Professors Visit China to Research Brethren Mission in Shanxi Province

FALL 2016

Professors visit China to research Brethren mission in Shanxi Province Two Elizabethtown College professors es- Bach and Kenley want to tell the story of caped Pennsylvania last winter for an exotic the interaction of the Brethren and the peo- spring break destination, but it was not a ple of Shanxi and interpret the work of the tropical sandy beach. Jeff Bach, director of Brethren in the context of the many struggles the Young Center, and David Kenley, profes- China experienced in the first half of the sor of Asian history, traveled to Shanxi Prov- twentieth century. On this trip the professors ince in China to conduct research for a book discovered that although the Brethren con- project about the Brethren mission in China. gregations formally ended after the Commu- A Brethren couple living near the city of nist Revolution, the areas where the Chinese Pingding, Eric Miller and Ruoxia Li, helped Brethren established congregations proved Bach and Kenley by arranging excursions in many cases to be fertile ground for more and meetings with people who provided recent Christian activity to emerge. helpful information. “We were treated royal- The trip began in Taiyuan, the provincial ly by many Chinese people who helped us to capital of Shanxi. Miller introduced Bach experience some of life in Shanxi today and and Kenley to Professor Anrong Liu, who to learn about Shanxi’s past,” noted Bach. teaches history at a college in Taiyuan and Five members of the Church of the studies Christian activity in Shanxi. She has Brethren traveled to China in 1908 to start a special interest in the Brethren missionar- mission work. They were Frank and Anna ies. Together, this small group visited two Crumpacker, George and Blanche Hilton, former homes of E. L. Ikenberry and Minor and Emma Horning. After two years they Meyers, Brethren missionaries in Taiyuan. decided to locate in the interior province The group traveled on to Shouyang, one David Kenley, Guimei Liang, and Jeff Bach meet at Liang’s home near Shouyang. Liang, of Shanxi and settled in Pingding. Famine of the Brethren mission stations and the age 94, is the last living member of the in 1918-1919, an outbreak of pneumonic childhood home of Ruoxia Li, Miller’s wife. Brethren congregation at Shouyang, where plague in 1919-1920, and regional military Pastor Yin, who serves a small Christian she also attended the girls’ school. conflicts made humanitarian service an im- congregation in Shouyang, gave the visitors portant priority for the missionaries in ad- a tour through the old mission house and the dition to their evangelism and educational newer church building adjacent to it. He also small Brethren hospital in Shouyang until the work. During the main years of missionary showed them a church manual written in Japanese invasion of China. Liang reported activity, from 1910 to about 1948, the church Chinese that the Brethren created, as well as that she reads her Bible and prays every day. in China grew and developed indigenous a scrapbook of photos from the mission era. Meeting Liang was one of the highlights of leadership as well as trained Chinese teach- Just outside the city of Shouyang, the the trip for Bach. ers, nurses, and doctors. The peace teach- group stopped at the home of Yin’s aunt, For the next several days, Kenley and ings of the Brethren were severely tested by Guimei Liang. At age 94, she is the last Bach stayed near Pingding, where the Breth- armed conflict between provincial leaders in living Brethren member of the Shouyang ren mission started. The two professors at- the 1920s, the Japanese occupation during congregation. She remembered her teacher, tended worship in a Christian congregation the 1930s, and the revolution in the 1940s, Minerva Metzger, when she attended the there. Although the church is not directly when missionary staff were finally evacu- Brethren girls’ school. She recalled the day connected to the Brethren congregation of ated. The last Brethren missionary returned of her baptism at age 18 in a stream near her the past, the congregants consider the Breth- to the United States in 1953. home. Later she worked as a nurse in the (continued on page 2)

