Though the U.S. Supreme Court’s Wisconsin v. Yoder decision has traditionally been hailed as a religious freedom victory for the Amish, some Amish people want to challenge the 1972 ruling. That’s one thing the founders of the Amish Heritage Foundation, a new organization with a goal “to reclaim our Amish narrative,” will discuss at their first conference.
GUYS MILLS, Pa. — On a Tuesday afternoon, 22-year-old Andrew Shenk leads a competitive trivia game for 13 fifth- and sixth-graders reviewing facts about Alaska, Hawaii and the Spanish-American War.
Wendy Crocker calls herself an “edgewalker” on the border between two cultures. As a principal in two Ontario elementary schools, she developed a passion for understanding the children from Old Colony Mennonite families. Now an assistant professor at the University of Western Ontario, her work with Old Colony students fuels her research interests.
A new liberal arts college named after an Anabaptist martyr plans to open next fall in Boston, expecting to start with about 30 students.
Preaching Peace, a ministry based out of Lancaster, Pa., is taking significant steps to broaden its scope and impact. Founded about a decade ago by Michael and Lorri Hardin, the organization launched an online school this month and this fall will host what is shaping up to be its biggest conference ever.
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras — Pastor Porfirio Zelaya Rubio gestured to the street outside the front door of Iglesia Menonita Sion (Zion Mennonite Church). He spoke in a quiet voice, not wanting to draw the attention of neighborhood children eating sweetbreads in the congregation’s tutoring center.
Before I retired, I taught in the Biblical Studies department at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pa. Each fall term, I was assigned two sections of a required course, Encountering the Bible.
RUMBEK, South Sudan — When South Sudan became an independent country in 2011, hopes were high and the future looked bright. But conflict broke out in 2013, and violence has ebbed and flowed since then.
