Mention Mennonites and a lot of Americans immediately picture people in plain clothes living on farms, avoiding modern technology and traveling by horse and buggy. They’re probably thinking of the Amish.

There are traditional Mennonite communities that dress plainly and maintain a deliberate separation from modern culture, but Mennonites are considerably more diverse than the stereotype suggests. Some drive cars, attend universities, work in ordinary professions and worship in church buildings that wouldn’t look unusual in American evangelicalism. Others maintain lifestyles that preserve much more of the old Anabaptist emphasis on simplicity and separation from the world.

What holds them together isn’t a particular style of clothing. Mennonites emerged from the Anabaptist movement of the Protestant Reformation, and their identity has historically centered on believers’ baptism, discipleship, Christian community, separation of church and state and a strong commitment to peace.

And despite the name, Menno Simons didn’t start the Anabaptist movement, although he helped save a significant part of it.

Menno Simons

Menno Simons was born in the Netherlands around 1496 and became a Roman Catholic priest. Like many people living during the Reformation, he gradually began questioning some of the doctrines and practices he had inherited. His doubts initially focused on the Eucharist, but he eventually began reconsidering infant baptism as well.

By then Anabaptist ideas were spreading through parts of Europe. Anabaptists rejected infant baptism and taught that baptism should follow a personal confession of faith. Because most Europeans had already been baptized as infants, their opponents called them Anabaptists, meaning essentially “rebaptizers.” The Anabaptists themselves generally rejected the label because they didn’t believe their infant baptisms had been valid baptisms in the first place.

Menno eventually left the Catholic priesthood and joined the Anabaptist movement. He became an influential pastor, teacher and organizer among peaceful Anabaptists in the Netherlands and surrounding regions. His followers became known as Mennonites, although Menno himself wasn’t trying to create a denomination named after himself.

The Shadow of Münster

To understand why Menno Simons became so important, you need to understand what had happened at Münster. In 1534, radical Anabaptists gained control of the German city and attempted to establish a kind of apocalyptic kingdom. The movement became increasingly extreme under leaders who claimed prophetic authority. Property was seized, polygamy was introduced, opponents were expelled, and violence replaced the nonresistant teachings associated with many earlier Anabaptists.

The experiment ended catastrophically when the city was recaptured in 1535 and its leaders were tortured and executed. Their bodies were displayed in iron cages hanging from the tower of St. Lambert’s Church. The cages are still there.

Münster became enormously damaging to the reputation of Anabaptists. Catholic and Protestant authorities already regarded them as dangerous religious radicals, and now they had an example they could point to as proof. Menno Simons helped lead Anabaptism in exactly the opposite direction. He rejected revolutionary violence and emphasized discipleship, holiness, peace and a church separated from political power. That peaceful tradition became the foundation of Mennonite Christianity.

Believers’ Baptism

One of the defining Mennonite beliefs is believers’ baptism. Mennonites reject infant baptism because they believe baptism should follow repentance and a personal confession of faith in Christ. A baby can’t make that confession, so baptism belongs to those old enough to choose Christian devotion for themselves.

That may not sound especially radical today. Baptists, Pentecostals, Churches of Christ and countless nondenominational Christians practice some form of believers’ baptism. But in sixteenth-century Europe, rejecting infant baptism had enormous consequences. Baptism wasn’t merely a family religious ceremony. Church membership and citizenship were deeply connected, and nearly everyone belonged to the officially recognized church of the territory where they lived. Refusing to baptize your infant could therefore be understood as rejecting both the religious and social order. In doing so the Anabaptists were challenging the relationship between church and society.

Following Jesus

Mennonite Christianity has traditionally placed an unusually strong emphasis on discipleship. Their question isn’t simply, “What do you believe about Jesus?” It is also, “Are you actually following him?”

That emphasis comes particularly from Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. Mennonites have historically taken commands about loving enemies, forgiving others, telling the truth, caring for the poor and refusing retaliation very seriously. Christianity isn’t merely accepting the correct doctrines about salvation. It is joining a community that intends to live according to the teachings of Christ.

This doesn’t mean Mennonites believe people save themselves by living morally. Historic Mennonite theology affirms salvation through Christ and the necessity of God’s grace. But Mennonites have often been suspicious of versions of Christianity that separate faith too sharply from obedience. If Jesus says to follow him, they figure Christians ought to follow him.

Peace and Nonviolence

Probably the most distinctive Mennonite teaching is the commitment to nonviolence, sometimes called nonresistance. Historic Mennonites have generally believed that Christians shouldn’t kill their enemies, participate in warfare or seek revenge. They point particularly to Jesus’ commands to love enemies, turn the other cheek and pray for those who persecute us.

