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The Maple View North Mennonite congregation is part of the Markham-Waterloo Mennonite Conference which was formed in the late 1930s. The first members of Maple View came from the surrounding congregations of Montrose, North Woolwich and Goshen . Primarily due to the cheaper, readily available farms north of Waterloo Region, more members kept moving into this area.

In 1975 the conference purchased land for the Maple View and Fair Haven meetinghouses to better serve these outlaying areas, and to relieve the pressure on the other meetinghouses. However, it was not until 1982 that construction commenced at Maple View. By then the local community included 28 families—sufficient to begin a congregation.

On 8 May 1982 excavation for the meetinghouse's footings began. Volunteers from within the Markham-Waterloo Conference did most of the construction—typical for the meetinghouses and private elementary schools operated by the Conference. A committee selected from each congregation in the area oversaw the project. The majority of members are livestock farmers, so this was a very busy time. The building design is simple both inside and outside—there is no electricity, running water, flush toilets or telephone—in keeping with other meetinghouses in the conference. There is a yellow-brown brick exterior with hardwood flooring inside. The pulpit is centered on the long side with rows of wooden benches to its right and left facing the center. The middle area has benches facing the pulpit. Men are on seated on the right side facing the pulpit and women on the left, as is the traditional fashion. The building was completed in time for dedication services on 4 July 1982.

Services were usually held every two weeks through 1998. The Maple View North and South congregations came into being in January 1999. The Maple View meetinghouse was then near capacity so two congregations were formed in the one meetinghouse. Thus the building has been used every Sunday since. Wellington County Road 7 became the dividing line between the North and South congregations. Minister Emerson Bauman remained with the North group. Although another minister was ordained in November 2000, Bauman continued to assist in 2003.

A farm accident in 1993 left one member paralyzed, resulting in necessary modifications to the building to make it more wheelchair accessible. Two families in the congregation have deaf children; signing has been provided for them since January 1989.

English has been the language of worship since about 1975; however some German hymns were still sung until 1996. This too was discontinued because the younger folks did not understand the words, though Pennsylvania Dutch is still spoken in many homes.

Bibliography

Author(s)	Steven Weber
Date Published	November 2003

Directory Information:

Location of Meetinghouse: Fire #7184, 14th Line, Mapleton Township, Alma, Ontario

Conference Affiliation: Markham-Waterloo Mennonite Conference

Additional Information

Table 1: Maple View North Mennonite Meetinghouse Leaders

Orvie Brubacher (Bishop)	1979-1986
Ernie Wideman (Bishop)	1986-1995
Abner Gingrich (Bishop) (became responsible for about half the congregations, including Maple View North)	1995-
Emerson Bauman	1983-
Luke Martin	15 Nov 2000-
Ralph Reibel (Deacon) (now Deacon for South)	6 Dec 1983-
Raymond Martin	17 Nov 1999-

Table 2: Maple View North Mennonite Meetinghouse Membership

Year	Membership
1982	28 families
1984	24 families
1998	61 families
1999	30 families (after North/South separated)
2003	44 families

Cite This Article

MLA style

Weber, Steven. "Maple View North Mennonite Meetinghouse (Alma, Ontario, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. November 2003. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Maple_View_North_Mennonite_Meetinghouse_(Alma,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=115546.

APA style

Weber, Steven. (November 2003). Maple View North Mennonite Meetinghouse (Alma, Ontario, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Maple_View_North_Mennonite_Meetinghouse_(Alma,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=115546.

Maple View North Mennonite Meetinghouse (Alma, Ontario, Canada)

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