1 From the Bach and Kenley’s visit to China (continued from page 1) Director ren their spiritual forerunners. After a walk- in the museum. After Matian, the travelers ing tour of the old section of Pingding in the ate supper in the nearby town of Zouquan, Lars Levi Laestadius is probably an morning, they toured the You Ai Hospital, another Brethren mission station (formerly unfamiliar name to most of us. We where Eric Miller works. It is a newer, pri- known as Liao Chou). The restaurant was may even wonder how to say it. When vate hospital offering care for people who in the church building that the Brethren had Dr. Aini Linjakumpu applied to be cannot obtain it elsewhere. In the evening built. It is the only Brethren church building our Snowden Fellow, my knowledge Kenley and Bach were treated to a walk to that is still standing. Thirteen Chinese Breth- about the Laestadians expanded as I see colorful lanterns, a part of Pingding’s ren were killed in Zouquan (Liao Chou) by read about this Pietistic group from Lantern Festival marking the end of the lunar Japanese occupying forces in 1940. Finland. Their views on temperance, ecstatic experience, and confession of new year celebrations. The second excursion into southern sins are intriguing. I plan to learn a lot Later in the week, the professors visited Shanxi included places where missionary more about Laestadius and his group the hospital that stands on the site of the old Frank Crumpacker stayed and preached. this fall. I hope that you will join me. Brethren hospital. They met hospital adminis- Thanks to Professor Wang’s help, Bach and trators and viewed an exhibit about the hospi- Kenley met people whose relatives had host- Shanxi Province in China is a place I tal’s history, which features a bust of Dr. Daryl ed Crumpacker and saw some old, traditional had read about related to Brethren missionaries. However, my knowledge Parker, one of the Brethren physicians. homes where he stayed. Bach was surprised expanded exponentially during my trip Miller also arranged two excursions to that some memories of his work still survive there last March with David Kenley rural areas of southern Shanxi Province. after seventy years. from the history department. Meeting Bach had asked to see some of the villages Professor Wang also helped the research- people who told me about Shanxi mentioned in Crumpacker’s journals as ers find the site of Frank and Anna Crump- and seeing towns and cities created preaching points for the Brethren. A retired acker’s home in Pingding. Along the way, completely new perspectives for me. professor of education from the area, Profes- they met two elderly men who had attended The Young Center’s mission is sor Wang, led the two trips. the Brethren boys’ school. One of them re- to expand understanding about The first outing included a tour - ofMa membered Frank Crumpacker as a large Pietist and Anabaptist groups. The tian, the headquarters of the 8th Route Army, man. recent Amish conference increased the leading force in the Chinese Communist Other highlights of the trip were not con- knowledge about the Amish and Revolution. The group also visited a museum nected directly to research about the Breth- technology, health care, and other commemorating the army. Several photos ren. One morning Professor Wang arranged topics. Our Kreider Fellow and researchers over the spring and taken by Howard Sollenberger, son of one for a visit to part of the Great Wall that bor- summer have brought new questions of the Brethren missionaries, were featured ders Shanxi Province. On another morning and new insights even as they enlarge he took the two Americans to a teachers’ col- the understandings of their topics. lege in Pingding to meet students preparing Next spring, the Young Center building to teach English. They demonstrated their itself will expand when construction of English skills and asked many questions the new addition begins. The building about American popular culture. At the end will increase in order to serve our of their trip, Kenley and Bach spent a day mission of increasing understanding of Pietist and Anabaptist groups. in Pingyao, a UNESCO world heritage site renowned for its intact city wall and many Sometimes knowledge grows by historic buildings. learning more about topics that The professors were overwhelmed by the are already familiar. Sometimes generosity of their Chinese hosts, who were understanding increases by encountering people, places, or eager to share broader history of Shanxi and subjects that are totally new. At the to learn about the Brethren. Kenley noted Young Center, we embrace both ways how much the Brethren had to depend on of expanding knowledge. help from their Chinese associates, who provided much of the work in establishing Come and join us for our programs Brethren congregations in China. Bach was this fall to learn more about the Laestadians, Brethren in Shanxi, and surprised that some memories of the Breth- perspectives on 9/11. Drop in on our ren remain, and that generally they are posi- Heritage Festival. Whether a topic is tive. The researchers returned from spring new or old at a Young Center event, break with many new friendships and a deep we can all increase in understanding. appreciation for their hosts. See you soon! Although not directly connected to the Bach and Kenley will give an illustrated Jeff Bach Brethren, this church in Pingding, which presentation about their trip on Tuesday, Sep- Director Kenley and Bach visited, sees itself as the tember 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Young Center’s spiritual successor to the Brethren work. Bucher Meetinghouse.

