Toronto United Lao Mennonite Church (Concord, Ontario, Canada)

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The Toronto United Lao Mennonite Church began as an outreach of the Lao Christian Fellowship in St. Catharines, Ontario. Boris Sithideth (d. 27 January 2010), who had pastored the St. Catharines group, was commissioned to begin a work in the large Toronto area Lao community. The congregation was intentional about acknowledging the diversity among the Lao people. In worship, scripture was read in four languages: Lao, Thai, Mandarin and English. Lao and English were its two official languages.

Toronto United Lao Mennonite began an "emerging congregation" in Mennonite Church Eastern Canada in 2002 when it had about 30 participants. In 2004 internal conflict in the congregation led to some members departing to form the Lao Canadian Evangelical Mennonite Church. Sithideth resigned as pastor in 2006, and Ongath Phounsavath provided leadership, commuting from Waterloo Region.

On 11 December 2011 there was reconciliation between the two groups and the small group that remained in Toronto United Lao Mennonite became part of the new group, including Pastor Ongath Phounsavath.

Bibliography

Brubacher, David. "The Lao community reaches out to newcomers." Mennonite Church Canada Report Book (2002). Web. 17 January 2012. http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/files/events/saskatoon/ReportBook02AreaC.pdf

Loewen, Emily. "The merger God has been waiting for." Canadian Mennonite 16, no. 1 (9 January 2012): 13.


Author(s) Samuel J Steiner
Date Published January 2012

Cite This Article

MLA style

Steiner, Samuel J. "Toronto United Lao Mennonite Church (Concord, Ontario, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2012. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Toronto_United_Lao_Mennonite_Church_(Concord,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=165520.

APA style

Steiner, Samuel J. (January 2012). Toronto United Lao Mennonite Church (Concord, Ontario, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Toronto_United_Lao_Mennonite_Church_(Concord,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=165520.




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