Szerkesztő:Stiggy/Mennoniták

A mennoniták anabaptista keresztény felekezet. Nevét a fríz származású Menno Simons (1496-1561) után kapta, aki írásaiban a korai svájci alapítók tanításait terjesztette, egységessé is kovácsolva is azokat. A mennoniták tanításainak alapját Jézus tanítása és beszédei valamint hittérítő munkája képzi. A mennoniták mély meggyőződéssel ragaszkodtak elveikhez, a különböző római katolikus és protestáns államok általi üldöztetések idején is. Harc helyett többnyire a menekülést választották; áttelepültek a környező, toleránsabb vezetők által uralt államokba, ahol megtűrték a felnőttkereszteségbe vetett, radikálisnak tekintett hitet. A mennonita közösség egyike az amerikai ún. régi, eredeti békepárti egyházaknak, határozottan erőszakmentes elkötelezettsége miatt.

2006-os adatok szerint körülbelül 1,5 millió mennonita él világszerte, felölelve a mennonita elvek és életmód széles spektrumát a plain people-től (a. m. "egyszerűen élő emberek") mindazokig, akik ruházata és megjelenése nem különbözik az átlagostól. Legnagyobb csoportjaik Kanadában, a Kongói Demokratikus Köztársaságban és az Amerikai Egyesült Államokban találhatóak, de 6 kontinensen, a világ legalább 51 országában élnek mennoniták zárt közösségekben vagy a helyi társadalomban elvegyülve. Szerte Kínában például jelentős számú mennonita él. Német eredetű közösségeket találunk Argentínában, Belize-ben, Bolíviában, Brazíliában, Mexikóban és Paraguayban. Ők a Kelet-Európában élt, eredetileg német területekről származó, s még jelenlegi lakóhelyükön is sokszor régi német nyelvjárásukat (a plautdietscht vagy mennonita alnémetet) használó ún. orosz mennoniták leszármazottai. Hollandiában, ahonnan Menno származott, szintén található egy kis mennonita közösség.

Az észak-amerikai székhelyű Mennonita Katasztrófaenyhítő Szolgálat (Mennonite Disaster Service) mind azonnali, mind hosszútávú segítséget nyújt hurrikánok, árvizek és egyéb szerencsétlenségek esetén. A Mennonita Központi Tanács (Mennonite Central Committee) világszerte végez humanitárius munkát katasztrófa sújtotta területeken, emellett hosszú távú fejlesztési programokat is működtet.

A 20. század második felében néhány mennonita közösség aktívan foglalkozott a békével és szociális igazságtalanságokkal kapcsolatos ügyekkel, létrehozva a Keresztény Béketeremtő Csoportokat (Christian Peacemaker Teams) és a Mennonita Békeszerző Szolgálatot (Mennonite Conciliation Service).

Radikális reformáció

A korai anabaptizmus terjedése 1525-1550

A mennoniták története Európa németül és hollandul beszélő anabaptistáival kezdődött. Az anabaptista szó jelentése ’újrakeresztelő’, a görög ana és baptidzó szavak összetételéből származik. Az anabaptisták a római katolikus egyház gyakorlata és teológiája elleni széleskörű reakció, a reformáció képviselői voltak. Legfontosabb jellemzőjük a csecsemőkori keresztség elutasítása, aminek mind hitbeli, mind politikai jelentősége volt az irányzat kialakulásakor, ugyanis a korabeli Nyugat-Európában szinte minden csecsemőt a római katolikus egyház keresztelt meg. A mennoniták további jelentős teológiai nézetei részben a római katolikus egyház, részben pedig olyan protestáns vallási vezetők tanításai ellenében formálódtak, mint Martin Luther és Ulrich Zwingli.

Zwingli református egyházának követői közül néhányan úgy gondolták, a születéskor kezdődő egyháztagság gyakorlata nem összeegyeztethető az újszövetségi példával. Úgy vélték, az egyháznak teljesen ki kell vonulnia az államhatalomból (korai szabadegyház-gondolat), és hogy az egyénnek csak akkor kellene csatlakoznia a felekezethez, ha hajlandó nyíltan megvallani Jézusba vetett hitét és vágyát arra, hogy Krisztus tanításai szerint éljen. 1525. január 21-én, egy szűkkörű találkozón Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz és [[George Blaurock], tizenkét társukkal együtt megkeresztelték egymást. Ez az esemény jelenti az anabaptizmus kezdetét. Később más csoportok is hangoztatni kezdték saját nézeteiket hierarchiáról, államról, eszkatológiáról, szexuális szabadságról (a teljes szabadosságtól a teljes szüzességig) - ezekre a mozgalmakra összefoglalóan radikális reformációként szoktak hivatkozni.

