Old Colony Mennonites

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Background Christianity Radical Reformation Sermon on the Mount
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Largest groups Amish Apostolic Christians Brethren in Christ Bruderhof Conservative Mennonites Hutterites Mennonite World Conference Mennonites Mennonite Brethren Old Colony Mennonites Old Order Mennonites River Brethren Russian Mennonites Schwarzenau Brethren
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Old Colony Mennonites (German: Altkolonier-Mennoniten) are a part of the Russian Mennonite movement that descends from colonists who migrated from the Chortitza Colony in modern Ukraine near Zaporizhia (itself originally of Prussian origins) to settlements in Canada. Theologically, Old Colony Mennonites are largely conservative Mennonites.^[1]

Since Chortitza was the first Mennonite settlement in Russia (now modern Ukraine), it was known as the "Old Colony". In the course of the 19th century, the population of the Chortitza Colony multiplied, and daughter colonies were founded. Part of the settlement moved to Canada in the 1870s, and the Canadian community, whose church was officially known as the "Reinländer Mennoniten-Gemeinde", was still informally known by the old name.^[2][3] When members of the Old Colony Mennonites then moved from Canada to other places, the name was kept and they were called that way.

"The Old Colony Mennonites represent one of the purest survivals of the Brethren or Anabaptist wing of the Reformation";^[4] and are typically more conservative than most other Russian and Ukrainian Mennonites in North America.^[5]

In 1990, Old Colony Mennonite communities could be found in Mexico, Bolivia, Belize, Paraguay, Argentina, Canada, and the United States of America.^[5] By 2013, the vast majority of Old Colony Mennonites lived in Mexico, where about 60% of the 100,000 Mennonites were affiliated with the Altkolonier Mennonitengemeinde^[6] and Bolivia, where about 75% of the 70,000 were affiliated with the Altkolonier Mennonitengemeinde.^[7] A smaller group lived in Belize, where about 50% of 10,000 were affiliated with the Altkolonier Mennonitengemeinde.^[8] Smaller groups of Old Colony Mennonites also lived in Paraguay, Argentina, Canada, and the US.