Book Review: ‘The New Anabaptists’

The New Anabaptists: Practices for Emerging Communities
Herald Press (VA) (Jan. 30 2024), 208 pages.

Stuart Murray’s The New Anabaptists: Practices for Emerging Communities is a thought-provoking read for those of us claiming the Anabaptist faith.

The author explores early Anabaptist practices and discusses what these could look like in emerging Anabaptist communities. Murray includes truth-telling as one of the practices, which I very much enjoyed reading about. The importance of our words and their impact is a deeply convicting message as Murray explores the early Mennonites’ strong belief in always telling the truth. In this particular practice, he brings to light the evangelistic power that could come from the church committing to always speaking truth and standing boldly.

A second practice Murray explores is simplicity and sharing. In a cluttered and extravagant world, a call to share everything and do so simply is very appealing. I particularly enjoy Murray’s chapter on communion and his stance on fellowship and community within the body. A strong sense of a church of community, a doing life together aspect is portrayed throughout the book. This stirs up a deep longing for a return to a simpler style of church, such as seen in Acts. The entire book calls to the forefront of one’s mind the way of life and community the early church must have had.

The doctrine of peacemaking, well known in early Anabaptist theology, is also explored and highly regarded. Different viewpoints in different circumstances are included and the author does not pretend to have all the answers or the only one way to approach how peacemaking looks.

Murray believes strongly that these different practices of Anabaptist theology are the way forward for the church in a post-Christian world, particularly from a UK perspective.

The last three chapters change up the flow of the book a bit with some case studies from three different authors. While it is interesting to read their perspectives on putting into practice different aspects of their interpretation of Anabaptist doctrine, I think the book would have done well without them. This is particularly true of one of the authors who encourages a strong sense of an egalitarian church system that is affirming and inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community. These are current and important conversations to have, but I personally found it to stray from the main goal of the book as it brings to light a controversial topic without answering many questions the reader might have. It also seemed to make an overarching assumption that all emerging Anabaptist churches are or would be egalitarian or affirming and inclusive. I doubt this to be the case.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book despite some disagreements I had. I felt it was a call to examine how well we as proclaiming Anabaptists are living out the theology we claim; it could especially be a good discussion starter for those in ministry. His passion for community shines through in each one of the practices he outlines, and this is what I enjoyed the most. It is an easy-to-read book with thoughts well portrayed and written in an easy-to-understand manner.