Sok állami és vallási vezető, mind protestáns, mint római katolikus oldalról, veszélyesnek találta az önkéntes egyháztagságot. Aggodalmukat csak elmélyítette a münsteri Új Sion Királyság, amikor radikális anabaptisták közel egy évig erőszakos uralmuk alatt tartották a várost . Ellenfeleik mindent megtettek az anabaptisták leveréséért, száműzést, kínzást, elégetést, vízbefojtást és lefejezést is beleértve.

Az erőteljes elnyomás ellenére a mozgalom lassan terjedt Nyugat-Európában, elsősorban a Rajna mentén. A korai anabaptista vezetők közül sokakat megöltek, próbálván megtisztítani Európát az új szektától. 1530-ra a legtöbb alapítóatyát kivégezték, mert nem voltak hajlandóak megtagadni hitüket. Sokan közülük úgy hitték, isten nem engedi a gyilkosságot vagy az erőszak bármilyen célú alkalmazását, ezért nem voltak hajlandóak harcolni az életükért. A pacifista beállítottságú közösségek többnyire úgy maradtak fenn, hogy semleges városokban vagy országokban telepedtek le, pl. Strasbourgban. Biztonságuk azonban igencsak törékeny volt, mivel egy új hatalmi szövetség vagy egy idegen hatalom betörése az üldözés újrakezdődését jelenthette. Más anabaptista csoportokat, mint például a batenburgereket, végül pusztulásba vitte, hogy hajlandóak voltak harcolni, s ennek nagy jelentősége volt az anabaptista teológia későbbi alakulásában.

Menno Simons (1854)

Az anabaptizmus korai szakaszában Menno Simons, egy németalföldi katolikus pap, hallott az új irányzatról, és ennek hatására mérlegre tette saját katolikus hitét. Kétségbe vonta a transzszubsztanciáció dogmáját, de nem lépett ki a római katolikus egyházból. Gondolkodásmódját bátyja halála is befolyásolta, aki egy anabaptista közösség tagjaként lelte halálát - társaival nem voltak hajlandóak védekezni, amikor rájuk támadtak. Simons 1536-ban, 40 éves korában szakított a római katolikus egyházzal, nem sokkal később pedig az anabaptista mozgalom egyik vezéralakja lett, egyben pedig üldözött, akinek fejére élete végéig vérdíj volt kitűzve. Neve erőszakmentes anabaptisták szétszórt csoportjaihoz kapcsolódik, amelyek szerveződését és megszilárdítását Simons segítette elő.

Szétforgácsolódás és változatok

A 16. század folyamán a mennonita és egyéb anabaptista közösségeket kíméletlenül üldözték, ami jelentős hatást gyakorolt a mennonita identitásra. A Mártírok Tükre című, hollandul 1660-ban megjelent könyv dokumentálja az anabaptisták és előfutáraik üldöztetését. Sok mennonita és amis számára még manapság is ez a Biblia mellett a legfontosabb könyv, legfőképp a svájci és dél-német ágnál. Az üldözés Svájc egyes részein 1710-ig folytatódott.

A felekezeten belüli nézeteltérések az évek során szakadásokhoz vezettek: teológiai, gyakorlati, de épp földrajzi különbségek is szolgálhattak okkal. Például a 20. század elején az amis egyház néhány tagja vasárnapi iskolát akart szervezni, és részt akart venni a progresszív protestánsok által is folytatott, felekezettől független térítőmunkában, azonban, mivel nem tudták meggyőzni a többi amist, kiváltak, önálló közösségek sorát hozva létre.
A Kanadában és más országokban élő mennoniták egyes csoportjai általában egymástól független szervezetekként, felekezetekként működnek, olyan gyakorlati megfontolásokból, mint pl. a csoportok közti földrajzi távolság, vagy néhány esetben az eltérő nyelv. Az ilyen független felekezetek gyakran családi alapon jöttek létre.

A mennoniták már az első említésükkor is az erőszakmentességükről voltak ismertek: egy kisebb, erőszakos anabaptista csoport politikai és vallási felfordulást okozott egy közép-európai grófi területen, ezért kitiltották onnan a felekezet összes tagját, kivéve az erőszakellenes ágat, amelyet menistákként említ a rendelet. Az uralkodók gyakran beengedték területeikre a menistákat vagy mennonitákat, mert tisztességes, dolgos és békés emberek voltak. Ha vallási gyakorlatuk felbőszítette az adott államban meghatározó egyházat, vagy ha az uralkodó visszavonta a fegyveres szolgálat teljesítése alóli mentességüket vagy ha egy új, másként gondolkodó uralkodó vette át a hatalmat, a mennonitáknak újfent menekülniük kellett, családjukon kívül általában mindent hátrahagyva. Ezután többnyire egy másik terület uralkodója fogadta be őket országába, legalábbis egy időre.

A mennonita templomok általában a környék építészeti stílusába simultak bele, hogy ne sértsék a többség vallási érzékenységét. Doopsgezinde Gemeente, Amsterdam.

