Slabaugh Professor of Theology & Culture and Director of Peace Studies at Bethany Theological Seminary
As a scholar who has been an active participant in the Believers' Church Conferences for over three decades, I was delighted to read Teun van der Leer's excellent PhD dissertation on the topic. This work is the only study of its kind and offers an important history and theology of this unique ecclesiological and ecumenical movement within the Free Church, Anabaptist and "Believers' Church" traditions. Its publication will provide much needed academic documentation for all scholars of religion and it will have particular appeal to theologians, historians and pastors within the Believers' Church movement. I heartily recommend it.
The term Believers Church (BC) as such dates back to Max Weber, who in 1904 (in the first edition of his Der protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus) introduced this English term, defining it “solely as a community of personal believers of the reborn, and only these”.
The term Believers Church (BC) as such dates back to Max Weber, who in 1904 (in the first edition of his Der protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus) introduced this English term, defining it “solely as a community of personal believers of the reborn, and only these”. He linked it to the (Ana)Baptists and it is mainly within Mennonite and Baptist circles that this tradition is studied and reflected on since the fifties of the 20th century. A classic work is The Believers’ Church. The History and Character of Radical Protestantism (1968), written by the Church of the Brethren historian Donald Durnbaugh, defining it as “the covenanted and disciplined community of those walking in the way of Jesus Christ.” As such it is a distinctive ecclesiological type, seen as a third type of church, next to ‘catholic’ and ‘protestant’, also known under other names as Free Church and Gathering Church, or as ‘pentecostal’ (Newbigin, The Household of God, 1953) or ‘baptist with a small “b”’ (McClendon, Ethics, 2002). According to Durnbaugh these names are not so much to classify as to clarify (The Believers’ Church, 24).
The story of the Believers Church Conferences
Beginning in 1967 in Louisville (Kentucky), U.S.A., Believers Church Conferences (BCC) have been held every three to four years at different places in the U.S.A. and Canada. The 19th conference was held in Raleigh (North Carolina) in January 2023 on the topic of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Global Witness of Believers Churches. From its beginning the BCC had two main objectives: to reflect on the concept of the Believers Church and to contribute to the ecumenical ecclesiological debate.
1967
Louisville, Kentucky, USA | Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
The Concept of the Believers’ Church
1970
Chicago, Illinois, USA | Chicago Theological Seminary (United Church of Christ)
Is There a Christian Style of Life in Our Age?
1972
Laurelville, Ohio, USA | Laurelville Mennonite Church Center
Believers Church Conference for Laity on the Sermon on the Mount
1975
Malibu, California, USA | Pepperdine University (Churches of Christ)
Restitution, Dissent, and Renewal: Concept of the Believers’ Church
1978
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | Canadian Mennonite Bible College
The Believers’ Church in Canada
1980
Bluffton, Ohio, USA | Bluffton College (Mennonite)
Is There a Believers’ Church Christology?
1984
Anderson, Indiana, USA | Anderson School of Theology (Church of God)
Believers’ Baptism and the Meaning of Church Membership: Concepts and Practices in an Ecumenical Context
1987
Oak Brook, Illinois, USA | Bethany Theological Seminary (Church of the Brethren)
The Ministry of All Believers
1989
Fort Worth, Texas, USA | Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Balthasar Hubmaier and His Thought
1992
Goshen, Indiana, USA | Goshen College (Mennonite)
The Rule of Christ : Church Discipline and the Authority of the Church
1994
Ashland, Ohio, USA | Ashland Theological Seminary (Church of the Brethren)
The Meaning and Practice of the Lord’s Supper in the BCT
1996
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada | McMaster Divinity College (Baptist)
The Believers Church: A Voluntary Church
1999
Bluffton, Ohio, USA | Bluffton College (Mennonite)
Apocalypticism and Millennialism: Shaping a Believers Church Eschatology for the 21st Century
2002
Notre Dame, Indiana, USA | University of Notre Dame (Roman-Catholic)
Legacy of Yoder
2004
Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA | Bridgewater College (Church of the Brethren) & Eastern Mennonite University
God, Democracy and US Power
2008
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | Canadian Mennonite University
Congregationalism, Denominationalism and the Body of Christ
2016
Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada | Acadia Divinity College (Baptist)
The Tendency Towards Separation. Come-outers Among the Believers Churches: Historical Realities and Ecclesial Concerns in the Continuing Dissenter Tradition
2017
Goshen, Indiana, USA | Goshen College (Mennonite)
Word, Spirit, and the Renewal of the Church: Believers' Church, Ecumenical and Global Perspectives
2023
Raleigh, North Calorina, USA | Shaw University (Baptist)
Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Global Witness of Believers Churches
2025
Amsterdam and Elspeet, Netherlands | Vrije Universiteit (Mennonite and Baptis)
Radical Renewal Witnessing to a New Heaven and a New Earth
The term Believers Church (BC) as such dates back to Max Weber, who in 1904 (in the first edition of his Der protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus) introduced this English term, defining it “solely as a community of personal believers of the reborn, and only these”. He linked it to the (Ana)Baptists and it is mainly within Mennonite and Baptist circles that this tradition is studied and reflected on since the fifties of the 20th century. A classic work is The Believers’ Church. The History and Character of Radical Protestantism (1968), written by the Church of the Brethren historian Donald Durnbaugh, defining it as “the covenanted and disciplined community of those walking in the way of Jesus Christ.” As such it is a distinctive ecclesiological type, seen as a third type of church, next to ‘catholic’ and ‘protestant’, also known under other names as Free Church and Gathering Church, or as ‘pentecostal’ (Newbigin, The Household of God, 1953) or ‘baptist with a small “b”’ (McClendon, Ethics, 2002). According to Durnbaugh these names are not so much to classify as to clarify (The Believers’ Church, 24).
The Story of Believers Church Conference
Beginning in 1967 in Louisville (Kentucky), U.S.A., Believers Church Conferences (BCC) have been held every three to four years at different places in the U.S.A. and Canada ...
From June 1st to June 4th, the 20th Believers Church Conference was held in Amsterdam, bringing together around 150 participants from over 15 countries worldwide. This aftermovie offers a glimpse into our shared experience as we celebrated 500 years since the beginnings of the Anabaptist movement. We enjoyed and engaged in meaningful conversations, experienced rich fellowship in both unity and diversity, and came together in worship, singing, praying, and studying under the conference theme: Radical Renewal, Witnessing to a New Heaven and a New Earth.
