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The Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches (FEBC) is a small evangelical Christian denomination with an Anabaptist Mennonite heritage. Most of the denomination's approximately 5000 members are in congregations located in the U.S. and Canada.
The Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches was founded at Mountain Lake, Minnesota on October 14, 1889 as the Konference der Vereinigten Mennoniten-Brueder von Nord America (Conference of United Mennonite Brethren in North America). This body originated among Russian Mennonite immigrants that came to Canada and the United States from Russia around 1874. Their desire was to place greater evangelical emphasis on such doctrines as repentance, conversion, scriptural discipline and non-conformity to the world. [1] [2] Instrumental in the founding of the conference were Elder Isaac Peters of the Ebenezer Church in Henderson, Nebraska and Elder Aaron Wall, founder of the Brudertaler Church in Mountain Lake. [2] [3]
For many years member congregations used the name "Brudertaler," [2] (or Bruderthaler [3] ) [4] probably under the influence of the Mountain Lake founding church, and the conference itself was popularly called the Brudertaler (Bruderthaler) Conference. In 1914 the name was officially changed to The Defenceless Mennonite Brethren in Christ of North America. Then, in 1937 the name was formally changed to Evangelical Mennonite Brethren (EMB). [2]
In 1956, the conference's headquarters were moved to Omaha, Nebraska from Mountain Lake, Minnesota. [2]
The Evangelical Mennonite Brethren and the Evangelical Mennonite Church began talks of merger in 1953, but the effort ended without success in 1962. In this period, the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Conference was also strengthening ties with the Evangelische Mennonitische Bruderschaft von Südamerika (Evangelical Mennonite Brethren of South America). These South American brethren shared similar background, language, doctrine, and practice. Affiliation was accomplished in 1958, with the South American group being made a district of the general conference, but with self-government. Until 1983, the conference officially held the Mennonite position of non-resistance and not bearing arms in war. Since that year, their constitution, while maintaining the official position, has also recognized the individual's right to their own conscience concerning these matters.
In the 1980s, a Canadian group which was originally known as the New Covenant Apostolic Order, separated from the EMB church, eventually becoming the Saskatchewan Diocese of the Evangelical Orthodox Church. [5]
The Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Conference changed its name to the Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches on July 16, 1987. At that time the conference consisted of 36 congregations with a membership of 4583 (of which 1981 members in 20 congregations were in Canada and 423 members were in South America). [2]
The Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches holds an orthodox Trinitarian theology, the infallible inspiration of the Scriptures, and is dispensational premillennial in eschatology. The body recognizes two ordinances — baptism and the Lord's supper. They practice water baptism of believers by immersion, but will recognize as valid other modes when administered by others, or when immersion is impossible due to a medical condition. Open communion is observed with bread and fruit of the vine. The Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches exists to increase fellowship between member congregations, promote evangelism and missions, and represent the congregations through membership in boards and organizations outside the FEBC.
In 2003 the FEBC in North America had 3620 members (Canada - 2170; USA - 1450) in 36 congregations (Canada - 20; USA - 16), [6] as well as 5 churches in Argentina and Paraguay. The Fellowship Focus is a bi-monthly magazine published by the FEBC. The conference headquarters are located in Omaha, Nebraska, having been moved there from Mountain Lake, Minnesota in 1956. They hold membership in the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (org. 1964), and the Mennonite World Conference, and until January, 2023, they had held membership with the National Association of Evangelicals (USA, org. 1942).
In 2013, there were 44 congregations included on the FEBC rolls. Most of the churches were in the U.S. and Canada, with one being in Paraguay. [2]
Anabaptism is a Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation. Anabaptists believe that baptism is valid only when candidates freely confess their faith in Christ and request to be baptized. Commonly referred to as believer's baptism, it is opposed to baptism of infants, who are not able to make a conscious decision to be baptized.
