Fonds ORG - Mennonite Church (Region I) Canada fonds

In 1971 the Mennonite Church (sometimes known or called the “Old” Mennonite Church) divided its churches in Canada and the United States into five regions based on population, geography and other strategic factors. In some instances the region consisted of district conferences and a Regional Coordinating Committee as a minimum pattern of organization. All of the Canadian churches were in Region I, and there was a Coordinating / Planning committee. In 1980 Region I raised the concern that missionaries from Canada serving with the Mennonite Church were not eligible for Canadian Pension Funds. This concern led to designating Mennonite Church Region I Canada as the employer of these Canadian missionaries, and the establishment of Mennonite Church Canada as the Canadian entity of the Mennonite Church of North America (see constitution dated 1984), with its primary office in Waterloo, Ontario.
One of the purposes of Mennonite Church Canada was to provide financial management for the Mennonite Church in Canada. In 1989 the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) approved Mennonite Church International to conduct foreign charitable activities. The primary function of Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church International was to facilitate Canadian funds supporting the Mennonite Church agencies in the United States and being eligible for Canadian tax receipts. Ina Martin served as the bookkeeper from 1980 up to the end of 1993, when the bookkeeping function was transferred to the Conference of Mennonites in Canada office in Winnipeg. This transfer happened several years after three Mennonite conferences in Ontario integrated to form the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada, and several years before the Mennonite Church of North America, the General Conference Mennonite Church and the Conference of Mennonites in Canada merged and created a two-country structure, choosing Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada as the denominational name (1999).