The vision behind Anabaptism at 500 started in early 2020 as the MennoMedia leadership team was celebrating the completion of the Voices Together hymnal and beginning to brainstorm other large-scale projects that might similarly serve the church. Noting that 2025 would mark the 500th anniversary of the Anabaptist movement, the group began to imagine projects that could help renew the church as we look ahead to the next 500 years.
The COVID pandemic temporarily disrupted those plans. But by the summer of 2022, MennoMedia had formulated a vision for a series of Anabaptism at 500 projects shaped by the motto “Looking Back, Living Forward.”
At the center of the ambitious vision was an Anabaptist study Bible with marginal notes reflecting central themes of Anabaptist theology. The group also envisioned a devotional, a photo/story book, some children’s books, and possibly an app that would make the material more easily accessible in digital form. The project’s budget of $1.5 million would be funded by the largest capital campaign that MennoMedia had ever undertaken.
In the fall of 2022, John D. Roth of Goshen, Indiana, agreed to serve as the project director of Anabaptism at 500. He was soon joined by Mollee Moua, who came on board as the managing editor, working out of an office in Kitchener, Ontario.
From start to finish this has been a community-based undertaking. Roth and Moua soon solicited the help of Credence, Inc., to conduct several surveys and focus groups to listen carefully to the interests and needs of congregations. They also formed an advisory group of nine gifted Anabaptist leaders from across North America who would serve a crucial role in providing counsel and support in the years to come.
In August of 2023, some 60 pastors, church leaders, and biblical scholars gathered in Chicago for a foundational conversation about the shape of the Anabaptist study Bible. The vision that emerged was the Anabaptist Community Bible—a study Bible that would draw on the wisdom of biblical scholars, commentary from 16th- and 17th-century Anabaptists, and the contemporary insights of ordinary laypeople gathered around Scripture.
In the months that followed, Roth identified more than 60 Anabaptist biblical scholars who contributed introductions to each of the canonical books as well as thousands of Biblical Context marginal notes. Gerald Mast, professor of communication at Bluffton University, convened a group of Anabaptist historians who read through the corpus of early Anabaptist biblical commentary and gleaned thousands of Early Anabaptist Witness marginal notes. Together, Moua and Roth organized a system to invite lay Bible study groups in Anabaptist faith communities across North America to offer their insights in the form of Community Reflection marginal notes—and nearly 600 study groups responded with enthusiasm. Five artists agreed to contribute 40 images depicting biblical stories or motifs, each done in a distinctive linocut-style. And seven scholars wrote essays on topics related to Anabaptist hermeneutics. In the fall of 2023, members of the advisory group met for several days to review the marginal notes.
Editing and collating the material for the Anabaptist Community Bible was an enormous task. But even as that work went forward, we also were developing a vision for a photo/story book, two devotionals, and three children’s books, which each had its own story of creative engagement and challenges.
In early 2024, our focus turned to the design, formatting, and proofreading of the Anabaptist Community Bible and to the editorial work related to the other book projects.
Presales of the Anabaptist Community Bible began in May, and we anticipate an on-time delivery of the final version—available in three distinct covers—by January 2025 as we celebrate the official launch of the commemorative year. Watch for information regarding the Anabaptism at 500 Tool Kit—a resource to help congregations, schools, and historical societies celebrate the 2025 anniversary year—to appear in fall 2024. Other Anabaptist at 500 publications will appear throughout the first half of 2025.
Join us in the unique opportunity to celebrate and to dream—“Looking Back, Living Forward”!
