Common Practices

For nearly thirty years the Anabaptist Mennonite Network has offered as a ‘centre of gravity’ seven ‘core convictions’ – an attempt to summarise and contextualise some of the distinctive features of the Anabaptist vision. These have provided focus, inspiration and ongoing challenge.

More recently, we have been exploring ways to move on from core convictions to ‘common practices.’ What kinds of things might either individuals or communities shaped by the Anabaptist vision and the core convictions do, and how do these practices shape them?

As the Anabaptist Mennonite Network responds to opportunities both for planting Anabaptist churches and resourcing existing churches that want to become explicitly Anabaptist, this conversation has become more significant and more urgent.

The New Anabaptists: Practices for Emerging Communities, published in 2024, examines twelve ‘common practices’ proposed at a residential conference in 2020, just before the first pandemic lockdown. These are not intended to be definitive but an invitation to further reflection and discussion.

Stuart Murray: The New Anabaptists: Practices for Emerging Communities (Herald Press, 2024) is available from the Network for £12 (including P&P). Order from [email protected]