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Essay / The Mennonite religion among the Swiss brothers - 623
The Mennonite religion had its beginnings during the Protestant Reformation; they were part of the Anabaptist movement, that is, they believed in adult baptism. They wanted a church without a Catholic mass, baptizing only adults and promoting pacifism. The original group The Swiss Brethren was led by Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz and Wilhelm Reublin. Menno Simmons, a Catholic priest, joined the Brethren around 1536 (Zavada, Mennonite History, 2014) and this is where the term Mennonite (Houdmann) comes from. The Mennonite Church, however, shares many similar beliefs to Protestant churches today; they consider themselves neither Protestant nor Catholic (Zavada, Mennonite Faith, 2014). They use the Bible, practice fellowship, and Sunday is their Sabbath (Zavada, Mennonite Beliefs and Practices, 2014). In the Mennonite Church today, there are a wide variety of ways of worship. This ranges from “simple” people or Old Order Mennonites to congregations that blend into the general population (Houdmann). Mennonites use the term ordinances instead of sacrament; they have...