The Amish Settlement in Honduras, 1968-1978: A (Half) Failed Attempt to Develop an Amish Understanding of Mission
Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies
Anderson, Cory, and Jennifer Anderson. 2016.
4(1):1-50.
Conservative Mennonite Storybooks and the Construction of Evangelical Separatism
Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies
Anderson, Jennifer, and Cory Anderson. 2014.
2(2):245-77.
Research Points
- Conservative Mennonites/Amish-Mennonites, as evangelical ethnic sectarians, publish mission-oriented literature that constructs group identity by coding norms, values, orientations, and emphasizing/suppressing certain themes as they create narratives showing how to evangelize “mainstream” society.
- Rod & Staff literature—representing stricter Mennonites—promotes living a Christian example through church communities to attract converts. Mennonite churches start in areas without Mennonites to represent a religious lifestyle.
- Christian Light Publications and TGS (Christian Aid Ministries) literature frames evangelism as more aggressive, invading “dark” territory to win souls, focusing on individual conversion apart from the church—a “mission adventure” genre.
- The “mission adventure” genre allows engagement with worldly themes—alcohol abuse, violence, and gangs, for example—on the terms of “our” trusted people.
- It also innovates within traditional tropes by presenting “our” people as protagonists rarely cognizant of sectarian symbols, suggesting moderate relaxation of sectarianism is necessary for “real” evangelism
- The theological paradox of separatism and evangelism in mission books is reconciled with two logics – “in but not of the world” (R&S) versus “missions to a fallen world” (CLP/TGS)
- Mennonites believe outsiders see them as traditional Christians, true Christians, and/or Christian teachers—but these are idealized self-images. Mennonite mission literature depictions of outsiders reveal ethnocentric views and unfamiliarity with other cultures despite evangelical emphasis. Literature seems to perpetuate superior attitudes.
Access Related Content From The Project: "An American System of Separatism in Non-American Contexts"
Sanctifying Leisure: International Tourism among America’s Amish-Mennonites
American Studies Journal
Anderson, Cory, and Jennifer Anderson. 2017.
63(1):e1-e37.
The Amish-Mennonites across the Globe
Amish-Mennonite Heritage Series Vol. 2.
Anderson, Cory, and Jennifer Anderson. 2019.
The ‘Evangelization by Colonization’ Movement and the Amish-Mennonite Migration to Costa Rica
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Anderson, Cory, and Jennifer Anderson. 2020.
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North America’s Amish-Mennonites Adopt Abroad: The Ideologies and Institutional Conditions That Cracked the Homogeneity of an Ethnic Religion
Social Compass
Anderson, Cory, and Jennifer Anderson. 2023.
70(3):403-27.
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