Post-New Testament Church 

After the New Testament era, in the fourth century Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire, thus creating a state church. In time this became the Roman Catholic church. A prominent leader by the name of Augustine introduced the sacrament of infant baptism, based on a belief in “original sin” – that without the rite of baptism infants go to hell. A division in 1054 resulted in the Eastern Orthodox church (in the east) and Roman Catholic (in the west).

 Sixteenth Century 

Then in the 16 century a Reformation movement challenged Roman Catholic positions. The “Protestant” movement included Lutherans (Martin Luther), Reformed (Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin), and a bit later the Anglicans (Church of England). In Switzerland a group emerged in 1525 as the “radical wing” of the Reformation. These “Swiss Brethren” did not agree that the town council should or could set matters of faith and practice, but that the New Testament must be the determinant. This view challenged the state church system that Lutheran and Reformed (and Catholics) were continuing (with all that goes with the marriage of church and state). They did not find infant baptism in the NT, but rather believers’ baptism. When they began rebaptizing those who had received a baptism as infants which they did not consider valid,.they were labeled as “Anabaptists,” meaning again-baptizers [Note that the term is not Anti-baptist, but Anabaptist.] They were severely persecuted by both Catholics and Protestants. All of the early leaders (Grebel, Manz, Blaurock) were martyred along with many others – drowned, burned at the stake or beheaded, resulting in 4000+ deaths. [A book, Martyrs Mirror, tells many tragic stories, including those of women as well as of men.] These believers had to meet secretly in out of the way places in order to survive. 

However adherents of this movement spread out into Germany (Palatinate) and France (Alsace); and in the Netherlands a RC priest, Menno Simons, heard of these happenings and began to read the Bible! Something new for a priest. He found he had to leave the Catholic church and identify with these Anabaptists, and did so openly in 1536. He was able to avoid efforts to kill him for 25 years, moving around, teaching, and writing. In time followers of this movement, of which Menno Simons was alive to be a significant leader, were known a “Mennists'' and then as “Mennonites.” The designations “Anabaptist” and “Mennonite” were not chosen from within this movement, but by the opposition. [Not incidentally, significant steps of reconciliation have taken place between Mennonites and Lutheran and Reformed entities relative to 16 century persecutions of Anabaptists] 

 Anabaptism 

So what are the elements of this Anabaptist-Mennonite faith? The primary understandings of Anabaptist-Mennonites have been expressed as: Jesus is the center of their faith, Community is the center of their lives, and Reconciliation is the center of their work. Put another way, key elements include separation of church and state, living by the New Testament, believers’ baptism, discipleship in everyday life, and rejection of the ways of violence (war, abortion, capital punishment, and domestic violence). Stuart Murray, in Great Britain, who now coordinates interest in Anabaptism, is saying that since “Christian” has become so widely applied and misapplied, sincere believers should self-identify as “followers of Jesus.” (For more see: www.anabaptistnetwork.com) Obviously some elements of this perspective are held by various Christian groups, and are not distinctively Mennonite. However , the combination is becoming attractive around the globe.

 Mennonites and Amish

 Backing up a bit, in 1693 Jacob Ammon led a break with the mainline Mennonites in Europe over issues of discipline, resulting in the Amish Church. Note that it was not a matter of progressive Mennonites separating from the conservative Amish, but of the Amish separating from the mainline. The Amish churches hold too much of Anabaptist theology and practice. [E.g., the widely publicized Amish response to the Nickel Mines School shooting.] They have focused on issues of culture and separation from the world. Recently there are Amish settling in Columbiana County, although not among the early Mennonite settlers of Mahoning-Columbiana Counties. 

