The Joel Kauffmann Scholarship Fund
Joel Kauffmann graduated from Goshen College with a BA in communication in 1979. He was a member of College Mennonite Church for more than 30 years and a resident of Goshen for 45 years. From his roots in his college community, he made a broad impact around the world.
Learn more about Joel here: joelkauffmann.com
Joel was well known for his cartoon strip Pontius Puddle, which was syndicated in more than 200 publications in the U.S., Canada and overseas. In the cartoon strip, Joel had an uncanny ability to cut to the core in the nexus that joins faith, culture and politics. At the time of his death, he was the content coordinator for the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., the second-largest public museum in the nation’s capital. He was developer of the Nazareth Village in Nazareth, Israel, a first-century re-creation presenting the life, times and teachings of Jesus; and Menno-Hof in Shipshewana, an interpretation center about the faith and life of Amish and Mennonites.
Though he had been accepted into law school at the University of Notre Dame, Joel set his compass by Goshen College values; and in his case, true north meant pursuing faith issues through the media. Joel became an accomplished screenwriter for numerous films, including “The Radicals” (1990), which tells the dramatic story of Michael and Margaretha Sattler at the beginning of the Anabaptist movement in Europe in the 1500s. The making of the film involved thousands of Mennonites in Europe. Several decades later, “The Radicals” is still cited as one of the best retellings of the Anabaptist story, capturing the emotion of the movement. Joel was one of the founding members of Sisters & Brothers, Inc., a Mennonite nonprofit filmmaking group that produced values-based movies like “The Weight” (1982) and “Jesus’ Bicycle” (1986).
In 2000, he and a fellow Goshen College graduate, Don Yost, wrote an award-winning Disney movie, “Miracle in Lane 2,” based on a true story about a 13-year-old boy from the Goshen area who uses a wheelchair and is determined to win a trophy like his athletic older brother. Joel was the writer for another Disney film, “Full Court Miracle,” in 2004. Joel had numerous other scripts purchased or optioned by Hollywood producers, and he always seemed to be working on another script.
Joel was the writer for “From Abraham to Jesus,” a traveling archeological exhibit with the Institute of Archeology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem; the author of “The Peaceable Kingdom and Other Fallacies of Faith” (Abingdon Press, 1996) and a half-dozen other books; and the writer and producer of scores of media projects during his lifetime.
Joel had a deep faith and a passion for communicating that was nurtured at Goshen College. He had a joy for living and a string of one-liners that never seemed to end. Joel felt strongly that Christians shouldn’t take themselves too seriously, and he wanted to counter the pollution of conflicts in the church that harmed people and our witness for God in the world. He had an ability to see the possibilities and make things happen.
Joel was the keeper of family stories. He was a keen listener to the stories of other peoples and other times, and he was able to capture the heart of those stories. He loved working on the Museum of the Bible and felt it brought all of his life’s work, experience and passion into one major creative endeavor about the book he most valued.
Joel loved to laugh, write, create, go to movies, collect Native American art, read, travel, hike, play golf and spend time with his family and friends. He wasn’t afraid of differences of opinion on faith issues, but wanted to engage in conversations to learn and grow, while always trusting God to sort it out. He believed it was better to err on the side of grace and give God space to work in and through us.
Joel taught several fun classes at Goshen College. A student recently commented that Joel had a major impact on his life through this one class. Joel had a gift for engaging students and giving them the courage to talk and to share their thoughts and ideas. Joel was a guest presenter in a number of classes. When he was paring down his collection of books on movies and filmmaking, he thought of Goshen College and delivered several gift boxes to the Communication Department. For Joel, the foundation that was laid at Goshen College kept paying dividends over his entire lifetime.