A checked version of this page, approved on 6 December 2021, was based on this revision.

The Zurich Mennonite Church in Zurich, Ontario, Canada, began in spring 1908 when services began to be held in a former Baptist church on the main street in Zurich. The fledgling congregation was primarily composed of persons formerly affiliated with the nearby Blake Amish Mennonite congregation were revival meetings held by Peter Ropp of Berne, Michigan resulted in a number of converts. However these converts would not accept the dress restrictions required by the Amish Mennonites and were refused baptism. Jonas Snider, a Mennonite bishop of the Mennonite Conference of Ontario from Waterloo County, then performed the baptisms. Peter Ropp temporarily moved to Zurich to help organize the congregation in its first year. Elderly Minister John Gascho and about 50 other members transferred from the Blake congregation the summer of 2008.

A building was erected in 1910 at a cost of $3,600, with renovations and additions in 1948 and 1975. A new building was constructed outside of town in 1989 at a cost just under $1,000,000.

The congregation developed a full range of activities for its members and the community. A women's sewing circle began in 1937. Vacation Bible School began the same year, and later developed into a community effort. The congregation helped develop a coffee house in Grand Bend, Ontario in the 1960s, as well as a mission outreach in Exeter, Ontario known as the Thames Road Mission.

In the 1990s the congregation again talked about a church planting initiative. This finally resulted in the formation on 28 October 2007 of Kingsfield-Clinton. The Zurich congregation also began to use the prefix Kingsfield, and the two groups considered themselves part of a multiplying church. "Kingsfield" was derived from 1 Corinthians 3:9, which says "you are God's field," reflecting the congregation's desire to be part of a "multiplying movement of churches who bring the kingdom of Jesus Christ to relevant reality where we live and everywhere we go."

In March 2020 Kingsfield-Zurich withdrew from Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church Eastern Canada and became an associate member of the Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. The withdrawal from MC Canada was rooted in disagreement with the theological directions taken by that conference.

An earlier Mennonite congregation in the area had been known as the Hay Mennonite Church.

Bibliography

Author(s)	Samuel J Steiner
Date Published	March 2020

Mennonite Reporter (21 August 1989): 10.

Burkholder, L. J. A Brief History of the Mennonites in Ontario. Kitchener, Ontario: Mennonite Conference of Ontario, 1935: 101.

Schade, Jack. "Zurich Mennonite Church Centennial." Web. http://www.kingsfieldcommon.ca/zurich-mennonite-church-centennial/ (accessed 8 January 2014).

Zurich Mennonite Church: Seventy-five Years 1908-1983. 1983.

Church records at church and Mennonite Archives of Ontario.

Additional Information

Address: 37818 Zurich Hensall Rd, Box 131, Zurich, Ontario N0M 2T0

Phone: (519) 236-4933

Website: http://www.kingsfieldcommon.ca/zurich-mennonite-church/

Denominational Affiliations:

Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec, 1908-1988

Mennonite Church (MC), 1908-1999

Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, 1988-2020

Conference of Mennonites in Canada / Mennonite Church Canada, 1999-2020

Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, 2020-

Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, 2020-

Zurich Mennonite Church Pastors

Name	Years of Service
John Gascho	1908-1916
Christian Schrag	1911-1939
Stephen M. Peachey	1935-1952
Cyril Gingerich	1951/1952
Albert Martin	1949-1961
Orval Jantzi	1961-1966
Ephraim Gingerich	1966-1970
Cyril Gingerich (Interim)	1971
Clayton Kuepfer	1972-1990
Paul Brunner (Interim)	1991/1992
Grace Brunner (Interim)	1991/1992
Winston Martin (Interim)	1992
Phil Bender	1993-1997
Julie Bender	1993-1997
Reynold Kipfer (Interim)	1998-1999
Harold Shantz	2000-2003
Judy Shantz	2000-2003
Doug Schade (Youth)	2000-2002
Virgil Gingerich (Interim)	2003
Phil Wagler	2003-2010
Tim Doherty (Associate)	2004-2011
Tom Roes (Associate)	2007-Present
Ken Gazley (Intentional interim)	2012-2014
Ryan Jantzi	2016-2021
\|?-present
Dennis Estep (Pastoral Care)	?-present

Zurich Mennonite Church Membership

Year	Members
1950	143
1965	140
1975	185
1985	233
1995	268
2000	276
2015	235

Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article

Zurich Mennonite Church (MC) located in the village of Zurich, Huron County, Ontario, about two miles east of Lake Huron, affiliated with the Ontario Conference, was organized on 26 March 1908 by former members of the Amish congregation nearby. Christian Schrag was ordained minister on 18 February 1911. Others ministers with date of ordination were Stephen M. Peachey 1935, Gordon Schrag 1937, Cyril Gingerich 1951, Albert Martin 1949, and Hubert Schwartzentruber 1958. Stanley Sauder was licensed to serve as pastor of the Thames Road congregation in Exeter, an outpost of the Zurich congregation. In 1959 the congregation had 148 members, with Albert Martin as bishop-pastor.

Map

Map:Kingsfield-Zurich Mennonite Church (Zurich, Ontario, Canada)

Cite This Article

MLA style

Steiner, Samuel J. "Kingsfield-Zurich Mennonite Church (Zurich, Ontario, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. March 2020. Web. 23 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Kingsfield-Zurich_Mennonite_Church_(Zurich,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=172655.

APA style

Steiner, Samuel J. (March 2020). Kingsfield-Zurich Mennonite Church (Zurich, Ontario, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Kingsfield-Zurich_Mennonite_Church_(Zurich,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=172655.

Kingsfield-Zurich Mennonite Church (Zurich, Ontario, Canada)

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