The Hutterites in North America

CHAPTER 4. Four Hutterite Branches

g฀฀chapter 4฀฀G Four Hutterite Branches Since there was a longing for unity, it was decided to go back in time and start over. —Joseph “Yos” Hofer, Hutterite diarist, 1877 I n general theology, there are few differences among the four Hutterite Leut. But religious and cultural practices vary, and Hutterites spend considerable time making Leut comparisons, pointing to differences, laughing about points of contention, and most of the time presenting their own group in the most favorable light. In 1974 John Hostetler wrote, “The three Leut are differentiated from one another but accepting of the other ’s differences. Differentiations between or within the affiliations do not necessarily bespeak progressive or conservative tendencies: minor differences in customs can be attributed to leadership patterns and family traditions .”1 This statement bore some truth at the time it was written, but there has been considerable change in the past thirty-five years. The Lehrerleut The Lehrerleut are the most conservative and the least diverse of the Hutterite branches. They maintain the highest level of communal identity, have the tightest organizational structure, and are the most opposed to educational and technological innovations, changes in worship, modern dress, the use of English, and musical instruments. To some extent the Lehrerleut are also the least materialistic of the Hutterite branches. There ฀ g฀four hutterite branches G฀ 55 are presently 139 Lehrerleut colonies: 72 located in the province of Alberta , 32 in Saskatchewan, and 35 in the state of Montana. Some Lehrerleut distinctives are purely cultural. For example, Lehrerleut boys wear small cloth caps with a Neolite shield. These are not seen in other Hutterite groups. Lehrerleut women wear coverings that veil the head more completely than those worn by other Hutterite women, and they often wear blue long-brimmed bonnets when working outside, to protect their skin from the sun. Lehrerleut men have beards but no mustaches , because in Europe mustaches were associated with the military. The Lehrerleut are the most centrally governed of the Hutterite groups. All Lehrerleut ministers (Prediger) meet biennially, and almost all senior pastors attend baptismal ceremonies and ministerial selection meetings whenever and wherever they take place. This practice requires thousands of miles of travel each year, but it ensures a strong sense of Leut unity. The Lehrerleut have also established a central Leut council, made up of two representatives from each colony, which approves all colony branching decisions. When Lehrerleut colonies expand and establish daughter communities , they use the traditional process of casting lots. The colony council draws up two lists of people; those on one list will remain and those on the other will move to the new colony. Until the lot is cast, no one knows which list is which. Individual interests are not allowed to interfere with a divinely inspired procedure, even though this is not always a happy day for the people who are involved. In some colonies all families pack up their personal belongings the night before the lot is cast, in preparation for what could transpire. All major Lehrerleut leadership positions in the new colony are filled by the governing councils of both “mother” and “daughter” communities. Parent colonies thus exert major influence over new colonies for at least a full generation. The Lehrerleut also commonly establish five to ten colonies in the same region so that individual communes do not operate too independently . Another way that the Lehrerleut preserve unity is by pooling some of their financial resources. A central fund is available to any colony with economic difficulties. A colony that takes money from the fund is subject to financial oversight, but the fund makes it unnecessary to borrow at high interest rates or to liquidate colony assets to reduce debt load. The Lehrerleut are also the most cautious in forming relationships with 56฀ g฀the hutterites in north america G฀ non-Hutterites. They are the most reclusive of the Hutterite groups and the least likely to invite nonmembers to stay overnight. The policy of Alberta minister Peter Waldner is “No more than two nights for each visit and even then be sure the visits are not too close together.” In the 1970s and 1980s, the Lehrerleut were the most suspicious of the Hutterite relationship with the Bruderhof communities (now Christian Communities, International). They were apprehensive about merging with a group that had different cultural and theological roots and that was, in the words of Montana minister Jacob Wipf...