About CMU PRESS

CMU Press is an academic publisher of scholarly, reference, and general interest books at Canadian Mennonite University. Books from CMU Press address and inform interests and issues vital to the university, its constituency, and society. Areas of specialization include Mennonite studies, and works that are church-oriented or theologically engaged.

Manuscripts submitted for publication should adhere to the mandate of CMU Press.
For details, see Guidelines for Submission.
For more information about CMU Press, contact Jonathan Dyck at cmupress@cmu.ca or phone 204-487-3300.

CMU Press emerged from CMBC Publications, established in 1974 at Canadian Mennonite Bible College, one of CMU’s founding colleges. See below for backlist titles available for sale. All books can be ordered from the CMU Bookstore

Ordering Information:
Order directly from:
CMU BOOKSTORE
600 Shaftesbury Blvd. Winnipeg MB R3P 2N2
Toll-free: 1-877-231-4570 Tel: 204-487-3300
Fax: (204) 487-3858
E-mail: cmubookstore@cmu.ca

New Books

The Gift of Difference: Radical Orthodoxy, Radical Reformation
Chris K. Huebner & Tripp York, Editors
Foreword by John Milbank
CMU Press 2010 | 240 pages, paper | $29.50
ISBN 978-0-920718-85-8
Click here for more information or Download Media Kit

“What hath the Radical Reformation to do with Anglo-Catholics—especially Anglicans who have a lingering penchant for Christendom? The answer from this book: a lot more than you might expect! Huebner and York have staged a mutually critical interaction between Radical Orthodoxy and Mennonite theology, illuminating both as a result.”
James K. A. Smith, Calvin College, author of Introducing Radical Orthodoxy & editor of Radical Orthodoxy and the Reformed Tradition
“This book is a breath of fresh air. Retrieving central themes of classical theology, it is both faithful to tradition and innovative, offering a third way between liberalism and conservatism, one which sees theology as critical for public life without privatizing Christianity, on the one hand, or slipping into Constantinianism, on the other.”
A. James Reimer, Conrad Grebel University College, author of Mennonites and Classical Theology: Dogmatic Foundations for Christian Ethics & The Dogmatic Imagination: The Dynamics of Christian Belief
Chris K. Huebner is Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Canadian Mennonite University. He is the author of A Precarious Peace: Yoderian Explorations on Theology, Knowledge, and Identity (Herald Press, 2006) and co-editor, with Peter Dula, of The New Yoder (Wipf & Stock, 2010).

Tripp York is an Instructor of Religious Studies at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He is the author of The Purple Crown: The Politics of Martyrdom (Herald Press, 2007) and Living on Hope While Living in Babylon: The Christian Anarchists of the 20th Century (Wipf & Stock, 2009).

This Hidden Thing
Dora Dueck
CMU Press 2010 | 350 pages, paper | $19.50
ISBN 978-0-920718-86-5
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Book Discussion Resource for Book Clubs

This Hidden Thing is a lyrical and moving novel that offers one woman’s compelling, ordinary, and surprising life.

"I never knew what the next page of This Hidden Thing would bring, never could guess what way the story would go, never imagined what the end would be for Maria, whom I had come to love so deeply."
Katherine Arnoldi, author of The Amazing True Story of a Teenage Single Mom and All Things Are Labor

"Dora Dueck’s powerful and deeply engaging novel follows the fortunes of Maria Klassen, a young immigrant whose heart’s purest desires are in tension with domestic service, sexual passion, and the demands of family and church. Beautifully and intelligently written, the story transcends its Mennonite particulars to shed light on the universal and timeless struggles of the human spirit."
Sarah Klassen, author of A Feast of Longing and A Curious Beatitude

"Dora Dueck tells a compelling woman’s story too often obscured by history. She inhabits her characters in such a way that the reader is drawn into a living, breathing world that lingers even after the covers of the book are closed.This Hidden Thing offers a worthy female, urban counterpart to Rudy Wiebe’s Peace Shall Destroy Many."
 Ann Hostetler, author of Empty Room with Light and editor of A Cappella: Mennonite Voices in Poetry

Dora Dueck is author of the novel Under the Still Standing Sun and co-editor of Northern Lights: An Anthology of Contemporary Christian Writing in Canada. Her stories have been featured on CBC Radio, and in journals such as Room, Prairie Fire, Rhubarb, and Journal of Mennonite Studies. She lives in Winnipeg.

