Things we have known
Through the 20th century with AJ and Alta Metzler
by
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AJ writes: That was indeed an eventful year for us [1924-25]. Father died in April, Alta and I were married in May, I was ordained to the ministry in November, and our first child was born in February. Alta reflects on that eventful year: When he interviewed Alta, Wayne Detweiler asked: You set up housekeeping in Inwood, then AJ was soon ordained. How did that hit you? You suddenly had an ordained husband. It was almost more than I could handle, a pretty rough time. I was pregnant almost right away [after marriage], and in a new community. But when it came to the time of ordination, and neither of us had thought of that possibility, we didnt question it. The question was how to work out the details. He was in a big business; the owner had made plans for him. As I look back now, I think that I was too green to realize the implications! AJ grew up in a minister's home; he had an appreciation for that. He would have liked to have had more training. AJ remembers his ordination: I still had my church membership at Martinsburg, my home church from boyhood, and went back frequently to see my parents and attend church. When the church decided to call two of its young men to the ministry, I, along with four others, were voted as candidates. In those days the final choice was by lot after due consultation including a doctrinal examination. Those who were willing to go through the lot were duly instructed and a date set for the lot and the ordination service. The weekend of November 16, 1924, I returned to Martinsburg to participate in this process. Alta didn't go along. Our first child was due in three months and traveling was difficult for her. There had been earlier discussions with the candidates and their wives as to their willingness to go through the lot, their attitude toward such a call and their scriptural soundness. Slips of paper were put into each of two books, with the verse from Proverbs 16:33, The slips of paper were found in my book and in Irvin Stonerook's book. That evening we were ordained to the ministry. Some men going through a similar experience would testify that they had sensed a call to be in ministry, sometimes from early youth. I never sensed such a call. I felt that I was completely dedicated to the Lord and when God and the church spoke, that was guidance for me. I had no sense that this was the time for God's call until the books were opened. From that day forward there was never any question in my mind that God had called me to the ministry. That sense of call and my response and commitment has never varied for one moment in the more than 65 years since.
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About the Book
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
About the Author
Alice Metzler Roth is the fourth-born of AJ and Alta's children. She worked as news editor for the Independent Observer in Scottdale, Pa. and as administrator at Goshen (IN) College and in global ministries with Mennonite Church USA. Living five years in West Africa heightened her awareness of the significance of preserving family stories. During the 11 years that her nuclear family shared a home with her parents, Alice gave her father a cassette recorder--the beginning of this book project.