Reesor Mennonite Meetinghouse (Markham, Ontario, Canada)
The Reesor Mennonite congregation began services about 1848. The first building was occupied in 1857 on the farm of Preacher John E. Reesor. John E. Reesor is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated as a division from the Mennonite Conference of Ontario over the congregation's resistance to revivalism, Sunday school, etc.
A major segment of the congregation left and formed the Steeles Avenue Mennonite Church) in 1964. The building was shared between the two congregations until Steeles Avenue merged with Cedar Grove Mennonite Church. The Markham Waterloo Conference stopped holding regular services at Reesor in 1991. Beginning in 1991 communion services only were offered to remaining members in the Markham area.
In 1925 there were 95 members; in 1950, 100; in 1965, 40; in 1975, 15. The congregation dissolved in 1991. It had been affiliated with the Old Order Mennonites 1889-1930 and then the Markham-Waterloo Mennonite Conference from 1930-1991. The language of worship was English; the transition from German occurred in the 1930s.
The meetinghouse was located 11 km southeast of Markham on Markham-Pickering Town Line Rd.
Bibliography
Frey, Aden. "The Markham-Waterloo Conference of Ontario." Research paper, Conrad Grebel College, 1972, 38 pp.
Mennonites in Canada collection (70-Markham-Waterloo), Mennonite Archives of Ontario.
Nighswander, Joe. A Brief History of the Steeles Avenue Mennonite Church 1964 to 1986. 1986, 18 leaves.
Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article
By Ernst Crous. Copied by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 266. All rights reserved.
Reesor Old Order Mennonite Church, located on the border between York and Ontario counties, Ontario, formed a single congregation with the Altona group until 1956. In 1911 its membership was 46. A meetinghouse built in 1857 on the farm of the preacher John E. Reesor became the possession of the Wisler group at the time of the division in 1889.
In 1957 Fred Nighswander was the minister and the combined membership with Altona was 105.
| Author(s) | Sam Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | May 1997 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Sam. "Reesor Mennonite Meetinghouse (Markham, Ontario, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. May 1997. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Reesor_Mennonite_Meetinghouse_(Markham,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=143175.
APA style
Steiner, Sam. (May 1997). Reesor Mennonite Meetinghouse (Markham, Ontario, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Reesor_Mennonite_Meetinghouse_(Markham,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=143175.
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