Let me tell you a little about OUR HISTORY

 

The Anabaptists

 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; Colossians 1:23 (KJV)

 

The word Anabaptist means "re-baptizer." It is a label often assigned to all "Radical Reformers"—a diverse group that remained outside the mainstream of the Reformation. , Conrad Grebel and Menno Simons, whose movements endure today in Amish and Mennonite communities.
Many Anabaptist ideas made invaluable contributions to the Reformation. For example, these five tenets identified as Anabaptist distinctives:

• Sola Scriptura—Anabaptists were sometimes more consistent than the Magisterial Reformers in their insistence on biblical authority for certain practices in matters of church polity and worship.

• Separation of Church and State—Anabaptists correctly saw the church as the assembly of the redeemed, antithetical to the world and sometimes antagonistic to society as a whole. For this reason they advocated separation of church and state.

• Freedom of Conscience—because of the Anabaptists' convictions about the role of the secular state, they believed that the ultimate remedy for heresy was excommunication. They steadfastly opposed the persecution that was so characteristic of their age. They denied that the state had a right to punish or execute anyone for religious beliefs or teachings. This was a revolutionary notion in the Reformation era.

• Believers' Baptism—The anabaptists were the among the first to point out the lack of explicit biblical support for infant baptism.  For this, by many they were persecuted to the death.

• Holiness of Life—Anabaptists gave much emphasis to spiritual experience, practical righteousness, and obedience to divine standards. They had no tolerance for those who claimed to be justified by faith while living unfaithful lives. Anabaptists pointed out that Scripture says,                             "Faith without works is dead" James. 2:20 (KJV)