Mennonites and Easter

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A Good Friday church service with communion at EMMC, Blue Creek. The EMMC in Spanish Lookout also had communion on that day.

Old Colony

   If you had been driving through the Old Colony Mennonite communities of Shipyard and Little Belize on Good Friday in northern Belize you would have thought it was Sunday. Most Old Colony Mennonites observe Good Friday rather rigidly, with some parents even going so far as to tell their children not to fuss, fight or complain on that day because to do so was like crucifying Christ all over again. After a church service, families retire to their respective homes where later in the afternoon some gather for group singing.


An Old Colony Mennonite family.

  Holy Saturday remains a holiday but is treated with less respect than Good Friday. On Easter Sunday after the usual routine of church service, children in different homes eagerly anticipate the Easter candy hunt. While young children remain inside, a parent or older sibling will quietly hide chocolates and bags of candies in various places. Afterwards children compete with each other for discovering the hidden snacks.



Old Order




    Among the ultra conservative Old Order Mennonites (they are similar to the Hoover Mennonites who in turn are often confused with Amish) Easter is not “celebrated”. The 4 holy days mean nothing to them. In fact, many of them look on Easter the same way they look at Christmas. It is a pagan holiday which has nothing to do with Jesus, because according to the Bible the most important part is to commemorate His death and resurrection in our daily lives and not by empty rituals.


  

Hoover



The Hoover Mennonites of Springfield are more open-minded. While they do not hold any special services, they do lean towards using this time to reflect on the Lord’s death and resurrection.


  

Kleine Gemeinde, Amish Mennonite, Holdeman


A Kleine Gemeinde Easter service at Gnadenfeld, Spanish Lookout

Among the English-speaking Amish Mennonite churches such as Beachy and Conservative as well as among the Holdemans and Plautdietsch-speaking Kleine Gemeinde, the Easter bunny as well as Easter egg hunt and other non-Mennonite practices are shunned. Many of them hold a special service on Good Friday morning. The rest of the day is spent pretty much on leisure activities since businesses are closed countrywide. Holy Saturday is often a regular workday for many of them. On Sunday morning another special service to commemorate the Lord’s resurrection, sometimes followed by a potluck meal. Some churches hold a sunrise service, gathering for worship at the unearthly hour of 5:30AM. Based on how the congregations feel, they may or may not hold communion and feet washing around the Easter weekend. Most of these churches specially the Amish Mennonite and Holdemans, do not consider communion an established ritual, choosing instead to hold it only “as the Spirit leads”. Therefore communion is not seen as part of Easter celebrations.


       Easter decorations at a supermarket in Spanish Lookout; even though many residents don't hold to the practice of bunnies and eggs, they see no harm in selling them.

   

EMMC & modern churches


Pastor Blaine directs a communion service on Good Friday at the Spanish Lookout EMMC

The modern Mennonite churches such as the EMMC and others do not differ much from the above groups, except for their clothing and musical instruments. For the EMMC, a special service on Fridays with communion (see video of the Spanish Lookout EMMC; click here for the one in Blue Creek), a day of work or leisure on Holy Saturdays, and perhaps a sunrise service on Sunday mornings.


   


Note: In the EMMC and Kleine Gemeinde there are those who come from an Old Colony background; some of these families choose to drop the practice of Easter egg hunting while a few may allow it simply as a fun activity for the children's sake. Another practice being dropped by the more liberal churches is feet-washing as part of communion.




Due to some delays this article was posted much later than expected. I had it scheduled for this past Tuesday but then for some reason the page went blank so had to re-type since I had not properly saved the first draft.






















A. Mendoza

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