The Swiss Mennonite Conference (also Konferenz der Mennoniten der Schweiz or Conférence Mennonite Suisse) is an Anabaptist Christian body in Switzerland.
The Swiss Mennonites are the oldest and were possibly the most influential body of Anabaptists at some time. The earliest recorded Anabaptist movement during Reformation times originated in the village of Zollikon near Zürich in 1525. Conrad Grebel (ca. 1496–1526) and Felix Manz (ca. 1496–1527), followers of Huldrych Zwingli, divided from Zwingli on the issue of infant baptism versus believers baptism. They organized in the home of Manz on January 21, 1525. Though Grebel and Manz were dead within two years—Grebel of the plague and Manz drowned by the Council of Zürich—the believers' baptism movement quickly spread through German-speaking Switzerland. On the day of Manz' execution, another leader, George Blaurock, was beaten and expelled from the city. From there, he travelled to Bern and eventually left Switzerland, never to return. Bern became the center for Anabaptism in Switzerland.
The movement spread, both by evangelistic zeal and persecution, from Switzerland into Germany, Moravia, Poland, Russia, the Netherlands, and eventually to North and South America[ dubious ]. Around 1671, because of persecution by the government and the state church, a large group of Anabaptists (Mennonites) left Switzerland for the Palatinate in Germany. For many Mennonites, persecution helped institutionalize separation, non-conformity and farming as a way of life[ citation needed ]. The Amish schism of the Mennonites originated with Jacob Amman in Switzerland. Many Amish Mennonites in America can be traced to the areas of Thun and Schwarzenburg in Canton Bern.
Records of the conferences of the Swiss Mennonites have been consistently recorded since 1889, but various records indicate that an annual conference was an "old custom" in the 18th century. In 1898 a constitution and the name Conference of the Mennonites in Switzerland was adopted.
The Swiss Mennonite Conference is a member of the Federation of Free Churches in Switzerland and the Mennonite World Conference. In 2003 the conference had 2500 members in 14 congregations. [1]
The congregations range in size from 40 to 500. Each church is autonomous and there is much diversity within the conference. A congregation formed in 1991 is the most recent addition to the body. Though the Swiss conference is currently a relatively small body, the Swiss Mennonites have contributed greatly to the spread of Anabaptism across the world.
Anabaptism is a Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation.
Huldrych Zwingli or Ulrich Zwingli was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly center of Renaissance humanism. He continued his studies while he served as a pastor in Glarus and later in Einsiedeln, where he was influenced by the writings of Erasmus.
Mennonites are members of certain Christian groups belonging to the church communities of Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings, Simons articulated and formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders, with the early teachings of the Mennonites founded on the belief in both the mission and ministry of Jesus, which the original Anabaptist followers held with great conviction, despite persecution by various Roman Catholic and Protestant states. An early set of Mennonite beliefs was codified in the Dordrecht Confession of Faith in 1632, but the various groups do not hold to a common confession or creed.
Jakob Ammann was an Anabaptist leader and namesake of the Amish religious movement.
The Conservative Mennonite Conference (CMC) is a Christian body of Conservative Mennonite churches in the Anabaptist tradition. Its members are mostly of Amish descent.
Conrad Grebel, son of a prominent Swiss merchant and councilman, was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren movement.
Felix Manz was an Anabaptist, a co-founder of the original Swiss Brethren congregation in Zürich, Switzerland, and the first martyr of the Radical Reformation.
Theology of Anabaptism is the beliefs of the Anabaptist movement. Anabaptism has a reputation of de-emphasizing theology in deference to living righteously. The various branches of the Anabaptist movement take slightly different approaches to theology.
Balthasar Hubmaier was an influential German Anabaptist leader. He was one of the most well-known and respected Anabaptist theologians of the Reformation.
Jörg vom Haus Jacob, commonly known as George Blaurock, was an Anabaptist leader and evangelist. Along with Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz, he was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren in Zürich, and thereby one of the founders of Anabaptism.
