The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons (1496–1561), though his teachings were a relatively minor influence on the group. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Anabaptists ( Greek ανα (again twice + βαπτιζω (baptize thus "re-baptizers" are Christians of the Radical Reformation Menno Simons (1496 – January 25[[ 561]] was an Anabaptist religious leader from Friesland (today a province of The Netherlands) As one of the historic peace churches, Mennonites are committed to nonviolence, nonviolent resistance/reconciliation, and pacifism. Peace churches are Christian churches groups or communities advocating Christian pacifism. Nonviolence is a philosophy and strategy for social change that rejects the use of physical Violence.

There are about 1. 5 million Mennonites worldwide as of 2006. ^[1] Mennonite congregations worldwide embody the full scope of Mennonite practice from old fashioned 'plain' people to those who are indistinguishable in dress and appearance from the general population. The largest population of Mennonites is in the United States and Democratic Republic of Congo, but Mennonites can also be found in tight-knit communities in at least 51 countries on six continents or scattered amongst the populace of those countries. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Democratic Republic of the Congo (République démocratique du Congo often referred to as DR Congo, DRC or RDC, and formerly known or referred to

Mennonites have an international distinction among Christian denominations in disaster relief and place a strong theological emphasis on voluntary service. Emergency management (or disaster management) is the discipline of dealing with and avoiding risks Mennonite Disaster Service,^[2] based in North America, provides both immediate and long-term responses to hurricanes, floods, and other disasters. A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a low pressure center and numerous Thunderstorms that produce strong winds and Flooding A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land a deluge Mennonite Central Committee provides disaster relief around the world alongside their long-term international development programs. The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC is a relief service and peace agency representing 15 Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and Amish bodies in North Other programs offer a variety of relief efforts and services throughout the world.

In the last few decades some Mennonite groups have also become more actively involved with peace and social justice issues, helping to found Christian Peacemaker Teams and Mennonite Conciliation Service. Peace, in the modern usage is a concept defined by the ideal state of relationship as absence of hostility at the international level that of a War. Social justice, sometimes called civil justice, refers to the concept of a Society in which Justice is achieved in every aspect of society rather than Christian Peacemaker Teams ( CPT) is an international organization set up to support teams of peace workers in conflict areas around the world ^[3]

Radical Reformation

Main article: Radical Reformation

Ulrich Zwingli

The early history of the Mennonites begins with the Anabaptists in the German and Dutch-speaking parts of central Europe. The Radical Reformation was a 16th century response to what was believed to be both the corruption in the Roman Catholic Church and the expanding Magisterial Anabaptists ( Greek ανα (again twice + βαπτιζω (baptize thus "re-baptizers" are Christians of the Radical Reformation The German term is "Täufer" (that is, Baptists). These forerunners of modern Mennonites were part of the broad reaction against the practices and theology of the Roman Catholic Church known as the Protestant Reformation. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". The Protestant Reformation was a reform movement in Europe that began in 1517 though its roots lie further back in time Its most distinguishing feature is the rejection of infant baptism, an act that had both religious and political meaning since almost every infant born in Western Europe was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church. In Christianity, baptism ( Greek, "immersing" "performing Ablutions " is the ritual act with the use of water by which one is admitted Other significant theological views of the Mennonites developed in opposition to Roman Catholic views or to the views of other Protestant reformers like Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli. Martin Luther (November 10 1483 February 18 1546 was a German Monk, theologian, university professor Father of Protestantism, and church reformer Huldrych (or Ulrich) Zwingli (1 January 1484 &ndash 11 October 1531 was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland.

Some of the followers of Zwingli's Reformed church felt that requiring church membership beginning at birth was inconsistent with the New Testament example. The Reformed churches are a group of Christian Protestant Denominations formally characterized by a similar Calvinist system of doctrine historically They felt that the church should be completely removed from government (the proto-free church tradition), and that people should join only once they were willing to publicly acknowledge that they believed in Jesus and wanted to live in accordance with his teachings. The free church movement was one created to do away with the system of pew rents wherein persons or families rented or bought the title to a particular church pew Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) At a small meeting on January 21, 1525, Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, and George Blaurock, along with twelve others, baptized each other. Events 1189 - Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade. Conrad Grebel (c 1498 – 1526 son of a prominent Swiss merchant and councilman was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren movement and is often called the "Father Felix Manz (c 1498 &ndash January 5 1527) was a co-founder of the original Swiss Brethren Anabaptist congregation in Zürich Jörg vom Haus Jacob (Georg Cajacob or George of the House of Jacob commonly known as George Blaurock (c This meeting marks the beginning of the Anabaptist movement. Anabaptists ( Greek ανα (again twice + βαπτιζω (baptize thus "re-baptizers" are Christians of the Radical Reformation In the spirit of the times, many radical groups followed, preaching any number of ideas about hierarchy, the state, eschatology, and sexual license, running from utter abandon to extreme chastity. Eschatology (from the Greek, Eschatos meaning "last" and -logy meaning "the study of" is a part of Theology Chastity is Sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the ethical norms and guidelines of a culture civilization or Religion. These movements are together referred to as the Radical Reformation. The Radical Reformation was a 16th century response to what was believed to be both the corruption in the Roman Catholic Church and the expanding Magisterial

Many government and religious leaders, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, considered voluntary church membership to be dangerous — the concern of some deepened by reports of the Münster Rebellion, led by a violent sect of Anabaptists. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The Münster Rebellion was an attempt by radical Anabaptists to establish a Theocracy in the German city of Münster. They joined forces to fight the movement, using methods such as persecution, banishment, torture, and sometimes executing them as heretics. Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief especially a religion that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief

Despite heavy efforts of the state churches, the movement spread slowly around Western Europe, primarily along the Rhine. The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge Many of the earliest Anabaptist leaders were killed in an attempt to purge Europe of the new sect. By 1530, most of the founding leaders had been killed for refusing to renounce their beliefs. Many believed that God did not condone killing or the use of force for any reason and were therefore unwilling to fight for their lives. These pacifist branches often survived by seeking refuge in neutral cities or nations, such as Strasbourg. Strasbourg (Strasbourg stʁazbuʁ Alsatian: Strossburi,; Straßburg) is the capital and principal City of the Alsace région Their safety, however, was often tenuous, as a shift in alliances or an invasion could mean resumed persecution. Other groups of Anabaptists, such as the Batenburgers, were eventually destroyed by their very willingness to fight. Batenburgers. A radical Anabaptist sect led by Jan van Batenburg which flourished briefly in the 1530s in the aftermath of the Münster Rebellion. This played a large part in the evolution of Anabaptist theology.

