Tradition · 1525

Anabaptist

The Radical Reformation movement that baptised believers only, sought churches separate from the state, and in most branches refused oaths and violence.

It began in Zurich in 1525, when followers of Huldrych Zwingli who thought his reform too slow performed adult baptisms. The Schleitheim Confession of 1527 set out shared convictions. Persecuted by Catholics and Protestants alike, the movement survived through leaders such as Menno Simons. Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites descend from it, practising Believer’s Baptism and Congregational Polity.