{"id":122295,"date":"2025-12-22T16:40:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T16:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/?p=122295"},"modified":"2025-12-22T16:40:50","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T16:40:50","slug":"bearing-witness-living-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/bearing-witness-living-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"Bearing witness to a living faith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With zeal and devotion, early Anabaptists lived out their faith in bold and risky ways that broke with the established church. This year, as Mennonite World Conference marked 500 years of the Anabaptist movement, we lived out our faith through reconciliation with churches that had once been opposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hospitality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the end of a long hike on a warm day, a table set with fruit, desserts and juice is a blessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The blessing is multiplied when the hike\u2019s destination is a T\u00e4uferh\u00f6hle<\/em> (literally, \u201cbaptist cave\u201d) and the refreshment is provided by parishioners from Catholic and Reformed churches. Where early Anabaptists in rural Switzerland once worshipped away from the threatening eyes of the established church, today Anabaptist pilgrims receive welcome from Catholic and Reformed church members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir hospitality and conversation made the reconciliation of leaders become real in a grassroots way,\u201d said Andrew Dyck, a Mennonite who travelled from Canada to Zurich for \u201cThe Courage to Love\u201d commemoration day and later visited the cave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dorothy Jean Weaver, a Mennonite who travelled from the USA to Zurich, was invited more than a year in advance to be hosted by old friends in Zurich. \u201cI considered that I had the very best possible invitation to this 500th anniversary event, coming as it did from my longstanding Swiss Reformed friends,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Reconciliation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut for me the most moving moments in the service were the tokens of reconciliation (footwashing, anointing, message from the pope) extended\/enacted between church leaders representing the major Reformation groups who opposed and persecuted the early Anabaptists 500 years ago \u2013 Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed \u2013 and the present-day descendants of those Anabaptists,\u201d said Dorothy Jean Weaver. \u201cIt was a powerful moment and a profoundly fitting way to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Anabaptist movement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her Reformed host Peter Detwiller, who has worked in ecumenical spaces for decades, muses that this commemoration \u201cwas basically a miracle!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only were Reformers Zwingli and Bullinger, Luther and Calvin determined to eradicate the Anabaptist sect by the roots, persecution of the Anabaptist families and communities continued for about 130 years in the Canton of Zurich and more than 200 years in the Canton of Berne, he said. \u201cFrom this perspective it was a miracle that the Anabaptist movement survived to this day and is flourishing as the commemoration in Zurich has impressively demonstrated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whereas the request to establish a memorial plaque to Felix Manz at 1952\u2019s MWC Assembly in Switzerland was refused, in 2025, the Reformed Church warmly welcomed Anabaptists into their flagship church, the Grossm\u00fcnster and theological school for workshop spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter Detwiller is inspired by the Anabaptist movement\u2019s commitment to peace and identity as \u2018a free community of committed believers.\u2019 \u201cIn my opinion, the task of seriously learning from the Anabaptist movement still lies ahead of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Footwashing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
WCRC 150th anniversary, in Chiang Mai. Photo: William Gibson\/WCRC<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Following the profound moments in Zurich, the World Communion of Reformed Churches invited MWC general secretary C\u00e9sar Garc\u00eda to participate in their anniversary celebration of 150 years as an organization in October 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the celebration in Thailand, The Rev. Dr. Setri Nyomi, WCRC\u2019s interim general secretary and C\u00e9sar Garc\u00eda once again washed each other\u2019s feet in the midst of a worship service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will not let fear or mistrust keep us from this calling,\u201d said The Rev. Dr. Setri Nyomi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe pledge to learn from each other by sharing the richness and diversity of our traditions,\u201d said C\u00e9sar Garc\u00eda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inspiration from the footwashing in Zurich was carried into regional churches in Kenya through Bishop George Ochieng, whose Eastleigh Fellowship Centre Mennonite Church Choir<\/a> sang joyfully in Zurich. He oversees 16 congregations, including six in Narok, a major city of the indigenous Maasai community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unintentionally, Bishop George Ochieng had violated cultural norms by appointing a member to diocesan responsibilities without seeking the blessings of Maasai elders. Resulting tensions split the church while the bishop was away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I came back I shared the video of this session of footwashing, taught the foundation of peace and radical act of loving one’s enemies as taught by our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:44-45) as the very foundational principle of peace.\u201d After several months of repeating these notions of peace, justice and reconciliation, \u201cthe Lord granted us a breakthrough: they all came together in tears and repentance before the Lord and made peace with each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One faith<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n