The Mennonite Identity

Today half of the 66,000 Manitoba's Mennonites live in Winnipeg. And except for their surnames, most are indistinguishable from the rest of the population.

To be a Mennonite is to be in constant debate as to what it means to be Mennonite. Is it a faith or is it an ethnicity?

While in Manitoba Mennonites can be thought of as having ethnic qualities, they remain fundamentally a religious group that is bound by a strong belief in living the life of Christ.

In Manitoba Mennonites have evolved an ethnicity expressed in their common history, the low German language, food and a rich choral music tradition.

Ultimately this faith is what unites Mennonites in all parts of the world.

And increasingly their appearance is changing from a white Germanic face found in North America, to people of colour.

But their diversity of national origin and skin colour pale when one looks at the diversity of belief that is expressed in Manitoba's relatively homogeneous Mennonite population.

Mennonites tend to be independent minded people. Their churches chart their own course and reflect a variety of opinions. Take capital punishment for example.

"If you have ten Mennonites in a room, you may have ten opinions on capital punishment. Officially, Mennonites are against capital punishment. Votes have been taken at official conferences, and Mennonite Central Committee, which represents the church to Ottawa, is on the record against capital punishment. But yet you could easily find many Mennonites who would be in favor of capital punishment, [and others] who would find that the best answer to crime is to lock the offenders up and throw away the key."