The AMBS community gathered in person on May 12 for the annual Book Celebration of the Institute of Mennonite Studies, AMBS’s research agency. Teaching and Administrative faculty members who were involved with publishing efforts in the 2020–21 academic year included (l. to r.) Janeen Bertsche Johnson, M.Div.; Leah Thomas, Ph.D.; Drew Strait, Ph.D.; Abby Hershberger, IMS student assistant; David C. Cramer, Ph.D.; Daniel Schipani, Dr.Psy., Ph.D.; Andy Brubacher Kaethler, Ph.D.; Beverly Lapp, Ed.D.; and Allan Rudy-Froese, Ph.D. (Credit: Rachel Denlinger)
By David C. Cramer for the Institute of Mennonite Studies
ELKHART, Indiana (Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary) — On Wednesday, May 12, the Institute of Mennonite Studies (IMS) and Dean’s Office of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Indiana, hosted their 39th annual Book Celebration, honoring AMBS faculty, staff and student publications from the 2020–21 academic year.
Even after a difficult year of adjusting to life in a pandemic, there were many scholarly achievements to celebrate. IMS completed its Intercultural Biblical Hermeneutics Series with the publication of its fifth volume, The Widow and the Judge — Memory, Resistance, and Hope: Intercultural Reading of Luke 18:1–8 in Latin American Contexts of Impunity by Hans de Wit and Edgar Antonio Lopez.
Malinda Elizabeth Berry, Ph.D., associate professor of theology and ethics, serves as one of the series editors for IMS’s Studies in Anabaptist Theology and Ethics series, which published its second volume with T&T Clark last fall, Liberating the Politics of Jesus: Renewing Peace Theology through the Wisdom of Women, edited by Darryl W. Stephens and Elizabeth Soto Albrecht. Berry also serves as president of the Mennonite Historical Society, which published four issues of Mennonite Quarterly Review this past year.
Allan Rudy-Froese, Ph.D., associate professor of Christian proclamation, serves on the Mennonite Worship and Song Committee that worked on the new worship and song collection, Voices Together, which was published in 2020 by MennoMedia. Rudy-Froese also guest edited the fall 2020 issue of Vision: A Journal of Church and Theology on the theme of Laughter, one of two issues of Vision published by IMS this past year.
Jamie Pitts, Ph.D., associate professor of Anabaptist studies and director of IMS, coauthored What Is God’s Mission in the World and How Do We Join It? with Juan Francisco Martínez as part of Herald Press’s series The Jesus Way: Small Books of Radical Faith. Pitts also serves as editor of the journal Anabaptist Witness, which published volumes on the themes of Worship and Witness (April 2021) and Displacement: Indigenous Peoples, Land, and Mission (October 2020).
Drew J. Strait, Ph.D., assistant professor of New Testament and Christian origins, was co-editor of the book Cruciform Scripture: Cross, Participation, and Mission (Eerdmans, 2020), published in honor of New Testament scholar Michael J. Gorman. Strait also contributed an essay to the book, “An Alternative Global Imaginary: Imperial Rome’s Pax Romana and Luke’s ‘Counter-Violent’ Missio Dei.” In addition, he serves as the New Testament editor of the journal Currents in Biblical Research, which published two issues this past year.
President Emerita Sara Wenger Shenk, Ed.D., published Tongue-Tied: Learning the Lost Art of Talking About Faith (Herald, 2020), while Daniel S. Schipani, Dr.Psy., Ph.D., professor emeritus of pastoral care and counseling, published two Spanish-language books this past year, Manual de Psicologia Pastoral: Fundamentos y Principios de Acompanamiento (La Aurora, 2021), and the edited book Una Vida Bella: En Honor al Legado Teológico y Pastoral del Profesor Dr. Johannes Bek de Goede (Seminario Evangélico de Puerto Rico, 2020).
In addition to publishing books and journals, AMBS faculty, staff and students published more than 30 articles, essays and reviews in a variety of magazines, journals and edited volumes. They also presented at numerous academic conferences and public workshops. For a complete listing of publications and presentations, see IMS’s Celebration webpage or download the 2020–21 issue.
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