Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1946-2005 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
27 cm of textual records
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
George Groening was a pastor and church leader in the Conference of Mennonites in Canada and in the provincial conferences of Manitoba and BC. He was born to Heinrich Groening and Maria Penner in 1918 in the Lowe farm area of Manitoba. During the Second World War he served as a conscientious objector (CO), working at Riding Mountain National Park, B.C. forestry service, a BC dairy farm, and teaching in Norway House, Manitoba. In 1944 he married Aganetha Heinrichs and they had three daughters.
After His CO service he attended normal school in Winnipeg to become a teacher. His CO service helped prepare him for church leadership, which started in his home congregation of the Lowe Farm Bergthaler Mennonite Church in 1947. Because of his CO experience in aboriginal communities, he was elected to serve on the board of the Mennonite Pioneer Mission. He pastored Bethel Mennonite Church in Winnipeg (1954-1966), member of the General Conference Mennonite Church Board of Missions (ca. 1965-1967), pastor at Foothills Mennonite Church in Calgary (1966-1971), Eden Mennonite Church in Chilliwack, B.C. (1971-1984), and Clearbrook Mennonite Church (1989). He was the chairman of the Mennonite Pioneer Mission in the 1950s, chairman of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada Board of Missions in the 1960s, Member of the Conference of Mennonites in BC Missions committee (ca. 1971-1974), moderator of Mennonite Church British Columbia (1975-1979), and chair of Columbia Bible College in the 1980s.
Groening was invited to speak at a variety of churches and events including Young United Church in Winnipeg, University of Manitoba, graduation ceremony at Canadian Bible College in Regina, at the dedication of a Men’s Dormitory, at funerals, weddings and wedding anniversaries.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Fonds consists of the following series:
1) Constitutions of the Mennonite Churches - 1964, 1975, 1979, 1981-1995 - (1 file) Box 291
2) History - Eden Mennonite Church, 1978, N.D. - (1 file) Box 291
3) Minutes - 1981-2005 - (13 files) Box 291
4) Correspondence - 1986-2002 - (4 files) Box 291
5) Reports - 1973-1987 Eden Mennonite Church - (1 file) Box 291
6) Vital Statistics - 1946-1979 (3 files) Box 291
7) Bulletins - 1961-1962, 1999-2000 Greendale Mennonite Church - (1 file) Box 291
8) Directories - 1975 Eden Mennonite Church - (1 file) Box 291
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title is based on contents of the fonds
Note
Vital Statistics includes Registration of Clergymen and marriages.
Alternative identifier(s)
InMagic Description ID
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Greendale Mennonite Church (Subject)
- Eden Mennonite Church (Chilliwack, British Columbia) (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Record created November 07, 2013
Record modified September 11, 2014