Literary Criticism

west of edenWest of Eden: Essays on Canadian Prairie Literature
Sue Sorensen, Editor
2008; 340 pages; paperback; $28.95
ISBN 978-0-920718-81-0
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These 17 essays ponder the character of prairie literature. What is prairie literature now, what has it been, and what is its future? That the prairies are “west of Eden” is an idea only, and a somewhat mischievous one. Is this spot distant from the glory of the garden? Writers have often pondered the ambiguous sanctity of the prairies, while those who recruited settlers certainly exploited the notion. These varied essays engage with Margaret Laurence, Rudy Wiebe, and Neil Young. They present analysis of NFB films and the gopher as icon. Here are strategies for teaching and views of the Canadian prairies from abroad. This is a significant collection of fresh views of prairie literature.

West of Eden takes us to a new stage in prairie writing: we dare to rejoice: we rejoice in our abundance of writers, in our many and varied talents, in our literary accomplishments. The editor, Sue Sorensen, dares to lead us in a multi-voiced song of celebration.
Robert Kroetsch

Gems abound in this display, particularly those cut by Sorensen, Cooley, and Calder. Sue Sorensen's Introduction alone is worth the price of admission.
Kenneth G. Probert, Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Regina

In the introduction to West of Eden: Essays on Canadian Prairie Literature, editor Sue Sorensen writes that “This volume prompts readers and critics to take seriously again the precise location where prairie literature is situated.” Location as construed by Sorensen and the other contributors to the volume is a concept best thought of in the multiple. How we construe ourselves as prairie dwellers, we are convincingly told, is reliant on a broad range of factors, including our status as urban or rural dwellers (or from somewhere in between) our identification in terms of gender or ethnic matters, our ancestry, and our shared colonial and post-colonial history, amongst others. What makes West of Eden compelling, relevant, even necessary reading is its insistence that the culture of the Canadian prairies is integral to our understanding of living in this place. West of Eden is the most comprehensive look at prairie culture to emerge to-date out of the scholarly study of the prairie west and makes strong statements about the need to continue to critically explore ourselves and our existence in this place. This is a must-read book for anyone who reads the literature and culture of the prairies, whether student, scholar, or general reader.
Christian Riegel, Associate Professor and Head, Department of English, Campion College at the University of Regina

Prairie persists.As a place, possibility, problem, pie-in-the-sky, personality, perturbation, prison, or paradise—the prairies continue to intrigue, baffle, and amaze anyone who pays them any mind.And, as Sue Sorensen’s collection of essays shows, people do pay them plenty of mind.All these years after prairie fell from grace, the writers in this volume show we’re still learning where to locate it, who speaks its tongues, what its languages mean, why it matters, and why this eco-people-pipedream still burns in our chests.
Daniel Coleman, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Department of English and Cultural Studies, McMaster University

J. J. Thiessen Annual Lectures

To Live is to WorshipJoel James Shuman. To Live is to Worship: Bioethics and the Body of Christ
In these wide-ranging and open-hearted lectures from 2006, Shuman, a professor of ethics, overturns expectations that medicine and worship have little in common. Shuman insists that medicine be in conversation with all of creation, instead of oriented to the individual, and that we resist the temptation to worship the medical industry. 2007; 86 pages; pb; $16.95.
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The Vice of CuriosityPaul J. Griffiths. The Vice of Curiosity: An Essay on Intellectual Appetite
In the 2005 lectures the Schmitt Chair in Catholic Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago urges vigilance about the ambiguous delights of mere curiosity and also about our inclination to see knowledge as something that can be owned, rather than seen as a gift from God. 2006; 96 pages; pb. $16.95

