The Earth Is the Lord'sA Narrative History of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History (SAMH), No. 39 |
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See the Photo Gallery of pictures taken during the launching of The Earth is the Lord
The lush fields of the largest Mennonite community outside Europe have not been matched by a richness of recorded memory. An earlier general history of Lancaster Mennonites (1931) made little attempt to explain the community’s ancestry. In The Earth Is the Lord’s, however, a story-laden past unfolds dramatically.
Starting with the 1614 execution of Hans Landis in Zurich, the narrative explores similar troubles in Bern. Then it follows Anabaptists to Alsace and the Palatinate, and on to America, as the future Lancaster County’s first Mennonites arrive in Philadelphia on the Mary Hope in 1710. The story of the next 268 years reaches to 1977, when Lancaster Mennonite Conference adopted a new constitution.
The fruit of much patient work by family historians and computer-aided genealogists finds its way into this story. John L. Ruth adds folk memory to careful documentation and explanation of key beliefs and practices, painting a picture of unprecedented detail, enriched by photos, maps, detailed notes, bibliography, and index. An indispensable source on its subject, the book offers lists of early immigrants, congregations, ordinations, and conference officers, plus a general chronology.
"Captivating. Superb treatment of the Indian story." —Robert S. Kreider
"A very important achievement." —John A. Lapp
"Through hymns and rhymes, fabric and fraktur, in farmwork and on mission fields, the pattern of peoplehood emerges for those who take the time to listen and to ask as many questions of themselves as they do of the past." –Steven M. Nolt, SAMH Series Editor
About the Author
John L. Ruth, a retired Mennonite minister and English professor, has written and made films on the life and heritage of his Mennonite community, including books such as ’Twas Seeding Time and Maintaining the Right Fellowship.
More Endorsements:
"Ruth’s panoramic, deeply researched, and beautifully written narrative history brilliantly evokes the rich human texture of the Mennonite experience from its Reformation-era origins to the present. The book is hard to put down." —Paul S. Boyer, Editor-in-Chief, The Oxford Companion to United States History
"Magnificently exhaustive, well-written study. A dream come true. Ruth has spent decades researching, sifting, speaking, and writing. The long arm of Lancaster County’s Mennonite faith, life, and history reaches into many other communities." —James O. Lehman, Mennonite Historian
"Weaves together a remarkable account of persistent change, enduring challenge, and a stubborn commitment to Christian faithfulness. Ruth’s eye for the illustrative detail, the rich photographs, and the sheer poignancy of the story itself make this narrative history a feast worth savoring!" —John D. Roth, Editor, The Mennonite Quarterly Review
"Captivating. Superb treatment of the Indian story." —Robert S. Kreider, Mennonite Historian
"Ruth tells this 360-year story of practiced faith, energetic character, changing outlook, and engaging personalities with verve and insight. Even as he records contradiction, autonomy, divisions, and failures, he finds a persistent communal ethic." —John A. Lapp, Coordinator, Global Mennonite History Project of Mennonite World Conference
"In an act of discipleship and of professional historiography, Ruth has crafted a superb chronicle of Lancaster County Mennonites—accurate, lucid, candid, engaging. It examines the conference’s history in light of many motives, especially Jesus’ housekeeping counsel for conflict resolution in Matthew 18." —Frederick S. Weiser, Lutheran Pastor, New Oxford, Pennsylvania
"Ruth, one of the premier Mennonite storytellers, presents a feast of stories, with historical explanation and analysis. Especially enriched at this table will be members of Lancaster Conference and those with roots there, but also folk of other backgrounds who want to learn what gives the Pennsylvania Mennonite heartland its rich and distinctive character. —James C. Juhnke, Bethel College
"An amazing accomplishment, narrating many stories of people, place, and faith in the life of Lancaster Mennonites. Ruth introduces adventurous immigrants, zealous missionaries, pious plain-dressers, rebellious nonconformists, visionary church leaders, and ordinary church folk. He gives attention to stories of aboriginal displacement when Mennonites first settled in Pennsylvania and beyond." —Marlene Epp, Editor, Conrad Grebel Review