The Anabaptists

Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites and the Church of the Brethren: churches of baptized believers who govern themselves by the congregation, keep discipline among their members and refuse the sword.

Mennonite Church USA, Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective (1995), full text (PDF)

Mennonite Church USA, FAQ about Mennonites

Mennonite Church USA, History

Mennonite Church USA, Church Structure

Mennonite Church USA, Executive Board Staff

Mennonite World Conference, Shared Convictions

Mennonite World Conference, Membership, map and statistics

Mennonite World Conference, General Council (officers)

U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, Our Story (history)

U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, Confession of Faith (Spanish edition)

Mennonite Central Committee, History

Church of the Brethren, History

Church of the Brethren, Beliefs

Church of the Brethren, Practices

Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, History

Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, Moderator

Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, 1958 Action: Women in the Ministry

Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, 1985 Membership Polity

Brethren Revival Fellowship, Looking at Later Brethren History

Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, Elizabethtown College, Amish Population Profile 2026

Young Center, Amish Studies: Amish Origins

Young Center, Amish Studies: Beliefs

Young Center, Amish Studies: Religious Rituals

Young Center, Amish Studies: Religious Services

Young Center, Amish Studies: Church Discipline

Young Center, Amish Studies: Leadership

Young Center, Amish Studies: Government

Young Center, Amish Studies: Technology

Young Center, Amish Studies: Regulations

Steven M. Nolt (Elizabethtown College), "Research Note: Hutterite Population and Colonies, 2024," Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities 6, no. 1 (2026)

Hutterian Brethren, Hutterites.org

Hutterian Brethren, Questions and Answers About the Faith of the Hutterian Brethren

Hutterian Brethren, History: Community of Goods

Hutterian Brethren, History: Death of Hutter

Hutterian Brethren, Church Services

Hutterian Brethren, Baptism

Hutterian Brethren, FAQs

The Schleitheim Confession (1527), tr. J. C. Wenger, Mennonite Quarterly Review 19 (1945), hosted by the University of Oregon

The Dordrecht Confession of Faith (1632), tr. Joseph Sohm, Wikisource

Thieleman J. van Braght, The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians, Internet Archive

Felix Manz (Wikipedia)

Conrad Grebel (Wikipedia)

Münster rebellion (Wikipedia)

Jakob Ammann (Wikipedia)

The Anabaptist movement began in Zurich in 1525, when a few men who had studied the New Testament with Zwingli would not baptize their children and baptized one another as believers. State churches, Catholic and Protestant, hunted them for it. Out of that persecution came the Swiss Brethren, the Hutterites of Moravia, the Mennonites of the Low Countries and, in 1693, the Amish. The Brethren of Schwarzenau arose in 1708 under Pietist and Anabaptist influence.

Believers baptized in Zurich

The Zurich Council ordered Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz to stop their home Bible studies, "and so the group broke completely with the established church." They had disagreed with Zwingli, "arguing for believers’ baptism rather than infant baptism," and they "advocated the separation of church and state." On 21 January 1525 they met to pray, and in the Mennonite Brethren's account "every person present was baptized and pledged to live in separation from the world."

Zurich drowns Felix Manz

"On 7 March 1526, the Zürich council had passed an edict that made adult re-baptism punishable by drowning." On 5 January 1527 Felix Manz "became the first casualty of the edict." He was drowned in Lake Zürich, the first Swiss Anabaptist put to death by a Protestant government.

The Schleitheim Confession

A Swiss Brethren conference adopted seven articles on 24 February 1527: baptism, the ban, the breaking of bread, separation from evil, pastors in the church, the sword and the oath. Michael Sattler is believed to have been "the chief author." The translator notes that "Sattler himself was burned at the stake less than three months after the Schleitheim conference."

Community of goods in Moravia

When a lord at Nikolsburg in Moravia offered to defend the Anabaptists by force, about two hundred who held to nonresistance left under Jacob Wiedemann. Outside the town Wiedemann spread a blanket, and "all the members gave their possessions with willing hearts." The Hutterites date their common life from this. Jakob Hutter of Tyrol joined them in 1529 and was chosen chief elder in 1533.

Münster

In February 1534 Anabaptists who followed Melchior Hoffman seized the city hall of Münster in Westphalia, and they held the city until its fall in June 1535. Under John of Leiden, who claimed "visions from heaven" and called himself "the successor of David," the city took up the sword and "made polygamy compulsory." Those who did this were Anabaptists, and the name carried the disgrace, but they were not the whole movement. In the Low Countries "nonresistant Anabaptists found leaders in Menno Simons and the brothers Obbe and Dirk Philips," who "repudiated the distinctive doctrines of the Münster Anabaptists."

Menno Simons joins the Anabaptists

Menno Simons, a Dutch priest, had concluded by 1531 that infant baptism had no basis in Scripture. Then his brother was killed in "a revolutionary battle for an error in teaching that developed in a segment of the Anabaptist movement." Menno went public, was rebaptized and "in 1537 officially joined the Anabaptist movement." By 1542 there was a price of 100 gold guilders on his head. The Mennonites take his name.

The Dordrecht Confession

Dutch Mennonite leaders adopted the eighteen articles of the Dordrecht Confession on 21 April 1632, among them nonviolence, the refusal of oaths, foot washing and the shunning of those put out of the church. Pennsylvania Mennonite ministers adopted it in 1725, and the Amish hold it still.