Menno Simons

In the early days of the Anabaptist movement, Menno Simons, a Catholic priest in the Netherlands, heard of the movement and started to rethink his Catholic faith. Menno Simons (1496 – January 25[[ 561]] was an Anabaptist religious leader from Friesland (today a province of The Netherlands) The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands He questioned the doctrine of transubstantiation, but was reluctant to leave the Roman Catholic Church. See also Eucharist (Catholic Church On the related belief that Christ is present in the Eucharist in body blood soul and divinity see Real Presence. His thinking was influenced by the death of his brother, who, as a member of an Anabaptist group, was killed when he and his companions were attacked and refused to defend themselves. In 1536, at the age of 40, Simons left the Roman Catholic Church. Soon thereafter he became a leader within the Anabaptist movement. He would become a hunted man with a price on his head for the rest of his life. His name became associated with scattered groups of nonviolent Anabaptists he helped to organize and consolidate.

Fragmentation and variation

During the sixteenth century, the Mennonites and other Anabaptists were relentlessly persecuted. The persecution of Christians refers to the Religious persecution of Christians both historically and in the current era By the seventeenth century, some of them joined the state church in Switzerland, and persuaded the authorities to relent in their attacks. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation The Mennonites outside the state church were divided on whether to remain in communion with their brothers within the state church, and this led to a split. A state religion (also called an official religion, established church or state church) is a religious body or Creed officially Those against remaining in communion with them became known as the Amish, after their founder Jacob Amman. The Amish (ˈɑːmɪʃ are members of an Anabaptist Christian denomination best known for Simple living, Plain dress and resisting modern conveniences Jakob Ammann (also Jacob Amman) (1644? - before 1730 was an Anabaptist leader and namesake of the Amish Religious movement. Those who remained in communion with them retained the name Mennonite. This period of persecution has had a significant impact on Mennonite identity. Martyrs Mirror, published in 1660, documents much of the persecution of Anabaptists and their predecessors. The Martyrs Mirror or The Bloody Theater, first published in 1660 in Dutch by Thieleman J Today, the book is still the most important book besides the Bible for many Mennonites and Amish, in particular for the Swiss-South German branch of Mennonitism. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Persecution was still going on until 1710 in various parts of Switzerland. ^[4]

Other disagreements over the years have led to other splits; sometimes the reasons were theological, sometimes practical, sometimes geographical. For instance, near the beginning of the twentieth century, there were some members in the Amish church who wanted to begin having Sunday Schools and evangelize. " Sunday school " is the generic name for many different types of Religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations Unable to persuade the rest of the Amish, they separated and formed the Conservative Mennonite Conference. The Conservative Mennonite Conference (CMC is a Christian body of conservative evangelical Mennonite churches Mennonites in Canada and other countries typically have independent denominations because of the practical considerations of distance and, in some cases, language. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page

The first recorded account of this group is in a written order by Countess Anne, who ruled a small province in central Europe. The presence of some small groups of violent Anabaptists was causing political and religious turmoil in her state, so she decreed that all Anabaptists were to be driven from her state. The order made an exception though, for the non-violent branch known at that time as the Menists.

This order set the precedent that was to be repeated many times throughout history, where a political ruler would allow the Menists or Mennonites into his/her state because they were honest, hardworking and peaceful. However, inevitably, their presence would upset the powerful state churches, princes would renege on exemptions for military service, or a new monarch would take power, and the Mennonites would once again be forced to flee for their lives, usually leaving everything but their families behind. Often, another monarch in another state would grant them welcome, at least for a while.

Mennonite churches blended into city architecture to avoid offending the religious sensibilities of the majority. Doopsgezinde Gemeente, Amsterdam.

While Mennonites in Colonial America were enjoying a large degree of religious freedom, their counterparts in Europe were in the same situation they always had been. The term colonial history of the United States refers to the history of the land that would become the United States from the start of European settlement to the time of independence Their well-being still depended on a ruling monarch, who would often extend an invitation only when there was poor soil that no one else could farm; the exception to this rule being in The Netherlands, where the Mennonites (nl: Doopsgezinden) enjoyed a relatively high degree of tolerance. Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname The Mennonite Church in the Netherlands, or Algemene Doopsgezinde Sociëteit, is a body of Mennonite Christians in the Netherlands. The Mennonites would reclaim this land through hard work and good sense, in exchange for exemption from mandatory military service. However, once the land was arable again, this arrangement would often change, and the persecution would begin again. Because the land still needed to be tended, the ruler would not drive out the Mennonites but would actually pass laws to force them to stay, while at the same time severely limiting their freedom. Mennonites had to build their churches facing onto back streets or alleys (which began the habit of meeting in someone's home rather than a formal church), and they were forbidden from announcing the beginning of services with the sound of a bell.

In addition, high taxes were enacted in exchange for both continuing the military service exemption, and to keep the states' best farmers from leaving. In some cases, the entire congregation would give up their belongings to pay the tax to be allowed to leave. If a member or family could not afford the tax, it was often paid by others in the group.

