This is a report of a study on people who graduated from Lancaster Mennonite High School in 1953. Although people pursued many different paths, the data show amazing persistence of Mennonite identity over the years.

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Results of Lancaster Mennonite High School
Alumni Survey

James Hurd and Barbara Breneman Hurd [Barbara is a 1953 graduate]

 This survey was created to find out what has happened to the Lancaster Mennonite High School (LMH) class of 1953, especially their education, church and Anabaptist commitments, and experiences of their children. The results are a testimony to the grace of God and the power of LMH.

Graduates from the year 1953 met in Lititz, Pennsylvania this June to celebrate the 65^th anniversary of their graduation. Thirty-five people of this class attended, plus 14 of their spouses.

We were interested in understanding how “useful” an LMH education is, and how to measure its impact over the years. What did people do after graduation? What vocations did they pursue?  How many alumni attend an Anabaptist/Mennonite church today, and how many still identify as Anabaptist? How many sent their children to LMH or to an Anabaptist school?

Forty-two surveys were returned, including surveys from LMH’ers and from their spouses. We refer to all these as “respondents.” Fifteen of the respondents were males; 27 were females. Thirty-five of these were graduates of LMH.

General

Of all respondents, 20 had lived primarily in Lancaster County (55%), ten in a different Pennsylvania county, six in a different state, and three had lived outside of the U.S.

Of those who listed their primary vocation, eight females listed parenting/homemaker (no males listed this), seven people listed a blue-collar-type job (e.g., trucking, market), 19 listed a white-collar-type job (e.g., teacher, salesman), and three listed a church-related vocation (pastor, missionary).

Who did these LMH’ers marry? Overall, 14 out of the 35 graduates (40%; ten females and four males) chose an LMH spouse .

Education

Nine LMH’ers (26%) reported they’d received an advanced degree beyond high school.

Eighteen LMH’ers (51%) reported that at least one of their children had attended LMH! In the 14 cases where both parents were LMH’ers, 10 of the parents (71%) had at least one child who attended LMH.

Anabaptist loyalty

Who is still Anabaptist? Twenty-six LMH’ers reported that they were presently attending an Anabaptist/Mennonite church (76%). Four reported attending an “Evangelical” church, and four reported attending an “other Christian church.” Twenty-seven reported that they still considered themselves Anabaptist/Mennonite (77%). Five considered themselves “Evangelical,” and three, “other Christian.”

Twenty out of 30 LMH’ers (67%) reported that today, at least one of their children identifies as Anabaptist/Mennonite. But of the 14 graduates who married fellow LMH’ers, 11 had children that today identify as Anabaptist/Mennonite (79%).

 Discussion

This survey showed that LMH trained people well for work in many roles—most graduates worked for years in white- or blue-collar roles.

Graduates demonstrated a high loyalty, both to LMH and to Mennonite/Anabaptist church and belief. Forty percent of the LMH’ers had married fellow LMH’ers. Most of the respondents are now in Anabaptist churches, and most have children identifying with Anabaptist/Mennonite churches.

This study has some limitations. We could not survey 1953 graduates who failed to attend—on balance, those who attended were probably more loyal to LMH and to the Anabaptist movement than those who did not. If respondents had written in some answers rather than merely ticking boxes, more data would have been revealed. For instance, it is not clear which individuals are widowed or never-married. And where people did not answer questions about their children, they may have merely chosen to not answer, or, more likely, they have no children.

Future studies should include:

1.      More marriage data—married, divorced, widowed, or never-married.
2.      Focus groups or short narratives about the Mennonite/Anabaptist experience of the alumni, to give a deeper picture of graduates’ life experiences.

This survey reveals the amazing journeys of the members of the LMH class of 1953. It provides testimony to the power of an LMH education, to the graduates’ influence down through the years, and to the continuing vibrancy of the Anabaptist/ Mennonite experience.

Like most people, I have two desires—to satisfy my food cravings and to live a healthy, long life.

When I was a teenager, I was skinny, so I didn’t worry about getting fat—I just fed my body what it craved. Every weekday before I left the Orange Daily News to deliver my newspapers, I would walk next door to the jewelers and put a dime in his pop machine to buy my bottle of Coke. Then, biking to my paper route, I would stop at the gas station and buy a Heath candy bar. Another time I bought a quarter pound of fudge, took a chaste bite, and then ate the whooole thing in ten minutes. [Stupid, but it was totally worth it].

Even today, I favor the ice cream and chocolate food groups over leafy vegetables, carrots, or peas. My wife, the voice of reason, fights a long-term battle against my cravings. She cooks wonderful, healthy meals, but I still major on desserts. She says, “I give up! Eat what you want. But don’t expect me to take care of you when you get sick.” (Empty threat.) She’s already picked out my tombstone epitaph—“I tried to tell him, but he wouldn’t listen.”

Despite all I’ve learned about nutrition, despite the scientific evidence, despite my wife’s rational suggestions, I still eat junk food.

There’s a reason I eat this way—I’m an expert at self-deception (SD). I tell myself: “I eat better than my friends,” “I’ll eat better next week,” “I know a guy who ate junk food and lived into his 90s,” or, “Just this one time; I’ll take just one piece.”

Do I believe these lies? Well, it’s complicated. The best explanation is that I believe the lie now. (Why spoil a great experience!) And just after eating, I can repent and believe the voice of reason. This allows me to enjoy my junk food and still preserve my self-respect—to see myself as a rational, disciplined person who will make good (future) decisions. But of course, that’s a lie also, and my fake resolve doesn’t motivate me to change my behavior.

Why do we do this? SD is always motivated—you have reasons to deceive yourself. You self-deceive because you want something. What you want is to have your cake and eat it too, so you act on one conviction that contradicts a more important conviction. You want to satisfy an immediate desire or give yourself permission to violate a moral code.

SD works because of our compartmentalized brains. Each of us has a “reptile” brain (hippocampus)—older, simpler, and associated with instinctual behavior, such as “fight” or “flight.” In addition we have a new brain (“neocortex”) that is rational and deliberating, the part of our brain that says, “Wait a minute—will this serve your long-term interest?” We can call the hippocampus “Junior,” and the neocortex “Mother.” Junior does what Junior wants to do; Mother does what she plans to do. SD occurs when we let Junior win over Mother.

But why worry about a little innocent SD?

Because it’s not innocent. The stories above show how SD can be dangerous to your health. SD promotes lazy, habitual eating that may lead to addiction. SD represents a divided care for yourself, and works against a healthy, integrated personhood. Most seriously, it tempts you to “self-divinize”— to substitute your own flawed judgment for God’s.

What to do about SD? How combat the voice of Junior and listen to Mother’s voice?

First, I need to continually remind myself to focus on the long term, to remember that I’m constantly investing for the future, and to focus on behaviors that will enhance that future.

Second, it helps if I can find an accountability partner—a brave, faithful friend who will hold me accountable, who will constantly tell me the truth and call me out when I’m self-deceiving.

Third, I can reward myself when I’ve made a good decision. Like Mother used to say, “If you eat your carrots and broccoli you’ll enjoy your dessert more.”

Finally, I can listen more to the voice of the Spirit, that voice that knows me most intimately, cares most deeply about me. I can base my choices, not on my desires of the moment, but rather on God’s highest, best purpose for me. My body thinks it knows what’s good for me, but the Spirit knows even better.