After Münster, the Catholics and the Reformists hunted the Anabaptists like animals. During this time of terror, a new Anabaptist leader arose. Menno Simons was a Catholic priest who lived in Frisia, North Germany in the 1500s. When his brother, Pieter, died in another Anabaptist uprising, Menno experienced a spiritual and mental crisis.
As he studied Christ’s words of love and non-violence, Menno found that new way. He became the shepherd of a flock that was founded in Frisia but grew to include many congregations in Germany and Holland. Those congregations became the Mennonite Church, and from the Mennonites, the Amish Church was born. Fifteen generations ago my ancestor, Johan Hirschberg, sat at the feet of Menno Simons with his wife, Isabella, and their son, Abel, and learned the way of peace…
“The Way of Peace”
From The Journals of Jenny Hershberger