Fall 2025 · Vol. 54 No. 2 · pp. 160–161
From the Editor: Reflecting on Anabaptism at 500 II
The Fall and Spring 2025 issues of Direction are devoted to reflections on Anabaptism at 500. As with the Spring issue, our Fall writers have taken the opportunity to explore a variety of considerations related to Anabaptism. In the previous issue, some pieces looked backward: one article focused on past Mennonite Brethren practice concerning boundaries and bridges, another on the global cooperation that became the International Community of Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB), and a third on the recent movement of Anabaptism in Britain.
The present issue continues that reflection into matters along the Anabaptist journey from the sixteenth century onward. Among Feature Articles, Doug Heidebrecht uses the ICOMB statement of faith as a lens through which to compare the origin stories of European Anabaptism and the Mennonite Brethren in Russia, and highlights the common importance of the Holy Spirit. Brian Cooper surveys Mennonite and Mennonite Brethren political involvement, or hesitation thereof, and calls for a renewed sense of MB identity that is clear about faith and politics. Exploring the challenges of economic justice, Kirk MacGregor discerns principles of Anabaptist compassion that engage the faith community while still holding government accountable.
We are privileged to publish in this issue two articles by historian Astrid von Schlachta, given originally as the John and Margaret Friesen Lectures at Canadian Mennonite University in January 2025. In the first, she examines the complex relationship between Anabaptists and the revolutionary peasants of mid-sixteenth-century Europe, finding that there is more overlap than has often been acknowledged. Similarly, her second essay examines the significant concern, from the sixteenth century and following, of Mennonites in the military and the questions of how and to what extent to participate in the civil life of one’s community. César García, general secretary of Mennonite World Conference and member of the Mennonite Brethren church in Colombia, describes the process by which this summer’s Anabaptism at five hundred conference in Zürich came together, why it was a commemoration rather than a celebration, and how it deeply concerned experiences of reconciliation with denominational groups having history with Anabaptist beginnings. Having roots in one of those other groups, David Faber describes his personal journey to a faith involving elements of both the Reformed and Anabaptist traditions. p. 161
In Ministry Compass, Craig Jost asks about Anabaptism and mission, drawing upon key biblical texts to critique the risk of strategies that run counter to important theological values. Our usual selection of important Book Reviews is given a special lead-in. The recently published Anabaptist Community Bible is introduced with a description of its contents and the process by which it came into being. This is followed by three reviews, two by pastors and the third by a Bible scholar.
