Mennonites: Radical Religious Revolutionaries (in a Nutshell)

Mennonites are people who trace themselves back to a Catholic priest named Menno Simmons in Holland during the time of the reformation.  Menno heard of the "Anabaptists," or radical reformers during the period of Luther's reformation who believed that people could not be born into the Christian Kingdom but instead must make an adult choice for themselves about whether or not they believed in Christ and were to be baptized.  Menno was asked to be the leader of the Anabaptists.

While requiring adult baptism, the founding Anabaptists were highly educated individuals who were radical in the way they perceived the world.  They believed that Jesus was the most important part of the Bible and that he actually meant what he said in the gospels, especially the Sermon on the Mount.  They grabbed hold of Jesus as the center of their religion, becoming simple, loving, reconciling, and peaceful people for Christ.

And, much like the early church pre-Constantine, they fought a revolution - not with weapons but with their blood, not with anger but with love, not with hate but with hope.  Anabaptists were pacifists...and both Catholics and Lutherans slaughtered them as heretics because of their belief in adult baptism.  Yet, the Anabaptists continued, radical religious revolutionaries.

Fast forward 500ish years and the Mennonites are still around today, pursuing healing and hope, reconciliation and love.  We stand in a position of speaking into the world in ways the world doesn't want to hear - the way Jesus does.  We'll continue this series with their first confession of faith: God.

Want to know more?  Head over to http://www.mennoniteusa.org/ and click on "about us" on the left hand side.