Upcoming Events
All events are open to the public and 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 near the entrance to the Young Center parking lot. Then use the building’s main entrance—beside the Young Center sign—to access the meetinghouse.
Tuesday, September 29, 2026 • 7 pm • Bucher Meetinghouse
GUEST LECTURE
Making It Plain: Why We Need Anabaptism and the Black Church
Mainstream American Christianity is in crisis, largely because it has repeatedly aligned itself with social, political, economic, and cultural domination. In this talk, Rev. Dr. Drew G. I. Hart will explore why salvaging a faithful Christian witness benefits from a convergence of the prophetic stream of the Black Church and the radical discipleship wing of the Anabaptist tradition. By engaging both of these centuries-old traditions, we can move towards becoming a liberative “shalom church” that pursues holistic liberation and peacemaking while embodying the way of Jesus as the church in society.
Rev. Dr. Drew G. I. Hart is an Associate Professor of Theology at Messiah University, where, since 2021, he has directed the Thriving Together: Congregations for Racial Justice program in central Pennsylvania. Drew is an active member of the Harrisburg First Church of the Brethren and joined the Bethany Theological Seminary Board of Trustees in July 2021. He lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and is married to Renee, with whom he has three sons.
Saturday, October 10, 2026 • 1-4 pm • Bucher Meetinghouse
YOUNG CENTER OPEN HOUSE
40th Anniversary Event
Join us on the Young Center patio during Elizabethtown College’s Homecoming weekend for popcorn and homemade ice cream churned by Etown’s innovative engineering students! At 2 p.m. in Bucher Meetinghouse, we’ll celebrate the Young Center’s four decades of internationally recognized research, publication, and public programming with words from Carl Desportes Bowman ’79, Rev. Warren Eschbach, and Janice Holsinger ’64.
Thursday, October 29, 2026 • 3 pm • Bucher Meetinghouse
BROWN BOOK AWARD LECTURE, part 1
Chasing the Hutters through the Hills: Sources and Translation
What did Jakob and Katharina look or sound like? What is their story? What were their personalities and leadership styles? After compiling a fuller historical record from 16th-century records, comparing manuscript copies of his letters, sorting through both hagiographic and negative portrayals of Jakob Hutter, and attempting to understand the times he lived in, some questions still remain!
Thursday, October 29, 2026 • 7 pm • Bucher Meetinghouse
BROWN BOOK AWARD LECTURE, part 2
Leader in a Turbulent Time: Hutter’s Enduring Legacy
Jakob Hutter was a compelling leader who had a brief ministry in Tyrol and Moravia. In Tyrol, he served as a missionary, baptizing and arranging secret conferences, while living in constant danger for his life. He was repeatedly summoned to Moravia to arbitrate among various Anabaptist factions until he forged a unified congregation that lives on in the church that bears his name.
Emmy Barth Maendel is the Senior Archivist at Bruderhof Historical Archives and the author of several books, including An Embassy Besieged: The Story of a Christian Community in Nazi Germany (2010).
Jonathan Seiling is the Publisher at Gelassenheit Publications and holds a PhD from the University of Toronto.
Tuesday, November 17, 2026 • 7 pm • Bucher Meetinghouse
SNOWDEN LECTURE
They Moved the School! Amish Education in the 21st Century
Mark W. Dewalt will explore three fascinating dimensions of Amish education: the remarkable growth of Amish schools across the United States and Canada, the distinctive teaching styles and educational values that shape student learning, and a behind-the-scenes look at the experiences and everyday moments that make Amish schools distinctive.
Mark Dewalt, a native of nearby Berks County, earned his bachelor’s degree in social sciences from Muhlenberg College and a Ph.D. in Educational Research and Evaluation at the University of Virginia. He is a faculty emeritus at Winthrop University.
Tuesday, December 8, 2026 • 7 pm • Bucher Meetinghouse
ADVENT SCRIPTURE AND HYMNS
Singstunde: An Advent Service of Music and Scripture in the Pietist Tradition
Join us for an Advent Singstunde—German for “singing hour”—patterned on Pietist devotional practice that combined Scripture and song. The service, anticipating the birth of Jesus Christ, will include texts and prayers in both German and English. Attendees will be invited to sing hymns for which words in both languages will be provided.
The Singstunde tradition will be introduced by Jeff Bach, the Young Center’s Director Emeritus, and then led by Bach and Rachel Bucher Swank, music coordinator at Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren.
Videos of Past Events