J u n e2 0,20 1 1
MPH
timeline
MennoniteWeeklyReview
endsi
Centuryof publishing
I Continuedfrom page1
Fiveemployeesare movingfrom
1908- Mennonite
Publishing
House
Scottdale
to Harrisonburg,
and
(1864-1
founded.
AaronLoucks
945),
pastor
Mennonite
of Scottdale
Church, the companyhasa contractto sell
building.
isgeneral
manager.
Daniel
Kauffman the Scottdale
Employees
of MennonitePub(1865-1944)
is Gospel
Herald
editon
lishingHouse,MPN'spredecessor,whichbeganin r9o8 in
1922- Newfour-story
building
buill.
weremorethanjust
Scottdale,
1927- Firstbookstore
outside
of
editorsandwriters.
purchased,
Weaver
Scottdale
Book
"Theywerehired for their spePa.,forerunner cialty,but theywereinvolvedin
StoreinNewHolland,
growto15stores. missionto the communityas
olchainthatwould
well,"Sharpsaid."North Scott1928- MPHpublishes
itsfirstsummer daleand KingviewMennonite
Bibleschool
materials.
churchesstartedas Bibleschools.
Therewasa lot of effort in mis(1902-1996)
1935- A.J.Meuler
sionaloutreach."
named
MPHgeneral
manager.
Overthe years,decisionsmade
by MPN significantlyimpacted
l,lo.2 published,
1908- l/e Songls
gospel
the Kingview,North Scottdale
withlivelier,
tunesfora church
interested
in misio*tsandoufeach.
and Scottdalecongregations.
About ro yearsago,the King19{il- PaulE b (1894-1384)
be
view and Scottdalecongregations
oonesGoqelfleraUd;nor.
eachhad about1Soactivemembers.The two churchesmergedin
1948- Twoshryanrcxadded.
zoo3. Today,ScottdaleMennonite hasaboutrz5 activemembers.
1952- Kingview
Mennonite
Churdis
With MPN leaving,the church's
Pastor
llllhd Llndwas
organized.
focus,
aswell asits members,are
thelourdingeditorol Chrislian
Living.
changing.
"Theway our congregation
has
1957- MPHhas175employees.
beenstructuredfor the last century wasarounda coregroup"
1959- Firsigraded
Sunday
school
lessons
forchildren
incoop- from the publishingcompany,
distributed
withGeneral
Men- saidConradMast,co-pastorwith
eration
Conlerence
nonite
Church.
his wife,Donna.
Insteadof an "agency-based
1959- Builder
begins,
a magazine
church,"he said,"wehaveto be a
guides, communilv-based
withSunday
school
teacher's
churchgoing
incooperalion
withGCMC.
forward."
Thecongregation
already
1962
becomes
- JohnDrescher
reaches
out
to
a
Nepalese
worHeraldedilor
Gospel
shipingcommunityin Pittsburgh
groupin near1962- BenCutrellnannedput*ehetandan Indonesian
by Greensburg.
Newfamiliesand someyoung
1964- Provident
Bookstores
first
in our
withCharles
Shenk
asdirector. adultswho are"interested
used.
peacepositionanclhospitalitv"
JackScott,who rvorkedfor six of
the company's
eightpublishers.
He alsodirectedMPH'sProvident
Bookstores
from t984 to 2oo2.
ln 1927,MPH openedits first
bookstoreoutsideScottdaleand a
yearlaterpublishedits first summer Bibleschoolcurriculum.
storeon King Street,whichPr,
lisher.sWeeklyfeaturedasthe
largestreligiousbookstore
in I
U.S.
Fromthe 196osto the t98o
MPH continuedto diversifyitr
products.Thoughcurriculum
periodicals
carriedthe organi
tion in the earlydays,printing
led the wav
andbookstores
Growthandsuccess
throughthe secondhalfofthe
MPH and the town of Scottdale 2oth century.
weresuccessful
ProvidentBookstoreshadti
throughthe early
wasan industrial mostprofitabledecadein the
192os.Scottdale
r99os,providingmorethan$t
keystone,
hometo a booming
steelindustry,localbusinesses, million per yearin cashflowtt
MPH, accordingto Scott.
mills and railroads.
"But with the GreatDepression,
everlthingfalls down in ScottFinancialcrisis,rescue
dale,"Scottsaid."All industries
Meanwhile,financialturmoi
in Scottdaleclose,exceptMPH
had set in. Challengesnot uniq
and U.S.CasketCo."
A.J. Metzlerbecamepublisher to Mennonitepublishinginciu
in t935 and lookedfor waysto re- changesin churchdemograph
vitalizethe company.He bought
denominationalloyaltyandtec
bookstoresin l.ancaster,Souder- nologr.
Whenthe GeneralConferen
ton and Kitchener,Ont., and
MennoniteChurchand Menno
openedonein Goshen,Ind.
MPH addeda two-storyannex ite Churchmergedin zooz, fito its building in 1948.
nancesbecameevenmorecom
plicated.The two publishingcc
By 1956,MPH had r73 staffr34 in Scottdaleand 39 remotely panies,MPH and FaithandLil
- who werenearlyall Mennonite. Press,which wereboth operat
In 2ot1,14wereleft in Scottdale at a loss,mergedfrom zoot to
asthe officepreparedto close.
2oo3 to form MennonitePubl
Dan Hertzler,a longtimeMPH
ing Network.
In zoor, the MPH boardrea
editor,joinedthestaffin r95zas
officeeditorfor MennoniteCom- firmedan earlierdecisionto sa
munitymagazine
andlateredited $75,oooa yearby discontinu
insuran
GospelHerald.He livedin inten- medicalsupplemental
paymentsto dozensof retiree
tionalcommunity-style
apart"Therewasa negative
mentsin the tgzz building,which
backwereavailablefor employees
and lash,"Sharpsaid.
Thecasewentto arbitration
communitymembers.
"Theresult,asI rernember
Livingjust a fewstairsaway
it
from wherehe worked,Hertzler
waswe wereoffereda one-tim
pagnentof $3oo,"Hertzlersa
embodiedthe missionof MPH.
"My beginningratewas85
"Thiswassosnull thatI sugg
w'honeed
centsan hourolusanotherzo
cd it go lo sonreonc
^- ...
l-
..
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