[2][3] Seven Ordinances are observed in Conservative Mennonite churches, which include "baptism, communion, footwashing, marriage, anointing with oil, the holy kiss, and the prayer covering.
"[9] "Independently and almost simultaneously, conservative minorities in widely scattered regional Conferences of the Mennonite Church came to the point where they had had enough of what they considered compromise and apostasy.
[11] The Mennonite Christian Fellowship emerged in the 20th century to conserve the traditional standards of plain dress, headcovering, and nonconformity to the world.
[12][13] According to a University of Waterloo report, "of the estimated 59,000 Mennonites in Ontario, only about twenty percent are members of conservative groups".
[5] These are sometimes referred to as Distinctives: Conservative Mennonites characteristically conduct worship services in the language of the country which they inhabit.
They differ from the Old Order groups mainly in that Conservative Mennonites accept modern technologies (such as driving automobiles, having telephones, working on personal computers and using electricity), are evangelical, and conduct missions.
They teach abstinence from alcohol (teetotalism) and tobacco as well as temperance in all areas of life.
[5] There are a number of congregations that have splintered or moved away from these beginning groups and have formed different fellowships.
Most of these congregations were of Amish Mennonite origin, coming from the so-called Conservative Mennonite Conference (now called the Rosedale Network of Churches), which started to abandon traditional Anabaptist distinctives such as the wearing of headcovering.
Another group geographically centered in York and Adams counties in Pennsylvania withdrew later from the Lancaster Conference in the early 1970s under the direction of their bishop Richard Danner.
They are called the Conservative Mennonite Churches of York and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania.
Mission outreaches of these groups can be found in the Bahamas, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Mexico, India, Philippines, and the beginnings of work in England, Tasmania, Australia, and Argentina/Bolivia.
These Conservative Mennonite denominations believe in traditional Anabapist doctrines and practices, such as plain dress, headcovering, nonconformity to the world, footwashing, the holy kiss, communion, anointing with oil, the a cappella singing of hymns, as well as nonresistance; modern conveniences, such as automobiles and filtered internet, are widely used, though television is not watched as it is believed to be an occasion of sin.
The Tasmanian congregation sponsor annual weekend meetings in February of each year.
The most conservative groups operate the following publishing house: Rod and Staff Publishers in Crockett, Kentucky, offering both a full conservative Christian curriculum for home and traditional classroom settings as well as a complete bible study/Sunday school curriculum and periodicals.
Rod and Staff was the first modern publisher of Christian school and homeschooling curricula beginning in 1962.
Lamp and Light Publishers offers free Correspondence Courses in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.
The Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church operates its own publishing house offering curriculum for home and traditional classroom settings and other books and are located in Ephrata, Pennsylvania – Eastern Mennonite Publications.