Conservative Mennonite Fellowship
The Conservative Mennonite Fellowship was one of a number of fellowships of conservative-minded independent congregations. It formed in June 1957 to counteract tendencies toward compromise and apostasy in the Mennonite Church. It operated under a constitution based on the updated Eighteen Articles of Christian Fundamentals as adopted in 1964 at Hartville, Ohio. The fellowship was strongly nonresistant and nonconformed in practice, with uniform plain dress standards, including uncut, veiled hair for women (prayer veil), and closely cut hair for men. In 1985 it consisted of 5 congregations in Ohio, Ontario, Indiana, and Delaware (174 members).
Itinerant mission activity in Central America, begun in 1961, resulted in the establishment in 1964 of the first Mennonite mission in Guatemala at Chimaltenango. It was operated by a board elected by the fellowship ministers. The Guatemalan Cry recounted its first 10 years. A similar board operated an 11-week Bible school (Messiah Bible School) at Carbon Hill, Ohio. A free 12-page monthly, The Harvest Call, carried mission, Bible school, and congregational materials.
At the end of the 1990s, the Conservative Mennonite Fellowship and its activities became part of the Nationwide Fellowship Churches.
Bibliography
Witmer, Dallas. The Guatemalan Cry. Seymour, Missouri, USA): Edgewood Press, 1974.
The Conservative Mennonite Fellowship, A Brief Account of the First Ten Years. Hartville, Ohio: The Fellowship Messenger, 1968.
The Harvest Call. Salisbury, MD
Mennonite Yearbook and Directory. Scottdale, PA: Mennonite Publishing House, 1988-89: 92.
Mennonite Church Directory Harrisonburg, VA: Christian Light Publications, 2005: 69-78.
Author(s) | Harry W Hertzler |
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Date Published | 1986 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Hertzler, Harry W. "Conservative Mennonite Fellowship." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1986. Web. 3 Sep 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Conservative_Mennonite_Fellowship&oldid=100276.
APA style
Hertzler, Harry W. (1986). Conservative Mennonite Fellowship. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 3 September 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Conservative_Mennonite_Fellowship&oldid=100276.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, p. 192-193. All rights reserved.
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