Mennonites

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Mennonites

Mennonites in America, currently numbering 416,000, derive from three main streams of European immigration, augmented by significant numbers of African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, and other Americans who have become Mennonites in response to mission endeavors. Vietnamese and Cambodian immigrants have also formed Mennonite congregations in recent decades. The largest concentrations of Mennonites are in eastern Pennsylvania, central Kansas, southern Manitoba, Ontario, Ohio, northern Indiana, and the Mennonite Brethren in California.

Mennonites, from their beginnings in about 1525, stressed that church membership must be a voluntary choice. This is symbolized by baptism of believers (i.e., infants may not be baptized). Baptism may be by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion, depending on the group. Congregational singing, often a cappella (without instrumental accompaniment), has a high priority in group worship.

From their beginnings Mennonites stood apart from the state, largely eschewing political office and extolling humility and service rather than power and empire. This set them apart from dominant religious and cultural emphases. Changes since 1960, both among Mennonites and in the larger culture, have brought segments of each much closer together.

The first stream of Mennonite immigration to America, in about 1700, was from Switzerland and southern Germany. The second wave, from 1830 to 1870, was made up of Amish Mennonites from Alsace and the Palatinate. The third major immigration was of Mennonites of Dutch origin who, fleeing persecution, had immigrated to Prussia and then to Russia, coming to America in 1870. The fourth group was the Mennonite Brethren Church, formed in Russia in response to German Pietism and immigrated after 1920. Already in Russia they had subdivided into several groups, some of which have recently dropped the name "Mennonite," ostensibly in the interest of advancing evangelism. The Mennonite Brethren Church is the third largest Mennonite group in the United States today.

The Amish Mennonites and Mennonites of Swiss origin amalgamated in about 1900 to form the Mennonite Church. The Mennonites from Russia, several congregations from northern Germany, a more liberal group from eastern Pennsylvania, and some Illinois Mennonites formed the General Conference of the Mennonites of North America. These two bodies are now merging. This process has been complicated by contrasting church polities, with the General Conference Mennonites emphasizing autonomy for both individuals and congregations, while the Mennonite Church is more group-minded in relation to congregations. The two groups share a common confession of faith. Top denominational leadership for both groups is by election.

Mennonites, like most religious groups immigrating to America, have fragmented into numerous subgroups, reflecting their time of immigration and acculturation. A major schism involved the formation of the Old Order Mennonites following 1872. They rejected institutionalization, including Sunday schools, and continue to be locally organized. Some still drive horses and buggies. Other subgroups include Conservative Mennonites, Fellowship Churches, and others too numerous to mention. Issues for these Mennonites have included the rejection of acculturation as well as increasing institutionalization and bureaucratization in the main bodies and sometimes retention of traditional symbols such as the prayer veiling for women together with variations in biblical interpretation. Frequently these subgroups have objected to the prominence given to war resistance and witness to the state by the main groups as well as to women in ministry and to liberal theology.

Mennonites officially reject participation in warfare, and since the 1960s Mennonites have increasingly emphasized peacemaking, relief, and service. The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), a relief and service agency that is supported by all branches of the Mennonite Church, was begun in response to famine in Russia, particularly in the Mennonite communities, in 1920. Its volunteers currently serve in programs worldwide. Two of its projects, which have elicited widespread support across lay groups, are relief sales, designed to raise funds to support MCC programs, and the Mennonite Disaster Service, which coordinates volunteer efforts in response to national disasters.