke, James C. A People of Mission: a History of General Conference Mennonite Overseas Mission. Newton, KS: Faith and Life, 1979.

Loewen, Melvin J. Threescore: The Story of an Emerging Mennonite Church in Central Africa. Elkhart, IN: Congo Inland Mission, 1972.

Schlabach, Theron F. Gospel Versus Gospel. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1979.

Shenk, Wilbert R. in Mennonite World Handbook (1978): 20-31.

Shenk, Wilbert R. An Experiment in Interagency Cooperation. Elkhart, IN: Council of International Ministries, 1986.

Toews, J. B. The Mennonite Brethren Church in Zaire. Fresno, CA: MB Board of Christian Literature, 1978.

Toews, J. J. The Mennonite Brethren Mission in Latin America. Winnipeg: MB Board of Christian Literature, 1975.

Additional Information

Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission website

Eastern Mennonite Missions website

Mennonite Mission Network website

Mennonite Brethren Missions International

Mennonite Central Committee website

Author(s)	Wilbert R Shenk
Date Published	1989

Cite This Article

MLA style

Shenk, Wilbert R. "Mission Boards." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1989. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mission_Boards&oldid=172243.

APA style

Shenk, Wilbert R. (1989). Mission Boards. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mission_Boards&oldid=172243.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, pp. 592-594. All rights reserved.

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