Mennonites in Winnipeg

T.D. Regehr, a professor of History at the University of Saskatchewan,
is the author of For Everything a Season: A History of the
Alexanderkrone Zentralschule and Mennonites in Canada, Volume 3,
1939-1970.

This slim book was written in anticipation of the Mennonite World
Convention held in Winnipeg in July 1990. It was designed to introduce
tourists and visiting Mennonites from all parts of the world to the
history, experiences, and accomplishments of a small—but vigorous and
dynamic—ethnic and religious group. The 1981 Canadian census reported
that 19,105 Mennonites lived in Winnipeg, making that city the world’s
largest Mennonite centre.

Dreidger, a sociologist, is particularly interested in the effect of
urbanization on Mennonites who had been, for many decades, a rural and
agricultural people. His study demonstrates that they have flourished in
Winnipeg and become an integral part of its social, cultural, artistic,
entrepreneurial, educational, and religious life.

Mennonites in Winnipeg is, as its author acknowledges, only an
introduction. Unlike many other works of this kind, it does not focus
only on ethnic and religious topics, but also on the broader urban
Canadian context in which these people live. It provides basic
information for readers unfamiliar with this Canadian ethnic and
religious group, as well as a conceptual framework for further and more
detailed research.