The volume is worth attentive—dare I say contemplative—reading by any who are concerned with the philosophy and theology of Christian education....[T]his set of lectures offers plenty to whet the studious intellectual appetite.
David I. Smith, Journal of Education and Christian Belief
William P. Brown. God & the Imagination: A Primer to Reading the Psalms in an Age of Pluralism
In the 2000 Lectures the Professor of Old Testament at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, develops the use of metaphorical imagination in the interpretation of the Psalms.
2001; 102 pp.; pb. $8.00. Sale Price $4.00
T.D. Regehr. Peace, Order & Good Government: Mennonites & Politics in Canada
The 1999 Lectures, by the author of volume 3 of the Mennonites in Canada series, explore the increasing Canadian Mennonite involvement in elected governmental positions across the entire political spectrum. Regehr examines ways in which the participants’ theology impacts how they became involved.
2000; 130 pp.; pb. $8.00. Sale Price $4.00
Richard B. Hays. New Testament Ethics: The Story Retold
The 1997 Lectures by Professor Hays of Duke University Divinity School presents the substance of several chapters of his The Moral Vision of the New Testament.
1998; 82 pp.; pb. $8.00. Sale Price $4.00

Mennonite Studies
Building CommunitiesBuilding Communities: The Changing Face of Manitoba Mennonites
John J. Friesen
2007; 240 pages; paperback, $32.50
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A comprehensive and accessible history of Manitoba Mennonites from the 19th century to the present day, witnessing to their diversity, faithfulness, and resilience. Generously illustrated with photographs and maps. An important contribution to the history of Manitoba.

2007 winner of the Manitoba Day Award of the Association for Manitoba Archives
Finalist for the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction, Manitoba Book Awards, 2008

In this nicely crafted, insightful, and probing history, Friesen masterfully presents the complex history of Manitoba's Mennonite community. Not since the writings of E. K. Francis and John Warkentin at mid-century has such a comprehensive study of this important North American group been written.
Royden Loewen, Chair in Mennonite Studies, University of Winnipeg

This is unequivocally the finest book on Mennonites in Manitoba ever written. Set within the context of Aboriginal, Metis, and Canadian history, readers will quickly understand who these diverse Russian Mennonite groups are and their place within Manitoba's colourful history. Easily read with many fine pictures, illustrations, and fascinating sidebars, this is one book I highly recommend to both non-Mennonite and Mennonite readers. Friesen has written one of the best ethno-religious histories that I have ever read.
Ken Reddig, Director, Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies in Canada

John J. Friesen, professor emeritus of history and theology at Canadian Mennonite University, has provided a fine addition to the regional Mennonite history library....Building Communities is a standard work that will not be superseded for a long time.
Sam Steiner, Mennonite Quarterly Review



Adolf Ens. Becoming a National Church: A History of the Conference of
Mennonite in Canada
This book presents an overview of the formation and development of a
church family with two German-speaking founding partners in 1902 to 238
congregations that together became a full-fledged Canadian church.
2004; 258 pp.; maps, photos, index; pb. $25.00. Sale price $10.00
T.D. Regehr, J.I. Regehr. For Everything a Season: A History of the Alexanderkrone Zentralschule
A unique collaboration of a professional historian with an eyewitness participant who brought along an unusual set of documents from the Soviet Union in the 1920s.
1988; 162 pp.; maps & photos; hc. $24.00. Sale price $8.00
Klaas Peters. The Bergthaler Mennonites. Volume 3 of the Bergthaler Historical Series.
Peters’ fascinating story of one group’s experiences on the long journey from southern Russia to Manitoba in 1874 includes his account of the ship getting stuck in the ice on Lake Superior. A biography of the author by Leonard Doell shows the extensive influence of Peters as a land agent.
1988; 92 pp.; photos; pb. Sale price $4.00

Biography
A President's Journey: The Memoirs of Henry Poettcker
2009 | 230 pages, paper | $26.50
ISBN 978-0-920718-83-4
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Dr. Henry Poettcker’s memoirs recount his passage from a Russian Mennonite farm boy to the president of Canadian Mennonite Bible College (now CMU) and the president of Mennonite Biblical Seminary (now AMBS). Under his leadership, both institutions experienced major development and growth, and yet, where others would boast of such accomplishments, Dr. Poettcker reveals a modest life of devotion to God.

