Menno Lite

A lighthearted look at Mennonite life and practice, with all the quirky foibles and contradictions of an idealistic (but imperfect) people. Includes "Sentences Mennonites struggle to finish," "10 movies Mennonites should make," "Top 10 ways to spot an ex-Mennonite," "How to travel simply (cheaply) by depending on (sponging off) other Mennonites," and much more!

A satirical cocktail book featuring seventy-seven cocktail recipes accompanied by arcane trivia on Mennonite history, faith, and cultural practices. At last, you think, a book of cocktails that pairs punny drinks with Mennonite history! Yes, cocktail enthusiast and author of the popular Drunken Mennonite blog Sherri Klassen is here to bring some Low German love to your bar cart. Drinks like Brandy Anabaptist, Migratarita, Thrift Store Sour, and Pimm’s Cape Dress are served up with arcane trivia on Mennonite history, faith, and cultural practices. Arranged by theme, the book opens with drinks inspired by the Anabaptists of sixteenth-century Europe (Bloody Martyr, anyone?), before moving on to religious beliefs and practices (a little like going to a bar after class in Seminary, but without actually going to class). The third chapter toasts the Mennonite history of migration (Old Piña Colony), and the fourth is all about the trappings of Mennonite cultural identity (Singalong Sling). With seventy-seven recipes, ripping satire, comical illustrations, a cocktails-to-mocktails chapter for the teetotallers, and instructions on scaling up for barn-raisings and funerals, it’s just the thing for the Mennonite, Menno-adjacent, or merely Menno-curious home mixologist.

This book is a history of all branches of Mennonites (including the Amish) from their first arrival in the state of Illinois around 1830 to the present. It deals briefly with Mennonite origins in Europe in the 16th century, points out how the Amish split off from the Mennonites in the 1690s, and depicts Mennonite-Amish migrations to America, especially those who came in the 19th century and settled in Illinois. The work portrays the divisions that developed, mostly after the Civil War, and how the story became more complex. It describes the effect of the AwakeningÓ and the influence of Fundamentalism and other forces on the Illinois Mennonites, including the pressures toward American acculturation. The author points out also the significant trend toward cooperation and unity in recent decades, especially among the (Old) Mennonites and the General Conference Mennonites. Smith is uniquely qualified to write this book. He is a native of Illinois with a thorough knowledge and understanding of the customs and beliefs of Illinois Mennonites. His family was among the early Mennonite settlers in the state, and active in the spiritual life of their community. Smith himself has studied and thought history for many years, has written many historical articles, and is the author or several books. As a professor at Goshen College, he had the support of other Mennonite historians and ready access to library and archival material relating to Illinois Mennonites.

Consists exclusively of material in Mennonite history.

Examining four centuries of Midwestern women's history, contributors discuss ways these women's lives both resemble and differ from those of women of other regions. Midwestern female experience is shown to be distinctive in terms of degrees of migration, which resulted in the Midwest becoming a cultural crossroads.

The OSM map gets extra points today because it shows us where to get drinking water: There's a pump right next to the level crossing. It's become quite hot, almost 30 degrees. We fill up everything we have. A man comes from his yard and wants to fill his buckets. Menno asks if he can take a photo. Sure, says Sergei, and invites us to tea. Encounters, hospitality, abandoned villages and lonely stretches of land: this diary takes you on a 4000-kilometer journey through rarely visited corners of three countries in north-eastern Europe. With bikes and tent we cycle far away from tourism from Russia to Karelia, through Finland and across the Arctic Circle. Spring also moves north with us, complete with flower meadows, cuckoo calls and swarms of mosquitoes. For 60 days we experience adventure instead of everyday life, and pedal our bikes instead of the hamster wheel.