2024 and 2025 marked the 150th anniversaries of Mennonite communities in Manitoba and in this season of Still Speaking, host Conrad Stoesz from the Mennonite Heritage Archives is sharing true historical stories around this theme.
Episode 10 of Still Speaking season three outlines the reason bicycles were banned by many early Mennonite churches.
“but bikes were perceived as a challenge to the community. The bicycle was a revolution for transportation, which in the past was more focused on mass transportation. A bike was personal transportation and enabled an individual to go further and faster than before. A bike could take a person away from the community they had committed themselves to. Could make friends from outside the community, they could find a marriage partner from outside the community. It was feared that the bicycle loosened the tight bonds of community.”
Listen to the rest of the story on Episode 10 of Sill Speaking, season three:
Still Speaking airs every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:15am during the Morning Show, and every Saturday afternoon at 12:15pm.
