Amish and Mennonites

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The Mennonite Information Center features the history and cultures of Amish and Mennonite communities in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County.

For a helpful synopsis of Mennonite history, click HERE.

Anabaptists are known as the left-wing of the Protestant Reformation - also known as the Radical Reformation.

Geographical origins of the movement: Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands

Distinctives:

Emphasis on adult baptism instead of infant baptism - viewed by political authorities as a seditious act, because infant baptism was an initiation into the nation
Pacifism - a refusal to take up arms in defense of the state.
Close-knit faith communities.
A view that one's true citizenship is in the Kingdom of God rather than the Kingdom of the World - also seen as a rebellious act.
A reliance on lay preachers rather than clergy.

Key Figures

Menno Simons (1496-1561) a former Catholic priest who became a leader of the Anabaptist movement and founder of the Mennonites.
Joseph Ammann (1644 - unknown - ca. 1720s) he is known as the namesake for the Amish religious movement.

Question: What are the distinctions between Mennonites and Amish?

There are approximately 1.5 million Mennonites in the world, and half a million in the U.S.

Bush, Perry. Two Kingdoms, Two Loyalties: Mennonite Pacifism in Modern America, 1998.

A collection of articles from the Mennonite World Review about the Nickel Mines shooting in 2006: http://www.mennoworld.org/archived/subject/nickel-mines-tragedy/

Lapp, Javaan. Beachey Amish-Weavertown Church History. Self-published, 2000.

Kraybill, Donald B., Steven M. Nolt, David L. Weaver-Zercher. Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2007.

Germantown Mennonite Church - 21 West Washington Lane Philadelphia, PA 19144-2601.

The oldest Mennonite Church in North America.
Mennonites arrived in Germantown in 1683 - just one year after William Penn established the colony of Pennsylvania.
In 1688, Mennonites and Quakers in Germantown wrote the first protest statement against slavery.
Worship distinctive: Mennonites place a strong emphasis on singing. Many Mennonites sing congregational hymns in four-part harmonies.