Mennonites move to Selly Oak
British Mennonite base to move from London to Birmingham
The Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham is to have a new neighbour – housing another group rooted in radical Christianity and pacifism. British Mennonites will transfer their main base from London to Birmingham this summer.
The London Mennonite Centre has provided a meeting place, library and accommodation for people both within and outside its own tradition. Financial difficulties played a key role in the decision to close the centre and move to Selly Oak, the area of south Birmingham that houses Woodbrooke.
Mennonites originated in the sixteenth century as part of the Anabaptist tradition of ‘radical reformation’. They emphasise a voluntary commitment to living by Jesus’ teachings, active nonviolence, truth-telling, equality and baptism in water for adult believers.
Jeremy Thompson, chairperson of the London Mennonite Trust, said: ‘The decision to go to Selly Oak provides the opportunity for a new phase of Mennonite and Anabaptist witness in the UK’. He welcomed the proximity to Woodbrooke.
Stuart Masters, senior programme leader at Woodbrooke, told the Friend he was ‘really excited’ by the news. He said that Quakers and Mennonites share ‘a commitment to a lived faith and a witness to peace and justice’.
