Introduction

Biography

Joseph was the son of Ben­ja­min Zieg­ler Shoe­mak­er and Fran­ces Shell­en­ber­ger, and hu­sband of Eli­za­beth Se­christ Bru­bak­er (mar­ried 1887).

When he was nine years old, his fa­mi­ly moved to Ste­phen­son Coun­ty, Il­li­nois, where he spent the rest of his life.

Shoemaker joined the Men­non­ite de­no­mi­na­tion as a young man, and was or­dained to the min­is­try in June, 1892. On De­cem­ber 17, 1902, he was or­dained a bi­shop.

He worked as an evan­gel­ist and in­struct­or in Bi­ble con­fer­enc­es, and led va­ri­ous church ac­ti­vi­ties. For a short time he was pre­si­dent of the Men­non­ite Ev­an­gel­iz­ing and Be­ne­vo­lent Board, and for ma­ny years Sec­re­tary of the Men­non­ite Board of Mis­sions and Cha­ri­ties.

When the Men­non­ite Pub­li­ca­tion Board was or­gan­ized in 1908, he was chos­en as its pre­si­dent. He wrote fre­quent­ly for church pe­ri­od­ic­als, and ed­it­ed the Men­non­ite Ad­vanced Les­son Quar­ter­ly for sev­er­al years.

Works

• The Min­is­try, with Sam­uel Grant Shet­ler & John W. Weav­er (Men­non­ite Pub­lish­ing House, 1915)
• The Ideal Chris­tian Home: With Its Sac­red Sphere and Ex­tens­ive Mis­sion (Men­non­ite Pub­lish­ing House, 1925)