Mennonites in Texas: The Quiet in the Land

Series Editor's Foreword

With Mennonites in Texas: The Quiet in the Land, photojournalistLauraL .Camdenanddocumentaryphotographer Susan Gaetz join other authors in the Sam Rayburn Series on Rural Life, providing an informative and enjoyable view of two rural communities in Texas.Camden and Gaetz have photographed two different Mennonite communities, one located near Seminole, a West Texas farming community; and the other near Lott, Texas, about thirty miles south of Waco.The narrative accompanying the photographs incorporates a brief history of the Mennonites and their basic beliefs, as well as a discussion of the centrality of their faith in everyday life. Mennonite Christians are part of the Anabaptist family of churches, which emerged almost five hundred years ago as an outgrowth of the Protestant Reformation. All Anabaptists, including the Mennonites’ less numerous but familiar spiritual cousins, the Amish, are united by the practice of adult (believer’s) baptism, as well as the belief that church and state should be separate. The name “Mennonite ” derives from an early leader, Menno Simons (1496– 1561). Today, approximately 1.3 million Mennonites live in sixty-five countries around the world; more than 4,000 Texas Mennonites live in almost fifty communities around the state.Yet,little is generally known about the Mennonites or their religion, and much of what is known by outsiders, and promoted in popular media, is stereotypical and erroneous . Part of the outsiders’ ignorance stems from the Mennonites ’ desire to remain apart from “worldliness,” though not necessarily the world itself. The dynamic tension among Mennonites of being “in the world, but not of it” is explored in this book. The Mennonites in Seminole adopt a more “silent witness”approach to living their faith, whereas the Mennonites in Lott are more evangelically oriented. Mark L. Louden, a contributor to this narrative, summarizes in an historical context the Mennonites’ basic beliefs about adult baptism, separation of church and state, simplicity of life, nonresistance, and salvation. He identi- fies some of the misinformation about the Mennonites and gently corrects it. While the text provides essential information about the Mennonites, the accompanying photographs are each, indeed, worth a thousand words. At first glance, we might note a difference in dress but otherwise a fairly common rural scene of life on the farm. A closer examination will reveal more. For example, one group seems to smile more; Series Editor’s Foreword James A. Grimshaw Jr. or, the men in one wear beards; or, one congregation seems to accept technology. In both groups we see a special kindness and inner peace in their eyes. Camden and Gaetz have provided us with a more intimate look, a better understanding, and a deeper appreciation of these two Mennonite communities in Texas. Each group reflects the quality of inner strength that conjures up passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s favored essay “SelfReliance ,” which affirms nonconformity and independence from the larger world. I am pleased that Mennonites in Texas: The Quiet in the Land joins Rock beneath the Sand: Country Churches in Texas and the other titles that make up the Sam Rayburn Series on Rural Life. xii series editor’s foreword ...