Mount Forest Mennonite Meetinghouse (Mount Forest, Ontario, Canada)
As the City of Waterloo in Waterloo County, Ontario began to expand further north, it encroached more and more into traditional Old Order Mennonite settlements. This urbanization, together with increased competition for the remaining farm land, led to increased prices for prime agricultural land in Waterloo County. Some of the more adventurous members of the Old Order community began to seek farmland at a greater distance from the heart of the Old Order community. In the mid-1960s George Martin and Isaac Horst were the first to commit to settling in the Mount Forest area, fifty kilometers from the Waterloo community. This community, overlapping the border of Grey and Wellington counties, was too far from Waterloo for easy horse-and-buggy contact. Despite a slow beginning, more families began to join the pioneers by the end of the 1960s, and eventually a thriving Old Order Mennonite settlement emerged.
As Old Order Mennonites began to move to the Mount Forest area, they soon desired regular worship services. During the first years ministers from Waterloo County served the community. In 1969 the community purchased and remodelled an old Anglican Church located on Lot 13, Concession 10 of Arthur Township, Wellington County (later part of North Wellington Township) This meetinghouse was replaced by Spring Creek Mennonite Meetinghouse in 1972. No ministers or deacons were ordained for this congregation during its existence.
Bibliography
Mennonite Reporter (6 February 1989): 14.
Martin, Donald. Old Order Mennonites of Ontario: Gelassenheit, Discipleship, Brotherhood. Kitchener, ON: Pandora Press, 2003: 309-310.
| Author(s) | Sam Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | June 2005 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Sam. "Mount Forest Mennonite Meetinghouse (Mount Forest, Ontario, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. June 2005. Web. 22 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mount_Forest_Mennonite_Meetinghouse_(Mount_Forest,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=142046.
APA style
Steiner, Sam. (June 2005). Mount Forest Mennonite Meetinghouse (Mount Forest, Ontario, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mount_Forest_Mennonite_Meetinghouse_(Mount_Forest,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=142046.
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