Many of us know facts about our family’s history, including experiences from our own growing up years, and stories we have heard from our parents and our grandparents. We may also know some background information about the church we attended in our childhood. And for many of us, that is all we know about various church groups like the Mennonites, the Roman Catholics and the Lutherans. But in order to understand how these various Christian traditions began, we need to go back 500 years to the time in Europe that historians have called ‘The Reformation’ in the 1500’s. 2025 is the 500th anniversary of the birth of the Anabaptist movement in 1525, and Mennonites trace their church history to this Christian movement.
Mennonite Heritage Village is organizing several events this summer that look back at this history, identifying some of the important topics that created the different Christian movements. To begin our journey into the origins of Anabaptism, we invite you to attend a service in the MHV auditorium on May 29 at 10:00 am. We will be livestreaming the Mennonite World Conference worship service being held in Zurich, Switzerland to celebrate the birth of Anabaptism, to experience the perspectives of Mennonites from around the world, and to acknowledge the significance of other Christian traditions. My wife, Monica, and I attended the 1990 conference that was held in Winnipeg with approximately 12,000 other attendees and it opened my eyes to many new ways of expressing faith in God. We look forward to a full room at MHV, as we join the worship service virtually on May 29 at 10:00am.
On June 18, we are hosting author Gareth Brandt, who will speak about ‘What happened 500 years ago, why is it significant, and why does it matter today?’. Along with this lecture, Gareth Brandt is bringing his art display, depicting various themes about early Anabaptism including contemporary interpretations and reflections. The display will be in our Hallway Gallery from June 18 to June 27.
During the Pioneer Days long weekend, from August 2-4, Gareth Brandt will return to MHV and offer several sessions of spoken word at the Dirk Willems Peace Exhibit on the topic “From Munster to Menno, From Violence to Peace”. There will be time to meditate and reflect at the Peace Garden and at the Dirk Willems statue. These presentations will be part of our Pioneer Days weekend schedule to be published leading up to the long weekend.
For the month of August, MHV has the privilege of hosting another exhibit that was created by a group of local German speaking Anabaptist churches in Manitoba. For 4 weeks we will fill the auditorium with an exhibit called “On Fire For Christ: 500 Years of Discipleship from the Anabaptists to Us”. There is a plan to offer guided tours, as well as being open to all museum visitors.
We are excited to engage in thoughtful conversations with you over the next few months. We will remember the past, reflect on our present situations, and contemplate a future of positive community engagement. We look forward to your participation and your contributions to this year of celebration and learning.
