This week in Christian history: Anabaptists form, Soviet Union, Oxford Movement ends

Anabaptist movement begins – January 21, 1525

This week marks the anniversary of when the Anabaptist movement, an influential Protestant group that spurred the creation of sects including Baptists, Mennonites, and Quakers, began in Switzerland.

At a ceremony in Zollikon, near Zürich, a group of Protestants led by Konrad Grebel gathered with the desire to create more reforms for the church and to perform adult baptism.

“Soon thereafter an extensive movement was in progress. Some of the more distinctive convictions of the Swiss movement were set forth in the seven articles of the Schleitheim Confession (1527), prepared under the leadership of Michael Sattler,” noted Britannica.

“The vehemence and intransigence of the Anabaptist leaders and the revolutionary implications of their teaching led to their expulsion from one city after another. This simply increased the momentum of an essentially missionary movement.”