Mennonite historians address the state of their art

The writers of an upcoming one-volume history of Mennonites in North America asked for – and got – plenty of advice at a “State of the Art of North American Mennonite History” conference in Winnipeg, Oct. 1–2. An array of historians from schools and colleges across the U.S. and Canada evaluated trends and presented new research in fields such as Mennonite theology, ethnicity, literature, economics, class, church life and more.

Speaking to “Race, Mission and Inter-Ethnicity” are (l–r) Malinda Berry, Donovan Jacobs, Juan Martinez, Stephanie Phetsamay Stobbe. Photo: Leona Dueck Penner

Co-authors Steve Nolt, associate professor of history at Goshen (Ind.) College, and Royden Loewen, Chair in Mennonite Studies at the University of Winnipeg, also heard plenty of commiseration for their “very difficult” undertaking, to tell the story of Mennonites on this continent in all their diversity in one book of some 300 pages.

The book will be part of a 5-volume Global Mennonite History project, aiming to tell the story of Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches worldwide.

The “framing question” of previous histories of Mennonites in North America, Nolt said, could be stated as, “what difference did it make that these North Americans are Mennonites.”

Theirs, however, will be, “what difference does it make that these Mennonites are North Americans?”

John Lapp

The history project, initiated by Mennonite World Conference in 1997, was the focus of the conference’s keynote address by series general editor John Lapp of Goshen, Ind. and respondent, Barbara Nkala of Zimbabwe, one of the authors of the first volume, on Africa (see review in this issue).

In 1994, for the first time, there were more Mennonites and Brethren in Christ in the global south than in the north. This shift in the “centre of gravity,” said Lapp, represents “a massive re-definition of Mennonite identity.”

In the first half of the 20th century, Europeans were “custodians” of Mennonite identity. North America then took over. “Now,” said Lapp, “we have to encourage and bless those [in the global South] to define who they/we are.”

Barbara Nkala

Barbara Nkala described the challenge of writing church history in Africa where the archives have been “human” rather than written. She called the work of church history a “noble venture,” one that requires perseverance, prayer and honest critique.

Several of the more than 25 presentations signalled significant shifts in how the Mennonite story of North America is, or ought to be, told. Three presentations, under the topic “Theology and Ideology,” on evangelicalism (Bruce Guenther, Trinity Western University), Anabaptism (Karl Koop, Canadian Mennonite University) and fundamentalism (Nate Yoder, Eastern Mennonite University) proposed new ways of talking about these movements.

Every Mennonite group in North America has been touched by evangelicalism, Guenther said, either by adoption or resistance. Evangelicalism has impacted Mennonites in North America through acceptance of particular theological emphases and practices, as a means of renewal or path to assimilation, through a heightened awareness of their ethnicity and a challenge to Mennonites’ sense of identity. Mennonites have also had an impact on evangelical Protestantism, he said.

Guenther spoke of the “declensive tendency,” by which historians have used an Anabaptist lens to critique evangelicalism. While Mennonite historians have been adept at telling “the differences,” he suggested looking at their “natural compatibilities.”

Koop spoke of “unhelpful caricatures” in the distinctions drawn between Anabaptism and evangelicals. Spirituality and piety are currently getting more attention in Anabaptist scholarship, he said.

Yoder noted a shift in language about fundamentalism’s role within Mennonite life, from “leaven” to “infiltration.” He advised authors Nolt and Loewen to pay attention to the “movement within the movement itself,” that is, to see the Mennonites as “actors” of these stories, not “acted upon.”

A panel on “Race, Missions and Inter-Ethnicity” not only critiqued what Malinda Berry (Union Theological Seminary) called the “Mennonite capacity for racism” but urged that relationships between ethnicities represented in the North American Mennonite story be told. This part of the story, said Juan Martinez (Fuller Theological Seminary), speaking as a Latino Mennonite, needs “a strong missiological focus.”

In a later discussion on the subject of ethnicity, Martinez asked whether ethnicity was the “crucial player” in a North American history. “We come in theologically,” he reminded, “not ethnically.”

Hans Werner (University of Winnipeg), who had presented a paper on ethnicity, suggested that “if Steven and Roy pull this off,” the book itself might “shape a new ethnic identity.”

Various voices kept drawing participants back to the wider context of the proposed North American history. “We don’t want a trunk history,” Royden Loewen said, “but one that is informed by a global perspective.”

In a global perspective, said Walter Sawatzky (Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary), who provided a summary of the conference, “Mennonites and money is a theme of near ultimate authority.” Ted Regehr (University of Calgary), the last respondent, said globalization for North American Mennonites means missions, international aid, the peace witness and international organizations like Mennonite World Conference. The book project must link to “broader internationalization.”

With this last word of advice to close “a rich, stimulating conference,” the co-authors were left to their complex assignment.

—Dora Dueck