The Sider Institute for Anabaptist, Pietist and Wesleyan Studies

 

Founded in 1999, the Sider Institute for Anabaptist, Pietist, and Wesleyan Studies at Messiah College promotes the exploration of Anabaptism, Pietism, and Wesleyanism—the theological traditions that shape the “personality” of the Brethren in Christ, the founding denomination of Messiah College, and that inform the College’s educational mission.  The Institute seeks to achieve that objective in several ways:

 

• Through a Peace and Conflict Studies curricular component in the College, offering both a major and a minor in that area of study,
• Through public lectures, conferences and other public events that foster the values central to the Anabaptist, Pietist, and Wesleyan traditions,
• Through a student organization, “Peace Fellowship,” that provides opportunities for students to learn about and practice non-violent peace-making,
• Through the maintenance and enhancement of archives related to the Brethren in Christ Church, housed in Messiah’s Murray Library,
• And through the promotion of scholarship in the Anabaptist, Pietist, and Wesleyan traditions on the part of students and seasoned scholars alike.

 

The Sider Institute is named in honor of Messiah College history professor emeritus, E. Morris Sider, and his wife, Leone.  For a more extensive description of the mission and work of the Sider Institute, click on the mission tab.