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The Mennonites are members of certain Christian groups belonging to the church communities of Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings, Simons articulated and formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders. The early teachings of the Mennonites were founded on the belief in both the mission and ministry of Jesus, which the original Anabaptist followers held to with great conviction despite persecution by the various Roman Catholic and Protestant states. An early set of Mennonite beliefs was codified in the Dordrecht Confession of Faith in 1632, but the various groups do not hold to a common confession or creed. Rather than fight, the majority of these followers survived by fleeing to neighboring states where ruling families were tolerant of their belief in believer's baptism. Over the years, Mennonites have become known as one of the historic peace churches because of their commitment to pacifism.
The Missionary Church is an evangelical Christian denomination of Anabaptist origins with Wesleyan and Pietist influences.
The Conservative Mennonite Conference (CMC) is a Christian body of Conservative Mennonite churches in the Anabaptist tradition. They are mostly of Amish descent.
The Mennonite Church USA is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the United States. Although the organization is a recent 2002 merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church, the body has roots in the Radical Reformation of the 16th century. Total membership in Mennonite Church USA denominations decreased from about 133,000, before the merger in 1998, to a total membership of 120,381 in the Mennonite Church USA in 2001. In 2013 membership had fallen to 97,737 members in 839 congregations. In 2016 it had fallen to 78,892 members.
Old Order Mennonites (Fuhremennischt) 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, who dress plain and who have retained the old forms of worship, baptism and communion.
Amish Mennonites came into existence through reform movements among North-American Amish mainly between 1862 and 1878. These Amish moved away from the old Amish traditions and drew near to the Mennonites, becoming Mennonites of Amish origin. Over the decades, most Amish Mennonites groups removed the word "Amish" from the name of their congregations or merged with Mennonite groups.
The Beachy Amish Mennonites are formally a subgroup of Amish but they are much less traditional than other Amish. Even though they have retained the name "Amish" they are quite different from the common idea of Amish: they do not use horse and buggy for transportation, with a few exceptions they do not speak Pennsylvania German anymore, nor do they have restrictions on technology except for radio and television. In the years 1946 to 1977 a majority was transformed into an evangelical revivalist denomination. The traditionalists who wanted to preserve the old Beachy Amish ways then withdrew and formed their own congregations. Today they are known as Midwest Beachy Amish Mennonites or Old Beachy Amish.
The Fellowship of Evangelical Churches (FEC) is an evangelical body of Christians with an Amish Mennonite heritage that is headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. It contains 60 churches located in Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
The Groffdale Conference Mennonite Church, also called Wenger Mennonite, is the largest Old Order Mennonite group to use horse-drawn carriages for transportation. Along with the automobile, they reject many modern conveniences, while allowing electricity in their homes and steel-wheeled tractors to till the fields. Initially concentrated in eastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, their 10,000 members resided in eight other states as of 2008/9.
Conservative Mennonites include numerous groups that identify with the more conservative or traditional element among Mennonite or Anabaptist groups but who are not Old Order groups. The majority of Conservative Mennonite churches historically have an Amish and not a Mennonite background.
The Weaverland Conference, also called Horning Church or Black-bumper Mennonites is a Christian denomination of Old Order Mennonites who use cars.
Prairie Street Mennonite Church is a Mennonite Church located in Elkhart, Indiana. It is a member of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA.
College Mennonite Church (CMC) is a Mennonite Church located in Goshen, Indiana, and a member of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA.
Assembly Mennonite Church is a Mennonite Church located in Goshen, Indiana. It is a member of the Central District Conference of Mennonite Church USA. Beginning as a small group of Members from Surrounding Mennonite Churches, Assembly broke from that congregation in the mid-1970s.
The Central District Conference is a conference of Mennonite Church USA, made up of 45 congregations located in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Virginia, 16 of which are also affiliated with other conferences, including the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference, the Illinois Mennonite Conference, and the Ohio Mennonite Conference. Two congregations are also affiliated with the Church of the Brethren.
The Noah Hoover Mennonites, called "Old Order Mennonite Church (Hoover)" by the Mennonite World Conference, and sometimes called "Scottsville Mennonites”, are a group of very plain Old Order Mennonites that originally came from the Stauffer Mennonites and later merged with several other groups. Today it is seen as an independent branch of Old Order Mennonites. The group differs from other Old Order Mennonites by having settlements outside the US and Canada and by attracting new members from other groups on a larger scale. They have more restrictions on modern technology than all other Old Order Mennonite groups. They are rather intentionalist minded than ultra traditional.
The Ohio-Indiana Mennonite Conference, also called Wisler Mennonites, is an Old Order Mennonite church body, whose Ordnung allows the ownership and private use of cars. They are quite similar to the Weaverland Old Order Mennonite Conference.
The Old Beachy Amish or Old Beachy Amish Mennonites, also called Midwest Beachy Amish Mennonites, are a Plain car driving Beachy Amish group, that preserves the old ways of the Beachy Amish including the German language. They live in Kentucky and Illinois. They are part of the Amish Mennonite movement in a broader sense, but they are not an organized denomination.
The Kauffman Amish Mennonites, also called Sleeping Preacher Churches or Tampico Amish Mennonite Churches, are a plain, car-driving branch of the Amish Mennonites whose tradition goes back to John D. Kauffman (1847-1913) who preached while being in a state of trance and who was seen as a "sleeping preacher". In 2017 the Kauffman Amish Mennonites had some 2,000 baptized members and lived mainly in Missouri and Arkansas. In contrast to other Amish Mennonites they have retained their identity over the last hundred years and also largely the Pennsylvania German language and other Amish Mennonite traditions from the late 1800s.
The Stuckey Amish or Stuckey Amish Mennonites were a subgroup of the Amish that emerged from a division in 1872 under the leadership of Joseph Stuckey (1825–1902) and that merged with the Mennonite mainstream in the middle of the 20th century. In the second half of the 19th century, the Stuckey Amish were the most liberal faction of all Amish groups.
References
- 1 2 "Who We Are". Mennonite.net. Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. Archived from the original on 29 August 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
- 1 2 3 4 Wenger, John C. and Russell Krabill. "Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Herald Press. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
- ↑ Umble, John S. "Indiana-Michigan Amish Mennonite Conference". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Herald Press. Retrieved 27 February 2012.