Waters Mennonite Church (Lively, Ontario, Canada)
The Waters Mennonite Church had its origins through a vision Thomas Martin had one night in the early 1940s on his farm in Erbsville, Ontario. In the vision he was called to mission work in Northern Ontario. Thomas, Elvina and their two children moved to Markstay, Ontario in 1945. Soon he began to explore possibilities in the area around Sudbury, and began holding Sunday school and Vacation Bible School in various locations beginning in 1946.
In 1948 the Martins and Mahlon and Norma Bast moved to Waters Township (now in the Sudbury Regional Municipality). They began a Sunday school, as well as morning and evening worship services in a local public school. A building fund committee was established in May 1952 and the name Waters Mennonite Church was selected. In 1955 the congregation received notice it could no longer rent the public school, and so work began immediately on building the basement for a larger building that could be used for a time as the meeting place. The remainder of the building was completed in 1963.
This early mission effort was modestly supported by the Mennonite Mission Board of Ontario. However most of the Waters group was not comfortable with the hierarchical conference polity and the requirement that baptized women needed to wear a prayer veil. In 1956 the congregation switched its affiliation from the Mennonite Conference of Ontario to the United Mennonite conference and the Conference of Mennonites in Canada. The Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church in Kitchener became an important relationship for the small Waters group. This led to a series of pastoral leaders from a "Russian Mennonite" background.
Waters Mennonite Church became an independent congregation on 7 June 1959, with 20 charter members. From the beginning the congregation had a multi-cultural feel, with members from various Mennonite and non-Mennonite cultural streams.
In the 1970s the congregation became engaged with Rockhaven, a home for men recovering from substance abuse. It had been sponsored by the Inter-Mennonite Mission and Service Board, and Dick Neufeld, the founding director was actively engaged at Waters.
The 1980s faced the Waters congregation with some difficult issues. One was the matter of women in leadership. The question of having a female deacon was discussed throughout the decade; it was only in 1989 that Aldene Forbeck became the first woman to serve as deacon. Several years later, a daughter of the congregation, Anna-Lisa Salo, became the pastor.
The Waters Mennonite Church has always been a small congregation. In its 2009 history book, it described the Waters story as "one of courage, vision, persistence and shared ministry."
Bibliography
Canadian Mennonite (21 March 1958): 3; (18 April 1958): 3; (22 May 1959): 1; (31 May 1963): 1.
Mennonite Reporter (18 September 1989): B3.
Article in Sudbury Star re: church dedication in 1963.
Salo, Karen. "Waters Mennonite Church." 1976, 59 pp. Mennonite Heritage Centre
Steven, Laurence, ed. Casting our bread : a history of Waters Mennonite Church 1959-2009. Lively, Ont. : The Church, 2009, 81 pp.
Unpublished congregational history, 1978, 24 pp. Mennonite Heritage Centre.
Archival Records
Records at the church.
Additional Information
Address: 540 Regional Rd 55, Lively On. P3Y 1C4. The church is located sixteen km west of Sudbury on Regional Rd. 55.
Phone: (705) 692-7655
Website: Waters Mennonite Church
Denominational Affiliations:
Mennonite Church Eastern Canada Conference
Waters Mennonite Church Pastors
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| Thomas Martin | 1949-1954 |
| Tilman Martin | 1954-1955 |
| Henry Schroeder (Informal) | 1955-1957 |
| Menno Ediger | 1957-1964 |
| Gary Harder | 1965-1967 |
| John Zacharias | 1967-1982 |
| Dennis Watts | 1983-1992 |
| Lay leaders | 1992-1993 |
| Anna-Lisa Salo | 1993-1998 |
| David Nicol | 1998-2013 |
| Celeste Wright | 2013-2014 |
| Lay leaders | 2014-present |
Waters Mennonite Church Members
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1965 | 33 |
| 1975 | 57 |
| 1985 | 53 |
| 1995 | 53 |
| 2000 | 46 |
| 2008 | 29 |
| 2015 | 21 |
| 2020 | 42 |
Map
Map:Waters Mennonite Church (Lively, Ontario, Canada)
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | January 2017 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Waters Mennonite Church (Lively, Ontario, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2017. Web. 19 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Waters_Mennonite_Church_(Lively,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=171713.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (January 2017). Waters Mennonite Church (Lively, Ontario, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Waters_Mennonite_Church_(Lively,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=171713.
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