The Munster Anabaptists can directly trace their religious lineage back to the Täuferreich von Münster from February 1534 to June 1535.
Their specific brand of Anabaptism has survived underground for a long time, before the entire congregation moved to America in the late 18th century, only to move to Oregon in the 1830s.
They have developed further from the original Taüferreich, and adapted other ideas from the outside during their time in hiding. As it is today and since the 1830s, they share a lot with other anabaptist groups, such as the Amish and the Menonites, though they embrace the modern world.
Their core tennents are:
- Voluntary church membership and believer’s baptism
- Freedom of religion – liberty of conscience
- Separation of church and state
- Separation or non-conformity to the world
- Nonresistance, interpreted as pacifism
- Priesthood of all believers
- Freedom of sexual expression
It is to be noted that all these tenents are interpreted differently from all other Anabaptist groups, largely due to the development of the ‘Freedom of sexual expression’ tennant of the Munster Anabaptists, which can be traced back to the polygamy and other more sexual freedom related incidents during the Täuferreich.
Since the 1880s, this means that everyone is free to live out any of their sexual expressions freely, as long as they are not going against the Ten Commandments (murder, snuff) and several more conventional rules (pedophilia, rape), as it believed that it is only possible between two or more consenting adults. It is also seen as positive to live out these expressions in public, in part to allow others to see their devotion to their believes.
While they are welcoming of outsiders, who are mostly drawn in due to the ‘Freedom of Sexual Expression’, they will ensure that their rules are followed, especially the rules about concenting adults. Interestingly the majority of people coming in from the outside of Munster, join the Anabaptists sooner or later.
While there is the tenent of ‘Priesthood of all believers’, the Munster Anabaptists do have a good number of preachers who are leading services in the Munster Meeting Houses and provide spiritual and religious guidance of all kinds.
Since 1843, the dragon Elenydd had become the leader of the Munster Anabaptitsts after converting to the religion and embracing its tenents.