Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Anabaptism at 500

Anabaptism at 500: What Anabaptism Means to Me – May 2025

by

As Mosaic Mennonite Conference commemorates the 500th Anniversary of Anabaptism in 2025, each month we will share a variety of Mosaic voices reflecting on the question, “What does Anabaptism mean to me?”  

Submission from

Franco Salvatori, Souderton (PA) Mennonite

As an interim pastor for a Mennonite church, I found a theological home in the pages of the 1995 Confession of Faith from a Mennonite perspective.     

Anabaptism – Where following Jesus matters. Where Jesus’ words define our actions. Where we interpret the Bible by starting with Jesus and letting that inform our understanding of the rest of the scriptures.

Anabaptism – Where peace, justice, truth, stewardship, and participating in the mission of God NOW defines the purpose of the church. A community becoming like Christ, to be an incarnate sign of the beautiful vision God had for his creation and his children.     

Somehow, my faith had always been more interested in the idea of becoming like Jesus on the inside (forgiven and purified) than in acting like Jesus (pursuing the reconciliation of the world). But the Anabaptist theology did not allow for that distinction, and I loved it for that.  

I pastored that church for 10 years and would often joke that they might be more Mennonite than me, but that I was more Anabaptist, because I wasn’t born into this tradition of faith. I chose it. 

And I continue to choose it today.   

Submission from

Joe Landis (Salford Mennonite [Harleysville, PA])

Joe Landis (Salford Mennonite [Harleysville, PA]), Founder/former CEO of Conference-Related Ministry Peaceful Living and former CEO of Conference-Related Ministry Indian Creek Foundation and his son Zach Landis reflect on what Anabaptism means to them. They recently traveled, with their families, to Zurich and other key Anabaptist historical sites. Zach’s son Johan filmed the conversation, which took place in front of a cave in which early Anabaptists used for worship and refuge.  

Submission from

Sandra Güete, Sarasota, FL

El anabautismo, para mí, es más que una simple doctrina o una corriente teológica dentro del cristianismo. Es una forma de vivir la fe con autenticidad, compromiso y valentía. Nació en el siglo XVI como una respuesta radical a la iglesia establecida, afirmando que el bautismo es un acto de fe personal y no algo impuesto por tradición o por el Estado. Pero va más allá del bautismo: es una manera de entender la iglesia como una comunidad de discípulos comprometidos con el evangelio, con la paz y con la justicia. No se trata solo de una idea histórica, sino de un llamado actual a seguir a Cristo de manera decidida y contracultural.  

Translation in English:

For me, Anabaptism is more than just a doctrine or a theological movement within Christianity. It is a way of living out faith with authenticity, commitment, and courage. It emerged in the 16th century as a radical response to the established church, affirming that baptism is a personal act of faith rather than something imposed by tradition or the state. But it goes beyond baptism—it is a way of understanding the church as a community of disciples committed to the gospel, peace, and justice. It is not just a historical idea but a present-day call to follow Christ in a determined and countercultural way. 

Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To share your thoughts or send a message to the author(s), contact us at communication@mosaicmennonites.org.   

Anabaptism at 500: What Anabaptism Means to Me – April 2025

by

As Mosaic Mennonite Conference commemorates the 500th Anniversary of Anabaptism in 2025, each month we will share a variety of Mosaic voices reflecting on the question, “What does Anabaptism mean to me?”  

Submission from

Angela Moyer Walter, Mosaic Conference Moderator

On Commemorating Anabaptism at 500 this year:

I value the opportunity to celebrate the witness to a separation of church and state in order to bear witness to God’s upside down kingdom; the testimony to the power of nonviolent love; the commitment to service and simplicity; an emphasis on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus; and building shalom in our relationships with God, others, self, and all of creation.

It is also an opportunity to acknowledge and lament the ways in which we have created conflict and violence through misuses of power via colonialism, racism, classism, and sexism and commit to the work of transparency, reconciliation, and restoration that the Spirit of Christ empowers us for.

Lastly, this year’s celebration creates an opportunity for us to pause and listen to and observe the Spirit’s leading. What unexpected places might she lead us? What surprises may be in store for us? I commit to following wherever the Spirit leads.  

Submission from

Letty Cortes Castro, Centro de Alabanza de Filadelfia (PA)

(English Translation Below)

El anabuatismo para mí significa fortalecer la fe a través del testimonio de los reformadores del siglo xvi, quienes dieron su propia vida por defender su fe. El anabautismo es compartir con otros la importancia de ser puentes de paz y reconciliación en medio de la violencia; es vivir un estilo de vida basado en el ejemplo de Jesús, ayudando a los más vulnerables compartiéndoles el evangelio, llevándolos a reconocer que necesitan un Salvador, pero también enseñándoles a salir adelante en su vida personal (hay un proverbio chino que dice enséñale a pescar y comerá el resto de su vida).  