Mennonites are a group of Anabaptist Christian church communities tracing their roots to the Radical Reformation. The name is derived from that of one of the early prominent leaders of the Anabaptist movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561). Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radical Reformation, Simons articulated and formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss Anabaptist founders as well as early teachings of the Mennonites founded on the belief in both the mission and ministry of Jesus. The original Anabaptist followers had held such beliefs with great conviction, despite persecution by various Roman Catholic and Mainline Protestant states. Formal Mennonite beliefs were codified in the Dordrecht Confession of Faith (1632), which affirmed "the baptism of believers only, the washing of the feet as a symbol of servanthood, church discipline, the shunning of the excommunicated, the non-swearing of oaths, marriage within the same church", strict pacifistic physical nonresistance, anti-Catholicism and in general, more emphasis on "true Christianity" involving "being Christian and obeying Christ" as they interpret it from the Holy Bible.
Mountain Lake is a city in Cottonwood County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,104 at the 2010 census.
The Dunkard Brethren Church is a Conservative Anabaptist denomination of the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition, which organized in 1926 when they withdrew from the Church of the Brethren in the United States.
The Brethren in Christ Church (BIC) is a River Brethren Christian denomination. Falling within the Anabaptist tradition of Christianity, the Brethren in Christ Church has roots in the Mennonite church, with influences from the revivals of Radical Pietism and the holiness movement. They have also been known as River Brethren and River Mennonites. The Canadian denomination is called Be In Christ.
The Missionary Church is an evangelical Christian denomination of Anabaptist origins with Wesleyan and Pietist influences.
Bible Fellowship Church is a conservative pietistic Christian denomination with Mennonite roots centered in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Its denominational leader Donald T. Kirkwood described the denomination as "reformed in theology, Presbyterian in polity, creedal immersionists."
The Rosedale Network of Churches is a Christian body of Mennonite churches in the Anabaptist tradition. Rosedale Network of Churches was originally formed in 1910 by a group of Amish Mennonites to promote unity while preserving autonomy of the local congregation.
The Evangelical Mennonite Conference is a conference of Canadian evangelical Mennonite Christians headquartered in Steinbach, Manitoba, with 62 churches from British Columbia to southern Ontario. It includes people with a wide range of cultural and denominational backgrounds.
Mennonite Church Canada is a Mennonite denomination in Canada, with head offices in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is a member of the Mennonite World Conference and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
The Mennonite Church USA is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the United States. Although the organization is a recent 2002 merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church, the body has roots in the Radical Reformation of the 16th century.
The US Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (USMB) is an association of Mennonite Brethren Churches in the United States.
The Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (CCMBC) is a Mennonite Brethren denomination in Canada. It is a member of the Mennonite World Conference and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
Peace churches are Christian churches, groups or communities advocating Christian pacifism or Biblical nonresistance. The term historic peace churches refers specifically only to three church groups among pacifist churches:
The General Conference Mennonite Church (GCMC) was a mainline association of Mennonite congregations based in North America from 1860 to 2002. The conference was formed in 1860 when congregations in Iowa invited North American Mennonites to join together in order to pursue common goals such as higher education and mission work. The conference was especially attractive to recent Mennonite and Amish immigrants to North America and expanded considerably when thousands of Russian Mennonites arrived in North America starting in the 1870s. Conference offices were located in Winnipeg, Manitoba and North Newton, Kansas. The conference supported a seminary and several colleges. In the 1990s the conference had 64,431 members in 410 congregations in Canada, the United States and South America. After decades of cooperation with the Mennonite Church, the two groups reorganized into Mennonite Church Canada in 2000 and Mennonite Church USA in 2002.
Rosedale Bible College (RBC) is a private evangelical Anabaptist junior Bible college in Rosedale, Ohio. RBC offers an Associate in Biblical Studies accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the Association for Biblical Higher Education. The college is owned by the Rosedale Network of Churches, a coalition of roughly 120 widely scattered churches within the Mennonite family of faith, and united by a evangelical-Anabaptist theology.
The Fellowship of Evangelical Churches (FEC) is an evangelical body of Christians with an Amish Mennonite heritage that is headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. It contains 60 churches located in Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Conservative Mennonites include numerous Conservative Anabaptist groups that identify with the theologically conservative element among Mennonite Anabaptist Christian fellowships, but who are not Old Order groups or mainline denominations.
Belize Evangelical Mennonite Church is a church denomination of the Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches in Belize.