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The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons (1496-1561), although his teachings were a relatively minor influence on the group. As one of the historic peace churches, Mennonites are committed to nonviolence, nonviolent resistance/reconciliation, and pacifism.
There were about 1.5 million Mennonites worldwide as of 2006. Mennonite congregations embody various traditions from old fashioned 'plain' people to those who are indistinguishable in appearance from the general population. Mennonite experience in Europe and North America has been, and continues to be, predominantly rural. The largest population of Mennonites is in Africa, but Mennonites can also be found in tight-knit communities in at least 51 countries on six continents.
The Anabaptists—and the Mennonites and Amish coming out of the Anabaptist movement—have usually maintained a strong sense of their group as separated from other people or groups, whether Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, pagan, or anyone else. This came about partly because of their rejection of infant baptism and of participation in the state and its institutions, and partly because they were persecuted by both Catholics and Protestants; but largely because they saw and still see themselves as a separate priestly group, set off from the rest of humanity. Mennonites often use the phrase Separated Unto God for their stance, citing such Biblical passages as: "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:17-18).
Some Mennonites are evangelical, actively seeking converts, and others are not. For those groups that are not evangelical, virtually all of their members come from people who are born into the group.
Despite this, Mennonites place a strong theological emphasis on service and have won international distinction among Christian denominations in disaster relief. The Mennonite Disaster Service,[1] based in North America, provides both immediate and long-term responses to hurricanes, floods, and other disasters. The Mennonite Central Committee provides disaster relief around the world alongside their long-term international development programs. Other programs offer a variety of relief efforts and services throughout the world.
In the last few decades some Mennonite groups have also become more actively involved with peace and social justice issues, helping to found Christian Peacemaker Teams and the Mennonite Conciliation Service. This has tended to take them out of their traditional notion of being a separate entity, different from everyone else, and led these groups into political and religious alliances with members of other religious organizations and even non-religious peace activists.
Origins in the Radical Reformation
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The early history of the Mennonites begins with the Anabaptists in the German and Dutch-speaking parts of central Europe. These forerunners of modern Mennonites were part of the broad reaction against the practices and theology of the Catholic Church known as the Protestant Reformation. Its most distinguished feature is the rejection of infant baptism, an act that had both religious and political meaning, since almost every infant born in Western Europe was baptized into the Catholic Church. Other significant theological views of the Mennonites developed in opposition to Catholic views or to the views of fellow reformers like Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli. Thus the Anabaptists sometimes claim to be neither Catholic nor Protestant, but a third different group. This claim is bolstered by the fact that they were persecuted and sometimes killed as heretics by both Catholics and Protestants.
Some of the followers of Zwingli's Reformed church felt that requiring church membership beginning at birth was inconsistent with the New Testament example and that people should join only once they were willing to publicly acknowledge that they believed in Jesus and wanted to live in accordance with his teachings. They also believed that the church should be completely removed from secular government.
At a small meeting on January 21, 1525, Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, and George Blaurock, along with 12 others, baptized each other. This meeting marks the beginning of the Anabaptist movement. In the spirit of the times, many radical groups followed, preaching any number of ideas about hierarchy, the state, eschatology, and sexual license, running from utter abandon to extreme chastity. These movements are together referred to as the Radical Reformation.
Many government and religious leaders, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, considered re-baptism of adults to be heretical and voluntary church membership to be dangerous. Often further concerned by reports of the Münster Rebellion, led by a violent sect of Anabaptists, they joined forces to fight the movement, using methods as imprisonment, banishment, torture, and sometimes execution. Anabaptists were also frequent victims of mob-violence.
Despite the best efforts of the state churches, the movement spread in Western Europe, primarily along the Rhine. Some historians have suggested that if the Anabaptists had not been so relentlessly persecuted, they would have become the dominant religion of Europe. Many of the earliest Anabaptist leaders were killed in an attempt to purge Europe of the new sect. By 1530, most of the founding leaders had been killed for refusing to renounce their beliefs.
Many Anabaptists believed that God did not condone killing or the use of force for any reason and were therefore unwilling to fight for their lives. These pacifist branches of the movement often survived by seeking refuge in neutral cities or nations, such as Strasbourg. Their safety, however, was often tenuous, as a shift in alliances or an invasion could mean resumed persecution. Other groups of Anabaptists, such as the Batenburgers, were eventually destroyed by their very willingness to fight. This played a large part in the evolution of Anabaptist theology.
In the early days of the Anabaptist movement, Menno Simons, a Catholic priest in the Netherlands, heard of the movement and started to rethink his Catholic faith. He questioned the doctrine of transubstantiation, but was reluctant to leave the Roman Catholic Church. His thinking was influenced by the death of his brother, who, as a member of an Anabaptist group, was killed when he and his companions were attacked and refused to defend themselves. In 1536, at the age of 40, Simons left the Catholic Church. Soon thereafter he became a leader within the Anabaptist movement. He would become a hunted man with a price on his head for the rest of his life. His name became associated with scattered groups of nonviolent Anabaptists he helped to organize and consolidate.
Persecution, Partial Acceptance, Dispersal
During the sixteenth century, the Mennonites and other Anabaptists were relentlessly persecuted. [2] The first recorded account of the group is in a written order by Countess Anne, who ruled a small province in central Europe. The presence of small groups of violent Anabaptists was causing political and religious turmoil in her state, so she decreed that all Anabaptists were to be driven from her state. The order made an exception though, for the non-violent branch known at that time as the Menists. This order set the precedent that was to be repeated many times throughout history, where a political ruler would allow the Menists or Mennonites into his/her state because they were honest, hardworking and peaceful. However, inevitably, their presence would upset the powerful state churches, princes would renege on exemptions for military service, or a new monarch would take power, and the Mennonites would once again be forced to flee for their lives, usually leaving everything but their families behind. Often, another monarch in another state would grant them welcome, at least for a while.
One example was Elizabeth I of England. There, in a small village in Britain, a group of Dutch Anabaptists made the acquaintance of a congregation led by John Smythe, who would later lead his Pilgrims to the Netherlands and then to America. The Pilgrims' exposure to the Dutch Mennonite congregation probably influenced some of their teachings, including the freedom of each branch to regulate itself. In addition to the Mennonites' impact on the first American Pilgrims, religious historians have traced their influence to other religious teachings. This included the Baptists' emphasis of adult baptism upon confession of faith, and the Religious Society of Friends' (Quakers) strong stance against war. The dissemination of Anabaptist beliefs helped build the religious freedom that is enjoyed in America today.
Later, while Mennonites in Colonial America were enjoying a large degree of religious freedom, their counterparts in Europe were in the same situation they always had been. Their well-being still depended on a ruling monarch, who would often extend an invitation only when there was poor soil that no one else could farm; the exception to this rule being in the Netherlands, where the Mennonites enjoyed a relatively high degree of tolerance.
Sometimes a ruler would not drive out the Mennonites, who gained a reputation as excellent farmers, but would actually pass laws to force them to stay, while at the same time severely limiting their freedom. High taxes were enacted in exchange for continuing the military service exemption and/or as an exit tariff on those who wished to emigrate. In some cases, the entire congregation would give up their belongings to pay the tax to be allowed to leave. Mennonites had to build their churches facing onto back streets or alleys, and they were forbidden from announcing the beginning of services with the sound of a bell.
A strong emphasis on community was developed under these circumstances and continues to be typical of Mennonite and Amish people. As a result of frequently being required to give up many possessions in order to retain individual freedoms, Mennonites learned to live very simply. This was reflected both in the home and at church, where their dress and their buildings were plain. Even the music at church, which was usually simple German chorales, was performed a cappella. This style of music serves as a reminder to many Mennonites of their simple lives, as well as their history as a persecuted people. Some branches of Mennonites have retained this "plain" lifestyle into modern times.
