Difference between revisions of "Mennonite Church Eastern Canada"
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| [[Avon Mennonite Church (Stratford, Ontario, Canada)|Avon Mennonite Church]] || Stratford, ON | | [[Avon Mennonite Church (Stratford, Ontario, Canada)|Avon Mennonite Church]] || Stratford, ON |
Revision as of 19:44, 14 July 2015
The Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada was the result of an integration of three Ontario Mennonite groups: the Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec (5,110 members, 1987), the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference (3,195 members, 1987), and the Conference of United Mennonite Churches in Ontario (5,192 members, 1987). The first two groups were conferences of the Mennonite Church (MC). The last was a provincial conference related to the Conference of Mennonites in Canada, which was one of the districts of the General Conference Mennonite Church (GCM).
The Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada was rooted in a long history of cooperation including the formation of the Nonresistant Relief Organization (1917), Conference of Historic Peace Churches (1940s), a joint Mennonite Mission and Service Board (1950s), and Conrad Grebel College (1960s). In 1973 the three conferences formed an Inter-Mennonite Conference (Ontario) to direct the growing cooperative work in mission, education, and congregational resources. The separate conference structures remained intact, and they reserved the right to make final decisions on policy and budgets.
A 1979 proposal to amalgamate all three groups was defeated. In 1986, however, the conferences decided to "integrate" (this term, it was felt, implied less of a melting pot than "merger" or "amalgamation") by 1988.
In March 1987 delegates from the three conferences approved a structural model for the proposed integration. They also decided to become associate members of each other's North American general conferences for a six-year get-acquainted period rather than leave wider affiliations up to each individual congregation. The Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada was officially inaugurated on 1 March 1988. In 1997 the conference numbered 97 congregations with 13,630 members; all but one congregation hold dual conference affiliation (MC and GCM).
In October 2001 the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada changed its name to Mennonite Church Eastern Canada in recognition of the transformation of the Mennonite Church and General Conference Mennonite Church into Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada (formerly Conference of Mennonites in Canada). Instead of relating to separate binational and national denominational structures, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada now was affiliated only with a national body. In 2001 the conference included 95 congregations with a total membership of 14,075.
In 2010 the following 99 congregations were members of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada:
Bibliography
Mennonite Reporter (9 November 1987): 5.
Mennonite Yearbook & Directory, 1988-89, ed. James E. Horsch. Scottdale, Pa.: Mennonite Publishing House, 1989: 52-54.
Mennonite Yearbook & Directory, 1997, ed. James E. Horsch. Scottdale, Pa.: Mennonite Publishing House, 1997: 43.
Additional Information
Mennonite Church Eastern Canada website
Author(s) | Ron Rempel |
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Sam Steiner | |
Date Published | July 2010 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Rempel, Ron and Sam Steiner. "Mennonite Church Eastern Canada." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. July 2010. Web. 24 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mennonite_Church_Eastern_Canada&oldid=132181.
APA style
Rempel, Ron and Sam Steiner. (July 2010). Mennonite Church Eastern Canada. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mennonite_Church_Eastern_Canada&oldid=132181.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, pp. 569-570. All rights reserved.
©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.