• History of the Mennonite Church
• Migrating To Canada
• Village Life
• Common Beliefs
• Business and Religion
• Service To Others
• Role of Women
• Love of the Land
• Mennonite Identity
• The Mennonites to Manitoba

The Lives of Mennonite Women

Traditional Mennonite views put men first ahead of women. For many Mennonite women, life has been a struggle.

Irmgard Baerg remembers growing up at such a time:

"I remember distinctly as a child, when we played games we desperately avoided playing the part of the woman. I was afraid of playing that role. I didn't think that it would be a whole lot of fund because the man got to drive out with a car. He got to get around. He had that opportunity while the woman was at home. But in those games that we played, I must have had a sense about that and I remember thinking - wishing desperately as a teenager -- that I had been born a man instead."

Mennonite women are emerging from traditional roles. But once it was not easy to have a family and pursue a career. Ms. Baerg remembers

"In the community, it was not looked upon that favorable, that I had a child and a full-time job. In fact, I needed some help, some domestic help...and wanted to put a little ad in our paper "The Mennonite Brethren." At that time I was advised that they'd rather not run the ad, I should probably look after my own children. But times have changed since then. Women, many women, are free to pursue their dreams -- to pursue something besides having a family and it's a wonderful thing."

The role of women in the Mennonite culture is changing, although those outside the communities are not aware of it. Dr. Cherie McCallum recalls telling people that she was marrying into the Mennonite faith:

"People's reaction to me marrying a Mennonite was really quite a surprise. I had a roommate in university, in medical school, who was raised in the Mennonite church - in the Mennonite culture but she was not a Mennonite anymore. Her first reaction was one of horror that I would be going to a church where the girls would be on one side and men would be on the other side, and that it would be so strict and prohibitive, and I would hate it. But that's not been my experience at all. In a traditional Mennonite marriage, probably the husband is the boss but we do not have a traditional Mennonite marriage though. We are very much equal partners (but I tell him he has veto power)."

The church has, until recently, been a place where the pastors have been men. But this male-dominated norm is now starting to be challenged by a new breed of women Mennonite ministers. One of these is Pastor Karen Heidebrecht Thiessen:

"I grew up in a household where I was always told 'you can be whatever you want to be.' There are not a lot of Mennonite Brethren churches who are very eager to have a woman as a pastor. I think of my own grandmother. Her response to me becoming a pastor was 'Karen, I affirm you. I pray for you every day because it's a very important thing that you are doing, but it's just too bad God didn't make you a man.' "

"To my understanding, I'm the only generalist pastor that is a woman in the faith. I think maybe it does bring some distinct things to the pastoral position. Partially because at least half the congregation is made up of women. They are often those who would go to a pastor sooner to talk about difficulties - men tend to be a little more reserved on that sort of thing. And I think it was difficulty, traditionally, for a woman to talk about intimate things with a male pastor. It's easier now that there is a woman pastor. It's also interesting that I have heard some men say that they find it easier to talk to a woman about persona issues than another man."