52 Treffer anzeigen

The meetinghouse, the oldest remaining in Ontario, was erected in 1824. The congregation dissolved in 1923. In 1976 the building was moved to Black Creek Pioneer Village in Toronto (North York).

The congregation began services and formally organized in 1844. The first building was occupied in 1851, with subsequent building programs in 1915, 1936, 1949, 1977 and 1988. John W. Brubacher is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated through immigration from Pennsylvania.

The meetinghouse was located west of St. Jacobs just north of the intersection of Regional Road 17 and Township Road 32 at the present location of Three Bridges School and the congregation's cemetery. At that time it was known as the Conestoga Mennonite Meetinghouse. From 1889 to 1892 the congregation shared a building with the Old Order Mennonites who retain the Conestoga Mennonite Meetinghouse name. In 1915 the congregation moved into the town of St. Jacobs and changed its name to St. Jacobs Mennonite Church. The congregation transitioned from German to English in the 1910s.

In 1925 there were 149 members; in 1950, 364; in 1965, 412; in 1975, 403; in 1985, 425; in 1995, 346; in 2000, 346; in 2010, 374. The congregation has been affiliated with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario (1844-1988), Mennonite Church (1898-), Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (1988-) and Mennonite Church Canada (1995-).

On 3 August 1924 Bishop Jonas Snider excommunicated 154 members from First Mennonite Church, Kitchener. The question of headgear for women was the ostensible cause of friction. The real cause was the deeper one of church government. Those dissenting were opposed to episcopal authority in the Mennonite Church. What they desired instead was congregational rule. Most of the excommunicated members reorganized as an independent Mennonite congregation. The charter membership was 120. On 3 October 1924 a constitution was adopted, a church council was elected, Urias Weber was invited to assume the pastorate, and arrangements were confirmed for the construction of a church building. A church subsequently was built on the hill overlooking First Mennonite Church and dedicated on 1 February 1925.

The congregation remained independent until 1946 when it joined the Eastern District Conference of the General Conference Mennonite Church. On 1 January 1970 it became an associate member of both the Mennonite Conference of Ontario of the Mennonite Church and the Conference of United Mennonite Churches in Ontario of the General Conference Mennonite Church.

One notable program of the church was the Peace and Justice Centre, created in 1987. Formed out of a Peace and Justice Working Group that began meeting in the early 1980s, the Centre was the first Mennonite peace centre in Canada to be housed in a congregation.

With tourism increasing in the St. Jacobs and Elmira area in the 1970s, a group of interested people established an interpretive centre for Mennonite history and culture in a storefront in St. Jacobs, Ontario.

Valleyview Mennonite Church began services in 1953 and formally organized in 1962. The first services were held at a house, 368 King St. in London. The congregation was first known as the Forest City Mennonite Mission, and later, King Street Mennonite Church. In 1962, the congregation relocated and became known as Valleyview Mennonite Church. The congregation established a voluntary service unit in 1966. Valleyview was affiliated with the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference from 1953-1988, and then became a congregation of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada.

The Wilmot Mennonite Church was founded in 1977 near Baden, Ontario in Wilmot Township, Waterloo County. It was the result of a merger between the Geiger Mennonite Church and the Baden Mennonite Church. The Geiger Mennonite Church was in the same location as the Wilmot Mennonite Church. Its origins are in the 1830s. It formally merged with the other congregation in 1976 and a year later was named the Wilmot Mennonite Church.