German-Russian Mennonites were heavily influenced by Catherine the Great of Russia, who in 1768 acquired a great deal of land north of the Black Sea (in the present-day Ukraine) following a war with the Turks. She invited Mennonites living in Prussia to come farm the cold, tough soil of the Russian steppes in exchange for religious freedom and military exemption. By the beginning of the twentieth century they owned large agricultural estates and were even successful as industrial entrepreneurs in the cities. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War (1917-1921) all of these farms (whose owners were called Kulaks) and enterprises were expropriated. Beyond expropriation, Mennonites suffered severe persecution during the course of the Russian Civil War, at the hands of both the Bolsheviks and the anarchists of Nestor Makhno. After the war, people who openly followed their religion were in many cases imprisoned. This led to a wave of Russian Mennonite emigration to the Americas (U.S., Canada and Paraguay).
When the German army invaded the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941, many in the Mennonite community saw them as liberators from the communist regime under which they had suffered. When the tide of war turned, many of the Mennonites fled with the German army back to Germany where they were accepted as "Volksdeutsche." After the war, the remainder of the Mennonite community either escaped or were forcefully relocated to Siberia and Kazakhstan, and many were sent to the Gulag. In the 1990s the Russian government gave these people the opportunity to emigrate.
Splits and Schisms
Since within Anabaptism there is no central authority that can decide questions of doctrine and practice and then impose those decrees on the entire membership, there is little energy directed toward maintaining a central unity for all, and a great deal of energy toward breaking into separate groups when any reason deemed to be adequate to do so arises. The Anabaptist notion of being separated unto God also tends to encourage breaks and schisms because of the emphasis on separation from others who are thought not to be part of the "correct" flock. Such breaks have been frequent throughout the history of the Mennonites and the Amish, and have been important for the self-identity of Mennonite and Amish groups.
Jacob Ammann and the Amish
By the seventeenth century, some of the Anabaptists joined the state church in Switzerland and persuaded the authorities to relent in their attacks. The Mennonites outside the state church were divided on whether to remain in communion with their brothers within the state church or to shun them, and this led to a split. Those against remaining in communion with them were led by Jacob Ammann, who in 1693 led an effort to reform the Mennonite church. Among his policies were to hold communion more often and especially to enforce shunning, the complete social ostracism of members who were deemed to have left the church. When the discussions fell through, Ammann and his followers split from the Mennonite church. The group became known as the Amish. Those who remained in communion with the ones who had joined the state church retained the name Mennonite.
The acrimony between the two groups was so severe that they reportedly refused to talk to each other when they found themselves together on the same boat sailing to America. To this day, shunning is practiced among most Amish and some Mennonites.
Mennonite schisms
Prior to migration to America, Anabaptists in Europe were divided between those of Dutch and Swiss-German background. However, both Dutch and Swiss groups took their name from Menno Simons, who led the Dutch group. A trickle of Dutch Mennonites began the migration to America in 1683, followed by a much larger migration of Swiss-German Mennonites beginning in 1707. Two centuries later, in the 1870s, significant numbers of Dutch Mennonites, who had settled in the German Kingdom of Prussia and then Russia, moved to the United States and Canada where they are now known as Russian Mennonites.
After immigration to America, many of the early Mennonites split from the main body of North American Mennonites and formed their own separate and distinct churches, a process that began in 1785 with the formation of the orthodox Reformed Mennonite Church and is ongoing today. Many of these churches were formed as a response to deep disagreements about theology, doctrine, and church discipline as evolution both inside and outside the Mennonite faith occurred. Other divisions occurred because of geography. Still others came about because of power struggles between leaders, or even over something as seemingly trivial as what kind of clothing could or should be worn. Many of the 'modern' churches descended from those groups that abandoned traditional Mennonite practices.
Near the beginning of the twentieth century, for another example, some members in the Amish church wanted to begin having Sunday Schools and evangelize. Unable to persuade the rest of the Amish, they separated and formed the Conservative Mennonite Conference. Mennonites in Canada and other countries typically form independent denominations because of the practical considerations of distance, belief and practice, and, in some cases, language, or for any of the reasons mentioned above.
These historical schisms have had an influence on creating the distinct Mennonite denominations that exist today. Such divisions continue to go on today. A recent one is the expulsion of the Germantown Mennonite Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from the Franconia Conference.
Mennonites in North America
William Penn solicited settlers for his new colony among the Quakers and Mennonites in Germany, who were living under ongoing discrimination. The first permanent settlement of Mennonites in the American colonies consisted of one Mennonite family and twelve Mennonite-Quaker families of Dutch extraction who arrived from Krefeld, Germany in 1683 and settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania. This early group of Mennonites and Mennonite-Quakers wrote the first formal protest against slavery in America. The treatise was addressed to slave-holding Quakers in an effort to persuade them to change their ways.[3]
In the eighteenth century, 100,000 Germans from the Palatinate, collectively known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, (Deutsch refers to the German language) immigrated to Pennsylvania. Of these, around 2,500 were Mennonites and 500 Amish. This group settled farther west than the first group, choosing less expensive land in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, area. A member of this second group, Christopher Dock, authored Pedagogy, the first American monograph on education. Today, Mennonites also reside in Kishacoquillas Valley (also known as Big Valley), a valley in Huntingdon, Mifflin, Lebanon, Lancaster, Franklin and other counties in Pennsylvania, as well as in numerous other states, including New York, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, and elsewhere.
During the Colonial period, Mennonites were distinguished from other Pennsylvania Germans in three ways: their opposition to the American Revolutionary War, resistance to public education, and disapproval of religious revivalism. Mennonites during this period supported the idea of separation of church and state and opposed the institution of slavery.
From 1812 to 1860, another wave of immigrants settled farther west in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. These Swiss-German speaking Mennonites, along with Amish, came from Switzerland and the Alsace-Lorraine area.
The Swiss-German Mennonites that migrated to North America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who settled first in Pennsylvania, then across the Midwestern states are the root of the former Mennonite Church denomination (MC), colloquially called the "Old Mennonite Church." This denomination had offices in Elkhart, Indiana, and was the most populous Mennonite denomination before merging with the General Conference Mennonite Church (GCMC) in 2002.
The General Conference Mennonite Church was an association of Mennonite congregations based in North America beginning in 1860. The conference supported a seminary and several colleges. It became the second largest Mennonite denomination with 64,431 members in 410 congregations in Canada, the United States and South America in the 1990s. After decades of increasingly closer cooperation with the Mennonite Church, the two groups voted to merge in 1995 and completed reorganization into Mennonite Church Canada in 2000 and Mennonite Church USA in 2002.
Alternatives to Military Service
In the United States, the Civilian Public Service (CPS) provided an alternative to military service during World War II. From 1941 to 1947, 4,665 Mennonites, Amish and Brethren in Christ were among nearly 12,000 conscientious objectors who performed work of national importance in 152 CPS camps throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. The draftees worked in areas such as soil conservation, forestry, firefighting, agriculture, social services and mental health.
Mennonites in Canada were automatically exempt from any type of service during World War I by provisions of the Order in Council of 1873. During World War II, Mennonite conscientious objectors were given the options of noncombatant military service, serving in the medical or dental corps under military control or working in parks and on roads under civilian supervision. Over 95 percent chose the latter and were placed in Alternative Service camps. Initially the men worked on road building, forestry and firefighting projects. After May 1943, as a labor shortage developed within the nation, men were shifted into agriculture, education and industry. The 10,700 Canadian objectors were mostly Mennonites (63 percent) and Doukhobors (20 percent).
