In 2025, it will be 500 years since Conrad Grebel, Georg Blaurock and Felix Manz took the courageous act of “re-baptizing” each other in Zurich, Switzerland, as an expression of their understanding of faith.
To commemorate this anniversary, Mennonite World Conference is planning a one-day event in Zurich on May 29, 2025. The theme is “The courage to love.” MWC has launched a new website with information about this event, according to a news release.
The day’s activities will include choral performances, a panel discussion, historical walking tours in Zurich’s historic city center, workshops and an interactive “find the secret church” game. A mass worship service with global and ecumenical guests in the Grossmünster church will close the day. The closing worship service will be livestreamed in English, French, Spanish and German.
Throughout the year, smaller events will be held around the world to celebrate and reflect on the Anabaptist movement and what it has become today. The new website also lists information about these events.
2025 is also the 100th anniversary year of the Mennonite World Conference. “Anniversaries are a time to stop and reflect: we remember where we have come from, consider who we are today and anticipate where God is calling us to be,” said César García, MWC general secretary.
For more information on MWC’s one-day commemoration event in Switzerland, or for information on other commemoration events throughout the year, visit mwc-cmm.org/anabaptism500.
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