While Mennonites in Colonial America were enjoying considerable religious freedom, their counterparts in Europe were in the same situation they always had been. Their well-being was dependent on the will of the ruling monarch, who would often extend an invitation only when there was poor soil that no one else could farm. By contrast, in The Netherlands the Mennonites (nl: Doopsgezinden) enjoyed a relatively high degree of tolerance. The Mennonites often farmed and reclaimed land in exchange for exemption from mandatory military service.^[forrás?] However, once the land was arable again, this arrangement would often change, and the persecution would begin again. Because the land still needed to be tended, the ruler would not drive out the Mennonites but would pass laws to force them to stay, while at the same time severely limiting their freedom. Mennonites had to build their churches facing onto back streets or alleys, and they were forbidden from announcing the beginning of services with the sound of a bell.

In addition, high taxes were enacted in exchange for both continuing the military service exemption, and to keep the states' best farmers from leaving.^[forrás?] In some cases, the entire congregation would give up their belongings to pay the tax to be allowed to leave. If a member or family could not afford the tax, it was often paid by others in the group.

A strong emphasis on "community" was developed under these circumstances. It continues to be typical of Mennonite churches. As a result of frequently being required to give up possessions in order to retain individual freedoms, Mennonites learned to live very simply. This was reflected both in the home and at church, where their dress and their buildings were plain. The music at church, usually simple German chorales, was performed a cappella. This style of music serves as a reminder to many Mennonites of their simple lives, as well as their history as a persecuted people. Some branches of Mennonites have retained this "plain" lifestyle into modern times.

Jacob Amman és az amisok

In 1693 Jacob Amman led an effort to reform the Mennonite church in Switzerland and South Germany to include shunning, to hold communion more often, and other differences. When the discussions fell through, Jacob and his followers split from the other Mennonite congregations. Amman's followers became known as the Amish Mennonites. In later years, other schisms among Amish Mennonites resulted in such groups as the Old Order Amish, New Order Amish, Kaufman Amish Mennonites, Amish Mennonites, Conservative Mennonite Conference, and Biblical Mennonite Alliance.

Russian Mennonites

In 1768 Catherine the Great of Russia acquired a great deal of land north of the Black Sea (in the present-day Ukraine) following a war with the Turks. Russian government officials invited those Mennonites living in Prussia to come farm the Russian steppes in exchange for religious freedom and military exemption. Over the years the Mennonite farmers were very successful. By the beginning of the 20th century they owned large agricultural estates and were even successful as industrial entrepreneurs in the cities. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War (1917–1921) all of these farms (whose owners were called Kulaks) and enterprises were expropriated. Beyond expropriation, Mennonites suffered severe persecution during the course of the Civil War, at the hands of both the Bolsheviks and, particularly, the anarchists of Nestor Makhno who saw Mennonites as privileged foreigners of the upper class and targeted them. Hundreds of Mennonite men, women and children were murdered in these attacks. After the war people who openly followed religion were in many cases imprisoned. This led to a wave of Russian Mennonite emigration to the Americas (U.S., Canada and Paraguay).

When the German army invaded the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941, many in the Mennonite community saw them as liberators from the communist regime under which they had suffered. When the tide of war turned, many of the Mennonites fled with the German army back to Germany where they were accepted as "Volksdeutsche". After the war the remainder of the Mennonite community emigrated or, (because, as the Soviets saw it, they had "collectively collaborated" with the Germans) was forcefully relocated to Siberia and Kazakhstan, and many were sent to Gulags. Many German-Russian Mennonites who lived farther to the east (not western Russia) were deported to Siberia before the German army's invasion, and were also often placed in labor camps. In the 1990s the Russian government gave these people the opportunity to emigrate. The Russian Mennonite immigrants in Germany outnumber the pre-1989 community of Mennonites in Germany by 3 to 1.

The world's most conservative Mennonites (on technology) are the Russian Mennonites of the colonies affiliated with the Lower Barton Creek Colony in Belize. These Mennonites do not use motors, paint, or compressed air.^[forrás?]

North America

Persecution and the search for employment forced Mennonites out of the Netherlands eastward to Germany in the 17th century. As Quaker evangelists moved into Germany they received a sympathetic audience among the larger of these Dutch-Mennonite congregations around Krefeld, Altona-Hamburg, Gronau and Emden. It was among this group of Quakers and Mennonites, living under ongoing discrimination, that William Penn solicited settlers for his new colony. The first permanent settlement of Mennonites in the American Colonies consisted of one Mennonite family and twelve Mennonite-Quaker families of Dutch extraction who arrived from Krefeld, Germany, in 1683 and settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Among these early settlers was William Rittenhouse, a lay minister and owner of the first American paper mill. Jacob Gottschalk was the first bishop of this Germantown congregation. This early group of Mennonites and Mennonite-Quakers wrote the first formal protest against slavery in the United States. The treatise was addressed to slave-holding Quakers in an effort to persuade them to change their ways.

