A Common Statement of Confession, Gratitude and Commitment
Mennonite World Conference appointed several people to participate in an ongoing ecumenical dialogue with the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC). This is one of the state churches who in the 1500s persecuted the early Anabaptists in Europe.
Together, this group of theologians from WRCR and MWC prepared a shared statement for public delivery on 29 May 2025 in Zurich, Switzerland.
Restoring Our Family to Wholeness: Seeking a Common Witness
A Common Statement of Confession, Gratitude, and Commitment
Mennonite World Conference
World Communion of Reformed Churches
29 May 2025
Preamble
With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:2, 3)
We gather today to commemorate the common origins of our global communions and to acknowledge our fractured relationship. The division, sparked by the voluntary baptism of adults in Zurich 500 years ago, soon led to the persecution of Anabaptists and then to a long period of estrangement.
We rejoice that today, building on efforts over many years toward mutual understanding and reconciliation, we can respond to Christ our Peace by living into the unity of the Spirit. Bound together, we persevere in nurturing this unity. We pledge to be humble, patient, truthful, and, above all, loving, as we walk together as one body of Christ.
Together, we give thanks
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful! (Colossians 3:14, 15)
Together, we give thanks to God, Trinity of love in perfect communion, who offers this koinonia to Jesus’ disciples, to humanity, and to all of creation. We do not create this unity but receive it gratefully as a gift from God. Communion is God’s self-giving to all creation, and nothing can destroy it. On the eve of his death, Jesus Christ prayed for the unity of his disciples. Today we give thanks that we can respond to Christ’s will by making his prayer our own. In Christ, unity between our communions becomes a testimony to the world.
Together, we celebrate
For us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. (1 Corinthians 8:6)
Gathered under God’s loving gaze, we celebrate that our identity is found in our common confession of Jesus as Lord, our shared ancestors in the faith, and our common call to discipleship and gospel witness in a fragmented world. Recognizing our frailties, we surrender ourselves to God’s grace and find new strength in the Spirit to take on a shared commitment to peace and fullness of life as a gift from our communions to all of God’s creation.
Together, we acknowledge, confess, and lament
Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. (James 5:16a)
Together, we acknowledge that our two traditions, though born in the same renewal movement, have been divided by deeply held convictions concerning baptism, the nature of the church, biblical hermeneutics, and the role of the state. We confess and lament that we have lived alongside each other for many centuries without questioning or exploring this division in the Body of Christ.
As Reformed Christians, we acknowledge that we have largely suppressed the memory of the persecution of the Anabaptists. We confess that this persecution was, according to our present conviction, a betrayal of the Gospel.
As Anabaptist Christians, we acknowledge that we have often overlooked the deep theological roots we share with the Reformed tradition. We confess that too often our convictions, ideals, and memory of martyrdom have fostered self-righteousness and a reluctance to see the face of Christ in our Reformed sisters and brothers.
Together, we hear God’s call to unity and peace
Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God. (Hebrews 12:14-15)
We receive God’s call from our shared beginnings in Zurich, which urged the Church to live anew in obedience to Christ, and in the witness of those who demanded the end of persecution and strived for religious freedom.
We hear God’s call to unity and peace when we discern Scripture and partake in baptism and the Lord’s Supper – even as we recognize and explore our differences in understanding baptism.
We hear God’s call in the voices of those who remind the Church that it is grounded in the Gospel and must not become an organ of the state. The Gospel calls us to work for a world where justice, peace and the wholeness of creation will allow every living being to flourish in fullness.
Together, we long for renewed imagination
Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; justice and peace will kiss each other (Psalm 85:10)
Our traditions have blessed us with a passion for justice and peace. Yet we have often stressed one at the expense of the other, impoverishing our witness. Today, our different emphases can enrich each other as we eagerly work for justice and peace to embrace and kiss, as they do in Christ. May the God of the cross and the resurrection give us the heart and the mind to pursue peace and to practice the justice that resists violence, oppression, and ecological devastation, a justice that finds its fullest expression in forgiveness, mercy, and reconciliation.
Together, we commit ourselves to respond
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. (1 John 5:2)
Today, as Anabaptist and Reformed members of Christ’s body we affirm that our witness to the world is nourished and sustained by God’s grace, which enables us to love God, each other, and all creation.
Together, we commit ourselves to the sacred mission of proclaiming the Gospel of love in all our contexts, each with their own challenges and demands. We will not let fear, mistrust, or obstacles to dialogue keep us from this calling.
We promise to journey together to heal the wounds of the past and to re-member the body of Christ. We pledge to learn from each other by sharing the richness and diversity of our traditions. We bind ourselves to purposeful cooperation that affirms God’s mercy and opens doors to the justice that leads to peace.
Together, we pray
We, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. (Rom 12:5)
Together, we pray for the body of Christ. In Christ we are members of one another, brothers and sisters of the same flesh and the same Spirit. We receive this unity as a gift. In painful awareness that our differences became a source of conflict and division, we now pray for the courage and the creativity to reshape them in ways that enrich our unity in the body of Christ. The One who is creating us anew will bring this great work of peace to completion.
Together, we embrace the gift of unity in the belief that you, O God, are restoring your family to wholeness.
AMEN