2 Conference receives positive response More than 200 attendees brought lively en- ergy and deep interest to the Young Center’s international conference “Continuity and Change: 50 Years of Amish Society” on June 9-11, 2016. Participants noted the value of hearing about the work of other researchers and practitioners, and the opportunity to connect with colleagues and meet new people with similar interests. One unique event was Steve Nolt’s inter- view of Ann Hostetler, daughter of John and Beulah Hostetler. During their conversation, Hostetler reflected on how the experiences of her Amish grandparents led to her father’s interest in studying Amish society.

Additions to archives and special collections CENTER RECEIVES SERMON MATERIALS AND PURCHASES UNIQUE COMMENTARY

This summer Karen Wenger donated about fornia, Florida, and Pennsylvania, includ- papers of Heisey’s that were donated earlier a dozen sermon outlines and notes by her ing Harrisburg First (1940-1944). He also to the Young Center and are stored at the grandfather, Herman B. Heisey (1890-1981), worked in Vada, India, from 1912 to 1914. Hess Archives and Special Collections. a Brethren minister and missionary in India. Heisey’s sermon notes are based on a va- The Young Center purchased a unique Heisey was born near Middletown, Pennsyl- riety of biblical texts and appear to date to the commentary on the Song on Songs, Hohe vania, but grew up in Lebanon County. He 1940s. Included is a recording of a sermon he geistreiche Lehren und Erklärungen: Über attended Juniata College and was among the preached at the Brethren Village retirement die fürnembsten Sprüche dess Hohen Lieds first paid ministers in the Church of the Breth- community in 1970 when he was 80 years Salomonis (“High Spiritual Teachings and ren. Heisey served congregations in Cali- old. These materials will be added to other Explanations concerning the Foremost Say- ings of the Song of Solomon”). The book was written by Daniel Suderman, a Lutheran man who came under the influence of the writings of Caspar Schwenkfeld in Stras- bourg. The text was written in German but is based on Jerome’s Latin translation. Published in 1622 in Frankfurt, Germany, the book features several engravings by Ja- cob van der Heyden, a prominent Flemish engraver, illustrating scenes from the biblical text. The commentary is allegorical and includes Suderman’s comments, quotations from various medieval Christian writers, and comments from unnamed sources. It is a unique example of a biblical commentary that blends a variety of sources, some of which may not have been fully acceptable to orthodox Protestant theologians in the seven- teenth century. The illustration pictured here is for Song of Songs 2:1 with a caption read- ing, “I am flower of the field and a rose in the valley.” This book will also be stored in the Hess Archives and Special Collections.

3 Aini Linjakumpu named Snowden Fellow Aini Linjakumpu, a university lecturer in terests are related to communities, violence, “Working at the Young Center will provide politics at the University of Lapland in network politics, and the politics of emotion. expertise and knowledge that is unavailable Rovaniemi and an adjunct professor at the She has completed three monographs on po- in Finland,” Linjakumpu says, “especially in University of Tampere, Finland, has been litical dimensions of Islam and two related terms of understanding the Pietist religious named the Young Center’s 2016 Snowden to Conservative Laestadianism. She has also tradition. Equally important are the expertise Fellow. Linjakumpu graduated from the Uni- edited five books and published more than and resources related to Amish communities versity of Tampere with an M.A. in political 30 articles and book chapters nationally and as well as the proximity to Amish settlements science, completed her licentiate degree in internationally. in Lancaster County. Thirdly, the interest political science at the University of Tam- During her semester as the Snowden Fel- among the Center’s scholars in economic pere, and received her Ph.D. in international low, Linjakumpu will be working on two dimensions of religious communities, espe- relations at the University of Lapland. projects: one on the economic dimensions cially in the context of Amish people, will be For more than 15 years, Linjakumpu’s of Conservative Laestadianism, especially highly meaningful for my research interests.” main research has focused on the political di- from the point of view of entrepreneurship, The Snowden fellowship and lecture are mensions of religions, especially in the con- and the other on the meanings of work in named for Armon and Lucille Snowden, text of Islam and currently also in the context Christian religious communities. For the lat- whose generous gift endowed them. The of the largest revival movement in Scandi- ter, she is studying Amish communities and Young Center invites nominations and appli- navia—Conservative Laestadianism, a Lu- Jehovah’s Witnesses in addition to Conser- cations for its fellows programs. Visit www. theran revival movement. Her research in- vative Laestadians. etown.edu/youngctr for more information.