Jakob Ammann and the Amish

In 1693 the Swiss Anabaptist leader Jakob Ammann "sought to revitalize the Anabaptist movement." He proposed communion twice a year rather than once, urged foot washing in the communion service, "forbade the trimming of beards and the wearing of fashionable dress," and advocated shunning excommunicated members. "This issue drove a divisive wedge between his followers and other Anabaptists." His followers became the Amish.

Eight baptized at Schwarzenau

"In August 1708 five men and three women gathered at the Eder River in Schwarzenau for baptism, an illegal act since all had been baptized as infants." An unnamed member of the group baptized Alexander Mack, and Mack baptized the other seven. "This new group simply called themselves ‘brethren.’" This is the beginning of the Church of the Brethren.

The Mennonite Brethren

Among the Mennonites of the Molotschna colony in the Ukraine, revival came through Pietist preaching. On 6 January 1860 eighteen men signed a letter of secession, and nine more within two weeks, holding to Menno's teaching and objecting to abuses in "baptism, the Lord’s Supper, church discipline, pastoral leadership and lifestyle."

Mennonite Central Committee

"MCC was formed in 1920 to provide food for families suffering from famine and disease in southern Russia (present-day Ukraine)." It became the relief and service agency of many Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches.

Mennonite Church USA

"Today’s denomination was born in 2002 when the U.S. congregations of the General Conference Mennonite Church (GC) and the Mennonite Church (MC) merged to create Mennonite Church USA."

Conrad Grebel

A son of a leading Zurich family who joined Zwingli's study group. After the city council "decided in favor of Zwingli and infant baptism" on 17 January 1525, the group met four days later: George Blaurock asked Grebel to baptize him "upon a confession of faith," and Blaurock then baptized the others. Grebel died in 1526.

Michael Sattler

A former monk, believed to have been the chief author of the Schleitheim Confession of 1527. He was burned at the stake less than three months after the conference.

Menno Simons

A Dutch priest who turned to the New Testament and left Rome for the Anabaptists. He did not found them, but "rallied a scattered people and led them through a time of great tribulation." He wrote over two dozen books and pamphlets "on the run," with 1 Corinthians 3:11 on the title page of all of them.

Jakob Hutter

A Tyrolean Anabaptist who united his followers with the community in Moravia and, as chief elder from 1533, gave its common life its rules and order. He was captured in Tyrol on 29 November 1535, tortured, and burned at the stake in Innsbruck on 25 February 1536. The Hutterites are named for him.

Jakob Ammann

Swiss Anabaptist leader who moved to Alsace. His 1693 proposals for twice-yearly communion, foot washing, plain dress and shunning divided the Swiss Brethren and gave the Amish their name. The date and place of his death are unknown.

Alexander Mack

A miller who "had been influenced by both Pietism and Anabaptism." He was among the eight baptized at Schwarzenau in August 1708 and baptized seven of them himself. Most Brethren left Europe by 1740, and Mack "brought a group over in 1729."

Persecution and the Martyrs Mirror. The Young Center at Elizabethtown College says that "nearly 2,500 Anabaptists burned at the stake, drowned in rivers, starved in prisons, or lost their heads to the executioner’s sword" over several decades. The Martyrs Mirror, first published in Dutch in 1660, records these deaths and is read among the Amish still. Its title page names its subject as those "Who Baptized Only Upon Confession of Faith, and Who Suffered and Died for the Testimony of Jesus, Their Savior, From the Time of Christ to the Year A.D. 1660" (Internet Archive).

Münster, handled fairly. Münster cannot be waved away: the men who held the city by the sword were Anabaptists. But the bodies that survive did not come from it. The Swiss Brethren had renounced the sword at Schleitheim in 1527, and the brethren who became the Hutterites had left Nikolsburg in 1528 rather than be defended by force. In the Low Countries the peaceful party gathered around Obbe and Dirk Philips and Menno Simons, and at Bocholt in August 1536 it disputed polygamy and "the use of force" with the survivors of Münster (Wikipedia).

The Brethren divide and change. In November 1881 traditionalist Brethren formed the Old German Baptist Brethren, and in June 1883 progressives formed the Brethren Church. The Brethren Revival Fellowship records that in 1958 "the Annual Conference made two major decisions which diminished the requirements for church membership": "new members could transfer to the Church of the Brethren without baptism by trine immersion, and approval was given to observe a bread-and-cup communion instead of the full three-part Lovefeast" (BRF). The same Annual Conference granted women "full and unrestricted rights in the ministry" (Annual Conference).

Who leads today. Mennonite World Conference: president Henk Stenvers and general secretary César García (MWC). Mennonite Church USA: executive director Glen Guyton (MC USA). Church of the Brethren Annual Conference: moderator Dennis Beckner (Annual Conference). The Amish and the Hutterites have no national officers.

The Bible is the standard of faith and life, read together by the congregation under the Spirit. The Amish add the Ordnung and the Dordrecht Confession, and the Brethren give Annual Conference the final say on church matters.

The Anabaptist bodies say that Scripture is their authority, and that the whole church reads it together. Mennonite Church USA says that tradition, culture, experience, reason and political powers must be "tested and corrected by the light of Holy Scripture." The Church of the Brethren has no creed.

Each body adds something of its own. The Amish say little in formal doctrine, but their beliefs are shaped by the Martyrs Mirror, the Ausbund hymnal and the Dordrecht Confession, which candidates for baptism review before they join, and by the Ordnung, the unwritten rules of each district. The Brethren say that their Annual Conference is "the highest and final legislative authority" in the church.

