Calvary Church (Ayr, Ontario, Canada)
The Mennonite work in Ayr began in 1954 as a Sunday school outreach by the Mannheim Mennonite Church and the Mennonite Conference of Ontario in the community of Reidsville, just north of the village of Ayr.
The group purchased a property in Ayr in 1960, and soon erected a church building. In 1970 they built an adjacent parsonage. In 1978 a portable was placed behind the church building, and eventually became part of the original building. In 1990, by selling the parsonage, selling the existing church building to Kipp’s Funeral Home of Paris, and fundraising, enough money was raised to construct the present facility.
The founding pastor was Osiah Horst, who was also the pastor at the Mannheim Mennonite Church. When Horst accepted a call to Toronto, Howard Schmitt became the pastor. The congregation has served as a community church in the Ayr community. One of the congregation's unique ministry has been a "skate park" built at the rear of the property in 2005 for young Ayr skateboarders. Numerous mission projects in Canada and abroad have also been supported.
Calvary Church left Mennonite Church Eastern Canada on 30 June 2019. It became a campus of the Calvary Pentecostal Assembly based in Cambridge, Ontario. Calvary Church had limited participation in Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, and had considered other denominational options for several years. The merger began with a "soft launch" in September 2019; the official public launch was scheduled for Easter 2020.
Bibliography
Bauman, Janet. "Mourning and blessing: three congregations part ways with Mennonite Church Eastern Canada." Canadian Mennonite 24, no. 2 (20 January 2020): 14.
Canadian Mennonite (12 January 1962): 1.
Mennonite Church Eastern Canada. Discernment Documents (25 April 2020): 27.
Mennonite Reporter (17 September 1990): 18.
"History of Calvary." Calvary Church. Web. 5 December 2016. http://www.calvarychurchayr.ca/history.html.
Additional Information
Address: 173 Northumberland Street, Ayr, Ontario
Phone: 519-632-7110
Website: http://www.calvarychurchayr.ca/
Denominational affiliations:
Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (1954-2019)
Mennonite Church Canada (1999-2019)
Calvary Pastors
| Osiah Horst | 1961-1964 |
| Howard Schmitt | 1964-August 1969 |
| Darrel Jantzi | Sept. 1969-July 1974 |
| Dan Burkholder | July 1974-1977 |
| Tom Warner | 1977-1980 |
| James Sider | 1981-1985 |
| Reynold Kipfer | 1985-1994 |
| Bruce Sawatsky (Interim) | 1995-1996 |
| Phil Wagler | 1997-2001 |
| Dennis Bells (Interim) | 2002 |
| Pat Murphy | 2003-2005 |
| Ardith Frey (Interim) | 2006 |
| Lloyd Oakey | July 2006-September 2019 |
Calvary Membership
| 1965 | 35 |
| 1975 | 75 |
| 1985 | 52 |
| 1995 | 48 |
| 2000 | 86 |
| 2006 | 95 |
| 2015 | 30 |
Maps
Map:Calvary Church (Ayr, Ontario)
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | January 2020 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Calvary Church (Ayr, Ontario, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2020. Web. 22 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Calvary_Church_(Ayr,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=167988.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (January 2020). Calvary Church (Ayr, Ontario, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Calvary_Church_(Ayr,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=167988.
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