‘UNLOCKING OUR INHERITANCE’ CONFERENCE 2005 - RECONCILIATION BETWEEN THE ANABAPTIST AND THE SWISS REFORMED CHRISTIANS
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In a word, live together in the forgiveness of your sins, for without it no human fellowship, least of all a marriage, can survive. Don't insist on your rights, don't blame each other, don't judge or condemn each other, don't find fault with each other, but accept each other as you are, and forgive each other every day from the bottom of your hearts. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer PHOTO CAPTION: "Unlocking our Inheritance" Conference - Swiss Reformed pastors and leaders met together with Anabaptists from all denominations, April 7-9, 2005 in New Holland, Pa. |
20 years ago, on April 7 to 9, 2005, Swiss Reformed pastors and leaders met together with Anabaptists from all denominations, in New Holland, Pa. "Unification of all believers in Jesus Christ was a theme of the opening session of a three-day conference titled “Unlocking the Inheritance.’’ Despite differences, Hoover said, all in attendance are united in Christ. Forgiveness and healing were related themes. The Swiss traveled here to ask for forgiveness from Mennonites, Amish, Brethren and other Anabaptists and to heal relationships with them.
Like the ‘HEAL OUR LAND’ CONFERENCE 2003, the late Pastor Geri Keller and Ben Girod were also involved, they both preached good messages during those conferences. I will post two articles on the conferences before giving my thoughts.
Go up to Gilead, and
take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you have used many medicines; there
is no healing for you. – Jeremiah 46:11 (ESV) https://www.christianity.com/wiki/christian-terms/what-is-the-balm-of-gilead.html PHOTO CAPTION: A Swiss
group belonging to the Reformed Church sings May 6 at a worship service on a
farm near Leola, Pa. The hymn sing brought together members of Amish, Old Order
Mennonite, Mennonite Church USA and other faith traditions. — Dale D. Gehman [PHOTO SOURCE: https://anabaptistworld.org/hymns-unite-swiss-reformed-anabaptists/] https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/05/heal-our-land-conference-2003.html
Going about the business of forgiveness
A conference on reconciliation and healing explores viewpoints of Anabaptists, the descendants of their Swiss Reformed persecutors, and an American Indian minister.
· Jack Brubaker
· Apr 8, 2005 Updated Sep 11, 2013
And not because of what we have not done in the past, he continued, addressing 19 Swiss Reformed Church leaders and more than 600 Lancaster Anabaptists gathered in the huge sanctuary of Petra Fellowship Church.
But because of what he did in the past, Hoover concluded.
Unification of all believers in Jesus Christ was a theme of the opening session of a three-day conference titled “Unlocking the Inheritance”. Despite differences, Hoover said, all in attendance are united in Christ.
Forgiveness and healing were related themes. The Swiss traveled here to ask for forgiveness from Mennonites, Amish, Brethren and other Anabaptists and to heal relationships with them.
The Dirk Willems statue
is the latest addition to the historical exhibits on our grounds. It was
unveiled on November 10 by the Peace Exhibit Committee & Friends. The statue
is based on the iconic engraving of Dirk Willems turning back to save his
captor, who had fallen through the ice chasing Willems, in the 1685 edition of
the Martyrs Mirror by Jan Luyken. The statue was created by sculptor Peter
Sawatzky and was erected at the museum in recognition of the Anabaptist
theology of peace and non-resistance. What does peace mean to you? #mennoniteheritagvillage
#mhv
#history
#anabaptist
#mennonite
#peace
#nonresistance
#inthevillage
#curatorsfavourites
@ Mennonite Heritage Village Museum [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2075791862482534&set=pcb.2075792039149183] [ALBUM SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/MHVSteinbach/posts/pfbid0StnK2ovCgDAvwCdGt9nznhqwY8n9pa8drhY6entsLmsy6R42G4oLXxAM4hfrLW7sl] https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/05/martyrs-mirror-dirk-willems-died-may-16.html
During the Reformation in 16th and 17th century Switzerland, the Swiss Reformed Church persecuted Anabaptists, killing many and driving others from the country.
