Leadership and Authority in Anabaptist and Mennonite History
Patterns of leadership and authority in Anabaptist and Mennonite
groups have changed over the centuries. Historical trends in
congregations and conferences have influenced present-day
understandings and practices. When the Anabaptist movement began
in the sixteenth century, groups of Christians gathered to share
a common life, study the Bible, admonish one another, pray, and
make decisions. Within two years several leaders met near the
Swiss village of Schleitheim in 1527*. They found consensus on
several issues facing the young fellowships. One point of
agreement referred to congregational leaders as "shepherds."
According to Schleitheim the office* of shepherd shall be "to
read the Scriptures, to admonish and teach, to warn, to
discipline, to ban in the church, to lead out in prayer for the
advancement of all brethren and sisters, to lift up the bread
when it is to be broken, and in all things to see to the care of
the body of Christ, in order tha