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Special thanks to D.
James Tindell,
and the
Trailblazer Magazine,
for making the story available to us.
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SIMPLE FOLK
by
D. James Tindell
(originally published in Trail
Blazer, 2003)
From the outside, the building resembles
many other modern churches: large, bright, functional. A sign
tells passing motorists on Highway K that this is the Northwoods
Mennonite Church and School. On a bright summer Sunday morning,
the parking lot is filled with vehicles, all modern cars and
vans. It's when the visitor goes inside that it becomes evident
that this place is different.
The narthex, or entryway, features a pair of benches along each
wall and a bulletin board. A woman is sitting on one bench, reading
a newsletter. She's about thirty, dressed in what the visitor
considers an early 20th Century dress: a colorful print but long,
around mid-calf, and short sleeves. Her dark hair is pulled back
in a bun, which is covered by a white veil. She greets the visitor
warmly and informs him that Sunday School is about to dismiss
for the day, and the regular worship service will begin shortly.
She offers him a copy of the newsletter, Reaching Out, a quarterly published out of Missouri.
It contains articles titled "The Language of Lies,"
"Working Out Marital Problems", and "Scientific
Wonders and Woes," among others.
In a few minutes people start filing in from an adjoining
building and through the front doors. Men and women of all ages,
and many young children; the men and boys are dressed simply
in dark slacks and white shirts, some with pinstripes, while
the women and girls resemble the first woman met by the visitor.
They are all friendly, and several come up to greet the newcomer.
Their friendliness is appreciated, because the visitor is beginning
to feel a bit out of place, with his tan slacks and yellow tropical-print
shirt, which fit right in at the services of his own Lutheran
church just a few hours ago.
He wonders: Who looks different now?
It was October 31st, 1517, when a Catholic
monk walked up to the door of the Catholic cathedral in Wittenberg,
Germany, and nailed a sheaf of papers to the door. The man was
Martin Luther, the papers contained his 95 Theses and those hammer
strokes would shake not only the door of the cathedral, but the
entire world. The Protestant Reformation was born.
The Reformation was a revolution in religious thought that would
touch every corner of the planet. Five centuries later, we have
a world so diverse that Luther could scarcely have comprehended
what he would create that day. In America today, Roman Catholics
are still by far the largest Christian church, with over 62 million
adherents, but the churches spawned so long ago by the Reformation
are numerous and popular. Nearly 16 million belong to the Southern
Baptist Convention, and there are 9.4 million Presbyterians,
8.4 million Methodists, some 6 million Lutherans and many more.
Among the smallest denominations tracked by the 2000 Census are
the Mennonites, with 92,000 members nationwide, outnumbering
a few groups like the Old Order Amish (81,000). In fact, other
churches widely considered to be outside mainstream Protestantism
have a lot more members, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses and
Salvation Army.
The Mennonites and Amish, along with the much larger Baptist
groups, have a common heritage. Only a few years after Luther's
brave act, a group of believers met in Switzerland to organize
their new branch of faith. They came to be known as "Anabaptists",
because they believed in the concept of adult, rather than infant
baptism. Among the early leaders of this group was a Swiss named
Menno Simons, whose followers eventually took the name Mennonites.
Another early Anabaptist leader was Jacob Ammon, and his adherents
came to be known as Amish.
The struggles of the Reformation soon included open warfare between
states espousing one side or the other, and even after the Treaty
of Westphalia in 1648 formally ended the conflict, there was
still much persecution of Anabaptists in Europe. Their strict
insistence on adult baptism, separation of church and state and
pacifism made them unpopular even among many Protestants. It
wasn't long before many Anabaptists decided to sail west, to
the new land of America, and freedom.
Menno and Orpha Eby came from the Ladysmith
area to Hayward in the early 1950s to serve the Ojibwe. They
began their first Sunday School in 1953, and a few years later
their daughter, Esther, became the first Mennonite to graduate
from Hayward High School. The Ebys sometimes traveled to larger
Mennonite communities to recruit settlers for the Hayward area,
and on one such visit to Indiana in the early 1960s, a young
man named Dan Schrock heard their story and answered the call.
Today, he is the pastor of Northwoods Mennonite Church.
