Eric Reece
Whenever a natural disaster strikes in the U.S., some of the first groups to be on the scene to help clean up, repair and offer assistance are the Mennonite Disaster Service and the Amish.
They came from all over the country to help clear roads, and make repairs to bridges and homes after the flooding caused by Helene in Western North Carolina. Both faith communities are from the Anabaptist tradition, which is celebrating the 500th anniversary of its beginning.
In 16th century Zurich, Ulrich Zwingli was calling for reforms in the Roman Catholic Church. An early leader in the Protestant reformation, he was working with city leaders on reforms – but not moving fast enough for some. A group that had gathered weekly to read the Bible and pray, but was told to stop meeting by the city council. They were also told to stop their rejection of infant baptism and promotion of adult baptism.
They believed the church should not baptize infants. Going against the city's orders, 16 men met secretly at a home in Zurich on Jan. 25, 1525. George Blaurock stood up and implored Conrad Grebel to baptize him. Grebel – not an ordained minister – did. This followed Blaurock baptizing others in the room. Their re-baptism was against state and church law, and it would not be long before some in the room would be martyred for their beliefs. Anabaptist means “re-baptizer” and was forbidden at the time under penalty of death.
As the Anabaptist movement grew, so did the persecution from both Protestant and Catholic churches. Faithful Christians were tortured, drowned or burned at the stake if they did not renounce their adult baptism. Methodist theologian Justo Gonzalez wrote that more Anabaptists were martyred at the hands of other Christians in the 16th century than all the Christians martyred by the Roman Empire during the first three centuries of Christianity.
The Anabapist family includes the Amish, Mennonites, Hutterites, Church of the Brethren and Bruderhof. While the pioneers of the modern Baptist movement had conversations with the Anabaptist and shared similar beliefs, they developed separately.
For religious freedom, many Anabaptist moved to America. They seek to live the words Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount.
Anabaptists practice mutual aid to their church members and communities in need. Whether it is raising a barn at home or helping communities to recover from disaster, they live out their faith to serve others in the name of Christ. Their work rarely gets media attention. They may stay for a few weeks or year to repair and rebuild homes to complete the work and bring hope to communities.
There are over two million members of the Anabaptist movement in the world. Anabaptism at 500 will be celebrated this year, with events following the motto, “Looking Back, Living Forward!”
Eric Reece is the faith columnist for The Graham Star. He is pastor of Robbinsville United Methodist Church and can be reached via email, ereece@wnccumc.net.