A strong emphasis on "community" was developed under these circumstances and continues to be typical of Mennonite churches. As a result of frequently being required to give up many possessions in order to retain individual freedoms, these Mennonites learned to live very simply. This was reflected both in the home and at church, where their dress and their buildings were plain. Even the music at church, which was usually simple German chorales, was performed a cappella. A cappella (Italian or Latin "From the chapel/choir" Music is Vocal music or Singing without instrumental Accompaniment This style of music serves as a reminder to many Mennonites of their simple lives, as well as their history as a persecuted people. Some branches of Mennonites have retained this "plain" lifestyle into modern times.

Jacob Amman and the Amish

Main article: Amish

In 1693 Jacob Amman led an effort to reform the Mennonite church: to include shunning (social avoidance of baptised members who left the church), to hold communion more often, and other differences. The Amish (ˈɑːmɪʃ are members of an Anabaptist Christian denomination best known for Simple living, Plain dress and resisting modern conveniences Jakob Ammann (also Jacob Amman) (1644? - before 1730 was an Anabaptist leader and namesake of the Amish Religious movement. Shunning is the act of deliberately avoiding association with and habitually keeping away from an individual or group When the discussions fell through, Jacob and his followers split from the Mennonite church. Amman's followers became known as the Amish. The Amish (ˈɑːmɪʃ are members of an Anabaptist Christian denomination best known for Simple living, Plain dress and resisting modern conveniences The acrimony between the two groups was so severe that they reportedly refused to talk to each other when they found themselves together on the same boat sailing to America.

Russian Mennonites

Main article: Russian Mennonite

Russian Mennonites were heavily influenced by Catherine the Great of Russia, who in 1768, having acquired a great deal of land north of the Black Sea (in the present-day Ukraine) following a war with the Turks, invited those Mennonites living in Prussia to come farm the cold, tough soil of the Russian steppes in exchange for religious freedom and military exemption. The Russian Mennonites are a group of Mennonites descended from Dutch and mainly Germanic Prussian Anabaptists who established colonies in South Catherine II, called Catherine the Great (Екатерина II Великая Yekaterina II Velikaya;) reigned as Empress of Russia for 34 years The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Over the years the Mennonite farmers were very successful. By the beginning of the 20th century they owned large agricultural estates and were even successful as industrial entrepreneurs in the cities. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War (1917-1921) all of these farms (whose owners were called Kulaks) and enterprises were expropriated. See also Russian Revolution (1905 The Russian Revolution of 1916 refers to a series of popular revolutions in Russia, and the events surrounding them The Russian Civil War (1917–1923 was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed Kulaks ( Russian: кула́к kulak " Fist ", by extension "tight-fisted" were a category of rich Peasants in later Beyond expropriation, Mennonites suffered severe persecution during the course of the Civil War, at the hands of both the Bolsheviks and, particularly, the anarchists of Nestor Makhno who saw Mennonites as privileged foreigners of the upper class and targeted them. Expropriation refers to Confiscation of Private property with the stated purpose of establishing social equality. The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction Nestor Ivanovich Makhno (Нестор Іванович Махно October 26, 1888 – July 6, 1934) was an anarcho-communist Hundreds of Mennonite men, women and children were murdered in these attacks. After the war people who openly followed religion were in many cases imprisoned. This led to a wave of Russian Mennonite emigration to the Americas (U. S. , Canada and Paraguay).

When the German army invaded the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941, many in the Mennonite community saw them as liberators from the communist regime under which they had suffered. When the tide of war turned, many of the Mennonites fled with the German army back to Germany where they were accepted as "Volksdeutsche". This page describes the origins and historical use of the term Volksdeutsche. After the war the remainder of the Mennonite community emigrated or, (because, as the Soviets saw it, they had "collectively collaborated" with the Germans) was forcefully relocated to Siberia and Kazakhstan, and many were sent to the Gulag. Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan ( Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, qɑzɑqˈstɑn Казахстан, Kazakhstán,) officially the The Gulag was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. German-Russian Mennonites who lived further to the East (not Western Russia) were deported to Siberia before the German army's invasion, and were also often placed in labor camps. In the 1990s the Russian government gave these people the opportunity to emigrate. The Russian Mennonite immigrants in Germany outnumber the pre-1989 community of Mennonites in Germany by 3 to 1.

North America

Persecution and the search for employment forced Mennonites out of the Netherlands eastward to Germany in the 17th century. As Quaker evangelists moved into Germany they received a sympathetic audience among the larger of these Dutch-Mennonite congregations around Krefeld, Altona-Hamburg, Gronau and Emden. ^[5] It was among this group of Quakers and Mennonites, living under ongoing discrimination, that William Penn solicited settlers for his new colony. William Penn ( October 14, 1644 – July 30, 1718) was founder and "Absolute Proprietor" of the Province of Pennsylvania, The first permanent settlement of Mennonites in the American Colonies consisted of one Mennonite family and twelve Mennonite-Quaker^[6] families of Dutch extraction who arrived from Krefeld, Germany in 1683 and settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania. History The origins of the town were in Roman times when the legions founded the military camp of Gelduba (today the borough of Gellep Germantown is the name of six places in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a state in the United States, including a neighborhood in Philadelphia Pennsylvania Among these early settlers was William Rittenhouse, a lay minister and owner of the first American paper mill. A paper mill is a Factory devoted to making Paper from wood pulp and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier Machine or similar apparatus This early group of Mennonites and Mennonite-Quakers wrote the first formal protest against slavery in America. Slavery in the United States began soon after English colonists first settled Virginia in 1607 and lasted until the passage of the Thirteenth The treatise was addressed to slave-holding Quakers in an effort to persuade them to change their ways. ^[7]

In the eighteenth century, 100,000 Germans from the Palatinate, collectively known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, immigrated to Pennsylvania. The Palatinate (Pfalz Pfälzer dialect Palz) historically also Rhenish Palatinate (palatinatum Renensis Rheinpfalz is a region in south-western Germany The Pennsylvania Dutch (perhaps more strictly Pennsylvania Deitsch, Pennsylvania Germans or Pennsylvania Deutsch) are the descendants of German Of these, around 2,500 were Mennonites and 500 Amish. ^[8] This group settled farther west than the first group, choosing less expensive land in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, area. Lancaster is a city in the South Central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is the County seat of Lancaster County. A member of this second group, Christopher Dock, authored Pedagogy, the first American monograph on education. Christopher Dock (c 1698 – 1771 was a Mennonite Educator. He immigrated to the United States by 1714 becoming a teacher at Skippack in Montgomery County by 1718 Today, Mennonites also reside in Kishacoquillas Valley (also known as Big Valley), a valley in Huntingdon and Mifflin counties, also in Pennsylvania. The Kishacoquillas Valley, known locally as both Kish Valley and Big Valley, is an enclosed anticlinal valley in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians Huntingdon County is a County located in the US state of Pennsylvania. Mifflin County is a County located in the US state of Pennsylvania.