More Anabaptists settled in Lancaster County than anywhere else in the world.
Their descendants were in the audience Thursday night as Hoover introduced church leaders from Zurich and other Swiss cities who came here to discuss the faults of their ancestors and seek forgiveness.
“They have sought us out”, Hoover said. “After hundreds of years, they have found us here in the states.”
Ben Girod, Amish Bishop
and Geri Keller, Swiss Reformed Clergy [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.klkurtz.com/post/eyes-wide] https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-pastor-of-reconciliation-geri.html
A number of Swiss churchmen spoke.
“You are our relatives”, said Peter Deettwiler.
“We will learn to understand each other more and more and better and better”, said Geri Keller.
“Another purpose of the conference is to encourage Anabaptist groups.” Hoover said about 30 different churches were represented in the audience to reconcile their own differences and seek forgiveness for divisive acts of the past.
Following the singing of hymns of praise, Ivan Doxtator, an Oneida Iroquois minister based in St. Louis, gave the primary address of the evening.
Doxtator said forgiveness is the key to healing rifts among all people. Old wounds fester and harm present generations, but When we forgive, we are talking about unlocking our inheritance.
He spoke at some length about the pain American Indians feel because European settlers stole their land and victimized their people.
But he concluded that the person that has been victimized holds the most leverage. American Indians are not waiting for the U.S. government to apologize to them, he said, and neither should Anabaptists await apologies.
Victims have a choice to forgive first, he said. I forgive people every day of my life. We don’t want to give the enemy any legal right of access to our lives.
But I say unto you, Love
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and
pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. - Matthew 5:44
(KJV) [PHOTO SOURCE: https://dailyverses.net/2025/5/21/kjv]
The conference continues today and Saturday as Swiss Reformed and Anabaptist leaders take turns leading the reconciliation process.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://lancasteronline.com/news/going-about-the-business-of-forgiveness/article_53825884-3a9a-5132-a466-b97eff7c41e4.html
Memorial service of the
life and work of Geri Keller - english https://www.youtube.com/live/V0KlG81v7Ps?si=chWkfCjdJZ5LFIfQ BLOG:
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-pastor-of-reconciliation-geri.html
Anabaptists, Swiss persecutors will make amends _ 500 years later
· Jack Brubaker
· Mar 11, 2005 Updated Sep 11, 2013
If they refused to renounce their belief in adult baptism and most did the church drowned or beheaded the martyrs. It boiled them in oil. It burned them alive.
Thousands of beleaguered Anabaptists eventually fled the country. Many of them settled in Lancaster County.
Now, nearly half a millennium later, Reformed Church leaders feel guilty about the atrocities their ancestors committed. They want to make amends to descendants.
Nearly 20 Swiss Reformed Church leaders will travel to Lancaster County next month to ask for forgiveness from Mennonites, Amish and other Anabaptists and to heal relationships with them.
Hundreds of local Anabaptists are expected to attend ‘Unlocking Our Inheritance’, an Anabaptist Reconciliation & Healing Conference at Petra Christian Fellowship in New Holland on the weekend of April 7-9. (Cost to attend is $30 if registered before March 14, $40 after, or $15 for one day).
What the Swiss church leaders are doing models something, observes Lloyd Hoover, a bishop of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference and a Reconciliation Conference organizer.
It models that time in itself does not heal. True healing in relationships comes through forgiveness and that was modeled for us first of all by Jesus Christ.
The local conference follows similar meetings in 2003 and 2004 in Switzerland. American Anabaptists from Lancaster and elsewhere met with Reformed Church members to begin the reconciliation process.
Janet Richards, a conference- organizing member of Petra Christian Fellowship, attended one of those Swiss meetings. She says Reformed Church members bear enormous guilt.
I could see the weight lifting when they sought forgiveness, she notes.