We accept the Scriptures as the Word of God and as the fully reliable and trustworthy standard for Christian faith and life.

As a faith community, we accept the Bible as our authority for faith and life, interpreting it together under Holy Spirit guidance, in the light of Jesus Christ to discern God's will for our obedience.

We hold the New Testament as our guidebook for living, affirming with it the need for lifelong and faithful study of the Scriptures.

Dordrecht, Article V, on the New Testament: "neither angel nor man may alter it, nor add to it nor take away from it." The Brethren: "The central emphasis of the Church of the Brethren is not a creed, but a commitment to follow Christ in simple obedience, to be faithful disciples in the modern world." The Young Center on the Amish: "In addition to Luther’s German Bible, the Martyrs Mirror, the Ausbund, and the Dordrecht Confession of Faith are key sources for their beliefs."

A person is saved by repenting and trusting Christ, and is baptized as a believer, never as an infant. Most of these bodies call the water a sign and a pledge; the Hutterite catechism ties it to the forgiveness of sins. The Brethren and Mennonite Brethren immerse, the Hutterites pour, and Mennonite Church USA allows either, or sprinkling.

The Anabaptists teach that a person is saved by repenting and trusting in Jesus Christ, and that baptism is for one who already believes. In Mennonite Church USA, baptism is "for those who are of the age of accountability and who freely request baptism," and the water is "a sign of their cleansing from sin" and a pledge before the church. The Dordrecht Confession says that without faith and a changed life no outward act, "baptism, supper, church [membership], nor any other outward ceremony," can please God. The Amish baptize most of their young people between 18 and 22, with a vow to uphold the Ordnung for life. The Hutterites baptize between 20 and 30, and their catechism says a believer is confirmed in the faith "when one receives baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness and remission of sin."

Mennonite Church USA "may baptize by pouring, immersion, or the sprinkling of water." The Hutterites pour. The Church of the Brethren immerses three times, face forward, and the Mennonite Brethren immerse. Since 1958 the Brethren have received members from other churches without trine immersion.

We receive God's salvation when we repent of sin and accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Concerning baptism we confess that all penitent believers, who, through faith, regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, are made one with God, and are written in heaven, must, upon such Scriptural confession of faith, and renewing of life, be baptized with water

Baptism is an outward work, ordained and commanded by the Lord Jesus Himself, and transpires with the pouring on of water in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Mennonite Church USA, Article 11: "Baptism by water is a sign that a person has repented, received forgiveness, renounced evil, and died to sin, through the grace of God in Christ Jesus." Schleitheim (1527) names no mode: "Baptism shall be given to all those who have learned repentance and amendment of life, and who believe truly that their sins are taken away by Christ." The Brethren candidate "kneels in the water of the baptistry, publicly acknowledges his or her decision, and is immersed three times forward." The Brethren's 1985 membership polity also receives members by "A letter transferring membership from another congregation of the Church of the Brethren or of another Christian denomination." The Mennonite Brethren confession (Spanish edition): "Nosotros practicamos el bautismo en aguas por inmersión, administrado por la iglesia local." The pages read do not state the Amish mode.

The Supper is a remembrance of Christ's death and a renewal of the covenant, taken by baptized members at peace with the church. The Amish keep it twice a year and the Brethren once or twice, the Brethren as a love feast with foot washing and a meal.

The Anabaptists keep the Lord's Supper as a remembrance, not a sacrifice. Mennonite Church USA invites to the table those who have been baptized, who are "living at peace with God and with their brothers and sisters in the faith, and are willing to be accountable in their congregation." Schleitheim limits it to those "united beforehand by baptism in one body of Christ."

The Amish celebrate communion each autumn and spring, after the members confess their sins and reaffirm the Ordnung, and only when the congregation is at peace. The Church of the Brethren keeps a love feast in which members wash one another's feet, share a meal, and then take the bread and cup: "Once or twice a year, Brethren celebrate what the earliest Christians called agape."

We believe that the Lord's Supper is a sign by which the church thankfully remembers the new covenant which Jesus established by his death.

During love feast, we repeat these simple, meaningful acts. After reconciling any discord among ourselves, we lovingly wash each other’s feet, then enjoy a meal together. Quietly we share communion, the bread and the cup that remind us of Jesus’ great gift

We also confess and observe the breaking of bread, or Supper, as the Lord Christ Jesus before His suffering instituted it with bread and wine, and observed and ate with His apostles, commanding them to observe it in remembrance of Him

The Young Center on the Amish: "Communion services, held each autumn and spring, frame the religious year." The Brethren add: "Congregations may also observe the eucharist, or bread-and-cup communion, at other times and in other settings." Mennonite Church USA, Article 12: "The supper re-presents the presence of the risen Christ in the church." The pages read do not say how often Mennonite Church USA congregations or the Hutterites commune.

Each congregation chooses and calls its own leaders, men and women in Mennonite Church USA and the Brethren, men only among the Amish. The Amish choose by lot and pay no one; the Brethren Annual Conference is the final authority of that church.

The Anabaptists hold that every believer is a minister and that the congregation chooses its own leaders. Schleitheim says the pastor is chosen by the church and "shall be supported of the church which has chosen him." Mennonite Church USA has pastors, deacons and elders, area conferences, a Delegate Assembly and a 12-member volunteer Executive Board.

The Amish districts are led by men: a bishop, two or three ministers and a deacon, chosen by lot, normally serving for life and unpaid. A Hutterite colony is led by its minister, who preaches, baptizes, disciplines and helps manage the colony. The Church of the Brethren has congregations, districts and an Annual Conference whose delegates the congregations and districts choose. In 1958 it granted women "full and unrestricted rights in the ministry."

