Swiss Mennonite Conference
The Swiss Mennonite Conference (also Konferenz der Mennoniten der Schweiz or Conférence Mennonite Suisse) is an
The Swiss Mennonites are the oldest and were possibly the most influential body of Anabaptists at some time. The earliest recorded Anabaptist movement during
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[
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.
Notes
- ^ 2003 Mennonite & Brethren in Christ World Membership, MWC-CMM. Archived 2008-05-13 at the Wayback Machine.
Further reading
- A History of the Anabaptists in Switzerland, by H. S. Burrage
- Bernese Anabaptists and their American Descendants, by Delbert L. Grätz
- Die Mennoniten-Gemeinden der Schweiz: the Swiss Mennonite Churches - in French and German
- Mennonites in Transition From Switzerland to America, by Andrea Boldt, Werner Enninger, and Delbert L. Grätz
- The European History of Swiss Mennonites, by Martin O. Schrag