Faith Mennonite Church (Wellesley, Ontario, Canada)

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The Faith Mennonite congregation began meeting in 1986 for Sunday evening Bible study and prayer at the New Prussia school south of Wellesley, Ontario. The group originated from Maple View Mennonite and other area Mennonite churches over a desire for stricter congregational discipline in matters of alcohol use and women's dress regulations. On 6 September 1987 the first worship service was held with an attendance of 43. With no ordained minister, early preaching was done by lay members or area Mennonite ministers. The group organized committees for Sewing Circle and Sunday evening programs. In February 1988 the group asked Bishop Raymond Harnish of Pennsylvania to give oversight to the congregation in areas of communion, baptism, marriages and funerals, as well as minister ordinations.

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In Spring 1988 Oetzel's United Church invited the congregation to rent its building northwest of New Hamburg. The first worship service was held there on 3 July 1988 with an attendance of 55. Glenn Lichti was ordained minister on 21 August 1988. The first baptism occured on 4 March 1989. Faith Mennonite purchased the church building on 1 December 1989.

As the church grew, further programs were added -- a youth group in 1991, and an Expansion Committee by 1993. A portable classroom for the growing Sunday school was added in 1994. Vacation Bible School began in 1996. In 2003 the congregation had 115 members with Sunday morning attendance of approximately 170.

Sunday morning services in 2003 included Christian education from 9:50 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.. with the worship service at 11:00 a.m. The service includes with 4 adult classes, 3 youth classes and 5 children's classes. The worship service from 11 to 12 a.m. includes congregational acappella singing, testimonies and prayer, and preaching in English. A telephone call-in service is provided for those who are unable to attend. Sunday evening services are scheduled for three Sundays per month that might include a song service, visiting choirs, guest speakers, topic nights, mission reports or library book reports. The congregation supports local and foreign missions and have members participating in foreign missions, native ministries and prison ministry.

Faith Mennonite states it purpose is 1) To worship God and serve of the needs of man so that the lost may find life in Christ; 2) To teach and practice the Christian faith with emphasis on the principles of Anabaptism: believer's baptism, discipleship in all of life, brotherhood of believers, non-resistance, non-conformity to the world and separation of Church and State; 3) To challenge its members to live sacrificially thereby enabling them to support the work of the local church, home missions and foreign missions; and 4) To challenge families to be diligent in the spiritual training of their children and to encourage fathers to meet the spiritual, emotional and material needs of their families.

Bibliography

Archives of the congregation maintained by the leadership.

Additional Information

Table 1: Faith Mennonite Church Pastoral Leaders

Pastor	Years
Raymond Harnish (Bishop)	1988-
Glenn Lichti	1988-1989
Allan Nafziger (Deacon)	1989-
Roger Zehr	1989-2000
David Roth (Minister/Deacon)	1994-
Paul Yantzi	1998-

Table 2: Faith Mennonite Church Membership

Year	Membership
2000	103
2003	115

Author(s)	Arnold Yantzi
Date Published	October 2003

Cite This Article

MLA style

Yantzi, Arnold. "Faith Mennonite Church (Wellesley, Ontario, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. October 2003. Web. 22 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Faith_Mennonite_Church_(Wellesley,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=91739.

APA style

Yantzi, Arnold. (October 2003). Faith Mennonite Church (Wellesley, Ontario, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Faith_Mennonite_Church_(Wellesley,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=91739.

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