Schools and Education in Canada and the USA
All Mennonites and Amish emphasize elementary education and want their children to learn to read (necessary for reading the Bible and devotional literature), to write, and to do arithmetic (necessary for farming, carpentry, sewing, and other trades). However, many Mennonites have been traditionally suspicious of and often opposed to higher education, seeing it as likely to destroy faith and lead the person to enter into and accommodate to what many Mennonites call "the world" or "worldliness." Thus some Mennonites, and especially the Amish, stop their schooling at the eighth grade; others stop whenever the state permits people to quit school (typically at age 16). Still others stop after graduation from high school. Some Mennonites send their children to public schools. Others set up their own schools, and still others home-school their children.
Several Mennonite groups have their own private or parochial schools. The Canadian providence of Quebec does not allow these parochial schools as the Quebec government imposes its curriculum on all schools (public and private), while private schools may only add optional material to the compulsory curriculum but may not replace it. This policy has resulted in several legal cases.
Over the years there have also been numerous cases in the United States dealing with attempts by governmental authorities to get Mennonite and Amish groups to submit to the orders of government school officials concerning the education of their children.
Some Mennonites, however, have embraced higher education. Today there are at least eight Mennonite-owned institutions of higher learning—colleges and universities—in North America; all of these institutions are relatively small. They are:
- Goshen College, Goshen, Indiana. [1]
- Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA. [2]
- Bluffton University, Bluffton, Ohio. [3]
- Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas. [4]
- Fresno Pacific University, Fresno, CA. [5]
- Hesston College, Hesston, Kansas. [6]
- Tabor College, Hillsboro, KS. [7]
- Conrad Grebel University College on the campus of the University of Waterloo, Ontario, and owned by the Mennonite Church Eastern Canada. [8]
In addition to institutions of learning, the Mennonites in North America have established at least one major publishing institution, now known as the Mennonite Publishing Network, with offices in Waterloo, Ontario; Scottdale, Pennsylvania; and Newton, Kansas. This institution publishes many books—most of them dealing in some way with Mennonites or Anabaptists or their concerns—under its imprint Herald Press. They also publish newsletters, devotional and study materials, and other things of interest to Mennonites. http://www.mph.org/
Sexual behavior, marriage, and family
The Mennonite church has no formal celibate religious order, but recognizes the legitimacy of both the single state and the sanctity of marriage of its members. Single persons are expected to be chaste, and marriage is held to be a lifelong, monogamous, faithful covenant between a man and a woman. Divorce is discouraged and it is believed that the "hardness of the heart" of people is the ultimate cause of divorce. Some Mennonite churches have disciplined members who have unilaterally divorced their spouses outside of cases of sexual unfaithfulness or acute abuse. Until the 1960s or 1970s, divorce was quite rare. In recent times, divorce is more common and also carries less stigma, particularly in cases where abuse was apparent.
Traditionally, very modest dress (apparent mostly in women's apparel) was expected, particularly in conservative Mennonite circles. However, as the Mennonite population became urbanized and more integrated into the wider culture, this visible difference has disappeared outside of conservative Mennonite groups. Many conservative Mennonite groups have required women members to wear a head veil or covering, based on the Biblical injunction in I Corinthians 11: 3-7.
The Mennonite church in the Netherlands was the first Dutch church to have a female pastor—Anna Zernike, authorized in 1911. About one century later over 40 percent of all Doopsgezinde Kerk pastors are female.
The Doopsgezinde Kerk was in the 1970s also the first Mennonite group to accept homosexual pastors (whether male or female), at least in the Netherlands. In 2001, when homosexual marriage was introduced in the Netherlands, the Doopsgezinde Kerk with the Remonstrantse Kerk was the first to solemnize homosexual marriages.
Some regional conferences (the Mennonite counterpart to dioceses) of the Mennonite Church have acted to expel member congregations that have granted membership to non-celibate homosexuals. These expulsions have been and continue to be controversial in the moderate Mennonite conferences.
Mennonite theology emphasizes the primacy of the teachings of Jesus as recorded in New Testament scripture, emphasizing the ideal of a religious community based on New Testament models and imbued with the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount. Core Mennonite beliefs deriving from Anabaptist traditions, are:
- The authority of Scripture and the Holy Spirit
- Salvation through conversion by the Spirit of God
- Believer's baptism understood as threefold: Baptism by the spirit (internal change of heart), baptism by water (public demonstration of witness), and baptism by blood (either martyrdom or the practice of strict self-denial as a measure of personal and especially spiritual discipline)
- Discipleship understood as an outward sign of an inward change
- Discipline in the church. Some Mennonite churches practice the Meidung (shunning)
- The Lord's Supper understood as a memorial rather than as a sacrament. In connection with the Lord's Supper, some Mennonites also practice feet washing
One of the earliest expressions of their faith was the Schleitheim Confession, adopted on February 24, 1527. Its seven articles covered:
- Believer's baptism
- The Ban (excommunication)
- Breaking of bread (Communion)
- Separation from and shunning of the abomination (the Roman Catholic Church and other "worldly" groups and practices)
- Pastors in the church
- Renunciation of the sword (nonresistance, nonviolence and pacifism)
- Renunciation of the oath (swearing as proof of truth)
The Dordrecht Confession of Faith was adopted on April 21, 1632, by Dutch Mennonites, by Alsatian Mennonites in 1660, and by North American Mennonites in 1725. However, there is no official creed or catechism of which acceptance is required by congregations or members. On the other hand, structures and traditions as in the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective are considered generally normative in Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA.[4]
Various Mennonite traditions
There is a wide scope of worship, doctrine and traditions among Mennonites today. The following are main types of Mennonites as seen from North America.
Moderate Mennonites include the largest denominations, the Mennonite Brethren and the Mennonite Church (USA and Canada). In most forms of worship and practice they differ very little from Protestant congregations. For most of these groups there is no special form of dress and no restrictions on the use of technology. Worship styles vary greatly between different congregations. There is no formal liturgy; services typically consist of singing, scripture reading, prayer and a sermon. Some churches prefer hymns and choirs; others make use of contemporary Christian music with electronic instruments. These Mennonite congregations are self-supporting and appoint their own ministers. In groups, ministers and bishops have received no salaries for their ministry, but have had to support themselves and their families in addition to doing their church work. There is an emphasis on peace, community, and service. Banning is rarely practiced. Excommunication can occur, however, and was notably applied by the Mennonite Brethren to members who joined the military during the Second World War. Service in the military is generally not permitted, but service in the legal profession or law enforcement is acceptable. Outreach and help to the wider community at home and abroad is encouraged.
Reformed Mennonites represent the first division in the original North American Mennonite body, forming the Reformed Mennonite Church which was formed in the early nineteenth century. Reformed Mennonites see themselves as true followers of Menno Simons' teachings and of the teachings of the New Testament. They have no written church rules, but rely solely on the Bible as their guide. They insist on strict separation from all other forms of worship, and dress in conservative "plain" garb that preserves eighteenth century Mennonite tradition. However, they allow their children to attend public schools and have permitted the use of automobiles.
Holdeman Mennonites were founded from a schism in 1859. The formal name of the denomination is the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite, with about 19,000 members worldwide. They emphasize evangelical conversion, strict church discipline, and the shunning of the excommunicated. They stay separate from other Mennonite groups because of their emphasis on the doctrine of being the one true church and their use of strict shunning against their own excommunicated members.
Old Order Mennonites cover many distinct groups. Some groups use horse and buggies for transportation and speak German while others drive cars and speak English. What most Old Orders share in common is conservative doctrine, dress, and traditions, common roots in nineteenth and early twentieth century schisms, and a refusal to participate in politics and other so-called 'sins of the world'. Most Old Order groups also school their children in Mennonite-operated schools.
