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. They were in the process of becoming a branch of the Calvary Pentecostal Assembly based in Cambridge, Ontario.
Bibliography
Canadian Mennonite (12 January 1962): 1.
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) | Sam Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | September 2019 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Sam. "Calvary Church (Ayr, Ontario, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. September 2019. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Calvary_Church_(Ayr,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=164503.
APA style
Steiner, Sam. (September 2019). Calvary Church (Ayr, Ontario, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Calvary_Church_(Ayr,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=164503.
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