In the 18th century, 100,000 Germans from the Palatinate, collectively known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, emigrated to Pennsylvania. Of these, around 2,500 were Mennonites and 500 Amish. This group settled farther west than the first group, choosing less expensive land in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, area. A member of this second group, Christopher Dock, authored Pedagogy, the first American monograph on education. Today, Mennonites also reside in Kishacoquillas Valley (also known as Big Valley), a valley in Huntingdon and Mifflin counties, also in Pennsylvania.

During the Colonial period, Mennonites were distinguished from other Pennsylvania Germans in three ways: their opposition to the American Revolutionary War, resistance to public education, and disapproval of religious revivalism. Contributions of Mennonites during this period include the idea of separation of church and state and opposition to slavery.

From 1812 to 1860, another wave of immigrants settled farther west in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. These Swiss-German speaking Mennonites, along with Amish, came from Switzerland and the Alsace-Lorraine area. These immigrants, along with the Amish of northern New York state, formed the nucleus of the Apostolic Christian Church in the United States.

The Swiss-German Mennonites that emigrated to North America in the 18th and 19th centuries settled first in Pennsylvania, then across the midwestern states (initially Ohio, Indiana, and Kansas) are the root to the former Mennonite Church denomination (MC), colloquially called the "Old Mennonite Church". This denomination had offices in Elkhart, Indiana, and was the most populous progressive Mennonite denomination before merging with the General Conference Mennonite Church (GCMC) in 2002.

The General Conference Mennonite Church was an association of Mennonite congregations based in North America beginning in 1860. The conference was formed in 1860 when congregations in Iowa invited North American Mennonites to join together in order to pursue common goals such as education and mission work. The conference was especially attractive to recent Mennonite and Amish immigrants to North America and expanded considerably when thousands of Russian Mennonites arrived in North America starting in the 1870s. Conference offices were located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and North Newton, Kansas. The conference supported a seminary and several colleges. It became the second largest Mennonite denomination with 64,431 members in 410 congregations in Canada, the United States and South America in the 1990s. After decades of increasingly closer cooperation with the Mennonite Church, the two groups voted to merge in 1995 and completed reorganization into Mennonite Church Canada in 2000 and Mennonite Church USA in 2002.

Mennonites in Canada were automatically exempt from any type of service during World War I by provisions of the Order in Council of 1873. During World War II, Mennonite conscientious objectors were given the options of noncombatant military service, serving in the medical or dental corps under military control or working in parks and on roads under civilian supervision. Over 95% chose the latter and were placed in Alternative Service camps. Initially the men worked on road building, forestry and firefighting projects. After May 1943, as a labour shortage developed within the nation, men were shifted into agriculture, education and industry. The 10,700 Canadian objectors were mostly Mennonites (63%) and Doukhobors (20%).

Mennonite conscientious objector Harry Lantz distributes rat poison for typhus control in Gulfport, Mississippi (1946).

In the United States, Civilian Public Service (CPS) provided an alternative to military service during World War II. From 1941 to 1947, 4,665 Mennonites, Amish and Brethren in Christ were among nearly 12,000 conscientious objectors who performed work of national importance in 152 CPS camps throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. The draftees worked in areas such as soil conservation, forestry, fire fighting, agriculture, social services and mental health.

The CPS men served without wages and minimal support from the federal government. The cost of maintaining the CPS camps and providing for the needs of the men was the responsibility of their congregations and families. Mennonite Central Committee coordinated the operation of the Mennonite camps. CPS men served longer than regular draftees, not being released until well past the end of the war. Initially skeptical of the program, government agencies learned to appreciate the men's service and requested more workers from the program. CPS made significant contributions to forest fire prevention, erosion and flood control, medical science and reform of the mental health system.

Schisms

{{Unreferenced section}} Prior to migration to America, Anabaptists in Europe were divided between those of Dutch and Swiss-German background. However, both Dutch and Swiss groups took their name from Menno Simons who led the Dutch group. A trickle of Dutch Mennonites began the migration to America in 1683, followed by a much larger migration of Swiss-German Mennonites beginning in 1707.

After immigration to America, many of the early Mennonites split from the main body of North American Mennonites and formed their own separate and distinct churches. The first schism in America occurred in 1778 when Bishop Christian Funk support of the American Revolution lead to his excommunication and the formation of a separate Mennonite group known as Funkites. In 1785 this process continued with the formation of the orthodox Reformed Mennonite Church and continues into the 21st century. Many of these churches were formed as a response to deep disagreements about theology, doctrine, and church discipline as evolution both inside and outside the Mennonite faith occurred. Many of the modern churches descended from those groups that abandoned traditional Mennonite practices.

These historical schisms have had an influence on creating the distinct Mennonite denominations, sometimes using mild or severe shunning to show its disapproval of other Mennonite groups.

Schools

Several Mennonite groups have their own private or parochial schools. Conservative groups, like the Holdeman, have not only their own schools, but their own curriculum and teaching staff (usually, but not exclusively, young unmarried women). See also category:Mennonite schools.

