Last month I spent three weeks in Switzerland. I was there for Quaker United Nations Committee meetings, but stayed longer to visit family. No, I did not attend the 500th anniversary of Anabaptism that was hosted by Mennonite World Conference. But I did stop by the Grossmünster church in Zurich only a few days before all the Mennonites arrived. 

It is hard to believe that after half a millennium, Switzerland is now one of the safest countries in the world to live in (no more burning-people-at-the-stake type of thing). A place that many Anabaptists fled is now a place that many of them (and others) wish to move to or go visit. It was not my first time in this cradle of Anabaptism, but because I was traveling alone and during this period of my life, being in Switzerland hit me differently.

Although I traveled to Switzerland for volunteer work, I felt that my most significant interactions had been completely unplanned and unforeseen. And, spoiler: They did not happen inside a church. 

1. People are seeking connection

Many things have changed about the world in the last 500 years. Some are very good. Some others not so much. As I moved around Switzerland and talked to people, one common theme I heard was the loneliness and lack of connection there seem to be in Western cultures, such as the Swiss culture where efficiency, money and productivity are prioritized over other things. Where do people find meaningful friendships? Where do people find community? Where do people go to be held in care and be vulnerable? Many folks I talked to were immigrants that had left their homelands behind, and part of their hearts stayed in that place. Family, culture, food, and a sense of home: all feel lacking. One thing is for sure, though — it seemed people were not thinking about church as a place to find the connection they were seeking.

2. People have experienced the church negatively

Although the majority of people I talked to had grown up in church and would say that they still believed in something (in fact, most of them were fans of Jesus), they admitted it would take a lot for them to step into a church again. Some of them just wouldn’t, ever again on their own, without a particular mission or task. The message that they hear from the church is mainly, “Come, you are invited! We want you here!” But as they explained, it’s a trap(!), because once you are in, you’ll be judged and shamed, and if you do something that is considered wrong, you risk losing your community, all your connections and sometimes even your family. Take, for example, the story of a young woman I met at a hostel. This journey for her, as I saw it, was about finding peace and liberation away from a suffocating community that had pressured her to stay in an abusive marriage. This community included the police, her family and her church.

3. People desire deep conversations

The level of vulnerability I was able to speak with complete strangers seemed extraordinary compared to some of the more guarded attitudes I sometimes encountered when I did pastoral visits. People want to be seen, heard, affirmed, loved, cared for — and from my perspective, even held accountable. In some of my brief conversations with people, I pushed back on some of their comments, and it remained an open and lovely conversation. Sure, perhaps it was the knowledge that we might not see each other ever again, but let’s not dismiss the impact that these deep conversations may have had on my conversation partners, since these conversations definitely had an impact on me. All in all, my take is that people are hungry for deep conversations where they can explore meaningful topics, without the risk of being judged. 

4. People want meaningful relationships

Usually people have these meaningful conversations with people with whom they feel safe. Also, they might have these conversations with people whose ideas and ways of thinking they admire and value. Sadly, something that I heard often was that, due to the lack of community connections, meaningful relationships are also something that is hard to find. This is true for friendships, but also loving partnerships. For example, a young man from South America that I met at a bar told me that he was tired of casual “hook-ups”: “I want to be with someone that I truly connect with, that I can love and they can love me,“ he said. “I know my worth and I feel like I am not honoring it by settling for superficial connections.” 

5. The church needs to think outside its walls

Switzerland, and Europe for the most part, has been seeing a decline in Christian adherence and membership for decades now. Canada, my country of residence, follows a similar trend. Even though the United States seems to be in a category of its own, I would not be surprised if  Christian adherence also starts seeing another major decline after what seemed to be a stable period. I say this because the word Christian has now been co-opted by a particular type of right-wing rhetoric that turns a lot of people off, hence the 25% decline of liberals calling themselves Christian since 2007. But I must say, perhaps the exodus is of the church itself.

During my time as a pastor, I tried encouraging my congregation to allow me some hours for ministry outside the congregation. I could see the need for folks wanting to explore topics of faith, but not ready to walk through church doors, I explained. It was a hard no. And it was a hard no from the conference as well. 

I think Anabaptists have forgotten that their own movement didn’t begin at a church. In fact, it was banned at churches. Anabaptists were not welcomed there with their radical ideas and heretical questions. They had to visit each other in their homes, in public places and in the forests, and there was nothing about a building that made their ministry more or less official. Perhaps the next Anabaptist movement will be to abandon buildings and to meet with each other, and those in our communities, that need connection and God’s love.