Anabaptist Essentials / Fall 2024

​When this series was taught at PMC, we were in the midst of two significant periods: the transition to a new lead pastor over the next year or so with Pastor Rod’s recent retirement and the broader celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Anabaptist movement in 2025. With these things in mind, we believe this series of gatherings was particularly timely.

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​​What is an Anabaptist Christian?

The Anabaptist movement can look very different depending on the context, but the movement has a few core values that tie it together. In recent years, this framework – Jesus is the center of our faith, community is the center of our life, and reconciliation is the center of our work – has been a good way to capture these values. During the fall, we want to ask ourselves this question:
 
As a part of the global Anabaptist movement 
and as a local faith community that is engaged with the broader culture, 
how are we to live in a way that centers 
Jesus, Community, and Reconciliation?
 
So, there will be some history, some looking back at our roots. But the focus will be on who we are now at PMC and how best to move into the future in our particular Pacific Northwest context. Much of our discussion will be based on two writings of Parker Becker: this pamphlet from 2008 and this book from 2017.
 
Below are resources from our 8 weeks of discussion:
 
Slides and Other Resources
Week 1 slides – Introduction
Week 1 video clip
Week 2 slides – Jesus part 1
Week 3 slides – Jesus part 2
Week 3 – link to article by John Roth (referenced by Luis)
Week 4 slides – Community part 1
Week 5 slides – Community part 2
Week 6 slides – Reconciliation part 1
Week 7 slides – Reconciliation part 2
Week 8 slides – Wrap-up
 
Videos
We have videos for Weeks 1 and 3-7 but not for weeks 2 and 8. These videos can be found here.
 
Discussion Questions
Week 1 responses - summary
Week 2 small group questions
Week 3 small group questions
Week 4 small group questions
Week 5 small group questions
Week 6 small group questions
Week 7 small group questions