Zurich

I am sitting in the Zurich airport on my way to Kenya and Tanzania for 3 weeks. While there, I will be talking with the bishops and other leaders about their vision for leadership training.
I am thinking about the importance of Zurich in our own church history. It was here in Zurich that a group of young academics began to question the teachings of the other main denominations and turned to the New Testament and the teachings and example of Jesus for their final authority. They eventually became known as "ana-baptists" - the "re-baptizers" - a somewhat derogatory name at first. They believed and taught that love defines our ethics, that the church is fundamentally a community of faith, and that salvation is by personal choice - all revolutionary ideas at that time that led to severe persecution. It was in Zurich that one of the young academics, Felix Manz, was tied up and thrown into the river, one of the early martyrs. And that same faith continues today, nearly 500 years later, around the world. It has taken root in Africa and it continues to grow.

Joe Bontrager