This path-breaking volume offers the first sustained and scholarly assessment of the history, theology, and practice of Mennonite mutual aid. Long noted for their peacemaking, Mennonites have been less known for those efforts to care for each other whose 20th century expressions have roots in the Anabaptism of the 1500s. Here Mennonite scholars from a variety of disciplines highlight this Mennonite distinctive. At times informally, now often more formally, Mennonite communities have sought and found ways to express mutual compassion in times of need. Carefully and sometimes colorfully, 13 authors tell the intriguing story of the rise and transformation of Mennonite aid. Includes notes and hundreds of bibliographic references, including a special select bibliography of mutual aid.