The 'real Steinbach' isn't as Mennonite as it once was. How the city is surprising people

Andrew Unger remembers crossing paths withsomeone in Winnipeg who figured his trip from Steinbachto the big city must have been avacation, rather than a quick and simpleday trip.

"Maybe that's sort of symbolic of how people feel about Steinbach in general, or their knowledge of it,"said Unger, whowritessatirepoking funat Mennonite life at his website the Unger Review (formerly known as the Daily Bonnet).

"They think that not only is it geographically quite far away, but that it's far away in a lot of other ways."

Thecity of 18,000 people which is actually only about 50 kilometres southeast of Winnipegis still perceived by many Manitobans as overwhelmingly Mennonite and socially conservative.

A belief lingers that Steinbach's views are out-of-step with anincreasingly secularsociety that sometimes treats Manitoba's third-largest cityas an oddity when some subjects frommandatory vaccinationsto gay rights bubbleup in the news.

Thepandemic didn't help. Steinbachstruggled with a relatively low vaccination ratecompared to many other parts of Manitoba, and anti-restriction protests in thesoutheastern Manitoba cityseemed to validate assumptions it was a haven for those ideas,Unger said.

"Theexact same rallies took place in Winnipeg, and when that happensvery few people are saying, 'Well, that represents thecommunity,'"he said.

"Believe it or not, there's individual people in Steinbachthat are very progressive or want to see changes in Steinbachand are working hard towardthose things," said Unger.

"The community as a whole probably changes slower than other places, but it is still changing. That's undeniable."

Steinbach Mayor Earl Funk prefers to focus on reflecting that change, rather than gettingtooworked up about what others say of his city.

"Icontinue to work to get the story out. I do what I can to portray the Steinbach I know, and the changes I've seen."

He notes that at the verysame timeone anti-maskrally was going on in the city, volunteers in Steinbach were out rallying in another way: collectingdonations forhealth-care workers overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients. More than $7,000 in gift cards washanded out.

"That was the real Steinbach," Funk said, "and that came through loud and clear with the donations that weregiven."

Changing with the times

Built by Mennonites who came to Canada more than a century ago in search of religious freedom, Steinbach is rooted in and influenced by faith. That's evidenced by the city's high number of churches (22, which works out to one place of worship for every 820 people or so) and a data analysis that shows Steinbach residents give more of their income to charity than anywhere else in Canada.

But as time presses on, the city isgrowing, diversifyingand becoming more secular.

Immigrants now make up 21 per cent of Steinbach's population,with the majority of newerarrivals coming from thePhilippines, India andNigeria, according to census data. That data also saysone-fifth ofcity residentshold noreligious belief.

Restaurateur Neville Hamilton, originally from Jamaica, is used to seeing surprise when he says he lives in Steinbach.

"They think Steinbach is a community that doesn't invite or welcome [racialized] people," said Hamilton, who is Black.

"And I could see where people would think that way, but when you get to know Steinbach people and they get to actually see who you are and what you're going tocontribute, they all will come and embrace you."

His ties to the people of Steinbach stretch backdecades, even though he only moved to the cityseven years ago. As a teenager, he was a chauffeur when Mennonitesfrom Steinbach would visit Jamaica on mission trips to help build or repair schools, churches andthe homes of elderly people. Those visitorssold him on the Manitoba city.

When he and his family moved to Steinbach,he was surprised not by the many churchesbut by the diversity, which "addssome spice, if you wanna say that," he says with a smile.

He devotes hisenergies now tosupportingnewcomers. He runs a Jamaican restaurant,organizesactivities that bringracialized youth together and is hostinga winter reggae festivalthis weekend.

Faith in the city

And there are more and more newcomers for people like Hamilton to helpin the city.

In20 years, Steinbach'spopulation has nearlydoubled, driven largely by immigration. Since the late 1990s, thebiggest employers a window manufacturer, a pharmaceutical company and a hog processing planthave recruited heavily from overseas. Others have followed the new workers.

Even so, estimates are that more than half of the city is still Mennonite, whether culturally or religiously.

Adherents to that Anabaptistfaith say they don't feel threatened by the city's evolution, but welcome it, in part, because of their religion.

"I think the role faith plays isin relationships now," said Mayor Funk, whose day job is running a butcher shop.

"We don't have to stand out in the street and ring a bell andevangelize, right?"he said. "What we do every day can be our worship."

Faith will likely remain an influential aspect of life in Steinbach for a lot of people, Unger said.

"I don't think that will ever go away, nor do I think it needs to, but I think it'll evolve, as it has in the past."

The city's evolution came as a surprise toKim Holmes, a now-retiredchild welfare worker whomoved to the city in 2008 for work.

Her Christianfaith isa driving force in herlife she holds a Bible hergrandson describes as"old and wrecked," with a fraying cover and a spine that hangs loose, which she says is "a sign that it's being used."

"If you see a Bible that looks perfect,it's probably not being opened."

Despite her faith, she was reluctant to make the move to a city she initiallythought was too slow, with notenough to do.

"Turns out, I was kind of wrong," she said.

Steinbach is more diverse than she expected, and "now you can actually do things on a Sunday," she said, referring to the start ofSunday shopping in the city in 2020. That followedthe repeal of a provinciallaw that required a municipal bylaw to allow Sunday shopping.

Best of all, saidHolmes, is that when she bringsup herfaith in regular conversation here,"they don't think I'm out to lunch."

Members of other faiths are makinginroads as well.

Muslims starting holding weekly prayers in Steinbach in February. TheChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon Church, has had a sanctuary in the city since 2018.

"We're here, we're around, but just maybe not the pioneers of thearea," said JoshGruninger, president of one of thechurch's Manitoba stakes (a unit made upof multiple congregations in some Latter-day Saints denominations).

They're not the most visible, either. There's nosignageoutside thecommercial space that's now the Latter-day Saintsplace of worship in Steinbach.

Nonetheless, the opportunities that draw others to the area also attract members of his church, said Gruninger.

"I think what we're seeing is Steinbachbecoming even better than it has been over the years because of what is being added to it."

Those without religious tiesare also finding camaraderie.

Within the last decade, Gary Martens went from being part of the leadership team of his church in Kleefeld, just west of Steinbach, to joining acommunity ofatheists, agnostics, humanists and non-believers in the city. He's now a member of Steinbach's Eastman Humanist Community.

While he still has somediscomfort revealinghis lack of faith publicly, there's comfort in knowinghe isn't alone. He notices thechurch parking lots are emptier than they used to be.

"I know that there's a big enough community out there thatis going to still engage with me, even though they know I have my doubts about faith," Martens said.

Though he left Kleefeld, he wanted tostayin southeastern Manitobabecauseit'swhere his family and friends are. He moved to Steinbach around five years ago, and loves it.

"Ican walk to a grocery store, I can walk to a church,I can walk toa drug store,to a bar. For heaven's sakes,I can have a Guinness [beer] and fish and chips in Steinbach, a walk away from me." (Steinbach was dry until 2003 and only got a liquor store in 2009.)

Even so, getting along in Steinbach when your views are in the minorityis a balancing act, he says.

"If you just, like, rent an apartment, buy a house and carry on [in] your workplacedo your stuff, everything's good," he said.

"But if you would start making statements, then maybe you would find it not quite as welcoming."

Mayor Funk said his city is among many that can still make inroads towardinclusivity, but he's glad with the progress he's seen.

"If that wasn't happening then we wouldn't be having the amount of newcomers we're having," Funk pointed out.

Christians helping Muslims

Funk's own lifehas been influenced by the words of a guest speaker he heard at his church five or six years ago. At that point,anti-Muslim sentiment wasin the news, and the speaker stressed love above all else.

Funk says when he prayed that night, he asked God to show him how to love everyone, and specificallyasked forMuslim friends.

"Who would have known that what happened would happen? [Now] I have the most amazing Muslim friends and I love them dearly," he said.

Funk became fast friends with a man he met at a barbecue for newcomers.They go for coffee regularly, andFunk and his wife, along with four other families, are now privately sponsoring the man's brother-in-law an Iranian refugee stuck in Turkey.

Funk has been told that man a likelyfuture Steinbach resident is in disbelief thatChristian strangers are going out of their way for a family of Muslims.

"He says families don't even do this for each other," said Funk.

"That'swhat I want to see Steinbach become more and more and more it wows people by the amount of help we do."

Hanh Rempeland her family were on the receiving end of similar help more than 40 years ago.

She and her family were refugees from Vietnam part of the group often referred to as "boat people," who fled their country starting in the 1970s.

Her family was sponsored by a Mennonite family in Steinbach support she's never forgotten.

Theirjourney from Vietnam was treacherous their boat wasraided by pirates, then turned away fromMalaysia. In Indonesia, they intentionallysanktheir boat 100 metres off the coastso they wouldn'tbe turned around.

"We just grabbed everyone and jumped in [the water].It was a leap of faith," she said.

Rempel said she had a great upbringing in Steinbach and never felt like an outsider.Growing up, she spent every summer at the cabin of the family that sponsored hers. They still get together every Christmas, she said.

Now the co-owner of apharmacy, she notices the parallels between her family's journey and theUkrainians now fleeing their home country. Thatinspired her and herhusband, a Mennonite, to sponsor a family of Ukrainians.

"They have a little girl that's six years old, and that was how old I was when I came here," she said. "In many ways, it has been full circle."

Remaking Steinbach: How the city is growing, diversifying and becoming more secular

2 years ago

Duration 4:33

Built by Mennonites, Steinbach is rooted in and influenced by faith. There are at least 22 churches in the city. But despite what outsiders may think, Steinbach is diversifying.