Please edumacate me! Are the terms Mennonite and Amish

[TheDebbieDee]

interchangeable? If not, can you please tell me the difference between the two?

I'm not trying to be a smarta$$ - I'd just like to know. Thanks in advance.

[mockmonkey]

1. Mennonites

are not as strict. I've worked in factories with some whereas I don't think the Amish would allow that.

[kestrel91316]

7. I think in northern Indiana .........

a lot of the young Amish men work in the RV factories before they marry and take up farming.

[dchill]

17. You are correct, sir.

n/t

[Just Me]

2. Why? What does it matter? Do you have some issue about that?

How are the differences impactful? What prompted you to ask?

Just curious.

[TheDebbieDee]

11. I don't have any issues with Mennonites or the Amish..........

I read in another thread that some pacifist churches (namely the Quakers, the Brethren and the Mennonites) were preparing their young men to be conscientious objectors in case the draft is re-instated in the US.

Anyway, I was wondering if the reason the Amish weren't mentioned is because they also Mennonites. Just curious.

[kestrel91316]

14. I think the reason the Amish weren't mentioned ........

is because the Amish don't go to the media about anything. Nor would the MSM be able to get any interviews with them. They avoid publicity because it singles out individuals for special attention, which would tend to give them a big head..........a major no-no if you are Amish.

Edited for spelling error.

[Blue_In_AK]

15. Quakers, Brethren and Mennonites

have traditionally been the "peace churches" for conscientious objector purposes, so this isn't anything new. I was born and raised Quaker and Brethren, and I remember during the Vietnam years my folks would always invite the boys doing alternative service with Church World Service in Houston to our home for holiday dinners since they were far from home. Some of them became my good friends. They were just regular kids (like I was) ... They didn't have any issues at all with modern conveniences and so on, rock and roll, etc. (dare I say -- strip poker at my apartment??) ... the only thing that was different was their strong religious convictions against going to war.

[Lorien]

18. My Grandparents and mother were Mennonites

and they lived in an Amish community and had many Amish friends. The Amish are more strict and self isolating, and Mennonites use electricity-though both groups share the ideology that one should not take more than one needs from the earth (both are big on environmentalism)and that materialism is sinful. Mennonites also tend to be more involved in volunteer work -especially to end hunger and poverty both here and abroad. They also tend to be very liberal in their political viewpoints (my grandmother marched for civil rights and defended gays in her community-she felt strongly about not judging others)while Amish practice "shunning". Both Mennonites and Amish are pacifists.

I wish that my mother were still a Mennonite; she became a Baptist 20 years ago. :-(

[kestrel91316]

23. The Mennonite focus on works .............

(good works, charity, etc), rather than just faith, is why some "christians" of the fundamentalist ilk look down their noses at them. I personally admire the Mennonites greatly for their willingness to render aid to whoever needs it and not just members of their own church. They proselytize, but are not pushy about it, but very polite.

[CatholicEdHead]

25. They have their own anti-war group in Iraq

http://www.cpt.org

[Tom Kitten]

12. For being "just" curious...

Why? What does it matter? Do you have some issue about that?
How are the differences impactful? What prompted you to ask?

are rather interrogative questions, why do you ask them? What exactly is your agenda here, anyways?

[LeftyMom]

3. No

There are several groups of Mennonites, they're a plain group and peace church, like the Amish, but they aren't as technophobic. They have cars (not flashy) and appliances and such, but they dress in a very conservative manner and avoid ostentatiousness. Like the Amish, they take work ethic very seriously.

[kestrel91316]

8. Interestingly .........

there are some more progressive Amish groups like the Beachy Amish that drive cars (no chrome allowed, too showy) and are MORE progressive than some of the more conservative Mennonites (Old Order Mennonites). The Old Order Amish (the most conservative) are even fragmented into dozens of groups with different rules for living (the Ordnung). So you can't even generalize about Amish vs Mennonites much it seems. Fascinating people, all of them.

