The summer when Mary Emma Showalter’s now classic “” was released in 1950, various college students sold the cookbook as a way to make money for their college expenses.

Eugene Souder was one such entrepreneur who had about 15 young women and men selling cookbooks under his loosely organized effort.

He says the John C. Winston Company (publishers in conjunction with the early “Mennonite Community Association” in Scottdale, Pennsylvania) put out a notice that they were looking for someone to round up students who could sell the cookbook to acquaintances, church members, friends or neighbors—and perhaps door-to-door.

“I don’t think I saw that initial notice put out for sales reps, but someone recommended me. So they came recruiting me,” recalled Eugene in a phone interview recently.

“It was simple—I had one or two meetings of interested persons at Eastern Mennonite College, inviting them to earn some extra money that summer,” said Eugene, who at the time was between his junior and senior years of college.  “It was fun to recruit. That was basically all I had to do. I got a commission off of each sale, and the total that year was enough to cover my expenses for my final year of college.” Eugene added that he didn’t sell more than five himself, and that there were more women than men selling the cookbook.

Dan Hertzler, a classmate of Eugene’s and former editor of Gospel Herald, recalls that a year at EMC at the time cost $550, with a $100 discount for Bible majors. While Dan was later connected with the Mennonite Community Association and has long been associated with Scottdale, Dan didn’t help sell the cookbooks.

Eugene confesses he didn’t sell many himself because he was heavily involved in a budding men’s quartet at EMC that went on to help launch the long running radio program in 1952, which led to the whole international Mennonite Broadcasts, Inc.  organization—(which eventually became Mennonite Media, which joined with Mennonite Publishing Network to form MennoMedia in 2011.)

“So that summer of 1950, I didn’t really have that much time to actually sell; I was surprised at the good return for my time,” Eugene says. The cookbook initially cost $3.50 for the plain edition; a deluxe “chapter tab” edition was $4.50. “They were very fair in the commission they paid me.”

Eugene went on to a long career as a pastor, graphic designer, and founder/editor of at least three church magazines: Our Faith, Together, and [the only magazine still in publication, under the editorship of article author Melodie Davis].

Jay B. Landis, a former professor in the English language and literature department at EMC, also sold the cookbooks. But neither Jay nor Eugene remember it being through Eugene’s circle of sellers. “I sold a few—maybe to my mother and a few others,” Jay confesses. Jay was just out of high school and working a full-time job to make money for college, so his involvement was definitely limited.

Jay and his wife Peggy now live in the home where Mary Emma and her eventual husband, Ira Eby, lived in Harrisonburg. When Peggy was an officer of the Auxiliary, she offered a dinner for their annual auction: a meal at their home with recipes cooked from Mary Emma Showalter’s cookbook, including the famous seven sweets and seven sours.

“Some of Mary Emma’s nieces and nephews were the eventual recipients of the dinner, and during the course of the evening, we read several of the essays Mary Emma included at the beginning of each chapter of the book,” Jay recalls.

Eugene summarized his experience of earning enough money for a whole year of college as “the easiest money I ever made. Sometimes it is surprising what good things come your way.” Like other students of his time, he graduated debt free.

Republished from the website with permission from the author, who says she would love to hear from any other cookbook sellers. Visit the cookbook’s website for contact information.

has recently published the alumna’s first book, a devotional memoir, . She also keeps a blog, , in which she explores the intersection of parenting, faith, and work. Gerber is head of youth ministries for .

“I. Don’t. Know. Anything,” Gerber recalls thinking when she was handed her first son, Owen, in 2006. With a cursory introduction to where the diapers, onesies, and wipes were found in the hospital’s nursery bassinet, a nurse left Gerber and her husband, Shawn, on their own.

Ordinary Miracles uses the story of Jesus’ walk to Emmaus after his resurrection to help readers see incidents in their own family’s daily life and challenges as normal and instructional. As readers follow the dark days and disillusionment of the disciples after the death of Jesus, to the moment in which their “eyes are opened” and they see Jesus in the ordinary breaking of bread, Gerber learns to discover the gifts and holy calling hidden in the events of harried family life.

