Take a look at this unique book that the Henderson Heritage & Tourism reprinted ten years ago. It’s still available for purchase at the Henderson Mennonite Heritage Park General Store!
“Forever Summer, Forever Sunday” Book Release Program on Sunday at Heartland Theater
A new publication of a rare book of Russian Mennonite photographs, Forever Summer, Forever Sunday, will be available to the public on Sunday, December 6, 2015, at the Heartland Community School Theatre. Dr. John Rempel, the author and copyright holder, will deliver a lecture on Russian Mennonite history at 3:00 PM. A traditional Russian Mennonite faspa will follow his presentation. Autographed copies of the book will be distributed to donors who contributed in advance toward publication funds. A list of donors’ names will appear in the new edition in recognition for their generous contribution that made this reprint possible. Unsigned copies will be sold at the faspa.
The photographs in the book are by Gerhart Rempel, a professional photographer who worked in the Russian Mennonite colonies from 1890 to World War I. After the war, he and his family migrated to Canada, and he brought a few of the remaining glass plate negatives with him. The photos in the book were processed from those negatives. John Rempel is the grandson of the photographer Gerhart Rempel.
Sand Hill Press (Ontario) published the photos in 1981 in a limited edition volume. They sold out immediately and have been out of print since. John Rempel graciously provided his approval for the Henderson Heritage & Tourism to issue a reprint of that work, along with a new introduction.
John Rempel recently retired as the professor of historical theology at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Indiana. Previously, Dr. Rempel served as the founding editor of the inter-Mennonite student newspaper Arena, as a chaplain at Conrad Grebel College, as a pastor of the Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship, and as a Mennonite Central Committee liaison to the United Nations in New York City. From 2012-15, he was a half-time director of the Toronto Mennonite Theological Center. He is a graduate of Conrad Grebel College, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, and the University of Toronto.
After the book release on Sunday, copies of Forever Summer, Forever Sunday can be purchased at the Heritage Park Visitor’s Center.
