Anabaptist Worship

Anabaptist Persecution. This drawing depicts the death of an Anabaptist leader by drowning. Many Anabap­tists were put to death by drowning, burning, and hang­ing, and many others were tortured for their faith by both Protestants and Catholics.


Anabaptist argued for a pure church and a radical discipleship in absolute obedience to Scripture. The refused to countenance any form of worship that could not be substantiated by Scripture.

It is not easy to generalize about the Anabaptist elements of the radical Reformation, known largely today as Mennonites, Amish, and Hutterites, but we can trace some common features. Surprisingly, the more radical traditions tend also to be most conser­vative when it comes to stabilizing and continuing the same worship forms across the centuries.

The earliest Anabaptists, the Swiss Brethren, be­gan in contact with Zwingli in Zurich. But they took his biblicism a step further than he was willing to and argued vehemently against the baptism of any but believers. Their basic premise came to be the need for a pure church of believers who led holy lives. This was impossible to reconcile with the mag­isterial reformation that relied upon state support. Both Protestants and Catholics vied with each other to persecute Anabaptists, or "rebaptizers" as they came to be known, because of their refusal to accept their own baptisms as infants. Immersion was not an issue, and most of these groups baptized by pour­ing or sprinkling.

A variety of leaders arose with small groups of followers. The typical congregations met in a se­cluded spot under a leader called and ordained by the congregation. Because persecution was so con­stant, martyrdom was frequent and a rich hymnody of martyrdom developed, some of it still in use. For the church to be kept pure, not only must the entrance be narrow in the form of baptism for be­lievers only, but members not living a holy life were expelled by the ban and shunned in accordance with biblical precept (1Cor. 5:13).

Despite their radical orgins, serveral Anabaptist groups have kept faithful with genuine conservatism. The Old Order (Amish) worship in private haomes much as their ancestors did, the Hutterite communities even retain the use of sixteenth century sermons, and even the larger Mennonite groups resisted most nineteenth century American influences by remaining relatively isolated communities, Although their numbers continue to be small, the disciplined lifestyle of these people makes them much admired.

James F. White
University of Notre Dame Professor emeritus of Theology (Liturgical Studies)