“It has been a joy to learn from the often crazy and unpredictable and disorienting days that parenting young children can bring,” says Gerber in reflecting on the book. “In the most mundane and ordinary days of motherhood, and in moments of exhilaration, joy, and beauty, God is present.”

Gerber works half-time as the Mennonite Church USA denominational minister of youth and young adults. She partners with the Youth Ministry Council, , and Mennonite Church USA convention planning staff on Christian formation and leadership development initiatives. She has also worked in ministerial positions for Mennonite congregations in Colorado and Indiana. Gerber has written curricula, devotionals, and articles for a variety of publications on a range of topics from spiritual formation to dramatic skits. She and her family live in Bloomington, Ind.

The book is available for $12.99 from . For more information, contact Melodie Davis at 540-574-4874 or MelodieD@mennomedia.org.

In her new role, Gerber will provide resources for and facilitate connections between youth and young adult groups and ministries across the church. She will partner with the youth ministry council, and Mennonite Church USA Convention Planning staff in working on churchwide priorities such as Christian formation and leadership development.

“In her many experiences of working for the church, Rachel has developed a positive track record in collaborating to bring about results with youth around faith formation,” says Terry Shue, director of leadership development for Mennonite Church USA. “Her skill set and passion for Christian formation fit right in with the [Christian formation] priority.”

Gerber has a bachelor of arts degree in education from Goshen (Ind.) College and a from EMS. From 2000-01, following her college graduation, she served as interim minister of youth and young adults at . From 2005-08, she was minister of faith formation at , where she was ordained by .

Gerber has also served as summer program director at Amigo Centre, Sturgis, Mich.; a youth and young adult consultant at , Waynesboro, Va.; worship planner/leader for the Mennonite convention at San José in 2007; and a youth curriculum writer for ’s ’Gather Round Sunday School curriculum. Recently she finished her first book, Ordinary Miracles, a memoir on the ministry of parenthood to be published through Herald Press in the spring of 2014.

She is married to Shawn Gerber, and they have three children. After living in Charlottesville, Va., for several years, the family relocated to Bloomington in August. In Virginia, the Gerbers attended ; currently they are part of the .

“I feel incredibly humbled to be able to serve the church in this capacity as denominational minister of youth and young adults,” says Gerber. “This position seems to be a beautiful culmination of my previous experiences and education. I look forward to collaborating with other leaders as we together discern the Spirit’s call for the future of youth/young adults in this unique time in history.”

Cedric Roth, a member of both the youth ministry council and the search committee for the position, affirms the energy, creativity and passion for faith formation and worship that Gerber brings.

“She has a wide range of skills and excels in communications and worship planning,” he said.

Courtesy Mennonite Church USA Communications,

The 4th Annual , sponsored by the (encompassing those who work with “moving pixels”), was founded by David E. Carter, originator of the well-known Telly Awards for film/video work.

Weaving Life was produced by last spring, in cooperation with . The documentary began airing on ABC-TV affiliates on Oct. 21, with the last airing on Dec. 16.

Weaving Life tells how Terry wove relationships, joy, partnership and understanding into his lifelong work in Afghanistan. Terry, a 64-year-old United Methodist, was among 10 humanitarian aid workers assassinated in Afghanistan in August 2010. was among the slain workers.

The documentary shows the way Terry set out to build bridges where “everyone else was blowing them up,” says production consultant and storyteller Jonathan Larson. “He spans the chasms of suspicion, religious hatred and outright warfare, with patient bonds of trust and openness.”

, media arts and peacebuilding professor at 91����Ƶ, oversaw the 16 students who produced the documentary, with help from classmates in a motion graphics course taught by , PhD, professor of visual and communication arts. Unable to go to Afghanistan to get new video footage for the documentary, the students relied on photos, numerous motion graphics and effects, and videotaped interviews to illustrate the story.

