Thousands attended, in-person or online, MennoMedia’s Anabaptism at 500 celebration at College Mennonite Church, Jan. 21. Updated January 23, 2025.
By Jessica Griggs for Mennonite Church USA
MC USA staff pose with John D. Roth and Amy Gingerich, executive director of MennoMedia. Left to right: Olivia Krall, John D. Roth, Roberta Yoder, Rod Hollinger-Janzen, Nancy Kauffmann, Rachel Ringenberg Miller and Amy Gingerich.
Approximately 700-800 people filled College Mennonite Church for the event.
GOSHEN, Ind. (Mennonite Church USA) — Amid negative temperatures, approximately 700-800 people of various Anabaptist backgrounds gathered at College Mennonite Church, in Goshen, Indiana, for MennoMedia’s Anabaptism at 500 worship service, Jan. 21. The event’s live-stream brought in viewers from an additional 1,090+ accounts.[1]
The service, titled, “Looking Back, Living Forward,” celebrated the adult re-baptisms of the first Anabaptists on Jan. 21, 1525, and the subsequent growth of the Anabaptist community over the following 500 years, in addition to the completion of the Anabaptist Community Bible, which MennoMedia has been working on for more than four years.
One of Goshen College’s choirs sang “Le’ul Tewelede Be Betelihem,” in Amharic to celebrate the global Anabaptist church.
Faculty and staff from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Bluffton University, and Goshen College; MennoMedia staff; members of the Anabaptism at 500 advisory group; and local pastors played various roles throughout the night, from bringing the message to participating in a litany to leading congregational hymns and much more. Goshen College choir students performed three times throughout the service, with the final performance sung in Amharic, the language spoken at Meserete Kristos Church in Ethiopia, the largest denomination in Mennonite World Conference.
John D. Roth, the project director for the Anabaptism at 500 initiative, brought the message, “The Courage to Love,” in which he emphasized the contrast between the kind of courage that Ulrich Zwingli, a founder of the Swiss Reformation, advocated for and the “courage to love” that was central to the Anabaptist message and their understanding of the gospel. He ended the sermon with this challenge and quote from Zwingli:
John D. Roth preaches about “The Courage to Love.”
“As you look ahead to your daily lives tomorrow or next week or next year, as you think about the world you want to leave to your grandchildren and your great grandchildren, as you reflect on the witness of the church in the next 500 years, I invite you ‘Um Gottes Willen tut etwas Tapferes’: For God’s sake, as individuals and collectively as groups, do something courageous. Have the courage to love actively imaginatively vulnerable following the footsteps of Jesus.”
Gerald Mast, communications professor at Bluffton University and member of the Anabaptism at 500 advisory group, presented about the Anabaptist Community Bible.
Gerald Mast, communications professor at Bluffton University and member of the Anabaptism at 500 advisory group, presented about the Anabaptist Community Bible, and the hope that it has already inspired in many. He said:
“I’m convinced that many people have discovered new or renewed enthusiasm for the Holy Scripture as a resource of resistance and non-conformity to the domination systems of our world, through a widely drawn circle of deep discussion and spiritual discovery. I’m convinced the Anabaptist Community Bible helps us to follow the whole council of God, as revealed in Jesus Christ. That’s why I believe the Anabaptist Community Bible matters to the life of the church today.”
MennoMedia staff dedicate the Anabaptist Community Bible. Left to right: Sara Versluis, Mollee Moua, John D. Roth, John Questel, Mitch Stutzman, Amy Gingerich, LeAnn Hamby, Merrill Miller. Not pictured: Meg Smeltzer-Miller.
At the end of the service, eight members of the MennoMedia staff offered a prayer of dedication for the Anabaptist Community Bible.
Marty Lehman, moderator-elect for MC USA, and Nancy Kauffmann, MC USA’s interim denominational minister for church safety, pose with a life-size cut-out of Menno Simons, during the 500th anniversary event.
Marty Lehman, moderator-elect for Mennonite Church USA, attended the event and said, “I left feeling really inspired to make a difference. The stories of the early Anabaptists are amazing and, in many ways, make our current situation look pretty good. We might not be able to change the world, but we can make a difference in our local communities.”
Attendees received a newspaper with stories of global Anabaptism from the past 500 years. The Anabaptist Community Bible and other Anabaptism at 500 memorabilia were available for purchase.
A reception followed the services, during which attendees were able to eat empanadas, fellowship with one another and visit booths from various Mennonite organizations. The Anabaptist Community Bible and other Anabaptism at 500 memorabilia were also available for purchase.
Jessica Griggs, freelance writer and blog editor for MC USA, with husband Zane Griggs and their two children pose with life-size cut-out of Menno Simons.
A video of the event can be viewed here.
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[1] The AV team at the event reported that 1,090 was the largest number of accounts that viewed the event concurrently. Some viewers hopped on and off of the life-stream throughout the 90-minute service, so the total number of accounts that viewed the event is unknown. Additionally, many of these accounts were streaming the event to larger audiences — congregations or families — from a singular account, so one account does not necessarily equal one viewer. The number of overall viewers is incalculable, but it would have been much larger than the 1,090 accounts that were viewing at the same time.