Secondary schools

Canada

• Eden High School, St. Catharines, Ontario
• Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute, Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Mennonite Collegiate Institute, Gretna, Manitoba
• Mennonite Educational Institute, Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
• Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
• Rosthern Junior College, Rosthern, Saskatchewan
• Westgate Mennonite Collegiate, Winnipeg, Manitoba

United States

• Belleville Mennonite School, Belleville, Pennsylvania
• Bethany Christian Schools, Goshen, Indiana
• Central Christian School, Kidron, Ohio
• Christopher Dock Mennonite High School, Lansdale, Pennsylvania
• Eastern Mennonite High School, Harrisonburg, Virignia
• Freeman Academy, Freeman, South Dakota
• Immanuel Schools, Reedley, CA
• Iowa Mennonite School, Kalona, Iowa
• Lancaster Mennonite High School
• Philadelphia Mennonite High School
• Sarasota Christian School, Sarasota, Florida
• Western Mennonite School, Salem, Oregon

Controversy in Quebec

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Quebec does not allow these parochial schools, as the Quebec government imposes its curriculum on all schools (public and private), while private schools may only add optional material to the compulsory curriculum but may not replace it. The Quebec curriculum is unacceptable to the parents of the only Mennonite school in the province. They have said they will leave Quebec, after the Education Ministry has threatened legal actions would be taken and that Youth Protection services might become involved if the children were not to register with the Education Ministry and either home-school using the Government approved material, or attend a "sanctioned" school. The local population and its mayor support the local Mennonites. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada has also written to the Quebec government to express its concerns about this situation. This story has received quite a large echo in circles defending religious freedom, so much so that the Becket Fund placed Quebec on its weekly report of threatened religious traditions. Latest reports indicate that several Mennonites families have already left Quebec to protect their children.

Post-secondary schools

Canada

• Bethany College, Hepburn, Saskatchewan
• Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Columbia Bible College, Abbotsford, British Columbia
• Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, Ontario (part of the University of Waterloo)
• Menno Simons College, Winnipeg, Manitoba (part of Canadian Mennonite University but affiliated with and located at the University of Winnipeg).
• Steinbach Bible College, Steinbach, Manitoba

United States

• Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas
• Bluffton University, Bluffton, Ohio
• Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia
• Fresno Pacific University, Fresno, California
• Goshen College, Goshen, Indiana
• Hesston College, Hesston, Kansas
• Rosedale Bible College, Rosedale, Ohio
• Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kansas

Sexuality, marriage, and family mores

The Mennonite church has no formal celibate religious order similar to monasticism, but recognizes the legitimacy of and honors both the single state and the sanctity of marriage of its members. Single persons are expected to be chaste, and marriage is held to be a lifelong, monogamous, faithful covenant between a man and a woman. In conservative groups, divorce is discouraged, and it is believed that the "hardness of the heart" of people is the ultimate cause of divorce. Some conservative churches have disciplined members who have unilaterally divorced their spouses outside of cases of sexual unfaithfulness or acute abuse.^[forrás?] Until approximately the 1960s or 1970s, before the more widespread urbanization of the Mennonite demographic, divorce was, in fact, quite rare. In recent times, divorce is more common, and also carries less stigma, particularly in cases where abuse was apparent.

Traditionally, very modest dress was expected, particularly in conservative Mennonite circles, but again, as the Mennonite population became urbanized and more integrated into the wider culture, this visible difference has disappeared outside of conservative Mennonite groups.

Some Mennonite communities embrace the idea of the rumspringa, or that concept that young adults (peoples in their teens) may engage in rebellious behavior, often ignoring religious participation and engaging in behaviors that are "bad" but not necessarily illegal (drinking, partying, sneaking out, etc.).^[forrás?] They are then expected to either conform to community standards or leave after entering adulthood (usually around the time they finish college, at the latest).^[forrás?]

Some of these expelled congregations were dually affiliated with the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church, the latter of which did not act to expel the same congregations. When these two Mennonite denominations formally completed their merger in 2002 to become the new Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada denominations, it was still not clear, in all cases, whether or not the congregations that were expelled from one denomination, yet included in the other, are considered to be "inside" or "outside" of the new merged denomination. Also, some Mennonite conferences have chosen to maintain such "disciplined" congregations as "associate" or "affiliate" congregations in the conferences, rather than to expel such congregations. In virtually every case, a dialogue continues between the disciplined congregations and the denomination, as well as their current or former conferences.

The Mennonite church in the Netherlands (Doopsgezinde Kerk) was the first Dutch church to have a female pastor — Anna Zernike — authorized in 1911.