The highest Pixie award is a platinum award for entries scoring 9 or higher on a 10 point scale; those scoring 7 to 8.9 points qualify for a gold award. More information is available at

Terry’s story is also the focus of a book, . The book is available for $15.99 (25 percent off for group study) and the documentary is available for $14.99 from . More information on the program and book is also available at

MennoMedia, which produces documentaries through participation in the , worked with 91����Ƶ intern Justin Roth to complete the documentary to meet ABC-TV specifications for airing this fall.

Weaving Life tells how Dan Terry, a United Methodist who worked with numerous Mennonites through the years, wove relationships, joy, partnership and understanding into his lifelong work in Afghanistan. Terry, 64, was among 10 humanitarian aid workers assassinated in Afghanistan in August 2010.

Going against the grain of almost all conventional wisdom, the documentary shows how Terry set out to build bridges where “everyone else was blowing them up,” says production consultant and storyteller Jonathan Larson. “He spans the chasms of suspicion, religious hatred and outright warfare, with patient bonds of trust and openness.”

The production of this film was also a weaving together of opportunity, timing, and willing student production workers through students, who worked on the documentary during the spring 2012 semester and first showed it during 91����Ƶ’s graduation weekend in April.

, media arts and professor at 91����Ƶ who oversaw the 16 students who worked on the documentary, says they were drawn to the story because of Terry’s almost 40 years “devoted to the people, the culture, and the landscapes of Afghanistan.” The students were able to interview Terry’s wife and daughter extensively for the documentary.

, and Brian Carderelli, a videographer and resident of Harrisonburg, were among the 10 workers who were killed along with Terry. The team was returning to Kabul from a medical relief trip to northern Afghanistan when they were ambushed.

Larson, an international aid worker who first met Dan Terry as a student at Woodstock boarding school in northern India, tells much of Terry’s story in the film, and is the author of a forthcoming book, Making Friends among the Taliban: A Peacemaker’s Journey in Afghanistan (Herald Press, to be released Oct. 19, 2012).

“Every now and then, a story comes along that seems so improbable, that it causes us to stop and reconsider what we have taken to be settled issues,” says Larson.

, which produces documentaries through participation in the Electronic Programming Committee of the National Council of Churches, worked with 91����Ƶ intern Justin Roth to complete the documentary to meet ABC-TV specifications for airing this fall.

To find out which ABC stations are planning to air the documentary, check .

For information on encouraging a local ABC station to use the program, call Sheri Hartzler, electronic programming director at MennoMedia at 540-574-4487.

MennoMedia is an agency of and .

Since then, Swartz has avoided directly addressing the death of his friend in his productions, though he has addressed some of his emotions. His newest production, though, “Laughter is Sacred Space,” tackles the issue head-on.

“What we’re hoping that this show will do is open up discussions about mental illness and suicide,” he said.

The topic of depression and suicide – the “unforgivable sin” – isn’t often discussed in the church, says Swartz, a devout Mennonite who initially studied to become a pastor. Ted graduated from in 1992.

But the production is also a sort of “gift” for audience members who felt they got to know Eshleman during his two decades of acting, Swartz said.

“What you’re doing is, you’re revealing yourself from the stage to people and, if you do it well, they feel like they know you,” he said.

Show Complements Book

The show, set for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14 and 15 at , comprises three parts.

The first covers “what it means to grow up Mennonite,” acting and how the two converged in Swartz’s own life.

The second part examines how he and Eshleman built their company using a humorous, but respectful, approach to the “Biblical story.” In the third part, Swartz delves into the response to his friend’s death, the “anger, grief and guilt.”

The production is a rewrite of an earlier show Swartz had written in 2008. “Laughter is Sacred Space” will debut the same weekend as his book, “Laughter is Sacred Space: The Not-So-Typical Journey of a Mennonite Actor,” is set to be released.

