Kreiders promoted Anabaptism in England

The grandparents of England's Anabaptist Network have returned home to be near their own grandchildren, and to teach among North American Mennonites.

Alan and Eleanor Kreider have completed 26 years of service with Mennonite Board of Missions in the United Kingdom, where they were the foremost spokespeople for Anabaptism. They will now be working with MBM's Mission Education department and teaching at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary.

"It seems a good time for giving something back to North American Mennonites who have supported us for so many years," Alan said. "We would like to share with them what we have learned, and to encourage them in their missionary vision."

[Graph Not Transcribed]

"Alan and Ellie were a special and unusual presence in the UK," said David Nussbaum, member of the Anabaptist Network and of the London Mennonite Centre council. "They were able to relate and interpret Anabaptism to people from a wide range of faith traditions."

Lesley Misrahi, an elder at Wood Green Mennonite Church (England's only Mennonite church), said she was drawn to the Kreiders and their faith because of their personalities and lifestyle.

"Repeatedly, people saw the discipleship Anabaptism preaches demonstrated in the frugal, generous, caring lives of these two people, as I did when I first met them in 1971," said Misrahi.

Stuart Murray, the intellectual leader of the Anabaptist Network, praised their ability to connect with a wide range of Christians. "They moved with remarkable ease among Christians from a wide range of denominations, encouraging us to rediscover the radical roots and shaping stories of our own traditions," he said.

When the Kreiders went to England in the 1960s, they found a nation where 12 percent of the population attended church regularly. Now it's 7.5 percent.

"What we saw in very tangible ways was the unravelling of Christendom," Alan said. Eleanor added that a whole generation of people living in England are unfamiliar with the Christian story. "In 30 years, it's as though the termites have been eating away at the foundation and the Christendom structures are crumbling," she said.

But the Kreiders don't despair. "We're re-laying the foundation that the termites have eaten," Eleanor said. "Christians today are cleaning it away and there's Jesus[Symbol Not Transcribed]-[Symbol Not Transcribed]here is the gospel, the foundation."

For the past five years, the Kreiders ministered from Regent's Park College at Oxford University. Alan directed the college's Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture, and Eleanor taught courses in worship. They also accepted teaching assignments across the United Kingdom, Ireland and Europe, addressing topics of the early church, Anabaptism, worship and peacemaking.

"The Anabaptist tradition is mediating a sense of community that people are longing for," Alan said. The Kreiders gave leadership to the Anabaptist Network, formed of 8 study groups and over 500 people of many denominations. Each spring, they plan to spend five weeks travelling within the network, speaking, visiting and giving encouragement.

Working with many new Christians in England, the Kreiders have seen Anabaptism become a source of spiritual renewal. "We've experienced the vulnerability and risk and excitement of becoming a Christian and the newness of life in Christ," Alan said.

As they helped British churches rediscover the gospel of peace, the Kreiders experienced how a vision of peace can transform the inner life and the outer witness of the church.

Soon after they began their MBM work in 1974, the Kreiders helped transform the London Mennonite Centre from a residence for foreign students to a teaching centre which offers an Anabaptist book service, weekend courses, and resources for conflict mediation and urban mission. In 1991, they became theologians-in-residence at Northern Baptist College in Manchester.

The Kreiders are authors of numerous articles and books, including Eleanor's Communion Shapes Character and Alan's The Change of Conversation.

Alan holds a doctorate in history from Harvard University. Eleanor has a master's degree in music from the University of Michigan. Both were on the faculty of Goshen College before moving to England.