Mennonites in Belize

Photo courtesy of Thomas Alboth    This is the first article I am writing that deals with the history of one of the Mennonite groups in Belize. It briefly outlines the history of the Hoover Mennonites, a branch of the larger Old Order group.    Often mistaken for Amish, this group is the most conservative of all the Mennonites in Belize. Their conservative lifestyle is applied to everything, from horse-powered machinery to wood-burning stoves and simple clapboard houses.   Click  here  for a brief video.   These Old Order Mennonites from Barton Creek and daughter communities are  intentionalists : they live an ultra conservative life because they want to remain that way, not because the deeply-rooted beliefs of the church requires it. There is also more spiritual teachings in their group than in the Old Colony ones from Little Belize and Shipyard. However as time goes their lifestyle is beginning to lean more on tradition and ru...

  In Santa Elena, Cayo District, is a small congregation of  Conservative Mennonites. The church was originally started as a missionary school by North American missionaries about 20 years ago. At its beginnings they were in close communion with the Beachy Mennonite congregation in the nearby village of Red Creek. However over the years a formal, separate church was established, complete with its own pastors and missionaries.   Although they would fall under the Conservative Mennonite category, they are more liberal than other Conservative churches, for example compared to the churches in the Stann Creek and Toledo District. Since the phrase Conservative Mennonite is a general term, there are some churches who are very liberal and others who are much more rigid and conservative. Like other Conservative churches, this one sometimes gets together with members of other traditional churches for conferences or revival meetings, for example the Kleine Gemeinde and Beachy...