The book, to be published by , the book publishing arm of , will largely complement the show, which Swartz said he hopes to tour for several years.

“The show absolutely stands on its own, but I think, as a companion to the book, it’s really going to make the book fun to read,” Director Ingrid De Sanctis said. “Once you see the show and you read the book, you’re going to go, `Oh, I remember that moment.’ Moments in the book will really come right off the page because you heard Ted’s voice and you saw him perform it.”

While the one-man show covers some pretty sensitive material, it is Swartz’s openness about the topic that makes it such a “moving” production, she said.

“I think anybody’s honest journey is compelling. And what Ted does in this show is he’s really honest about who he is,” said De Sanctis. “And he’s … really, really funny. But I think this is all about … his journey. And he kind of pulls you in …”

Courtesy Daily News Record, August 30, 2012

As the father of three children who competed at high school and college levels and who was personally involved in education and sports most of his life, King is obviously not against participation in sports.

“I understand that coaches are putting a lot of pressure on, but I think it’s time families stand up and say wait a minute, enough is enough” King says in the program. King has spoken in numerous churches about this issue and was specially licensed by for a speaking ministry.

Two interview programs with King air the weekends of August 11 and 18, 2012, and will be available online at a day earlier than those dates.

Both programs can also be heard online at ShapingFamilies.com, now airing on 21 stations including two in Canada. The program is produced by on behalf of Mennonite Churches. A station listing can be found at .

Spory, who graduated from 91����Ƶ with degrees in and , will enroll in a dual degree master of architecture and master of community and regional planning program at the College of Design at Iowa State University in the fall of 2012.

“Although I am still very new to the field, I am interested in looking at design as a tool for economic and community development, rural architecture, and international and socially conscious environmental design,” Spory said.

Spory was selected from among 61 students nominated from the 95 schools that are members of the of church-related colleges and universities.

As a Lilly Fellow, Spory will attend four conferences over the next three years to collaborate with other fellows, senior scholars and luminaries who integrate research, teaching, vocation and an interest in church-related higher education. He will receive three annual $3,000 stipends for use as needed.

The current program will end in the fall of 2015, with the graduate fellows being introduced to representatives of the Lilly Fellows Program National Network at the network’s annual national conference.

While at 91����Ƶ, Spory was co-president of the for two years and was involved in and . He was also an intern with 91����Ƶ’s . He was a recipient of one of 91����Ƶ’s highest awards, the “” as a graduating senior.

, chair of at 91����Ƶ, said Spory is “an integrative thinker, drawing connections between his courses, cross-cultural experiences and extracurricular activities. His work consistently demonstrated creativity, attention to detail and strong design skills.”

A native of Boswell, Pennsylvania, Spory has been a marketing and sales associate with since June 2011. He attends Zion Mennonite Church in Broadway.

, director of student programs and recreational sports at 91����Ƶ (91����Ƶ), went to UVA Medical Center in Charlottesville last year to donate one of his kidneys to someone he didn’t know. He tells what that was like and why he did it on the nationally produced Shaping Families radio program June 2-3, 2012.

Earlier, Miller was a guidance counselor at Broadway High School and had read an article about local artist Ken Schuler, donating a kidney. Then about ten years ago, Miller was reading an article in Sports Illustrated about basketball player Alonzo Mourning needing a kidney and the writer mentioned all the people that had come forward to offer to donate a kidney to the NBA star. The writer made the point, “If you would donate a kidney to Alonzo Mourning, why wouldn’t you just donate it to anybody?”

Miller gave it a lot of thought over the years and last December donated a kidney.

Locally the 15-minute weekly program airs on WSVA (550) and WBTX (1470) Sunday mornings at 7:15 and 9:15 a.m. respectively. A podcast will be available online at on June 1.

Shaping Families is produced by , an agency based in Harrisonburg.

Dan Terry devoted his life to helping Afghan people.

For nearly four decades, the humanitarian aid worker coordinated small-scale community development projects throughout the struggling country until his murder in 2010.