During the Colonial period, Mennonites were distinguished from other Pennsylvania Germans in three ways:^[9] their opposition to the American Revolutionary War, resistance to public education and disapproval of religious revivalism. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" Contributions of Mennonites during this period include the idea of separation of church and state and opposition to slavery.

From 1812 to 1860, another wave of immigrants settled farther west in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads The State of Indiana ( was the 19th US state admitted into the union The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. Missouri ( or) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee These Swiss-German speaking Mennonites, along with Amish, came from Switzerland and the Alsace-Lorraine area. Alsace-Lorraine (Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen generally Elsass - Lothringen) was a territorial entity created by the German Empire in 1871

Mennonite Church logo

The Swiss-German Mennonites that migrated to North America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries settled first in Pennsylvania, then across the Midwestern states (initially Ohio, Indiana, and Kansas) are the root to the former Mennonite Church denomination (MC), colloquially called the "Old Mennonite Church". Kansas ( is a Midwestern state in the central region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the American " This denomination had offices in Elkhart, Indiana, and was the most populous Mennonite denomination before merging with the General Conference Mennonite Church (GCMC) in 2002. Elkhart (ˈɛlkɑrt is a city located in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States.

General Conference Mennonite Church logo

The General Conference Mennonite Church was an association of Mennonite congregations based in North America beginning in 1860. The General Conference Mennonite Church was an association of Mennonite congregations based in North America from 1860 to 2002 The conference was formed in 1860 when congregations in Iowa invited North American Mennonites to join together in order to pursue common goals such an education and mission work. The State of Iowa ( is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. The conference was especially attractive to recent Mennonite and Amish immigrants to North America and expanded considerably when thousands of Russian Mennonites arrived in North America starting in the 1870s. Conference offices were located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and North Newton, Kansas. Winnipeg (ˈwɪnɨpɛg is the capital and largest city in the Canadian province of Manitoba, and 7th largest municipality in Canada with a population Manitoba (English ˌmænɨˈtoʊbə French /manitoba/ is a province of Canada, spanning 647797 square kilometres (250116  sq mi of North America North Newton is a city in Harvey County, Kansas, United States. The conference supported a seminary and several colleges. It became the second largest Mennonite denomination with 64,431 members in 410 congregations in Canada, the United States and South America in the 1990s. South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a ^[10] After decades of increasingly closer cooperation with the Mennonite Church, the two groups voted to merge in 1995 and completed reorganization into Mennonite Church Canada in 2000 and Mennonite Church USA in 2002. Mennonite Church Canada is the conference of Mennonites in Canada, with head offices in Winnipeg Manitoba. The Mennonite Church USA represents the largest group of Mennonite Christians in the United States

Mennonites in Canada were automatically exempt from any type of service during World War I by provisions of the Order in Council of 1873. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in Commonwealth Realms. During World War II, Mennonite conscientious objectors were given the options of noncombatant military service, serving in the medical or dental corps under military control or working in parks and on roads under civilian supervision. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including A conscientious objector (CO is an individual who on religious moral or ethical grounds refuses to participate as a combatant in war or in some cases to take any role that would support Over 95% chose the latter and were placed in Alternative Service camps. ^[11] Initially the men worked on road building, forestry and firefighting projects. After May 1943, as a labour shortage developed within the nation, men were shifted into agriculture, education and industry. The 10,700 Canadian objectors were mostly Mennonites (63%) and Doukhobors (20%). The Doukhobors or Doukhabors (Духоборы Dukhobory) earlier Dukhobortsy (Духоборцы are a Christian group of Russian ^[12]

Mennonite conscientious objector Harry Lantz distributes rat poison for typhus control in Gulfport, Mississippi (1946). Typhus is any of several similar diseases caused by Louse -borne bacteria Gulfport is the second largest city in Mississippi after the state capital Jackson.

In the United States, Civilian Public Service (CPS) provided an alternative to military service during World War II. The Civilian Public Service ( CPS) provided Conscientious objectors in the United States an alternative to military service during World War II From 1941 to 1947, 4,665 Mennonites, Amish and Brethren in Christ^[13] were among nearly 12,000 conscientious objectors who performed work of national importance in 152 CPS camps throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. The Brethren in Christ Church (often abbreviated BIC is an Anabaptist Christian denomination with roots in the Mennonite church Pietism, and Puerto Rico (ˌpwertoˈriko officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico" {{lang-en|"Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"}} The draftees worked in areas such as soil conservation, forestry, fire fighting, agriculture, social services and mental health.

The CPS men served without wages and minimal support from the federal government. The cost of maintaining the CPS camps and providing for the needs of the men was the responsibility of their congregations and families. Mennonite Central Committee coordinated the operation of the Mennonite camps. CPS men served longer than regular draftees, not being released until well past the end of the war. Initially skeptical of the program, government agencies learned to appreciate the men's service and requested more workers from the program. CPS made significant contributions to forest fire prevention, erosion and flood control, medical science and reform of the mental health system.

Schisms

Prior to migration to America, Anabaptists in Europe were divided between those of Dutch and Swiss-German background. However, both Dutch and Swiss groups took their name from Menno Simons who led the Dutch group. A trickle of Dutch Mennonites began the migration to America in 1683, followed by a much larger migration of Swiss-German Mennonites beginning in 1707.