The church calls, trains, and appoints gifted men and women to a variety of leadership ministries on its behalf.

The pastor in the church of God shall, as Paul has prescribed, be one who out-and-out has a good report of those who are outside the faith.

Annual Conference is the highest and final legislative authority in the Church of the Brethren, including all matters of procedure, program, polity, and discipline.

The Young Center on the Amish: "Each church district has its own leaders—always men. Typically, the leaders include a bishop (servant with full powers), two or three ministers (servants of the book), and a deacon (servant to the poor)." "The leaders are not paid for their church work and must support themselves by other occupations." Dordrecht, Article IX, names "bishops, pastors, and leaders," elders, deacons and "deaconesses," chosen "through the election of brethren." The Hutterian Brethren: "The minister’s duties include conducting church sermons, marriages, baptisms, funerals, disciplining members of the church and helping to manage the colony" (Hutterites.org).

Worship is plain and centered on singing, prayer, the reading of Scripture and preaching. The Amish meet in homes and sing in unison without instruments; the Hutterites meet daily; many Mennonite congregations now use organ, piano or drums.

Anabaptist worship is plain, and the congregation takes part. The Amish hold church every other Sunday in a member's home, barn or shop, because they have no church buildings. The Young Center describes it: "There are no altars, candles, organs, stained glass windows, choirs, or pulpits." The service has slow unison singing in German from the Ausbund, a Scripture reading by the deacon, prayers during which the congregation kneels, and two sermons preached without notes.

The Hutterites meet every day: a short evening service before supper, and on Sundays and holy days a morning teaching that opens with Scripture. They keep Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, with Ascension and the Annunciation. In Mennonite Church USA, four-part singing was long unaccompanied, but many congregations now use instruments, and some follow the church calendar.

Four-part singing has been a long-standing tradition in the Mennonite church, and for many years this was only a cappella singing. Now many congregations use organ, piano, drums or other instruments as accompaniment.

Slow, unison singing in German, without rhythm or instruments, unites the community together in worship.

Church services, which occur daily on most communities, form the core of Hutterite devotional life.

The Young Center on the Amish: "An opening sermon, about thirty minutes in length, is followed by the main sermon, which lasts an hour or more." "They preach in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect and do not use notes." The Hutterian Brethren: "All services begin with song. Most Hutterite ministers still line the words to the song for the congregation," and the morning teaching "begins with the reading of scripture text followed by an exposition text." Mennonite Church USA: "Some Mennonite churches follow the liturgical calendar; others do not."

The Holy Spirit lives in every believer, leads the church and gives gifts to all for service. The Brethren anoint the sick with oil; the pages read make no teaching of speaking in tongues or other sign gifts.

The Anabaptist confessions teach that the Holy Spirit dwells in every believer, leads the church into unity and gives gifts to all. Mennonite Church USA says Christ "gives gifts through the Holy Spirit to all believers and empowers them for service in the church and in the world," and notes that in Acts "believers received the Holy Spirit before, with, or after water baptism." The Church of the Brethren seeks "to be guided by the Holy Spirit in every aspect of life, thought, and mission," and anoints with oil those in physical or spiritual need. The pages read do not teach that tongues, prophecy or miraculous healing are given to the church today, and they do not say they have ceased.

By the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all Christians are called to carry out their particular ministries.

Baptism is a testimony to God's gift of the Holy Spirit and the continuing work of the Spirit in the lives of believers.

Following instructions given in the New Testament, the Brethren practice an ordinance called anointing: the prayerful, loving application of oil to the forehead of someone in physical or spiritual need.

Mennonite Church USA, Article 3: "Scripture urges us to yield to the Spirit, and not to resist or quench the Spirit." The Brethren anointing service: "the minister or other representative of the church applies oil three times to the forehead, symbolizing forgiveness of sin, strengthening of faith, and healing of body, mind, and spirit." Schleitheim opens with "the gifts of the Spirit--Who is sent from the Father to all believers for their strength and comfort." The Hutterite catechism says a believer is confirmed and assured in the faith "Through the Word of God and through the Holy Spirit, when one receives baptism."

Christ will come again in glory, the dead will rise, and all will be judged: the righteous to eternal life and the unrighteous to hell and separation from God.

The Anabaptist confessions teach the return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead and the final judgment. Mennonite Church USA and the Dordrecht Confession, whose eighteen articles the Amish affirm, both teach that the righteous rise to eternal life and the wicked to hell. Every Hutterite confesses the Apostles' Creed at baptism, with its Christ who "shall come to judge the living and the dead."

They also teach that the church should live now as a sign of the age to come. Mennonite Church USA says the church "is called to live now according to the model of the future reign of God."

We place our hope in the reign of God and in its fulfillment in the day when Christ our ascended Lord will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.

The righteous will rise to eternal life with God, and the unrighteous to hell and separation from God.

that in the last day all men who shall have died, and fallen asleep, shall be awaked and quickened, and shall rise again, through the incomprehensible power of God

Dordrecht, Article XVIII, goes on: "the wicked or impious, as accursed, shall be cast into outer darkness, yea, into the everlasting pains of hell, where their worm shall not die, nor their fire be quenched." The Young Center: "The Amish affirm the eighteen articles of faith written in the Dordrecht Confession." The Hutterian Brethren: "All members publicly declare their belief in The Apostle’s Creed upon baptism" (Hutterites.org). Mennonite World Conference: "we confidently await Christ's return and the final fulfillment of God's kingdom." The pages read give no statement on the last things from the Church of the Brethren.