Theology

Mennonite theology emphasizes the primacy of the teachings of Jesus as recorded in New Testament scripture. They hold in common the ideal of a religious community based on New Testament models and imbued with the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount. Their core beliefs deriving from Anabaptist traditions are:

• Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ
• The authority of Scripture and the Holy Spirit.
• Believer's baptism understood as threefold: Baptism by the spirit (internal change of heart), baptism by water (public demonstration of witness), and baptism by blood (martyrdom and asceticism or the practice of strict self-denial as a measure of personal and especially spiritual discipline).
• Discipleship understood as an outward sign of an inward change.
• Discipline in the church, informed by New Testament teaching, particularly of Jesus (for example {{bibleref|Matthew|18:15-18}}). Some Mennonite churches practice the Meidung (shunning).
• The Lord's Supper understood as a memorial rather than as a sacrament or Christian rite, ideally shared by baptized believers within the unity and discipline of the church.

One of the earliest expressions of their faith was the Schleitheim Confession, adopted on February 24, 1527. Its seven articles covered:

• Believer's baptism
• The Ban (excommunication)
• Breaking of bread (Communion)
• Separation from and shunning of the abomination (the Roman Catholic Church and other "worldly" groups and practices)
• Pastors in the church
• Renunciation of the sword (nonresistance, nonviolence and pacifism)
• Renunciation of the oath (swearing as proof of truth)

The Dordrecht Confession of Faith was adopted on April 21, 1632, by Dutch Mennonites, by Alsatian Mennonites in 1660, and by North American Mennonites in 1725. There is no official creed or catechism of which acceptance is required by congregations or members. However, there are structures and traditions taught as in the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective of Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA.

Worship, doctrine, and tradition

{{POV-check}} There is a wide scope of worship, doctrine and traditions among Mennonites today. This section shows the main types of Mennonites as seen from North America. It is far from a specific study of all Mennonite classifications worldwide but it does show a somewhat representative sample of the complicated classifications within the Mennonite faith worldwide.

Moderate Mennonites include the largest denominations, the Mennonite Brethren and the Mennonite Church. In most forms of worship and practice they differ very little from other Protestant congregations. There is no special form of dress and no restrictions on use of technology. Worship styles vary greatly between different congregations. There is no formal liturgy; services typically consist of singing, scripture reading, prayer and a sermon. Some churches prefer hymns and choirs; others make use of contemporary Christian music with electronic instruments. Mennonite congregations are self-supporting and appoint their own ministers. There is no requirement for ministers to be approved by the denomination, and sometimes ministers from other denominations will be appointed. A small sum, based on membership numbers, is paid to the denomination, which is used to support central functions such as publication of newsletters and interactions with other denominations and other countries. The distinguishing characteristics of moderate Mennonite churches tend to be ones of emphasis rather than rule. There is an emphasis on peace, on community and service. However, members do not live in community — they participate in the general community as 'salt and light' to the world (Matt 5:13,14). The main elements of Menno Simons' doctrine are retained, but in a moderated form. Banning is rarely practiced and would in any event have much less effect than those denominations where community is more tight-knit. Excommunication can occur, and was notably applied by the Mennonite Brethren to members who joined the military during the Second World War. Service in the military is generally not permitted, but service in the legal profession or law enforcement is acceptable. Outreach and help to the wider community at home and abroad is encouraged. Mennonite Central Committee is a leader in foreign aid provision.

The Reformed Mennonite Church, with members in the United States and Canada, represents the first division in the original North American Mennonite body. Called the First Keepers of the Old Way by author Stephen Scott, the Reformed Mennonite Church formed in the very early 19th century. Reformed Mennonites see themselves as true followers of Menno Simons' teachings and of the teachings of the New Testament. They have no church rules, but they rely solely on the Bible as their guide. They insist on strict separation from all other forms of worship and dress in conservative plain garb that preserves 18th century Mennonite details. However, they refrain from forcing their Mennonite faith on their children, allow their children to attend public schools, and have permitted the use of automobiles. They are notable for being the church of Milton S. Hershey's mother and famous for the long and bitter ban of Robert Bear, a Pennsylvania farmer who rebelled against what he saw as dishonesty and disunity in the leadership.

Holdeman Mennonites were founded from a schism in 1859, the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite church has about 22,000 members worldwide. They are known as Holdeman Mennonites after their founder. They emphasize evangelical conversion and strict church discipline. They stay separate from other Mennonite groups because of their emphasis on the one-true church doctrine and their use of avoidance toward their own excommunicated members. The Holdeman mennonites do not believe that the use of modern technology is sin in itself. But they discourage too intensive use of internet and avoid television, cameras and radio.

Old Order Mennonites cover many distinct groups. Some groups use horse and buggies for transportation and speak German while others drive cars and speak English. What most Old Orders share in common is conservative doctrine, dress, and traditions, common roots in 19th century and early 20th century schisms, and a refusal to participate in politics and other so-called 'sins of the world'. Most Old Order groups also school their children in Mennonite-operated schools.

