I haven’t shared the story of how I became Mennonite here (and I won’t be now) but the course of my life was changed profoundly by attending Fairfield Mennonite Church while in High School. Suffice to say, I wouldn’t be with Mennonite Central Committee or in Cambodia now if not for that congregation’s influence.

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As a teenager I was fearful, avoidant, and withered. Earl Shutt, the church treasurer and pastor’s husband, was someone who at the time completely confused me. He was gruff yet gentle. He suffered from chronic pain and debilitating disability with a quiet grace. Back then, I was constantly bracing for him to lose his temper but he never did… Or if he did, it was so mild that it failed to register to me as losing his temper. He was often silent during group discussions but – just when I’d start to assume he wasn’t paying attention – he’d chime in with some insightful comment or a timely joke. He was always in the background, quietly making things work but never taking any credit for it. He was sometimes brutally honest but, to me, he was never mean spirited.

Depending on how one counts, Earl’s wife Pastor Joyce was the fourth or fifth female pastor in the Mennonite church. It’s easy to take female leadership in church for granted now but Joyce and her family had to endure significant struggles. Joyce is a public figure, an author, and has a strong public persona. I don’t know if Earl ever felt threatened by his spouse’s leadership and public successes, but if he did I never felt that from him. While he always true to himself and his opinion, he always seemed content to be in a support role at the church while his wife was in leadership. In recent years, people have begun to talk more about toxic masculinity and I think that Earl, decades ago, was a role model of positive masculinity to me.

Back in High School, I was afraid of change and would avoid confronting it. Joyce and Earl Shutt were fundamental in getting me over myself and into Bluffton University. They encouraged me, supported me, and pushed me when I needed it. University was a place of dramatic growth for me as a person and I can easily imagine it never happening if not for the Shutts.

After learning of my interest in computer programming Earl gave me one of his old work computers. I had programmed on a Commodore 128 and a Macintosh Plus, but this was the first time I got to experiment on a Windows computer. This contributed to my decision to study Computer Science in University.

Earl had spend two years with Mennonite Central Committee in post-World War 2 Europe building housing for refugees. I can’t remember what he said about that time but I remember the reverence and longing in his voice when he talked about it. Earl’s testimony to this powerful experience, along with Joyce’s, is why I decided to step away from my hard-earned bachelors degree and sign up to serve in far away Cambodia for three years with Mennonite Central Committee. It wasn’t a decision that made much sense by the world’s standards but it was the right decision for me and it was the Shutts’ faith that motivated me to take that step. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be in Cambodia now.

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Earl Shutt, laid down his earthly burdens at home, surrounded by his family, on March 10, 2022. He was 85 years old.

Earlier this year, Earl won the Gettysburg Connection’s Outstanding Community Contribution Award. The article provides an outline of who Earl was to the community, while here I’ve just focused on who Earl was to me.

“[Earl’s] a gentle giant. He does more than he ever let on. He never said much, but when he said something, everyone listened. He always did it quietly because he felt that it mattered. He shot from the hip and didn’t sugarcoat anything. He’s was very much a family man.”

Quote from Pastor Brenda Walter, from a Gettysburg Connection article on Earl from earlier this year

Earl was one of the people who taught me how to be a Mennonite. Not through words but through how he lived.