Mennonites and the Community of St. Jacobs Market

I was in St. Jacobs over the weekend and saw a vast amount of people who were wearing contemporary clothing and outside where they were auctioning horses. I was wondering who they were because I see them around the market. Some were going about their day, while some were selling fruits and vegetables, baked goods, and home decorations.

During the time, my friend and I was looking going around St. Jacobs Market, walking around in the busy Saturday morning, seeing all the wonderful and local vendors throughout the three buildings. I was definitely a sight to see. 

I remember hopping on a bus that afternoon, and we were greeted with this wonderful tour guide, Tim; and he was explaining to us who the Mennonite community is, where they go to school and the traditionists on how they are. 

I'll give you a brief lesson on who they are and how they got their beginnings, right after the pictures below from the day trip to the market. 

St. Jacobs Market

Basket of Eggs they are selling.

According to 'The Canadian Encyclopedia', they are a religious-cultural group that established in the 16th century. They were 'separated from Roman Catholic Church and the Anabaptist in the early reformation'. They separate from the Anabaptists movement (Anabaptists meaning 'baptizers') There were different views of Christianity at the time and left to Pennsylvania in the late 17th to early 18th century.  

From the University of Waterloo website, They are closed-knit community that believes in traditional values and beliefs; living a simplistic lifestyle, farming without using electricity and from the tour guide himself; at 16 years old, they have a choice between staying close to the community, or venturing outside the city (without the families help). 

Here is some more information about Mennonites: The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mennonites

Nowadays, there are currently 200,000 Mennonites that call Canada home, they include places in the province of Ontario, British Columbia and Manitoba; surrounding regions in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Kitchener-Waterloo. (that's according to the University of Waterloo page) Here is the link below:

University of Waterloo: Mennonites

Mennonite community value the traditions which is what I learned coming from this trip to St. Jacobs. They live a life without electricity and farming as their core values. If you like to go to St. Jacobs Market, near Kitchener-Waterloo, here is the website and the times on when you can go. 

The website is below:

St. Jacobs Market Web Page

What I saw in Elora, this cutie duckie