Mennonite Horse and Carriage

• Horse and Buggy Old Order Mennonites came from the main series of Old Order schisms that began in 1872 and ended in 1901 in Ontario, Canada, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the US Midwest, as conservative Mennonites fought the radical changes that the influence of 19th century American revivalism had on Mennonite worship. Most Horse and Buggy Old Order Mennonites allow the use of tractors for farming, although some groups insist on steel-wheeled tractors to prevent tractors from being used for road transportation. Like the Stauffer or Pike Mennonites (origin 1845 in Lancaster Pennsylvania), the Groffdale Conference, and the Old Order Mennonite Conference of Ontario, they stress separation from the world, excommunicate and wear plain clothes. Some Old Order Mennonite groups are unlike the Stauffer or Pike Mennonites; in that their form of the Ban is less severe because the ex-communicant is not shunned, and is therefore is not excluded from the family table, shunned by a spouse or cutoff from business dealings.

• Automobile Old Order Mennonites, also known as Weaverland Conference Mennonites (having their origins in the Weaverland District of the Lancaster Conference -- also calling "Horning"), or Wisler Mennonites in the US Midwest, or the Markham/Waterloo Conference having its origins from the Old Order Mennonites of Ontario, Canada, also evolved from the main series of Old Order schisms from 1872-1901. They often share the same meeting houses with, and adhere to almost identical forms of Old Order worship as their Horse and Buggy Old Order brethren with whom they parted ways in the early 20th century. Although this group began using cars in 1927, the cars were required to be plain and painted black. The largest group of Automobile Old Orders are still known today as "Black Bumper" Mennonites because some members still paint their chrome bumpers black.

Stauffer Mennonites or Pike Mennonites represent one of the first and most conservative form of North American Horse and Buggy Mennonites. They were founded in 1845, following conflicts about how to discipline child and spousal abuse by a few Mennonite church members. They almost immediately began to split into separate churches themselves. Today these groups are among the most conservative of all Swiss Mennonites outside the Amish. They stress strict separation from "the world", adhere to "strict withdrawal from and shunning of apostate and separated members", forbid and limit cars and technology, and wear plain clothing.

Conservative Mennonites are generally considered those Mennonites who maintain somewhat conservative dress, although carefully accepting other technology. They are not a unified group and are divided into various independent conferences and fellowships such as the Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church conference. Despite the rapid changes that precipitated the Old Order schisms in the last quarter of the 19th century, most Mennonites in the United States and Canada retained a core of traditional beliefs based on literal interpretation of the New Testament Scriptures as well as more external 'Plain' practices into the beginning of the 20th century. However, disagreements in the United States and Canada between conservative and progressive (i.e. less emphasis on literal interpretation of scriptures) leaders began in the first half of the 20th century and continue to some extent today. Following WWII, a conservative movement emerged from scattered separatist groups as a reaction to the Mennonite Churches drifting away from the churches historical traditions. 'Plain' became passé as open criticisms of traditional beliefs and practices broke out in the 1950s and 1960s.^[forrás?] The first conservative withdrawals from the progressive group began in the 1950s. These withdrawals continue to the present day in what is now the growing Conservative Movement formed from Mennonite schisms and/or from combinations with progressive Amish groups. While Moderate and Progressive Mennonite congregations have dwindled in size, the Conservative Movement congregations continue to exhibit considerable growth.^[forrás?] Other Conservative Mennonite groups descend from the former Amish-Mennonite churches, who split from the Old Order Amish in the latter part of the 19th century like the Wisler Mennonites. (The Wisler Mennonites are a grouping descended from the Old Mennonite Church). There are also other Conservative Mennonite churches that descend from more recent groups that have left the Amish like the Beachy Amish or the Tennessee Brotherhood Churches.

Progressive Mennonite churches allow LGBTQ members to worship as church members and have been banned from membership in some cases in the moderate groups as result. The Germantown Mennonite Church in Germantown, Pennsylvania is one example of such a progressive Mennonite church. Progressive Mennonite Churches place a great emphasis on the Mennonite tradition's teachings on peace and non-violence.

Membership

In 2006, there were 1,478,540 Mennonites in 65 countries. The United States had the highest number of Mennonites with 368,280 members, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo with 216,268 members. The third largest concentration of Mennonites was in India with 146,095 members, while the fourth largest population was in Canada with 131,384 members. Europe, the birthplace of Mennonites, had 52,222 members.

Africa has the highest membership growth rate by far, with 10% to 12% rise every year, particularly in Ethiopia. Growth in Mennonite membership is slow but steady in North America, the Asia/Pacific region, and the South/Central America and Caribbean region. Europe has seen a slow and accelerating decline in Mennonite membership since about 1980.

Some churches in North America have begun profiling potential members and with some success have targeted inner city minorities in their recruitment efforts. Growth in the traditional churches is outpacing growth in the moderate churches.

Organization worldwide

Mennonites children from San Ignacio, Paraguay.

The most basic unit of organization among Mennonites is the church. There are hundreds or thousands of Mennonite churches, many of which are separate from all others. Some churches are members of regional or area conferences. Some, but far from all, regional or area conferences are members of larger national or world conferences. Thus, there is no single authorized organization that includes all Mennonite churches worldwide.

Instead, there is a host of separate churches along with a myriad of separate conferences with no particular responsibility to any other group. Independent churches can contain as few as 50 members or as many as 20,000 members. Similar size differences occur among separate conferences. Worship, church discipline and lifestyles vary widely between progressive, moderate, conservative, Old Order and orthodox Mennonites in a vast panoply of distinct, independent, and widely dispersed classifications. For these reasons, no single group of Mennonites anywhere can credibly claim to represent, speak for, or lead all Mennonites worldwide.

The twelve largest Mennonite groups are:

1. Mennonite Brethren (300,000 members on 6 continents worldwide)
2. Old Order Amish Church (250,000 in North America)
3. Meserete Kristos Church in Ethiopia (120,600 members;126,000 more followers attending alike churches)
4. Old Colony Mennonite Church (120,000 in US, Canada, Mexico, Belize, Argentina, and Bolivia)
5. Mennonite Church USA with 114,000 members in the United States
6. Brethren in Christ with 100,000 US and worldwide members
7. Communauté Mennonite au Congo (87,000).
8. Kanisa La Mennonite Tanzania with 50,000 members in 240 congregations
9. Deutsche Mennonitengemeinden with 40,000 members in Germany [2]
10. Mennonite Church Canada with 35,000 members in Canada
11. Conservative Mennonites with 30,000 members in over 500 US churches (2008 CLP church directory).
12. Church of God in Christ, Mennonite with 21,765 members in about 19,000 in the US and Canada, with the remaining in members in 32 other countries (2008 data)

The Mennonite World Conference is a global community of 95 Mennonite and Brethren in Christ Mennonite national Churches from 51 countries on six continents. It exists to "facilitate community between Anabaptist-related churches worldwide, and relate to other Christian world communions and organizations", but it is not a 'governing body' of any kind. It is a voluntary community of faith whose decisions are not binding on member churches. The member churches of Mennonite World Conference include the Mennonite Brethren, the Mennonite Church USA, and the Mennonite Church Canada, with a combined total membership of at least 400,000, or about 30% of Mennonites worldwide.

Organization: North America

Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church in rural Goessel, Kansas

In 2003, there were about 323,000 Mennonites in the United States. About 110,000 were members of Mennonite Church USA churches, about 26,000 were members of Mennonite Brethren churches, and about 40,000 (2008 CLP church directory) were members of conservative churches. It is not known how many old order Mennonites there are. (That leaves about 147,000 Mennonites unaccounted for in other United States' churches.) Other sources list 236,084 total United States Mennonites.

Total membership in Mennonite Church USA denominations decreased from about 133,000, before the merger in 1998, to about 114,000 after the merger in 2003. The Mennonite Church USA has begun profiling potential members and has been successful at recruiting inner-city minorities into the church in several large cities in the United States. Significant growth in the conservative churches seems to be occurring by itself in the already existing communities.

In Canada, in 2003 there were around 130,000 Mennonites. About 37,000 of those were members of Mennonite Church Canada churches and about another 35,000 of those were members of Mennonite Brethren churches. About 5,000 belonged to conservative Old Order Mennonite churches, or other ultra-conservative and orthodox churches. (That leaves about 55,000 Mennonites unaccounted for in other Canadian churches).

As of 2003, there were an estimated 80,000 Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico. These Mennonites descend from a mass migration in the 1920s of roughly 6,000 Old Colony Mennonites from the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In 1921, a Canadian Mennonite delegation arriving in Mexico received a privilegium, a promise of non-interference, from the Mexican government. This guarantee of many freedoms was the impetus that created the two original Old Colony settlements near Patos (Nuevo Ideal), Durango, and Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua.

Organization: United Kingdom

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There is the United Kingdom Mennonite Ministry, which is part of the Nationwide Mennonites from Wisconsin (USA) which meets in Old Sodbury. There are also the British Conference of Mennonites, and the London Mennonite Centre.

See also

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• Amish
• Anabaptism
• Canadian Mennonite University
• Eastern Mennonite Missions
• Excommunication
• Funkite
• Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
• Guy Hershberger
• Hutterites
• Living in A Perfect World
• Martyrs Mirror
• Mennonite Central Committee
• Mennonite Church Canada
• Mennonite denominations
• Mennonite Disaster Service
• Mennonites in Belize
• Mennonites in Bolivia
• Mennonites in France
• Mennonites in Mexico
• Mennonites in Paraguay
• Mennonite settlements of Altai
• More-with-Less Cookbook
• Orthodox Mennonites (Canada)
• Hans Reist
• Schleitheim Confession
• Shunning
• Silent Light a 2007 film by the Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas set in a Mennonite community telling the story of a married man who falls in love with another woman.
• Simple living
• Ten Thousand Villages
• Virginia Mennonite Missions
• John Howard Yoder

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