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The Mennonite Information Center features the history and cultures of Amish and Mennonite communities in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County.
Early Anabaptist History
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.
Resources/Readings:
Bush, Perry. Two Kingdoms, Two Loyalties: Mennonite Pacifism in Modern America, 1998.
“Mennonites” in New World Encyclopedia. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Mennonite
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.
Other Mennonite Sites of Interest
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.
