Holdeman Baptism
A Look at the Holdeman's Baptism
I'm writing about this interesting topic because they are the only Mennonite church who believe in and hold to the doctrine of rebaptizing before joining their church. Why rebaptize if the Bible says "one baptism"? Well, according to them, it also says, "one Lord, one faith, one Father". Therefore for an applicant to join, he needs to be spiritually led to believe the way they do so that he can honestly and sincerely say he now believes in "one Lord, one faith" with them.
That brings in the topic of "the one true church". However, let me be clear. I'm not here to point out which Mennonite church or group has the right doctrine and only way to be saved. I'm writing about the Mennonites in Belize and describing their lifestyle and beliefs.
Since they believe that they are "the true church" as far as doctrinal views and other Biblical principles, baptism is one of their sacraments. It is binding for life and membership cannot be revoked, discontinued or lifted except through excommunication, which in turn is only carried out when the erring one has fallen into something grave such as deceptive beliefs, adultery, drunkeness, etc.
On rebaptizing: since they are "the true church", no other baptism is valid except theirs; baptism will not be carried out unless the whole congregation can agree that the applicant has indeed been born again, God has changed his life, and they believe it is God's will for him to become a member. Instead of the ministers and deacons deciding all this, the process is carried out by having the applicant give a public testimony and then holding a majority vote.
Baptism is then applied by a minister; the applicant kneels at the front of the church while the minister asks him a few specific questions similar to wedding vows, then a small amount of water is poured on the person's head, a congregational prayer, then the baptized person is greeted as a new member by exchanging the holy kiss (the holy kiss is only done between members, men with men and women with women and it will be one of my subjects later on). If the person baptized is a female, the minister or deacon's wife comes up to greet her with the kiss.
Some interesting facts: there have been Beachy and Conservative Mennonites who have joined the Holdemans and vice versa. There have been Kleine Gemeinde who have also joined the Holdemans, but never has a Holdeman joined the KG. Like I wrote earlier this year, spiritual persecution and a certain amount of superiority complex turns away non-German-speaking Mennonites from the KG church. Also, those KG who join the Holdemans don't do it here where their friends, family and peers will mock them, discourage them or threaten them. They move to Canada, after awhile join the Holdemans, then later come back only to visit. There are no KG-turned-Holdeman families living in Belize. I understand how they feel. Coming back to live and work where the Holdemans are a minority group among the Mennonites would bring extreme pressure, criticism, and ridicule from the richer, "higher-class" German-speaking Mennonites.
Did you know there are some Mennonite churches in Belize who rebaptize? Although it's only done if the new convert wishes to do it out of personal conviction or maybe pressure from a pastor or a family member. Since it is not a doctrine, the rebaptized person can later move on or join another church if he wishes to do so.
I'm writing about this interesting topic because they are the only Mennonite church who believe in and hold to the doctrine of rebaptizing before joining their church. Why rebaptize if the Bible says "one baptism"? Well, according to them, it also says, "one Lord, one faith, one Father". Therefore for an applicant to join, he needs to be spiritually led to believe the way they do so that he can honestly and sincerely say he now believes in "one Lord, one faith" with them.
That brings in the topic of "the one true church". However, let me be clear. I'm not here to point out which Mennonite church or group has the right doctrine and only way to be saved. I'm writing about the Mennonites in Belize and describing their lifestyle and beliefs.
Since they believe that they are "the true church" as far as doctrinal views and other Biblical principles, baptism is one of their sacraments. It is binding for life and membership cannot be revoked, discontinued or lifted except through excommunication, which in turn is only carried out when the erring one has fallen into something grave such as deceptive beliefs, adultery, drunkeness, etc.
On rebaptizing: since they are "the true church", no other baptism is valid except theirs; baptism will not be carried out unless the whole congregation can agree that the applicant has indeed been born again, God has changed his life, and they believe it is God's will for him to become a member. Instead of the ministers and deacons deciding all this, the process is carried out by having the applicant give a public testimony and then holding a majority vote.
Baptism is then applied by a minister; the applicant kneels at the front of the church while the minister asks him a few specific questions similar to wedding vows, then a small amount of water is poured on the person's head, a congregational prayer, then the baptized person is greeted as a new member by exchanging the holy kiss (the holy kiss is only done between members, men with men and women with women and it will be one of my subjects later on). If the person baptized is a female, the minister or deacon's wife comes up to greet her with the kiss.
Some interesting facts: there have been Beachy and Conservative Mennonites who have joined the Holdemans and vice versa. There have been Kleine Gemeinde who have also joined the Holdemans, but never has a Holdeman joined the KG. Like I wrote earlier this year, spiritual persecution and a certain amount of superiority complex turns away non-German-speaking Mennonites from the KG church. Also, those KG who join the Holdemans don't do it here where their friends, family and peers will mock them, discourage them or threaten them. They move to Canada, after awhile join the Holdemans, then later come back only to visit. There are no KG-turned-Holdeman families living in Belize. I understand how they feel. Coming back to live and work where the Holdemans are a minority group among the Mennonites would bring extreme pressure, criticism, and ridicule from the richer, "higher-class" German-speaking Mennonites.
Did you know there are some Mennonite churches in Belize who rebaptize? Although it's only done if the new convert wishes to do it out of personal conviction or maybe pressure from a pastor or a family member. Since it is not a doctrine, the rebaptized person can later move on or join another church if he wishes to do so.
