Upcoming Events
All events are open to the public, and all are free of charge.
For events in the Bucher Meetinghouse, use “450 Campus Road, Elizabethtown, PA” in your navigation app. Although not an actual physical address, it will place you close to the entrance of the Young Center parking lot. Then use the building’s main entrance—beside the Young Center sign—to access the meetinghouse.
Tuesday, February 17, 2026 • 7 pm • Bucher Meetinghouse
LECTURE
Peggy Turner's Legacy: African American Reformed Mennonites
Starting with Peggy Turner's conversion in the 1840s, the Reformed Mennonites were the first American Mennonite group to have African American members. They continue to have Black members up to the present. What is there about Reformed Mennonites that enabled them to incorporate African Americans into their community decades before any other Mennonite group? How did African American members’ stories of conversion and incorporation counter the prevailing racism that they faced in other spheres of life? Did that same racism impact their place within the Reformed Mennonite Church?
Edsel Burdge Jr. is the research associate at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. He is the editor of volume 3 of Documents of Brotherly Love: Dutch Mennonite Aid to Swiss Anabaptists, 1712-1784 (Ohio Amish Library, 2023) and coauthor with Samuel L. Horst of Building on the Gospel Foundation: The Mennonites of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and Washington County, Maryland, 1730–1970 (Herald Press, 2004). He holds an MA in history from Villanova University.
Thursday, March 12, 2026 • 6:00 pm • Susquehanna Room of Myer Hall
BANQUET
The annual Young Center dinner gives faculty, staff, students, church leaders, and other friends of the Young Center the opportunity to socialize and learn about the Center’s activities and programs. A reception for Durnbaugh Lecturer Jeff Carter begins at 5:30; the dinner begins at 6:00.
Cost for the dinner is $25 and reservations are required by February 26. Register online or by mailing a check (payable to Elizabethtown College) to Young Center, Elizabethtown College, 1 Alpha Drive, Elizabethtown, PA 17022. Questions? Call the Young Center at 717-361-1470.
Parking is available at the Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, 777 S. Mt. Joy Street. Enter the parking lot from Cedar Street.
Thursday, March 12, 2026 • 7:00 pm • Susquehanna Room of Myer Hall
DURNBAUGH LECTURE
Church and Culture: A Shaking of the Foundations...Again
It’s no secret that American religion is experiencing significant institutional change. Declining church membership and attendance, particularly among mainline denominations, raise questions about the future of the institutional church. Yet, amid the change, young adults continue to demonstrate sustained spiritual curiosity outside traditional church structures. Jeff Carter will discuss what distinguishes this moment from earlier periods of religious transition and how the church might engage contemporary culture in response.
Jeff Carter has served as president of Bethany Theological Seminary since 2013. He earned degrees from Bridgewater College (B.A.), Bethany Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and Princeton Theological Seminary (D.Min.). Prior to his tenure at Bethany, Carter served Manassas Church of the Brethren and Florin Church of the Brethren, as well as served in Brethren Volunteer Service at the Church of the Brethren Washington Office on Capitol Hill.
Parking for the Durnbaugh Lecture is available at the Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, 777 S. Mt. Joy Street. Enter the parking lot from Cedar Street.
Friday, March 13, 2026 • 9:30 am–noon • Bucher Meetinghouse
DURNBAUGH SEMINAR
Church and Culture: Finding Promise Amid Change
Although religious change is widespread and accelerating, its effects are most clearly felt in local ministry contexts. Examining several distinct settings across a broad theological spectrum, Jeff Carter will facilitate a panel discussion to consider shared challenges facing religious leaders, points of divergence shaped by context, and the forms of promise that emerge in each case. The panel members will include Brian Messler, lead pastor, Ephrata Church of the Brethren, Ephrata, Pa.; Amy Shorner-Johnson, chaplain and director of spiritual and religious life, Elizabethtown College; Lexi Aligarbes, co-pastor, Harrisburg First Church of the Brethren, Harrisburg, Pa., and Audrey Hollenberg-Duffey, pastor of discipleship ministries, Oakton Church of the Brethren, Vienna, Va., and director of the Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center.
Tuesday, April 7, 2026 • 7:00 pm • Bucher Meetinghouse
KREIDER LECTURE
Analysis of the Interaction between the American Politico-Legal System and the Amish Christian Minority, Using Three Models
Frédérique Green will discuss the interaction between the American government and the Amish minority. Using her archival research and empirical data, which consisted of interviews of 46 people in the judicial and legal spheres as well as Amish leaders, Green offers a new approach for analyzing the interaction between the two entities.
Frédérique Green is a retired teacher with dual French and British citizenship. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham in the UK, where she lives. Green continues to research in her area of expertise because the common law is not static and the Amish communities also evolve.
Videos of Past Events