Old order Mennonites

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The old order Mennonites (English: Old Order Mennonites ) also inaccurate, Old Order Mennonite and Old Mennonites called, are a group of conservative Mennonite Swiss-southwest German origin, which in the last third of the 19th century in opposition to an increasing Anglicisation and modernization of North American Mennonites formed.

Old order Mennonites with traditional horse-drawn carriage.

history

In the second half of the 19th century, the English language became more and more important for many Mennonite congregations in North America, so that more and more congregations - for example in the sermon - at least partially switched to the English language. There were also strong influences from the North American revival movements . Many congregations opened up to modern forms of worship. Also Sunday schools spread.

This development met with increasing opposition from traditionalist Mennonites, who viewed this change in language and culture as a threat to their traditional beliefs. Between 1872 and 1901 the traditionalists left four areas in North America and founded their own churches: 1872 in Indiana , 1889 in Ontario , 1893 in Pennsylvania and 1901 in Virginia . The conflicts of this first phase of the traditionalists' departure revolved predominantly around questions of the practice of faith and not yet around questions whether certain modern techniques should be allowed or not. It was not until the following phase from 1907 to 1931 that questions about whether the telephone or the car should be banned became central. The second phase divisions took place in Indiana and Ohio in 1907 , Ontario in 1917 and 1931, and Pennsylvania in 1927, and resulted in groups that primarily opposed the car. In Virginia there was no split in the second phase, as the car was rejected by large circles there.

Locally, the old-order Mennonites in the United States are mainly concentrated in Pennsylvania, where about 40% of them live, and in Canada on Ontario, where just under a third of all old-order Mennonites live. It was in these two states that the numerically largest splits from traditionalists had taken place. In the second half of the 20th century in particular, the USA expanded to include states other than those in which the original divisions took place. New settlements are established in which there are enough families to form new communities. Typically, communities consist of 15 to 35 families and 70 to 200 people. This spreading movement of old order Mennonites continues to this day.

Faith Practice

Like other Anabaptist-Mennonite communities, the Mennonites of the old order exclusively practice the baptism of confession of adults and see themselves in the tradition of Christian pacifism . The Dordrecht Confession of 1632 still plays a major role today . It is characterized by strict municipal autonomy .

Many of them still use horse-drawn carriages (hence the term Horse and Buggy Mennonites ). Unlike most Amish people, however, they gather for worship in their own meetinghouses .

Selective use of technology

Old order Mennonites with an open horse-drawn carriage.

The old-order Mennonites rate technology based on whether or not it is beneficial to their community. Only when it has been shown that a technology is useful for your community on the one hand and does not endanger the cohesion of the community on the other hand, will it be adopted. New technologies have even been and are being developed to avoid the dangers of other technologies.

Television in particular is perceived as a danger, as well as radio, telephone and internet. Since all of these technologies rely on electricity as a source of energy, there is a tendency to reject everything that is based on electricity, in order not to offer a gateway for the technologies mentioned above. Alternatively, compressed air has been developed into a technology that can operate many machines and household appliances, such as washing machines and woodworking tools.

Cars are rejected by a majority of the old-order Mennonites because they greatly expand people's range of motion and thus weaken the strong relationship to their own community. Many old-order Mennonites allow tractors, but only with steel tires in order to limit the radius of movement of the members of their own community.

Furthermore, a busy life is considered ideal according to Genesis 3:19: "With the sweat of your brow you shall eat your bread". Idleness is seen as the beginning of all vice, which is why labor-saving technologies are avoided as long as they are economically viable. The idea that the above groups reject modern technology because of technophobia is based on ignorance.

language

In the groups that still cling to horse and cart, High German is the language of worship and Pennsylvania German is the language of everyday life. In the groups that use cars, the process of transitioning from Pennsylvania German to English is either well underway or even completed. Only the old-order Mennonites in Virginia use horse and cart and speak English, since by the time the traditionalists split off in 1901 the transition to English had already taken place. The Noah Hoover Mennonites in Belize partly speak Plautdietsch as their mother tongue and partly Pennsylvania German, and most of them speak Standard German, which is also mainly used in worship. There is no tendency among the Noah Hoover Mennonites to give up German.

Subgroups

The old order Mennonites today consist of several subgroups. There is no common umbrella organization. Regionally, the parishes are often named after leading bishops, such as Wenger Mennonites or Weaver Mennonites. In addition to the official names, other names are usually used among Mennonites and Amish, which are in the list below in quotation marks. The Reformed Mennonites (English: Reformed Mennonites ) actually do not belong to the Mennonites of the old order, but are a split from the year 1812, long before the Mennonites of the old order existed. However, because they are extremely conservative in some aspects, such as clothing, more conservative than the most conservative old-order Mennonites, they are included here.

