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| Opening of the German-English Academy, July 5, 1910 |
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| Mennonite Heritage Museum today, 2014. |
It's called the Mennonite Heritage
Museum, and my job this weekend
is to host visitors, guide them through the contents and collect
their two dollars admission. Yesterday, it was mostly soccer kids and
parents putting in time between games. None asked me, “Why
Mennonite?” or “What's a Mennonite, anyway?” By and large,
they looked at the old stuff, reminisced about how they remembered an
item from their own past and, if they were kids, “played” the
1911 pump organ, marveled at the foxtrot being played on the Edison
gramophone or whacked every key on the ancient typewriters and adding
machines.
We're
embarking on a refreshing of the MHM to include an interpretive
centre, a place to learn about that collection of impulses that
drives the Anabaptist view of the world we live in. To do this well
some history will be necessary, some theology, some sociology, even some
anthropology. We're still looking for people to tap into the
project, to contribute what they know and can do for it. It's going
to be challenging . . . and fun.
But
why bother? The world has turned down another pathway, you might
justifiably say.
But
let's think about this: significant aspects of Anabaptist faith
through the centuries have included advocacy for peace and justice
alongside a commitment to service—discipleship, if you will. Peace
and justice require a dedication to community and in a disintegrating
environment, culturally, socially and internationally, can there ever
have been a time more needy of the witness of Anabaptist convictions?
I've
experienced too many conversations with people who don't know who
their grandmothers were, who don't know where their ancestors—even
the most recent ones—came from or what they believed in. Without
turning maudlin on the genealogical front, I submit that most of us would
agree that a satisfying, rewarding life includes a grounding in the
essentials of one's past, a community that is peaceful and
cooperative, and the companionship of a faith and practicum that
aspires to a better world.
An
Interpretive Centre well planned and executed can model these things
and help people in the quest to round out their lives with essentials elusive in a disintegrating age.
Experiences
in the Mennonite Heritage Museum and elsewhere over the past few years have taught
me that there's an appetite out there, a hunger for more of exactly
what faithful and active Anabaptism has to offer. We ought not hide
the light we've been given under a bushel.
If
you agree, click here (g.epp@accesscomm.ca)
and say so . . . please. I'd love to hear from you.