I'm getting there. Right after Christmas I started working on compiling a book on the history and development of the Mid-Atlantic Mennonite Fellowship. Things had started coming in during December and I was beginning to get nervous about the size of the pile of work waiting for me. So I dived in and started shoveling my way out from under the pile. Thanks to modern electronic methods of communication, most of it came by email which greatly reduced the amount of work. Copy and paste is much faster than having to retype everything.
I worked diligently for a couple weeks and finally got caught up with everything that had been submitted. Things kept coming in steadily and I was able to keep caught after by doing an update every day. The stream has slowed to a trickle now. I was hoping to get this project done in January and February and I could meet that self-imposed deadline if the rest of the things come in. There are twenty-three churches and as of today twenty-one are completed. That leaves two stragglers who are holding up the works. They are working on it and I hope it doesn't take them much longer.
I kind of expected when I started that there would be a few stragglers but I didn't know who they would be. Now I do. But I'm not telling who they are. I was pleased with the overall response. This book is different than any I've ever done in that I am only the compiler and editor, not the writer. It is a joint effort and takes the cooperation of everyone to make it happen. The level of cooperation I've had is encouraging and tells me a lot of people are interested in the book. It won't be my best seller because it will have a more limited appeal but I thought it was worth doing.
The first congregation in the Mid-Atlantic Mennonite Fellowship was established in 1972. I am a member of the second congregation which began in 1973. The number of us who have been with it since the beginning is dwindling. Every time a person dies their memories are erased unless they were recorded. We need to get at least some of our history written before everyone is gone that can remember the beginning.
At any rate, I feel like the biggest job on my winter list is nearly conquered. I still have a good bit of scrapbooking to do before spring and got started on that last week. But on Saturday I saw a whole flock of robins so that's a warning that winter is winding down and I better stick with it if I want to cross the last job off my list by the time outside work starts.
2 comments:
Romaine,
That will truly be interesting to read about Mid-Atlantic churches. Blessings to you as you commit yourself to compiling and preserving the memories of the Mid-Atlantic churches.
This book will be a must-read for me! Reading your post triggered my memories of when my family began visiting, then attending, New Haven in about 1975 or '76. I was about 6 or 7 years old at the time. I remember they were remodeling the front entryway at the time. Coming from the Weaverland Conference, I was introduced to the Sunday School experience. My teacher was a sweet woman named Olive Brenneman. It made quite an impression on me because olives happened to be one of my favorite foods! Another first for me was having a chorister, and I still can see Jesse Weaver stolidly beating time to the songs. I well remember the leaders at the time...rosy-cheeked Homer Bomberger, the gentlemanly Robert Miller and gentle Richard Boll. But the favorite of all memories was the aptly named Frank Hershey...the Candy Man!
Sandra (Garman) Hoover
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