{"id":24817,"date":"2025-01-24T23:27:16","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T23:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/?p=24817"},"modified":"2025-03-07T22:08:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T22:08:36","slug":"hundreds-gather-for-500th-anniv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2025\/hundreds-gather-for-500th-anniv\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds gather for worship service commemorating 500th anniversary of Anabaptism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Frank Ramirez<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The temperature on the thermometer read two degrees below zero as hundreds of Anabaptists of all persuasions (and garb) gathered for worship the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, at College Mennonite Church in Goshen, Ind. It was 500 years to the day after a small group of believers met in a private home in Zurich to study scripture together and perform baptisms, an event considered the beginning of the Anabaptist movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anabaptism, a movement that includes many different denominations including the Church of the Brethren, is distinguished by emphases on believer\u2019s baptism, obedience to the words of Jesus, and imitation of his actions including loving one\u2019s enemies, nonviolent resistance to evil, and emphasis on the community of believers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evening\u2019s service was titled \u201cLooking Back, Living Forward: A Worship Service Celebrating 500 Years of Anabaptist Faith and the Launch of the Anabaptist Community Bible.\u201d The study Bible includes comments in the margins written by Anabaptist scholars, voices from the past, and the contributions of over 600 churches from around the world including many Church of the Brethren congregations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John D. Roth, project director of \u201cAnabaptism at 500\u201d for MennoMedia, spoke about the arrival of Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich, the development of the Reformation in that city, and the motto, \u201cFor God\u2019s sake do something courageous.\u201d Ultimately, Zwingli took up the sword and led an army in the name of Christ against a Roman Catholic army. At the same time, the core group who had gathered to study the Bible in a private home began a truly radical reformation of Christianity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFive hundred years ago, a small group of Zwingli\u2019s former students met to discuss questions of faith.\u201d They set about to live a faith founded in love, to receive baptism, and to remain steadfast even to death. \u201cThey gave witness with their love and their lives,\u201d Roth said, adding that they practiced a faith based on the Sermon on the Mount, \u201can ethic of love, a refusal to swear loyalty oaths, and an alternative version of human relations.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Above right: Past moderator of Annual Conference, Madalyn Metzger, was one of those at the podium during the celebration of the 500th Anniversary of Anabaptism.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Below: The choir at the celebration. Photos by Frank Ramirez<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Roth asked, \u201cWhat does it mean to do something courageous for God\u2019s sake today?\u201d Although in many ways our world is much different than it was 500 years ago, Roth noted that some feel the Christian faith is under threat and \u201cin the face of these perceived threats strong voices have emerged for good Christians\u2026to fight fire with fire, to mobilize armies to expand the borders of a Christian nation.\u201d He concluded, \u201cWe are here to recognize and to honor a different kind of courage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roth insisted that despite the efforts of some to marginalize Anabaptist distinctives like peace, \u201cour distinctives are not a quirk but at the very heart of the gospel\u2026. We bear witness to the truth of the gospel when we display the courage to love (even) those who don\u2019t deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service included choral music, with one number taught to the choir by Mennonite students from Ethiopia; hymns; reading of scripture; and prayers of dedication for the Anabaptist Community Bible. The several participants included Madalyn Metzger, chief marketing officer at Everence and past moderator of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Frank Ramirez is a retired pastor and ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren, a writer and frequent contributor to Newsline, Messenger, and Brethren Press.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Purchase the Anabaptist Community Bible through Brethren Press at www.brethrenpress.com\/searchresults.asp?search=anabaptist+community+bible<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

———-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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