In the 2014 book, Mennonites and Media: Mentioned In It, Maligned By It, and Makers Of It, Steve Carpenter presents a look at the relationship Mennonites have had with the media. It's been a mixed bag, as the title suggests. While the popular media has found Mennonites interesting fodder for its audiences, Mennonites have been less aggressive in using media to make the case for their existence.
Historically, Mennonites have mistrusted the media, seeing it as a tool of that part of existence they often relegate to the "worldly kingdom," a concept that encompasses nearly all of what most of us would consider 'normal' existence. For Mennonites, the goal is to live as much as possible in "God's Kingdom," an existence ruled by the reign of Christ built largely on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount where he outlines what He sees as the perfect world order. This concept has been largely responsible for the penchant for Mennonite groups to withdraw from much of what life offers in terms of communications and entertainment.
More recently, Mennonite understandings of the interplay between these two kingdoms has undergone significant modification with greater acceptance of the reality that the worldly kingdom plays a significant role in the everyday lives of Mennonites. In fact, in some quarters the whole concept of the two kingdom theology is being challenged.
Carpenter's book, though inadvertently, offers insights into the fissures between these concepts. By delineating how Mennonites themselves have begun to become proficient practioners of a "worldly" media used to insert messages into the public consciousness, he provides a benchmark in time as the group rethinks much of its historical understands of their place in the social order.
Tina Siemens
Calvin King
Bob Gerber