Fonds ORG - Cornerstone Mennonite Church fonds

Mennonites settled in the reserve north of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in the 1920s. The depression caused some to move to the city to look for a livelihood. The second World War exposed many who served away from the communities in CO camps or in the military service to a different way of life from which they chose not to return to their rural home communities. Also, large families found it difficult to find enough land for all of the next generation so many looked to the city for new opportunities. After the second World War there were many such opportunities in Saskatoon. In the late 1940s there were two Mennonite congregations in Saskatoon, but neither appealed to many of these new settlers. So another congregation was begun in 1949 called Mayfair Mennonite Mission. Their first meeting house was the former home of the Bethesda Mennonite Church in Langham. In 1954 the membership was 66. In 1957 a larger meeting house was obtained, the former First Mennonite meeting house in Saskatoon. In 1964 this building was expanded and another congregation grew out of it called Mount Royal Mennonite Church. The membership had increased dramatically in the previous few years to reach 225 in 1964. The congregation continued its steady growth. In 1980 the membership had reached 302. In 1987 it was decided to build a new meeting house in a new location in Saskatoon. This meeting house was completed in 1988. In September 1988 the church which as originally referred to as the Mayfair Mennonite Mission changed its name to Cornerstone Church (Mennonite). In 1990 the membership was 260 and in 2000 it was 284. The leaders of the congregation were: Peter Sawatzky (1950-1968), Norm Bartel (1968-1981), Carl Ens (1982-1988), Malvin Braun (1989-2003), Russel Reid (2003-2007), Russ Wilson (2007-).