“We can no longer hide secretly that we feel you are right about baptism. I do not want infant baptism to be just a throw-away experience of infant blessing. It is not something cheap, an instrument just to control people. Infant baptism before the eyes of God has its meaning. How can I refuse to take the child of the confused parent and pray blessing down on that infant child? There are baptisms which are a betrayal of all that Jesus stood for. No minister or priest has the right to perform such baptisms; the symbols and signs of baptism belong to Christ and not to the church. If people have a heart for radical repentance then we must rebaptize those people. We self-righteous ones need to be rebaptized as much as others. Jesus did not celebrate when man saw men as trees. He touched him again. It is good to see but I want you to see more clearly.”
– Geri Keller
Paul Veraguth, a Swiss Reformed Church pastor in Zurich, apologized there and will apologize here for preaching in a church built on land stolen from Anabaptists, Richards says.
But the reconciliation process at the April meeting will not flow one way.
Our hands as Anabaptists are not clean because we in some ways perpetrated some of their responses by some arrogant acts on our part, says Hoover. That may have interfered with a peaceful conclusion to the differences that were occurring at that time.
Beyond that, he notes, various Anabaptist groups need to reconcile their own differences.
Many more Anabaptists live in Lancaster County than any other region in the world. Over 50,000 church members are split into more than 50 denominations of Amish, Mennonites and Brethren.
For example, there are Old Order Mennonites of various conferences, Amish Mennonites, Evangelical Mennonites, Reformed Mennonites and other groups of Mennonites. Each denomination has slightly different beliefs and practices.
Many of these denominations don’t relate together, says Hoover. In some cases, unfortunately, there’s even some animosity. There are some very deep feelings and some very deep wounds.
Working to get these groups to reconcile their differences will be a major conference goal. Richards believes the conference can help bring Anabaptists together by celebrating individual denominations strengths.
Amish take care of their older members without using Social Security and Mennonites provide worldwide disaster relief, she observes. Those strengths should be transferable to other Anabaptist denominations.
Further, she notes, There’s something we have to offer the larger church. Our strengths are needed in the rest of the church.
“Mercy and truth are met
together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” – Psalm 85:10
(KJV) BLOG: https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-pastor-of-reconciliation-geri.html BLOG: https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/05/heal-our-land-conference-2003.html
Richards has authored a book related to the reconciliation theme: ‘Unlocking Our Inheritance: Spiritual Keys to Recovering the Treasures of Anabaptism. Published by Masthof Press, it will be released during the conference.
The conference’s opening session April 7 will feature a talk by Ivan Doxtator, an Oneida Iroquois minister who will urge yet another form of reconciliation of American Indians with the Anabaptists who took their land in what would become Lancaster County.
Those settlers participated in the breaching of agreements with Indians and thus bear a burden, Hoover says.
While Anabaptists will compose the bulk of those attending the conference, the public at large is invited.
Information can be obtained by writing Anabaptist Reconciliation, Box 2243, Lancaster, Pa. 17608 or by calling 898-6602.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://lancasteronline.com/news/anabaptists-swiss-persecutors-will-make-amends-500-years-later/article_fdbb0a4c-36fe-543f-a248-590c1b87364c.html
Our first stop took us
to The Cave of the Anabaptists near Bäretswil, where Anabaptists met in secret
to worship the Lord together. We hiked a lovely trail up into the hills,
listening to bells tingling on the cows wandering the hillsides. Arriving at the
Cave, we worshipped together with several songs and had a devotional, imagining
how it would feel to slip up the mountain to such a secret service. [PHOTO SOURCE: https://dwightmartintourssmbiblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/23/day-two-zurich-switzerland/] BLOG: https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-pastor-of-reconciliation-geri.html BLOG: https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/05/heal-our-land-conference-2003.html
Unlocking Our Inheritance
Mar 29, 2014
A documentary of the Unlocking Our Inheritance conference that took place at Petra Christian Fellowship in New Holland, PA in April 2005. It was a healing and reconciliation event between Swiss State Reformed Church pastors and descendants of Anabaptists who had suffered persecution during the 16th-18th centuries.
VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjlYR-modvc&t=3326s
Geri Keller und Amish
Bishop Ben Girod in 2017 BLOG: https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-pastor-of-reconciliation-geri.html BLOG: https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/05/heal-our-land-conference-2003.html
MY THOUGHTS:
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In a word, live together in the forgiveness of your sins, for without it no human fellowship, least of all a marriage, can survive. Don't insist on your rights, don't blame each other, don't judge or condemn each other, don't find fault with each other, but accept each other as you are, and forgive each other every day from the bottom of your hearts. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/402347] |
80 years ago, on April 9, 1945, the Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by hanging at the Flossenbürg concentration camp, just weeks before the end of World War II. Bonhoeffer, a prominent critic of the Nazi regime and a participant in efforts to resist Hitler, including a plot to assassinate him, was arrested in 1943 for his involvement in the resistance. His execution was ordered by the Nazis for his opposition and his efforts to establish contacts between the German resistance and the Allies.
A few days before his execution, Bonhoeffer preached a short sermon on these two verses
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. – Isaiah 53:5 (ESV)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, - I Peter 1:3 (ESV)
https://contemporarychurchhistory.org/2006/02/february-2006-special-issue-on-dietrich-bonhoeffer/
As those two verses above speak of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, I praise God for reconciliation between the Anabaptist and the Reformed Christians. I spoke to my anabaptist friends and they have no ill towards the Reformed church like mine.
“Return, O my soul, to
your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.” –Psalm 116:7
ESV Return unto thy rest, O
my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. – Psalm 116:7 (KJV) Kehre zurück, meine
Seele, zu deiner Ruhe, denn der Herr hat dir wohlgetan! – Psalmen 116:7
(SCH2000) Sei nun wieder
zufrieden, meine Seele; denn der HERR tut dir Gutes. – Psalm 116:7 (LUTH1545) GERI
KELLER (JUNE 19, 1931 TO APRIL 23, 2023) [PHOTO
SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=694468959359610&set=a.475130997960075] BLOG: https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-pastor-of-reconciliation-geri.html BLOG: https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/05/heal-our-land-conference-2003.html
During the ‘HEAL OUR LAND’ CONFERENCE 2003, Pastor Geri Keller was telling the Swiss Mennonites:
“We thank you from our hearts that you have come as a table of fellowship to break bread together with Jesus our Lord. We bless you that these days will be days of refreshing, for your days when friendships and relationships will be released anew where hope will return. It says in Psalm 116:7 (KJV): Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee…… And I want to speak this over the Anabaptists. Your souls shall return to rest, because the Lord has been good to you.”
To my anabaptist brothers and sisters in Christ, please remember the late Pastor Geri Keller. He played a huge part in reconciliation between the reformed church and the anabaptist. I will put up this quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in memory of him.
