Kitchener-Waterloo House Churches (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada)
The Kitchener-Waterloo House Churches began in 1969, and formally organized in 1970. Walter Klaassen and John W. Miller are considered the founding leaders of the group. The house church was considered to be a congregation, but in effect was a cluster of individual house churches with a central meeting place where they gathered in alternate weeks. In 1988 there were four house churches.
A subsequent division led to the separation of House Church #2 from the other house churches in the early 1990s. The issues included the appropriate language for God (was feminine language for God permissable), the nature of the Mennonite peace position and appropriate sexual ethics. The authority of founder John W. Miller was also controversial. House Church #2 eventually became the Blenheim Ecumenical House Church. The other house churches eventually dissolved except for one house church that retained the name KW House Church. The former central meeting place at 101 David Street in Kitchener became a refugee settlement house.
The house church model has shared leadership.
Bibliography
OIKOS - K-W House Church newsletter, published 2 to 4 times per year, Historical issue, Winter 1980
Additional Information
Membership at KW House Churches
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1975 | 54 |
| 1985 | 50 |
| 1995 | 48 |
| 2000 | 42 |
| 2008 | Not reported |
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | December 2016 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Kitchener-Waterloo House Churches (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. December 2016. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Kitchener-Waterloo_House_Churches_(Kitchener,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=165293.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (December 2016). Kitchener-Waterloo House Churches (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Kitchener-Waterloo_House_Churches_(Kitchener,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=165293.
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