"For nearly 40 years, Henry Poettcker served as an important leader in the Mennonite Church. Never one to demand centre stage, he was a great team builder. Through his memoirs we come to know him as someone who exemplified faithful, humble obedience to God's call."
Gerald Gerbrandt, President, Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, Manitoba

“Reading these memoirs I frequently picture myself as a grandchild hearing family stories. I am drawn by anecdotes about deprivation and provision, God’s call, the challenges and joys of church work. . . . And I sense the winsome faithfulness of a humble leader.”
Jacob W. Elias, Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana


A Generation of Vigilance: The Lives & Work of Johannes and Tina Harder
T. D. Regehr
2009; 340 pages; paperback; $29.50
ISBN 978-0-920718-82-7
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For three decades Johannes Harder was the best known leader among Mennonite Brethren in British Columbia. Written with care by respected scholar T.D. Regehr, this biography traces the legacy left by Johannes and Tina as well as their experience as Russian immigrants in early 20th Century British Columbia.

Sometimes controversial because of the way the couple tried to maintain strict codes of Christian conduct, the Harders are also remembered for their positive contributions. Johannes was acknowledged to be a tireless worker, as a preacher and pastor, and Tina is remembered for her hospitality and generosity. Although circumstances differed greatly between Russia and Western Canada, it has been suggested that both the strengths and weakness of their ministry in British Columbia were rooted in their Russian Mennonite Brethren heritage.

The book is more than a family history; it is in part the history of a denomination, that of the Mennonite Brethren in Canada. Indeed, it goes beyond Canada in that it includes the mission outreach of the MBs throughout the world. The book will be of interest not only to those who knew Harder and the Mennonite Brethren, but also to Mennonite historians generally. All Mennonite academic and church libraries will want to place the book on their shelves.
Harry Loewen, Professor Emeritus of History and Mennonite Studies, University of Winnipeg

Required reading for all who wish to understand an important era in Mennonite Brethren history as well as the forces at work in a close-knit Mennonite community such as Yarrow.
Abe Dueck, Former Executive Secretary, Mennonite Brethren Church Historical Commission

Growing up in turbulent times

Growing Up in Turbulent Times: Memoirs of Soviet Oppression, Refugee Life in Germany, and Immigrant Adjustment to Canada
Waldemar Janzen
2007, 290 pages, maps & illustrations, paperback, $29.00.
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These memoirs of a boy who lost his father to a Stalinist concentration camp reveal the hardship and hospitality of refugee existence. Dr. Janzen presents times of great historical upheaval as he felt them when young: the longing for the holy, and an intellectual yearning that led to his life as a respected scholar and teacher.

What makes this memoir unusual is that revolution and displacement are seen through the eyes of a curious child, one who revels in the excitement of that time without being overpowered by loss. This child remembers everything, bringing alive a dramatic era in astonishing detail.
Margaret Loewen Reimer, former managing editor, Canadian Mennonite

Breathing understanding, tolerance, and gratitude, the book was difficult to put down.
Harry Loewen, Professor Emeritus of History and Mennonite Studies, University of Winnipeg

One of those books that seems, from beginning to end, simply a privilege to read...because of the thoughtfulness and particular tone Janzen brings to the work.
Dora Dueck, Mennonite Brethren Herald
Siegfried Bartel. Living with Conviction: German Army Captain Turns to Cultivating Peace
Traces the story of one man’s struggle to overcome guilt and become convinced that the way of peace is the only alternative to war.
1994; 212 pp.; maps & photos; pb. Sale price $7.00
Esther Epp-Tiessen. J.J. Thiessen: A Leader for His Time
Thiessen was a long-time chairman of Conference of Mennonites in Canada and promoter of post-secondary theological education. He was also active on MCC and General Conference committees with special interest in immigration and missions.
2001; 346 pp.; map & photos; pb. Sale price $10.00
Gerry Peters, trans. & ed. Diary of Anna Baerg 1916–1924
A popular eyewitness account of the turbulent revolution years in Russia, told by an articulate young working-class woman whose diary entries reflect penetrating awareness and sensitivity.
1985; 158 pp.; with photos; pb. Sale price $4.00