After immigration to America, many of the early Mennonites split from the main body of North American Mennonites and formed their own separate and distinct churches, a process that began in 1785 with the formation of the orthodox Reformed Mennonite Church and is ongoing today. Many of these churches were formed as a response to deep disagreements about theology, doctrine, and church discipline as evolution both inside and outside the Mennonite faith occurred. Many of the 'modern' churches descended from those groups that abandoned traditional Mennonite practices. Today, the groups that have held to the traditional interpretations of Mennonite doctrine are increasing at a more rapid rate than those groups that have rejected these standards. However, the moderate denominations are still by far the largest and continue to grow at a steady rate.

These historical schisms have had an influence on creating the distinct Mennonite denominations that exist today. Such divisions continue to go on today as one group claims its version of the Mennonite faith and splits from the parent denomination or church, sometimes using mild or severe shunning to show its disapproval of other Mennonite groups. Shunning is the act of deliberately avoiding association with and habitually keeping away from an individual or group One recent and widely reported example of this is the expulsion of the Germantown Mennonite Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from the Franconia Conference and later the Mennonite Church USA denomination for welcoming LGBT people as church members. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə Franconia Mennonite Conference is a regional conference of Mennonite Church USA based in Souderton Pennsylvania, with 42 congregations in Pennsylvania, The Mennonite Church USA represents the largest group of Mennonite Christians in the United States LGBT (also GLBT) is an initialism referring collectively to Lesbian, Gay, bisexual, and Transgender / transsexual

Schools

Several Mennonites groups have their own private or parochial schools. Conservative groups, like the Holdeman, have not only their own schools, but their own curriculum and teaching staff (usually, but not exclusively, young unmarried women). Quebec does not allow these parochial schools as the Quebec government imposes its curriculum to all schools (public and private), while private schools may only add optional material to the compulsory curriculum but may not replace it. Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk The Quebec curriculum is unacceptable ^[14] to the parents of the only Mennonite school in the province. They have said they will leave Quebec after the Education Ministry has threatened legal actions would be taken and the Youth Protection services might become involved if the children were not to register with the Education Ministry and either home school, using the Government approved material, or attend a "sanctioned" school. The local population and its mayor support^[15] the local Mennonites. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada has also written to the Quebec government to express its concerns^[16] about this situation. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC is a national Parachurch association of over 160 affiliated church denominations ministry organizations and educational institutions This story has received quite a large echo in circles defending religious freedom, so much so that the Becket Fund placed Quebec on its weekly report of threatened religious traditions ^[17]. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a Non-profit organization based in Washington DC that describes itself as "a nonprofit nonpartisan interfaith Latest reports indicate that several Mennonites families have already left Quebec to protect their children^[18].

Sexual, marriage, and family mores

The Mennonite church has no formal celibate religious order similar to monasticism, but recognizes the legitimacy of and honors both the single state and the sanctity of marriage of its members. Monasticism (from Greek μοναχός, monachos, derived from Greek monos, alone is the religious practice in which one Single persons are expected to be chaste, and marriage is held to be a lifelong, monogamous, faithful covenant between a man and a woman. Divorce is discouraged, and it is believed that the "hardness of the heart" of people is the ultimate cause of divorce. Some Mennonite churches have disciplined members who have unilaterally divorced their spouses outside of cases of sexual unfaithfulness or acute abuse. Excommunication is a religious Censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community Until approximately the 1960s or 1970s, before the more widespread urbanization of the Mennonite demographic, divorce was, in fact, quite rare. In recent times, divorce is more common, and also carries less stigma, particularly in cases where abuse was apparent.

Traditionally, very modest dress was expected (apparent mostly in women's apparel), particularly in conservative Mennonite circles, but again, as the Mennonite population became urbanized and more integrated into the wider culture, this visible difference has disappeared outside of conservative Mennonite groups.

Some of these expelled congregations were dually affiliated with the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church, the latter of which did not act to expel the same congregations. When these two Mennonite denominations formally completed their merger in 2002 to become the new Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada denominations, it was still not clear, in all cases, whether or not the congregations that were expelled from one denomination, yet included in the other, are considered to be "inside" or "outside" of the new merged denomination. Also, some Mennonite conferences have chosen to maintain such "disciplined" congregations as "associate" or "affiliate" congregations in the conferences, rather than to expel such congregations. In virtually every case, a dialogue continues between the disciplined congregations and the denomination, as well as their current or former conferences. ^[19]

The Mennonite church in the Netherlands (Doopsgezinde Kerk) was the first Dutch church to have a female pastor — Anna Zernike, authorized in 1911. ^[20]

Theology

Mennonite theology emphasizes the primacy of the teachings of Jesus as recorded in New Testament scripture. They hold in common the ideal of a religious community based on New Testament models and imbued with the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount. In the Gospel of St Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount is a compilation of Jesus' sayings epitomizing his moral teaching. Their core beliefs deriving from Anabaptist traditions are:

• The authority of Scripture and the Holy Spirit. In mainstream Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is one of the three entities of the Holy Trinity which make up the single substance
• Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ
• Believer's baptism understood as threefold: Baptism by the spirit (internal change of heart), baptism by water (public demonstration of witness), and baptism by blood (martyrdom and asceticism or the practice of strict self-denial as a measure of personal and especially spiritual discipline). In Theology, salvation can mean three related things being saved from or Liberation from something such as Suffering or the punishment of Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) Believer's baptism (occasionally called credobaptism, from the Latin word credo) is the Christian practice of Baptism as this is understood by
• Discipleship understood as an outward sign of an inward change.
• Discipline in the church, informed by New Testament teaching, particularly of Jesus (for example Matthew 18:15-18). Some Mennonite churches practice the Meidung (shunning). Excommunication is a religious Censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community
• The Lord's Supper understood as a memorial rather than as a sacrament or Christian rite, ideally shared by baptized believers within the unity and discipline of the church. The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names is a Christian Sacrament by which in a common interpretation those A sacrament, as defined in Hexam's Concise Dictionary of Religion is "a Rite in which God is uniquely active ^[21]

