Mennonites in Texas: The Quiet in the Land

Preface

Our experience among the Mennonites of Lott and Seminole was a wonderful, enlightening opportunity for both of us. We gained an appreciation for and an understanding of a unique and growing culture that many Texans know very little about. We realize that the experiences and images we share in this book are but a glimpse of the Mennonite presence in Texas. There are close to fifty Mennonite congregations around the state, yet we have focused our attention on only two of them.We hope that others will follow in our footsteps and pursue ethnographies, photo essays, and documentaries on Texas Mennonites,securing their place in Texas history and acknowledging their contribution to our state. Before we begin our look at Mennonitism and the communities in Lott and Seminole, a few points of explanation are in order. One of the authors, Susan Gaetz Duarte, completed the majority of the work for this book under her maiden name, Susan Gaetz. For consistency and professional recognition, the decision was made to refer to her throughout the text by her maiden name. With regard to the population figures quoted in the book, please note that the records of Mennonite congregations are generally based on church membership. Members include all youths and adults who have been baptized in the church. Therefore, the membership statistics throughout this book do not include any nonbaptized children and youths unless specifically stated. Also, the membership numbers should be viewed as estimates because our information was obtained from a number of sources,and some of the figures are averages. One of the communities featured in this book is the Faith Mennonite Fellowship, a group of Beachy Amish Mennonites, or “Beachy Amish,” as they are commonly called. The Beachy Amish consider themselves Mennonites and are but one of the many groups of Mennonites. However, because they have Amish origins and retain the word “Amish” in their name, historians often classify them as Amish for the purpose of tracking their congregations and populations. Throughout this text, the statistics for the Beachy Amish are included with those of the Mennonites. As we complete this book, we feel certain that Mennonite communities and congregations exist in Texas that we are unaware of and therefore have not included in our discussion. The figures for these congregations have not appeared in Mennonite records most likely because the communities are still very small or burgeoning, the memPreface XVIII preface bers are scattered across large rural areas, or the congregations comprise Mexican citizens living in Texas illegally. Our descriptions and figures reflect the most recent and reliable information available at the time this book went to press. Mennonite population figures are ever changing, and communities grow or decrease for many reasons. We have tried to be as accurate and comprehensive as possible. Because this book began as two separate projects, we have both joint and individual acknowledgments. Together, we would like to thank Ann Richards, Mark Louden, and Dennis Darling for their creative, knowledgeable, and thoughtful contributions. We would also like to recognize the efforts of the readers of our manuscript, both anonymous and known. We appreciate your time, consideration, and professional critiques of our text. Finally, our acknowledgments would not be complete without thanking Mary Lenn Dixon,editor in chief at Texas A&M University Press. Through the ups and downs of the publication process, Mary Lenn remained an advocate and a friend. She nurtured the project, and we are grateful for her expertise, professionalism, and tenacity. We could not have done this without her. Laura L. Camden’s Acknowledgments I personally dedicate this book to my mother,Nancy Carolyn Carpenter, and my grandmother Ruth Boss Camden. There are many people I would like to thank for their support during the course of this project and book. First and foremost, I would like to thank Helen Reimer and Judy Harms and her family for all of their help,patience,and support . Without their hospitality this project would not have happened.I would like to thank my father, John Camden,for his support of all of my photographic adventures; my grandparents Ed and Faye Carpenter for their youthful outlook on life and the pride they take in my work; my sister, Cathy, and her husband, Scott, and their two beautiful children, Sarah and Andrew; my best friend, JoAnn Estrada, for her friendship and insights over many years; Marsha Miller for her wit and inspiration; Sherre Paris for her faith and spirit, and John Gayusky for his friendship and...