“I never know how to describe what my dad did. Every time I called him, he was doing something different,” said his daughter, Anneli Terry-Nelson, 30. “He was a networker. He knew someone who could do something someone needed to be done and could link them up over a cup of tea.”

The 64-year-old was among 10 humanitarian aid workers murdered on Aug. 5, 2010, as they were returning to Kabul from a medical relief trip in the northern part of Afghanistan.

91����Ƶ alum Glen Lapp and Harrisonburg resident Brian Carderelli also were killed in the ambush.

On Friday night at the MainStage Theater in University Commons, 16 91����Ƶ students from the university’s visual and communication arts department unveiled a 57-minute documentary, “Weaving Life,” which portrayed Terry’s life.

Paulette Moore, a media arts and peace building professor, thought of the idea for the documentary after one of Terry’s friends, Jonathan Larson, spoke during a university chapel service.

“Those killings affected our community, the Mennonite community, greatly,” Moore said. “We were part of that story.”

Kelby Miller, a 22-year-old senior from Sarasota, Fla., served as the senior producer for the project.

The film depicts Terry’s unique approach to humanitarianism.

“I hope the documentary shows people Dan’s different ways of doing things,” Miller said. “He wasn’t just worried about giving them things but [also] making relationships.”

Justin Roth, a 21-year-old senior from Bettsville, Ohio, served as the project’s editor. Roth said he learned a great deal about Terry’s life during the semester-long project.

“We learned a whole lot about Dan through the stories of other people,” he said.

MennoMedia, which produces documentaries through the National Programming Committee of the National Council of Churches, plans to prepare the film for airing on ABC television stations this fall.

91����Ƶ (91����Ƶ) students, intrigued by Terry’s story of commitment and humility, will present a documentary, “Weaving Life,” that explores his life, work and tragic death, Friday, April 27 at 6 p.m. in the .

“Dan and his family spent 40 years devoted to the people, the culture, and the landscapes of Afghanistan,” said , media arts and peacebuilding professor at 91����Ƶ who oversaw the 16 students who worked on the documentary.

Glen Lapp, , and Brian Carderelli, a videographer and resident of Harrisonburg, were among the 10 workers who were killed along with Terry. The team was returning to Kabul from a medical relief trip to northern Afghanistan when they were ambushed.

Special guests at the Friday showing will include members of the Terry, Lapp and Carderelli families, as well as Jonathan Larson, an international aid worker and life-long friend of Dan Terry.

A talkback after the viewing, which is 57 minutes long, will provide opportunity for audience members to interact with the student producers and special guests.

The student production team spent the spring semester gathering video footage, photos and stories, as well as conducting interviews across the U.S.

The showing is free and open to the public.

This event is jointly hosted by the 91����Ƶ Visual and Communication Arts department, 91����Ƶ’s and , also located in Harrisonburg.

MennoMedia, which produces documentaries through participation in the Electronic Programming Committee of the , will prepare the student-produced video for airing on ABC stations in the fall.

Speaking at the final event, a service marking Palm Sunday, Wiebe touched on the way writers work in silence, enveloped in the mystery of writing. Yet when writers and readers meet, their “mutual silences open to listening.”

There was little silence at this conference, dubbed “Mennonite/s Writing VI.” Packed into the two days, one evening and one morning were: an oratorio featuring the poetry of one of the conference participants, Jean Janzen of California; two dramatic  performances and an equal number of music events; at least 30 readings from original poems, works of fiction and memoirs; and plenty of talks on such weighty topics as the intersection of theology and poetry (“theopoetics”), on teaching writing and literature, and on what it means to be a Mennonite or to write in a Mennonite manner. Critics of literature formed one panel discussion and publishers of literature formed another.

Some participants left the campus to take a guided tour of the MennoMedia offices a block away or a different tour to Singers Glen, eight miles to the west of 91����Ƶ, where the oldest continually used hymnal in the United States was first published by a local Mennonite man, Joseph Funk.

