Historic Events and Highlights at Nashville 2001

 

Nashville 2001 was full of historic moments. In addition to these moments, numerous events were planned by the Historical Committee— a special dinner, seminars and storytelling sessions.

Historical Committee Dinner
Speakers for the Historical Committee dinner were John A. Lapp and I. P. Asheervadam Lapp is the coordinator of the Global Mennonite History Project (GMHP), and Asheervadam is the writer for the volume on India. Asheervadam is professor of Church History at the Mennonite Brethren Centenary Bible College, Shamshabad, India.

The goal of the project is to publish five volumes, one for each continent. It is hoped that two volumes will be ready for the fourteenth Mennonite World Conference to be held Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in 2003.

Unlike previous histories, this project will focus on the church rather than the missionary experience. The writers will be free to critique earlier histories written by North American and European historians. The GMHP will be based on new research, including oral sources, which in traditional historiography have been undervalued or ignored.

Asheervadam’s goal is to tell the story of India from the point of view of the disenfranchised—the lowest of the cast members. Jaimie Prieto, of San Jose, Costa Rica, also wants to tell the story of the church in Latin America from the point of view of people on the margins—women, children and non-leaders. Prieto, whose volume is one of the first two scheduled for publication has already collected 450 interviews.

Seminars
The Historical Committee sponsored two seminars, 1) “Drinking Anabaptist Tea and Other Tales of Integration,” and 2) “Gathering at the Hearth: Stories That Tell Us Who We Are.”
Both seminars were well attended. The first seminar, the director sketched numerous events that drew the two denominations together, including serving with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), and in Civilian Public Service (CPS), studying at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), and membership in dually-affiliated congregations. The seminar also included reflections of numerous people, who were impacted by experiences that created a readiness to become one new church. In the second seminar Lawrence Hart and John Ruth told stories that were moving and provocative.

Stories on the Schleitheim Stage
The director was scheduled to tell stories, primarily from the book, Gathering at the Hearth, to adults and children.

Reflections on the Journey
After the momentous vote on the “Plan of Merger” (GC—96%, MC—95%) sages John A. Lapp and Robert Kreider reflected on the journey together—both as denominations and as persons. They gave thanks for God’s leading. They gave words of affirmation for what has already happened, and they noted challenges that lie ahead.

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Mennonite Historical Bulletin, July 2001