The Mennonite's

Ben, Mennonites and the Amish share the same heritage though neither are techinically Baptist.
I would say Baptists are spiritually kin to them in that they were our forerunners

Here is a Mennonite website http://www.anabaptists.org/


Regarding Australian Mennonites check out

http://www.thirdway.com/menno/glossary.asp?ID=60

http://www.anabaptist.asn.au/

http://www.anabaptist.asn.au/ANABNEW4.htm

 

Ben, I knew some Mennonite moms when we lived in Cleveland, Georgia. They were a wonderful group of women. Their children were in the Christian preschool play group Nick was in. The moms would arrive early to pick up their kids (before lunch) and we'd sit on the picnic tables and share, laugh and fellowship. The Mennonite ladies were some of the most friendly and loving women I've ever met! They dressed in the typical dresses and caps, dark socks and shoes and I'd be sitting there in my jeans or shorts and NEVER did they act like the rest of us were not godly or as loved as they! One of the ladies had the funniest sense of humor. She'd tell stories that would make me laugh so hard my sides would ache.

Good luck on your search. May GOD guide you in all that you do!

Diane

 

Ben,

The Mennonites in general are wonderful, hard-working people - an asset to any community. There are, however, some glaring doctrinal differences between them and us Baptists. The most pronounced of these is their belief that you can lose your salvation.

 

I've done some research on the Mennonite denomination. I posted elsewhere on the board about this. The more modern day Mennonites look no different than most other Christians. The old order Mennonites are the ones who dress in those old-timey looking clothes and shun modern day conveniences. If you look at this web site, you would be suprised to see what some Mennonites look like and live like nowadays (at least in more urban areas of our country).

http://www.mennonites.org/

 

Half my family is Mennonite. Their beliefs are essencially the same as Baptists, nothing to loose sleep over for the most part. Like baptists different Mennonites have different views on things.

Bryan
SDG

 

BenW,

I attended a Mennonite church for 5 years while living in Indiana. I found the Mennonite umbrella to be very diverse in doctrine, from ultra-leftist liberals to ultra-rightist legalists (Hmm, sounds familiar). Most today dress in modern clothing, though the plain clothes group is still pretty large (some of them are refugees from the Amish).

Best thing about the Mennonites--they really love each other in a biblical way--like no other church I've ever seen.

Worst thing about the Mennonites--too many of them are related, so they hesitate to separate from their apostate cousins.

Consistently different doctrines--Pacifism and the belief that one can lose his salvation.

In Christ,

Tim

 

Their belief in Pacisifm is changing. The newer generation is not holding to it as much as those before them.

Bryan
SDG

 

Mennonites, like all denominations, have their modernists and traditionalists. But traditional Mennonite doctrine differs from the Baptists primarily in:

1. The doctrine of salvation. Mennonites believe in salvation by obedience. They believe a believer can totally apostacize and some of them believe that if you sin "willfully" it is not possible to be forgiven. They border on sinless perfectionism.

2. The doctrine of Baptism. While they believe in baptism of believers, most Mennonites do not baptize by total immersion but by pouring water over the head.

3. Pacifism

Mark Osgatharp