Newsline: Young Center holds conference on legacy of Alexander Mack Jr.

[CoBNews <CoBNews@brethren.org>]

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service, News Director Cheryl 
Brumbaugh-Cayford, 800-323-8039 ext. 260, cobnews@brethren.org

Young Center holds conference on legacy of Alexander Mack Jr.

(May 24, 2012) Elgin, IL --The Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies 
at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College is holding a conference June 6-8 titled, 
"Pietist and Anabaptist Intersections in Pennsylvania: The Life and Influence 
of Alexander Mack Jr."

This study conference commemorates the 300th birthday of Mack, an important 
Brethren leader, minister, weaver, and writer of poetry, doctrinal, and 
devotional works. He was born in Germany, the son of Alexander Mack 
Sr.--founder of the Brethren movement--and then moved to the Netherlands and 
then to Pennsylvania, where he eventually became minister of the Germantown 
congregation.

"Scholars from multiple disciplines will use various methodologies to illumine 
Mack's career and writings," said the flier for the conference. "Some of the 
presentations will invite reflection on the lasting legacy of Mack in the 
Brethren context and beyond."

Speakers include Dale R. Stoffer of Ashland Theological Seminary; Carl 
Desportes Bowman of the University of Virginia; Stephen Longenecker of 
Bridgwater (Va.) College; William Kostlevy of Tabor College; Hedda Durnbaugh of 
Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa.; Michael Showalter, museum curator of the 
Ephrata Cloister; Bethany Theological Seminary faculty Russell Haitch, Scott 
Holland, Denise Kettering Lane, and Daniel Ulrich; Frank Ramirez, pastor and 
frequent contributor Brethren Press publications and "Brethren Life & Thought"; 
Karen Garrett, business manager of "Brethren Life & Thought"; and Young Center 
director Jeff Bach, among others.

In addition, the preliminary agenda for the event includes preconference tours 
to Germantown and the Ephrata Cloisters, an evening hymn festival, and daily 
times of devotion. Those who attend the full conference are eligible for 1.85 
continuing education units. Registration costs $120, or $135 after May 18. 
Student and single day rates are available. The tour and housing are additional 
costs. For more information and a registration form go to 
www.etown.edu/centers/young-center/files/mack-conference/Mack_conference_brochure.pdfcall
 or call 717-361-1443.

As a special event during the weekend, Brethren Colleges Abroad (BCA) will 
celebrate its 50th anniversary, "BCA Study Abroad: 50 Years 1962-2012." The 
anniversary dinner is June 8 immediately following the close of the conference, 
with speaker Robert Johansen, fellow at the Joan Kroc Institute of Peace 
Studies at the University of Notre Dame. BCA also will honor its longest 
serving president, Allen Deeter. Cost is $30. BCA is a cooperative organization 
begun by the Church of the Brethren-related colleges, currently sending nearly 
400 students to study in 15 countries around the world and bringing 
international students to study at BCA partner colleges in the US.

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing 
the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in 
community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith 
traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrated its 
300th anniversary in 2008. It counts some 123,000 members across the United 
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, 
Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

># # #

>For more information contact:

>Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
>Director of News Services
>Church of the Brethren
>1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
>800-323-8039 ext. 260
>cobnews@brethren.org