Schweitzers & Friends — 150 years Celebration at Eden Mennonite Church, Moundridge, KS
Friday, August 23 Seminars 7:00 p.m.
Keynote Address—Dr. Wynn Goering
“The Use of Memory”
Wynn Goering, Albuquerque, New Mexico, earned masters and doctoral degrees at the University of Chicago. Wynn farmed with his father, taught English at Chicago, McPherson, and Bethel, before becoming Bethel’s academic dean in 1991. He currently serves as chair of Bethel College’s Board of Directors.
“Singing 150 Years of Schweitzer Mennonite Heritage” —Dr. Austin McCabe Juhnke and Dr. William Eash
This participatory musical event will highlight the ways song has shaped our senses of heritage and belonging in an American context. Austin McCabe Juhnke (Assistant Professor of Musicology, Ohio State University) will lead attendees through a music-historical journey centering on Schweitzers’ American heritage as experienced in song. Those in attendance will be invited to join in singing selected hymns, led by William Eash (Professor Emeritus of Music, Bethel College).
A graduate of Bluffton (Ohio) University, Dr. Eash studied at the Hochschule fur Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria. He taught 23 years at Bethel College. His interest in hymnology has led him to conduct hymn sings and hymn leading workshops in other states.
Saturday, August 24 Seminars 9:00-10:00, 10:30-11:30, 1:30-2:30
9:00-10:00 Anabaptist Beginnings: Committed to Following Jesus—We must never forget that without the 16th century Anabaptists there would be no Swiss Volhynian Mennonites. This seminar will focus on the Swiss Anabaptist leaders, their beliefs, their actions, and their persecution. –Dale Schrag
10:30-11:30—The European Experience: United or Divided? This seminar will focus less on specifics and more on broad themes. It will be highly interpretive and will solicit audience response and participation. —Dale Schrag
1:30-2:30 Fractured Community in America. This seminar will examine and interpret what may well have been the single most defining event in the Swiss Volhynian community in Kansas, the Hopefield/Eden split. Were the seeds of division sown in Europe or in America or both? – Dale Schrag
9:00-10:00—Travels to Ancestral Lands—Panelists will share their experiences traveling to places where our ancestors lived—maps and photos in Switzerland, Palatinate along the Rhine River, Montbeliard, Poland, Ukraine. Patricia Goering Smith and panel
9:00-10:00—_The Land We Came To. What could we learn if we studied the land and the peoples on the land we came TO? How were Indigenous homelands stewarded for centuries before our people’s arrival? What might their land management teach us about their values and lifestyles that might be useful to us today? – Rayleen Hinz-Penner
10:30-11:30 From Anabaptist to Alleles: Tracing Mennonite Genetic Heritage. Unlock the remarkable tapestry of your Mennonite ancestry! This presentation takes you on a journey, utilizing genetic research to trace your family’s lineage and uncover the unique genetic threads with an emphasis on benign and malignant conditions that have shaped the Mennonite heritage over generations. —Jeremy Schrag
10:30-11:30 Schweitzer influence on the World. A look at the many ways Schweitzers have influenced organizations, communities, and people. There will be stories describing how people can affect change in Denominational missions/ministries, Education, Health care and the US Military. —Jeff Koller
1:30-2:30 The Lone Tree Story—A legacy of faith through disappointment, despair, disease, death, and determination. —Shawn Giesel
1:30-2:30 Looking to the Future. Perspectives shared by those who like to look ahead, young people, and Bethel College students and you. — Josue Coy Dick, Peter Buller, Kaytlen Keough
