This is sobering guys, really it is.steve-in-kville wrote:Or perhaps you will be held at arm's length or perhaps second-class to everyone else. Its all about pedigree...Wade wrote:However what new comers NEED to realize is that just because Mennonites are hospitable and welcoming is NO indication that you are accepted.
Acceptance is a really strange concept. How do you know if you are accepted vs. simply being tolerated? I am assuming that you guys base it largely on personal feelings?
I know some people at my church would prefer that I was not there. Especially when I called them out for willfully disobeying the standards at the church picnic within my first month of being there (Probably should have done that in private). I've learned my lesson since, breaking the standard is "not a big deal" as long as you know which boundaries are not enforced or you do it when the ministry is not around. So frustrating!
I do feel that I have made several good friends, and that I have found a good place to be while deciding which of the different Mennonite “levels” I fit on. I feel accepted by the people in my age group, so that’s a plus. But the pedigree issue is absolutely true. The Mennonite game only has one loser, the one who can’t play by default. You feel out of place without the “right” last name, and I have experienced this even with a Mennonite sounding last name (my name is extremely common in Mennonite circles, but also in “the world”). I have never felt that I was held at arm’s length by anyone, but maybe it because I am able to pull of the whole “Mennonite” look.