Editing Jakob Ammann (section)

== Background ==
In the mid-1600s, a fresh influx of converts came into Swiss Anabaptism. The Reformed pastor at [[Burgdorf, Switzerland|Burgdorf]] even complained that half of the people in the villages in his area were either Anabaptist or deeply sympathetic to their cause.<ref name= "Unser Leit" />{{rp|Ch. 1}}<ref name= "Letters Roth" />{{rp|7–8}} These fresh converts—zealous for their new faith—were in fact a sort of new movement within Swiss Anabaptism. Of the nearly 200 surnames among the Amish in the 1690s, only a very few were found in the Reist side, indicating that the two sides formed mostly around two groups of people with different origins.<ref name="Unser Leit" />{{rp|IV}} Because of persecution, many Swiss Brethren families had emigrated or been evicted from Swiss territory into the Alsace and [[Palatinate (region)|Palatinate]] before the division. The civil authorities tended to be more lenient in the new locations, and in some cases welcomed the newcomers as they were looking for people to develop their lands. This emigration tended to create a different environment than the Swiss who had not emigrated were experiencing, making some of the issues come to the fore.<ref name="Letters Roth" />{{rp|13–15}}

Another important aspect in the schism was a conference held at [[Ohnenheim]], Alsace, by several Swiss Brethren ministers and elders in 1660, in which they formally adopted the [[Dordrecht Confession of Faith]] that had been drawn up by Dutch Mennonites. Until this time, the Swiss Brethren (who did not use the name "Mennonite" for themselves) had no official confession of faith beyond the [[Schleitheim Confession]].<ref name= "Unser Leit" />{{rp|19}}{{Efn | The Schleitheim Confession was not an official confession of faith, but rather a statement of some points upon which those attending that conference had agreed upon.}} The Dordrecht Confession contained two points that the Swiss Brethren had not historically practised: foot washing (Article XI) and social avoidance (including not eating meals with those who had been shunned, Article XVII).<ref name="Letters Roth" />{{rp|139–141}} Swiss Brethren had practised excommunication and a refusal to "eat" the [Lord's Supper] with those banned, but their avoidance did not include refraining from eating regular meals with those in the ''bann''. These two matters, foot washing and not eating "physical" meals with the excommunicated, would be at the core of the schism.