In Search of Promised Lands: A Religious History of Mennonites in Ontario - Hardcover

by Samuel J. Steiner (Author)

The wide-ranging story of Mennonite migration, theological diversity, and interaction with other Christian streams is distilled in this engaging volume, which tracks the history of Ontario Mennonites.

Author Samuel J. Steiner writes that Ontario Mennonites and Amish are among the most diverse in the world--in their historical migrations and cultural roots, in their theological responses to the world around them, and in the various ways they have pursued their personal and communal salvation.

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.

Volume 48 in the Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History series.

Find out more about Ontario Mennonite and Amish history at the author's blog.

Back Jacket

Ontario Mennonites and Amish are among the most diverse in the world--in their historical migrations and cultural roots, in their theological responses to the world around them, and in the ways they have pursued personal and communal salvation. In Search of Promised Lands, by archivist Samuel J. Steiner, describes the emergence and evolution of today's thirty-plus streams of Ontarians who have identified themselves as Mennonite or Amish. He considers how various Mennonite groups have adapted to or resisted evangelical fundamentalism and mainline Protestantism and identifies the nineteenth- and twentieth-century shifts toward personal salvation and away from submission to the church community. From the perils of wartime to the pressures of assimilation, displacement, and conflict, Ontario Mennonites have traveled together as a diverse people, seeking unity, faithfulness, and God's provision along the way.

"This long-needed and much-anticipated history of Mennonites in Ontario does not disappoint. Steiner has undertaken meticulous research to offer a comprehensive narrative that balances the local and particular with broader contextual explanations for how the startling diversity of Mennonites in Ontario today came to be. This grand survey will be the definitive reference work on the subject for years to come."