Mennonites are a group of Anabaptist Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Reformation. The name Mennonites is derived from the excommunicated Roman-Catholic chaplain Menno Simons (1496–1561) from Friesland, part of the Holy Roman Empire, present day Netherlands. Menno Simons became a prominent leader within the wider Anabaptist movement and was a contemporary of Martin Luther (1483–1546) and Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560). Through his writings about the Reformation Simons articulated and formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss Anabaptist founders as well as early teachings of the Mennonites founded on the belief in both the mission and ministry of Jesus. Formal Mennonite beliefs were codified in the Dordrecht Confession of Faith (1632), which affirmed "the baptism of believers only, the washing of the feet as a symbol of servanthood, church discipline, the shunning of the excommunicated, the non-swearing of oaths, marriage within the same church", strict pacifistic physical nonresistance, anti-Catholicism and in general, more emphasis on "true Christianity" involving "being Christian and obeying Christ" as they interpret it from the Holy Bible.
The Nebraska Amish, also called Old Schoolers, are a relatively small affiliation of the Amish. They are the most conservative subgroup of Amish, indicated not only by their use of technology but also by their particular style of dress. They emerged in 1881 as a conservative split from the Byler Amish, who themselves emerged as the first conservative splinter group from the Amish mainstream in 1849.
A cyclorama is a panoramic image on the inside of a cylindrical platform, designed to give viewers standing in the middle of the cylinder a 360° view, and also a building designed to show a panoramic image. The intended effect is to make viewers, surrounded by the panoramic image, feel as if they were standing in the midst of the place depicted in the image.
Old Order Mennonites form a branch of the Mennonite tradition. Old Order are those Mennonite groups of Swiss German and south German heritage who practice a lifestyle without some elements of modern technology, still drive a horse and buggy rather than cars, wear very conservative and modest dress, and have retained the old forms of worship, baptism and communion.
The New Order Amish are a subgroup of Amish that split away from the Old Order Amish in the 1960s for a variety of reasons, which included a desire for "clean" youth courting standards, meaning they do not condone the practice of bundling during courtship. Tobacco and alcohol are also not allowed. They also wished to incorporate more evangelical elements into the church, including Sunday school and mission work. Some scholars see the group best characterized as a subgroup of the Old Order Amish, despite the name.
Berlin is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in central Berlin Township, Holmes County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 1,447. Located in Ohio's Amish Country, the village is part of a large regional tourism industry.
Behalt is a 10-by-265-foot cyclorama painted by Heinz Gaugel in the late 20th century. The name comes from the German word behalten: to hold onto or to remember. The work illustrates the heritage of the Amish and Mennonite people from the beginnings of Christianity and is displayed in the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center in Berlin, Holmes County, Ohio. The Columbus Dispatch said it was the "Sistine Chapel of the Amish and Mennonites". One of four existing cycloramas in the US and one of only 16 in the world, Behalt is the only existing cyclorama painted by a single artist.
Donald B. Kraybill is an American author, lecturer, and educator on Anabaptist faiths and culture. Kraybill is widely recognized for his studies on Anabaptist groups and in particular the Amish. He has researched and written extensively on Anabaptist culture. He is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Elizabethtown College and Senior Fellow Emeritus at Elizabethtown's Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies.
The Budget is a US weekly newspaper published in Ohio for and by members of various plain Anabaptist Christian communities including the Amish, Amish Mennonite, Beachy Amish, as well as plain Mennonite and Brethren communities. The Budget began publishing in 1890. The paper was known as The Weekly Budget up to the time the Royal Printing Company began publishing it in 1920.
Berlin Township is one of the fourteen townships of Holmes County, Ohio, United States. It is at the heart of the Holmes County Amish settlement. As of the 2020 census the population of the township was 4,546, up from 4,252 at the 2010 census.
The Amish, formally the Old Order Amish, are an ethnoreligious group with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. Consisting of several Anabaptist Christian church fellowships, they are closely related to Mennonites, a separate Anabaptist denomination. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, Christian pacifism, and slowness to adopt many conveniences of modern technology, with a view neither to interrupt family time, nor replace face-to-face conversations whenever possible, and a view to maintain self-sufficiency. The Amish value rural life, manual labor, humility and Gelassenheit. As they rarely accept converts, maintain a separate language and culture from surrounding populations, and hold their faith in common, they have been described by scholars as an ethnoreligious group, combining features of an ethnicity and a denomination.
The Swartzentruber Amish are the best-known and one of the largest and most conservative subgroups of Old Order Amish. Swartzentruber Amish are considered a subgroup of the Old Order Amish, although they do not fellowship or intermarry with more liberal Old Order Amish. They speak Pennsylvania German as their mother tongue as well as English.
Conservative Mennonites include numerous Conservative Anabaptist groups that identify with the theologically conservative element among Mennonite Anabaptist Christian fellowships, but who are not Old Order groups or mainline denominations.
Over the years, as Amish churches have divided many times over doctrinal disputes, subgroups have developed. The "Old Order Amish", a conservative faction that withdrew in the 1860s from fellowship with the wider body of Amish, are those that have most emphasized traditional practices and beliefs. There are many different subgroups of Amish with most belonging, in ascending order of conservatism, to the Beachy Amish, New Order, Old Order, or Swartzentruber Amish groups.
Stephen Scott was an American writer on Anabaptist subjects, especially on Old Order and Conservative Mennonite groups.
Old Order Anabaptism encompasses those groups which have preserved the old ways of Anabaptist Christian religion and lifestyle.
The Ohio Amish Country, also known simply as the Amish Country, is the second-largest community of Amish, with in 2023 an estimated 84,065 members according to the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College.
Heinz Gaugel was a German-Canadian artist. He created multiple installations in the US and Canada, the most well-known of which is the Behalt cyclorama at the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center (AMHC) in Holmes County, Ohio.
A kapp is a Christian headcovering worn by many women of certain Anabaptist Christian denominations, as well as certain Conservative Friends and Plain Catholics, in obedience to Paul the Apostle's command in 1 Corinthians 11:2–10.
