The split between the two groups started with a Swiss Anabaptist elder named Jacob Amman who believed that sinning resulting in excommunication should result in a more serious punishment (now known as “shunning”) than what the Mennonite community currently followed. Amman’s beliefs attracted a large group of followers who came to be known as the Amish.
Amish | Mennonite | |
Origins | Formed in 1693 when Jacob Amman's followers separated over church discipline | Trace back to the original Anabaptist movement of the 1520s |
Technology | Generally avoid public electricity, personal phones, and internet at home; specifics vary by community | Old Order groups limit technology; most Mennonites use electricity, phones, and computers |
Transportation | Horse-drawn buggies and scooters; will hire taxi drivers (local English) for longer trips | Most use motorized vehicles. Old Order Mennonites in Lancaster County still travel by horse and buggy |
Dress | Men typically wear plain suits with broad-brimmed hats; women wear long dresses and bonnets | Ranges between plain dress and contemporary clothing in most groups |
Worship | Services held in homes, rotating among families in each settlement | Services typically held in meetinghouses or churches |
Education | Attend one-room schools through 8th grade, followed by weekly vocational instruction until age 15 | Many Mennonite children continue their education until the 12th grade |
Language | PA Dutch spoken at home and within the community; English with non-Amish | Most primarily speak English |
Outreach | Faith is shared primarily through daily life within the Amish and non-Amish (English) community | Active mission and service work in more than 50 countries across the world |
Shunning | Practice excommunication and social avoidance of unrepentant members | Generally, practice church discipline without social avoidance |
No. The two are separate groups, though they share the same Anabaptist roots. The Amish formed in 1693 when followers of Jacob Amman separated over how strictly the church should discipline members. Both communities remain active in Lancaster County, PA, today.
Anabaptism is a Christian movement that began in Europe in the 1520s during the Protestant Reformation. The name means "baptized again," a reference to the practice of baptizing adults who choose the faith rather than infants. Both the Amish and Mennonites are Anabaptist groups.
Look at dress and transportation. Amish men wear broadfall trousers, suspenders, and broad-brimmed hats, and married men grow beards without mustaches. Amish women wear solid-color dresses with aprons and prayer coverings. Plain-dressing Mennonites look similar, though most Mennonites simply wear contemporary clothing.
"Old Order" describes the most traditional branches of both groups. Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonites maintain horse and buggy transportation, plain dress, and long-held limits on technology.
Most can and do. However, Old Order Mennonites, including many in Lancaster County, travel by horse and buggy and limit their use of technology, much like the Amish.
If you are in Lancaster and are curious to learn more about these two great cultures, stop by the Mennonite Life Visitors Center and take a tour of their life-sized Tabernacle Reproduction or enjoy one of their many informative movies and documentaries.
Learn about Amish culture and schedule a buggy ride or tour of an Amish farm while you're visiting.
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