There are nearly 200 Mennonites in the Hayward area. The Northwoods
church is the largest community, with smaller ones comprising
the Sand Lake Chapel and the Hope Mennonite Fellowship. As elsewhere,
what makes the Hayward Mennonites stand out from other Protestant
groups is their interpretation of Biblical teachings and how
they apply those to their daily lives.
Like their Anabaptist ancestors, the Mennonites believe in adult
baptism, although non-infant baptism might be more accurate.
"Some of the Scriptures are very clear on the subject,"
Pastor Schrock says. "A child cannot believe, they're innocent,
until they're old enough to understand they are lost." A
person's soul achieves redemption through baptism, but to the
Mennonites it's crucial that the person understand what's happening
and why. Most Mennonites are baptized around the age of 12 or
13, although "some don't make a commitment until they're
15 or 16," Schrock says. As with churches which practice
infant baptism, the event is marked with a special ceremony.
Mennonites also believe in living conservative lives, although
they don't go so far as Amish groups do. "We have the same
roots," Schrock says of the Amish, "but there are differences
in doctrine and interpretation of Scripture." Mennonites,
for instance, allow themselves modern conveniences, like electricity
and automobiles, while most Amish espouse a lifestyle more common
in the 19th Century.
The most obvious indication of Mennonite belief in this area
is their conservative dress. Some groups, like the Holderman
Mennonites of Barron County, require adult married men to have
beards, although the Northwoods men are mostly clean-shaven.
Women wear conservative dresses and from teenage years onward
must wear their long hair bound up with a veil in the back. The
justification of this practice comes from the writings of the
Apostle Paul. In 1 Colossians 11:3, Paul says, "the head
of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man;
and the head of Christ is God." This verse, according to
the Mennonites and many other denominations, establishes the
universal line of authority: God to Jesus Christ to man to woman.
In verses 4 and 5, Paul lays the foundation for the Mennonite
practice of female veiling: "Every man praying or prophesying,
having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman
that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth
her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven."
A woman who would refuse to wear a veil would be seen as attempting
to place herself equal to or above the authority of a man, in
contradiction to Paul's clearly stated delineation of authority.
Like members of any other faith, Hayward's Mennonites are involved
in the daily commercial life of the community. Northwood Industries
is a business owned and operated by the Mennonite family of Clair
Martin, who moved to the area from Pennsylvania. The company
operates a construction business, a real estate agency and also
manufactures sheds, gazebos and wooden lawn furniture. Shannon
Martin is the oldest of Clair's six sons, and says the company
employs a dozen people plus members of the Martin family. They're
happy to be in Hayward.
"We've been very grateful," Martin says. "This
area is growing, and we're grateful for the opportunities it
provides." The Martins strive to incorporate their religious
faith in the way they run their business. "At the core of
the Mennonite religion is basic Christianity," Shannon says.
"And it does affect every aspect of our lives, including
business. If a conviction works everywhere but in business, it's
not much of a conviction."
The church sanctuary is modern, bright and
airy, with 22 wooden pews. There are some distinct differences
the visitor notices right away: the lack of decorations or adornments
of any kind. There's not even a cross, and at the front of the
sanctuary is not an altar, but a two-stepped podium with a plain
lectern. Nearly 100 worshippers are attending today, including
visitors from Belize. The children are well-behaved, and while
they fidget they are mostly quiet. There is no printed bulletin,
and the hymnals don't contain any orders of service.
A young man leads the congregation in a hymn; it is sung a capella,
for there are no musical instruments. One of the men of the church
welcomes everyone, gives a few announcements, then leads a prayer.
He introduces Pastor Schrock, who talks extemporaneously for
some 40 minutes on the subject of spiritual revival. During the
message, the visitor sneaks a look at the two different hymnals.
Most are unfamiliar to him, but the books do contain some old
standbys, such as "Amazing Grace" and "Rock of
Ages", even Luther's "A Mighty Fortress".
The pastor concludes his remarks and leads a final prayer, then
dismisses the congregation. Most of the members stay to visit,
and the pastor makes a point of thanking his guest for attending.
On his drive home, the visitor is left to ponder the differences
between his own Lutheran faith and the Mennonites', but there
are many similarities, including the most important: we're all
children of one God.
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