“Their commitment to passing down the message of peace and the gospel inspires me to live a sacrificial life for peace.” Stories of the early Anabaptist martyrs have shaped and inspired Mennonites around the world for 500 years. They continue to do so for suffering pastors in Myanmar, like the one quoted above.
From 25-29 November 2024, five MWC leaders, one MC Canada staff member and 17 pastors from Bible Missionary Church, Mennonite in Myanmar met in Chiang Mai, Thailand for a solidarity visit.
Myanmar’s years-long civil war has meant fear, violence, displacement and lost loved ones.
“The purpose of the visit was to learn how the global church can support the church in Myanmar during this time of suffering and oppression,” says Deacons Commission secretary Tigist Tesfaye. “And to foster mutual learning about peace and Anabaptism.”
The solidarity delegates wanted to learn about the situation that the church in Myanmar faces. The challenges of living under military dictatorship have intensified for the church with the recent increased enforcement of mandatory military service.
The pastors shared about the burden of possibly being conscripted or having their young adults sons compelled – even kidnapped – into military service. They spoke about fasting from their one meal a day. They said they are sometimes regarded with suspicion by government forces and local religious leaders (Buddhist) for following what is perceived as a Western religion.
The MWC delegation: Andrew Suderman, Andres Pacheco Lozano, Agus Mayanto, César García, Tigist Tesfaye.
The visit was also a response to an invitation for learning about the Anabaptist movement. The schedule included sessions on What We Believe Together (Shared Convictions) led by César García, MWC general secretary. Peace Commission secretary and chair Andrew Suderman and Andres Pacheco Lozano led sessions that explored what it means to be a church dedicated to the ways of Jesus Christ’s peace.
There were teaching sessions and pastoral sessions with prayer times, time for discussion and mutual learning. And the pastors from Myanmar shared their experiences and what was on their hearts.
Agus Mayanto, MWC’s regional representative for Southeastern Asia, and Norm Dyck of MC Canada Witness led evening prayers.
Many of the pastors commented that the lessons on Anabaptist history and being a peace church were entirely new and opened a way to personal change and social change.
“They encourage me to view life and faith through a fresh lens,” said one pastor.
“I was inspired to learn more about peace – especially active peace as a way of living and responding to challenges,” said another.
“Understanding the history of the Anabaptist movement was a significant highlight,” said another. “I am committed to sharing the story of Anabaptism and its history with others.”
“When faced with conflict, we often feel limited to two options: seeking revenge or remaining silent. However, studying the Beatitudes taught me a third way: responding with peaceful action,” said another pastor. “This revelation was transformative for me.”
The solidarity visit concluded with the pastors from Myanmar highlighting particular ways forward for them to respond to their context. The group identified several ways to grow in the knowledge and practice of building peace as Jesus followers. Discussions groups, task forces and conferences – especially for the youth – were some of the suggestions.
How can you pray for Myanmar?
The pastors requested prayer
For courage and skill to preach the gospel of peace.
For the pastors to be faithful servants despite the persecution.
Part B: Origin of Anabaptists/Mennonites in your own country
Part C: WCRC and MWC Common Statement of Confession, Gratitude and Commitment
Part D: A Responsive reading of gratefulness, based on Psalm 136
This content is provided to give context for Anabaptism@500 years – back then, and today. Please use as much of this content as is relevant for your own context. Please be sure to add in the history of Anabaptism within your own country and how your church came to be today.
Part A: Origin of Anabaptism in 1525
The Anabaptist movement began as part of a renewal movement within the Catholic Church in Europe in the early 16th century. Some of its inspiration comes from the Catholic tradition: the strong sense of discipline and community found in monasticism, for example, the attentiveness to the Holy Spirit that could be found in Catholic mysticism, or the emphasis on following Jesus in daily life in The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas á Kempis. Anabaptism also owes a debt to Martin Luther and the early Reformation movement, particularly Luther’s emphasis on the authority of Scripture and his emphasis on the freedom of the Christian conscience. The movement was shaped by deep social and economic unrest of their time that exploded in the Peasants’ War of 1524-1525.
The Anabaptists themselves, however, would have said that they were simply trying to be faithful followers of the teachings of Jesus and the example of the Early Church.
