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Old Order Mennonites in
Ontario, Canada
A large number of Mennonites (16,000), including Old Order
Mennonite (4,000), and Old Order Amish (1,000) live in the area surrounding
Kitchener (called Berlin before World War I) and Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
As these two cities have grown, the small town of St. Jacobs is
actually the best place to visit these communities. |
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The map shows
the high density of Old Order businesses -- this is only a small
part of the Map directory of local country shops in Waterloo and
Wellington county and a few from surrounding areas by Alson Clemmer,
Wallenstein, Ontario, July 2003. Blacksmith shops: 10; buggy repairs: 10;
home baking, bulk food stores, and butcher shops: 24; horse supplies: 17; shoe repair: 12;
furniture and wood work: 68. Click on the map to see more of it. |
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| On Sundays, the differences between
the various Mennonite communities become clear: horse-drawn Old Order
Mennonites, black car Mennonites (often called "black bumper"),
and the most worldly Mennonites who drive colorful car. Although all
Mennonites have meeting halls for Sunday worship, only the most worldly ones
have Sunday school. In fact, the Mennonites who wanted Sunday school split
from the Mennonites in the yellow church and built their own brick church.
The Old Order Amish, on the other hand, meet every other Sunday in their
homes for all day religious and social activities; hence, their horses have
been stabled in the barn, whereas as the horses remain attached to the
carriages in the short Old Order Mennonite church services. |
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| The interior of these
churches are very plain. The timeline shows the various splits of the
Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonites. Open buggies, usually they are
covered, are so common here that the roadside even reflect this --
compare this with the signs in Wisconsin. |
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| The Old Order Mennonite sell
farm products to the public. Their farmsteads are indicated by green
paint on the roofs, fences, and window and door trim. |
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| For their horse-drawn wagons and
buggies, they have built "private" wooden bridge over streams.
Mennonites, other than the Old Order ones, sent their children to public
schools; hence, the Canadian flag. |
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The most conservative Mennonite
denominations have the plainest tombstones; the others, have
tombstones that are no different from other Christian groups. |