One of the earliest expressions of their faith was the Schleitheim Confession, adopted on February 24, 1527. The Schleitheim Confession was a declaration of Swiss Anabaptist belief endorsed unanimously by a meeting of Swiss Anabaptists in 1527 in Schleitheim ( Events 303 - Galerius, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Its seven articles covered:

• Believer's baptism
• The Ban (excommunication)
• Breaking of bread (Communion)
• Separation from and shunning of the abomination (the Roman Catholic Church and other "worldly" groups and practices)
• Pastors in the church
• Renunciation of the sword (nonresistance, nonviolence and pacifism)
• Renunciation of the oath (swearing as proof of truth)

The Dordrecht Confession of Faith was adopted on April 21, 1632, by Dutch Mennonites, by Alsatian Mennonites in 1660, and by North American Mennonites in 1725. Believer's baptism (occasionally called credobaptism, from the Latin word credo) is the Christian practice of Baptism as this is understood by Excommunication is a religious Censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names is a Christian Sacrament by which in a common interpretation those Abomination ( Latin abominatus past participle of abominari "to deprecate as an ill omen" English term used to translate the Biblical term A pastor is an official person within a Protestant group of people and related to the positions of Priest or Bishop within the Anglican, Roman Catholic Nonresistance (or non-resistance) discourages physical resistance to an enemy and is a subdivision of Nonviolence. An oath (from Anglo-Saxon āð, also called plight) is either a Promise or a Statement of Fact calling The Dordrecht Confession of Faith is a statement of religious beliefs adopted by Dutch Mennonite leaders at a meeting in Dordrecht, Netherland Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date) There is no official creed or catechism of which acceptance is required by congregations or members. A creed is a statement of Belief — usually Religious belief — or Faith often recited as part of a religious service A catechism (ˈkætəkɪzəm κατηχισμός is a summary or exposition of Doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament However, there are structures and traditions taught as in the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective^[22] of Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA.

Worship, doctrine, and tradition

There is a wide scope of worship, doctrine and traditions among Mennonites today. This section shows the main types of Mennonites as seen from North America. It is far from a specific study of all Mennonite classifications worldwide but it does show a somewhat representative sample of the complicated classifications within the Mennonite faith worldwide.

Moderate Mennonites include the largest denominations, the Mennonite Brethren and the Mennonite Church. The Mennonite Brethren Church was established among Russian Mennonites in 1860 and has congregations in more than 20 countries representing well over 300000 believers In most forms of worship and practice they differ very little from Protestant congregations. There is no special form of dress and no restrictions on use of technology. Worship styles vary greatly between different congregations. There is no formal liturgy; services typically consist of singing, scripture reading, prayer and a sermon. A sermon is an oration by a Prophet or member of the Clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, or religious topic Some churches prefer hymns and choirs; others make use of contemporary Christian music with electronic instruments. Mennonite congregations are self-supporting and appoint their own ministers. There is no requirement for ministers to be approved by the denomination, and sometimes ministers from other denominations will be appointed. A small sum, based on membership numbers, is paid to the denomination, which is used to support central functions such as publication of newsletters and interactions with other denominations and other countries. The distinguishing characteristics of moderate Mennonite churches tend to be ones of emphasis rather than rule. There is an emphasis on peace, on community and service. However, members do not live in community — they participate in the general community as 'salt and light' to the world (Matt 5:13,14). In the Gospel of St Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount is a compilation of Jesus' sayings epitomizing his moral teaching. The main elements of Menno Simons doctrine are retained, but in a moderated form. Banning is rarely practiced and would in any event have much less effect than those denominations where community is more tight-knit. Excommunication can occur, and was notably applied by the Mennonite Brethren to members who joined the military during the Second World War. Service in the military is generally not permitted, but service in the legal profession or law enforcement is acceptable. Outreach and help to the wider community at home and abroad is encouraged. Mennonite Central Committee is a leader in foreign aid provision.

The Reformed Mennonite Church, with members in the United States and Canada, represents the first division in the original North American Mennonite body. The Reformed Mennonite Church is an Anabaptist religious denomination that officially separated from the main North American Mennonite body in 1812 Called the First Keepers of the Old Way by author Stephen Scott, the Reformed Mennonite Church formed in the very early 19th century. Reformed Mennonites see themselves as true followers of Menno Simon's teachings and of the teachings of the New Testament. Menno Simons (1496 – January 25[[ 561]] was an Anabaptist religious leader from Friesland (today a province of The Netherlands) They have no church rules, but they rely solely on the Bible as their guide. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin They insist on strict separation from all other forms of worship and dress in conservative plain garb that preserves eighteenth century Mennonite details. However, they refrain from forcing their Mennonite faith on their children, allow their children to attend public schools, and have permitted the use of automobiles. They are notable for being the church of Milton S. Hershey's mother and famous for the long and bitter ban of Robert Bear, a Pennsylvania farmer who rebelled against what he saw as dishonesty and disunity in the leadership. Milton Snavely Hershey ( September 13, 1857 &ndash October 13, 1945) was a confectioner philanthropist and founder of The Hershey Chocolate

Holdeman Mennonites were founded from a schism in 1859, the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite church has about 19,000 members worldwide. Church of God in Christ Mennonite is a 19th century offshoot of the Old Order Mennonite Church They are known as Holdeman Mennonites after their founder. They emphasize evangelical conversion, strict church discipline and shunning of the excommunicated. They stay separate from other Mennonite groups because of their emphasis on the one-true church doctrine and their use of strict shunning against their own excommunicated members.

