Böcker av Rachel Nafziger Hartzler

No Strings Attached is the story of a Mennonite congregation in Indiana that existed for eighty-six years. The congregation began during the social and religious turmoil of the 1920s when some Mennonites in North America held to rigid doctrines and ethics implemented by central authority, and others operated with a congregational polity and became more assimilated into secular culture. The struggle between these two different understandings of faithfulness was most passionately played out in northern Indiana. Placing the narrative of this congregation within the context of 500 years of Mennonite history illustrates the grace and the tension that has both beset and empowered a unique group of people who began as radical reformers. Although ""no strings attached"" refers to the women''s headwear during the 1920s, which had no strings, it could also be the story of the pastor eating lunch on the peak of the steep roof of the church building! Reflecting on stories of these Mennonite people is an invitation to move into the future with courageous hope. Believing and behaving differently has not prevented Middlebury Mennonites from treating each other respectfully, living in a community of love, joy, and peace, and offering God''s healing and hope to each other and to the world.""Few congregational histories provide the theological and cultural context of their story. This book is a striking exception! It is set in post-World War I northern Indiana, the most significant setting for the struggle between tradition and innovation among Mennonites in the United States at that time. . . . This book is a revealing retelling of the struggles, dreams, and personalities that made Pleasant Oaks Mennonite Church a faithful community of Christ.""--John D. Rempel, Director, Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre""No Strings Attached is a fascinating story of division within one congregation told against the backdrop of tumultuous conflict within the broader Mennonite church. Hartzler recounts how that division played itself out and chronicles the gracious process of discernment that led to reconciliation and reunion eighty-six years later. This book puts present-day conflicts in perspective and explores themes of authority, communal discernment, and nonconformity, which are as relevant today as they were then.""--Andre Gingerich Stoner, Director of Interchurch Relations, Director of Holistic Witness, Mennonite Church USA""Fascinating! This story weaves together a particular church conflict with the historical context of the Mennonite Midwest in the 1920s. No Strings Attached invites us to grasp more fully the layers underlying church conflicts, then and today. Our love for God compels us to continue the work of discerning boundaries around essentials and freedom in nonessentials, to have strings attached or not. This book is an encouragement in that hard and holy conversation.""--Lois Johns Kaufmann, Conference Minister, Central District Conference of Mennonite Church USARachel Nafziger Hartzler is a mother, grandmother, nurse, and ordained minister in Mennonite Church USA. She was the last pastor of Pleasant Oaks Mennonite Church. She currently lives in Indiana and works as a spiritual director and retreat leader. She is the author of Grief and Sexuality: Life After Losing a Spouse (2006) and Nurturing Healthy Sexuality at Home: A Guide for Parents (2010).

Description:The story of women''s ministry is longer and far more varied than most people imagine. This book tells the story of women''s ministry in the Free Churches, and looks at its impact on the ways we worship and live out our Christian lives. Women have ministered in garrets and gutters, at home and on the mission field. Today, women are fully engaged in ministry within our multicultural society, bringing a diversity of voices to match the diversity of the world in which we live. Six well-known contributors who are themselves involved in the story of women''s ministry explore issues of leadership and authority, preaching and worship, global perspectives, the relation to feminist theology and the ecumenical setting. Their contributions are complemented by the voice of experience. Women from varied backgrounds tell their own stories of being called to a ministry that sometimes doesn''t fit, of wrestling with the traditions that have nurtured their faith and that can put obstacles in their way. Here we see something of the variety and of the rich texture of women''s ministries in the contemporary church. Some of the women represented here have found their journey to ministry uncomplicated. Others have traveled long and painful roads, meeting opposition and hostility. Many have moved from trying to be ""one of the boys"" to the recognition that their gender can have an influence on their ministry. The stories interact with the articles, bringing many lively and dramatic voices to the telling of ""our story.""Endorsements:""In Britain the question of women''s ordination has been so focused on the Anglican dilemma that its much longer story in the so-called Free Churches has generally been overlooked. Here now is history, theology, and personal story, various voices from that other experience--a significant addition to the literature!""Frances Young, Methodist minister and formerly Professor of Theology in Birmingham University ""This book will inspire and humble in equal measure, for it tells out a tale of heroism and courage, relating from a theological and historical perspective how women have struggled--and continue to struggle--for acceptance as ordained ministers of Word and Sacrament in the Free Churches. An authoritative and uplifting account.""Lavinia Byrne, Chaplain to the Mayor of Wells, Somerset. ''The Free Churches have a story to tell about the ministry of women. In these essays and stories some of our women ministers begin to tell it. Those who have felt the call of God on their lives cannot fail to be moved by their stories and stimulated by their thinking. This book is a valuable contribution to the shaping of the church of the future.''David Cornick, General Secretary, the United Reformed Church. About the Contributor(s):Janet Wootton ministered in rural and inner-city churches for over twenty-five years before taking up the post of Director of Studies for the Congregational Federation. She is a writer, editor, and speaker in the fields of worship, mission, and feminist theology.