Building
Communities of Compassion
Mennonite Mutual
Aid in Theory and Practice
Willard Swartley and Donald B. Kraybill, Editors
Comment: “Here are fascinating stories about mutual aid practices among early Anabaptists. Equally interesting are critiques of current forms of mutual aid promoted by Mennonite Mutual Aid, Inc. Mennonites and other Christians who value the Christian teaching on sharing material resources will welcome publication of these essays. . . .” —Beryl H. Brubaker, D.S.N., Vice President for Enrollment Management, Eastern Mennonite University
“It is heartening to see mutual aid revived and expanded as a virtue to be honored and promoted in our individual and collective lives.” —J. Winfield Fretz, in the Foreword
“I believe this gathering surprised us all when it ended with a high-energy grand finale—a new communal understanding of mutual aid.” —Howard L. Brenneman, in the Epilogue, commenting on the conference presentations leading to this book
Summary: This pathbreaking volume offers the first sustained and scholarly assessment of the history, theology, and practice of Mennonite mutual aid.
Long noted for their peacemaking, Mennonites have been less known for those efforts to care for each other whose twentieth-century expressions have roots in the Anabaptism of the 1500s. Here Mennonite scholars from a variety of disciplines highlight this Mennonite distinctive.
At times informally, now often more formally, Mennonite communities have sought and found ways to express mutual compassion in times of need. Carefully and sometimes colorfully, thirteen authors tell the intriguing story of the rise and transformation of Mennonite aid.
Includes notes and hundreds of bibliographic references, including a special select bibliography of mutual aid.
Audience: Anyone interested in Mennonite mutual aid; church leaders; health care workers; students; scholars.
The Editors: Willard M. Swartley is dean and professor of New Testament at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Ind. Among his many writings is Slavery, Sabbath, War, and Women. Donald B. Kraybill is provost of Messiah College, Grantham, Pa. Trained in sociology, his numerous books include Mennonite Peacemaking and The Upside-Down Kingdom.
Classification: History, theology, sociology—of Mennonite mutual aid; Mennonites; Anabaptism
To
Herald Press web page for Building
Communities
Publisher: Herald Press (A Pandora Press U.S. Book)
Pages: 320
Price: $14.99 (U.S.); 21.50 (Can.)
Format: 5 15/16 x 9 trade paper
ISBN: 0-8361-9094-7
LOC: 98-16375