Nonresistance

A follower of Jesus does not take up the sword: no war, no revenge, no self-defense by force. All the bodies hold it, and the Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites and Brethren are known as peace churches.

The Anabaptists refuse to fight. Schleitheim (1527) set it down in writing: the sword is ordained by God, but outside the church. The Dordrecht Confession says Christ has forbidden "all revenge and retaliation." Mennonite Church USA speaks of "practicing nonresistance even in the face of violence and warfare." The Church of the Brethren says its people "refused military service and practiced nonviolence in the face of violence." The Young Center says the Amish "forbid self-defense as well as entering the armed forces," and the Hutterian Brethren describe themselves as a "non-resistant Anabaptist sect."

The sword is ordained of God outside the perfection of Christ.

the Lord Christ has forbidden and set aside to His disciples and followers all revenge and retaliation

Led by the Holy Spirit, we follow Christ in the way of peace, doing justice, bringing reconciliation, and practicing nonresistance even in the face of violence and warfare.

but I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord.

for he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is a minister of God, an avenger for wrath to him that doeth evil.

Can any man forbid the water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

The Lord's command to his disciples is plain: "Resist not him that is evil" (Matthew 5:39), and Paul repeats it: "Avenge not yourselves, beloved" (Romans 12:19). The Anabaptists have kept it when it cost them their lives, and on how a disciple treats his enemy they stand on the line, nearer than almost any church. Their further rule, that the sword lies outside "the perfection of Christ" so that no believer may bear it as a magistrate, is not in the text. Paul tells Christians that the ruler who bears the sword is "a minister of God to thee for good" (Romans 13:4), and he draws no line between God's minister and Christ's disciple; Peter baptized a centurion and his house with no word about his post, "he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 10:48). The command to the believer is the Lord's, but the bar on office is a rule beyond the text, and not every Anabaptist body holds it.

The usual Anabaptist answer is that silence proves nothing: the centurion may have left the army later. But Romans 13 is not silence. It calls the sword-bearer's work God's own ministry "for good," and a work God calls his own cannot be forbidden to his children by a verse that does not name it. John the Baptist told soldiers to "be content with your wages" (Luke 3:14), not to leave the ranks. The bodies differ: the Young Center says the Amish "generally avoid holding public office," while "Members of Mennonite Church Canada have served as members of Canada’s parliament."

No oaths

A believer's word is a simple yes or no, and he does not swear an oath. The Brethren and Mennonite Church USA allow a solemn affirmation instead.

The Anabaptists do not swear oaths. Schleitheim says that Christ "prohibits all swearing to His [followers], whether true or false." Mennonite Church USA says, "We commit ourselves to tell the truth, to give a simple yes or no, and to avoid swearing of oaths." The Church of the Brethren says its people "refused to take oaths or go to court to solve problems," and today it encourages people to affirm rather than swear.

Christ, who teaches the perfection of the Law, prohibits all swearing to His [followers], whether true or false

We commit ourselves to tell the truth, to give a simple yes or no, and to avoid swearing of oaths.

We encourage people to “affirm” rather than “swear” when taking an oath.

but I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by the heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one.

But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by the heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath: but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; that ye fall not under judgment.

For men swear by the greater: and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation.

The Lord said, "Swear not at all" (Matthew 5:34), and James repeats it "above all things": "let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay" (James 5:12). The usual answers do not undo these words. That "men swear by the greater" (Hebrews 6:16) describes what men do, not what disciples are told to do, and God's oath by himself in the same chapter is God's, not ours. The Anabaptists hear a plain command that most churches have set aside, obey it as it stands, and here they stand on the line. The affirmation the Brethren and Mennonite Church USA give in court keeps the word without the oath, which is the right way to keep it.

The ban and shunning

A member who sins and will not repent is admonished, and in the end put out. Dordrecht adds that the excommunicated are to be shunned at table and in ordinary dealings. The Amish shun; Mennonite Church USA suspends membership and does not.

The Anabaptists keep discipline in the congregation. Schleitheim says a member who falls into sin "shall be admonished twice in secret and the third time openly disciplined or banned according to the command of Christ." The Dordrecht Confession calls it "a ban, separation, and Christian correction in the church, for amendment, and not for destruction," and adds that the excommunicated are to be shunned at table and in ordinary dealings. Yet if the one put out is "needy, hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, or in any other distress, we are in duty bound" to help him. The Hutterite catechism calls the ban the key "with which the unrepentant sinner is put out from the community, in order that they may thereby be led to repentance."

The bodies differ. Among the Amish shunning follows excommunication, and members "are not permitted to receive rides or goods from offenders or to sit with them during meals," though any who confess and mend their ways can return. Mennonite Church USA may suspend membership and goes on seeking to restore the member. Its Confession does not describe shunning.

The same shall be admonished twice in secret and the third time openly disciplined or banned according to the command of Christ.

shunned, without distinction, by all the fellow members of the church, especially those to whom it is known, in eating, drinking, and other similar intercourse

If the erring member persists in sin without repentance and rejects even the admonition of the congregation, membership may be suspended.

And if thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more, that at the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be established. And if he refuse to hear them, tell it unto the church: and if he refuse to hear the church also, let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the publican.

but as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no, not to eat.

