Pilgrims on a Journey: Exploring Mennonite Spirituality

Forrest L. Moyer, Blooming Glenmoyerf@mhep.orgOne generation after another of Mennonites in eastern Pennsylvania has been inspired to love and serve God and humanity, to maintain personal devotion, to practice a fellowship of deep caring and accountability and to witness for peace. What experiences and practices have fueled this unique spirituality over many years? Where do we find continuity and diversity in Mennonite spiritual life?On Saturday, May 31, 2008, the Mennonite Heritage Center will sponsor and host a symposium entitled “Pilgrims on a Journey: Exploring Mennonite Spirituality Past and Present.” The morning session will feature historical presentations from scholars and pastors John Rempel, John Ruth and Dawn Ruth Nelson. Dr. Rempel’s presentation, “European Roots of Mennonite Spirituality: How Did Our Ancestors Pray?” will explore what and how Anabaptists and early Mennonites believed and prayed, looking first at samples of devotional writing by people who had put their lives on the line for the Gospel and were persecuted, then also at how faith and practice changed when Mennonites developed a settled existence.Dr. John Ruth, well-known storyteller, will speak on early Pennsylvania Mennonite spirituality. His presentation, “Early Pennsylvania Mennonite Spirituality: Hymns, Fraktur and Bishop Jacob Gottschall (1769-1845),” will provide a window into the spiritual expressions of eighteenth and nineteenth century Mennonites in this community. Bishop Jacob Gottschall grew up, taught school, and served as a main spiritual leader among the Mennonites of eastern Pennsylvania. As a young man, he was a sensitive fraktur artist, and his son Samuel was one of the best such artists. The evident seriousness of their art and its explicit verbal expressions are a revealing window into the soul-feelings of this oldest of American Mennonite communities.Dr. Dawn Ruth Nelson, pastor at Methacton Mennonite Church, will discuss 20th Century Mennonite spirituality in her presentation, “Becoming Like Christ: Two 20th Century Examples.” Dr. Nelson will look at how spirituality was lived out in one eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite woman’s life, her grandmother—Susan Ruth (1909-2005), in complement with the story of several 20th century Mennonite teachers and the development of a spiritual formation curriculum at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. In these stories, we see Mennonite spiritual formation changing from spiritual formation by just living in community to more intentional spiritual formation by contemplative and communal disciplines.After lunch, several persons will share from their own journey with Mennonite spirituality: Mary Lou Weaver Houser, a spiritual director and retreat leader who was raised in the First Mennonite Church of Norristown Pa., Caleb Franks, a young adult with diverse experiences that include living among Old Order Mennonites and Amish, and Yvonne Platts, current Minister of Youth and Community Outreach at Nueva Vida Norristown (Pa.) New Life Mennonite Church .Saturday evening there will be a service of “worship in historic mode,” free of charge and open to the public as well as symposium participants. It will be held at historic Klein’s Meetinghouse, located on the campus of Peter Becker Community, Harleysville, Pa. This service will explore and interpret some aspects of historic local Mennonite worship in ritual, song and the spoken word. One of the main sources of spiritual growth for Mennonites of the 18th and 19th centuries was the community’s gathering for worship, and not many today have access to the modes of worship that former generations experienced.To register please send your name, address, phone number and email address, with a registration fee of $40 to Mennonite Heritage Center. The registration fee includes lunch. Registration deadline is May 15, 2008.Scholarships are available for emerging leaders from Franconia Conference. Contact the author for more details.