Accepted into Another Mennonite Church
I was eager to find out the process through which one becomes a member of an Amish Mennonite church, namely the Conservative Mennonites (not quite the same as the Beachy Amish) after having been a baptized member of another similar traditional church.
Turns out it's a bit different–and much simpler– from the Holdeman Mennonites church where I grew up in. The applicant is allotted a time of "proving" during which the baptized members admonish, rebuke or bring forth. Members meetings are held during these months to review the applicant's spiritual status and to ensure the person's membership in her previous church completely resigned. Once that is out of the way, she is now free to be accepted into the other Mennonite church.
The applicant sits, or stands at the front, the pastor asks a few questions in no particular order, after which she is pronounced a member of that particular church with all the responsibilities attached to that role now resting on her shoulders. A few ladies smile encouragingly, one or two wipe away tears, and the solemnity of the moment is broken by the unholy sound of a child crackling a cookie wrapper. A congregational song is sung. A sheep has been added to another one of the countless Mennonite sheepfolds.
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The practice described above, or a similar method, is carried out by the Kleine Gemeinde, the Beachy Amish, and the Conservative Mennonites, one of the many branches of the Amish Mennonite faith. These churches honor most baptisms except for the Catholic, and, being similar in beliefs, often get together for singings and conferences. Unbaptized membership applicants such as recent converts or children of church members first go through a series of "teachings" or instruction classes, after which a baptism service is held. Applicants who have received baptism outside of any Mennonite church are carefully reviewed and considered by the leaders first and then by the congregation; if approved, they also must receive instruction classes at the end of which they are accepted as members of the congregation. Then there are those applicants who are members of a conservative Mennonite church yet now believe God is calling them to leave that pasture and calling them to a more spiritual one…but still Mennonite, still conservative. The path appears to be smoother for such applicants since the practical applications remain basically the same even though the theology differs slightly.
Now the Holdeman church… well, the only way in is to be re-baptized and there is no annulment or resigning of membership which leaves expulsion as the only way out.
A. Mendoza
