Facts about Mennonites
Reformed Mennonites see themselves as true followers of Menno Simons' teachings and of the teachings of the New Testament.
Old Town (StarŠ¹ mesto) of Bratislava viewed from Bratislava Castle.
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons (1496-1561), although his teachings were a relatively minor influence on the group.
Mennonites in Canada were automatically exempt from any type of service during World War I by provisions of the Order in Council of 1873.
Conservative Mennonites are those Mennonites who maintain somewhat conservative dress and do not engage in television and radio, although carefully accepting other technology.
Some branches of Mennonites have retained this "plain" lifestyle into modern times.
William Penn solicited settlers for his new colony among the Quakers and Mennonites in Germany, who were living under ongoing discrimination.
The first permanent settlement of Mennonites in the American colonies consisted of one Mennonite family and twelve Mennonite-Quaker families of Dutch extraction who arrived from Krefeld, Germany in 1683 and settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania.
Later, 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.
To this day, shunning is practiced among most Amish and some Mennonites.
Africa had the highest number of Mennonites with 451,959 members, closely followed by North America with 451,180 members.
The 10,700 Canadian objectors were mostly Mennonites (63 percent) and Doukhobors (20 percent).
Moderate Mennonites include the largest denominations, the Mennonite Brethren and the Mennonite Church (USA and Canada).
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.
Such breaks have been frequent throughout the history of the Mennonites and the Amish, and have been important for the self-identity of Mennonite and Amish groups.
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.
Holdeman Mennonites were founded from a schism in 1859.
During the sixteenth century, the Mennonites and other Anabaptists were relentlessly persecuted.
Other significant theological views of the Mennonites developed in opposition to Catholic views or to the views of fellow reformers like Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli.
The Mennonites outside the state church were divided on whether to remain in communion with their brothers within the state church or to shun them, and this led to a split.
When the tide of war turned, many of the Mennonites fled with the German army back to Germany where they were accepted as "Volksdeutsche."
Mennonites during this period supported the idea of separation of church and state and opposed the institution of slavery.
The largest population of Mennonites is in Africa, but Mennonites can also be found in tight-knit communities in at least 51 countries on six continents.
The third largest concentration of Mennonites was in the Asia/Pacific region with 208,155 members, while the fourth largest region was the one encompassing South America, Central America and the Caribbean, with 133,150 members.
Beyond expropriation, Mennonites suffered severe persecution during the course of the Russian Civil War, at the hands of both the Bolsheviks and the anarchists of Nestor Makhno.
In 2003, there were about 323,000 Mennonites in the United States.
Mennonites had to build their churches facing onto back streets or alleys, and they were forbidden from announcing the beginning of services with the sound of a bell.
The early history of the Mennonites begins with the Anabaptists in the German and Dutch-speaking parts of central Europe.
Reformed Mennonites represent the first division in the original North American Mennonite body, forming the Reformed Mennonite Church which was formed in the early nineteenth century.
From 1941 to 1947, 4,665 Mennonites, Amish and Brethren in Christ were among nearly 12,000 conscientious objectors who performed work of national importance in 152 CPS camps throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.
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.
In 2003, there were 1,297,716 Mennonites in 65 countries.
Despite this, Mennonites place a strong theological emphasis on service and have won international distinction among Christian denominations in disaster relief.
Mennonites in Canada and other countries typically form independent denominations because of the practical considerations of distance, belief and practice, and, in some cases, language, or for any of the reasons mentioned above.
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.
During the Colonial period, Mennonites were distinguished from other Pennsylvania Germans in three ways: their opposition to the American Revolutionary War, resistance to public education, and disapproval of religious revivalism.
Later, 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.