Reformed Mennonite

The Reformed Mennonite Church is an Anabaptist religious denomination that officially separated from the main North American Mennonite body in 1812.

The Reformed Mennonite Church was founded on May 30, 1812, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, under the leadership of John Herr, the son of Francis Herr, a Mennonite who had been expelled from the church. Herr split from the main Mennonite Church on the premise that the Church leaders were deviating from the original teachings of Menno Simons. The new denomination retained the name "Mennonite" and identified itself as the only true Mennonite movement. Others, however, referred to followers of Herr as "New" Mennonites or "Herrites", and subsequently as "Reformed" Mennonites, which eventually became the denomination's official name.

The Church reached its peak membership in the mid-nineteenth century, at which time it included up to 3,000 members in Ontario and eight U.S. states.

It has experienced two divisions in its nearly 200-year history. In 1917, three congregations located in Huron, Richland, and Lucas counties in Ohio (along with a few members in Ontario) formed the New Reformed Mennonite Church under the leadership of Minister John Miller. The cause for the split was disagreement over whether funerals should be held in cooperation with non-Reformed Mennonite ministers and over the Church's support of the American Red Cross during the First World War.

The second split occurred in 1975 under Minister Willis Weaver, who organized the United Mennonite Church. In 1987, the group had 17 members located in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania.

Reformed Mennonites see themselves as true followers of Menno Simons' teachings and of the teachings of the New Testament. They have no church rules, but they rely solely on the Bible as their guide. The Reformed Mennonites practise nonresistance and therefore do not go to war, practise self-defence, or sue at the law. They practise the Lord's Supper and believer's baptism on confession of faith. Upon meeting, members greet with a kiss of charity as taught in 1 Peter 5. They practise feet washing as taught by Christ in John 13. They insist on strict separation from other denominations, and excommunicate former members. This practice is considered by them to be out of love and concern for the former member's soul, and to be meant to remind those who have left the faith of what they have lost spiritually. Members dress in conservative plain garb that preserves 18th century Mennonite details. Their children attend public schools. They permit the use of automobiles.

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