- Stauffer Mennonite or Pike Mennonites represent the first and most conservative form of Horse and Buggy Mennonites. They were founded in 1845, following conflicts about how to discipline a child and spousal abuse by a few Mennonite church members. They almost immediately began to split into separate churches themselves. Today these groups are among the most conservative of all Mennonites, outside the Amish. They stress strict separation from "the world," adhere to "strict withdrawal from and shunning of apostate and separated members," forbid or limit cars and technology, and wear "plain" clothing. They are now considered to be part of the larger less-conservative Horse and Buggy Old Order Mennonite group which formed from later schisms.
- Horse and Buggy Old Order Mennonites came from the main series of Old Order schisms that began in 1872 and ended in 1901 as conservative Mennonites fought the radical changes that the influence of nineteenth century American revivalism had on Mennonite worship. Most allow the use of tractors for farming. They stress separation from the world and wear "plain" clothes. Unlike the Stauffer Mennonites, their form of the ban does not include shunning.
- Automobile Old Order Mennonites, like other Old Order groups, evolved from the main series of Old Order schisms from 1872-1901. They often share the same meeting houses with Horse and Buggy Old Order brethren, with whom they parted ways in the early 1900s. Although this group began using cars in 1927, the cars were required to be "plain" and painted black. The largest group of Automobile Old Orders are known today as 'Black Bumper' Mennonites because some members still paint their chrome bumpers black.
Conservative Mennonites are those Mennonites who maintain somewhat conservative dress and do not engage in television and radio, although carefully accepting other technology. They are not a unified group and are divided into various independent conferences and fellowships such as the Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church conference.
Progressive Mennonite churches allow homosexual members to worship as church members and have been banned from membership in the moderate groups as result. The Germantown Mennonite Church in Germantown, Pennsylvania is one example of such a progressive Mennonite church.
In 2003, there were 1,297,716 Mennonites in 65 countries. Africa had the highest number of Mennonites with 451,959 members, closely followed by North America with 451,180 members. The third largest concentration of Mennonites was in the Asia/Pacific region with 208,155 members, while the fourth largest region was the one encompassing South America, Central America and the Caribbean, with 133,150 members. Europe, the birthplace of Mennonites, had 53,272 members.[5]
Africa has the highest membership growth rate by far with a reported 10 percent-12 percent rise every year in some countries, particularly in Ethiopia. Growth in Mennonite membership is slow but steady in North America, the Asia/Pacific region, and in South/Central America. Europe has seen a slow and accelerating decline in Mennonite membership since about 1980.
Some churches in North America have begun profiling potential members and with some success have targeted inner city minorities in their recruitment efforts. Growth in the traditional Mennonite churches is out-pacing growth in the moderate churches.
Organization: Worldwide
The most basic unit of organization among Mennonites is the church. There are hundreds or thousands of Mennonite churches, many of which are separate from all others. Some churches are members of regional or area conferences. Some, but far from all, regional or area conferences are members of larger national or world conferences. Thus, there is no single authorized organization that includes all Mennonite churches worldwide.
Worship, church discipline and lifestyles vary widely between progressive, moderate, conservative, Old Order and orthodox Mennonites in a vast panoply of distinct, independent, and widely dispersed classifications. For these reasons, no single group of Mennonites anywhere can credibly claim to represent, speak for, or lead all Mennonites worldwide.
The eleven largest Mennonite groups are:
- Mennonite Brethren (300,000 members on 6 continents worldwide)
- Meserete Kristos Church in Ethiopia (120,600 members; 126,000 more followers attending alike churches)[6]
- Mennonite Church USA with 114,000 members in the United States
- Brethren in Christ with 100,000 US and worldwide members
- Communauté Mennonite au Congo (87,000)
- Kanisa La Mennonite Tanzania with 50,000 members in 240 congregations
- Deutsche Mennonitengemeinden with 40,000 members in Germany[9]
- Mennonite Church Canada with 35,000 members in Canada
- Church of God in Christ, Mennonite with 16,000 members in 240 US churches and 2000 members in 13 other countries (1995 data)
- Conservative Mennonite Conference, 11,000 members in the North America, plus 34,000 affiliate members in 8 countries worldwide
- Beachy Amish Mennonite, with 10,000 US members (159 congregations) plus many international locations
The remaining 20 or so other smaller independent groups and conferences number only a few churches and a few hundred members. Finally, there are 100 or more small independent churches with one or a few congregations numbering from as many as 2,000 members to as few as a 40 members.
The Mennonite World Conference is a global community of 95 Mennonite and Brethren in Christ Mennonite national church organizations from 51 countries on six continents. It exists to "facilitate community between Anabaptist-related churches worldwide, and relate to other Christian world communions and organizations," but it is not a governing body. Rather, it is a voluntary community of faith whose decisions are not binding on member churches. The member churches of the Mennonite World Conference include the Mennonite Brethren, the Mennonite Church USA, and the Mennonite Church Canada, with a combined total membership of at least 400,000, or about 30 percent of Mennonites worldwide.
Organization: North America
In 2003, there were about 323,000 Mennonites in the United States.[7] About 110,000 were members of Mennonite Church USA churches, while about 26,000 were members of Mennonite Brethren churches. About 30,000 (according to Scott) were members of conservative and old order churches. (That leaves about 159,000 Mennonites unaccounted for in other United States' churches). Other sources list 236,084 total United States Mennonites.
Total membership in Mennonite Church USA denominations decreased from about 133,000, before the merger in 1998, to about 114,000 after the merger in 2003. The Mennonite Church USA has begun profiling potential members and has been successful at recruiting inner-city minorities into the church in several large cities in the United States. Significant growth in the conservative churches seems to be occurring by itself in the already existing communities.
In Canada, in 2003 there were around 130,000 Mennonites. About 37,000 of those were members of Mennonite Church Canada churches and about another 35,000 of those were members of Mennonite Brethren churches. About 5,000 belonged to conservative Old Order Mennonite churches, or other ultra-conservative and orthodox churches. (That leaves about 55,000 Mennonites unaccounted for in other Canadian churches).
As of 2003, there were an estimated 80,000 Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico. These Mennonites descend from a mass migration in the 1920s of roughly 6,000 Old Colony Mennonites from the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In 1921, a Canadian Mennonite delegation arriving in Mexico received a privilegium, a promise of non-interference, from the Mexican government. This guarantee of many freedoms was the impetus that created the two original Old Colony settlements near Patos (Nuevo Ideal), Durango, and Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua.
See also
- Amish
- Menno Simons
- Shunning
- Excommunication
- ↑ Mennonite Disaster Service. mds.mennonite.net. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
- ↑ Martyrs Mirror, first published in 1660, documents much of the persecution and killing of Anabaptists and their predecessors.
- ↑ A Minute Against Slavery, Addressed to Germantown Monthly Meeting, 1688. www.qhpress.org. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
- ↑ Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective www.mcusa-archives.org. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
- ↑ 2003 Mennonite & Brethren in Christ World Membership. www.mwc-cmm.org. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
- ↑ Ethiopian church strives to keep spiritual fires alive. mennoweekly.org. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
- ↑ United States and Worldwide Mennonite Membership Statistics. www.mcusa-archives.org. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Balke, Willem. Calvin and the Anabaptist Radicals. Heynen, Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2000. ISBN 978-1579100735
- Davis, Kenneth Ronald. Anabaptism and Asceticism; A Study in Intellectual Origins. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1974. ISBN 0836111958
- Friedmann, Robert. The Theology of Anabaptism; An Interpretation. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1973. ISBN 083611194X
- Hershberger, Guy F. The Recovery of the Anabaptist Vision; A Sixtieth Anniversary Tribute to Harold S. Bender. The Baptist Standard Bearer, 2001. ISBN 978-1579787998
- Horsch, James E., Ed., Mennonite Directory. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1999. ISBN 0836194543
- Klaassen, Walter. Anabaptism: Neither Catholic nor Protestant. Conrad Press, 1973. ISBN 0969045816
- Kraus, C. Norman, Ed., Evangelicalism and Anabaptism. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1979. ISBN 0836118928
- Pannabecker, Samuel Floyd. Open Doors: A History of the General Conference Mennonite Church. Faith and Life Press, 1975. ISBN 0873036360
- Sattler, Michael. The Legacy of Michael Sattler. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1973. ISBN 0836111877
- Scott, Stephen. An Introduction to Old Order and Conservative Mennonite Groups. Good Books, 1969. ISBN 1561481017
- Smith, C. Henry. Smith's Story of the Mennonites, Fifth Ed. Faith and Life Press, 1981. ISBN 0873030605
- Stayer, James Mentzer. Anabaptists and the Sword. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2002. ISBN 978-1592440191
- Van Bragt, Thieleman. Martyrs Mirror. Herald Press; 2nd Reprint edition, 2001. ISBN 9780836113907
- Williams, George Huntston. The Radical Reformation. Kirksville, MO: Truman State Univ. Press, 2000. ISBN 0943549833
External links
All links retrieved November 9, 2022.
- Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO) www.gameo.org
- Mennonite World Conference www.mwc-cmm.org
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Wednesday, January 6, 2010
HYDRANGEA TUTORIAL PART ONE by Petalsweet Cakes
I get a lot of questions about the filler flowers I use in my gumpaste floral bouquets. I frequently use hydrangea and/or small pulled blossoms because they are quick and easy to make, and go well with many of the color schemes for my cake designs. They are also easy to group into any size bouquet to fill spaces between larger flowers, and I think they help to make the final bouquets look full and lush.
I wanted to share my steps for making both of these filler flowers...starting with the hydrangea. I've created this tutorial with a series of photos, but PLEASE let me know if they don't convey the information clearly enough. I know video is the direction to go with future tutorials, but until I have all of the right equipment, I'm sorry the photos will have to do! I have also broken it down into quite a few steps...I don't know who is reading this blog, and I just want to make sure all of the little things are covered. When I started making gumpaste flowers, I know the littlest tips were always so helpful.
A NOTE ABOUT WIRE: For both the hydrangea and pulled blossoms, I use green cotton-covered wires. They are usually packaged in 12" lengths, and come in many gauges...the higher the gauge number, the finer the wire:
You can also use white cotton-covered wire, but you will eventually need to wrap each wire with green floral tape to make it look like a stem, a timely step I like to skip if possible. I purchase my wire from a local cake decorating store, and online from the talented Scott Clark Woolley, who offers wonderful supplies on his site Cakes by Design. Of course, you can also make either of these flowers without wire, and attach them directly to your cake. If so, you may want to forgo the gumpaste hydrangea centers and just pipe small centers with royal icing.
For the hydrangea CENTERS, here are the tools I use:
* 26g wire
* Tweezers
* Needle tool (or you can use a toothpick or pin)
* Wire cutters
* Gumpaste (white)
Step 1: Cut your wires into fourths with the wire cutters. Don't worry about making them exact...I like my wire lengths to vary a bit as they help to give the final bouquet a more life-like appearance. Too exact, and you get a stiff and unnatural look:
Step 2: Using your tweezers, bend the very top of your wires, making as small a loop as possible:
I like to make the centers as small as I can, and having made so many hydrangea, I don't use a size guide. But, I thought I would add some photos with the guide for those of you who do like to use it. Again, try to vary the size of your centers a tiny bit so they do not all look exactly the same. There are two sizes of hydrangea cutters, and I like to have a mix of centers for both. The gumpaste balls I use sit comfortably in #2 and #3 of Nicholas Lodge's size guide, but keep in mind this amount of gumpaste will be more than the final size of the center. Some of the gumpaste will be pinched off once the center is formed around the wire loop:
Step 3: Working with one ball at a time, insert the wire loop into the center of the ball and gently shape the gumpaste down around it to cover the loop completely. Don't pull the gumpaste tight around the loop, you want to have a bit of padding on top to score with lines. The excess gumpaste will be pulled down below the loop and be pinched off to secure the paste to the wire:
To pinch off the excess paste, twist the wire between your thumb and first finger, right below the base of the loop. Your goal is to end up with a neat and clean little "bud" on the end of your wire:
Step 4: Using your needle tool (or toothpick or pin), mark four lines starting from the center of the ball, and outwards down the sides. You are now making your bud look like a "hot cross bun"! I prefer to make four lines starting from the center (versus two across the top like an "X") because you end up with a nicely shaped center instead of a flattened ball. Just turn your center a quick quarter turn between each line marking:
The completed center:
And a photo of several centers together with a glass-headed pin for size reference:
Once you have all of your centers made, let them dry overnight.
For the hydrangea PETALS, here are the tools I use:
* Rolling/cutting board
* Rolling pin (or pasta machine if making large quantities)
* Foam pad
* Ball tool
* Hydrangea cutters/veiners
* Gumpaste (in color of choice)
* Drying rack (there are a lot of different drying forms you can purchase online, but I also use clothes hangers for drying flowers upside down, and egg cartons to dry them face up)
* Sugar glue and small brush for application
* Dry hydrangea centers
A NOTE ABOUT GUMPASTE COLOR: I use a very pale base color for my hydrangea unless the finished flowers are going to be white. I think it gives the flowers a nice glow of color underneath the final addition of dusting colors. For the green hydrangea in this tutorial, I colored my gumpaste with a mix of AmeriColor gels in Avocado and Lemon Yellow.
Step 1: Roll out paste thin and press veiner into it, being careful to not press down too hard or veiner may cut through paste:
Step 2: Cut out flowers using cutters, making sure to align shorter and longer petals on the cutter, with the shorter and longer veins from the veiner:
Step 3: Using your ball tool, thin edges of the cut out flowers, making sure to follow the contours of the petals. With these flowers, I always work from the middle of the flower outward to the tips, along both sides of the individual petals. Additionally, you can "cup" the individual petals by making tiny circles with the ball tool in the middle of each petal. I like to make a mixture of both for my bouquets so the hydrangea look more varied:
Thin edges with ball tool:
Examples of thinned edges only (in back) versus thinned edges and cupped with ball tool (in front):
Step 4: Lightly dab the back of the center with sugar glue, and thread the wire down through the top of the flower until the center meets the flower. Turn the flower upside down and pinch/press lightly to adhere the flower to the center:
Hang upside down to dry, or poke holes in the bottom of an egg carton and rest the flowers in the egg cups to dry facing up (rest the carton on top of some coffee mugs to allow space below for the wires to hang below). A mix of these drying methods will give you a great blend of open and closed flowers for your final bouquet.
Here are some blue hydrangea hanging to dry:
And a mix of blue, green and white hydrangea drying in an egg carton:
And just a couple of suggestions:
1. When you sit down to make these, make A LOT of them!! I use hydrangeas in many of my flower arrangements...I love the way they look and how easily they compliment other colors. And they are a great way to fill space around large, focal flowers.
2. I make hydrangea in variations of pink, green, white, blue and purple. I recommend making a stash of your flowers in the pale version of the final color, then saving them and coloring them as needed, rather than coloring them all at the same time. I don't always need a deep, dark purple hydrangea...so I adjust my dusting colors accordingly as I am planning the final bouquet of flowers.
Coming up...Part Two...Coloring and Arranging!
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Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler. Please feel free to use the ideas and concepts discussed on this blog, but please do not claim any of it as your own work. Thank you!
65 comments:
- Rafael Logrono said...
Thanks a million for this!! I want to start doing more gumpaste work and this is a great way to start. I have Scott's supplies; what type of gumpaste (sugar paste, if Ron is reading this!) do you use??
-Rafael :) - January 10, 2010 at 10:41 AM
- cdgleason said...
wonderful, Jacqueline!
- January 10, 2010 at 11:09 AM
- Michael McCafferty said...
