One of the tenets of the Mennonite...

One of the tenets of the Mennonite faith is a belief in the virtue of the simple life. But how do you lead a simple life in Pasadena?

Well, the Pasadena Mennonite Church doesn’t have a fax machine, joked Rod Stafford, associate pastor. In addition, if there is some virtue in buying cars used rather than new, most members of the congregation get credit for that, he said.

But more seriously, he added, there is an effort to hew to the plain-living tradition by giving more time to one’s family and to God than to working to accumulate goods.

And when members of the congregation planned refreshments for their quilt exhibition scheduled this weekend, they did not look up recipes for fancy dishes but drew their inspiration from the Mennonite “More with Less” cookbook.

What exactly will be served?

“It’s sort of health food,” offered Pastor Jim Brenneman. “Like granola bagels.”

The quilt exhibition this weekend is in the Mennonite tradition of appreciation for craftsmanship and folk art.

Mennonite and Amish quilts from Indiana, Virginia and elsewhere will be exhibited from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Mennonite congregation’s meeting place at the Messiah Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall, 570 E. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena. Some of the quilts will be offered for sale, at prices of about $800 to $1,000. There is no admission charge to the exhibition.