Best and brightest "concerned"
Irvin Horst, Paul Peachy, and Calvin Redekop speak to students in Mary Sprunger's Mennonite History and Thought class.
They were considered intellectual renegades half a century ago, calling for a return to the congregation as the center of authority in the Mennonite Church rather than trending toward a central hierarchy of bishops.
"These were some of the best and brightest of the Mennonite young men, and they were all living and studying in Europe following WWII," Mary Sprunger, history professor, said as she recently introduced Calvin Redekop, Paul Peachey, and Irvin Horst to her Mennonite History and Thought class as part of its Friday Speaker Series.
The group, which only later called themselves Concern, met in Amsterdam in April, 1952. The seven young men and a few accompanying wives gathered in a large house that the Dutch had lent to Mennonites in the area. "It was owned by people who had cooperated with the Germans, so the city gave it to us for us to use," said Horst.
"We did not intend to overthrow anybody, but that's how they perceived it," said Redekop of the Concern movement. "Our intentions were not to challenge the Mennonite leadership, but Harold Bender and others were very threatened by [our voiced opinions]. They thought we were threatening the foundation of the Mennonite church authority." Bender and other church leaders called an emergency conference in Pennsylvania to ask the Concern members: "What do you really want?"
Harold Bender was considered the foremost Mennonite Church theologian at the time with his publishing of the "Anabaptist Vision," a classic essay that, according to EMU retired historian Al Keim, "forged Mennonites into a community of memory rooted in the 16th century, a community with strong religious impulses embodied in nonviolent service, devout discipleship, and a primary identity with the people of God, the church."
"We were seeking to affirm anew, rather than rebel against the church," said Peachey. "One very important thing was the structure of churches in relation to congregations. The Swiss Anabaptism was very congregational." The Concern movement printed a series of pamphlets aimed at spreading this and other understandings.
"The Concern movement was not as much about theology as polity. As a sociologist, as I reflect on it now I think the question we were struggling with was the question of power," said Redekop. The young men saw the Mennonite church in America becoming more Episcopalian or top-down in structure, as evidenced in the power councils of bishops held in the 1950s.
"We were always comparing the Dutch Mennonite acculturation with the American Mennonite situation. Holland was a world power in the 16th and part of the 17th century," said Horst. This was particularly relevant for these young Mennonites studying and serving with MCC and Mennonite Mission Board in post-war Europe.
Sprunger initiated the series to bring speakers like members of the Concern movement to personalize topics discussed in class.
"What's fascinating is they were really wrestling with the Anabaptist Vision, which we just studied," said Sprunger. "I wanted to introduce students to the story of these young Mennonites who were trying to find a way to make sixteenth-century Anabaptism relevant for the church in the 1950s and ‘60s. They took these issues very seriously and dared to propose radical ideas about New Testament congregationalism to a hierarchical church leadership that did not welcome the Concern group's critique of Mennonite denominationalism."
The series brings a variety of speakers to Sprunger's Mennonite History and Thought class, most of whom have some connection to the Anabaptist Center for Religion and Society. Sprunger talked to Ray Gingerich, who then contacted ACRS members who volunteered to speak with the class. "I wanted to tap into this wealth of expertise and experience and make that available to students," Sprunger said. Al Keim and Nancy Heisey are two of the speakers presenting in the coming weeks.
Return to News
