Summary of Beliefs

Hutterites are insistent that all of life belongs under the lordship of Jesus. Along with beliefs in nonviolence and baptism following confession of faith, the radical economic practice of sharing goods in intentional community stems from this principle. All of Hutterite experience is fashioned in the context of this shared life.

Although many Hutterites refer to the Pentecost account in the early chapters of the Acts of the Apostles as the primary biblical basis for communal living, the theological motivation for this lifestyle is more wide-ranging. Sharing both spiritual and material things in community is a way to faithfully enact the central command of Scripture — to love God and neighbour — in a daily, embodied sense. Caring for the elderly, for widows and orphans and treating each member of the community justly is understood as an expression of this central biblical text. The fellowship between Jesus and his disciples is an example of this kind of shared life.

Hutterites practice adult baptism because they believe the church is the body of believers who are earnest in their desire to follow Christ and to become bearers of His reconciling Spirit of peace. Following Christ requires an obedient response to God’s call lived out in the gathered faith community. Community life makes possible mutual admonition and encouragement as well as a measure of accountability. Members of the Hutterite fellowship work together, pray together and live together to remind each other of the godly life Jesus has shared with us and which we wish to share with the world. (Summary by Jesse Hofer)