Press Release by Harold Press
New history of Mennonites and Amish in Ontario published
Author/archivist Samuel J. Steiner produces vast volume
MENNOMEDIA, KITCHENER, Ontario, and HARRISONBURG, Va.—Conestoga wagons carried Ontario Mennonite settlers to the tangled forests of the Niagara Peninsula in the late 1700s. Since then, their descendants and more recent arrivals to the hamlets and cities of Ontario have sought promised lands of faithful living, peaceful communities, and religious freedom.
A new book, In Search of Promised Lands: A Religious History of Mennonites in Ontario, by Samuel J. Steiner details this legacy. Ontario Mennonites and Amish are among the most diverse in the world, according to Steiner’s 877-page volume, published March 9 by Herald Press.
In Search of Promised Lands describes the emergence and evolution of today’s 30-plus streams of Ontarians who identify themselves as Mennonite or Amish, tracing their history from arrival in Canada up to the last decade.
“This book looks at ‘Assimilated Mennonite,’ conservative Mennonite, and Old Order paths,” Steiner summarizes. “Twenty-first-century Ontario Mennonites are following the same paths as they seek the promised lands of faith and helping shape a better society in a post-Christian world.”
Steiner notes that these Mennonite paths will likely still be diverging when the next history of Mennonites in Ontario is written.
The wide-ranging story of Mennonite migration, theological diversity, and interaction with other Christian streams is distilled in this volume. The book looks at how various Mennonite groups have adapted to or resisted evangelical fundamentalism and mainline Protestantism, and it identifies the 19th- and 20th-century shifts toward personal salvation and away from submission to the church community.
Marlene Epp, professor of history at Conrad Grebel University College writes, “This long-needed and much-anticipated history of Mennonites in Ontario does not disappoint. Steiner has undertaken meticulous research to offer a comprehensive narrative,” adding that it will be the “definitive reference work on the subject for years to come.”
Steiner was librarian and archivist at Conrad Grebel University College from 1974 to 2008 and director of the Mennonite Archives of Ontario.
Steiner is founding managing editor of the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO). He is author of Vicarious Pioneer: The Life of Jacob Y. Shantz and Lead Us On: A History of Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, 1945–1995. Steiner also has an ongoing historical blog for the book at http://ontariomennonitehistory.org.
“Sam’s storytelling in this comprehensive book makes the history come alive as he paints a vivid picture of how diverse groups of Ontario Mennonites have sought unity, faithfulness, and God’s provision along the way,” said Amy Gingerich, editorial director at Herald Press.
Filled with maps, tables, and photos, and thoroughly indexed and footnoted, the book is volume 48 in the Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History series. It is available for $79.99 CAD / $69.99 USD from MennoMedia at 800-245-7894 or www.MennoMedia.org, as well as other online stores.
High resolution photo available here.
For more information on press release.
Melodie Davis
MennoMedia
540-574-4874
MelodieD@MennoMedia.org
Author contact for questions or interviews
Sam Steiner
519-884-1040
steiner.sam@gmail.com