Carson Center Background

Globally minded education, mission, and service are not new to Tabor College and the Mennonite Brethren denomination which owes the college. The Mennonite Brethren denomination has a global and service perspective borne both out of its theological commitments and out of necessity.

The namesake of the Mennonite Brethren denomination, Menno Simons, and the “Menists” with whom he was affiliated in the mid 16th century, were at the core globally and service minded from the inception of the movement. Through the reading of scripture, the Anabaptists were passionate about and effective in sharing the “good news” of Jesus Christ with a theology that was deeply committed to doing good. They remained committed to their beliefs and put their faith into action even while threatened with arrest and execution for doing so.

To escape the threat of being imprisoned or executed for their beliefs, the Mennonites migrated to Prussia (northern Poland) in the 1560s. In 1789, many Mennonites left Prussia because of religious oppression and accepted Catherine the Great's invitation to settle in the Ukraine. While in the Ukraine, the Mennonite Brethren church was formally founded. Because of religious intolerance which began to take place in the Ukraine in the mid 1800s, the Mennonites and Mennonite Brethren once again were forced to move. This time the migration was to the United States, with central Kansas the destination for many beginning in 1874. In time, to the desire for Christian education among the Mennonite Brethren led to the founding of Tabor College in 1908.

Not all of those who migrated moved to the United States or to Kansas. Mennonite Brethren also moved to Canada, Mexico, and South America. The dispersion caused by religious intolerance, along with evangelical commitment to “go into all the world ” has made the Mennonite Brethren an international church with congregations in over 20 countries and a total membership estimated to be over 300,000.

The trauma associated with forced migrations, combined with an Anabaptist theology that stresses social justice and social compassion, has developed a strong commitment to service as well. One tangible illustration of this commitment is the influence the Mennonite Brethren had in developing Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), an internationally renowned social service agency. Peter C. Hiebert, a Mennonite Brethren and Tabor College administrator, was the founding chairman of MCC.

The Carson Center for Mission, Service, and Global Education is not breaking new ground. Tabor’s first president, H.W. Lohrenz, articulated the Tabor vision as a three-fold aim: offering a liberal arts education in a Christian setting; preparing young men and women for spiritual leadership in the church; and providing a program of vocational training. The Carson Center is taking passions that lie deep within the soul of the denomination and college and breathing new life into them for our time and in ways that incorporate the changes that are taking place in the world.