Then you might want to check out “Anabaptist Faith,” a series of lectures being sponsored by the Spring Senior Life Institute at Highland Presbyterian Church in Lancaster, PA.
According to the Highland Church’s website, the three-class course will begin April 3 and will feature speakers from the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College: Donald Kraybill, senior fellow; Jeff Bach, director; and Edsel Burdge, research associate.
Here’s some info from the site:
Class 1 on April 3 offers a broad overview of the Anabaptist movement with a focus on historical and faith practice perspectives. On April 7 the Young Center will be hosting a morning tour for class participants. Participants are asked to provide their own transportation to the Young Center on the campus of Elizabethtown College. Class 2 on April 24 features a study of the Amish and other “plain groups”. A question and answer session will be conducted with Stephen Blank, a local Amish businessman. Class 3 on May 8 reviews current faith perspectives on peace and baptism. Young Center speakers will review the Mennonites and other “assimilated groups. Each of the three classes meets from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Fellowship Hall, and includes lunch and conversation with the presenters.
Lancaster News highlighted this interesting program in last week’s issue. Here’s a taste:
Bach . . . gives an example of what people can learn in the Senior Life Institute by telling a story about taking some foreign students to visit an Amish family last year.
“The students were surprised at how friendly the Amish people were and how easily they talked about their family life,” Bach says. “In that visit, I think the foreign students realized that the Amish are trying to hold onto meaningful family life even as the culture around them changes so fast.
“(They) realized that the Amish ask themselves some of the same kinds of questions that modern people ask about how to maintain meaningful relationships. The Amish have a different set of filters to try to slow down the influence of the outside world. (The students) came away from that visit wondering what they could do to enrich their own relationships with others.”
For more information, check out the Senior Life Institute website.