Emmanuel Mennonite Church, founded in 1996, is a member of Mennonite Church USA and of the Central Plains Conference (the regional district) of MCUSA. Mennonite churches and denominations trace their ancestry to the radical Anabaptist wing of the Reformation, in the early 16th Century. Similarly to the Protestants, Anabaptists insist on the authority of Christ and the Bible, on salvation by grace through faith in Christ and his atoning work in His life, death and resurrection, and hold the traditional Trinitarian creeds in high esteem. But they have also insisted on separation of church and state, believers’ baptism and non-violence, preferring to fight evil as Christ does, through prayer, loving and sacrificial service, and faithful, costly witness. Therefore, (from the Mission Statement of our constitution):
We are a community of sinners redeemed from the guilt and bondage of sin by the grace of God and the sacrificial life and death of Jesus Christ. As such this congregation is committed to:
- the Bible as the source of God’s revelation to humanity,
- Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior,
- Anabaptist beliefs as articulated in the “Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective”*,
- the statement “Vision: Healing and Hope,”* and
- Anabaptist/Mennonite imperatives of discipleship, service, community and peacemaking.
*Adopted in 1995 by the Mennonite Church and General Conference Mennonite Church revised
Our purpose is
- to respond to Jesus’ admonition to make disciples of ‘all’ peoples (Matthew 28:19-20),
- to provide a church that emphasizes traditional Anabaptist/Mennonite teachings while maintaining its Biblical foundations, and
- to strengthen/spread the Anabaptist/Mennonite witness in the Twin Cities.
We welcome all who share and all who would learn of our Christian commitments and Anabaptist/Mennonite perspective.