Mennonites vs Hutterites
Mennonites and Hutterites are communities based on Anabaptist. Hutterites are community which acts as Anabaptist’s branch with roots that trace to the 16th Century’s Radical Reformation. After Jakob Hutter, the founder of Hutterites, passed away in the year 1536 the Hutterites have been wandering in a number of countries for a large number of years. Hutterites were almost out of existence in the time period near the 18 and 19 century. However, Hutterites searched and settled down in North America where they made a new home and increased their population through a period of 125 years from a low number of 400 to 42,000. Hutterites have their origins from Tyrol province in Austria and they can be traced back up till 16th Century.
Mennonites are also a community which has been derived from the basics of Anabaptist. The community has got its name after Frisian Menno Simons. Teachings of this community are based on their belief in ministry and mission of the Jesus Christ. Even after being hindered by a number of states, the Mennonites have kept stuck to their teachings. Mennonites, historically, have been known for their nonviolence making them being called with the name of ‘Peace Churches’. According to a report of 2006, 1.5 Million Mennonites are living in the world. Mennonites hold their major amount of population in Congo, United States and Canada. In addition to these three countries, Mennonites are found in a large numbers in 51 countries of at least 6 continents. Mennonites are widely scattered all across the globe with their population in China, Germany, Paraguay, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, and Belize where the Mennonites have formed large colonies. Mennonites have formed a Disaster Service which has its basis in North America which offers its services in areas which have been hit by various types of disasters like floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. Mennonites also work with a number of other programs in order to provide relief services in different portions of the world. Mennonites have been nonviolent for a long period of time and have been seen following this tradition and have got themselves indulged in issues of justice and peace. The Mennonites have also founded Christian Peacemaker Teams.
Mennonites have got their differences from Hutterites in a number of fields. Mennonite groups have got their own schools which are either private or are related to church customs in any way. The groups believing on conservative thoughts amongst the Mennonites have their own schools as well as their staff for teaching and their own syllabuses as well. Most of the times, this teaching staff is women who are young and not married. Hutterites have got their schools in the form of a house in the colony where they live. Hutterites don’t like to send children to schools outside their colony. The schools in Hutterites colonies are responsible for providing the minimum amount of education according to the laws of State or Province. Unlike Mennonites, the Hutterites indulge teachers in their schools from outside. These teachers are selected after making sure that they would be able to teach basic subjects as well as English.