Mennonites are Christians who trace their theological roots back to the Protestant Reformation and the beginning of Anabaptism. Named for famous reformer Menno Simons, Mennonites are traditionally a quiet, agrarian people who are committed to following Jesus' teaching, espousing non-violence, living simply, valuing community, and preserving the separation of church and state. Many claim ethnic heritage from regions of Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, and Russia.
Historically, Mennonites have suffered greatly under religious and political persecution. During the Reformation, Catholic and Protestant authorities viewed Anabaptist Mennonites as heretics, punishing them by horrific means such as drowning, burning, and impalement. Many of these acts are chronicled in the Martyr’s Mirror, a collection of stories of Anabaptist pioneers who refused to recant their faith and suffered the consequences doled out by the authorities.
Centuries later, Mennonites living in Russia were again persecuted en masse during the Bolshevik Revolution; many were stripped of their land, deported to gulags, or slain, and thousands fled to the West as refugees upon the German invasion in World War II. These refugees resettled in various places, including Paraguay, Argentina, and Canada. Their heart-wrenching yet fascinating story is detailed in Up from the Rubble (Peter and Elfreida Dyck).
Today Mennonites are becoming increasingly diverse worldwide. Churches in Latin America, Africa, and Asia outnumber North American and European Mennonites, and many Mennonites in the U.S. and Canada have traded farm life for a wider range of possibilities in urban settings. Despite frequent associations with the Amish (some Mennonites continue to wear plain clothes and inhabit many of the same regions as do the Amish), the vast majority of Mennonites have little objection to engagement with society and use of modern technology.
Recently, many individuals from theological traditions very different from Mennonites have been drawn to Anabaptism, attracted by strong commitments to service, peacemaking, and community. Some of these neo-Anabaptists have joined Mennonite churches, while others have started their own movements or adapted Anabaptist principles to their particular church context.
Laurelville Mennonite Church Center was originally a camp belonging to Methodists in the area. In the latter half of the 1930s and the early 1940s, a group of inidividuals affiliated with the local Mennonite Publishing House in Scottdale, Pa., sought plans to establish a Mennonite camp to host youth events and other churchwide programming.
These individuals formed an association and purchased the property for $12,000 on October 13, 1943, thus establishing the first Mennonite camp. Today, more than forty camps in the US and Canada are members of the Mennonite Camping Association.
To learn more about the history of Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, click here.
You can learn a bit more about Mennonite theology and experience in Who Are the Mennonites?, a video piece produced by Third Way Media, a digital media agency affiliated with Mennonite Church USA.
To learn more about Mennonite history and culture, visit GAMEO.org.
To learn more about Mennonite Church USA, the largest Mennonite denomination in the US, visit MennoniteUSA.org.