Mennonite Churches and the "C" Pandemic

-
   


 It was a clear sunny morning, and by all appearances it was nothing more and nothing less than just another Sunday morning worship service at this church in the modern Mennonite colony of Blue Creek, on the northern border with Mexico. The peace and calm was shattered when several officers in military gear arrived and proceeded to single out and arrest church leaders and pastors. A few phone calls, and many folks from the colony were soon at the scene, declaring that if the police arrested one of them, they might as well arrest them all. A John Deere tractor on tracks was parked right on the middle of the main road to try to prevent the police from leaving. Someone recorded a clip of part of the situation and within a few hours the whole country of Belize saw and heard enough to ramp up an uproar on social media. What crime had the Mennonites committed? In the eyes of the law, the Mennonites had totally and blatantly disregarded the government regulations concerning Covid-19: gathering in a crowd of more than 10 people (there were several hundred in the building according to some reports), they were not practicing social distancing, they were not wearing masks.



  Had the Mennonites really committed a crime by disobeying the regulations? The majority of Christians did not think so. A few, including a sprinkling of Mennonites, actually defended the government and valiantly held their own stand, pointing back to the Anabaptists and early Christians and stating that the police were simply doing their job. But they were by far greatly outnumbered by those who favored and defended the Mennonites. What really upset many Christians was the political campaigns taking place around the country where politicians and their supporters would hold parades and pose for group pictures, and also the fact  that public buses and shopping centers remained crowded without interference from police. Lastly, in the video, the police are heard swearing and cursing and one is holding a rifle as though expecting to use it, while arresting people who were not doing anything wrong except gathering to worship God.
  The arrested persons were later released, the community leaders held a meeting with government officials, and the last I heard, things had been worked out so that the churches can gather in formal services again. This raises several questions: Is God only able to bless you and fill you with His Spirit when you are in an official church building? All those modern and traditional Mennonites clamoring for churches to be fully opened, do they really fear God more than men? Or is it simply a matter of an ethnic religious minority wanting to do things their way as they have traditionally done for several hundred years? If church gathering in a large group inside one specific building is so important to the point of breaking the law instead of adapting to it, then who is right? Those Mennonites who disregard the 10-person limit and wearing masks because it's more important to "obey God rather than men", or those Mennonites who follow the law and are now holding small scattered meetings in groups of 10 because they are "rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's"?
  Yes, there are conservative but non-traditional Mennonite churches who are conscientiously but not necessarily willingly submitting to regulations and have worked out different plans and systems for fellowship. Notably these congregations do not live in colonies and are not made up of ethnic Russian Mennonites but rather of Swiss Mennonite background. For example the Conservative, Beachy, and Holdemans. What these Mennonite branches are doing is quite interesting. One church split into several groups. A group uses the church building in the morning, a second group after lunch, a third group in the evening thus avoiding overcrowding while still being able to use the same building. Another church created small groups; each group is reshuffled weekly and meets in a garage, or backyard, or inside homes. A few months ago when gatherings were restricted to less than 10 people, these churches were using Zoom and Facebook to hold services. After the government lifted the restriction to 10 people, they resorted to this method of small groups. They believe they are standing up for God by respecting the law without disobeying the Bible. Are they really? Or are they simply weak and faithless Christians who are too scared of the government?
  One thing is very clear: this Covid-19 situation has created a whole new challenge for traditional and conservative Anabaptists.


 

                                                    A. Mendoza

Popular posts from this blog

Mennonite Foods

-
Image
         The Old Colony, Kleine Gemeinde, and Old Order have a diet which mainly consists of homemade bread, cottage cheese, noodles, pork, potatoes, and stewed beans. Milk is used in many of their meals, such as casseroles and faspa foods. Some dishes from the Plautdietsch groups are:   nuddelsuppe:  noodle soup made with home-made noodles    werenaki:  (perogies see picture above ) made of pockets of flour with  glums  (cottage cheese) filling,  schmaunfat  (white gravy made of flour, milk and black pepper), and  formavorscht  (pork sausage). The perogies are then boiled and served. I recommend it to anyone who wants to try out Plautdietsch foods although I prefer the fried ones.  Cheesy or creamy casseroles: often it will contain meat and cream with potatoes or macaroni   borscht:  a vegetable soup with bits of meat sometimes added to it    Clops: patties from either ground m...
Read more

Mennonites and Music

-
   Music, the comfort of the soul, the way of sin to some, a sign of true worship to others.   Within the Mennonite family in Belize music to some degree is used or listened to, with each branch viewing it based on their understanding of the Bible.                          The Kleine Gemeinde   Used to consider any musical instrument as wrong. But after acapella recorded music was approved, it introduced a need for tape recorders, then slowly over the years other instruments were approved. Church singing is still acapella, and radio and TV are still not accepted. However, instruments such as violins (which is often played by KG youth girls) and guitars are used during youth singing, community concerts, and personal entertainment or family singing. The organ is also used sometimes in such events.       The Beachy and Conservative Mennonites     Also sing acapella style dur...
Read more

Mennonite Houses

-
Image
 Mennonites in Belize have become famous for their custom-built wooden "Mennonite houses". The two main  house builders in the country,  Plett's Home Builders and Linda Vista Lumberyard , both located in Spanish Lookout, have become reknowned for their prefabricated houses which are built in Spanish Lookout and shipped countrywide. Houses are built from lumber or colored sheet metal and prices will vary of course based on the amount of details a customer wants. A small house with 2 bedrooms and a bathroom and kitchen may cost you an estimated US$12,000 to US$15,000. (Check directly with the company for up-to-date pricing and delivery fees.)    A "Mennonite house", custom built by Plett's Home Builder's; photo via Facebook   Plett's Home Builders offers both metal and wood siding with a variety of porch and window designs. Linda Vista, which is just down the road from Plett's, also offers excellent building options. Also inside Spanish Lookout i...
Read more