Global Anabaptist Profile

 

The Global Anabaptist Profile, a joint effort of the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism and Mennonite World Conference (MWC), provides a snapshot of the diversity of MWC member churches and invites them into conversation on questions of faith and practice.

Structured around the Mennonite World Conference’s “Shared Convictions,” the data gathered by the Global Anabaptist Profile survey provides church leaders with basic demographic information from twenty-four member groups of MWC, along with detailed information on how believers live out their commitment to be followers of Jesus Christ in their particular contexts.

Final Report

In February of 2017, the ISGA published Global Anabaptist Profile: Belief and Practice in 24 Mennonite World Conference Churches, a full-length report on the completed Global Anabaptist Profile. The report is available in three different formats:

Foreword — John D. Roth

Interpretive Findings — Conrad Kanagy

  1. Characteristics of the Global Anabaptist Profile Conferences
  2. Beliefs and Practices of MWC Churches
  3. Some Conclusions and Questions for Reflection

Survey Findings by Continents

  1. Africa
  2. Asia
  3. Europe
  4. Latin America
  5. North America

Summary of the research process

Twenty-four groups were randomly selected to participate in the study, with proportionate representation from the five geographic regions of MWC. Church leaders from each group then appointed a research associate to conduct the survey—translated into 25 different languages—with a representative sample of congregations. In their work, research associates faced an array of challenges, from reaching remote congregations to adapting survey implementation methods for illiterate church members.

Two international consultations marked the initiation and completion of the data-collection portion of the project. Research associates first met together on July 29-August 2, 2013, to receive basic training in research methods and to critique and revise the survey.

Following completion of the survey, research associates and church leaders gathered for a second consultation on July 26-30, 2015, to present their findings and compare results.

Following the 2015 consultation, Conrad Kanagy, professor of sociology at Elizabethtown College and co-director of the Global Anabaptist Profile, worked at analyzing the data to develop demographic profiles for the individual groups as well as comparisons across continents and affiliations.

For a short summary of the study’s conclusions, see “A Unique Opportunity for Greater Unity: Global Anabaptist Profile collects data on the MWC family worldwide,” published by The Courier in October 2016.

Conferences participating in the Global Anabaptist Profile

Photos

Read about other ISGA initiatives.