Talk:Church of God in Christ, Mennonite

A few times now, I have edited the introductory statement claiming that the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite, is an offshoot of the Old Order Mennonite Church. It absolutely is not, nor has there ever been a connection. The COGICM began ca. 1859, before an Old Order Mennonite church even existed. Please keep in mind that 'Old Mennonite' and 'Old Order Mennonite' are two different terms, referring to two different groups. They are not synonyms. The Old Order Mennonites did not come into existence until the 1870's. --JMCooper (talk) 05:15, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

I would like to ask a question concerning the edit made by 63.245.179.31, which changes this:


 * "Outstanding beliefs include the idea that God has always had a true church among the righteous, and that the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite is the heir to that 'true church' heritage, and a strong emphasis on dreams and visions."

to this:


 * "Outstanding beliefs include nonconformity to the world, the wearing of a devotional head covering for sisters and the beard by brethren, church discipline, integrity in personal dealings and business, and emphasis on mission outreach and voluntary service."

I have no objections to the added material other than to say that the head covering and beard are already mentioned earlier in the paragraph, and that none of it is "outstanding" in that most of the things mentioned are fairly standard beliefs in the Anabaptist-Mennonite heritage. On the other hand, the removed material was "outstanding" as an emphasis of something not as common in the heritage. Can it be shown that these beliefs have changed and no longer represent the faith and practice of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite? If not, I recommend that it be added back, and perhaps some rewording of the added beliefs. I have materials written by John Holdeman, and other material printed by the church, which indicates they do believe in line with the removed material. The book and booklets are perhaps 20 years old, though, and I am open to be shown that the church has changed its beliefs in the area of "true church", dreams, and visions. Thanks. - Rlvaughn 04:49, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

"keeping the avoidance with love"
"keeping the avoidance with love" is a phrase that only seems to appear on the Internet on this Wikipedia article. I have no idea what it means. Was some kind of context removed? A5 (talk) 07:35, 20 May 2019 (UTC)

Self-promotion of book under 2016 Abuse Allegations section
One of the revisions claiming to "add a source" added:

This book is self-published and does not seem to be relevant to the 2016 abuse allegations at all. If there is a reason to cite this book, it should be in its own section and referred to separately. I cannot find anything published anywhere about the claims of this specific book, whereas the 2016 abuse allegations are well-sources from various news outlets. — Preceding unsigned comment added by FManz (talk • contribs) 18:53, 3 September 2021 (UTC)

I have additionally removed some claims in this section that are not supported by the sources supplied which are irrelevant to the claim of the specific lawsuit. FelizManz (talk) 18:21, 10 August 2022 (UTC)

2016 Lawsuit and Allegations
Rename this to 2016 Lawsuit and Allegations and rephrased orginal research claims as allegations.

Removed section claiming what the settled out of court lawsuit was, as I can't find any source for this including in the captioned Idaho cases. In addition, the links provided to the Idaho cases are dead and do not seem to have a publicly-accessible link now. I have left the links for now in the hopes someone else can find a live link for the captioned cases.

Original research by Mennonite Abuse Prevention
The section on 2022 Abuse Allegations is entirely sourced by Mennonite Abuse Prevention and appears to have been added by the same organization. This allegation should be sourced from something beside the organization making the allegation itself. FelizManz (talk) 18:15, 10 August 2022 (UTC)

I've changed this to restate these as allegations from MAP instead of statements of fact. Generally speaking, Wikipedia is not a good place to litigate allegations against living persons and organizations. References about specific convictions of church leaders would be welcome, and should be readily available in reliable, published media. FelizManz (talk) 18:43, 10 August 2022 (UTC)