In May, thousands of Anabaptists traveled to Zurich, Switzerland, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the movement in the place where it began.
U.S. Mennonite Brethren were among the estimated 3,500 who gathered in Zurich on May 29, and, in addition to USMB’s official delegates, whose reflections you can read elsewhere, the group included Fresno Pacific University President and First Lady André and Beth Stephens; 18 students and faculty from Tabor College; and Bethany Church, Fresno, California, lead pastoral couple Brent and Amy Deffenbacher.
The Christian Leader requested reflections from these Mennonite Brethren via email. Common themes emerged as highlights, including participating as members of the global church, seeing history coming alive and gathering for a worship service focused on reconciliation and unity.
Members of the global church
Participants appreciated the opportunity to be part of something bigger than themselves.
The Stephens attended both the Mennonite World Conference gathering in Germany and The Courage to Love: Anabaptism@500 events in Switzerland.
“What stood out most was the remarkable diversity of people who gathered from around the world to celebrate and honor this historic moment,” says André Stephens. “It was a powerful reminder that the Anabaptist movement is global and continues to inspire faith and witness across many cultures and nations.”
Beth Stephens echoes the sentiment.
“The main thing for me was the amazing opportunity to get a glimpse of the global church,” she says. “It was encouraging to come together with siblings in Christ from Congo, Canada, Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Albania, Paraguay and Colombia. Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:20, ‘Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.’ Some of those holy moments happened at the lunch table or waiting my turn to do laundry at the retreat center in Germany. I felt the presence of Christ not just in the formal prayer and worship times, but in meeting new friends from around the world doing ordinary things together.”
Bringing history to life
Another highlight was seeing history come to life.
Brent Deffenbacher says it was encouraging to see the green 500th commemoration stickers worn by fellow pilgrims while navigating Zurich.
“The opportunity to take a walking journey through the Old Town of Zurich and make connections with the early Anabaptist Reformers solidified church history for me in a special way,” Deffenbacher says. “No longer something contained within the pages of a book, I was blessed to walk the cobblestone streets and experience history in a fresh, memorable, tactile way.”
Similarly, the group of 16 Tabor students and professors Derek Hamm and Ryan Loewen, navigated the streets of Zurich on a walking tour, visiting key sites such as City Hall where debates were held; the Grossmünster, which was the center of the Reformation in Zurich; and various streets where key figures lived and the first baptisms took place.
The Tabor group’s time in Zurich was part of a larger European study trip focusing on early Anabaptism.
One student shared:
“While I know a lot of Anabaptist history from living in Hillsboro and having family ties to early Mennonites, I gained a deeper understanding of the hardships people went through to make religious freedom possible. Everything becomes more real when you are standing in a spot where someone died for their faith.”
A service of reconciliation
The celebration culminated in a worship service, The Courage to Love: Anabaptism@500, at the Grossmünster, which proved to be a common highlight for its elements of worship and reconciliation. The service included the participation of leaders of the Reformed, Lutheran and Catholic churches.
“The worship service was especially moving,” André Stephens says. “Worshiping alongside people from every corner of the globe felt like a foretaste of heaven. One of the most impactful moments was a portion of the service dedicated to reconciliation with other denominations—it was sobering and hopeful.”
While not all of those who gathered were able to get inside the cathedral, Tabor professors Hamm and Loewen managed to get all but one member of their group inside.
“It was powerful to be in that historic space with people from all over the world commemorating such a significant event,” Hamm and Loewen say. “Several moments felt particularly meaningful, including the message from General Secretary (César) García challenging our understanding of courage and the act of foot washing between Anabaptist and Reformed leaders, but the congregational singing in multiple languages with representatives of the global church was probably the most moving component.
“We live in a polarized climate where there is often more emphasis on how our beliefs differ rather than what we all share,” Hamm and Loewen say. “Students really connected with the unifying and reconciling aspects of the service.”
One student wrote:
“It was very cool to see all of the languages in the worship at the 500th anniversary. It reminded me that we may have different cultures, practices and languages, but we all shared our faith in Jesus.”
Another said:
“It was a lot to process, and over and over again I kept thinking about Paul rebuking the church in Corinth for aligning themselves with himself or Apollos instead of aligning themselves as servants of Christ. I really appreciated the ‘peace meeting’ in Zurich. I thought it was a very powerful display of unity, especially after the history we had just learned.”
Yet another said:
“The service was extremely powerful. I wept because of the beauty of Christ’s church is so true. To see the wounds of the universal church being healed at the roots is a powerful testimony to those of us who need to see this healing happen in our hometown communities.”
Janae Rempel Shafer is the Christian Leader associate editor and joined the CL staff in 2017. Shafer is an award-winning writer, receiving multiple awards from the Kansas Press Association and Evangelical Press Association. A Tabor graduate with a degree in communications and religious studies, she and her husband, Austin, attend Ridgepoint Church in Wichita, Kansas.