A moment in 1525 serves as the symbolic beginning of the Anabaptist movement: a small group of Christian reformers gathered for a secret worship service in Zurich, Switzerland. The group was frustrated by the hesitance of their leader, Ulrich Zwingli, to enact the changes to Catholic rituals that they agreed Scripture demanded. In their reading of Scripture, true Christian baptism assumed a conscious commitment to follow Jesus – something no infant could do. So on 21 January 1525, this small group agreed to baptize each other as adults.
Although it would be some time before the full meaning of baptism came into focus, the early Anabaptists understood this act to symbolize the presence of the Holy Spirit in the gift of God’s grace, a commitment to a life of daily discipleship and membership in a new community of God’s people.
Named by opponents
Members of the movement generally referred to themselves as “Brethren” (Brüder) – or later by the more descriptive term “baptism-minded” (Taufgesinnten). Their opponents labeled them Anabaptists (= re-baptizers), in part because “rebaptism” was a criminal offense in the Holy Roman Empire, punishable by death. At first, the group resisted the term “Anabaptist” since in their minds they were not rebaptizing, but rather baptizing correctly for the first time. But over time, the name persisted.
Today, Anabaptist is an accepted English term for all Reformation groups who practiced believers (rather than infant) baptism, and the denominations descended from them such as the Amish, Mennonites, and Hutterites.
Identity-forging challenges
Over time, however, a coherent movement emerged. Its identity was forged, in part at least, from the need to respond to several basic challenges.
First, in response to accusations of heresy by religious and political authorities in the first half of the 16th century, Anabaptists were quick to define themselves as faithful, Bible-believing Christians.
Second, militant voices within their number who were ready to impose social and religious change with violence forced Anabaptists to clarify their identity as peaceful, law-abiding, nonviolent Christians whose only weapon was love.
And finally, in the face of spiritualist dissenters who favoured an internal religious experience that could avoid theological disputations and go undetected by authorities, Anabaptists were compelled to defend the public and visible nature of the church.
Three streams emerge
Despite the diversity of theology and practice evident in the first generation of Anabaptists, three coherent groups had emerged by the 1540s: the Swiss Brethren in the German-speaking territories; the Hutterites in Moravia; and the Mennonites of the Netherlands and North Germany who were organized around the leadership of Menno Simons. Although these groups differed in important ways, they nonetheless recognized each other as members of the same religious tradition, so that their internal disagreements often took the form of a family quarrel.
—Excerpted from Stories: How Mennonites Came to Be, by John D. Roth, Herald Press, 2006. Adapted and used with permission.
Over the next 500 years Anabaptism spread to many different countries around the world, each with their own origin story. Mennonite World Conference began 100 years ago to bring together the many churches from different streams of Anabaptism for fellowship, worship, witness and service.
More reading: Anabaptist World: 2 March 2015, “The Birth of Anabaptism”
Part B: Origin of Anabaptists/Mennonites in your own country
Please be sure to discuss the history of your own congregation and the development of Anabaptist/Mennonite churches in your own country.
Helpful summaries are available at the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO). Search a country name to learn about Anabaptist movements in the region.
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.
The title of the statement is “Restoring Our Family to Wholeness: Seeking a Common Witness.” The statement includes sections on giving thanks and celebrating our common confession of Jesus as Lord; confession and lament; and ends with God’s call to unity and peace. The statement can be found on the MWC website:
Going forward with the WCRC, rather than on “resolving” the historical theological points of difference that have divided us, MWC emphasizes the places around the world where Mennonites and Reformed churches are collaborating in our witness.
Part D: An MWC liturgy of gratefulness
Based on Psalm 136
It is God’s faithfulness and message of salvation through Jesus Christ that we celebrate, as it has been passed down and around through the generations over 500 years, reaching us today.
Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, For his steadfast love endures forever.*
Give thanks to the God of gods, For his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords, For his steadfast love endures forever.
Who by his understanding created the heavens and the earth, Who built the church as Christ’s Body here on earth, Who renews the church throughout time, Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, For his steadfast love endures forever.
