Singing Service at Greendale Mennonite Church

-
   


  Knowing very little about the Kleine Gemeinde religion and being a naive teenager, I confidently strode in, located one of the middle benches, nodded at an older gentleman, and joined in the English song being sung at that moment. Wasn't 20 seconds until I felt more than saw dozens of eyes boring into my back. Turning my head slightly I noticed the stares. There were no welcoming smiles. After the singing service was over I politely greeted both co-workers and friends but to my great surprise they seemed hesitant to speak. In fact they even acted slightly embarassed to be seen with me. Was it the color of my skin? Was it my culture? For sure it wasn't my clothing since I was wearing typical conservative clothing. Plaid button-down, khaki pants and black leather shoes. I didn't know what to make of it. Confused and frustrated, I walked outside, inhaled the cold fresh air, and decided I would never again attend a Kleine Gemeinde church service unless it was a special event where custom required me to be a part of the audience such as the funeral of a close friend or a relative getting married. I also vowed to never hook up with anyone who was remotely connected to the KG religion in anyway. I simply could not understand why they acted so friendly and courteous at the workplace but clammed up and backed off regarding religious and spiritual matters. Why the invitation if you make no effort for your guest to "feel" invited? Made no sense to me.
  That was 15 years ago.
  The Kleine Gemeinde as well as myself have changed in those 15 years. I actually married someone whose childhood was spent in that religion.
  How much the KG church has changed was evident last Sunday night when we were invited to a singing servive at Greendale, one of the congregations on the northwest side of Spanish Lookout. I enjoy acapella singing but remembering my experience of 15 years back, I debated about attending. My spouse suggested we could perhaps find and watch online. I wasn't sure if they would be live streaming so finally decided to go. After all I wasn't the only non-white, non-KG who would be there. It was supposed to be a time for learning new songs and the service would be led by a song leader from our church instead.
  I was in for a very pleasant surprise. It turned out to be much more enjoyable than I thought with welcoming nods, handshakes, pats on the back, "glad you came", etc. extended to visitors. After the service certain church members of this KG church whom I had only occasionally seen introduced themselves, offered spiritual encouragement, and expressed their appreciation for having others visiting their church. What a remarkable difference 15 years of time can bring about. Did the pandemic (it's a little too early to use the "C" word yet) cause this change in attitude towards outsiders? Or is it because they have seen me in their community for so many years? Perhaps it's the influential millenials with their open mind and dependence--or addiction--on technology. As the Holdemans have softened their approach to social media, so it would appear that this Kleine Gemeinde congregation has greatly softened its stance on outsiders.
  Later that night my better half asked me, "Well, how did you like it?"
 "I thoroughly enjoyed it," I replied.
  And honestly I did.

 Above is a video of one of the songs.



















                                                 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