Theology and Bible

New Perspectives in Believers Church Ecclesiology
Abe Dueck, Helmut Harder, Karl Koop, Editors
CMU Press 2010 | 330 pages, paper | $29.50
ISBN 978-0-920718-84-1
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How can the Believers Church family (made up of Baptists, Brethren, Churches of Christ, Churches of God, Mennonites, Pentecostals, and others) remain accountable to the Gospel amidst competing forces of globalization and localization?

These essays engage Believers Church theology with topics such as denominationalism, the sacramental tradition, the Emerging Church movement, and Global Christianity. In a spirit of critical dialogue, this volume revisits debates over the relationship between church and world, individual and community, and practices related to the church’s mission.

Gordon Zerbe, editor. Reclaiming the Old Testament: Essays in Honour of Waldemar Janzen
Old Testament scholars, theologians from other disciplines and colleagues of Janzen at Canadian Mennonite Bible College contributed to this volume. A sub-theme explores the use of the Old Testament in Mennonite school and church.
2001; 266 pp.; pb. $20.00. Sale Price $10.00
Harry Huebner, editor. Mennonite Education in a Post-Christian World
Essays presented at the Consultation on Higher Education, Winnipeg, June 1997. Presenters include Nancy Murphy, Gerald Gerbrandt, J.Denny Weaver, Ted Koontz, Dale Schrag, Tom Yoder Neufeld, Shirley Showalter, Shirley Sprinjger King.
1998; 166 pp.; pb. $12.00. Sale price $6.00
John H. Neufeld. The Story That Shapes Us: Sermons
A selection of sermons preached over a period of time and a range of occasions by a pastor, former college president and homiletics professor who has spent a lifetime giving attention to both form and content of his sermons.
1997; 162 pp.; pb. $10.00. Sale Price $5.00
Harry Huebner & David Schroeder. Church as Parable: Whatever Happened to Ethics?
A look at the way the church has responded to issues of morality and ethics. The authors offer a critique and build a case for an ethical approach based on scripture and the centrality of God and Jesus Christ.
1993; 140 pp.; pb. $20.00. Sale price $10.00
Harry Huebner, editor. The Church as Theological Community: Essays in Honour of David Schroeder
Twelve essays by prominent academics and church leaders on themes that inform the life and work of teacher, theologian and churchman, David Schroeder.
1990; 314 pp.; hc. $20.00. Sale price $10.00

Out of Print
If you are interested in the following Out of Print books, please contact us at cmupress@cmu.ca
Leonard Doell. The Bergthaler Mennonite Church of Saskatchewan 1892–1975
 Menno H. Epp. The Pastor’s Exit: The Dynamics of Involuntary Termination
 Helena Goossen Friesen. Daydreams and Nightmares: Life on the Wintergruen Estate
Henry J. Gerbrandt. Enroute: The Memoirs
Henry Neufeld & Elna Neufeld. By God’s Grace: Ministry with Native People in Pauingassi
 Olga Rempel. Siberian Diary of Aron P. Toews
 Paul J. Schaefer. Heinrich H. Ewert: Teacher, Educator and Minister of the Mennonites
 Jake Unrau with Johann D. Funk. Living in the Way: The Pilgrimage of Jake & Trudi Unrau
 Helmut Harder. Anleitung zum Glauben
David Schroeder. Anleitung zum Bibelstudium
Fritz Senn (Gerhard Friesen). Gesammelte Gedichte und Prosa
Echo Historical Series. Contact the Mennonite Heritage Centre at 204-888-6781 or email: archives@mennonitechurch.ca


Ordering Information
Order directly from:
CMU BOOKSTORE
600 Shaftesbury Blvd. Winnipeg MB R3P 2N2

Toll-free: 1-877-231-4570 Tel: 204-487-3300
Fax: (204) 487-3858
E-mail: cmubookstore@cmu.ca