About 80 people from various Mennonite backgrounds registered for the whole conference, but at times up to 300 people attended events. The speakers and workshop leaders, also from different Mennonite traditions, helped the participants find their way through early Anabaptist history and its possible implications in today's world. One of the conclusions was that we best join the early Anabaptists by putting the gospel before tradition. Themes like Anabaptists and the State, oath-taking, and nonviolence were evidence of the readiness of participants to grapple with the hard questions Mennonites face in modern times. For instance, as Gerhard Woelk pointed out, nonviolence is not just a question of not joining the army.
Nonviolence begins at home.
Historical conferences not only help Mennonites to understand the challenge of their traditions in a changing society, but also succeed in bringing European Mennonites of different backgrounds closer together.