Mennonite
October 22, 2013
Theologian’s past affects victims and GC classes
The works of late renowned theologian and ethicist John Howard Yoder have been deemed transformative for Mennonite theology. Yet as more women who have been victimized by his sexual impropriety have come forward, the Mennonite church questions how to make amends while educators reconsider the approach to Yoder's work. "There are women that have been carrying this for years that haven't felt heard," says Regina Shands Stoltzfus, Goshen College professor of Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies. Stoltzfus also serves on the Discernment Committee established by Mennonite Church USA. Allegations against Yoder caused him to abandon his position at the Anabaptist...
October 6, 2013
Steve Thomas for the defense
Steve Thomas, a Mennonite pastor with a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, wants to know what you would do if someone attacked your roommate. Would you run away? Would you pray for the attacker? Or would you hit the attacker with everything you’ve got? Thomas will offer an alternative response during several presentations on campus the week of October 7. During Sexual Violence Awareness Week, Thomas will address the issue of violence in a unique way. Using convocation on Monday, he will frame the issue of personal violence and present his combination of martial arts and conflict transformation. On...
September 25, 2013
‘Gadfly’ play brings back GC history
“The Menno-Pause is a Gadfly (poking and prodding the GC sacred cows), a watchdog (checking and analyzing disciplinary action), a critic (positive or negative analysis of GC education), an extended student opinion board—and general all-around crap.” –Issue 1 of Menno-Pause Sam Steiner was suspended from Goshen College twice. The first time was for not handing in his chapel cards to confirm his attendance and then a year later he was suspended again, exiled this time along with three other students for the creation of an underground newspaper. While this could easily be a front-page Record story of a current GC...
March 7, 2013
Roth speaks on twenty-first century martyrs
John D. Roth, professor of history, introduced a new project that he will be undertaking, “The Global Anabaptist Profile and Suffering Church Project," at the 2013 C. Henry Smith Peace Lecture on Tuesday night. The peace lecture is an annual event delivered at Goshen College by a faculty member from a Mennonite college or university. Roth’s lecture was titled “’Bearing Witness’ As Peacemaking: A New Martyrs Mirror for the Twenty-First Century?” The lecture focused on introducing a new project that Roth will soon be starting, which will consist of collecting stories of adversity and suffering from members of the Anabaptist church...
February 21, 2013
Radical Journey takes students to Africa
Joanna Epp, a first-year environmental science major from Newton, Kan., and Hannah Sauder, a first-year art and education major from Lititz, Pa., took a gap year after they graduated from high school to serve in South Africa as volunteers with Radical Journey, a program under Mennonite Mission Network. In 2011, the volunteers of Radical Journey had a choice to serve in different countries around the world, including England, China, Paraguay and South Africa. Epp and Sauder were among a group of 14 young adults who signed up to take part in the program. They were both motivated by a strong desire to...
November 15, 2012
Goshen students win bi-national business competition
Two weekends ago, eight Goshen College students traveled to Canada for a business convention organized by the Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). A team of three of these Goshen students—Hans Weaver, Kristina Lopienski and Clayton Miller, all seniors —won a case competition between students from Mennonite colleges and universities in North America. The challenge of the competition was to create a business plan for Winterfeld Greenbau Construction Co. in Waterloo, Ontario. Winterfeld is a local business that provides construction and renovations towards more sustainable and energy efficient buildings. Seven student groups presented business models for the company in front of...
November 1, 2012
Students travel to Big Apple for UN seminar
Every year, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) office of The United Nations conducts a seminar for students from Christian colleges in the United States and Canada. The title of the seminar this year was “Where do we go from here: Internally Displaced Persons, Refugees and Migrants.” On Oct. 25-27, six Goshen College students travelled to New York for the seminar, including Mohammad Rasoulipour, art and Bible and religion double major; Thy Phan, business major; Matthew Amstutz, history and journalism double major; Laurel Woodward, art major; Samita Thapa, history major; and Elizabeth Steel, PJCS major. According to the participants, most of the...
March 21, 2012
“Quilts from the permanent exhibit”
“Quilts from the Permanent Collection” Location: Good Library basement gallery Open: May 25 to July 6, 2012 Opening Reception Sunday, March 25, 3-5 p.m. Sponsored by the Mennonite-Amish Museum Committee “Since my my first year of college, I have been interested in working with Mennonite Historical Library’s exhibits in the library gallery… so I was excited to have the opportunity to curate this year’s quilt exhibit. I have always enjoyed sewing but had never quilted before so I knew that I would learn a lot about quilting while working on the exhibit. Historical dress and costumes have fascinated me since...