And if any man obeyeth not our word by this epistle, note that man, that ye have no company with him, to the end that he may be ashamed. And yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

so that contrariwise ye should rather forgive him and comfort him, lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up with his overmuch sorrow.

The steps of Matthew 18 end with "tell it unto the church" (Matthew 18:17), and a congregation that admonishes in private, then before the church, and then puts out the one who will not repent stands on the line, as the Anabaptists have done for five centuries when most churches stopped. The shunning has its text as well: "with such a one no, not to eat" (1 Corinthians 5:11), and refusing the excommunicated a place at the table keeps it. But those steps begin "if thy brother sin" (Matthew 18:15), and Paul's list names sins, fornication, greed, idolatry, reviling, drunkenness and extortion, not a car or a telephone. Where the Amish excommunicate and shun for breaking an Ordnung on matters Scripture does not name, they use Christ's discipline to enforce a rule Christ did not give, and that goes beyond the text. Paul also bounded the ban: "count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother" (2 Thessalonians 3:15), and when it had done its work, "forgive him and comfort him" (2 Corinthians 2:7).

The Amish answer that the sin is not the car but the broken vow, made freely at baptism. But the vow was made a condition of baptism, and in Acts "They then that received his word were baptized" (Acts 2:41), with no church order to swear to first. A church that requires a vow God did not require, and then bans for breaking it, has bound by its own authority what the apostles left free. The Young Center notes that shunning varies "considerably in different communities, affiliations, and families."

Washing the saints' feet

Foot washing is kept as an ordinance: in the Dordrecht Confession, at the Amish communion, and at the Brethren love feast. Mennonite Church USA leaves it to the congregation.

The Anabaptists wash one another's feet as the Lord did. The Dordrecht Confession says, "We also confess a washing of the saints' feet, as the Lord Christ not only instituted, enjoined and commanded it, but Himself ... washed His apostles' feet." At the Amish communion, "Pairs of members wash each another's feet as the congregation sings." The Brethren include it in the love feast. In Mennonite Church USA, "some practice foot washing, while others have discontinued the practice or have never observed it."

We also confess a washing of the saints' feet, as the Lord Christ not only instituted, enjoined and commanded it

By including the service of feetwashing in our love feast, Brethren imitate Jesus’ actions and honor his lessons.

Believers who wash each other's feet show that they share in the body of Christ.

If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done to you.

well reported of for good works; if she hath brought up children, if she hath used hospitality to strangers, if she hath washed the saints’ feet, if she hath relieved the afflicted, if she hath diligently followed every good work.

The Lord said, "ye also ought to wash one another’s feet" (John 13:14), and "I have given you an example" (John 13:15). Many churches have passed over these words; the Anabaptists have not, and where they wash feet in obedience to them they stand on the line. Mennonite Church USA, where congregations may drop it, leaves a command of the Lord to each congregation's choice. Paul counts it among a widow's good works if "she hath washed the saints’ feet" (1 Timothy 5:10), but no apostle gives it a place in the Supper or a day of its own, so setting it into a communion service is the churches' arrangement, fitting but not apostolic.

Separation from the world and the Ordnung

The church is called out of the world's ways. The Amish bind each baptized member to the Ordnung, the district's unwritten rules on dress, cars, electricity and more, on pain of excommunication; the Brethren have given up their older plain dress; Mennonite Church USA does not hold the practice.

The Anabaptists hold that the church is a people called out of the world. Schleitheim says, "A separation shall be made from the evil and from the wickedness which the devil planted in the world." The Church of the Brethren says that members "should not thoughtlessly adopt the patterns of the world around them," though the plain dress of an earlier time has mostly gone.

For the Amish this becomes the Ordnung, the "district-specific regulations, usually unwritten," that members vow at baptism to keep. "Old Order Amish forbid owning automobiles; tapping electricity from public utility lines; owning televisions, radios, or personal computers." But they do not reject technology on principle: "It is more accurate to say that they use technology selectively."

A separation shall be made from the evil and from the wickedness which the devil planted in the world

Members agree to obey the Ordnung at the time of baptism, with the clear understanding that they will be subject to church discipline, and perhaps excommunication, if they break that vow.

Brethren insist members should not thoughtlessly adopt the patterns of the world around them.

And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

If ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, do ye subject yourselves to ordinances, Handle not, nor taste, nor touch (all which things are to perish with the using), after the precepts and doctrines of men?

Who art thou that judgest the servant of another? to his own lord he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be made to stand; for the Lord hath power to make him stand.

They then that received his word were baptized: and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls.

The command to separation is the apostles' own, "be not fashioned according to this world" (Romans 12:2), and the Amish have lived it more fully than almost any people. But the Ordnung is a set of rules no apostle wrote, vowed at baptism and enforced by excommunication, while in Acts "They then that received his word were baptized" (Acts 2:41) with no further term. The Amish reply that these are fences for a faithful people, not rules for salvation, and a fence may be wise counsel. Once breaking it brings the ban, it has become a term of fellowship, and Paul asks, "Who art thou that judgest the servant of another?" (Romans 14:4), and "why … do ye subject yourselves to ordinances, Handle not, nor taste, nor touch … after the precepts and doctrines of men?" (Colossians 2:20-22). To drive a car or draw on a power line is no sin that Scripture names, so binding it on pain of excommunication goes beyond the text, even where its aim, a faithful and close community, is good.

Community of goods

The Hutterites hold all things in common in communal colonies, following the first church at Jerusalem. The other bodies keep to mutual aid and giving.