That conviction has frequently put Mennonites in difficult situations during wartime. Many refused military service and became conscientious objectors. Some performed alternative service in hospitals, forestry projects and other civilian programs instead.

Not every modern Mennonite interprets nonviolence in exactly the same way, but peace remains deeply embedded in Mennonite identity. Mennonite organizations have also become known for disaster relief, refugee assistance, peacemaking and international humanitarian work. For Mennonites, peace isn’t supposed to mean merely opposing war. It’s supposed to be a way of life.

Church and State

The Anabaptists were among the earliest major Christian movements of the Reformation era to insist that the church shouldn’t depend upon government coercion. That conviction was partly theological and partly learned through experience. Mennonites knew what happened when governments decided which religious beliefs were acceptable because they were frequently the people being imprisoned, expelled or executed.

They therefore argued that Christian faith must be voluntary. Government shouldn’t force people to become Christians, and the church shouldn’t use the power of government to punish people for rejecting its doctrines. That sounds fairly ordinary to Americans today, but in sixteenth-century Europe that wasn’t the case.

Catholics and most major Protestant Reformers still assumed that rulers had responsibilities for maintaining religious order. Anabaptists challenged that assumption much more radically. Their ideas helped anticipate later developments in religious liberty and the separation of church and state.

Persecution

Being ahead of your time doesn’t necessarily make your life easier. Anabaptists were persecuted by both Catholic and Protestant governments. Some were imprisoned, drowned, burned or executed by other methods. Others had their property confiscated or were forced to move repeatedly in search of places where authorities would leave them alone.

One of the most important collections of these stories is the Martyrs Mirror, a massive seventeenth-century book recounting the suffering of Christians who died for their faith, with particular attention to Anabaptist martyrs. These experiences left a deep mark on Mennonite culture. Suspicion of government authority, reluctance to participate in warfare, strong community ties and willingness to migrate rather than abandon religious convictions weren’t abstract theological ideas. They were habits formed by generations of people who had discovered that governments could become dangerous very quickly when they decided everyone needed to believe the same thing.

Moving Across Europe

Persecution pushed Mennonites from one region to another. Communities developed in the Netherlands, northern Germany, Switzerland, Prussia, Poland and other parts of Europe. Some rulers tolerated Mennonites because they were skilled farmers and productive citizens, even when they didn’t particularly appreciate their theology.

That arrangement could work until political circumstances changed. Mennonite history therefore contains a remarkable amount of moving. Groups migrated to Russia after receiving promises of religious freedom and exemption from military service. When those privileges became uncertain, many moved again, particularly to Canada and the United States.

Later migrations carried Mennonite communities into Mexico, Central and South America and other parts of the world. If your religious convictions include pacifism and the government announces that everyone must serve in the military, packing the wagon starts looking like a theological option.

Mennonites in America

Mennonites began arriving in North America during the colonial period. Pennsylvania became particularly important because William Penn’s policies of religious toleration created an attractive environment for groups that had spent generations being told to leave somewhere else.

The first permanent Mennonite settlement in what became the United States was established at Germantown, Pennsylvania, in the seventeenth century. Mennonites there became part of the extraordinary mixture of German-speaking religious communities that helped shape Pennsylvania.

One particularly important moment came in 1688, when several Mennonites and Quakers associated with Germantown issued one of the earliest written protests against slavery in colonial America. They argued, in effect, that Christians who objected to persecution when it happened to them shouldn’t turn around and enslave somebody else. That’s a fairly good application of the Golden Rule.

Mennonites and the Amish

The Amish emerged from the Mennonite tradition during the late seventeenth century. The division centered around the Swiss Anabaptist leader Jakob Ammann, who believed Mennonite communities weren’t practicing church discipline strictly enough. Among other things, Ammann insisted on stronger application of shunning, or social avoidance of members who had been excommunicated. Those who followed Ammann eventually became known as Amish.

That means Amish and Mennonites aren’t two completely unrelated religious groups that happen to dress similarly. The Amish emerged from within the Mennonite-Anabaptist tradition and share many of the same historic convictions, including believers’ baptism, nonviolence, simplicity and separation from the world.

Over time, however, the Amish developed a much more distinctive communal lifestyle and stricter separation from modern society. We’ll deal with them in another article.