Old Order Mennonites cover many distinct groups. Old Order Mennonites is a branch of the Mennonite church. Although the term strictly refers to one particular group it is often used to refer to those groups of Mennonites Some groups use horse and buggies for transportation and speak German while others drive cars and speak English. What most Old Orders share in common is conservative doctrine, dress, and traditions, common roots in nineteenth and early twentieth century schisms, and a refusal to participate in politics and other so-called 'sins of the world'. Most Old Order groups also school their children in Mennonite-operated schools.

Mennonite Horse and Carriage

• Horse and Buggy Old Order Mennonites came from the main series of Old Order schisms that began in 1872 and ended in 1901 as conservative Mennonites fought the radical changes that the influence of nineteenth century American revivalism had on Mennonite worship. Most Horse and Buggy Old Order Mennonites allow the use of tractors for farming, although some groups insist on steel-wheeled tractors to prevent tractors from being used for road transportation. Like the Stauffer or Pike Mennonites, they stress separation from the world, excommunicate and wear plain clothes. Unlike the Stauffer or Pike Mennonites their form of the Ban is less severe because the ex-communicant is not shunned, therefore is not excluded from the family table, shunned by a spouse or cutoff from business dealings.

• Automobile Old Order Mennonites also evolved from the main series of Old Order schisms from 1872-1901. Old Order Mennonites is a branch of the Mennonite church. Although the term strictly refers to one particular group it is often used to refer to those groups of Mennonites They often share the same meeting houses with, and adhere to almost identical forms of Old Order worship as their Horse and Buggy Old Order brethren with whom they parted ways in the early 1900s. Although this group began using cars in 1927, the cars were required to be plain and painted black. The largest group of Automobile Old Orders are still known today as 'Black Bumper' Mennonites because some members still paint their chrome bumpers black.

Stauffer Mennonites or Pike Mennonites represent the first and most conservative form of Horse and Buggy Mennonites. Stauffer or Piker Mennonites are Team Mennonites meaning they use Horse drawn transportation They were founded in 1845, following conflicts about how to discipline child and spousal abuse by a few Mennonite church members. Child abuse is the physical, psychological or sexual maltreatment of children Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or spousal abuse) occurs when a family member partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate They almost immediately began to split into separate churches themselves. Today these groups are among the most conservative of all Swiss Mennonites outside the Amish. They stress strict separation from "the world", adhere to "strict withdrawal from and shunning of apostate and separated members", forbid and limit cars and technology, and wear plain clothing. They are now considered to be part of the larger less-conservative Horse and Buggy Old Order Mennonite group which formed from later schisms.

Conservative Mennonites are generally considered those Mennonites who maintain somewhat conservative dress and do not engage in television and radio, although carefully accepting other technology. They are not a unified group and are divided into various independent conferences and fellowships such as the Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church conference. Despite the rapid changes that precipitated the Old Order schisms in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, most Mennonites in the United States and Canada retained a core of traditional beliefs based on literal interpretation of the New Testament Scriptures as well as more external 'Plain' practices into the beginning of the twentieth century. However, disagreements in the United States and Canada between conservative and progressive (i.e. less emphasis on literal interpretation of scriptures) leaders began in the first half of the twentieth century and continue to some extent today. For conservative political views within Christianity see Christian right. F G H I L Following WWII, a conservative movement emerged from scattered separatist groups as a reaction to the Mennonite Churches drifting away from the churches historical traditions. 'Plain' became passe as open criticisms of traditional beliefs and practices broke out in the 1950s and 1960s. The first conservative withdrawals from the progressive group began in the 1950s. These withdrawals continue to the present day in what is now the growing Conservative Movement formed from Mennonite schisms and/or from combinations with progressive Amish groups. Other Conservative Mennonite groups descend from the former Amish-Mennonite churches, who split from the Old Order Amish in the latter part of the nineteenth century like the Wisler Mennonites. There are also other Conservative Mennonite churches that descend from more recent groups that have left the Amish.

Progressive Mennonite churches allow homosexual members to worship as church members and have been banned from membership in the moderate groups as result. Progressive Christianity is the name given to a movement within contemporary Protestant Christianity characterized by willingness to question tradition acceptance The Germantown Mennonite Church in Germantown, Pennsylvania [1] is one example of such a progressive Mennonite church.

Membership

Mennonite children selling peanuts near Lamanai in Belize. Lamanai (from Lama'an Ai, "submerged crocodile" in Yucatec Maya) is a Mesoamerican Archaeological site, and was once a considerably Belize (bəˈliːz formerly British Honduras, is a country in Central America.

In 2006, there were 1,478,540 Mennonites in 65 countries. The United States had the highest number of Mennonites with 368,280 members, followed by Democratic Republic of Congo with 216,268 members. The third largest concentration of Mennonites was in India with 146,095 members, while the fourth largest population was in Canada with 131,384 members. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Europe, the birthplace of Mennonites, had 52,222 members. ^[23]

Africa has the highest membership growth rate by far with 10%-12% rise every year, particularly in Ethiopia. Growth in Mennonite membership is slow but steady in North America, the Asia/Pacific region, and the South/Central America and Caribbean region. Europe has seen a slow and accelerating decline in Mennonite membership since about 1980.

Some churches in North America have begun profiling potential members and with some success have targeted inner city minorities in their recruitment efforts. Growth in the traditional churches is outpacing growth in the moderate churches.

Organization: Worldwide

The most basic unit of organization among Mennonites is the church. There are hundreds or thousands of Mennonite churches, many of which are separate from all others. Some churches are members of regional or area conferences. Some, but far from all, regional or area conferences are members of larger national or world conferences. Thus, there is no single authorized organization that includes all Mennonite churches worldwide.

Instead, there is a host of separate churches along with a myriad of separate conferences with no particular responsibility to any other group. Independent churches can contain as few as 50 members or as many as 20,000 members. Similar size differences occur among separate conferences. Worship, church discipline and lifestyles vary widely between progressive, moderate, conservative, Old Order and orthodox Mennonites in a vast panoply of distinct, independent, and widely dispersed classifications. For these reasons, no single group of Mennonites anywhere can credibly claim to represent, speak for, or lead all Mennonites worldwide.

