Among the 3,500 participants from over 80 countries, a Mission Network Youth Venture group of young adults attended Anabaptism at 500 in Switzerland, following a guided tour of pivotal sites of the 16th-century Anabaptist movement in Europe including Grossmünster cathedral and Täuferhöhle. In this video, Executive Director Marisa Smucker reflects on why Anabaptists gather in such places all over the world.
Mennonite Mission Network had the privilege to guide a group of young adults for a Youth Venture experience in Zurich, Switzerland, as part of the Mennonite World Conference’s (MWC) “The Courage to Love: Anabaptism@500” which marked the radical beginnings of the Anabaptist movement in 1525, when Conrad Grebel baptized George Blaurock in Zurich, sparking a movement rooted in adult baptism, nonviolence, and discipleship.
The Youth Venture group immersed themselves in Anabaptist history through guided tours, workshops, and interactive activities prior to the event. A highlight was their visit to the Täuferhöhle, or Anabaptist Cave, a secluded site in the hills above Zurich where early Anabaptists sought refuge from persecution in the 1520s. This hidden cave, nestled in the Swiss countryside, served as a sanctuary for radicals like Felix Manz and George Blaurock, who faced imprisonment, torture, and execution for their beliefs.
The group’s itinerary also included other significant sites, such as Grossmünster cathedral, where the Anabaptist movement began with a bold act of defiance against the Reformed Church, and the Limmat River, where Felix Manz was martyred by drowning in 1527.
Then, they joined peers from around the world at the Young Anabaptist Global Youth Summit in Stuttgart, Germany, from May 30 to June 1, themed “Empowered by Love.”
Read Cade and Gretta Rempel Fisher’s daily blog during the trip.
