Mennonites are Anabaptists, which is a faith stream within Christianity. Anabaptism grew out of the 16th-century Radical Reformation (which followed the Protestant Reformation). Technically, Anabaptists are neither Catholic nor Protestant, although they do share some beliefs of both. The first Anabaptists separated from the state church when they began re-baptizing adults and refusing to baptize infants until they could make an adult decision to follow Christ. Anabaptism literally means to re-baptize. At that time, infant baptism was not only an accepted practice, but it also bestowed citizenship. These early Anabaptist Christians were the forerunners of today’s Anabaptist/Mennonite Christians and many others in the “Free Church” tradition that sought the separation of church and state.

Mennonites are named for Menno Simons (1496-1561), a Dutch priest who embraced Anabaptist theology as an alternative to Catholicism. As an influential Anabaptist leader, he consolidated the work initiated by moderate Anabaptist leaders. Most contemporary Mennonites are not outwardly that different from any person you meet on the street, and in fact live in countries around the world with a wide variety of racial/ethnic backgrounds. Mennonites believe in simple living but express that simplicity in a spirit of stewardship and awareness of the needs of others rather than completely separating from society as the Amish continue to do. Mennonite culture is the social character of the Mennonite sect. The culture has both homogeneous and diverse characteristics. The older orders of community seek to preserve historical character, while progressive communities seek more active involvement in society.

Pacifism is one of the cornerstones of the Mennonite faith, prompting many young Mennonites to elect service to the church rather than military service. The Mennonite church emphasizes service to others as an important way of expressing one’s faith. A disproportionately large number of Mennonites spend part of their lives working as missionaries or volunteers helping those in need, nationally or internationally, through agencies such as Mennonite Mission Network or Mennonite Central Committee. In keeping with their spiritual roots, Mennonites still believe in the close textual readings of the Scriptures and a personal spiritual responsibility as the basis of their faith. Radical from the beginning, but later considered conservative in many of their beliefs, Mennonites have come to represent a spectrum of backgrounds and beliefs.