Kirsten Beachy, an 91����Ƶ assistant professor who was co-chair of the conference, smilingly summed up the conference with these words: “We feasted together on words and on food.”

Throughout the conference, participants often credited Wiebe and Julia Spicher Kasdorf, a poet and conference co-chair, with inspiring other Mennonite writers by producing seminal works that challenged the insularity of the traditional Mennonite church-community in North America—he in 1962 with his first novel, Peace Shall Destroy Many, and she in 1992 with her first book of poetry, Sleeping Preacher.

Well-known poet and essayist Gregory Orr, a University of Virginia professor who is not a Mennonite, attracted one of the largest crowds assembled in one location to hear his talk on “ethics, aesthetics and the lyric.” He advocated that writers be true to themselves and “break with the overculture,” a message that resonated with his Mennonite audience in two ways—some have worked hard to find their voice within the “overculture” of their original community, while many view themselves as belonging to a minority culture that often goes against the grain of the mainstream culture.

On Friday evening, Vern Thiessen, one of the most-produced playwrights in Canada, performed two roles—that of himself and of his father—in “Back to Berlin,” his play exploring how his father (and by extension other Mennonites in Germany) acquiesced to or collaborated with the Nazis during World War II.

Writers who received formal tributes at the Saturday evening banquet were Ervin Beck, Goshen College professor emeritus; Omar Eby, 91����Ƶ professor emeritus; Al Reimer, professor emeritus at the University of Winnipeg; Elaine Sommers Rich, author of the 1964 children’s book Hannah Elizabeth; and Katie Funk Wiebe, a prolific essayist who taught at Tabor College before her retirement.

The 91����Ƶ conference received support from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as from Conrad Grebel University College in Ontario and private donors. It was the sixth gathering in North America since 1990 of writers who have a Mennonite background, who delve into Mennonite themes in their works, or who simply have an interest in this field. Photos are online at emu.edu/photos/mennonites-writing-vi-conference/

She will speak on how to “make a fulfilling and demanding career jive with parenting.” Rhodes’ segment will air March 18 on WSVA-AM (550) and WBTX-AM (1470) at 7:15 and 9:15 a.m., respectively. Listeners also may hear the segment online at .

Rhodes, who holds a PhD in conflict analysis and resolution, is professor of and chairwoman of the . She teaches peacebuilding theory and practice (including mediation and group facilitation) and conflict theory and analysis.

Her husband, Brad Lehman, works in computer programming from their home, and is also a musician, focusing on the harpsichord. Both feel very strongly that God has given them gifts and insights they want to contribute to their fields.  They are also grateful for the gift of children in their lives. This means they work to give the children focused attention each day, which means a willingness to sacrifice “me” time and couple time during these years to spend time with their children.

Shaping Families, launched in January 2010, airs on 18 radio stations. The program is produced by , a faith-based print, video, radio and Web resources company, based in Harrisonburg.

The conference theme is “Anabaptism in a Visual Age.” Registration is open to the public and can be found at .

Holsopple, award-winning videographer, photographer and artist is professor Visual and Communication Arts at 91����Ƶ. He was a recent Fulbright scholar at LCC International University in Lithuania, has led numerous cross-cultural photography experiences, and earned dozens of awards for his media productions.

Ted Swartz, Banquet speaker

Actor and comedian Ted Swartz will be the featured guest Friday, Oct. 28, as he discusses his book, “Laugher Is Sacred Space: The Not-so-typical Journey of a Mennonite Actor” (Herald Press, 2012). Swartz is the founder of “,” a production team of writers, actors and musicians that develop shows around everything from peace and justice to men and women in the Bible.

“Waging Peace: Muslim and Christian Alternatives,” a documentary by and Buller Films LLC, will be featured Saturday, Oct. 29, with a discussion to follow. More information about Waging Peace can be found at .

Breakout sessions include input from , a Harrisonburg-based marketing consultant group; visits to headquarters and and other options.

