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Summary
- The Amish and Mennonites both descend from the Anabaptists, who began baptizing adults in Switzerland in 1525 and faced persecution in which as many as 2,500 were executed.
- The Schleitheim articles of 24 February 1527 set out early Anabaptist teaching; the name Mennonite comes from Menno Simons, a Dutch priest who joined the movement in 1536.
- In 1693 Jakob Ammann, a Swiss Anabaptist leader in Alsace, broke with Hans Reist and most Swiss and Palatinate churches, chiefly over shunning excommunicated members, which he based on 1 Corinthians 5:11 and the Dordrecht Confession.
- No Amish congregations remain in Europe; in North America the progressive Amish Mennonites of 1850–1880 later merged with the Mennonite Church, and the Beachy Amish Mennonites broke from the Old Order in 1927.
- Mennonite World Conference counts about two million baptized believers in more than 85 countries, and most Mennonites use cars and modern technology that almost all Amish groups reject.
- The two groups cooperate through Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite Disaster Service but generally live separately, and Old Order Amish do not permit marriage outside the church.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, Elizabethtown College, “Anabaptists.” https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/religion/anabaptists/
- Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, “Origins.” https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/religion/amish-origins/
- Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, “Mennonites.” https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/religion/mennonites/
- Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, “Beliefs.” https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/religion/beliefs/
- Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, “Diversity.” https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/social-organization/diversity/
- Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, “Schleitheim Confession.” https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Schleitheim_Confession (read through the Internet Archive copy of 2025, because the site blocks automated requests)
- Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, “Amish Division.” https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Amish_Division (read through the Internet Archive copy of 2025, because the site blocks automated requests)
- Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, “Dordrecht Confession of Faith (Mennonite, 1632).” https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Dordrecht_Confession_of_Faith_(Mennonite,_1632) (read through the Internet Archive copy of 2013, because the site blocks automated requests)
- Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, “Amish Mennonites.” https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Amish_Mennonites (read through the Internet Archive copy of 2013, because the site blocks automated requests)
- Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, “Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship.” https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Beachy_Amish_Mennonite_Fellowship (read through the Internet Archive copy of 2014, because the site blocks automated requests)
- Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, “Marriage.” https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Marriage (read through the Internet Archive copy of 2015, because the site blocks automated requests)
- Mennonite Church USA, “FAQ about Mennonites.” https://www.mennoniteusa.org/who-are-mennonites/faq-about-mennonites/
- Mennonite World Conference, “Membership, map and statistics.” https://mwc-cmm.org/en/membership-map-and-statistics/
- Scripture quotation from the King James Version: 1 Corinthians 5:11.
