ABSTRACT
The Swiss Volhynian Mennonites who settled in central Kansas in the 1870s migrated primarily as church congregations and made their living as farmers in isolated rural areas. Sustained by their Anabaptist Christian beliefs, these Mennonites worked to establish a community of mutually accountable believers that was independent of the social and political structures of mainstream society. In their native language of German, they called this idea of community Gemeinde. As a result of living in Gemeinde, a distinctive cultural identity has endured among the Swiss Volhynians, as evidenced by their ethnic foodways, Swiss-German dialect, and religious orientation.
