View source for Église évangélique mennonite de Joliette (Joliette, Quebec, Canada)

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[[File:Joliette-mennonite-1er.jpg|300px|thumb|right|''First meeting place at 1419 rue Piette. Clyde Shannon stands in front, ca. 1976]]   
[[File:Chanter-Joliette.jpg|300px|thumb|right|''L-R: David Shantz, Armand Roussin, Harold Reesor, Tilman Martin'']]     
[[File:Assemblee-Joliette-2007.jpg|300px|thumb|right|''Joliette congregation in 2007'']]    
The Église évangelique mennonite de Joliette began services in 1958, and formally organized in 1974. Harold and Pauline Reesor were the founding missionaries for the group, choosing this small industrial town, 70 km northeast of Montreal, because it had no French Protestant congregation at the time. Previous French United Church work had been abandoned. This mission venture originated through the [[Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec|Mennonite Conference of Ontario]] and the [[Mennonite Board of Missions (Mennonite Church)|Mennonite Board of Mission ]](Elkhart).

In the pre-Vatican II days, Joliette was very heavily guided by the many priests, nuns and monks resident in town. Opposition from church and municipal authorities made for slow discouraging work. The Reesors met together with fellow missionaries Tilman and [[Martin, Janet Mills (1933-2002)|Janet Martin]], along with the Schmidt family from [[Église évangelique mennonite de Rawdon (Rawdon, Quebec, Canada)|Rawdon]] for fellowship and worship in French. [[Reesor, Harold Christian (1930-2017)|Harold Reesor]] visited many homes as follow-up for an evangelical effort to mail French Protestant material to every household in Quebec. In 1961 Melvin and Leeta Horst and family from [[St. Jacobs Mennonite Church (St. Jacobs, Ontario, Canada)|St. Jacob's]] congregation arrived near Joliette as part of "colonization" efforts to farm and support other missionaries. Harold Reesor built his house with a large basement, at 1419 rue Piette, which functioned as the church building from 1962 until 1982. In 1963, the Reesors handed over the responsibilities for the congregation to [[Shannon, Clyde A. (1912-2000)|Clyde and Elisabeth Shannon]], moving themselves to farm nearby Mascouche.

Over the years many volunteers came from [[Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec|Ontario]] and particularly the Markham area to offer practical help. Very few could speak French to help more directly. The Shannons with previous experience as missionaries in the [[Communauté des Églises de Frères Mennonites au Congo|Congo]] and in [[Église Chrétienne de Saint-Jérôme (St. Jérôme, Quebec, Canada)|St. Jerome]], Quebec, pressed on in evangelism and hospital visits despite continued very slow progress. The first baptism came in 1969. Only in the late 1970s did a province-wide revival touch Joliette and bring in many youth.

A church council was begun in 1974 and several younger members, including a local radio announcer began leadership. Rapid growth in the late 1970s led to gradual splitting off the members from nearby [[Église évangelique mennonite de Rawdon (Rawdon, Quebec, Canada)|Rawdon]] for their own church and the  buying of the present larger church building in Joliette in 1982. Since 1982, the congregation has had native French-speaking Quebecers in leadership but from 1994 to 2005 there was no resident pastor. In that time the French membership dipped only to be replaced more recently by new immigrants.

Joliette is generally considered the most Anabaptist of the French Mennonite or Mennonite Brethren congregations in [[Quebec (Canada)|Quebec]] and is also strongly evangelical. Over the years the congregation has been quite involved with prison ministries leading to and encouraged by full-time chaplaincy positions for members Tilman Martin and David Shantz. In the late 1990s a strong music and youth program led to opportunities to work with local Roman Catholic leaders and pioneer links between evangelicals and Catholics. In 2007 an independent Spanish congregation began meeting in the same building.

The language of worship is French. For several years the pastor was shared with the [[Église évangelique mennonite de Rawdon (Rawdon, Quebec, Canada)|Église évangélique menonite de Rawdon]]). After 2011 there was no pastor. The congregation did not
meet officially for a number of years, and was declared closed at the Mennonite Church Eastern Canada annual meeting in April 2020.
= Bibliography =
Martin, Janet. ''Album II: protestantisme française en Amerique du Nord'', Hervé Fines, ed. Montreal: L'Aurore, 1988: 66-67.

Mennonite Church Eastern Canada. ''Discernment Documents'' (25 April 2020): 27.

''Mennonite Reporter'' (12 December 1977): 12; (12 May 1980): 12; (22 February 1982): 14; (26 July 1982): 12; (23 May 1988): 17; (9 March 1992): 12.
= Additional Information =
'''Address''': 1225, rue Ladouceur, Joliette, Quebec, Canada, J6E 3X3

'''Telephone''': 450-756-4351

'''Denominational Affiliations''':

[[Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec|Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec]] (1974-1988)

[[Mennonite Church (MC)]] (1974-1999)

[[Mennonite Church Eastern Canada|Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada]] (1988-present)

[[Conference of Mennonites in Canada|Conference of Mennonites in Canada]] (1995-1999)

[[Mennonite Church Canada|Mennonite Church Canada]] (1999-present)
== Table 1: Membership of Église évangélique mennonite de Joliette ==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"
| Year || Membership
|- 
| 1985 || 61
|- 
| 1995 || 28
|- 
| 2000 || 32
|- 
| 2008 || 32
|- 
| 2015 || 14
|} 

== Table 2: Pastoral leaders of Église évangélique mennonite de Joliette ==
{|  class="wikitable" 
! Neme !! Years <br />of Service
|-
| Harold Reesor || 1958-1963
|- 
| Clyde Shannon || 1963-1978
|- 
| André Joly &amp; David Shantz || 1978
|- 
| David Shantz || 1979-1983
|- 
| Armand Roussin (1/4 time) || 1984
|- 
| Armand Roussin || 1985-1991
|- 
| François Malouin || 1992-1994
|- 
| No resident pastor || 1994-2005
|- 
| Daniel Genest (1/4 time) || 2005
|- 
| Doug and Stephanie Horst (1/4 time) || 2006
|- 
| André Ouimet (1/2 time) || 2007-2011
|- 
| No resident pastor || 2011-2020
|}
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[[Category:Churches]]
[[Category:Mennonite Church (MC) Congregations]]
[[Category:Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec Congregations]]
[[Category:Mennonite Church Eastern Canada Congregations]]
[[Category:Mennonite Church Canada Congregations]]
[[Category:Quebec Congregations]]
[[Category:Canadian Congregations]]
[[Category:Extinct Congregations]]