YES! This a great bit of work you have put together. Such details and photos to back it up make this a truly professional product. Book material. You are the guru (guress?) of cake!
- January 10, 2010 at 11:24 AM
- Unknown said...
This is such a wonderful tutorial. Before reading your tutorial, I made some hydrangeas (they are one of my fave flowers) although not perfect as your (love your flowers), but it was a good exercise. That was a very good point about starting with a pale color then build it up when applying the petal dust. Thanks for posting. Hope you will do a peony tutorial too. I will make some too (another of my fave flowers.)
Happy New Year.
Jeannie (Baking Jeannie) - January 10, 2010 at 12:56 PM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Hi and thanks everyone for your lovely comments!
Rafael - I use Nicholas Lodge's recipe which you can find on his website.
Jeannie - Happy New Year to you too and thanks for visiting! - January 10, 2010 at 5:59 PM
- SweetThingsTO said...
What a wonderful tutorial. You are generous to share with us your time, talent and tips.
- January 11, 2010 at 4:12 AM
- Unknown said...
Jacqueline, great step by step! I was interested to see if we made them the same way and, for the most part we do. I like your way of imprinting the veining before cutting them out. My way of cutting them out then veining works but I like your way better, it will make the process faster! I am looking forward to your dusting demo! Great job.
(if the comment comes from Abigail, its because my daughter was on facebook last!) - January 11, 2010 at 5:39 AM
- Brandy L said...
Thank you so much for the Tutorial! I read it on my blackberry and you made it seem so easy to follow along with all the pictures and wording.
- January 11, 2010 at 9:10 AM
- Tracy Auseklis said...
Brilliant! It really is interesting to see how other make the flowers. I do it a bit differently too. I am going to try your method next time too! Awesome, thanks!
- January 11, 2010 at 9:14 AM
- Keith Kirby said...
Outstanding tutorial! In reading it, I'm almost convinced that I could actually make hydrangeas... Where can I find creative talent?
I look forward to Part II! - January 11, 2010 at 12:20 PM
- BellaLovesPink said...
This is GREAT! Can't wait to see more!
- January 11, 2010 at 3:40 PM
- faithy said...
Wow! Great tutorial!! Thanks for sharing!
BTW, I've nominated your blog for Happy 101 Award..check it out at http://theamateurbaker.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-happy-101-award.html - January 12, 2010 at 9:30 PM
- Dharm said...
Wow!! You make your own sugarpaste flowers!! Simply amazing. I would never have the patience (nor the skill) to do these... I am so amazed!
- January 15, 2010 at 2:56 AM
- nicky said...
ok...1 dumb question, are these flowers edible? how does it taste like? - January 18, 2010 at 2:01 AM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Hi Nicky!
Technically, the flowers are edible as long as non-toxic dusts have been used (which most of them are), and of course you can't eat the wires. The flowers are brittle and break easily, and they taste like a lightly sweetened sugar wafer. Edible, but not really palatable. Most people don't eat them, but save them as keepsakes. Jacqueline - January 18, 2010 at 9:14 AM
- veena said...
such a wonderful tutorial.thanks for sharing it. will try to make some and mail the pic. thanks again
- January 30, 2010 at 6:31 PM
- Miniature Patisserie Chef said...
Thank you for dropping by my blog! I love reading yours, and there are just so many interesting entries that I'll be slowly enjoy! Love reading how you make those sugar paste flowers for cake decorating. It sounds a little like what I do - in miniature scale. :)
Pei Li - January 31, 2010 at 10:10 PM
- Shirley said...
Beautiful Tutorials! Thank you for unselfishly sharing your perfect techniques! In Sept I will be making my Son's wedding cake and I'm currently devouring anything I can find on gumpaste flowers as I haven't worked with this medium (polymer clay, a lot!). Your tutes are by far the most beautiful, informative and wonderfully written and photographed! Thank You
- February 24, 2010 at 3:28 AM
- Unknown said...
Just wanted to let you know something...
I loveeeee this tutorial... and don't ever apologize for making it a pic tutorial instead of a video tutorial, I personally prefer pic tutorials!
Also... are you planning on doing a tutorial on the peonies?
Your work is amazing! - March 6, 2010 at 7:43 AM
- Wonni said...
wow, thank you so much!!!! Its wonderful!
- March 12, 2010 at 1:54 PM
- Author said...
hello Jacqueline! this tutorial is really great and thanks a bunch for sharing.
may i please know which brand of cutter and veiner you are using? i have Petal Craft's hydrangea cutter and veiner set but the cutter was made of some plastic material so the cut is not clean. i really love your hydrangea cutter and veiner. can you please share?
thank you in advance jacqueline and keep up the good work =)
adrianne - June 14, 2010 at 9:19 AM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Hi Adrianne!
Thank you for your lovely comment! The hydrangea cutters and veiners I use are made by Sunflower Sugar Art. They have a site online - all of their cutters have nice, sharp cutting edges. I also buy cutters from Scott Woolley - he has a good selection of supplies and tools. Jacqueline - June 14, 2010 at 5:28 PM
- Author said...
dear Jacqueline,
thank you for your info..i will buy them soon..as for now, i have to make do with the Petal Craft cutter and veiner i have =)
btw, ystdy i have made some hydrangeas and i'm planning to arrange them with magnolias i learn to make from a book. however, the petals kept breaking when i tried assembling them in a bouquet and there were many 'holes' in between the hydrangeas because i daren't squeeze them too near to each other fearing that the petals make break again..not sure if it will look good but as soon as it's done, i will share with you my outcome. it's for a wedding cake this saturday..i'm very excited!
p/s: gosh! now i really love hydrangeas, all because of you! =)
thank you so much again Jacqueline!
adrianne - June 15, 2010 at 2:07 PM
- Alpha Baker Joan said...
lovely work! joan
- October 23, 2010 at 8:01 PM
- Tanya Hockensmith said...
Jacqueline,thank you for the wonderful tutorial. Thank you for taking the time to go step by step through your process. I love all of the little tips you gave. I especially love the separate paint palettes. I have one I use for dusting and always clean it out for a new set of colors. You even go so far as suggesting ways to color with varying colors from the same family. I have read the 1st two parts so far and can't wait to see the leaves. Thank you again!
- January 11, 2011 at 2:44 PM
- Sarah said...
Thank you so much for your wondefull tutorials. I have just made a wedding cake for my brother who wanted purple and pink hydrangeas on top. I couldn't have done it without your blog as a guide. The cake turned out extremely well and I had so many great remarks about the flowers.
Sarah (New Zealand) - February 2, 2011 at 8:09 AM
- Linda said...
I wanted to thank you for the wonderful tutorial. I used it to make a hydrangea for a competition cake I did recently. Not only did I win 1st place in my division/category, I won Best in Division and got a special award from the judges for that flower. It was my first attempt at hydrangeas! If you'd like, you can see a picture here http://beautifullyembellishedcakes.blogspot.com/. Thank you again!
Linda - February 15, 2011 at 7:19 PM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Thank you so much Linda! I'm so glad you enjoyed the tutorial...and congratulations to you for your win in the cake competition! Your cake turned out beautiful! Wow! Jacqueline
- February 16, 2011 at 5:59 PM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Thank you so much Linda! I'm so glad you enjoyed the tutorial...and congratulations to you for your win in the cake competition! Your cake turned out beautiful! Wow! Jacqueline
- February 16, 2011 at 5:59 PM
- Anonymous said...
hi jacqueline,
thank you again for the wonderful tutorial.i've combined it with gumpaste maagnolias on a wedding cake for my customer.it's my first attempt with hydrangeas and i think they looked ok, perhaps i should brush up on the dusting technique and keep practicing =) if you'd like, you can see the results here on my cake :
thank you again dear jacqueline!
adrianne - February 17, 2011 at 8:39 AM
- medhadevdas said...
thanks for wonderful tutorial .