Registration, lodging and meals

and a is also available.

91����Ƶ recommends out-of-town guests book lodging in the Park View area (near campus) through the 91����Ƶ guest house. For more information about the 91����Ƶ guest house is available at 540-432-4280, guesthouse@emu.edu or visit

Hotels are available east of Harrisonburg, about a 15-minute drive from campus. Visit

Meals will be in the . Friday night’s banquet will be catered in the Eastern Mennonite Seminary Martin Chapel.

Planning committee members include Andrea Schrock Wenger (chair), Bonnie Price Lofton and Heidi Muller in addition to Holsopple. Off-campus committee members include Jon Trotter (Virginia Mennonite Conference and Anabaptist Communicators board member) and Sheri Hartzler from MennoMedia.

A retired 91����Ƶ faculty member is working to keep alive a rich musical legacy.

John L. Horst, Jr., professor emeritus of physics at 91����Ƶ, hosts a weekly program, “Mostly Mennonite, Mostly A Cappella,” 8-9:30 a.m. Sundays. The show repeats 10:30 a.m. to noon on the university’s public radio station, .

The four-part, a cappella singing that is part of the heritage of worship in Mennonite congregations is featured on his 90 minute program. Horst draws from a variety of sources, inter-Mennonite and beyond, in selecting material to feature.

Horst, who taught at 91����Ƶ from 1967 to 2004, sang bass from 1956 to 1963 as a member of one of the original “Mennonite Hour” quartets. The group recorded regularly for the radio broadcast and also toured the country with speaker B. Charles Hostetter to promote the program.

The “Mennonite Hour,” produced by Mennonite Broadcasts, Inc. (now Mennonite Media) based in Harrisonburg, started the program in 1952. Distribution peaked at more than 140 stations across North America in the early 1960’s. In 1965, the program was shortened to 15 minutes with less music, and in 1978 it went off the air.

“With the exception of [the late] 91����Ƶ professors J. Mark Stauffer and Earl Maust, the singers in the 1950’s era were all dedicated amateurs from many walks of live in the greater Harrisonburg community,” Horst said. “However, all of them were well-schooled in the traditional Mennonite art of unaccompanied, four-part harmony singing.

“The singing was unpretentious, direct and committed to communicating the Gospel message,” he said. “The distinctive ‘Mennonite Hour’ sound was unmistakable – simple arrangements, solid harmony and clear diction.”

Horst noted that a recording studio built by Richard Weaver on S. College Ave. – converted from a chicken house in 1954 – “provided an excellent environment for good a cappella singing. In the 1950’s, a single, well-placed microphone was used with limited electronic processing.”

After Maust and Stauffer, leadership in the ‘second era’ of the 1960’s came from Marvin Miller, David Seitz and David Augsburger, Horst pointed out, adding: “The singing and sound is noticeably different, with stereo added in this period.” Augsburger went on to succeed B. Charles Hostetter as “Mennonite Hour” speaker.

In 1999, Horst began delving into the Mennonite Media archives and found himself reviewing archival tape recordings that were used on the “Mennonite Hour” broadcasts. He has since produced five compact disc reissues of hymns, gospel selections, folk hymns, spirituals and choral works, including two just-released recordings. Mennonite Media had released six CD’s on their own earlier.

The first of two new recordings, “Sing Them Over Again,” is a compilation of 27 original a cappella recordings by the “Mennonite Hour Singers from the early era, the decade of the the 1950’s.

A second collection, “A Symphony of Hymns,” employs the movements of a classical symphony – prelude, exposition, adagio, scherzo and finale – as a framework to present 26 songs of the church. These selections feature the music groups from the decade of the 1960’s.

“It was an honor to listen to and critique the rich ‘Mennonite Hour’ archive of about 900 acappella hymns and anthems,” Horst said. “It has been a pleasant journey . . . ‘This All My Song Shall Be.'”

For more information on Horst’s a cappella project and available recordings, see or call (800) 999-3534.