Please join us for a book launch of Sam Steiner's In Search of Promised Lands: a Religious History of Mennonites in Ontario. This wide-ranging story of Mennonite migration, theological diversity, and interaction with other Christian streams is the first comprehensive history of Mennonites in Ontario since L. J. Burkholder's A Brief History of Mennonites in Ontario published in 1935.

In Search of Promised Lands describes the emergence and evolution of today’s 30-plus streams of Ontarians who have identified themselves as Mennonite or Amish from their arrival in Canada to the last decade. In Search of Promised Lands also considers how various Mennonite groups have adapted to or resisted evangelical fundamentalism and mainline Protestantism, and it identifies the nineteenth- and twentieth-century shifts toward personal salvation and away from submission to the church community. 

Sam Steiner was the archivist in the Mennonite Archives of Ontario from 1974 to 2008. he served as managing editor of the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO) until the end of 2011. He wrote two earlier books, Vicarious Pioneer: the life of Jacob Y. Shantz (1988) and Lead us on: a history of Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, 1945-1995 (1995).  

Steiner will give an illustrated presentation on surprises he encountered while researching and writing the book, followed by a time or questions. A reception following the lecture will provide opportunity for purchasing books, having them signed, and visiting the exhibit of photographs by St. Jacobs photographer, David Hunsberger.

This event is co-sponsored with the Institute of Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies of Conrad Grebel University College.

If this date does not suit you, or you live outside Waterloo Region, you can learn about other launch events on Sam Steiner's blog at http://ontariomennonitehistory.org/launch-events/

There is no pre-registration required for the March 28 event.