Upcoming Events
For events in the Bucher Meetinghouse, use “450 Campus Road, Elizabethtown, PA” in your navigation app. Although not an actual physical address, it will place you close to the entrance of the Young Center parking lot. Then use the building’s main entrance—beside the Young Center sign—to access the meetinghouse.
Thursday, March 20, 2025 • 6:00 pm • Susquehanna Room of Myer Hall
BANQUET
The annual Young Center dinner gives faculty, staff, students, church leaders, and other friends of the Young Center the opportunity to socialize and learn about the Center’s activities and programs. A reception for Durnbaugh Lecturer John D. Roth begins at 5:30; the dinner begins at 6:00.
Parking is available at the Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, 777 S. Mt. Joy Street. Enter the parking lot from Cedar Street.
Registration for the banquet will open in early 2025.
Thursday, March 20, 2025 • 7:00 pm • Susquehanna Room of Myer Hall
DURNBAUGH LECTURE
The Bible as a Source of Renewal (and Conflict) in Anabaptism and Pietism
Both the Anabaptist and Pietist movements emerged out of a conviction that Scripture was not only authoritative for Christian faith and life but also accessible to ordinary lay people. By challenging inherited assumptions that restricted biblical interpretation to a small group of elites—scholars, ordained clergy, or church-appointed guardians of tradition—Anabaptism and Pietism played a significant role in "democratizing" biblical hermeneutics. But that same impulse, central to the origin and identity of these movements, also provided a resource for later renewal movements to make similar claims, often leading to schisms and ongoing uncertainty about the nature of ecclesial authority. John Roth exampines the question, What is the role of the Bible today among the heirs of the Anabaptist and Pietist traditions?
John D. Roth serves as project director for Anabaptism at 500, an initiative of MennoMedia, and as the general editor of the Anabaptist Community Bible. He is professor of history emeritus at Goshen (IN) College, where he also served as director of the Mennonite Historical Library and the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism, and as editor of Mennonite Quarterly Review. John has published widely on topics related to Anabaptist-Mennonite history and church life, and has served with Mennonite World Conference in a variety of roles, including ecumenical dialogues with Lutheran, Catholic, and Reformed church leaders.
Parking for the Durnbaugh Lecture is available at the Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, 777 S. Mt. Joy Street. Enter the parking lot from Cedar Street.
Friday, March 21, 2025 • 9:30 am–noon • Susquehanna Room of Myer Hall
DURNBAUGH SEMINAR
Introducing (and Reading!) the Anabaptist Community Bible: An Interactive Seminar
The Anabaptist movement emerged in the sixteenth century when a group of young people gathered around Scripture and were transformed as they asked new questions about its relevance for their day. Over the past 500 years, the Bible has continued to sustain and renew Anabaptist faith communities, including the Church of the Brethren and the Mennonites. Rooted in this tradition, the Anabaptist Community Bible is an invitation to read Scripture together as a living text that continues to transform our lives. This interactive workshop. led by John Roth, will introduce the Anabaptist Community Bible as a unique resource for a fresh encounter with Scripture.
July 22-24, 2025
CONFERENCE
Early Anabaptism in Global Perspective
This conference marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of Anabaptism, giving special attention to the global context in which Anabaptism emerged and spread. Presentations will also consider the global reception of Anabaptist history today, particularly in light of the diffusion of Anabaptist traditions around the world. Early Anabaptist history has figured prominently as a resource for global churchly identity through scholarship, teaching, and preaching.
Videos of Past Events