When Felix Manz, Conrad Grebel and George Blaurock rebaptized each other in Zurich in 1525, there was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Other people began to confess their sins, repent and be rebaptized. The movement spread to other Swiss cities.

It was a Holy Spirit revival.

Five hundred years later, Anabaptists commemorated this revival — and their desire to experience another — by holding The Invitation, a prayer-and-fasting event Jan. 20-22 at the Petra Church in New Holland, Pa.

Organized by a committee with Anabaptist heritage, the gathering drew 223 registrants.

“There is a growing sense that God is calling us back to that simple faith in Jesus,” The Invitation’s website said. “There is a sense that the Lord is inviting the rebaptizers, Anabaptists and other advocates of believers baptism to be eager for yet another baptism.”

The gathering, which included attendees and speakers from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Montana, Tennessee and Switzerland, gathered for worship, celebration and consecration.

During a time of singing and prayer, one person confessed Anabaptists have been “wrong on some things in our well-meaning religion.” An Amish woman confessed she had focused on outward appearance and neglected to deal with anger and bitterness.

The Invitation was also about reconciliation. Dave Smucker, executive director of Alliance Network and one of the event’s planners, said there have been many ruptures in relationships between Anabaptist groups.

Lloyd Hoover, an LMC bishop and another planner, has carried a sense of call for Anabaptist reconciliation since 2005. The event was an invitation for different groups of Anabaptists, especially Amish and Mennonites, to worship together.

“We repent for ways Anabaptists have differed and spoken badly” of others in the body of Christ, Hoover prayed during a time of confession. He also prayed for a redeeming of the time that Anabaptists have spent in disunity.

Hoover said in an interview that the idea for the gathering came last year during prayer. The organizers avoided naming a specific group as the host out of concern that some Anabaptists would not attend.

The strategy produced good fruit. Among the attendees were members of LMC congregations, Old Order Amish, Beachy Amish, people who were formerly Amish, conservative Mennonites and non-Anabaptists. Some prayed with each other between sessions.

Speakers discussed early Anabaptists and their legacy. Hans Leaman, dean of Sattler College, said early Anabaptists sought to fulfill the Great Commission through repentance, baptism, church membership and discipleship.

Dave Hess, pastor of Christ Community Church in Camp Hill, Pa., highlighted how many times the Book of Acts mentions that people were filled with the Holy Spirit. Five hundred years ago, Anabaptists wanted to be baptized with water again, Hess said. But today Anabaptists need baptism by the Spirit again and again.

Menno Simons mentioned the Holy Spirit frequently in his writings, Hoover said. Early Anabaptists were Spirit-focused. But things got off track during the violent Anabaptist kingdom of Münster because the Münsterite movement lacked a foundation in scripture. Anabaptists “carry some responsibility for Lutheran and Reformed suspicion” of them, Hoover said. Münster continues to impact the present, he said, since some Anabaptists are fearful of the Holy Spirit, prophetic gifts and sharing their faith.

Yet this may be changing. A Beachy Amish man said he came because he has “a heart for revival.” David Kandole, founder of Faith Life Missions and a missionary to the United States from Uganda, said he is training Anabaptist evangelism and prayer teams to travel to Germany to witness in the land of their Anabaptist ancestors.

Smucker said the planning committee received overwhelmingly positive feedback. “Healing has happened,” he said. He and the committee are praying about next steps.

Hoover added: “There is much to celebrate of God’s faithfulness through the past 500 years. However, God is not finished, and this is a time to prepare for ‘the more’ Jesus has for us.”