Anabaptist Council for Truth
was formerly known as
The Fellowship of Concerned Mennonites
publishers of
The FCM Informer
To promote the Truth of the Word of God with its rightful life application.
Our History
The Fellowship of Concerned Mennonites was formally organized in 1984 by George R. Brunk II, J Otis Yoder, and Sanford Shetler, to address the drift in the mainline Mennonite church in the U.S.
Our mission was born in the 1980s to proclaim Truth to a church in apostasy.
In 1999 we redirected our focus to warn and encourage the remnant to remain faithful in the Truth.
In 2021, we needed to reincorporate as an Indiana nonprofit and decided to change our name from the Fellowship of Concerned Mennonites to the Anabaptist Council for Truth. We felt the name ACT better reflected our mission and purpose in the 21st century.
- Paul Emerson
- Todd Neuschwander
- G. Terrill Yoder
- Walter Beachy
- Simon Schrock
- Lloyd Gingerich
- Kevin Yoder
- Leon Yoder
- Edmund Martin
- Milton Hershey
- Martin Layman
The Purpose of ACT
The Anabaptist Council for Truth is a coalition of like-minded Mennonites whose concerns focus on the basic biblical tenets of faith. These principles have been the foundation of the Anabaptist Movement during the sixteenth-century Reformation—with special interest in that segment of Anabaptism called Mennonite.
ACT was established because certain of those basic biblical tenets of faith long held as foundational are currently being questioned, modified, and even negated. Additionally, ACT stands because, by general acknowledgment, the Mennonite Church membership contains a wide range of conservative elements on the one hand and liberal elements on the other—with the latter seemingly gaining the ascendancy. Because at issue is the control of thought through schools, through the publication of literature, and the present confusion of ideas, we believe there is need for a fundamental, distinctive, uniform, and consistent expression of faith.
ACT is open to all who share the concerns defined in the paragraphs under affirmations and objectives. Those who identify with the Anabaptist Council for Truth are encouraged to support it by prayers and funds.
Affirmations
The following affirmations form the basis of concerns:
We affirm an adherence to the Christian faith as expressed in the historic Mennonite confessions and, more recently, in the Statement of Faith adopted by the Anabaptist Council for Truth.
We affirm a belief in doctrines that currently are being neglected, rejected, or under direct attack. These doctrines include the blood atonement of Christ, the inerrancy of Scripture, as well as the biblical account of creation, the sanctity of life, marriage, human sexuality, and the prohibition of homosexuality and lesbianism.
We affirm an unwavering devotion to Jesus Christ, the great Founder and Head of the Church, by promotion of personal discipleship and valid expressions of church life in accordance with the teaching of the Bible.
Objectives
I. It is the objective of ACT:
To call the church to repentance and full obedience to the Scriptures.
To urge the church to pattern her life more faithfully after New Testament teaching with special emphasis on the leadership and teaching ministry;
To commend and encourage all who with dedication and determination endeavor to preserve and promote the true doctrines and practices of the biblical faith;
To identify and clarify the issues in the midst of the pluralism, tolerance, and confusion among Mennonites caused by the inroads of worldly philosophies and liberal theologies;
To promote more scriptural structures of the institutions of the church in education, publication, and mission.
II. It is also the objective of ACT:
To be a community of believers mutually supporting each other in holding the profession of the faith once delivered to the saints;
To assist one another in discipleship and in discerning those deviations from the faith within the church that lead to apostasy;
To strengthen the church of Christ by conducting Bible conferences and producing literature with a strong content.
III. It is further the objective of ACT:
To assess those deviations it may discern and to address those officers, boards, and committees who hold responsible leadership roles in the Mennonite Church, and to alert the entire membership of the church of its assessment.
