In 1890, American Mennonite women had few opportunities to serve the church in a formal capacity. Pastoral ministry was reserved for men, and Mennonite mission work was still in its infancy. David Goerz...
[read more]Anabaptist history is defined by migrations, typically to escape persecution or pursue opportunity. What can get overlooked, on the flip side, is the welcome that made each chapter possible. Northern German...
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CASTAÑER, Puerto Rico — Over 75 years of service around the world, Heifer International has helped bring more than 34 million families out of poverty. It all began in Puerto Rico as a project of the Church...
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Aaron Janzen believed passionately in missions. A member of the Mennonite Brethren from Mountain Lake, Minn., he wrote of the value of leaving “homeland, kin and kindred, ease, comfort, physical and...
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The 17th century has been called the Dutch Golden Age, when the Nether-lands rose to international prominence in commerce, art and science. It was a gleaming era of prosperity for many, including...
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HESSTON, Kan. — The growth of early shares in companies like Microsoft and Apple pales in comparison to Jacob E. Stauffer’s 1894 investment in Brethren in Christ missions. His $5 gift at a general...
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Christian (1788-1846) and Christiana Buzzard Holdeman (1788-1865) had Mennonite church leaders in their family tree. Christian’s father had been a minister, while Christiana’s great-grandfather was the...
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KHORTITSA, Ukraine — Under shade trees in a city park on June 16, about 40 Anabaptists shared a picnic of corn grits, rye bread and warm cocoa. The unusual menu held symbolic meaning. It was a “relief...
[read more]Mennonite Central Committee wasn’t meant to last 100 years. In the beginning, it was, in fact, a committee, with a specific task — to save the lives of starving Mennonites in Ukraine. It proved too good an...
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ZURICH, Switzerland — Five centuries after Swiss reformer Ulrich Zwingli suggested Anabaptists be “cast to the ravens,” Anabaptists from Mennonite World Conference are joining spiritual descendants of...
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Captive is a coming-of-age novel about friendship and self-discovery in the context of war, pacifism and the little-known story of German prisoners of war in the United States during World War II. About...
[read more]Born from schism as a mark of truest obedience to the Lord, Anabaptists are better at breaking than binding. When the Reformation didn’t reform enough 500 years ago, Anabaptists went further, many paying the...
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It took about 490 years for government officials in Bern, Switzerland, to ask forgiveness for persecution of Anabaptists. It took less than two to get a response from Swiss Mennonites. Delegates from every...
[read more]I agree with the concern expressed by Tim Huber in “Shameful Tourists” (Editorials, April 1). This past year, we visited the Trachselwald castle along with our tour group (TourMagination, “Life and...
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Switzerland is a land of beauty and Anabaptist history. Many North American Mennonite and Amish people visit to get in touch with their faith’s roots. Most Swiss hosts are too gracious and polite to offer...
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A new film dramatizing the life of Reformation leader Ulrich Zwingli is giving moviegoers a chance to see early Swiss Anabaptist leaders on the big screen — as long as they can get to Switzerland. The...
[read more]The 39 families who followed Claas Epp into the Central Asian wilderness to avoid military conscription and meet Christ’s return in the late 19th century have received undo derision from descendants of other...
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A decade after its opening was canceled, a historical exhibit about a band of Mennonites from Ukraine who migrated far eastward in the 1880s to avoid military service and meet Christ’s return will finally go...
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SHIPSHEWANA, Ind. — Persecution of Anabaptists in the 16th century by Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed churches created centuries of mutual mistrust and suspicion. In the last 30 years, however, these...
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We live in an era of human flight and displacement. The United Nations Refugee Agency says there are more than 68 million refugees throughout the world. A top political issue in North America and Europe is...
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Among the lists of those disappeared during the dark times of the 1930s and ’40s in what is now Ukraine, researchers have found roughly 400 pages of Mennonite names, with five or six names per page. That...
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Over the Nov. 15-17 weekend, I listened to no less than 30 academic presentations in a space of 2.5 days as Canada’s National Mennonite Historical Society hosted scholars and speakers for the annual...
[read more]Do evangelical Christians want to move the needle of government to the point where the cross and the flag are synonymous? The U.S. Constitution promises justice and democracy for all, which on paper looks like...
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More than seven decades after World War II ended, revelations about Mennonites and the war continue coming to light. Stéphane Zehr of Anduze, France, presented research about French Mennonite resistance to...
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Thanksgiving is almost upon us. How do you talk about it with your children? Many of us learned a story about Pilgrims and Indians sharing a happy meal of New World foods — turkey and cranberries and...
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