The eleven largest Mennonite groups are:

1. Mennonite Brethren (300,000 members on 6 continents worldwide)
2. Meserete Kristos Church in Ethiopia (120,600 members;126,000 more followers attending alike churches)^[24]
3. Mennonite Church USA with 114,000 members in the United States
4. Brethren in Christ with 100,000 US and worldwide members
5. Communauté Mennonite au Congo (87,000). The Mennonite Brethren Church was established among Russian Mennonites in 1860 and has congregations in more than 20 countries representing well over 300000 believers Meserete Kristos Church, meaning "Christ is the foundation Church" (based on I Cor NOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk page The Mennonite Church USA represents the largest group of Mennonite Christians in the United States The Brethren in Christ Church (often abbreviated BIC is an Anabaptist Christian denomination with roots in the Mennonite church Pietism, and The Democratic Republic of the Congo (République démocratique du Congo often referred to as DR Congo, DRC or RDC, and formerly known or referred to
6. Kanisa La Mennonite Tanzania with 50,000 members in 240 congregations
7. Deutsche Mennonitengemeinden with 40,000 members in Germany[2]
8. Mennonite Church Canada with 35,000 members in Canada
9. Church of God in Christ, Mennonite with 16,000 members in 240 US churches and 2000 members in 13 other countries (1995 data)
10. Conservative Mennonite Conference, 11,000 members in the North America, plus 34,000 affiliate members in 8 countries worldwide. Tanzania ˌtænzəˈniːə officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya Mennonite Church Canada is the conference of Mennonites in Canada, with head offices in Winnipeg Manitoba. Church of God in Christ Mennonite is a 19th century offshoot of the Old Order Mennonite Church The Conservative Mennonite Conference (CMC is a Christian body of conservative evangelical Mennonite churches
11. Beachy Amish Mennonite, with 10,000 US members (159 congregrations) plus many international locations.

The remaining 20 or so other smaller independent Churches and Conferences numbering only a few churches and a few hundred members. ^[25] Finally, there are 100 or more small independent churches with one or a few congregations numbering from as high as 2,000 members to as low as a 40 members.

The Mennonite World Conference is a global community of 95 Mennonite and Brethren in Christ Mennonite national Churches from 51 countries on six continents. The Mennonite World Conference (MWC is a global community of Christian churches that facilitates community between Anabaptist -related churches and relates to other It exists to "facilitate community between Anabaptist-related churches worldwide, and relate to other Christian world communions and organizations", but it is not a 'governing body' of any kind. It is a voluntary community of faith whose decisions are not binding on member churches. The member churches of Mennonite World Conference include the Mennonite Brethren, the Mennonite Church USA, and the Mennonite Church Canada, with a combined total membership of at least 400,000, or about 30% of Mennonites worldwide.

Organization: North America

Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church in rural Goessel, Kansas

In 2003, there were about 323,000 Mennonites in the United States. The Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church of Goessel Kansas is a congregation affiliated with the Mennonite Church USA. Goessel is a city in Marion County, Kansas, United States. The population was 565 at the 2000 census. ^[26] About 110,000 were members of Mennonite Church USA churches, while about 26,000 were members of Mennonite Brethren churches. About 30,000 (according to Scott) were members of conservative and old order churches. (That leaves about 159,000 Mennonites unaccounted for in other United States' churches). Other sources list 236,084 total United States Mennonites. ^[27]

Total membership in Mennonite Church USA denominations decreased from about 133,000, before the merger in 1998, to about 114,000 after the merger in 2003. The Mennonite Church USA has begun profiling potential members and has been successful at recruiting inner-city minorities into the church in several large cities in the United States. Significant growth in the conservative churches seems to be occurring by itself in the already existing communities.

In Canada, in 2003 there were around 130,000 Mennonites. ^[28] About 37,000 of those were members of Mennonite Church Canada churches and about another 35,000 of those were members of Mennonite Brethren churches. About 5,000 belonged to conservative Old Order Mennonite churches, or other ultra-conservative and orthodox churches. (That leaves about 55,000 Mennonites unaccounted for in other Canadian churches).

As of 2003, there were an estimated 80,000 Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. ^[29] These Mennonites descend from a mass migration in the 1920s of roughly 6,000 Old Colony Mennonites from the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In 1921, a Canadian Mennonite delegation arriving in Mexico received a privilegium, a promise of non-interference, from the Mexican government. This guarantee of many freedoms was the impetus that created the two original Old Colony settlements near Patos(Nuevo Ideal), Durango, and Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua. Cuauhtémoc is a city and the seat of the Cuauhtémoc municipality located in the west-central part of the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. ^[30]

See also

• Anabaptism
• Amish
• Hutterites
• Mennonite Central Committee
• Mennonite denominations
• John Howard Yoder
• Schleitheim Confession
• Shunning
• Excommunication
• Simple living
• Eastern Mennonite Missions

Notes

References

• Gingerich, Melvin (1949), Service for Peace, A History of Mennonite Civilian Public Service, Mennonite Central Committee.
• Horsch, James E. (Ed. ) (1999), Mennonite Directory, Herald Press. ISBN 0-8361-9454-3
• Krahn, Cornelius, Gingerich, Melvin & Harms, Orlando (Eds. ) (1955). The Mennonite Encyclopedia, Volume I, pp. 76-78. Mennoniite Publishing House.
• Mennonite & Brethren in Christ World Directory 2003. Available On-line at http://www.mwc-cmm.org/Directory/index.htm
• Pannabecker, Samuel Floyd (1975), Open Doors: A History of the General Conference Mennonite Church, Faith and Life Press. ISBN 0-87303-636-0
• Scott, Stephen (1995), An Introduction to Old Order and Conservative Mennonite Groups, Good Books, ISBN 1-56148-101-7
• Smith, C. Henry (1981), Smith's Story of the Mennonites Fifth Edition, Faith and Life Press. ISBN 0-87303-060-5

External links

• Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO)