Impelled by a call to share their gifts through service, Russian Mennonite women immigrating to Canada organized their own church societies (Vereine) as avenues of mission and spiritual strengthening. For women who were restricted from leadership positions within the church, these societies became the primary avenue of church involvement. Through them they contributed vast amounts of energy, time and financial resources to the mission activity of the church. The societies thus became a context in which women could speak, pray and creatively give expression to their own understanding of the biblical message.
Using primary sources such as reports, letters, minutes, etc., as well as society histories, interviews and survey data, Redekop charts the development of these societies, from the establishment of the earliest ones in the 1870s to their flowering in the fifties and sixties and their decline in the eighties and nineties.
The Work of Their Hands elucidates the context in which Mennonite women lived their identity as Christian women, one considered appropriate by themselves and the institutional church. It also shows how changes to the societies, including declining membership and a shift in their primary focus from sewing and baking to one of spiritual fellowship, reflect the changing roles of women within the church, the home and the wider society.
The Work of Their Hands is an important book in the history of Mennonite women’s spirituality and will be a valuable resource for religious studies, women’s studies and Canadian history.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 267/.449771
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 20
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-cn---
- ISBN
- 9780889206373 0889202702
- LCCN
- BX8128.W64
- LCCN Item number
- R44 1996eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOTU
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xv, 172 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)rjv00101460 (OCoLC)180704491 (CaOOCEL)402406
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOONL
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents 10
- List of Tables 12
- List of Figures 12
- Abbreviations 14
- Preface 16
- Introduction 18
- Part One – Background and Precedents 24
- 1. Women in Canadian Church History 26
- 2. European Context 42
- Part Two – Emergence and Establishment: 1874-1952 54
- 3. Why Vereine? 56
- 4. Service, Fellowship and Worship 62
- Part Three – Growth and Development: 1953-1969 72
- 5. Roles of Mennonite Women in Church and Home 74
- 6. The Flowering 82
- 7. Seeds of Questioning 94
- Part Four – Change and Decline: 1970-1995 98
- 8. Ambivalence about Women's Roles 100
- 9. Fellowship and Spiritual Growth 106
- 10. Some Things Remain the Same 114
- 11. The Decline 120
- 12. A Snapshot in Time 128
- 13. Where To? 146
- Appendix A 152
- Appendix B 160
- Bibliography 166
- Index 184
- A 184
- B 184
- C 184
- D 185
- E 185
- F 185
- G 185
- H 185
- I 186
- J 186
- K 186
- L 186
- M 186
- N 187
- O 187
- P 187
- Q 188
- R 188
- S 188
- T 188
- U 188
- V 188
- W 188
- Y 189
- Z 189
