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A fifth feature of Anabaptist ecclesiology is its radical congregationalism. From its inception, Anabaptism was markedly anti-clerical and non-hierarchical. It placed emphasis on servant leadership and the responsibility of every believer for ministry, mission and discernment. "For the Anabaptist, the church was neither an institution (Catholicism), nor the instrument of God for the proclamation of the divine Word (Lutheranism), nor a resource group for individual piety (Pietism). It was a brotherhood of love in which the fullness of the Christian life ideal is to be expressed".
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Mission: Supporting examination of faith, history, and contemporary life from an Anabaptist perspective, Cascadia Publishing House LLC is an Anabaptist-Mennonite publisher serving Anabaptist, Mennonite, Christian, and general readers. Amid ferment, diversity, and conflict in culture and church, Cascadia authors offer creative visions and bridge conflictual stances. Strong sales are vital to the Casadia mission—but mission comes first, sales next.
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In a way, the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition emerged as a 16th century protest movement against coercive Christianity. It championed the novel idea that the church should be a voluntary community of genuine believers, not simply the religious face of civic society. Over against the prevailing practice of baptising every infant into the national church, be it Catholic or Protestant, the first Anabaptists insisted that baptism was a believer’s rite of entry to the community of faith. It was a visible expression of an intentional commitment to discipleship. The term "anabaptist" means re-baptiser, and was coined by opponents of the movement. It was a term of reproach, indeed a theological-legal charge of serious consequence.
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In the mid-80's, a group of Anabaptist pastors in the Los Angeles area began to meet together to pray for their communities, churches, and each other. For years they had watched as their churches declined in numbers and strength, and the need for congregations of hope and change in the neighborhoods of Los Angeles and its surrounding cities steadily rose. These pastors saw that, although secular and parachurch mission efforts were present and operating in the cities, the real impact of hope should come from congregations themselves. The Anabaptist churches at that time needed some fresh life breathed into them if they were to be these necessary, vital congregations.
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One of the dominant twentieth-century interpretations of Anabaptist history was outlined by the Mennonite historian Harold Bender in an influential essay from 1944 entitled "The Anabaptist Vision." In it he argued that "Anabaptism proper" had a single point of origin (Zurich) and an unchanging core of ethical features (discipleship, brotherhood, and nonresistance) that defined it. The reason for this narrow definition was to establish a clear distinction between true and false Anabaptists. The latter were those who, although they practiced believers' baptism... participated in revolutionary politics and/or held mystical, spiritualist beliefs. From the point of view of church historians trying to establish an appropriate pedigree for modern Mennonites, these kinds of "fanatics" were not appropriate forebears.
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In the United States especially, Anabaptism is alive and well, with numerous churches across North America expressing Anabaptist values. This is probably related to the mass exodus of Anabaptists from Europe in the wake of the Reformation; some thought that they could create their own religious communities in the New World once they were free of persecution. The United States ... houses some very conservative Anabaptist sects, such as the Amish and Old Order Mennonites.
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