Christianity means
community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is
more or less than this. Whether it is a brief, single encounter or the daily
fellowship of years, Christian community is only this. We belong to one another
only through and in Jesus Christ. - Dietrich
Bonhoeffer [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/875190] https://www.eberhardarnold.com/explore/intellectual-influences-and-contemporaries
Stiftung Schleife & Täuferhöhle Links:
“Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.” –Psalm 116:7 ESV
Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. – Psalm 116:7 (KJV)
Kehre zurück, meine Seele, zu deiner Ruhe, denn der Herr hat dir wohlgetan! – Psalmen 116:7 (SCH2000)
Sei nun wieder zufrieden, meine Seele; denn der HERR tut dir Gutes. – Psalm 116:7 (LUTH1545)
THE PASTOR OF RECONCILIATION: GERI KELLER (JUNE 19, 1931 TO APRIL 23, 2023)
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-pastor-of-reconciliation-geri.html
“We can no longer hide secretly that we feel you are right about baptism. I do not want infant baptism to be just a throw-away experience of infant blessing. It is not something cheap, an instrument just to control people. Infant baptism before the eyes of God has its meaning. How can I refuse to take the child of the confused parent and pray blessing down on that infant child? There are baptisms which are a betrayal of all that Jesus stood for. No minister or priest has the right to perform such baptisms; the symbols and signs of baptism belong to Christ and not to the church. If people have a heart for radical repentance then we must rebaptize those people. We self-righteous ones need to be rebaptized as much as others. Jesus did not celebrate when man saw men as trees. He touched him again. It is good to see but I want you to see more clearly.” – Pastor Geri Keller
‘HEAL OUR LAND’ CONFERENCE 2003 - RECONCILIATION BETWEEN THE ANABAPTIST AND THE SWISS REFORMED CHRISTIANS
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/05/heal-our-land-conference-2003.html
https://www.janetkellerrichards.com/
Täuferhöhle Links:
https://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php/Ecumenical_Dialogue
https://anabaptistworld.org/hymns-unite-swiss-reformed-anabaptists/
https://canadianmennonite.org/stories/swiss-official-offers-apology-anabaptist-persecution
https://dwightmartintourssmbiblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/23/day-two-zurich-switzerland/
https://www.klkurtz.com/post/eyes-wide
https://www.samstorms.org/all-articles/post/zwingli-and-anabaptists
https://rtrjournal.org/index.php/RTR/article/view/389
https://x.com/theprojecttv/status/1836699695491567816
https://lutherandcalvinbrigade914.blogspot.com/2016/08/ii-chronicles-192-warning-against.html
DOCTRINES OF GRACE LINKS:
https://findlivinghope.com/2025/03/why-i-love-the-doctrines-of-grace/
https://www.walkingthroughthegospel.com/2023/09/10-reasons-to-believe-doctrines-of-grace.html
https://www.oakhillspca.com/blog/post/why-i-love-the-doctrine-of-irresistible-grace
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/devastated-and-delighted
https://lutherandcalvinbrigade914.blogspot.com/2021/05/john-calvin-on-isaiah-41-verse-10-and-13.html
https://lutherandcalvinbrigade914.blogspot.com/2024/01/540th-birthday-for-zwingli-swiss.html
https://www.apuritansmind.com/tulip/
https://www.apuritansmind.com/tulip/why-i-am-a-calvinist-by-dr-c-matthew-mcmahon/
BIG NEWS for EVERY Christian | John MacArthur
Sep 12, 2025 #christian #reaction #god
Worried about Your Salvation, or afraid of LOSING IT.....Then this video is a MUST WATCH. One of the most powerful sermons by Pastor John MacArthur on the subject you will ever hear.
VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANYDh19nFPg
Leighton Flowers and the Dark Side of Calvinism (refuted)
Jul 27, 2025
In this video, we tackle the controversial views of Leighton Flowers, and critically examine the dark side of Calvinism. Flowers' ideology has sparked intense debates within the Christian community, particularly among Reformed theologians like James White. We delve into the philosophy and theology behind Calvinism, exploring the complexities of predestination, election, and the relationship between grace and works. By applying critical thinking and a nuanced understanding of soteriology, we refute Flowers' arguments and provide a more balanced perspective on this contentious issue. Join us as we navigate the intricacies of Christian theology and philosophy, and engage in a respectful yet rigorous critique of Leighton Flowers' Calvinist views.
VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz08UrLrUtM
https://dailyencouragement.wordpress.com/2025/03/17/christus-victor-amen/
https://www.1517.org/articles/christus-victor-saved-my-life
GIVE ME JESUS
Lord, you have given me a portion in the world. You have given me credit and a reputation among others.
But what is all this to me, if I am without Christ? If I do not have the one who gives grace to my soul, the one who is my all in all?
Lord, you have taught me this day that the distance between you and me is so great that without a mediator, I perish forever.
So whatever else you deny me, give me Jesus. Amen.
—Jeremiah Burroughs
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