Surname country Members
1993 		Members
2008/9 		Municipalities
2008/9 		Use
of cars 		native language
Groffdale Conference Mennonite Church, "Wenger" United States ** 5,464 10,000 50 No Pennsylvania German
Weaverland Mennonite Conference, "Horning" United States * 4,767 7,100 40 Yes Pennsylvania German,
transition to English
Ontario (Old Order) Mennonite Conference, "Woolwicher" Canada 2,200 3,200 36 No Pennsylvania German
Markham-Waterloo Mennonite Conference Canada 1.106 1,400 12 Yes English
Stauffer Mennonites, "Pikers" United States **** 700 1,300 13 No Pennsylvania German
Ohio-Indiana Mennonite Conference, "Wisler" United States * 637 925 7th Yes English
Orthodox Mennonites, "Gorries" USA, Canada *** 220 650 8th No Pennsylvania German
Noah Hoover Mennonites USA, Belize 300 575 8th No Pennsylvania German,
Plautdietsch , English
David Martin Mennonites Canada *** 400 ***** 500 6th No Pennsylvania German
Virginia Old Order Mennonite Conference United States **** 400 500 4th No English
Reidenbach Mennonites, "Thirty Fivers" United States 300 375 10 No Pennsylvania German
Reformed Mennonites USA, Canada 346 300 12 Yes English
John Dan Wenger Mennonites United States 250 300 1 No English
Total 17.090 27.075 206

* 1994, ** 1992, *** estimate, **** estimate for 1990, ***** This Kraybill figure is most likely incorrect and should be around 1,000

Members and total number

The number of baptized members of the old-order Mennonites was estimated at about 27,000 in about 200 parishes in 2008/9, of which about 17,000 were members of groups that refuse cars and about 10,000 that allow cars. The total number of old-order Mennonites, including children, adolescents, and young adults who have not been baptized, is about 60,000 to 70,000 people.

Similar groups

In many areas, the old-order Mennonites are close to the Amish and the old colonial Mennonites . They share a common Swiss-Southwest German origin with the Amish, often the common Pennsylvania German language, the common tradition of plain dress, carriages and house building, as well as culinary and other folk traditions. Outwardly very traditional Mennonites of the old order, such as the Noah Hoover Mennonites or the Orthodox Mennonites, when it comes to clothing and other aspects of their material culture, move within the spectrum formed by the various Amish groups. The traditionalists among the Schwarzenau Brethren (the Old German Baptist Brethren ) also share many folk traditions, such as clothing traditions, with the Mennonites of the old order.

Traditional Russian Mennonites, above all the Mennonite old colonists, have a very similar belief and practice, but originally come from the Netherlands and Northern Germany and therefore speak a Low German dialect, Plautdietsch , and have other folk traditions, such as clothing, carriages, the way of settlement and other matters.

The Hutterites , who come from the southeastern, Bavarian-Austrian area of ​​the German-speaking area, live in community of property based on the example of the original community and have significantly fewer restrictions when it comes to modern technology. In essence, there are limitations in modern communication technologies. What language ( Hutterisch terms) and their folk traditions, the Hutterites are dominated Bavarian-Austrian.

As Old Mennonites , communities of the New Baptist movement, which goes back to Samuel Fröhlich , in southwest Germany and Switzerland are sometimes referred to.

literature

  • Donald B. Kraybill and James P. Hurd: Horse-and-buggy Mennonites: Hoofbeats of Humility in a Postmodern World . University Park, PA 2006.
  • Stephen Scott: An Introduction to Old Order and Conservative Mennonite Groups . Intercourse, PA 1996.
  • Donald Martin: Old Order Mennonites of Ontario: Serenity, Discipleship, Brotherhood . Waterloo, Ontario 2003.
  • J. Winfield Fretz: The Waterloo Mennonites: A Community in Paradox . Waterloo, Ontario 1989.
  • Isaac R. Horst: A Separate People: An Insider's View of Old Order Mennonite Customs and Traditions . Waterloo, Ontario 2000.
  • Daniel B. Lee: Old Order Mennonites, Rituals, Beliefs, and Community . Lanham, MD 2000.
  • Donald B. Kraybill and Carl Bowman: On the Backroad to Heaven: Old Order Hutterites, Mennonites, Amish, and Brethren . Baltimore 2001.
  • Thomas J. Meyers and Steven M. Nolt: An Amish patchwork: Indiana's Old Orders in the Modern World . Bloomington, IN et al. 2005.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stephen Scott: An Introduction to Old Order: and Conservative Mennonite Groups , Intercourse, PA 1996, pages 12-27.
  2. ↑ Old Order Mennonites at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
  3. ↑ Stephen Scott: An Introduction to Old Order: and Conservative Mennonite Groups , Intercourse, PA 1996, pp. 70-88.
  4. ↑ Donald B. Kraybill: The Riddle of Amish Culture Baltimore 2001, p. 188.
  5. ↑ Stephen Scott: An Introduction to Old Order: and Conservative Mennonite Groups , Intercourse, PA 1996.
  6. ^ Donald B. Kraybill: Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites and Mennonites . Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010, pp. 251-258.
  7. ↑ Reformed Mennonite Church at ARDA