February 16, 2012
Treiber wins C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest with Christian critique of Occupy movement
On Tuesday evening, Feb. 14, students, faculty and community members packed into Umble Center to hear five students address various issues related to peace and justice in the C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest. The contest is an annual event sponsored by the GC communication department. Funding comes from the trust of C. Henry Smith, a Mennonite historian and professor at Goshen and Bluffton colleges in the early 1900s. Lauren Treiber, a sophomore peace, justice and conflict studies major from Grand Rapids, Mich., came away as the winner with her speech “The Real Occupy Movement: Understanding Capitalism in a Christian...
January 19, 2012
New minister of worship leads through service and song
With the start of a new semester, Goshen College welcomes a new half-time minister of worship, Gwen Gustafson-Zook. As minister of worship, Gustafson-Zook’s job will involve planning chapels and other worship activities on campus, as well as offering spiritual direction for ministry leaders and pastoral counseling to students. When asked why the job appealed to her, Gustafson-Zook said, “I’ve wanted to do it for a long time.” Prior to taking on the new position, Gustafson-Zook worked as regional associate at MCC Great Lakes for five years,taught Bible at Bethany Christian Middle School for two years,and pastored at Faith Mennonite Church...
January 19, 2012
From Amish baker to Goshen graduate
Only eight years ago, Naomi Kramer was living in an Amish community located in Jamesport, Mo., where she worked in a bakery and did chores at home without the aid of electricity. Today, she drives a 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse and spends more time in science labs than cleaning her house. Kramer is 26 years old and set to graduate next year with a nursing degree from Goshen College. Kramer described her old Amish life as “peaceful” and “slow-paced.” She washed clothes with a gasoline-powered ringer washing machine and, in the absence of television, spent her free time reading the Little...
November 9, 2011
Strengths and concerns regarding the new hiring policy
Goshen College is not the only Mennonite college without a Mennonite faculty ratio requirement. Of the five Mennonite colleges associated with Mennonite Education Agency, Bluffton University, Bethel University and now Goshen College don’t have a limit on the amount of non-Mennonite faculty. The other two colleges, Hesston College and Eastern Mennonite University, specify that 80 percent and 75 percent of their faculties must attend a Mennonite church. Although there were many factors that led to the board’s decision to take away the Mennonite faculty ratio, Jim Brenneman and Anita Stalter said that some key factors for the change were the...
November 2, 2011
Mennonite faculty religious requirement will be dropped
The Goshen College board made a decision to drop the Mennonite religious requirement in the faculty hiring policy. Effective immediately, faculty will be hired based on their adherence to the five core values and, as it was before, that they are Christian. The old policy specified that 80 percent of the faculty at Goshen College had to be Mennonite and all faculty had to be Christian. As part of the interview process, job candidates would answer questions about their lives in relation to the core values, write a faith statement and would need to be a member of a Christian...
October 12, 2011
“Brought Home: Objects and Stories from Mission and Service Workers” on display
There are certainly more than just children’s books and movies tucked away in the Good Library basement. For one more month, the library is featuring the exhibit, “Brought Home: Objects and Stories from Mission and Service Workers,” containing various artifacts that past Mennonite mission workers returned with. Over 50 foreign countries are represented, with stories from at least 75 people. More than a mere collection of souvenirs, the collections and their stories represent what Mennonites have done on service, mission and relief work, often during times of war. Some objects were found, others purchased or made, while still were given...
October 5, 2011
Dutch Koran Donated to Mennonite Historical Library
Thanks to a generous gift, the Mennonite Historical Library added an unusual edition of the Koran to its collection. The edition, the first Dutch translation, was completed by a Mennonite and published in 1658. Timothy and Ruth Stoltzfus Jost, of Harrisonburg, Va., made it possible for MHL to purchase the book from a Dutch bookseller. Aside from the text of the Koran itself, the book “includes a detailed description of Muslim theology…and a fairly lengthy biography of Muhammad,” said Professor John D. Roth, director of the Mennonite Historical Library and head of the history department. In 1657, Mennonite scholar Jan...