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 2010 there were 50 congregations in the conference, with 2,843 members and a total average attendance of 4,092.

Congregation	City	State	Year Founded	Joined BMA	Membership	Average Attendance
Agape Mennonite Assembly	Middlefield	Ohio	1993	February 2000	34	50
Believers' Fellowship	Stuarts Draft	Virginia	2003	July 2004	15	25
Blue Ridge Christian Fellowship	Radiant	Virginia	2000	August 2000	17	25
Calvary Mennonite Church	Paden	Oklahoma	1995	February 2006	36	50
Calvary Mennonite Fellowship	Harrisonburg	Virginia	1990	February 1999	159	225
Central Mennonite Church	Dover	Delaware	1954	August 2002	165	180
Christ's Ambassadors	St. Elizabeth	Jamaica	1974	2007	130
Christian Life Mennonite	Beach City	Ohio	2001	August 2003	115	195
Cornerstone Mennonite Fellowship	Ephrata	Pennsylvania	1998	August 2005	168	225
East Hanover Mennonite Church	Palmyra	Pennsylvania	1953	July 2004	24	50
Fairhaven Mennonite Church	West Salem	Ohio	1965	February 1999	18	24
Fair Play Christian Fellowship	Fair Play	South Carolina	1980	February 2009	18	15
Faith Mennonite Fellowship	Crawford	Mississippi	1985	February 1999	66	75
Faith Mennonite Mission	Shellman	Georgia	1979	February 2008	26	50
Followers of Jesus Mennonite Church	Brooklyn	New York	1986	February 1999	67	124
Goshen Mennonite Church	Laytonsville	Maryland	1949	February 2001	24	45
Hartwell Mennonite Church	Hartwell	Georgia	1989	February 2009	22	45
Heritage Mennonite Church	Millbank	Ontario	1998	February 2000	24	39
Herr Street Mennonite Church	Harrisburg	Pennsylvania	1953	February 2006	30	60
Juanita Christian Church	Port Royal	Pennsylvania	2005	August 2007	45	100
Kossuth Community Chapel	Bolivar	New York	1983	February 2006	22	29
Lamb of God Mennonite Church	Butler	Indiana	2000	August 2000	49	85
Laws Mennonite Church	Harrington	Deleware	1953	February 2003	45	45
Living Water Mennonite Church	Goshen	Indiana	1999	February 2000	102	150
Living Word Christian Fellowship	Sparta	Wisconsin	2001	August 2007	13	40
Madison Mennonite Fellowship	Madison	Indiana	1993	August 2001	16	35
Mohican Valley Door of Hope	Danville	Ohio	2006	2007	65	126
Mt. Airy Mennonite Church	Mt. Airy	Maryland	1952	August 2004	11	21
Mt. Zion House of Prayer	Utica	Ohio	1995	August 1999	62	92
New Holland Mennonite Church	Batesburg	South Carolina	1986	July 2009	68	121
New Hope Mennonite Church	Orrstown	Pennsylvania	2003	August 2004	34	70
Nickel Mines Mennonite Church	Paradise	Pennsylvania	1935	August 2002	70	80
North Vine Mennonite Church	Arthur	Illinois	1957	August 2008	81	90
Oak Hill Mennonite Church	Cumberland	Virginia	1970	August 2000	51	60
Pleasant Grove Conservative Mennonite Church	Goshen	Indiana	1948	February 1999	170	245
Prairie Mennonite Church	Raymond	Alberta	1986	July 2004	30	60
Red Oak Community Mennonite Church	Blountstown	Florida	1993	February 2003	40	90
Shalom Mennonite Church	Odon	Indiana	1999	February 2000	17	30
Shekinah Mennonite Fellowship	Castorland	New York	1997	August 2001	41	55
Shiloh Mennonite Church	Due West	South Carolina	1995	February 1999	84	130
Skyline Mennonite Church	Caon City	Colorado	2004	July 2004	67	145
Snow Hill Mennonite Church	Snow Hill	Maryland	1953	February 1999	43	50
Solid Rock Mennonite Church	Liberty	Kentucky	2007	August 2007	14	30
Strickler's Mennonite Church	Middletown	Pennsylvania	1837	February 2006	33	48
Union Chapel Mennonite Church	Odon	Indiana	2007	2008	17	35
United Bethel Mennonite Church	Plain City	Ohio	1940	February 2000	236	250
United Covenant Mennonite Church	Etowah	North Carolina	1994	February 2000	38	65
Womelsdorf Mennonite Church	Womelsdorf	Pennsylvania	1993	2008	71	120
Word of Life Mennonite Church	Hutchinson	Kansas	2005	August 2007	38	65
Zion Mennonite Church	Nappanee	Indiana	2008	2009	12	28
Totals					2,843	4,092

Bibliography

Author(s)	Richard D. Thiessen
	Sam Steiner
Date Published	May 2012

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.

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Thiessen, Richard D. and Sam Steiner. "Biblical Mennonite Alliance." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. May 2012. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Biblical_Mennonite_Alliance&oldid=62568.

APA style

Thiessen, Richard D. and Sam Steiner. (May 2012). Biblical Mennonite Alliance. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Biblical_Mennonite_Alliance&oldid=62568.

Biblical Mennonite Alliance

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