Summer visitors to the Young Center The Young Center hosted several groups and vice and a walk through the church cemetery, made a trip to Pennsylvania. individuals this summer. On May 25 a group Pastor Richard Kyerematen discussed the During July and August, Galen Fitzkee, of visiting scholars—Markus Rosskopf, congregation’s ministry and outreach into a senior at Manheim Central High School, Claire Mensack, and Dan Sheng—traveled the neighborhood. He challenged the youth volunteered at the Young Center as part to the Amish community around Belleville, to consider how they might act on their faith of the social studies club at the school. He Pennsylvania. Guided by Hedda Durnbaugh in urban settings. helped Young Center staff by recording re- and Elaine Mercer, the tour included visits In July a group from EYN (the Church of search statistics for a project related to the with an Amish Mennonite builder, a Nebras- the Brethren in Nigeria), including the new Ephrata Martyrs Mirror printed in 1748. He ka Amish farm family, and Amish vendors at president of the church, visited the Young also helped with inventories and packing the sale barn in Belleville. Center. They were in the United States to Young Center materials for storage this win- In late June, 16 junior high youth and attend the Brethren Annual Conference and ter. Thanks to Galen for his volunteer work! eight adult leaders from across the Church of the Brethren attended “IMMERSE,” a special event sponsored by Bethany Theological Seminary intended to immerse the students in learning about Brethren of the past, pres- ent, and future. On June 23, Young Center director Jeff Bach talked with the group about Anabap- tism and Pietism during a tour of Amish areas in Lancaster County. After lunch in an Amish home, they visited Kreider’s Meet- inghouse near Manheim, a historic Brethren meetinghouse that is now part of the White Oak Church of the Brethren. Jim Meyer, a minister from White Oak, described the history of the building and what worship and love feasts were like in that space. On Sunday, June 26, Bach led the group on a trip to Germantown, where they visited the site of the first Brethren baptisms in America in 1723 in the Wissahickon Creek. Markus Rosskopf, an environmental engineering student from Germany; Esther Spicher, an They also attended worship at the German- Amish Mennonite woman who lives near Belleville; Claire Mensack, the Young Center’s 2016 town Church of the Brethren. After the ser- Kreider Fellow; and Dan Sheng, a visiting scholar from China

4 UPCOMING EVENTS

PANEL DISCUSSION LECTURE Remembering 9/11: Flight 93 Mennonite Elites in the Frisian Southwest, Thursday, September 8, 7:00 p.m. 1580–1850 Bucher Meetinghouse, Young Center COR TROMPETTER Thursday, October 20, 7:30 p.m. Panelists will reflect on the significance of 9/11, the crash of Flight Bucher Meetinghouse, Young Center 93 near Shanksville, Pa., and the current political climate. Panelists include Mal Fuller, air traffic controller at Pittsburgh Airport that Almost from the very start of the Mennonite movement, some day; Tim Lambert, director of multimedia news at WITF and owner members of the Mennonite community in the southwestern part of of the land on which Flight 93 crashed; and Oya Ozkanca, associate Friesland were part of the economic elite. This lecture will show professor of political science at Elizabethtown College. Jeff Bach, how, little by little, this economic elite became part of the societal director of the Young Center, and David Kenley, director of the elite and that, at the end of this process in the early nineteenth cen- Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking, will moderate tury, the Mennonite and Dutch Reformed elite had almost merged. the discussion. (The Young Center and the Center for Global Cor Trompetter studied philosophy and history at Groningen Understanding and Peacemaking are cosponsoring this event.) University and received his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas, where his supervisor was Gail Bossenga. Trompetter’s dissertation was published in 1997 as Agriculture, Proto-Industry and Menno- LECTURE nite Entrepreneurship. He has written a number of books on social China Friends: New Discoveries for and economic history. This fall his latest book, An Introduction to the Church of the Brethren the History of Mennonites in Friesland until 1850, will be pub- JEFF BACH & DAVID KENLEY lished. Currently, Trompetter is Wethouder and deputy mayor of the Tuesday, September 20, 7:30 p.m. county of Weststellingwerf in Friesland. Bucher Meetinghouse, Young Center

