Anabaptism @500: Celebrating in 2025
Why are we Celebrating?
There have been a number of anniversaries in the past few years, marking the start
of major Christian movements. In 2009, Baptists celebrated four hundred years since
the first Baptist church was founded. In 2017, Lutherans celebrated five hundred
years since Martin Luther kick-started the Reformation. In 2024, Quakers marked the
400th anniversary of the birth of their founder, George Fox.
These milestones are opportunities to reflect on the past, learn from history, give
thanks for our forebears, identify current priorities and envision the future.
Although Anabaptist groups emerged in various locations during the 1520s, the
earliest gathering was in Zurich on 21 January 1525. A group of believers, who had
been inspired and then frustrated by the reformer, Ulrich Zwingli, baptised each other
and embarked on a more radical form of reformation.
Over the next ten years, Anabaptist communities emerged in many places in
Switzerland, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Moravia and elsewhere. This was a
period of rapid growth, despite sustained persecution. Shared convictions emerged
across this diverse movement: separation of church and state, religious liberty,
Jesus-centred biblical interpretation, non-violence, truth-telling, mutual aid, multi-
voiced church, radical discipleship in supportive communities.
Anabaptism was a heroic movement that inspired passionate evangelism, church
planting, remarkable courage under intense suffering and a consistent lifestyle that
even their adversaries acknowledged as unusual. It was also flawed in many ways,
as are all traditions, sometimes succumbing to legalism, often dividing in the search
for a pure church, occasionally even resorting to violence in order to impose their
views.
Anabaptism survived, partly by going underground, partly by emigrating, first to the
east and later to the Americas. Denigrated by contemporaries and historians, it made
a remarkable comeback in the 20th century as the writings of the early leaders were
unearthed and translated and Anabaptists could be encountered in their own words.
During the past century, the movement has become global with the greatest
numerical strength in the Majority World.
Some Anabaptists arrived in England in the 16th century, seeking refuge from
persecution, but most were quickly arrested, imprisoned, deported or executed.
Anabaptist ideas certainly had some impact on the early Baptists, but they were
adamant that they were not Anabaptists. Only in the past 70 years have British
Christians from many other traditions rediscovered this movement and begun to find
inspiration in Anabaptist convictions and practices.
What celebrations are taking place in 2025?
There are various events in the UK, Europe and North America.
There is a special issue of the Journal of European Baptist Studies (see
https://jebs.eu/ojs/index.php/jebs/index).
The Anabaptist Community Bible has been published by MennoMedia (details at
https://anabaptismat500.com/).
An introductory online course, ‘Encountering the Anabaptists’, has run twice in 2023
and 2024. It will be run again in 2025.
An Anabaptist Walk enables walkers to visit sites associated with Anabaptists and other radical movements in London. See https://amnetwork.uk/resource/an-
anabaptists-walk-in-london-2/
Each year, the Sunday nearest to the first baptism of believers is designated
‘Anabaptist Sunday.’ In 2025, this falls on Sunday 19 January. Resources at
https://mwc-cmm.org/en/resources/anabaptist-world-fellowship-sunday-2025.
Where can you go to join in?
18 January: Day conference with David Bebbington and Stuart Murray Williams at
Bristo Baptist Church, 1 Queensferry Rd, Edinburgh EH4 3DJ. Information from
[email protected].
22 February: Day conference at Clay Community Church, 206 Bardowie Street,
Glasgow G22 5AB, co-sponsored by the Anabaptist Mennonite Network and the
Scottish Network Churches. Information from [email protected].
24-26 January: Conference in Örebro, Sweden, organised by the Scandinavian Anabaptist Network. Details at https://altutbildning.se/aktuellt/anabaptism-som-profetisk-rost-idag-24-25-januari-2025/
27 February: Day conference at Regent’s Park College, Pusey Street, Oxford OX1
2LB, co-sponsored by the Centre for Anabaptist Studies, the Centre for Baptist
Studies and the Baptist Historical Society. Details at
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/centre-baptist-studies/t-avmvgjr.
12 March: Public lecture in Paisley, hosted by the Scottish Baptist College, with Ruth
Gouldbourne on ‘What did the Anabaptists ever do for us?’ Details from
[email protected].
8-11 May: Conference in Montbéliard, France, hosted by La Prairie Mennonite
Church. Details from https://www.egliseprairie.fr/contact/
29 May: Celebration in Zurich, organised by Mennonite World Conference. Details at
31 May-4 June: Believers Church Conference in Amsterdam. The theme is ‘Radical
Renewal? Witnessing to a New Heaven and a New Earth.’ Details at
https://believerschurchconference.com/
The Centre for Anabaptist Studies’ annual lecture will take place at Bristol Baptist
College in November – date, time, topic and lecturer to be confirmed.
Resources
There is an introductory reading list on the Anabaptist tradition at
https://amnetwork.uk/resource/anabaptism-introductory-reading-list/.
You can visit the website of the Anabaptist Mennonite Network to learn about
Anabaptist activities in Britain today and sign up for news: https://amnetwork.uk/
You can find out more about the Anabaptist church planting project, Incarnate, at
https://amnetwork.uk/incarnate/.
You can find out more about the other Anabaptist projects, Peaceful Borders and
Soulspace, Belfast, at https://amnetwork.uk/peaceful-borders/ and
https://amnetwork.uk/soulspace/.
You can sign up on the Anabaptist Theology Forum website for information about
online and in-person events: https://amnetwork.uk/theology-forum/
You can sample articles from the online journal, Anabaptism Today, and sign up to
receive further information: https://amnetwork.uk/anabaptism-today-2/
You can contact the Centre for Anabaptist Studies for information about online
modules and postgraduate study: [email protected]
You can find out more about our partner mission agency, Urban Expression, at
www.urbanexpression.org.uk.
Videos introducing Anabaptist mission activities across the world can be found at
https://amnetwork.uk/resource_type/video/.
For further information about any of the above events or resources, please contact
[email protected]