Catalog Home | Newly Printed | Excerpts Bibles | Doctrine | Education Family & Marriage | History | Issues | Moody Press Stories: Children | Stories: Youth/Adult | Studies Various | Victorious Living | Women | Youth Music | Spanish

An Introduction to Old Order and   Conservative Mennonite Groups		Stephen Scott
$9.00	With many anecdotes and lots of photographs, this book examines and explains the fascinating history of these two growing groups of Mennonite peoples. Many books have been written about the Old Order Amish, but very few about the Old Order and Conservative Mennonites. This book tells a story which until now has not been available in such an interesting and comprehensive form. In general these Christians espouse strong faith and family life and believe that how they live should distinguish them from the larger society around them. An inside account of these people and their lives. An enjoyable, educational, inspiring book. People's Place Book #12 251 pages. Paperback. Good Books. The name Mennonite often evokes an image of somberly dressed rural folks who travel about with horses and buggies and refuse to take part in the military. In reality most Mennonites dress in fashionable clothing, drive modern cars, and live very much like their neighbors in urban and suburban North America. However, many of these modern Mennonites still practice non-resistance or pacifism, refusing to participate in any form of violence. These folks sometimes do not appreciate the austere perception many people have of them. They are occasionally quick to explain that it is the Amish who actually live the kind of separated life frequently associated with the Mennonites. However, there are also thousands of Mennonites who have no Amish connections who dress in a distinctive garb, drive horse drawn vehicles, and live separately from the mainstream of secular and religious society. These are the Old Order Mennonites. Many thousand additional Mennonites have been more open to modern technology and church programs but like the Old Order Mennonites have been quite firm in preserving a separated life-style, including modest, plain dress. These are the conservative Mennonites. This book tells a story which until now has not been available in such an interesting and comprehensive form. What holds these people together? Why are they growing in number? Where do they live? The Old Order Mennonites are less well known than the Amish, but are similar in many beliefs and practices. Some Old Order Mennonites drive horses and buggies. Others use cars for transportation. Conservative Mennonite groups vary a great deal, but in general espouse strong faith and family life and believe that how they live should distinguish them from the larger society around them. The author details courtship and wedding practices, methods of worship, dress, transportation, and vocation. Never before has there been such an inside account of these people and their lives. The author spent years conferring and interviewing members of the various groups, trying to portray their history and their story in a fair and accurate manner. "Never before has there been such an inside account of these people and their lives. Stephen Scott spent years conferring and interviewing members of the various groups and has succeeded brilliantly in portraying their history and their story in a fair, comprehensive, and accurate manner." -- The Midwest Book Review "Conservative and Old Order audiences will presumably greet this book as a straightforward historical portrait, and that it is. Readers from the mainstream Mennonite groups may additionally find that it contains revelation and challenge.       "To the reader outside the Old Order or Conservative family, the book's information is revelatory because we know so little about these groups." -- Mennonite Weekly Review "The descendants of the Anabaptists who have received the least attention by scholars are the Old Order Mennonites. This book provides a helpful introduction to the history, doctrines, organization, and material culture of the Old Order groups -- the Reformed Mennonites and their conservative Mennonite cousins in the United States and Canada that have emerged since the late nineteenth century. Stephen Scott provides a great deal of descriptive material about a wide variety of subjects, including modes of dress, transportation, content of worship services, weddings, funerals, family life, and the issues that have been divisive among the Old Order and conservatives." -- Mennonite Quarterly Review "While it is very readable, attractively arranged, and loaded with photographs, it is also carefully written, well-documented and quite informative. Moreover, the book includes historical and sociological data about many conservative splinter groups which are simply not yet available anywhere else. I am especially impressed that Scott has included information on the numerous conservative congregations that are unaffiliated with any larger fellowship and whose histories and practices are normally forgotten in any systematic accounting of Mennonite life." -- Journal of Mennonite Studies

[an error occurred while processing this directive]