El anabautismo es compartir en comunidad las escrituras, los valores y la ética moral donde hombres y mujeres deciden voluntariamente ser seguidores y discípulos de Jesús, mostrando su compromiso y obediencia, haciendo público su deseo de ser bautizados como adultos por decisión propia. Pertenecer a una comunidad cristiana anabautista es hacer una misión integral donde son atendidos todos los miembros desde el anciano hasta el más pequeño, cubriendo sus necesidades espirituales, físicas y emocionales, basados en las escrituras  donde el enfoque es Cristo céntrico, el discipulado, el servicio, la alabanza  y la preparación teológica.  

English Translation:

Anabautismo (Anabaptism), for me, means strengthening faith through the testimony of the 16th-century reformers who gave their lives to defend their faith. Anabautismo is about sharing with others the importance of being bridges of peace and reconciliation in the midst of violence; it is about living a lifestyle based on Jesus’ example, helping the most vulnerable by sharing the gospel with them, leading them to recognize that they need a Savior, but also teaching them how to overcome challenges in their personal lives (there is a Chinese proverb that says, “Teach them to fish, and they will eat for the rest of their lives”).  

Anabautismo is about sharing scriptures, values, and moral ethics in community, where men and women voluntarily choose to be followers and disciples of Jesus, demonstrating their commitment and obedience, publicly expressing their desire to be baptized as adults by their own decision. Belonging to an Anabaptist Christian community is engaging in integral mission, where all members, from the elderly to the youngest, are attended to, covering their spiritual, physical, and emotional needs, based on scriptures with a Christ-centered focus on discipleship, service, praise, and theological preparation. 

Submission from

Jenny Fujita, Blooming Glen (PA) Mennonite 

I’m finishing seminary and the last student left in my Anabaptist studies program. That sounds like bad news but it’s not. My classes are now so thoroughly Anabaptist that we no longer need a program named after what we’re learning. Students and professors consistently share examples of faith communities that revolve around Jesus and strive for reconciling peace. Today, Anabaptism is transdenominational. It is not ours alone.  

For 500 years Anabaptists have been living out the risky love of God together with discipline, perseverance, joy, and sometimes pain. The rooster did not crow even once for the early Anabaptists.  

Today, I am being formed by Anabaptists around me — extraordinary people who don’t even know how special they are. They humbly give kidneys to strangers, tell Pennsylvania Dutch tales about a simpler time, plant trees, raise money for deworming medicine for the world’s children, minister to veterans with moral injuries, host hymn sings as an act of worship, store hundreds of copy paper boxes in their garage for annual school kit assemblies, buy shoes in bulk to send to Honduras, visit lonely elders, deliver roasted chickens to the doorsteps of the sick and grieving, knit prayer shawls, bring farm surpluses to hungry families, and more. 

I witness these acts of radical love every day, and the world is noticing, too. Onlookers are magnetized by the authentic ways Anabaptists follow Jesus’ example. What could be more attractive (and necessary) in today’s world? 

Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To share your thoughts or send a message to the author(s), contact us at communication@mosaicmennonites.org.

Anabaptism at 500: What Anabaptism Means to Me – March 2025

by

As Mosaic Mennonite Conference commemorates the 500th Anniversary of Anabaptism in 2025, each month we will share a variety of Mosaic voices reflecting on the question, “What does Anabaptism mean to me?”  

Submission from

Joel Horst Nofziger, Methacton (PA) congregation and Executive Director of Conference-Related Ministry Mennonite Historians of Eastern PA 

There are many markers that people have used to describe and define Anabaptism. None of them is unique, but together they form a distinctive constellation of values, beliefs, and practices. Anabaptism describes an understanding of what it means to faithfully follow Jesus, individually and as a community of faith. It is the milieu in which I have lived, it is the tradition I study, and it is the order by which I live my life. Two intertwined ideals are central to this order, with the understanding that we cannot faithfully follow Christ alone.  

First, we are to live lives conformed to Christ. We are not bound to the patterns of the world but transformed by the Holy Spirit’s renewal of our minds so that our lives are pure and acceptable before God. If Christ cannot be seen visibly lived in our everyday life, then we are failing in our discipleship. 

Second is the understanding that all violence is outside of Christ’s perfection. The world in fear says that we need to protect ourselves, our property, our resources, our nation. Christ reminds us that death is not our end and that our call is radical hospitality, even unto those who would do us harm.  

Submission from

Carolyn Albright, Ripple (Allentown, PA) congregation and Refuge 

My journey to embracing Anabaptism has been a circuitous one, and some of the most meaningful parts of my journey have been:  

  • Belonging, love, and acceptance 
  • Lived out faith with a Jesus lens 
  • Ministry 
  • Meals 
  • Music 

My first encounter with Anabaptists was during the year after I graduated from college. I was a member of the Lutheran Volunteer Corps, and our household hung out with the Mennonite Voluntary Service household in Washington, DC. Someone gifted me The More-with-Less cookbook, and I became endlessly curious about Mennonites.  