The Radical Reformation represented a response to corruption both in the Catholic Church and in the expanding Magisterial Protestant movement led by Martin Luther and many others. Beginning in Germany and Switzerland in the 16th century, the Radical Reformation gave birth to many radical Protestant groups throughout Europe. The term covers radical reformers like Thomas Müntzer and Andreas Karlstadt, the Zwickau prophets, and Anabaptist groups like the Hutterites and the Mennonites.
The Ausbund is the oldest Anabaptist hymnal and one of the oldest Christian song books in continuous use. It is used today by North American Amish congregations.
The Swiss Brethren are a branch of Anabaptism that started in Zürich, spread to nearby cities and towns, and then was exported to neighboring countries. Today's Swiss Mennonite Conference can be traced to the Swiss Brethren.
The theology of Ulrich Zwingli was based on an interpretation of the Bible, taking scripture as the inspired word of God and placing its authority higher than what he saw as human sources such as the ecumenical councils and the church fathers. He also recognised the human element within the inspiration, noting the differences in the canonical gospels. Zwinglianism is the Reformed confession based on the Second Helvetic Confession promulgated by Zwingli's successor Heinrich Bullinger in the 1560s.
The Groffdale Conference Mennonite Church, also called Wenger Mennonites, is the largest Old Order Mennonite group to use horse-drawn carriages for transportation. Along with the automobile, they reject many modern conveniences, while allowing electricity in their homes and steel-wheeled tractors to till the fields. Initially concentrated in eastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, their numbers had grown to 22,305 people resided in eight other states as of 2015. They share the pulpit with the Ontario Mennonite Conference but have some differences in Ordnung.
Hunziker is a surname from Switzerland. The name most likely originates from the name of a small village in Canton Lucerne. Within Switzerland, the family expanded with a large presence in the Kulm, Zofingen, and Aarau districts of Canton Aargau and smaller concentrations in Cantons Berne, Lucerne, and Zürich. Significant emigration to the United States and Canada has occurred over several centuries. In the U.S., the name has commonly been anglicized to Hunsaker, Hunsicker, Hunsinger, Huntsinger, Hunsucker and many other variants.
Anabaptists did not originate in England, but came from continental Europe to escape persecution from Switzerland. English Anabaptism, it did not touch the country as quickly as other countries since Henry VIII wanted to eradicate heresy quickly and wanted to push a unified religion in England. In fact, during his rule in 1535, Henry VIII had them deported out of England officially with a proclamation that, "Ordered Anabaptists to leave the realm within twelve days after parliament adjourned or suffer the penalty of death." In 1539 he pardoned Anabaptists with a similar proclamation to restore them to the Roman Catholic church. He wanted unity above all. While Henry VIII himself had broken away from the Catholic Church himself, Anabaptists did not face a welcoming country from the beginning of their coming to England. Both Henry and his Tudor successors have charged dissidents on the basis of Anabaptism, some of whom had not such convictions. Looking at primary sources, this means that just because they were charged as an Anabaptist does not mean they were one.
Wilhelm Reublin was a leading figure of the Swiss Brethren movement. Reublin was born in 1484 in Rottenburg am Neckar. In 1521, after studying theology in Freiburg and Tübingen, Reublin became the pastor at St. Alban in Basel and began to advocate reform. St. Alban was soon the center of the evangelical movement in Basel. In the Fall of 1522 Reublin was expelled from the city for his Reformation sermons and moved to Witikon in 1524, where he became the local pastor and preached against infant baptism. Reublin was with Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz in Zürich in January 1525 at the birth of the Anabaptist movement. Reublin took part in a disputation on 17 January 1525 after which Grebel, Mantz and Reublin were given eight days to leave the canton.
The Weaverland Conference, also called Horning Church or Black-bumper Mennonites is a Christian denomination of Old Order Mennonites who use cars.
Heinrich Funck was a mill operator, religious author and a Mennonite bishop in America.
