Anabaptistwiki:About

From Anabaptistwiki

The Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition traces its beginnings to the Radical Reformation in the sixteenth century. The early Anabaptists were deeply indebted to both Catholic and Protestant understandings of faith, but they differed with these groups in their emphasis on adult baptism, an ethic of love in all human relations (including enemies), and a view of the church as a community of equal members committed to being disciples of Christ together. In the centuries that followed, the Anabaptist movement took root primarily in Europe, Russia and North America, with its main groups identified as the Mennonites, Hutterites and Amish. During the twentieth century, however, the Anabaptist movement has become a global reality. Today the majority of the 1.5 million Anabaptist-Mennonites live in southern hemisphere, with active congregations in at least 75 different countries.

The Global Anabaptist Wiki is an interactive community of Anabaptist-Mennonite groups from around the world. Initiated by the Mennonite Historical Library at Goshen College, the site is committed to helping individual groups: 1) tell their own story; 2) post and preserve electronic archives; and 3) become better informed about other groups in the global Anabaptist fellowship. Like all wiki-based projects, this is a collaborative venture that relies on the local expertise of many people. Take some time to explore where Anabaptist communities exist around the world.

Contributing Content

Who Can Contribute?

Anyone can contribute content to the Global Anabaptist Wiki, but not everyone can directly edit content. To prevent vandalism, pages on the Global Anabaptist Wiki are protected so that only administrators can access them. Without administrative access, you can only view articles.

How to Contribute

If you are not an administrator and you have original content to contribute or editing suggestions, send your content or comments electronically to a regional administrator. To add content directly to the Global Anabaptist Wiki you must be a Registered User.

In What Languages Can I Contribute?

Where Can I Contribute Print Resources?

The Mennonite Historical Library (MHL) is a comprehensive, research-level library located on Goshen College's campus in Goshen, Indiana that collects printed texts and images on all topics related to the Radical Reformation, including the Anabaptists, Hutterites, Mennonites, Amish and various related groups. The MHL collects print materials from all Anabaptist-related groups around the world. If you would like to donate print materials about your group to the MHL, please email mhl@goshen.edu or call (574) 535-7418.

How Do I Get Access As A Registered User?

Anyone who has interest in directly editing and contributing content about his or her own Anabaptist related group has the right to request access edit and contribute to the Global Anabaptist Wiki. To obtain contributing privileges do the following:

  1. Choose a username and password.
  2. After deciding upon a username and password, send a request John D. Roth, Director of the Center for the Study of Global Anabaptist History, (johndr@goshen.edu) including the username and password, that describes who you are and what content you wish to contribute. John will then create an account for you.
  3. After John has created your account, you will need to log in using your username and password in order to edit.

What Content Can I Contribute?

Articles

The Global Anabaptist Wiki is primarily made up of encyclopedia style articles that include basic information, annotated bibliographies, and electronic resources about different branches of the Global Anabaptist church. Create new articles about your Anabaptist-related group or edit existing articles or stubs. Articles should relate directly to the Global Anabaptist church. They may cover specific congregations, conferences, organizations, or Anabaptist-related themes. To learn more about article structure and style for the Global Anabaptist Wiki click here.

Electronic Documents

The Global Anabaptist Wiki also serves as a repository for electronic resources about different Anabaptist group. If you'd like, upload your group's Confession of Faith or Constitution. If you know of relevant papers or articles about your group you may upload them after obtaining appropriate permission from the author, journal, periodical, and/or publisher.

Pictures/Videos

Upload relevant pictures and videos to the Global Anabaptist Wiki to visually represent your group. Contribute maps, time lines, promotional videos or any other sort of visual materials that would enhance articles on the Global Anabaptist Wiki.

Audio

If you have any audio resources that relate to your group, feel free to upload them. Contribute interviews, sermons, conference recordings, or any other audio materials that relate to articles on the Global Anabaptist Wiki.

Which Regional Administrator Should I Contact?

Help Guides

Check out the Media Wiki Help Guide for general information about reading, editing, and personalization. Meta Wiki also offers an excellent Help Guide.

To practice editing using Media Wiki software before editing an actual page on the Global Anabaptist Wiki, use Media Wiki's sandbox. If you'd rather, Meta Wiki also has a sandbox you can use to experiment.