The Hutterites live in colonies where nothing is owned privately: "The Hutterites are a communal people, living on hundreds of scattered Bruderhöfe or colonies throughout the prairies of northwestern North America." About fifteen families live on a typical colony. All money earned belongs to the whole colony, and members are given what they need and a small allowance. Their catechism counts the sharing of goods as part of "the communion of saints." Mennonite World Conference says its members "share our possessions with those in need," and the Young Center says "The Amish emphasize the biblical teaching of mutual aid."

The communal lifestyle of the Hutterites finds its roots in the biblical teachings of Christ and the Apostles.

And secondly, that too is the communion of saints, when the believers serve one another with surrendered hearts; none says of his goods, that they are his

Goods are owned communally in the community, i.e., all moneys earned from different businesses belong to everyone on the colony.

And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all, according as any man had need.

While it remained, did it not remain thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy power? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together and were praying.

Charge them that are rich in this present world, that they be not highminded, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to communicate;

The first church at Jerusalem "had all things common" (Acts 2:44), and the Hutterites are right to take the story seriously and to keep an open hand most Christians have lost. But the sharing was free: Peter told Ananias, "While it remained, did it not remain thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy power?" (Acts 5:4), so his sin was the lie, not the keeping. The same church still had homes of its own, for the disciples gathered to pray at "the house of Mary the mother of John whose surname was Mark" (Acts 12:12). Paul did not tell the rich in his churches to give up what they held, but to "be ready to distribute, willing to communicate" (1 Timothy 6:18). Community of goods is a lawful way to live out that charity, but to make it the mark of the communion of saints goes beyond the text.

The Hutterites cite Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) against private earning on the colony (Hutterites.org FAQs). But Peter's own words in that passage defend the right to keep: the land was Ananias's "while it remained," and the money was "in thy power" after the sale. Paul asked each believer to give "as he may prosper" (1 Corinthians 16:2), which assumes that each one holds something to give from.

The plumb line is the New Testament: what the apostles commanded, and what the churches practiced with their approval. Each position above is set against it, and the wall below shows how far each one stands from it. Choose a course to read the Scripture and the reason. The Anabaptists wanted nothing more than a church built from the New Testament alone, and they paid for it in blood. Where they stand nearer the pattern than most, they are credited plainly; where they stand further, that is said too.

Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.

Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other.

Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.

But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. Ye leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.

The Anabaptists set Scripture over tradition in so many words: it is the "standard," and tradition, reason and experience must be "tested and corrected" by it, which is the Bereans' way, "examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). No pope, no council and no unwritten tradition stands beside the text, and on that they stand close to the line. They stand short in what they bind beside it. The Amish review the Dordrecht Confession with every candidate and vow the Ordnung at baptism, and the Brethren give Annual Conference "the highest and final legislative authority" over discipline and polity. The church is to "learn not to go beyond the things which are written" (1 Corinthians 4:6), and a rule bound by vow or by vote where the text is silent goes beyond it.

And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.

The Anabaptists gave back what the state churches had lost: only believers are baptized, for "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16), and no infant can meet the first condition. They stand short on what baptism does. Peter commanded it "unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38), but Mennonite Church USA calls it a sign that a person "has repented, received forgiveness," as though forgiveness came before the water; the Hutterite catechism, which ties baptism to "the forgiveness and remission of sin," is nearer the text. They also stand short on its form, for "We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death" (Romans 6:4), yet Mennonite Church USA allows "pouring, immersion, or the sprinkling of water," and the Hutterites pour. The Brethren and the Mennonite Brethren immerse and keep the burial, though since 1958 the Brethren receive members from other churches without it.

The Anabaptists are right about who is to be baptized, and they died for it. It is the form and the meaning of the act, both given in Romans 6 and Colossians 2, that were not recovered with the rest. The Hutterite catechism itself answers with Romans 6, "buried with Him by baptism into death," while its baptism is a pouring; the text it quotes describes a burial that the pouring does not show. The early Anabaptists were not of one mind on the form: Conrad Grebel baptized Wolfgang Ulimann "by immersion in the Rhine River" in February 1525 (Wikipedia).

And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.

and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.

But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.

If any man is hungry, let him eat at home; that your coming together be not unto judgment. And the rest will I set in order whensoever I come.

The Anabaptists keep the Supper as the Lord gave it, "in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:24), with no priest, no sacrifice and no change in the bread, and they guard the table as Paul did: "let a man prove himself, and so let him eat" (1 Corinthians 11:28). On what the Supper is and who may take it, they stand on the line. They stand short on when. The church at Troas met "upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread" (Acts 20:7), and that first-day Supper is binding, but the Amish keep it twice a year and the Brethren "once or twice," which is no nearer Acts 20:7 than a yearly feast. The Brethren love feast also joins the Supper to a common meal, which Paul sent home: "If any man is hungry, let him eat at home" (1 Corinthians 11:34).

The Amish and the Brethren, who keep the Supper twice a year, stand further from the weekly pattern than this course alone shows. It stands where it does because on the nature of the Supper and on who may take it these bodies hold the line. The love feast has a name in the New Testament (Jude 1:12), but Paul rebuked the Corinthians for joining the Supper to a meal: "What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink in?" (1 Corinthians 11:22).

And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city, as I gave thee charge; if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children that believe, who are not accused of riot or unruly. For the bishop must be blameless, as God’s steward; not self-willed, not soon angry, no brawler, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre;

But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness.