[kestrel91316]

4. Nope, not the same ..........

The Mennonite Church was founded by Menno Simons around the time of Luther and the Reformation. Menno Simons was Swiss, I believe. He formed a type of protestant church group known as Anabaptists. They were famously pacifists and believed in adult baptism and living separate from "the world". Many were executed for their beliefs (the martyrs). Then I think in the 1700s there was an offshoot group formed by one Jacob Ammans. He was an Anabaptist fundamentalist of sorts, and wanted to get back to some older traditions. His group took up the name Amish. They were at one time referred to as Amish Mennonites to differentiate them from plain old regular Mennonites I suppose. The Amish are the ones in PA and OH and IN and elsewhere that don't drive cars or have electricity in their homes, wear old-fashioned clothing, have horses and buggies, and are mostly farmers (excellent ones). The Mennonites are much more urbanized in many cases, and don't dress any differently than you or I. Both Mennonites and Amish are pacifists. Only the Amish engage in shunning. Both do only adult baptism. You can find out lots more by googling Amish and Mennonites. Mennonite Central Committee is a good source of info.

I know a lot about them because some ancestors of mine were Amish and Mennonites and even Dunkers and Brethren. So I have done a lot of reading about these fascinating religious groups. Amish Society by John Hostetler is an excellent read if you have the inclination.

[bloom]

9. I have some ancestors who were Mennonites, as well.

They were German - and ended up going through Switzerland to try to escape persecution.

[CC]

5. Mennonite's aren't as strict

and basically are like the rest of the world. At least the ones I know are. They go to public schools, drive cars, owns houses etc. The Amish believe in the old ways, no cars, electricity, phones etc. They do allow propane power refrigerators. Their community owns all property though families do live and run their own houses/farms/ business. You could probably google information on both sects.

[kestrel91316]

10. Amish do NOT hold property in common ........

they own their land and homes like the rest of us. The HUTTERITES are the group that you are thinking of. They live primarily in SD, ND, and Canada, and are true Christian Socialists.

Now, the Amish do have a well-developed social insurance thing where if somebody's barn burns down, everybody pitches in to rebuild it. And they do not pay into Social Security (religious exemption) becaus ethey take care of their own elderly 100% of the time.

[hfojvt]

19. my hometown is about 15 miles from one of those Hutterite colonies

However, many of their descendants, who left the colony, are still in the area, and many of them attend mennonite churches. I attended one of those myself for a summer, but it was not a strict one like the rural one in Wisconsin which I also attended (a mennonite family rented the mobil home down the road from my property). They dressed Amish, and wore their hair Amish and spoke German, but they used electricity, power lawn-mowers, and owned a station wagon. Their church service was very long, and women and men sat on opposite sides of the church and we sang without musical accompaniment.

[CC]

20. sorry about that then.

Maybe it is the younger ones just starting off then and temporary. I was told that by a young family that moved down here a couple years ago. Lancaster has gotten to expensive for farmland and have quite a few young families buying farms here.

[kestrel91316]

22. I think it is more like ............

family and community extending a loan (maybe interest free) to young people so they can get started in farming. Expensive land is a problem for the Amish. They tend to pack up and move half the community to cheaper pastures when it gets tough enough, which is why you find new settlements of them cropping up in various places in the Midwest and even Oregon.

[JerseygirlCT]

28. It's sad - every time we visit Lancaster

it seems there's less farm land and more retail.

[bloom]

6. Here is site you might find informative:

http://info.mennolink.org/heritage.html

They have common roots - Anabaptists, etc.

The Mennonites that I know of do not live without electricity/etc.

[kestrel91316]

13. Very good site ...........

IIRC there are some very conservative Mennonite sects that live much like the Amish, w/o electricity. But they are not typical Mennonites. Mennonites are also growing rapidly in third world countries, and have a strong presence in minority communities in the US. They started out very white/European, but as they are what I consider Followers of Christ (as opposed to Christofascists) they are inclusive and reach out to the poor and actually act to to help them as opposed to just preaching about personal redemption by saying the magic words.

