Previous | Next 

PERSONAL OPINION
Welcoming diversity

John H. Redekop

I was raised in southern Saskatchewan, in Herbert (pop. 1000) and on a farm near Main Centre (pop. 45). In those days, the population was almost totally white and Protestant (largely Mennonite). In the Main Centre region, there was only one race. The first black man I recall seeing was a smartly dressed CPR porter at the Herbert railway station. In those years – the late 1930s and early 1940s – large passenger trains regularly stopped at Herbert. The porter’s red cap, black skin, white teeth and broad smile greatly impressed me as a preschooler. Then the black Wigden Trio sang at an evangelical camp meeting. They were impressive. That totaled four blacks in my life.

My exposure to other races was equally circumscribed. In Herbert, we had one Chinese family, the Wong Gins. They operated a restaurant. I suppose they served Chinese fare, but I only recall eating first-rate Western-style pies there on very special occasions. I couldn’t understand the parents very well, but that added to the interest.

The other non-Caucasian element in Herbert consisted of three Jewish families: the Brownstones, who operated a department store, the Dorfmans, who had a dry goods store, and another family, who owned the drugstore. Since they spoke some German, they almost blended into the dominant Mennonite culture. The only other racial group I encountered were some Natives, seen mainly at the Swift Current rodeo.

The MB churches, as well as all others in Herbert and Main Centre, were thoroughly white. Since all Mennonite churches functioned in German, attendance, except at some special programs, was not really an option for other ethnic or racial groups.

Most of what I learned about people of other colours, I learned from “lantern slides” presented by our missionaries. These presentations captivated me. I was fascinated by both the technology and the content. In school, there was additional exposure to other races, although neither the textbooks nor the teachers really stretched our minds in this area.

I also recall that our community, presumably unaware of the actual meanings, was rife with racist terms. In those financially challenged years, we “jewed” down prices if we could. If we ended up with a bad deal, we said we were “gypped”. If a proposed deal seemed too good to be true, we wondered if there was “a nigger in the bush”. When someone gave us something but then asked for it back, we concluded that he was “an Indian giver”. At school, if a youngster somehow antagonized the rest of us, someone would shout, “nigger pile”, and we would all jump on him until he apologized or pled for mercy. This was, I suppose, a juvenile form of lynching, although we never actually hurt anyone.

By the time I was 12, I had developed a definite set of ideas concerning other ethnic and racial groups. I think my views were typical in those communities. They can be described as follows:

Theologically, the views were at least superficially sound. I had learned that all races are equal in God’s sight and that we should accept and love everybody. Unfortunately, this theological stance was not reflected very well in actual practice. Without evil intent or awareness, we utilized racial slurs, practised exclusion and in various ways exuded a sense of superiority. In our congregations, we valued and sought to preserve ethnic homogeneity. I do not recall any efforts made to make “outsiders” feel welcome. I do not recall ever visiting anyone of a different ethnic group or any invitation being extended to any such people to visit in our home. Inter-marriage was frowned upon and was extremely rare. We genuinely approved of the establishment of Christian churches among people of other races, but this occurred, in our scheme of things, only in Africa, India and other distant places where our faithful missionaries laboured.

Fast forward 50 years. What is the situation today? Has it changed? In some important ways, it has. Many Mennonite congregations today, especially in urban centres, include at least nominal participation by several ethnic groups. We find considerable numbers from various European countries, some Orientals and blacks, and often Indo–Canadians and other Asians. In addition, we have numerous Chinese and other congregations mainly using languages other than English.

The Chinese MBs, the largest Canadian group not ethnically “Mennonite”, has its own MB periodical, The Chinese Herald. We also have the French-language Le Lien for our French-speaking sisters and brothers. The Chinese MB pastors also have their own leadership network.

What do these developments mean for the Canadian Mennonite Brethren Conference today? We face two challenges. In ethnically diverse congregations, we must take much more seriously the biblical exhortation to welcome all believers, indeed all seekers. We must respect and affirm diverse cultures, we must go beyond friendliness to establish friendships, we must affirm leadership and other gifts in all people, and we must strive to be authentically inclusive.

The second challenge involves our relationship to the growing number of MB congregations which worship in other languages. It seems to me that at present we are not incorporating them very well into our provincial and national conferences. It is, of course, a difficult challenge, as we know from our earlier transition from German to English. So what are our options? It seems to me that we have two.

One option is to take far more seriously the incorporation into our conference structures of our sisters and brothers from other language groups. One way to do this would be to assign certain board positions to a major group such as the Chinese in B.C. We have already begun to utilize resource people from these groups and need to accelerate such usage. We should also provide simultaneous translation at our conventions. Other bridge-building initiatives could be undertaken.

A second approach, one which seems gradually to be happening by default with reference to the numerous Slavic MB congregations in the US, is to establish a separate MB conference where warranted. Thus, for example, we could have a Canadian Chinese-language MB conference. In Brazil, this approach was taken when separate German-speaking and Portuguese-speaking conferences were established. They functioned this way for many years. Only recently, with the German-language group gradually switching to Portuguese, have they formed a united conference.

If we should decide to have separate conference structures, we would have to establish close co-operation at least at the executive and committee levels, for we would still want to function as one family. The details could be challenging, but the result could be advantageous for all.

Our challenge, then, concerning both integrated congregations and non-English congregations, is to practise the highest possible form of true Christian community. If we accept that standard, and agree to be other-oriented rather than self-oriented, the details can be implemented satisfactorily. Or is it the case, as one observer put it, that many MBs still want to maintain distance from churches which function in other cultures and languages, only now we want social distance rather than the geographical distance which I observed in the lantern slides in Herbert?

John H. Redekop is on the faculty of Trinity Western University and is a member of Bakerview MB Church in Abbotsford, B.C.

Previous | Next 

Last modified December 7, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
Masthead and usage information.