Rachel Reesor-Taylor
Winnipeg, Manitoba
This year Mennonites are marking 500 years since the birth of the Anabaptist movement in January 1525 in Zurich. Within two years, some of those who had been “re-baptized” were martyred. We know the period that followed as a time of persecution and martyrdom, in which Anabaptists were killed by both Reformers and Catholics.
Thankfully, relations grew less violent, but even 50 years ago, recognizing each other as Christians was often a challenge. Now, there is much more understanding and cooperation between their descendants.
A good example is in Winnipeg’s North End, where a small Mennonite congregation is renting space from the St. Kateri Tekakwitha Indigenous Church, (or Aboriginal Catholic parish), through a history that involves cooperation with a Lutheran church as well.
When Aberdeen Mennonite Church needed a new building because of inaccessibility issues in an aging and shrinking congregation, it learned that Trinity Lutheran church, not far away, was seeking a church congregation to share their large building. Various community groups made their home there as well. The two congregations were able to share the building, and after a time, Aberdeen took on ownership, always with space for a Trinity food bank.
Eventually, care for the larger facility became too much for Aberdeen, and the congregation looked for a buyer. Just at the right time, a man of Mennonite background, active in the Catholic church, was readying the building for sale. He was also working part-time at L’Arche Winnipeg, a charity organization that provides care and advocates for the rights of people with intellectual disabilities. He knew that the St. Kateri congregation was looking for a new building.
It turned out to be a good match. The Aberdeen folk were happy to be able to remain and rent space from an Indigenous community, supporting the ministry of the Indigenous congregation. They had always wanted to stay in the neighbourhood, a place with a significant indigenous population and a rich history of immigrants.
Now, Mennonites and the Catholics meet separately in the one building, yet hardly stay apart. As long-time members Murray Barkman and Sol Janzen tell it, when they gather in the dining hall on Sunday mornings, the Mennonites smell sage burning as the St. Kateri members prepare to worship. And while the Mennonites sing in four-part harmony, they hear the drums of St. Kateri. The two communities are separate but developing a friendship.
Aberdeen and St. Kateri Tekakwitha also meet together on significant occasions. They met in vigil to mourn the tragic deaths of two young men. One was found in their yard, and the other died of a drug overdose. In an article for Canadian Mennonite (March 29, 2024), Leona Penner described how the time of shared rituals, songs, readings, and prayers, followed by a meal, served as a balm for the raw, intense pain of the loss.
Another joint service marked Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, September 30. The Sunday morning service took place in the Kapabamayak Achaak Healing Forest circle in St. John’s Park. It was planned and led jointly by the two congregations, a mass, where Mennonites offered hymns, readings and prayers.
St. Kateri actually had a connection to Bridgefolk even before the partnership with the Aberdeen congregation. In 2019, the first time the Bridgefolk meeting was held in Winnipeg. The topic was ‘Towards a Just Peace: Indigenous-Settler Reconciliation through Friendship.’ Members of St. Kateri’s were participants, and some were in involved in the planning.
This is a story where need and suffering of different kinds have brought Mennonites and Catholics together. Necessity can be the mother of innovation. The Holy Spirit’s plan and strength, as the Apostle Paul wrote, is made known in our weakness. What looked like a bad turn of events is leading toward reparation and reconciliation between European descendants and Indigenous peoples, and cooperation between Mennonites and Catholics.