Women’s roles
Most women finish high school and many graduate from college. Many marry and raise a family, and often develop careers and work outside the home. They are very involved in the life of the family and decisions that need to be made. Lifestyles have changed because there is not as much time to have large gardens, do sewing, etc. Among modern groups of Mennonites women are assuming church leadership as Sunday school teachers, song leaders, worship leaders and elders. A growing number of Mennonite congregations have ordained women as pastors. But even among the modern groups, the issue of women in leadership continues to be debated.
In the more traditional/conservative Mennonite groups an Old Order or Amish woman is a worker, a child-bearer, and a companion to her husband, family and neighbors. In a setting where family, church, and community are priorities, personal privacy is almost meaningless. She and her farmer husband eat three meals a day together; she has a large family to tend, but they can also share her responsibilities. She is affirmed for the quality of her food, management ability, gardening skills, quilting and sewing gifts. Among these groups most farms are co-owned by husband and wife. She makes household purchases, bids at auctions, and writes checks to pay bills. In church she is not given any leadership responsibility. It is a very patriarchal society that takes its cues from I Corinthians 11:3 …the head of a woman is the man…
