March 8, 2010 issue
Southeast heritage group honors, hears historians
By Anabaptist Heritage AssociationSARASOTA, Fla. — Nearly 300 people gathered for the sixth annual banquet of the Anabaptist Heritage Association Feb. 5 honoring Martin Lehman.
Lehman
The AHA sponsored Lehman in completing his two-volume book, Roots & Branches: A Narrative History of the Amish and Mennonites in the Southeast United States, 1892-1992. Volume 2, Branches, is expected in 2011.
The first copies of the first volume, Roots, were available at the banquet for signing.
Jan Gleysteen, author, historian and artist, was guest speaker. As AHA explores a vision of building a heritage center in Sarasota, Gleysteen presented several possibilities for how a facility can present Anabaptist history, storing artifacts and explaining customs.
His slide presentation showed several such facilities: The Meetingplace in St. Jacobs, Ont.; the Kauffman Museum in North Newton, Kan.; Menno-Hof in Shipshewana, Ind.; and The Mennonite Heritage Center in Harleysville, Pa. Each goes beyond being a museum.
Gleysteen is passionate about history as mission, because sharing our story becomes an invitation to discipleship, he said. He believes the public needs to know more about Mennonites than our baking abilities and distinctive clothing.
Core values such as practicing everyday Christianity, peace, justice, compassion and non-resistance are the real message, he said.
A facility that houses people willing and able to share these beliefs and presents them in an appealing way can introduce people to Christ.
A choir formed of some of the best singers from eight Mennonite churches in Sarasota provided music at the meeting. They sang a cappella from the Harmonia Sacra, a shape-note songbook.
The attendees included people from many northern states as well as many churches in Sarasota, including Old Order Amish.
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