Who through the witness of the Holy Spirit 500 years ago, inspired the Radical Reformers with a renewed vision for following Jesus, Who brought a deepened understanding of God’s call on our lives, Grounded in Jesus, the Bible, community discernment, discipleship and love of enemies, Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, For his steadfast love endures forever.
Who through the Spirit called witnesses to spread the Good News all over the world, Who inspired new congregations to witness to God’s love for all cultures and all lands, Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, For his steadfast love endures forever.
Who is Lord over our own [name of church] in [name of country], Who nourishes and strengthens our own congregation to live out God’s call on our lives, Grounded in Jesus, the Bible, community discernment, discipleship, and love of enemies. Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, For his steadfast love endures forever.
Who works through the global family of faith we call Mennonite World Conference, Who is growing a church that transcends boundaries of race, ethnicity and language, Who calls us together as a communion (koinonia) to follow Jesus, live out unity and build peace. Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, For his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, Give thanks to the God of gods, Give thanks to the Lord of lords, For his steadfast love endures forever.
—-
*The refrain “For his steadfast love endures forever” could be replaced by “For God’s love never quits” all the way through the responsive reading.
Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday 2025
Participate in person or join in online on 29 May 2025
On Saturday 29 May 2025, Mennonite World Conference (MWC) will welcome guests from around the world to The Courage to Love: Anabaptism@500. The day-long celebration commemorates the birth of the Anabaptist movement in Zurich, Switzerland.
Following workshops, concerts, a panel discussion and a self-guided historical walking tour, participants will gather for an ecumenical worship service at the Grossmünster church.
As an act of peacebuilding and a testimony to recent reconciliation, MWC is inviting leaders of world communions (e.g., Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed) that were once sharply at odds with the Anabaptist movement. All events are within walking distance.
The final worship gathering will be conducted in English and translated into French, Spanish and German. The service at 15:00 UTC will be livestreamed.
Celebrate together in a worship service and/or potluck using these worship resources and eating with brothers and sisters. This could be on AWFS on Sunday 19 January 2025, or on 29 May 2025, or whatever timing is convenient in your own context.
Create and share artwork and stories
Identifyaspects of the Anabaptist message that reach us today. Create your own personal testimonies, sermons, artwork. Share on social media, post in homes or church buildings, etc.
For each of these we give thanks, and at the same time we identify ways we feel called to respond through faithfully sharing and living out the message of God’s love here and now.
In 2025, the global Anabaptist movement looks back over 500 years of existence. Mennonite World Conference invites all to a major event on Ascension Day,29 May 2025, in Zurich, Switzerland.
Even as we look back on a long past, the focus of the commemoration is on the current reality of the Anabaptist movement.
Who are we today as a global communion?
What is important to us?
What are we committed to in this world?
When we look back over the 500-year history of our movement, we want to share what we are and what we have. Not just with other churches. Commitment – in this world – to peace, to reconciliation, to unity, in which we get a glimpse of Christ’s coming kingdom of peace: these are key elements of how Anabaptists understand discipleship today.
We have gathered these commitments under the theme “The courage to love”.
It takes courage to stand up for reconciliation in a society torn apart by polarization.
It takes courage to stand between the dividing lines, to listen and try to understand what motivates others.
It takes courage to focus on love rather than influence, power and control.
In a world where people loudly demand to take a stand and distinguish themselves from those with whom they don’t want to be identified, it takes courage to choose love. Love that is ready to lay down its life for enemies, just as Christ laid down his life for enemies.
Love goes beyond non-violence: it is a courageous commitment to live out God’s love in this world.
For example, brothers and sisters in Ethiopia who, in the midst of the violence of a civil war, make public the fact that they carry no weapons.
People seeking to follow Christ in the midst of conflicts in Myanmar or Ukraine, often entering the spaces between the lines as they search for pathways beyond violent confrontation.
What about us here today?
Where is our courageous action in love needed today?
How can we usefully interpose ourselves between the front lines? How can we bear witness to a God who gives of God’s self to reconcile the world?
—Jürg Bräker is general secretary of Conférence Mennonite Suisse, an MWC Executive Committee representative for Europe, and a member of the committee organizing the celebration.
A version of this article was first published in the monthly e-newsletter of Konferenz der Mennoniten der Schweiz / Conférence Mennonite Suisse.