Later, Whitehall (PA) Mennonite congregation accepted and loved my family, modeled practical faith in Jesus, and taught us to view Scripture through the lens of Jesus. Urbane and Janet Byler were important mentors in our faith journey (I have wonderful memories of trips to Honduras and time helping on their farm) and they helped me discern my call to licensing and ordination.  

Leaving Whitehall to begin Ripple Church, moving to inner-city Allentown, starting the Conference-Related Ministry Ripple Community, Inc. were all infused with community discernment and dedicated ministry. 

While living in Allentown, monthly meals with our community there (Zume House, which included Rose Bender, Angela Moyer, and Ben Walter) were relaxed places where we could ponder and puzzle together, as we served Jesus.  

Music was always interwoven in our gatherings, and Mennonites singing in four-part a capella harmony helps me envision what heaven will be like! 

Submission from

Rev. Dr. Calenthia Dowdy, Ambler (PA)

Rev. Dr. Calenthia Dowdy, Ambler (PA) congregation shares her earliest encounters with Anabaptism and the Anabaptist values that draw her.

Anabaptism at 500: What Anabaptism Means to Me – February 2025

by

As Mosaic Mennonite Conference commemorates the 500th Anniversary of Anabaptism in 2025, each month we will share a variety of Mosaic voices reflecting on the question, “What does Anabaptism mean to me?”  

Submission from

John L. Ruth, Salford (PA) congregation

I understand baptism to be a sacramental act of accepting God’s forgiveness, God’s renewal of my heart, and entrance into God’s covenant of reconciliation.

The ancient term “Anabaptist” (rebaptizer) is a kind of misnomer. The people in my 16th Century-formed fellowship considered themselves to be baptized only once, since they concluded that a ritual on behalf of uncomprehending infants was not what the New Testament teaches. Thus, though most had received the rite common throughout medieval Christendom, they did not view their conscious baptism of repentance as a second one.

As the oversimplified term “Anabaptist” became common parlance, it is historically useful. But it fails to convey ideas that are just as definitive as baptism to the spiritual / social breakthrough that focused my Mennonite people’s understanding: (1) following “the Word” to (2) covenant or “form a church” in which (3) the use of force is replaced by the loving way Jesus described in the “Sermon on the Mount.” Since many Anabaptists of the 16th Century did not “give up the sword,” it is to the testimony and suffering of the minority who did that I look for my inspiration and model of church. 

Submission from

Maati Yvonne Platts, Mosaic Conference Board Member, Nueva Vida Norristown (PA) New Life 

What it Means to be Black and Anabaptist 

Anabaptism to me means being baptized by my Black preacher Hubert Brown on Easter Sunday, April 14, 1968 when I was ten. It meant what was important in the church was important in the community and what was important in the community was important in the church.  

It meant Brother Markley knocking at ya door when you done missed church a few Sundays in a row. Baking chocolate, fresh mint tea, and hot blueberry pies at summer camp. 

It means fellowship meals and cherry cheese pies from my sister Betty (no shoe-fly pie for me). 

It means loving our brothers and sisters as ourselves: red, brown, yellow, white, or black we are all precious in God’s sight. 

It means a love that was real, serving a God that was real, who cares about community, there was real love and unity, ministry over business, taking care of the poor as well as those in prison. 

It means a heart of gratitude for other Anabaptists that see your ugly and your beauty and love you still. 

It means a heart of forgiveness for those who have hurt you and walking closer with the spirit of humility as you grow old, and patience grows thin. 

Anabaptism means departing from evil to do good; to seek peace and pursue it. 

What Anabaptism means to me is to live free in what Jesus has called me to be, to show love even when others aren’t loving, to stand up and speak out against injustice, yet have compassion for those that hearts and minds just ain’t right. 

It ain’t about being Anabaptist, it’s about the love of Jesus in me. 

Submission from

Bishop Juan Marerro, Executive Director of Conference-Related Crossroads Community Center (Philadelphia, PA)  

What does Anabaptism mean to me?  

These early believers, whose theology and philosophy of ministry that we current Anabaptists descend from, had the heart and conviction to follow what they were convinced was the leading and moving of the Holy Spirit.  

These early believers were radical enough to follow what they saw on the pages of sacred scripture and quickly developed a Christ-centered theology and philosophy of ministry. These Anabaptists, as they were called, held on to the practice of believer’s baptism despite opposition and persecution. Despite drownings and burnings, they pushed on, following the example of Jesus Christ and his apostles. This gives me encouragement to continue in this radical faith and push on despite the opposition we may face as believers in Christ.