- February 21, 2011 at 6:41 AM
- Kate said...
Hi Jacqueline,
Thanks so much for sharing. I couldn't see you when you were in Sydney so this tutorial is just wonderful. I'm looking forward to receiving my cutters and veiners from Scott Clark Woolley and actually giving this all a go! Yay. A little off this post, but may I ask how you create such BIG peonies?
Thanks again and your work is truly a thing of beauty. - March 2, 2011 at 1:44 PM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Hi Kate,
Thank you very much - I'm glad you have enjoyed the tutorial...would love to see your finished hydrangea when you get a chance to use your new cutters/veiners! My peonies have quite a few petals..some of the larger ones have 19! And they are made with a set of cutters I designed so you can make a large or small flower. I like the over-sized peonies because they are so dramatic! I hope to have my peony cutter set for sale soon! Very best to you! Jacqueline x - March 2, 2011 at 9:06 PM
- Natalie said...
Hi Jacqueline,
Fab great step by step. can't wait for your peony cutter also would love one for the renuculas you did. Can the wires be put straight into the cake?? I always thought they couldn't.
Thanks Natalie - March 3, 2011 at 1:22 PM
- Kate said...
Hi again,
Thanks for such a quick reply. I'll get a picture posted when I can. I'm battling a 3 month bubba for time though so it will take me a while! I quite agree, the massive peonies are a real feature. I want to get married all over again so I can have another wedding cake. And another dress. And another party. And a honeymoon. I keep telling my husband this...
I really, really love your site - it's so inspirational. And a big YAY for releasing a cutter set! - March 3, 2011 at 6:48 PM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Natalie - the ranunculus is just made with rose petal cutters in graduated sizes...no special cutters. As for wires, there is no set answer...some people use the wires, and some don't. Other options are to make flowers on wooden skewers or tape groups of flowers together and insert the wires into a flower pik before inserting into the cake. Jacqueline
- March 3, 2011 at 9:00 PM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Thanks Kate - I really appreciate you taking the time to visit and read along...I hope you continue to enjoy it! Will look forward to your photos! Jacqueline
- March 3, 2011 at 9:02 PM
- Aoibheann said...
Hi Jacqueline, I love your tutorial on hydrangeas, they are such a beautiful flower, you make it look so easy! I'm just wondering how you get the veining on your ranunculas? I love to try and make them...or go to your classes but I'm in Ireland...a bit far to travel I think! Is it a special veiner or do you run a cocktail stick over each petal? Any help would be much appreciated!
- March 19, 2011 at 9:15 AM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Hi Aoibheann! Thank you so much for your lovely comment. I do use a veiner for my ranunculus - it is actually a silcone veiner set by First Impressions that is made for the Cattleya Orchid. It has three different veiners and I use the smallest one for my ranunculus flowers. I use the large one for my peonies, and then the whole set for orchids. It's a bit expensive, but I figure using it for several different flowers makes it a better investment. Let me know if you have any additional questions! Jacqueline
- March 19, 2011 at 10:27 PM
- valerie said...
I am so glad I found this tutorial. I have a wedding cake coming up who requested gumpaste hydrangeas. You have saved me. I have been stressing over doing these, and now think I can do it!! I would love to see more flower tutorials!!
Valerie - April 2, 2011 at 9:57 AM
- Dependent said...
Beautiful!!! Just as all your work. I am quite taken with all your flowers. Okay, now, will you tell me what gumpaste that you use? There are lots out there, and I would rather practice with whatever brand you use. Thank you!
Fannie - April 10, 2011 at 10:12 PM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Hi Fannie,
Thanks so much for your lovely comment! I make my own paste and mostly use the recipe by Nicholas Lodge. You can find it on his website! It's very easy to make and has a smooth consistency. Very best,
Jacqueline - April 12, 2011 at 8:00 AM
- Anonymous said...
Hi Jaqueline,
I just wanna know where can I get the cutter and the veiner that we used during our class in sydney. answers really appreciated cheers - July 16, 2011 at 4:30 AM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Hi! Which class and which cutters from Sydney? Thank you! Jacqueline
- July 18, 2011 at 3:37 PM
- Wanessa said...
Hello there! I came across your wonderful blog via a google search. A friend of mine was looking for a tutorial or instructions on gumpaste hydrangea and I just want to tell you that this is an amazing tutorial!! I have referred her to your page and hope she uses it...I know I intend to :-) Thanks so much!!
- July 26, 2011 at 6:29 PM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Hi Wanessa - thanks for your lovely comment and for stopping by to say hello! Tell your friend good luck on the hydrangea...hopefully the tutorial will work out well for their project! Best, Jacqueline
- July 26, 2011 at 9:22 PM
- Anonymous said...
Hi Jacqueline,
I am having a hard time finding the same cutter and veiner of hydrangea + the groove board here in new zealand. what's the best site to find them? have u thought about coming over to teach?
email@example.com - July 27, 2011 at 4:32 AM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Hi Tina,
I have links to Scott Woolley's site in the post...he is a great source for the cutters and veiners. The grooved board is by CelCakes and can be found online at Global Sugar Art and sugarcraft.com. Jacqueline - July 27, 2011 at 12:27 PM
- Tudor Elena Cristina.... said...
Thank you so much!!!!Have a beautiful day!!
- March 4, 2012 at 12:30 AM
- Amanda Bass said...
Awesome tutorial!! Thanks for sharing! :-)
I have one issue so far. when I'm making the little blossoms for the center, it seems that they start to dry and get crumbly on me before I can put the "hot cross buns" in the center. :-( Any suggestions on how to fix this? Maybe a tiny bit of shortening on my fingers will help? Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions!
-Amanda - March 6, 2012 at 6:21 AM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Hi Amanda...yes it sounds like your paste is very dry if it is crusting over so quickly. Knead a bit of shortening into a small ball of paste and then pull your small pieces for the centers from it before you attach them to the wire. Working more quickly will also help, which will be easier the more you practice. I don't know what type of paste you are using, but most commercial pastes (like Satin Ice) have a longer working time than scratch pastes. I use a scratch paste recipe by Nicholas Lodge (you can find it under recipes on Global Sugar Art), but I have used it for many years and am used to the quick drying time. Jacqueline
- March 6, 2012 at 8:51 AM
- Amanda Bass said...
Thank you Jacqueline! I actually made the Nicolas Lodge recipe...so that must be why if was crusting up on me already. I have some Wilton gumpaste that I will use to practice with. And I'll also use a bit of shortening when I go back to using my good gumpaste for the hydrangeas for the cake. Thanks so much! Your work is amazing by the way! :-)
- March 6, 2012 at 9:04 AM
- SweetColours said...
Jacqueline, thank you very much for this wonderful tutorial. Please log in to my blog, I am self taught and I made a cake inspired by your work. I would like to be closer to learn from you, but I live in Spain, Europe, and is complicated.
The direction of my cake with flowers on the blog is this:
Thanks. - April 1, 2012 at 11:33 AM
- bake.eat.repeat. said...
This is brilliant thank you for sharing!
- June 14, 2012 at 5:42 AM
- Unknown said...
Hi Jacqueline,
Your flowers are a work of art. Absolutely amazeballs!!!!
Do you use a special tool in order to get the rings on your Ranunculus buds?
I have also been looking whether you have published any books on your art and have found none! Are you planning on publishing any? Also,are you planning on posting anymore tutorials on Craftsy?
Thanking you in advance and thank you for bringing such wonderful talent and inspiration to the cake decorating profession!
- August 23, 2012 at 8:32 AM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Hi Clare! Thanks so much for your lovely message - it's the first time anyone has ever used the term "amazeballs" to describe my work - you made my day!
I have not published any books on my flowers, but do hope to do so in the future. And I definitely plan to have more online videos as well - will keep you posted!