Jeff Bach, director of the Young Center and as- SNOWDEN LECTURE sociate professor of religious studies, and Da- The Entrepreneurship among vid Kenley, director of the Center for Global Understanding and the Conservative Laestadian Peacemaking and professor of history, discuss their March 2016 Movement research trip to Shanxi Province in China to trace the activities AINI LINJAKUMPU of Brethren missionaries. The two will recount their visits to cit- Thursday, November 3, 7:30 p.m. ies where the Brethren had mission stations (Pingding, Shouyang, Bucher Meetinghouse, Young Center Zouquan, and Taiyuan). They will also describe outings to rural villages where Brethren missionaries preached. The presentation Conservative Laestadianism is a Lutheran re- will include photos from the trip as well as a few historic images. vival movement that emerged in the nineteenth century, inspired by The speakers will also share impressions of Shanxi today as people German pietism. Located mainly in Finland, it is the largest revival there face economic challenges while dealing with urban growth. movement in Scandinavia and has some 100,000-120,000 adher- (The Young Center and the Center for Global Understanding and ents worldwide, with members in 17 countries, including the United Peacemaking are cosponsoring this event.) States and some African states. Claiming to be the only true Chris- tians, the Kingdom of God on earth, the group belongs to the Finn- ish Evangelical-Lutheran Church, and has a strong social, political, HERITAGE FESTIVAL and economic position in Finnish society. Conservative Laestadians Saturday, October 15, 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. form a strongly normative community, maintaining strict guidelines Young Center for religious issues and for daily life as well. This normative focus and an elitist self-understanding of religious communality has During Homecoming the Young Center will host a family-friendly caused much dispersion within the movement and various external heritage festival to celebrate the college’s connection to the Church struggles in Finnish society at large. of the Brethren and the Anabaptist and Pietist movements. Children In her talk, Snowden Fellow Aini Linjakumpu, a lecturer in poli- can enjoy crafts and games, art projects, old-fashioned bubbles, and tics at the University of Lapland and adjunct professor at the Uni- hands-on experiences like making cornhusk dolls. Special features versity of Tampere, will focus on entrepreneurial activities among include a quilting bee and a capella singing. Homemade treats such Conservative Laestadians. Such activities are fairly common within as ice cream churned by a bicycle, apple butter on fresh bread, and the movement, and the entrepreneurial networks among the mem- popcorn from the historic Reist popcorn wagon will be available. bers are dense.

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Addition to the Young Center now FALL 2016 slated to begin in early March 2017 Construction of the addition to the Young help researchers and the general public while Center and the temporary relocation of the the construction is underway. Young Center DIRECTOR staff have been rescheduled. The work will events will be slightly reduced in the spring Jeff Bach, Ph.D. begin in March 2017 and is expected to last and fall of 2017. The Dale Brown Book SENIOR SCHOLAR into early 2018. The Young Center will not Award lecture for 2016 will take place in the Steve Nolt, Ph.D. be available for tours or events from late De- spring of 2017. SENIOR FELLOW EMERITUS cember 2016 until construction is completed. We are excited about increased possibili- Donald Kraybill, Ph.D. People who would like to see or make use ties for Young Center programming with the RESEARCH STAFF of the Young Center’s special collections building expansion. The new interpretive Edsel Burdge Jr. Cynthia Nolt should call Rachel Grove Rohrbaugh, col- gallery will create space where we can use lege archivist, at Hess Archives and Special images and media to tell visitors the stories ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Hillary Daecher Collections, 717-361-1506, or the Young of Anabaptist and Pietist groups. New office Center’s main phone line, 717-361-1470. and work space will give more room to carry Young Center News is published twice each During the construction, the Young Cen- out our projects. We are thankful for our sup- year for those interested in the work and events of the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist ter staff will be relocated to 905 College porters and appreciate your patience with the Studies. For e-mail notification and a link to Avenue (directly across from Lake Placida). temporary inconveniences as the construc- each new issue of Young Center News, send an The staff will vacate the Young Center build- tion of the addition moves forward. e-mail message to [email protected]. ing during the college’s winter break in late Please direct comments and suggestions to: December and be in the temporary location Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies when the college reopens on January 2, 2017. Elizabethtown College All of the phone lines will remain the same One Alpha Drive Elizabethtown, PA 17022-2298 and be in operation. The staff will be able to Phone: 717-361-1470 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.etown.edu/youngctr 6