Things We Have Known

AJ and Alta Metzler were at the heart of the "old" Mennonite Church of the twentieth century. Spanning most of the century and following his father's activism, AJ, with unbounded energy and inexhaustible optimism, moved and sometimes shook the Mennonite Church. He seemed to be everywhere-except at home. Reflecting the role of women in her generation Alta faithfully and dutifully, anchored AJ, organized his domestic life, and raised the family. While she longed for a deeper emotional connection with her husband and friends, her gentle, accepting spirit enveloped and encouraged many. I think it impossible to understand the twentieth-century Mennonite Church without the illuminating story of AJ and Alta. Things we have known is essential and enlightening reading. --John E. Sharp, History Instructor, Hesston College; and Author of A School on the Prairie: A Centennial History of Hesston College, 1909-2009

How appropriate that these memories are arranged by the rubric "Things we have known." AJ quotes this scripture as he begins his recorded memoirs. The scripture continues, that we will utter "things our fathers have told us. . .We will tell the next generation. . .They in turn will tell their children. . ." AJ and Alta Metzler reflected on the stories of their parents and answered the questions of their children and grandchildren. The end result is a captivating story of a remarkable couple whose lives spanned nearly the entire twentieth century.

I am most grateful for these memories and the imagination that went into creating this insightful memoir. Most of all I am grateful for the lives and contributions of AJ and Alta Maust Metzler, who through their family and decades of ministry in the church,  demonstrated living with the God of the Scriptures, the God of their ancestors.

--From the Foreword, by John A. Lapp