Is "Mennonite" a Faith Culture or Ethnic Culture? - Samantha Trenkamp Bender - Ep. 208 

I greatly appreciated this topic and discussion!! Samantha is a gifted and articulate communicator that brought much balance to the table. It was very life giving and inspiring! God Bless the good work you’re doing! Thank you!

As someone who also was not raised Mennonite I appreciated hearing Samantha sharing. I'm alone in my Anabaptist/Mennonite beliefs in my church. The Mennonite "culture" if you will wasn't for my husband and daughters but they respect my lifestyle choice. Thank you for this very encouraging video.

People born into Anabaptism do not need to choose Anabaptism for themselves. They need to choose Jesus for themselves. It's easy to choose the culture you're born into.

Very rarely do "seekers" convert to and stay in Anabaptism. It wasn't until we left the Anabaptists (which we were born into, like 99.9999% of Anabaptists) that we witnessed true evangelism and discipleship. I'm talking about lots of people from the "world" coming to Jesus and joining the community of believers, similar to what was happening in the early Church of the New Testament. Anabaptism is a culture first mixed with Christian faith. Maybe it didn't start that way, but that's the way it is.

Great job, Samantha! I couldn't have communicated that better. I do believe Mennonites and Anabaptists constitute a faith culture, not an ethnic group, especially when people from outside join and stay. If a community only seeks growth through childbearing, it risks losing its faith culture, potentially becoming merely an ethnic group with faith. (Which is still commendable.) Bringing people out of the world is part of our faith, so I understand that, at least in our community, it is a faith culture with a hint of ethnic group mentality. My wife and I share most of the thoughts and experiences you've expressed in this interview. I realize that I will never be fully recognized as 'Mennonite', maybe 'Anabaptist'. Similarly, as a Chinese missionary, I understood that no matter how long and hard I tried to assimilate, I would always be seen as a foreigner. In these communities, culturally, I will always be perceived by some as an outsider. (Individuals perceive it as they wish.) BUT I don't feel like an outsider in the faith. In many traditional practices, I will never completely understand or fit in; on the contrary, if we bring more people out of the world into the Kingdom of God, we would be stretched as a people into a faith culture, not only an ethnic group but family in our faith.(Which is more commendable)

There were a lot of good things talked about in this episode. I appreciate your thoughts Samantha! I think what stands out the most to me is true Christianity is a faith culture, but we each choose for ourselves whether it will only be an ethnic culture and comfortable routine and bubble, or whether it will be true Christian culture. Sadly, there are those you will meet in some Anabaptist settings who are not personal believers, but believe that a certain way of doing things is how they can earn approval from God. That is a way that the devil has been able to get those specific people, because we all are tempted in different ways depending on our situation and circumstances. That does not mean that outward changes should not be done. It just clarified that we are each responsible for our own faith in Jesus and no culture or way of doing things can replace that or do it for us. I understand how the ending comments may have sounded a bit unwelcoming. However, I know these people well enough to know that was not the intent at all. I believe what they were trying to convey is that what makes us true Anabaptists or Christians, as I prefer to say, is not being a part of a certain church. It's simply faith in the Word of God. So you can do that wherever you're at! The little quirks and extra cultural things you'll find in specific Anabaptist churches that stem largely from the Germanic roots of that movement, like is talked about in the following episode, are not right or wrong principals and are not required to be a true Christian! The caution is to not be simply fascinated by the counterculture, because that will quickly fade and you will find all kinds of imperfection. You will need a personal relationship with God to sustain you within or outside of an Anabaptist church.

We have a way of living in boxes. Being comfortable with our church, family, culture, and everything "us". That we can't see outside the box we live in. Oh God, break down our worldly mindset, set us free from "in the box" complacent Christianity. Give us Your vision, to see everyone the way You do. A. Random Lattin

Thank you for this video! Im a single(divorced) 55yr old lady. I did not grow up Mennonite but have been attending a lovely Mennonite church off and on now for almost 10 years.

Most people who want to join the Mennonites can deal with the written rules, it is all the unwritten cultural expectations that cause people to be uncomfortable or leave. No one wants to always feel like they are being judged or laughed at over everyday things that you simply do differently, not wrong. The irony is that it is the tightknit community that draws people in and it is that same tightknit community that makes people leave.

Thank you for your insights and for sharing your lived experience… I heard your request for prayers today while watching Sunnyside Mennonite church’s online service and was blessed that I was able to find this video shortly thereafter! God bless🙏

Thank you for a thoughtful conversation with a well-spoken guest. Thanks

A well-done interview! Thanks.

Part of the problem in this discussion is conflating the Anabaptist / Mennonite culture with being a part of Christ’s church.

Not Anabaptist, but absolutely love the foundation of your faith in Scripture and the authority that IT has: your doctrine of man, sin and salvation. Loved listening to this and my heart just resonated! Funny, I would probably align with the belief and community more than the externals.

I would say for a large part Mennonite is more of a man made cultural based then Bible based if that makes sense.

I enjoy hearing her speak and she is clearly more open and understanding to outsiders. I grew up 100% Mennonite and I can confirm that there are many variations and that churches go by the rules of the elders more than scripture. I was outcasted because my husband had an affair and refused to end it. I was strongly told that I was NOT allowed to get divorced and if I did to keep it quiet and that I could never remarry unless he died. Yet, I was expected to be a full time mom and make imaginary money to support ourselves.....Overall, there are many things that I miss, however, deep down majority of Mennonites are prideful on cultural expectations rather than biblical scripture. That is where I strongly disagree with the Mennonite religion. Scripture allows for divorce in specific circumstances and specifically addresses when one can marry another. You CANNOT cherry pick one liners. Scripture is to be taught as a whole. Read the Bible people...please. Religions are the problem. Do not let anyone manipulate the word of God.

I'm very interested in this topic. I'm like 5 minutes in and understand. My parents came into the Mennonites when i was 8 yrs old. My parents gave up when i was 21 and i was 14 when i was baptized. I have done a tremendous amount of research of where the Amish and Mennonite came from to try and understand why the culture is the way it is. Ultimately, though being a Christian believing in Jesus is the goal. My parents had too lofty ideals without realizing people are still just people. If people want to go "plain" they need to become content first in your own life and do research before jumping in. I never truly "belonged and have a place" until I married a Mennonite. I've had people from "general society " come to me so excited about this venture of coming in the Mennonites and i warn them the reality of how it is. Not to discourage but to bring them back to earth and make sure this is really what they want. I was told i would never marry because of my background. I was baptized in a "Charity" in Woodbury, TN church and then attended a true blue Mennonite church and my baptism wasn't accepted so i was baptized again. I was in my teens during all of this so didn't really put it together what exactly was going on. I'm still in the Mennonites with my husband and live a happy life.

@Anabaptist Perspectives I hoped you would allow more of the conversation to develop before removing the comments. Can you respond with your thoughts on that conversation? I can see that the man in this video was not comfortable hearing those types of incidents. Can you respond in comments or in a video about your thoughts on this matter?

Lots of good advice shared on the basis of real life experience. Only the last part was troubling. How can we claim the redemptive work of Christ apart from the redemptive community of Christ? "Go home and build your own community" is horrible advice however you look at it. I appreciate earlier in the discussion that she asked herself whether she would be willing to give herself up to minor differences of faith and practice for the sake of the body, and found herself willing. Now that's good advice that's worthy of taking to heart.

Question that I have is where does it say in the Bible to be a Mennonite? A lot of what we do is focus so much on the external things like appearance. The appearance thing is a man made issue. Cape dresses and and men having to wear button down shirts always is not biblical justified.