David L. Weaver-Zercher

David L. Weaver-Zercher is professor of American religious history at Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. in religion from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1997.

Weaver-Zercher’s writing has focused on outsiders’ perspectives and portrayals of the Amish. His books in that area include The Amish in the American Imagination (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001); Writing the Amish: The Worlds of John A. Hostetler (Penn State University Press, 2005); and a coedited volume with Diane Zimmerman Umble, The Amish and the Media (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008).

Weaver-Zercher’s publications also include Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy (Jossey-Bass, 2007); The Amish Way: Patient Faith in a Perilous World (Jossey-Bass, 2010), both written with Donald B. Kraybill and Steven M. Nolt; and Martyrs Mirror: A Social History (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016). His writing has appeared in numerous journals, including Church History, Mennonite Quarterly Review, and North Carolina Historical Review.

He is married to Valerie Weaver-Zercher and is the father of three sons.

Contact information:
Messiah University
One University Ave.
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
dzercher@messiah.edu