Holdeman Mennonites vs Conservative Mennonites

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   Just two more branches in the endless maze of Mennonite churches and yet, after having studied their doctrines and attended their services, I realize that the Church of God in Christ (aka Holdeman church) and the Conservative Mennonites have much more in common than they care to admit.
  I have been attending a Conservative Mennonite church nearby and becoming acquainted with various members from different congregations across the country in an effort to learn more about the Conservative and Beachy Amish beliefs. Having grown up in the Holdeman church, I was taught to view them with caution. Whenever the Holdeman ministers and I would get into doctrinal discussions (which happened often and ended up with me on the losing end) and I would bring up the Conservative Mennonite church, they warned me that I should be extremely cautious; I was already a member of "the one true church", therefore there was no reason for me to be interested in other Mennonite church groups no matter how close to the truth they might appear to be. One minister pointed out that the Conservative and Beachy churches practice dating before marriage, something forbidden by the Holdemans. Another minister declared that they were very liberal with cameras, radios and other digital technology, again something considered "worldly" by the Holdeman church. Thus my opinion of all Amish Mennonite churches was firmly formed: they might seem to be following the truth, but they just did not have the full measure of truth that the Church of God in Christ had, hence it was important for me to avoid them in order not to be led astray from "the one true church".


  Fast forward more than a decade later. Much to my surprise, and a little to my dismay, I find myself looking at some doctrinal practices quite similar to the Holdeman church. Whereas the Church of God in Christ refers to them as "doctrines" and have the details compiled in a thick brown book, Conservative churches know them as "standards." The practical way of living out these "standards" is decided by the congregation and is known as "applications". In Central America, one influential person among the Amish Mennonite churches here is Pablo Yoder, a North American turned Latino who made his home in Nicaragua. I've read a number of his writings, both religious works and biographies. Through his writings, and those of John Coblentz, Gary Miller, and Daniel Kaufman, I am discovering that although Amish Mennonite groups may differ in "applications", their basic theological views are on par with the Holdeman Mennonites. For example, Conservative Mennonites ladies wear a small veil on their heads daily. So do the Holdemans. Many Amish Mennonite congregations expect the baptized males to let their beards grow. The same with the Holdemans. The Conservative church we are currently visiting do not baptize anyone until he/she can give a public testimony of being born again and has taken instruction classes for several months. Again, I am reminded of the Holdeman church I left. Both groups practice the "holy kiss", both groups strongly advocate a relationship with God as the key to spiritual enlightenment, and both groups teach and preach against materialism and the dangers of financial prosperity. Materialism and a personal relationship with Christ are two doctrines which are not often addressed in the Kleine Gemeinde, even less in the Old Colony, and have become almost non-existent in other traditional churches. So to visit a Conservative Mennonite church wasn't much of a difference for me from my days in the Holdeman church. The songs, the layout of the system, the unnecessary Sunday school thing where we march out in military file and later solemnly parade back in, etc. In fact, I could have sworn I was simply visiting another Holdeman church except for the white veils on the women. I felt sort of tricked in a way. I had been expecting something different.
  On the issues of technology and social media, Conservative and Holdemans have different stands. While Amish Mennonite groups are certainly much more liberal than the Holdemans with the use of Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, the Holdeman congregations view them as detrimental and discourage the use of such. But we live in a millennial generation; their book may forbid those items, yet the actual fight against it appears to be losing ground with the continuous advance of the smartphone.
  No doubt the biggest and most visible difference is the "one true church" ideology of the Church of God in Christ. Conservative Mennonite churches in Belize are not all united in belief. One congregation may be affiliated with a church in Indiana, another two or three with a church in Ohio, and so forth. Yet even though these Conservative and Beachy Amish congregations in Belize may operate almost independently of each other, they sometimes get together for conferences with other similar church groups, for example the Kleine Gemeinde.
  Not so with the Holdemans. It is rare for them to join in fellowship gatherings or any religious conferences that involve other churches. Even more rare that they will allow non-member visitors to take part in church services. At a Conservative Mennonite Bible study, I was specifically asked to pray out loud. Such a request was foreign to me; Holdeman members would never ask a non-member to lead a prayer, or lead a song, or to take charge of a Bible study. To be honest this is something I admire and appreciate about the Church of God in Christ. The fact that they are united globally in doctrinal applications is a spiritual defense that brings strength to the church as a whole and prevents splits and schisms. Compared to them, it is understandable why the myriad Amish Mennonite churches would seem to be a loose bunch of disoriented congregations who don't quite know the full measure of truth.
  But that depends on what is the truth. Yes, I have observed that divisions, strife, and merges happen much more often among Beachy and Conservative Mennonites compared to the Holdeman church. I have been to Conservative Mennonite church services and studied their standards as well as experienced the warmth, hospitality and genuine spiritual concern extended by the individual members, and although they do not have one specific doctrinal book or  written system of beliefs worldwide, they are much more receptive to outsiders than many baptized Holdemans are.










                                    A. Mendoza

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