Thanks so much! - August 23, 2012 at 12:00 PM
- Anastasia Duchesne said...
They are great!!wondering whether you have an online tutorial on open peony? I'm in Perth,Australia. Will you be coming here to teach sugar flowers?
- November 4, 2012 at 3:36 AM
- Anastasia Duchesne said...
Oh btw, if you plan to have some classes in Perth,Aussie,I'm interested to know when. ;) thx
- November 4, 2012 at 3:38 AM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Hi Anastasia...thanks for your lovely comments. I hope to get to Perth in 2013 for classes...I'm working on dates and classes now and will be posting in the near future. And I plan on having more online classes too...the peony is a favorite! Jacqueline
- November 5, 2012 at 10:50 AM
- Chennai said...
Thanku very much for sharing this. Definetly It is good surprise for all.
- January 21, 2013 at 10:46 PM
- Send flowers to Faridabad said...
Really great nice post. I was checking constantly this blog and I'm impressed!
- March 9, 2013 at 12:38 AM
- Anonymous said...
Your work is amazing and these are beautiful. I am making flowers for my Mums 80th birthday cake and am going to use your tutorial as a guide.
Please may I know how to steam the flowers, once dried and coloured?Thank you - May 16, 2013 at 3:30 AM
- Jacqueline Butler said...
Thank you so much...once the flowers are dried and colored, just hold them over some gentle steam from a pot of water or kettle for a few seconds. This will set the color and make the petals look less dusty. Be sure to only do it for a few seconds as you don't want your flowers to absorb a lot of moisture. Let them dry for a few minutes before using. Jacqueline x
- May 16, 2013 at 12:50 PM
- Anonymous said...
I love you, I love you, I love you and thank you very, very much because you are so kind and share with people this, God bless you forever.
- November 5, 2013 at 3:57 PM
- Lisa Templeton said...
Awesome Tutorial Jacqueline! Thanks so much for sharing! I am in love with my hydrangeas this year and have planted another 6 different ones. So cant wait to make some in sugar when I have time!
- March 16, 2014 at 5:29 PM


text:
Moneague Inn
Parish: St. Ann
The Moneague Inn has a recorded history going back to 1844 when it was represented by Adolphe Duperly. In 1860 it was described as "the best hotel in the island". Moneague Inn was important because of its location on the main highway between the North coast and the then capital Spanish Town. The inn was the most important place to take a night break during the three day journey.
The Moneague Inn was surpassed by the Moneague Hotel in 1890, which was the largest hotel at that time. The Moneague hotel was specifically designed to host the large number of visitors expected for the Great Exhibition of 1891.
The Moneague Inn was declared a National Monument by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust on May 13 1999.


text:
Doomsday Preppers explores the lives of otherwise ordinary Americans who are preparing for the end of the world as we know it. Unique in their beliefs, motivations, and strategies, preppers will go to whatever lengths they can to make sure they are prepared for any of life's uncertainties. And with our expert's assessment, they will find out their chances of survival if their worst fears become a reality.
uKino.to 2024


text:
YouTube Is A Global Media Property
My friend Steve Kane left an interesting comment on yesterday's post about analog dollars and digital pennies. In it he noted the following:
any case, i'm not sure what comscore is counting, but most other
measurements services give youtube roughly 65 million *unique* visitors
per monthhttp://siteanalytics.compete.com/youtube.com/?m…
contrast, the CBS network alone amalgamates nearly 200 million viewers
— in just one week, and just in the three evening hours of prime time!http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,100…
never seen nielsen de-duplicate viewers numbers within a network, but
let's say 50% of those 200MM are duplicated. heck, lets say 75%regardless,
just one network, CBS, equals or betters youtube's entire monthly
audience in just 21 hours (one week of three hour slots)
That caused me to go back to comscore get the exact numbers. YouTube's monthly worldwide audience was 344mm in October according to comscore and 55mm visited each day. I don't know what the weekly numbers are but I bet that they are about what CBS gets.
But this post is not about rebutting Steve. His comments are spot on and contributed to the discussion, which is a very good one.
What I hadn't realized when I wrote the post yesterday is how large YouTube's global audience is and how much of it is outside of the US. Here's the raw stats:
YouTube's audience maps pretty closely to the web's audience around the world. It's most popular (on a relative basis to worldwide audience) in europe and slightly less popular (on a relative basis) in asia and latin america. But it is signficant to note that YouTube's audience in asia-pacific is roughly the same as it is in the US.
Unlike the CBS network, YouTube is a global media property and it reaches every corner of this planet. While many of the videos are in english, a growing number are in other languages.
What is also true about YouTube is that the size of the audiences for individual shows can be as large as a network TV show. CSI was viewed by 18.5mm viewers last week. YouTube has five pages of videos (20 videos per page) that have been viewed more than 25mm times.
I am not arguing here that network style television (long form, story driven) is not a superior form of entertainment. I think the succcess of Hulu to date proves that is. And we know that Hulu will be a much more attractive venue for advertisers for at least a few more years.
But I am amazed at the scale and reach of YouTube and what it tells us about video entertainment delivered over the Internet. If CBS wants CSI to reach 100mm viewers instead of 20mm each week, it can do that on the Internet with worldwide distribution. And I am sure that's going to happen someday, hopefully soon.


text:
The expectation that political progress would bring stability has been fundamental to the Bush administration's approach to rebuilding Iraq as well as a central theme of White House rhetoric to convince the American public that its policy in Iraq remains on course.
But within the last two months, U.S. analysts with access to classified intelligence data have started to challenge this precept, noting a "significant and disturbing disconnect" between apparent advances on the political front and any progress in reducing insurgent attacks...
Robert Malley, who co-wrote a September report by the International Crisis Group concluding that approval of the constitution could make things worse, called the administration's Iraq policy "a case study of pinning too much hope on an electoral process without doing so much of the other work."
And it isn't just American analysts reaching the same conclusion, as one prominent Iraqi politician has unfortunately pegged what looks like the most likely outcome of next weekend's vote:
"If the constitution passes in a non-amicable way, the violence will increase," said Ali Dabagh, an Iraqi National Assembly member who is believed to be close to Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari.
There shouldn't be much doubt that whatever terms may be used to describe next weekend's vote, "amicable" won't be close to the mark.
While negotiations are still ongoing to try to remove at least a few of the ongoing constitutional disputes (how many "final drafts" of the proposed constitution are we at now?), there can't be much doubt that a good number of Iraqis are unhappy with any draft that could realistically be produced. And some know exactly who's pushing the process forward ahead of any reasonable expectation of success:
"We're short of time — it's the fault of the Americans," Kurdish politician Mahmoud Othman said. "They are always insisting on short deadlines. It's as if they're [making] hamburgers and fast food."
Unfortunately, the constitutional process seems to have had a far less healthy effect than even the greasiest burger imaginable. And Bush and his inner circle may be the last people alive who honestly believe it's good for Iraq.


text:
Professor Adam Wiśniewski of the University of Gdansk has published a book on the stance and position of the European Court in Strasbourg. The book, entitled The European Court of Human Rights. Between Judicial Activism and Passivism, has been published with Gdansk University Press. This is the abstract:
'The work begins with a chapter which presents the genesis of the ECHR, which is important for a proper understanding of the Convention system, and this is followed by a chapter on the principles of the ECHR and its Interpretation by the Court. Separate chapters are allocated to the dynamic interpretation of the ECHR and the phenomenon of the Court's judicial activism. The next two chapters concern the controversial margin of appreciation doctrine, stressing the importance of attempts at theoretical study of the interpretation and application of the Convention. A separate chapter is devoted to the principle of consensus and its significance in the interpretation of the Convention. The study ends with a chapter containing some general considerations of the theory of interpretation of the ECtHR.'