[yellowdogintexas]

16. The group I knew as "Mennonites" growing up in Kentucky

were the no cars and old fashioned clothes;;no schooling after age 12 type. Beards for the married men; hair tucked under caps for the women, etc.

They drove around the backroads in horse and buggies, but had the baddest tractors in the county. At first it was just one or two families, and they worked their own small farms then hired out to do field work for other farmers..and elderly ladies who owned land but had no family to farm it for them. The children went to public school until they turned 13.

The community has grown considerably since the early 1960's when the first farmers came there. They now have their own elementary school so none of their kids go to public school any more. There are farmers, carpenters, furniture/cabinet makers, metal workers, a bakery, egg & milk sellers, etc. They still speak English with German accents.

In the early 1970's after the community had grown large enough that the dropping out of their highschool age kids caused a "truancy" problem in the school system, the local school board conjured up a lawsuit, which was won by the Mennonites (as predicted and hoped for by the school board). See in Kentucky money is lost by a local school district for each absent child; if a 15 year old child is not in school even if by parents' choice he is truant. Simple as that. The courts decision in this case effectively took all the Mennonite children over age 13 off the county school rolls. Everyone was happy.

Everyone loves them. My sister makes a trip to the bakery every time she comes to visit and stocks up on sweet rolls for her freezer. It is a ritual to go there when we are all together.

Since heavy farm equipment is used, I would say these families are one step up from the most extremely strict.

[kestrel91316]

24. Kentucky does have a group of VERY .........

conservative Mennonites who live more like the Amish, but these are not typical Mennonites.

[goodboy]

21. You know what makes an Amish woman happy?

3 Mennonite.

:silly:

[arwalden]

26. Bwa...

ha ha ha ha ha
:rofl:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

27. Their roots are the same, and there are lots of subgroups of both

The small town in Oregon where I lived for seven years had a Mennonite church. The men dressed very mainstream, but the married women wore caps that were similar to the white caps that Amish women wear but were made out of a gauzy, transparent material.

[bobbieinok]

29. there's even a settlement in OK (not sure if A or M)

one way the group earns money is thru home restaurants.......many church groups reserve tables for church outings

baked goods are sold at the Tulsa Saturday flea market at the fairgrounds

for a while, they had a cafe in the Eastland Shopping Mall, but then they got a contract to be the food provider for the Am Airlines branch in Tulsa

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

31. Mennonites in AR and MO

they have a bakery and salvage store in Harrison, as well as having other small businesses (roofing)-also some in MO. They seem to be linked to groups in IN; one family's daughter married a fellow in IN and moved there.

Arthur IL has been the home of a sect of Old Order Amish for years. They have church services in their homes (on a rotating basis), do farming and cabinetry. They were always friendly to us regular folks. I took friends from Germany to their store, and one young lady said, "Can your friends understand us? We can understand them." (We were speaking German with our friends).

[hallc]

30. Seeing as I am from Lancaster...

The mennonites and amish are separate groups, as most have already said. However, they originated in the same movement in Germany and Switzerland. Not too sure when they split, but the Amish left the Mennonites because the Mennonites were becoming too liberal for them. Now, this is not to say that there aren't conservative Mennonite groups...I know many mennonite families that have buggies and use one room school houses and have no electricity. I also know amish families that have electricity and cars. It all depends on the "church group" you belong to, which gets quite complicated. You can usually tell an Amish from a Mennonite by their last name...Common Amish last names include Stoltzfus, Peachy, and Esh. Common Mennonite names are Weaver, Martin, and Oberholtzer. You can also tell the difference in the women's head coverings. I worked in the Amish and Mennonite Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, PA and got to know many of these families well. Its a shame Lancaster is becoming too expensive for young families to buy land. They are really pushing out a wonderful culture.