Monthly column on the arts

As I write this, the television is full of images of appalling destruction, the aftermath of the terrorist attack on America. I had planned to write at length this month about our family visit to the States this summer, but for obvious reasons that will have to wait for another time.

Let me instead take a few moments to celebrate one small part of American Christianity, which we encountered during our visit: the Mennonite community in the Central Valley of California. We stayed with a Mennonite family near Fresno, whom we had got to know over the years through their visits to L'Abri Fellowship but had never visited ourselves.

We did some serious sight-seeing in the Valley - from the extraordinary sequoia forests in two national parks, to tours of fruit-processing plants which I can assure you are much more interesting than you might think - but the lasting impression I shall take away with me is the experience of living and worshipping with Mennonites, albeit for one short week.

Traditional values

From what little I knew about Mennonites, I had expected them to be distinctly unworldly and old-fashioned, out of kilter with the modern world, like the Amish people with whom they have quite a few links. The movement began in the 16th century within the European Reformation among those wanting even more thorough reform. The name comes from the Dutch leader Menno Simons; they were for a time the dominant Reformation group in the Low Countries. They were the Anabaptists, the 're-baptisers' who taught adult baptism, the centrality of Scripture and the separation of church and state.

Much persecuted, often forbidden property rights and freedom of public worship, the Mennonites and other Anabaptist groups spread far and wide, including to Russia and North America. In diaspora they continued to be persecuted. Over the past 450 years, they have in almost every generation experienced persecution in some part of the world. Today, with more Mennonites in Africa, Asia and South America than in North America, their emphases are on mission at home and abroad, and on their traditional values of peace-making and the role of the biological and ex-tended families. There are over a million Mennonites world-wide in 61 countries.

Charity shops

Other-worldly and old-fashioned they are not: many of the large farming and commercial interests in the Central Valley were founded by Mennonites, and you will find them engaged in a wide range of secular activities. They are not exclusive in character - a leaflet issued by the Mennonite Board of Missions describes them as 'one of many faith families in the Christian Church'. There is certainly a sense of repose, of sitting loose to the hectic pressures of modern life. It's seen in the strength of the church community, which lives by a principle of caring for the spiritual, emotional and physical health of its members but also seeks to be a radical force for good in the secular world. In strongly Mennonite areas, for example, there are plentiful charity shops set up by the church for charitable purposes.

Living art

We arrived at our Mennonite friends' home after two weeks wallowing in America's art heritage, including the fabulous Cleveland art gallery, the Paul Getty collection in Los Angeles, photo exhibitions in Santa Monica and much more. The much quieter world of the Central Valley had memorable art experiences in store for us too.

We visited, for example, the Mennonite Quilt Centre in the nearby town of Reedley. It was closed, but an obliging lady opened up for us. Over the years, Mennonite women have gathered round quilting frames to create stunningly beautiful quilts. Some are for children's beds, some for adults; some are simple designs, others incredibly complex and subtle. They make much use of patchwork and appliquŽ, and the stitching is varied and creative. It's an enthralling exhibition.

But it's also a living art. Downstairs in the Centre they have weekly quilting days. We saw a stitcher working while we were there: each undertakes a small part of the whole and the job becomes a joyful group activity. The results are auctioned each year (and raise a lot of money), and the proceeds used for relief projects: the accompanying Gift Room offers hand-made goods from 35 developing nations and 10,000 villages.

I thought of those beautiful, gentle quilts as the TV screens filled with images of unimaginable destruction and terror. It's tempting to make some portentous comparison between the two. All I can say is that I am glad to have the memories of the quilts - as much a part of American culture as the ravaged towers of Manhattan and the shattered Pentagon walls - in mind, as the extent of the human tragedy we have witnessed unfolds.

David Porter

© Evangelicals Now - October 2001
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