View source for Conference of United Mennonite Churches in Ontario

Several thousand Russian Mennonites immigrated to [[Ontario (Canada)|Ontario]] after World War I, settling primarily in three areas: [[Kitchener-Waterloo (Ontario, Canada)|Kitchener-Waterloo]] and vicinity, Essex County in the extreme southwest, and the Niagara peninsula. Under the leadership of Bishop [[Janzen, Jacob H. (1878-1950)|Jacob H. Janzen]], those of [[General Conference Mennonite Church (GCM)|General Conference Mennonite]] (GCM) affiliation organized themselves as United Mennonite congregations. Developments during World War II underscored the need for a concerted effort in urban missions and [[Education, Mennonite|education]]. Consequently, a provincial conference was organized in 1944. It supported the establishment of a private high school, the [[United Mennonite Educational Institute (Leamington, Ontario, Canada)|United Mennonite Educational Institute]] (Leamington), and continues to take responsibility for ministry to a growing number of Mennonites in such cities as [[Toronto (Ontario, Canada)|Toronto]], [[St. Catharines United Mennonite Church (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada)|St. Catharines]], [[Hamilton Mennonite Church (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)|Hamilton]], [[Ottawa Mennonite Church (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)|Ottawa]], and [[Windsor Mennonite Fellowship (Windsor, Ontario, Canada)|Windsor]], where new congregations soon emerged. The Hamilton Mennonite Church, in turn, initiated an inner-city ministry, which has since grown into the [[Welcome Inn Church (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)|Welcome Inn Community Centre and Church]]. More recently, conference mission work has extended to Chinese, Laotian, and Latin American immigrants.

Increasing inter-Mennonite cooperation in education and mission marked the period from 1963 to 1988. The conference joined in establishing [[C666.html|Conrad Grebel College]] in 1963 and in forming the Inter-Mennonite Conference of Ontario in 1973. In 1987 the conference agreed to dissolve in favor of the broader Mennonite unity represented by the emerging [[Mennonite Church Eastern Canada|Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada]] (1988). At the time, the United Mennonite Conference comprised 22 congregations and 5,363 members.




= Bibliography =
<em class="gameo_bibliography">Jahrbuch der Vereinigten Mennoniten Gemeinden in Ontario, </em>superseded by<em class="gameo_bibliography"> Yearbook of the United Mennonite Churches in Ontario</em> (1947-).

<em class="gameo_bibliography">Handbook of Information 1988.</em> Newton, Kans.: General Conference Mennonite Church, 1988: 108-109.

Reimer, Margaret Loewen, ed., <em class="gameo_bibliography">One Quilt, Many Pieces.</em> Waterloo, Ont.: Mennonite Publishing Service, 1983: 51.


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