“Today there are four Mennonite congregations in Ukraine—Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kutuzovka and Balkova. Today Ukrainians and people from various countries are working together in effective partnerships in the work of the Mennonite Centre in Molochansk, in the work of the Mennonite Family Centre in Zaporizhzhia, in the work of Mennonite Central Committee, in the work of the Baptist Union….

“Today we meet with a sense of hope, with a sense that a Mennonite presence and witness in Ukraine is growing and is making a difference.”

Toews referred to the monuments that were unveiled in spring to commemorate the 200-year history of Mennonites in the region and quoted the Ukrainian mayor’s comments at that event: “We want to carry into the future the values that you [Mennonites] taught us, the legacy that you left to us…. We thank you for helping us to recover it. With your help we want it to shape our future.”

The benediction to the anniversary service was spoken by Alan Peters from the USA and Zoya Gerasimenko of Zaporizhzhia.

In the afternoon, many enjoyed a program of music and other events in Halbstadt/Molochansk. Some attended the opening of a memorial to agricultural innovator and leader Johann Cornies in Juschanlee (now Kirovo).—Compiled by Margaret Loewen Reimer

Winnipeg, Man.

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 here October 1-2.

What does it mean for us to read about Mennonites of all cultures and thereby gain an understanding about what being Mennonite means? asked Malinda Berry, who is African-American, at the conference on North American Mennonite history.

“Would Patrick Friesen [a poet mentioned in the Mennonite literature session] recognize me as a Mennonite on the streets of New York?” she asked. What about the segregation of races during footwashing and communion—have those rifts been repaired? “We still need to transform our history,” she concluded.

Others added their observations about the complexities of writing a North American Mennonite history.

Donovan Jacobs, who works with native ministries in Manitoba, wondered why there are only two small “associated” native Mennonite churches in Mennonite Church Canada after 45 years of mission work. “My concern is not with the missionaries who walked with the people…but with the many who did not. How do we work at relationships?”

What is Latino Mennonite identity, given that the mission strategy was acculturation? asked Juan Martinez from California.

“Much remains to be done,” noted John Lapp in his keynote address. “Just as we historians need to develop and accommodate to new perspectives, so does the entire church. We are beginning to see church agencies talk about ‘repositioning’ themselves for the new situation…. How will priorities change? How will resources be reallocated?… Can our definitions of evangelism be reformulated?…

“If we as historians of the church have a ministry it will be to highlight this new church history and to help our congregations and conferences, mission and service agencies, colleges, seminaries and even retirement communities think about their work in new ways.”

One conference attender was struck by how the younger generation is pushing the boundaries, especially in the Peace and Justice session. A highlight for her were presentations by Rachel Waltner Goossen, Washburn University in Kansas, and, Janis Thiessen, University of New Brunswick.

Waltner Goossen spoke about the broadening of Mennonite peacemaking from objection to military service to daily life. The women’s movement helped to raise issues of domestic violence and sexual abuse. The increased focus on conflict transformation is being incorporated into art, music and literature, noted this participant.

Thiessen shared her conclusions from studying Mennonite labour history and class. Athough we have discussed power and authority in the church, little has been done with labour-management issues, she said.

“I found the conference stimulating as a whole,” said Dan Nighswander, general secretary of Mennonite Church Canada. “What difference does it make that we are ‘Canadian’ Mennonites? This conference pointed us in the direction of looking for some answers to that.”

Henry Krause, moderator of MC Canada, also found himself challenged for his work in the church. One issue is our connection to the global Mennonite church, he said. He wondered what we as Canadians can contribute and what we can learn from our history and the history of Mennonites on other continents.

Another challenge is thinking about identity in a Canadian context, and “the connection between ethnicity and being a missional church.” The variety of topics “stretched my own thinking about what we are about as Mennonite Church Canada and the tensions that we wrestle with as a church in this time,” said Krause.

Many of the presentations will be published in the Journal of Mennonite Studies.—From report by Leona Dueck Penner

North American diversity challenges historians

The conference on North American Mennonite history at the University of Winnipeg in October demonstrated that the diversity of influences, experiences and theological directions within the North American Mennonite community will be difficult to capture in a single volume.

The diversity is at two levels—within Mennonite groups, and between Mennonite groups in the U.S. and Canada.

Within groups such as Mennonite Church Canada, diversity is reflected in theological influences (evangelicalism, Benderian Anabaptism, activist Anabaptism, liturgical renewal), Christian expression (emphasis on community relationships or on correct doctrine), worship styles (praise music, worship bands, hymnal-only, choirs), ethnic/cultural/immigration/language background (European, Indigenous, Asian), economic status, environmental context (urban, suburban, small town, rural), congregational size, and more.

Even within smaller groups, conference participants heard of startling diversity—the Old Colony Mennonites in Manitoba divided only last year over keeping the German language in worship.

Few presentations attempted a comparison between Mennonites in the U.S. and Canada, but helpful insights did emerge. Except for the Amish, U.S. Mennonites have not been labelled as an “ethnic” group for many years. This contrasts with Canadian multiculturalism that has encouraged an ethnic-religious self-understanding.

This self-understanding has influenced the way Canadian Mennonites relate to new Mennonites from non-European cultural streams, and reflects why Canadian Mennonite literary works sometimes reflect an ethnic, but not religious, ethos, in contrast to most “Mennonite” writers in the U.S.

This diversity between the national churches certainly warrants greater study, given the shift of the largest denominations (Mennonite Church and Mennonite Brethren) into national structures.

Nonetheless, the time for a new North American Mennonite survey history is here. Both the Mennonites in Canada series and the Mennonite Experience in America series did not extend much beyond 1970.

The impact of recent gender and family analysis requires greater integration into Mennonite self-understanding, as does the emergence of many non-European voices within the North American Mennonite world that seek to integrate their faith with their cultural context.—Sam Steiner

The writer is librarian and archivist at Conrad Grebel University College in Ontario.