The Contributors
Minding the Church

Susan Biesecker-Mast is associate professor of communication at Bluffton College in Bluffton, Ohio, where she teaches in the areas of classical rhetoric, media studies, and argumentation. Over the last several years, her published essays have focused on how twenty-first century Anabaptists witness to their contemporary world. She co-edited Anabaptists and Postmodernity (Pandora Press U.S., 2000) with Gerald Biesecker-Mast and is currently writing a book on tourism in the Holmes County, Ohio, Amish settlement. In the latter work, she is exploring how middle American identity is reinforced by tourism in Holmes County yet challenged by an Amish witness. She is a member of First Mennonite Church in Bluffton and is mother to Anna Lynn Biesecker-Mast.

Harriet Sider Bicksler is a publications specialist for a training institute that provides continuing education opportunities for children’s mental health professionals in the public sector. Since 1981, she has edited Shalom!, a Brethren in Christ publication on peace and social concerns. In addition to being active in the Grantham (Pa.) Brethren in Christ Church, she has served in a variety of denominational capacities and is the current board chair of Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Harriet is the author or editor of several books and numerous articles and essays. She and her husband, Dale Bicksler, have two young adult children, a son-in-law, a dog, and a cat.

Terry L. Brensinger received a B.A. from Messiah College, an M.Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary, an M.A. in Near Eastern Archaeology from Drew University, and an M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Old Testament, also from Drew. From 1985-2001, he taught Old Testament at Messiah College, where he also served as chair of the Department of Biblical Studies, Religion and Philosophy from 1997-2001. Among his many publications are a commentary on Judges in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series and Within the Perfection of Christ: Essays on Peace and the Nature of the Church (Evangel Press, 1990) which he co-edited with E. Morris Sider. In August 2001, he became lead pastor of the Grantham (Pa.) Brethren in Christ Church. Terry and his wife, Deb, are parents of two sons and a daughter.

Polly Ann Brown graduated with a B.A. in English literature from Eastern College (now University) in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. She subsequently received an M.S. degree and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was awarded the Phi Delta Kappa doctoral dissertation award. She has since taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Chestnut Hill College, and Eastern Mennonite University’s Lancaster, Pennsylvania, campus. She presently serves on the Eastern University board. Although now semi-retired, Polly Ann continues to observe in and write about both public and private schools. She and her husband, Kenneth, are members of the Norristown (Pa.) New Life Mennonite Church. They have four adult children and three grandchildren.

Perry Bush is professor of history at Bluffton College. He received his Ph.D. in history from Carnegie Mellon University in 1990 and has taught at Bluffton since 1994. He is the author of two books, Two Kingdoms, Two Loyalties: Mennonite Pacifism in Modern America (Johns Hopkins, 1998) and Dancing with the Kobzar: Bluffton College and Mennonite Higher Education, 1899-1999 (Pandora Press U.S., 2000), as well as a number of articles on U.S. peace and religious history. He and his spouse, Elysia, are the parents of Kerry, Jackson, and Cassidy Bush, and are members of First Mennonite Church in Bluffton.

Mark W. Charlton graduated with a B.A. in history from Messiah College in 1970. He subsequently received an M.A. degree in political science from the University of Western Ontario and a Ph.D. from Laval University. He is currently professor of political science and international studies at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, where he lives with his wife, Lucille, and sons Christopher, Daniel, and David. Professor Charlton is the author of The Making of Canadian Food Aid Policy (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1990) and editor of Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues and Crosscurrents: International Relations in the Post-Cold War Era, both published by Nelson Canada.

Alvin C. Dueck is the Evelyn and Frank Freed Professor of Integration of Psychology and Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Before assuming that role, he directed the Marriage and Family Counseling program at the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary in Fresno, California, and before that he taught psychology at Tabor (Kan.) College and Fresno Pacific University. He received his Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University, and has done postdoctoral work in social theory (University of Notre Dame), theology (Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary), psychology of religion (Yale University), and family therapy (Heidelberg University). His lectures on Christianity and therapy, presented at Fuller Theological Seminary in 1986, have since been published as Between Jerusalem and Athens: Ethical Perspectives on Culture, Religion, and Psychotherapy (Baker Books, 1995).

Jeff Gundy has published three books of poems: Rhapsody with Dark Matter, Flatlands, and Inquiries, as well as A Community of Memory: My Days with George and Clara (University of Illinois Press, 1996), a book of creative nonfiction. Raised in central Illinois, he studied at Goshen College and Indiana University. Since 1984 he has taught English, writing, and general education at Bluffton College in Ohio, where he is now professor of English and chair of the English/Language Department. He has received two C. Henry Smith Peace Lectureships and four Ohio Arts Council fellowships in poetry. He and his wife, Marlyce, have three sons.

James M. Harder received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Notre Dame in 1990. Before that, he served with Mennonite Central Committee in Kenya and Mennonite Economic Development Associates in Tanzania. From 1990-2001 Harder chaired the Economics and Business Department of his alma mater, Bethel College, in Kansas. He has authored book chapters relating economics to issues of war and to environmental stewardship, as well as numerous articles and book reviews. In addition to his academic work, Harder currently serves on the executive board of Mennonite Church USA. In 2001, he joined the faculty of Bluffton College in Ohio, where he is special assistant to the President and professor of economics and business. He and his wife, Karen Klassen Harder, have two children.

