Role of women in the Mennonite church

[Mennogal]

I realize that this might differ widely from CA to progressive, our maybe not at all, I don’t know... hence the question. What are women’s roles in the Mennonite church these days? Please qualify by type of church (and don;t get mad at me for asking!)...

[Josh]

I realize that this might differ widely from CA to progressive, our maybe not at all, I don’t know... hence the question. What are women’s roles in the Mennonite church these days? Please qualify by type of church (and don;t get mad at me for asking!)...

It would depend on the type of Mennonite church. Mennonites are such a broad group that you could find some churches where no women speak during the church service, all the way to a Mennonite church where a woman is the senior pastor.

Is there a particular type of church you are interested in learning more about?

[Hats Off]

Women's role in our Old Order Mennonite church is as follows:
1) Women do not teach, or otherwise take part in the service other than to help with singing.
2) Women do take part in church counsel meetings where they are free to express themselves to the leadership.
3) Women do share their thoughts with each other and their husbands.
4) At home women are subject to their husband but do take a lead role in child training and home economics.
5) Married women very seldom work outside of the home although they do volunteer at thrift shops, etc.
6) Many women do have some home based business such as quilting, gardening for profit, running a store from the home, etc.
7) Women do make many of their own decisions. My wife goes shopping or to the doctor or visiting the children when it suits her. We may discuss these things a bit - do I need anything in town while she is there, etc.
8) I would not go church hopping or shopping without involving her.
9) Our single daughters make their own decisions about things like buying a home or selling a home, although they will still run it by us or their brothers.
10) They are not slaves or housebound or highly restricted in their movements or thoughts.
11) They are people with most of the rights and freedoms their husbands have.
At least that is the way I look at it - I did not ask my wife if this is 100% correct.

[francis]

Here's an interesting article I found about Beachy vs. Old Order Amish women's roles. The author views old order women as more autonomous because church services are held in homes rather than in separate church buildings. These statements are general, since there are types within the Beachy denomination. (Hey, look, it's an academic article that's not by Cory Anderson!) It talks more about experiences rather than roles, per se, it mentions instances of women being denied hot showers, and other unfair treatment, doesn't necessarily state exactly what's a rule and what isn't. Still quite interesting.
Link: http://docdro.id/BsYLf7p

[francis]

Women's role in our Old Order Mennonite church is as follows:
1) Women do not teach, or otherwise take part in the service other than to help with singing.
2) Women do take part in church counsel meetings where they are free to express themselves to the leadership.
3) Women do share their thoughts with each other and their husbands.
4) At home women are subject to their husband but do take a lead role in child training and home economics.
5) Married women very seldom work outside of the home although they do volunteer at thrift shops, etc.
6) Many women do have some home based business such as quilting, gardening for profit, running a store from the home, etc.
7) Women do make many of their own decisions. My wife goes shopping or to the doctor or visiting the children when it suits her. We may discuss these things a bit - do I need anything in town while she is there, etc.
8) I would not go church hopping or shopping without involving her.
9) Our single daughters make their own decisions about things like buying a home or selling a home, although they will still run it by us or their brothers.
10) They are not slaves or housebound or highly restricted in their movements or thoughts.
11) They are people with most of the rights and freedoms their husbands have.
At least that is the way I look at it - I did not ask my wife if this is 100% correct.

Thanks so much for your response. I know some MB and other CA women who are unmarried, (one is middle-aged, another one is a young adult,) and both work as nurses. Would MB churches expect these women to stop working if they married? Asking out of curiosity since this isn't something I've seen first hand.

[MaxPC]

Now this would be a good topic for a book by Donald Kraybill:
"A Comparative Analysis of Women's Roles and Influence in the Amish, Brethren, Hutterite, Mennonite, and Miscellaneous Anabaptist Fellowhips".
A thorough treatment of the topic would most likely take a few volumes.

He's 72 now so Kraybill's not too old yet; he certainly has much of the research data to hand I would think. Still no culture or society is static and I'm sure there have been changes that need to be recorded and the data updated.

[steve-in-kville]

This is a good list. But you'll soon discover things vary widely from church to church and even from family to family. I found that EPMC women didn't have near the freedoms that others did (#11). And I would say many of your Charity circles would be that way as well. The whole "barefoot and pregnant" often becomes a reality in those groups!

Women's role in our Old Order Mennonite church is as follows:
1) Women do not teach, or otherwise take part in the service other than to help with singing.
2) Women do take part in church counsel meetings where they are free to express themselves to the leadership.
3) Women do share their thoughts with each other and their husbands.
4) At home women are subject to their husband but do take a lead role in child training and home economics.
5) Married women very seldom work outside of the home although they do volunteer at thrift shops, etc.
6) Many women do have some home based business such as quilting, gardening for profit, running a store from the home, etc.
7) Women do make many of their own decisions. My wife goes shopping or to the doctor or visiting the children when it suits her. We may discuss these things a bit - do I need anything in town while she is there, etc.
8) I would not go church hopping or shopping without involving her.
9) Our single daughters make their own decisions about things like buying a home or selling a home, although they will still run it by us or their brothers.
10) They are not slaves or housebound or highly restricted in their movements or thoughts.
11) They are people with most of the rights and freedoms their husbands have.
At least that is the way I look at it - I did not ask my wife if this is 100% correct.

[francis]

This is a good list. But you'll soon discover things vary widely from church to church and even from family to family. I found that EPMC women didn't have near the freedoms that others did (#11). And I would say many of your Charity circles would be that way as well. The whole "barefoot and pregnant" often becomes a reality in those groups!

Women's role in our Old Order Mennonite church is as follows:
1) Women do not teach, or otherwise take part in the service other than to help with singing.
2) Women do take part in church counsel meetings where they are free to express themselves to the leadership.
3) Women do share their thoughts with each other and their husbands.
4) At home women are subject to their husband but do take a lead role in child training and home economics.
5) Married women very seldom work outside of the home although they do volunteer at thrift shops, etc.
6) Many women do have some home based business such as quilting, gardening for profit, running a store from the home, etc.
7) Women do make many of their own decisions. My wife goes shopping or to the doctor or visiting the children when it suits her. We may discuss these things a bit - do I need anything in town while she is there, etc.
8) I would not go church hopping or shopping without involving her.
9) Our single daughters make their own decisions about things like buying a home or selling a home, although they will still run it by us or their brothers.
10) They are not slaves or housebound or highly restricted in their movements or thoughts.
11) They are people with most of the rights and freedoms their husbands have.
At least that is the way I look at it - I did not ask my wife if this is 100% correct.

I recall seeing a YouTube video where this was the case with a charity minister and his wife. I've tried to find it, but cannot. His wife had a PhD (so she stated in the video) but gave that up to join that group.

[Josh]

I wasn’t aware you could “give up” a Ph.D.

[steve-in-kville]

I wasn’t aware you could “give up” a Ph.D.

May have meant giving up the career.

I know a man that was with a very large company and had a *very* large pension coming his way. he was a few years from retirement. Walked away from it all and joined EPMC, only to walk away from that ten years later. People do crazy things.