North Woolwich Old Order Mennonite Meetinghouse (Floradale, Ontario, Canada)
The North Woolwich Old Order Mennonite congregation has its Meetinghouse in Woolwich Township, Waterloo County, at 996 Sandy Hills Drive, Floradale. The congregation originally met in the home of its first deacon, William Hembling, and was known as the Hembling Church in the Mennonite Conference of Ontario Calendar of appointments. Abraham Detwiller served as the congregation's first minister. A small log building located near the Floradale school, 0.8 km (half a mile) north of Floradale, served as a venue for funeral services for all denominations in the community. .
On 26 March 1872, the church purchased 0.6 hectares (1 ½ acres) of land from Daniel B. Bowman. It also purchased a frame building from the Evangelical Association and moved it 0.4 km (¼ mile) north to this site. Around this time, the church name was changed to North Woolwich. In 1900, a new brick church, 11 x 16.5 metres (36' x 54') was built, and in 1928, a 4-metre (14') expansion was added.
In 1978, the church purchased 0.6 hectares (1.4 acres) land from Abner and Alice Martin and built the current 14 x 24 metre (46' x 78') meetinghouse. This site is west of the former location, which is now part of the church cemetery. As of 2004, all burials had taken place in the old part of the cemetery, and the new part had not yet been used. In the late 1980s, trees were planted on the west and south sides of the churchyard, and on the north, west, and south sides of the new cemetery. A new steel roof was put on the church and new windows were installed in the 1990s. The west porch was enlarged in 2002.
In 2000, the Creekbank meetinghouse was built about 4.8 km (3 miles) to the north because the North Woolwich congregation exceeded the capacity of the meetinghouse. Approximately one third of the congregation moved to the new meetinghouse, leaving about 64 familiers for North Woolwich, some single girls included.
The North Woolwich meetinghouse has been shared with North Woolwich Markham Waterloo congregation since 1941. The agreement, which is signed by bishops, ministers, and deacons of both groups, was renewed in 1962 and again in 1995. It stipulates that the Markham group may use the building as is but may not make any alterations without approval of the Old Order group. The expenses of maintaining the building are divided evenly between the two groups.
The North Woolwich congregation has had regular signing for the deaf since around 1999.
Membership in 2004 was approximately 140 communing members. No accurate count of members is available for most of the history of the congregation because Old Order Mennonites think of themselves as members of the church at large and not just the immediate congregation. The Old Order also do not see the quantity of members as indicative of the congregation's importance. When people move from one geographical area to another, they automatically "belong to" the congregation whose meetinghouse is closest to their home. No membership transfer takes place from the former location.
Bibliography
Mennonite Reporter (3 April 1989): 14.
Weber, Urias. New beginnings: a history of the Old Order Mennonites of Ontario. Wallenstein, Ont.: Vineyard Publications, 2018: 72-74.
Information from the church.
Additional Information
Table 1: North Woolwich Old Order Mennonite Meetinghouse Ordained Leaders*
| Ministers | Deacons | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham Detwiller1 | 1858-1864 | William Hembling (1818-1904)2 | 1858-1875 |
| Joseph B. Gingrich (1842-1912) | 1867-1912 | Peter B. Bowman (1846-1918) | 1876-1918 |
| John B. Bowman (1869-1958) | 1912-1933 | Franklin Housser (1859-1933)3 | 1913-1929 |
| Addison M. Gingrich (1885-1962) (Bishop) |
1936-1942 1942-1958 |
Angus S. Bauman (1888-1954) | 1930-1954 |
| Osiah F. Gingrich (1917-1983) | 1943-1983 | Moses W. Bauman (1911-1991) | 1954-1991 |
| Ivan S. Martin (1944-1999) | 1983-1999 | Ammon D. M. Martin (moved to Matheson) |
1991-2016 |
| David B. Weber | 2000- | Mark W. Martin | 2016- |
- Unless otherwise noted, the dates of service span date of ordination to date of death.
1Abraham Detwiller moved to Michigan at some point; date unknown.
2William Hembling joined the Mennonite Brethren in Christ about 1875 according to L. J. Burkholder
3Franklin Houser was ordained in Cayuga and moved to Waterloo County in 1913; he served in North Woolwich until 1929 when he joined the David Martin Group.
| Author(s) | Anita Streicher |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 2005 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Streicher, Anita. "North Woolwich Old Order Mennonite Meetinghouse (Floradale, Ontario, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 2005. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=North_Woolwich_Old_Order_Mennonite_Meetinghouse_(Floradale,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=166027.
APA style
Streicher, Anita. (2005). North Woolwich Old Order Mennonite Meetinghouse (Floradale, Ontario, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=North_Woolwich_Old_Order_Mennonite_Meetinghouse_(Floradale,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=166027.
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