Plain Dress

Some Mennonite groups continue practicing plain dress, but many don’t. Traditional communities may encourage or require modest, simple clothing that distinguishes members from the surrounding culture. Women may wear head coverings, and men may dress in deliberately conservative styles. The purpose isn’t supposed to be creating a religious costume. It reflects older Anabaptist concerns about modesty, humility and resisting the world’s obsession with status and fashion.

Other Mennonite congregations abandoned distinctive clothing generations ago. Walk into one of those churches and you may not notice anything unusual about the congregation until the service begins. This is where the popular stereotype becomes especially misleading. There is no single Mennonite lifestyle.

Old Order Mennonites

Some of the most traditional communities are known as Old Order Mennonites. These groups developed partly in response to modernization within Mennonite churches during the nineteenth century. They wanted to preserve older forms of worship, community discipline and separation from the surrounding culture.

Some Old Order Mennonites use horse-drawn transportation and restrict certain technologies, which makes them appear similar to the Amish. Others accept considerably more technology while still maintaining traditional dress and community practices. The decisions aren’t necessarily based on the belief that electricity, automobiles or telephones are inherently sinful. The deeper question is what a technology does to the community. Does it strengthen family and church life, or does it gradually dissolve the boundaries that hold the community together?

Modern Mennonites

At the other end of the spectrum are Mennonite churches that look surprisingly similar to other Protestant congregations. Members drive cars, use smartphones, attend college, work in professional careers and participate fully in modern society. Worship may include contemporary music, Sunday school, youth programs and preaching that wouldn’t seem particularly unusual in an evangelical church.

The Anabaptist heritage remains visible in beliefs about baptism, discipleship, peace and Christian community, but the cultural separation may be far less obvious. Some Mennonite denominations have also moved in more progressive theological directions, while others remain firmly evangelical and conservative. As with Baptists, Methodists and Anglicans, the word Mennonite now covers a wider theological range than outsiders sometimes realize.

Community

One feature that continues to distinguish much of Mennonite life is the importance placed on community. American Christianity can become extremely individualistic. We talk about my personal relationship with Jesus, my calling and my spiritual journey. Anabaptism has traditionally emphasized that Christians belong to a community in which believers worship together, hold one another accountable, care for one another materially and learn to follow Christ together. In traditional Mennonite communities that commitment can affect nearly every aspect of life. In modern congregations it may be expressed less visibly, but the theological instinct remains.

Christianity isn’t supposed to consist of millions of isolated individuals who happen to believe the same doctrines. It’s supposed to produce a church.

Service

Mennonites have developed a strong reputation for practical service. Organizations such as the Mennonite Central Committee have provided disaster relief, development assistance, refugee support and other humanitarian work around the world. Mennonite disaster-relief organizations are particularly well known for sending volunteers into communities after hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and other disasters.

This fits naturally with the Anabaptist emphasis on discipleship. If following Jesus means caring for neighbors and enemies rather than merely talking about them, then feeding people, rebuilding houses and helping refugees become expressions of theology. Mennonites have sometimes been reluctant to advertise this work aggressively.

Are Mennonites Evangelical?

Some are. Some aren’t, at least not in the way the term is commonly used in American Christianity.

Conservative Mennonite denominations may affirm biblical authority, conversion, evangelism and traditional Christian doctrines in ways that fit comfortably within evangelical Protestantism. Other Mennonite bodies have adopted theological and social positions associated with mainline Protestantism.

Still others belong to traditional communities that don’t fit easily into either category. The safest approach is to remember that Mennonite describes a historical religious tradition, not a single modern denomination. There are multiple Mennonite conferences, denominations and independent groups, and they don’t agree about everything.

More Than Horse and Buggies

The easiest way to misunderstand Mennonites is to confuse their theology with their clothing. Plain dress, farming communities and simple lifestyles are important parts of some Mennonite traditions, but they aren’t the heart of Mennonite Christianity. The movement existed before those cultural forms developed, and millions of Mennonites around the world don’t fit the North American stereotype at all.

The deeper Mennonite inheritance comes from the Radical Reformation: baptism belongs to believers, the church should consist of people who voluntarily follow Christ, governments shouldn’t control faith, Christians should love their enemies, and discipleship should affect the way believers actually live.

Menno Simons didn’t originate those ideas, and he never intended to create a church bearing his name. What he did was help a persecuted and increasingly misunderstood movement survive one of the most chaotic periods in Christian history.

Nearly five centuries later, his name is still attached to Christians around the world. Some arrive at church in a horse-drawn buggy. Some arrive in a Honda. The point isn’t how you travel, but how you live.