David K. Jantzi came from an Old Order Amish family. He felt obligated to become a conscientious objector during the Second World War because “the church required it.” In his second year of alternative service, his personal attitude changed, as he realized that “non-resistance is much deeper than not going to war.” A cabinet maker by vocation, he became an ordained Amish Mennonite minister in Ontario in 1958. Jantzi connected his work as a pastor to his service experience, regretting that “the church didn’t give us, as young people, a deeper, spiritual understanding of why we were doing this, and I hope as a minister that I’m able to be true” to the gospel of peace.
For more historical photos in the Mennonite Archival Image Database, see archives.mhsc.ca.
More moments from yesterday:
Queen in Manitoba
Amish bicentennial
Zollikon church
J.J. Thiessen
Ladies at MWC
(Photo: Conrad Grebel University College/Mennonite Archives of Ontario)
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