Anabaptism Today 

The Anabaptists were intensely evangelical from their beginning. As they scattered because of persecution, they were sharing their life in Jesus Christ. They carried out the Great Commission as lay persons, not by organized church programs. Due to intense persecution, in time survival took priority over evangelism, and they became the quiet in the land (Stille im Lande) until into the 1800s. But with intentional mission efforts and many independent Christian groups learning of Anabaptist understandings of the gospel, in 2015 there are 1.77 million “Anabaptists' ' in 83 countries in six continents, (with North Americans and Europeans in the minority). They are affiliated through Mennonite World Conference (MWC), which held its 16th assembly in Harrisburg, PA, in July of 2015, with Danisa Ndvolu of Zimbabwe as President, and Cesar Garcia, Bogota of Colombia as General Secretary. In 2006 MWC adopted a statement of the “Shared Convictions of Global Anabaptists.” Explorations of that statement are in a book “What We Believe Together,” written by a Paraguayan, Alfred Neufeld. (The shared convictions statement is accessible at www.mwc-cmm.org .) Much more about Mennonites is available at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, www.gameo.org. 

This brief review of roots and current expressions present a somewhat different picture from the all-too-common perception of Mennonites in relation to Amish, and from the cultural expressions of some “Mennonites.” Stuart Murray’s book, “The Naked Anabaptist” is an answer to the question: what does and an Anabaptist look like without the cultural trappings that came by way of European-Germanic backgrounds? The gospel needs to be authentically contextualized in whatever culture it takes root. But it is so easy to come to think that a particular cultural expression must be the same in all places in the world. The MWC “Shared Convictions” have been compiled to be relevant and applicable to any world cultural setting, for those committed to following Jesus. 

Mennonites are engaged in spreading the message of Jesus in word and deed convinced that Christ is our healing and hope in a broken world. That means transcending the commonly held boundaries of nationality, race, and culture. This is true in international ministries, and in the inclusion of persons of diverse backgrounds into local spiritual families.

 Responding to world needs is the mission of Mennonite Central Committee, a global inter-Mennonite non-profit organization sharing God’s love and compassion through relief, development, and peace, “in the name of Christ.” An affiliated organization is Mennonite Disaster Service, utilizing volunteers in disaster needs. Many Mennonite Conscious Objectors to war during WWII did alternate service in mental hospitals. That resulted in the conditions in those hospitals being exposed, and led to radical changes in the way mental hospitals functioned, and in Mennonites establishing mental health facilities in many US locations.

 Several quotations highlight core elements of Anabaptist-Mennonite beliefs and practice: 

*Hans Denck (1526): “The medium, is Christ, whom no one can truly know unless he follow him in his life, and no one may follow him unless he has first known him .... For whoever thinks he belongs to Christ must walk the way that Christ walked.” (Denck I, 45, 50) [Faithful discipleship is not a matter of works righteousness, but of living out the reality of Christ within.]

 *Menno Simons (1539): “Behold, beloved reader, in this way true faith or true knowledge begets love, and love begets obedience to the commandments of God.....For true evangelical faith is of such a nature that it cannot lie dormant, but manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love; it dies to the flesh and blood; it destroys all forbidden lusts and desires; it seeks and serves and fears God; it clothes the naked; it feeds the hungry; it comforts the sorrowful; and it shelters the destitute; it aids and consoles the sad; it returns good for evil; it serves those that harm it; it prays for those that persecute it; teachers, admonishes, and reproves with the Word of the Lord; it seeks that which is lost; it binds up that which is wounded; it heals that which is diseased and saves that which is sound; it has become all things to all men. The persecution, suffering, and anguish which befalls it for the sake of the truth of the Lord is to it a glorious joy and consolation.” (Complete Writings, 307) [True evangelical faith is a way of life.] 

This brief review of historical and theological roots may shed light on the confusion and misunderstandings surrounding the terms Anabaptist and Mennonite. This faith perspective that has been passed on through the generations is alive in the world today. It is to be lived out in our context and shared as the Good News of Jesus. 

[Prepared by Ernest D. Martin for distribution August 16, 2015, at the marking of 200 years since the first Mennonite church building in the Mahoning-Columbiana area of Ohio.