The 500 years anniversary of the Anabaptist movement is an opportunity to let experience Anabaptist Christians fellowship - beyond the planned events, through personal encounters.
The team behind the Anabaptist Welcome Campaign consists of Peter Dettwiler, Felix Graf and Peter Schmid (from right). The three initiators are involved in the Zurich Reformed Church.
Peter Dettwiler, Reformed theologian, was serving two Reformed parishes in Switzerland as pastor and was the Zurich Reformed Church's representative for ecumenical relations from 1993 to 2015. He helped organize the day of fellowship with the Anabaptists in 2004 as part of the Zurich Bullinger anniversary. Since then, he has promoted the dialog between Reformed and Anabaptists and led six Swiss tour groups to Mennonite and Amish folks in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Felix Graf, a trained hotelier and institution manager, is a social entrepreneur in the Zurich Oberland. Some of his ancestors in that area were persecuted as Anabaptists and emigrated to the USA. The reconciliation of Christians from different churches is close to his heart.
Peter Schmid has witnessed and reported on the steps taken by Reformed Christians towards reconciliation with Anabaptists (Encounter Day 2004, Emmental Anabaptist Year 2007). The synod member of the Zurich Reformed Church initiated a choir trip by the Bäretswil-Bauma singing group to North American Anabaptists. He accompanies groups from overseas to the Bäretswil Anabaptist Cave.
This team is launching the campaign on its own responsibility, in consultation with leaders of the Swiss Mennonites. It is associated with the 'Aktion Kirchen Züri Oberland', which has brought together thousands of Christians from national and free churches at two regional church congresses.
Our webmaster, Simon Zeberli, works in the background with great commitment and skill. He has taken on the challenge of designing a complex website and provides many hours of voluntary work for a very modest fee. www.websize.ch
Donations
The Anabaptist Welcome team works on a voluntary basis. Donations are gladly accepted for the costs of the website, advertising and other welcome activities.
You can transfer donations to the association Aktion Kirchen Züri Oberland, Rüti,
Bank details: IBAN: CH58 0070 0110 0066 8975 4
Bank: Zürcher Kantonalbank
Note: Täuferwillkomm-Aktion
Our aim is to make it easier for many Anabaptists from abroad to stay in Switzerland in 2025.
But we are also grateful for donations. If there are any funds left over in 2025, they will be forwarded to the Conference of Mennonites of Switzerland for their expenses for the jubilee.