Lydia Neufeld Harder earned her B.Th. from Canadian Mennonite Bible College, a B.A. from Goshen College, an M.Th. from Newman College, and a Th.D. from Emmanuel College at the Toronto School of Theology (1993). She directed the Toronto Mennonite Theological Center from 1994-1999 and is presently an adjunct faculty member at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. The author of Obedience, Suspicion and the Gospel of Mark (Wilfrid Laurier Press, 1998), Neufeld Harder has published articles in the Conrad Grebel Review and the Mennonite Quarterly Review, and has contributed chapters to a variety of books. She currently serves on the editorial council of the Believers Church Bible Commentary series and the Mennonite Central Committee Peace Committee. She is married to Gary Harder, pastor of the Toronto United Mennonite Church. They have three children and six grandchildren.

David A. Hoekema, professor of philosophy at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, served previously as academic dean and as interim vice president for student life at Calvin. Before 1992 he was executive director of the American Philosophical Association and associate professor of philosophy at the University of Delaware. He is the author of Campus Life and Moral Community (Rowman and Littlefield, 1994) and Rights and Wrongs: Coercion, Punishment, and the State (Susquehanna University Press, 1986). He has edited a collection of essays on Christianity and Culture in the Crossfire with Bobby Fong, president of Butler University, and is presently working on a collection of essays on religion and politics in Russia with Alexei Bodrov, rector of St. Andrew’s Biblical-Theological Institute in Moscow. Hoekema currently serves as president of the Society for Values in Higher Education. He is a member of the Christian Reformed Church. David and his wife, Susan, who has worked as a history teacher and is now engaged in the practice of law, maintain a nest now empty of two children.

Donald B. Kraybill has authored, coauthored, and edited more than fifteen books, including The Upside-Down Kingdom (Herald Press, 1978, 1990), which received the National Religious Book Award; The Riddle of Amish Culture (Johns Hopkins, 1989, 2001), a standard reference for understanding the Amish; and (with Carl Bowman) On the Backroad to Heaven: Old Order Hutterites, Mennonites, Amish, and Brethren (Johns Hopkins, 2001). His most recent book (with C. Nelson Hostetter) is Anabaptist World USA (Herald Press, 2001). Kraybill holds a Ph.D. in sociology and serves as professor of sociology and Anabaptist Studies at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, where he previously served as provost. Before that he directed the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania and has served in various leadership roles in the Mennonite Church and the Church of the Brethren.

J. E. McDermond, associate professor of Christian ministries and spirituality, has taught in England and Kenya as well as at Messiah College since 1987. He is an ordained Brethren in Christ minister, has pastored in Indiana, and has served as an interim preacher for various congregations. He is a self-confessed Anglophile whose current favorite authors are British novelists Catherine Fox and Joanna Trollope. He is married to Wanda Thuma-McDermond, who grew up as an “MK” (missionary kid). They have two sons, Malcolm and Duncan.

Caleb Miller is associate professor of philosophy and chair of the Department of Philosophy at Messiah College. He earned a B.A. in philosophy and history from Drake University in 1980, an M.A.T.S. in theology from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 1983, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame in 1991. Before teaching at Messiah, he was assistant professor of philosophy at Goshen College from 1987-1993. His primary research interests are moral theory, applied ethics, epistemology, and philosophy of religion. He has been active in the leadership of the Society of Christian Philosophers. He is a member of the Slate Hill Mennonite Church in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.

David L. Mosley is professor of music and humanities at Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana. During his fifteen years on the faculty he has taught course in the areas of musicology, literature, and philosophy. He is presently the conductor of the college’s orchestra and wind ensemble. A frequent presenter at both national and international conferences, Mosley’s publications have appeared in numerous journals, including the Journal for Aesthetics and Art Criticism, the Journal of the International Horn Society, and the Yearbook of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Fine Arts. He is also secretary of the International Association for Word and Music Studies. At his chapter’s writing Mosley was a member of the College Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana. He is presently an oblate of St. Meinrad Archabbey, a Benedictine monastery in St. Meinrad, Indiana.

Mary H. Schertz is professor of New Testament at the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana. She received her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University and has been happily occupied teaching Greek and New Testament for the past fourteen years. She is also the director of the Institute of Mennonite Studies and has recently published Seeing the Text: Exegesis for Students of Greek and Hebrew (Abingdon, 2001) with coauthor Perry B. Yoder. During a recent sabbatical at the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research at St. John’s University in Minnesota, she worked on the Luke volume of the Believers Church Bible Commentary series.

Shirley Hershey Showalter became president of Goshen College in 1997. Since arriving at at the college in 1976 with her husband, Stuart, former professor of communication who now directs career services, she has taught English and history, becoming full professor and chair of the English Department. In 1990, she won the Sears Roebuck Foundation “Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award”; ten years later, she received a Knight Presidential Leadership Award of $150,000 to use at her discretion to strengthen the college. Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Showalter earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Eastern Mennonite College and received her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. Shirley and Stuart are the parents of two children, Anthony and Kate.

David L. Weaver-Zercher received his Ph.D. in American religious history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1997 and has since been a member of the faculty at his alma mater, Messiah College. In addition to teaching in Messiah’s religion and history departments, he is director of the college’s Sider Institute for Anabaptist, Pietist and Wesleyan Studies and acting chair of the Department of Biblical and Religious Studies. His book, The Amish in the American Imagination (Johns Hopkins, 2001), examines the functions of “the Amish” in the imaginations of those who buy, sell, and consume Amish-themed products. Dave and his wife, Valerie, live in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with their one-year-old son, Samuel.

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