Though we have many fine histories of the development of the Mennonite churches in North America, it still seems useful to have a thumbnail sketch of the historical developments that led from the original Anabaptist movement in the 16th century to the present main Mennonite denomination in the United States.

My essay, “From Sixteenth-Century Anabaptism to Mennonite Church U.S.A.”, a version of which was published in my book, Embodying the Way of Jesus: Anabaptist Convictions for the Twenty-First Century, pays special attention to how the tradition has evolved through the years.