One thing I have become to wonder about is the dress of Conservative Mennonites, more so of the men. The church wants the women to dress differently than the world everyday of the week, which I understand and agree with wearing a dress or modest skirt and shirt as that is how the Bible teaches a woman should dress. This makes her stand out against others in her community as a Mennonite (or some may think an Amish especially when wearing a cape dress), but either way she is known to be different. During the week, I can look at a group of men, mixed with Amish, Conservative Mennonites, German Baptist, and "English" men, and I can pick the Amish and German Baptist men out. The Conservative Mennonite and the "English" men appear the same. I wonder, how is this okay? A Mennonite man would not be known as Mennonite if he is out alone without his wife, she is what makes them look different. He typically would wear a pair of jeans and a t-shirt during the week (unless his work specified otherwise).
I think this is one thing that I definitely appreciated at the Beachy Amish church that I attended for a while. The men expected the women to dress differently than the world, but they also dressed differently every day of the week. Not just on Sundays. Even some Mennonite men are going away from wearing the Plain dress coats on Sundays and even away from the white shirts. I really am curious as to how they feel it is okay when the Bible directs all Christians to be separate of the world. But for now I will most likely keep my wonderings to myself :)
Blessings in Christ,
Interesting! Ive never thought of that. I noticed that whenever I seen a "Plain" couple that I only knew they were plain because of the way the females were dressed.
ReplyDeleteI've thought of that too when I attened a Conserv. Mennonite church with a friend recently. I totally agree with you. Glad to see you posting again and I hope we can talk soon! God bless you friend,
ReplyDeleteKate
It IS amazing, isn't it, that some Mennonites love to talk (brag) about how modest the women are and how good it is that they wear coverings as a sign of submission to their leadership, yet they are not willing to 'lead' (be the head) in the area of Plain clothing. It is disturbing. You are right, this is one good point of the super conservative Amish churches. The men and women all look plain.
ReplyDeleteThe Beachy men I know are not very Plain at all, dressed more simply than anything else. Beachy women will wear only solid colours but Beachy men can wear patterned tops.It's a shame but at the same time the Beachys do not have strict rules about hemlines and the width on hat brims which is the flipside of it all.You have hit on the main problem today that so many "progressive" Anabaptist churches struggle with.
ReplyDeleteWhen churches embrace modernity they then face the problem of deciding which items are acceptable and not a hinderances and which items are.Computer but no internet?Computer but limited internet access?Computer, no internet but educational DVDs?No computer except for business?No computer at all?
When churches accept various modern goods into their communiteis, these goods can have the power to damage the fellowship and break up the community and the same applies with clothing. Deciding what clothing is acceptable and what is not acceptable is important because if the wrong decision is made the church will splinter way and become more and more progressive until the Plain clothes and coverings are ditched and the church community has become Protestant.Of all the Anabaptists the Beachys would struggle with this the most.They see how it was with the middle of the road Mennonites, how some of them embraced cars and electricity and then higher education, found no need for a cape dress, found no need for a big covering, found no need for a covering outside church and eventually found no need for a covering at all.Then they found their young people were leaving, that modest began to decline, that skirts began to be replaced by trousers and that they had more in common with the Protestants than the Anabaptists.No group wants to become like that but at the same time the moderate Anabaptists do not want to become bound by man made rules like the Schwarzentrubers who believe it wrong to have soft furniture, flowers in their garden or elastic in their clothing.Finding the middle line is hard.
I only know of Beachy men from the churches around me. These ones, yes, they do vary. I can usually pick them out by their suspenders more so than other things, as well as their beards which they grow after marriage. Sometimes though I still have to look at the wife or women in the family to determine if they are plain or not. There is still varying differences between the women's dress church to church, some do not require a kapp but would rather allow a charity style veil. Some churches will allow patterns while others will only allow patterns that can be noticed only close up or none at all...it really truly depends on the church.
ReplyDeleteNo church is perfect either, each church has its own struggles whether they display them outwardly or keep them private. But I guess the dress is one thing that most people notice because it is an outward distinction for so many Anabaptist churches.