No Strings Attached: Boundary Lines in Pleasant Places: A History of Warren Street / Pleasant Oaks Mennonite Church

No Strings Attached is the story of a Mennonite congregation in Indiana that existed for eighty-six years. The congregation began during the social and religious turmoil of the 1920s when some Mennonites in North America held to rigid doctrines and ethics implemented by central authority and others operated with a congregational polity and became more assimilated into secular culture. The struggle between these two different understandings of faithfulness was most passionately played out in northern Indiana. Placing the narrative of this congregation within the context of 500 years of Mennonite history illustrates the grace and the tension that has both beset and empowered a unique group of people who began as radical reformers. Although no strings attached refers to the womens headwear during the 1920s which had no strings it could also be the story of the pastor eating lunch on the peak of the steep roof of the church building! Reflecting on stories of these Mennonite people is an invitation to move into the future with courageous hope. Believing and behaving differently has not prevented Middlebury Mennonites from treating each other respectfully living in a community of love joy and peace and offering Gods healing and hope to each other and to the world. Few congregational histories provide the theological and cultural context of their story. This book is a striking exception! It is set in post-World War I northern Indiana the most significant setting for the struggle between tradition and innovation among Mennonites in the United States at that time. . . . This book is a revealing retelling of the struggles dreams and personalities that made Pleasant Oaks Mennonite Church a faithful community of Christ. --John D. Rempel Director Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre No Strings Attached is a fascinating story of division within one congregation told against the backdrop of tumultuous conflict within the broader Mennonite church. Hartzler recounts how that division played itself out and chronicles the gracious process of discernment that led to reconciliation and reunion eighty-six years later. This book puts present-day conflicts in perspective and explores themes of authority communal discernment and nonconformity which are as relevant today as they were then. --Andre Gingerich Stoner Director of Interchurch Relations Director of Holistic Witness Mennonite Church USA Fascinating! This story weaves together a particular church conflict with the historical context of the Mennonite Midwest in the 1920s. No Strings Attached invites us to grasp more fully the layers underlying church conflicts then and today. Our love for God compels us to continue the work of discerning boundaries around essentials and freedom in nonessentials to have strings attached or not. This book is an encouragement in that hard and holy conversation. --Lois Johns Kaufmann Conference Minister Central District Conference of Mennonite Church USA Rachel Nafziger Hartzler is a mother grandmother nurse and ordained minister in Mennonite Church USA. She was the last pastor of Pleasant Oaks Mennonite Church. She currently lives in Indiana and works as a spiritual director and retreat leader. She is the author of Grief and Sexuality: Life After Losing a Spouse (2006) and Nurturing Healthy Sexuality at Home: A Guide for Parents (2010).