And they gave lots for them; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Each Anabaptist congregation chooses its own leaders, as when the apostles "appointed for them elders in every church" (Acts 14:23); no bishop rules a province, no priest stands between God and the believer, and the church disciplines its own. On these marks they stand on the line. They stand short in three places. The Brethren make Annual Conference "the highest and final legislative authority" over their congregations, and the Amish bishop, a "servant with full powers" set over the ministers, is a rank the New Testament does not know, for elder and bishop are one office (Titus 1:5-7). And Mennonite Church USA and the Brethren give women the pastor's office, which Paul does not permit: "I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man" (1 Timothy 2:12); the Amish keep to men, and in this they are nearer the text.

The one council in Acts sat with the apostles themselves (Acts 15), and nothing shows a body ruling over the congregations after them. The Amish choose by lot, and the Bible gives one case, the replacement of Judas (Acts 1:26), before the Spirit came; afterward the churches chose, with prayer and fasting. The deacon, "servant to the poor," and the plurality of ministers in each district are New Testament marks.

speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

What is it then, brethren? When ye come together, each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

The assembly the Anabaptists kept for centuries is the one Paul describes, believers "teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God" (Colossians 3:16). The Amish service, in a home, with unison singing and no altars, candles or organs, is the plainest form of it, and the Amish stand on the line. But the Sunday a visitor is most likely to find in Mennonite Church USA is not that one: "many congregations use organ, piano, drums or other instruments." The New Testament gives the church "singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19), and the instrument is an addition to it. The family's older practice sits on the line, but so much of the family has left it that this course is set one step off.

The Hutterites keep Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, Ascension and the Annunciation, and some Mennonite churches follow the liturgical calendar. The apostles set no such days for the church. The lasting strength of Anabaptist worship is that the whole congregation sings, prays and listens.

But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal.

Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,

The Anabaptist confessions teach what the apostles taught: the Spirit dwells in every believer, "if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you" (Romans 8:9), and to each is given "the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal" (1 Corinthians 12:7). The pages read make no second blessing and no sign such as tongues the test of a believer, and the Brethren anoint the sick as James commands, so on these points they stand near the line. They stand short where Mennonite Church USA unties the gift from baptism, calling baptism a "testimony" to a gift that in Acts came "before, with, or after water baptism." Peter's promise to all who repent is joined to the water: "be baptized … and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). The gift before baptism came once, to show that God had received the Gentiles (Acts 10:47), and the gift after it came "through the laying on of the apostles’ hands" (Acts 8:18), which no one has today.

The Hutterite catechism keeps the bond better: a believer is confirmed and assured in the faith "Through the Word of God and through the Holy Spirit, when one receives baptism." The Brethren anointing, "symbolizing forgiveness of sin, strengthening of faith, and healing of body, mind, and spirit," follows James 5:14-15, which joins the prayer for healing to the promise that "if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him" (James 5:15).

And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment;

Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.

And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;

The Anabaptist confessions teach what the Scriptures teach about the end. Christ will come again, the dead will rise, and each will be judged: "they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:29). Dordrecht, which the Amish affirm, and Mennonite Church USA both hold that the lost go to everlasting punishment, as "these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:46). Neither knows a purgatory or a prayer for the dead, because "it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). On these points, as far as the sources read go, they stand on the line.

This placement rests on the Dordrecht Confession, Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite World Conference and the Hutterites' baptismal creed; the pages read give nothing from the Church of the Brethren. The Anabaptist teaching that the church must live now as a sign of the coming reign of God is a right use of the hope: the kingdom to come gives the pattern of life now.

The Anabaptists hold much that Scripture also teaches, and it should be said plainly. They confess one God in three persons, and Christ truly God and man, who died, rose and will return to judge. They hold the Bible to be the standard of faith and life. They baptize only those who believe, which the state churches would not do for centuries, and they will not baptize infants. They keep the Supper as a remembrance, without a priest or a sacrifice. Their congregations choose their own leaders and keep discipline within the church. They obey the Lord's command not to resist evil and not to swear, wash one another's feet in most of these bodies, and hold the open hand of Acts toward the poor. They have no pope, no hierarchy of priests, no purgatory and no saints to pray to. For five hundred years, from Felix Manz in the Limmat to the Amish who refuse to fight, they have kept the faith at the cost of life, home and country.

Measured by the New Testament alone, the Anabaptists stand nearer the pattern than most churches, and on several courses on the line. They stand short in five places: the form and meaning of baptism, the day and frequency of the Supper, the rules that bind where Scripture does not, the shape of church government, and the instruments much of the family has brought into its worship. Baptism is a burial for the remission of sins, and pouring or sprinkling loses the form. The Supper belongs to the first day of every week, and twice a year is not Acts 20:7. The Ordnung, the confessions and Annual Conference decisions bind by vow or by vote where the apostles did not, and the Amish bishop, the Brethren Annual Conference and women in the pastoral office all depart from the churches of Acts.

These are not the failings of churches that never opened the book. The Anabaptists went to the New Testament first, and further toward it than the Reformers, who stopped at the state church and the infant font. What remains is to finish what they began: to hold to the foundation Menno set on the title page of everything he wrote, "other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11), and to ask of the Ordnung, the confession and the conference what they asked of the Mass and the pope. They were hunted by Catholics and Protestants alike for what they read in the apostles' words, and the answer to them is not to doubt that faith but to bring the last of it to the Scriptures alone: to be buried with Christ in baptism, to break the bread on the first day of the week, and to bind no one by anything but "the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3).

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