(from left to right) Cami Dager, MC USA chief communication officer, Joy Sutter, former moderator of MC USA, and Sonya Kurtz, lead pastor at Zion Mennonite Church, Souderton, Pennsylvania, were among those gathered to get a sneak peek of the making of the Anabaptist Community Bible with Amy Gingerich, executive director of MennoMedia.
Amy Gingerich, executive director of MennoMedia, was recently passing through Pennsylvania and made a stop at Zion Mennonite Church, Souderton, to talk about the Anabaptism at 500 project, which celebrates the 500th anniversary of Anabaptism. Mennonite Church USA Chief Communication Officer Cami Dager attended the gathering.
The Anabaptism at 500 project began in 2020, under the direction of John Roth, project director, and Molly Moua, managing editor, who began work on the Anabaptist Community Bible, a unique teaching Bible that uses the Common English Bible translation, presented in a uniquely Anabaptist context.
“We set out to do this project with the understanding that Anabaptists have always read Scripture in community,” said Gingerich. “That’s really a hallmark of our faith and something we wanted to highlight,” she added.
The Anabaptist Community Bible contains commentary from 593 Anabaptist study groups, representing churches from various Anabaptist traditions across the U.S. and Canada and as far away as Ethiopia and Paraguay. It also includes introductions to each book of the Bible and additional commentary, written by 61 Anabaptist scholars, in addition to early Anabaptist witness notes, which were pulled from the writings of early Anabaptist leaders.
“We wanted to be appreciative of our past, but also really looking forward in faith,” said Gingerich.
Lastly, the project team commissioned five Anabaptist artists to create 40 linocut illustrations for the new Bible.
To pull it all together, Roth did the first read-through of all the introductions, notes and commentary, and an advisory group helped with further editing. In the end, 396,000 words were added alongside the biblical text. Gingerich noted that this is the equivalent of approximately nine Herald press books!
MennoMedia editor Sara Versluis and Roth each made at least four passes through the entire commentary!
“I am deeply impressed by the care and attention that went into creating the Anabaptist Community Bible,” said Dager. “This will be a cherished resource for MC USA pastors, congregations and families for generations to come.”
The Anabaptist Community Bible will be available by Jan. 21, 2025, the 500th anniversary of the first Anabaptist re-baptism. They can be preordered here.
Other upcoming Anabaptism at 500 products include a photobook, two devotionals, three children’s books and a mobile app.
MennoMedia is an agency of MC USA and Mennonite Church Canada, publishing church and Sunday school curricula, hymnals, periodicals and religious trade books under the Herald Press imprint.
Written by MC USA staff.