What Is a Mennonite?

Whether you were raised Mennonite or you’re just finding out about Mennonites for the first time, here’s your cheatsheet on all things Mennonite!

The first thing to know about Mennonites is that we’re Christians. That means we’re followers of Jesus. Like other Christians, we get together to worship, pray, read the Bible, support each other, and serve our neighbors.

HISTORY

Our history goes back 500 years, to the Reformation in Europe. In 1525, a handful of sincere young Christians in the city of Zurich, Switzerland, were meeting for Bible study in the house of one of their members. At that time, everyone got baptized as babies. But the group had started to believe that only adults could make a serious, lifelong commitment like baptism. So, one night, the group baptized each other, giving the rest of their lives to Jesus. They became known as “Anabaptists” or “re-baptizers” (though they said their “second” baptism was the only one that counted). Their movement spread across central and northern Europe, and eventually took on the name of its most famous leader, a man named Menno Simons.

Click the link below for a sermon on Mennonite history:

JESUS

As Mennonites, we read the whole Bible, but we focus on the story of Jesus in the gospels. Above all, we want to live like Jesus. So, for example, in Matthew 5:39-42, Jesus says, “Don’t oppose those who want to hurt you. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the left cheek to them as well. If someone tries to haul you into court and take your shirt, let them have your coat too. When someone forces you to go one mile, go two.” We take all of that seriously. We don’t serve in the military and are conscientious objectors when our country goes to war, often doing civilian service instead. Having said that, several members of Ambler Mennonite Church have served or have family connections in the military, and we welcome them and the perspective they bring. Many of us also work for peace and justice around the world. We try to love our enemies, like Jesus does, even if it costs us.

COMMUNITY

As Mennonites, we believe that the church is a community. We don’t just see each other on Sundays. We like being involved in each other’s lives. And we don’t think church should be one person telling everyone else what to do. It should be all of us figuring it out together. We have pastors, but everyone in the church is allowed to preach and teach and lead and serve. At Ambler Mennonite Church, we work especially hard at recognizing leadership gifts in people who’ve never seen themselves that way before. We give people opportunities to try new stuff, experiment, and take risks. And if it all fails epically, we give them the grace to try again. Most of our pastors (including our current ones!) have been young people just getting started in ministry.

SERVICE

As Mennonites, we don’t just want to believe our faith, or think our faith, or talk about our faith. We want to do our faith. We want to help people who need help, like Jesus did. So, for example, in April 2023, a group of us from Ambler Mennonite Church spent a week rebuilding houses in Hurley, Virginia, that had been destroyed by flooding and mudslides during Hurricane Ida. We saw this as one concrete way we could do what Jesus tells us to do in Matthew 25:35-36: “I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.”

AROUND THE WORLD

And finally, Mennonites have been getting more and more diverse. The first Mennonites were from central and northern Europe. Because of persecution, many of them emigrated to the United States, founding a settlement in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1683. They still spoke German, and so they mostly kept to themselves. By the late 1800s and early 1900s, however, they’d begun to open up and send missionaries around the world. As a result, there are now rapidly growing Mennonite churches in countries like Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, and Indonesia. Ambler Mennonite Church is a part of a local conference called Mosaic that includes churches that speak English, Spanish, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Cantonese, and Haitian Creole.

Click the links below for interviews Pastors Michelle and Jacob conducted with Mennonites and other Anabaptists from around the world: