Classification scheme: III-67
Title: Kitchener-Waterloo House Churches fonds
Note: Also known as KW House Church or K-W House Church
Dates of Creation: 1966-2010
Physical Description: __ cm of textual records
Administrative History: The house church began services in 1969, and formally organized in 1970. Walter Klaassen and John W. Miller are considered the founding leaders of the group. The congregation originated through outreach by Mennonite and non-Mennonite individuals. The group is considered to be a congregation and a member of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, but in effect functioned as a cluster of individual house churches with a central meeting place where they gathered in alternate weeks. In 1988 there were four house churches.
March 1988 saw the beginning of the Reception Centre for refugees newly arrived in Canada. The House Church property at 101 David Street had been used to house refugees for several years. In 1988 the House Church signed a contract with the government to provide services, and began to appoint staff. The reception centre and house church programs overlapped in their board personnel, and contributed to the stress of the 1990s.
A subsequent division within the house church led to the separation of House Church #2 from the other house churches in the early 1990s. The issues included the appropriate language for God (was feminine language permitted), the nature of the Mennonite peace position and the appropriate sexual ethic in relation to marriage. The authority of founder John W. Miller was also controversial. House Church #2 eventually became the Blenheim Ecumenical House Church. The other house churches eventually dissolved except for one house church that retained the name KW House Church.
Custodial History: The newsletters were donated at an unknown date by the House Church. Items from the 1990s were donated by MCEC in 2016. A substantial collection of materials was donated by Mark and Glennis Yantzi in 2017. A further substantial donation of materials gathered by Lee Sauer and Lorraine Roth was donated in 2024.
Scope and Content: Formal and informal records documenting the life of the congregation and the work of Reception House.
Notes: With the substantial accrual of 2024, the fonds file list was significantly reorganized.
A Reba Place Fellowship hymnal, Hosanna, was transferred to the Milton Good Library.
Original description created by Sam Steiner and updated by Laureen Harder-Gissing in 2024.
File list:
Series 1: Formal Records
- Constitution and bylaws
- Minutes and correspondence, 1977-2009
- Member lists, [19--], 1980-2008
Note: Includes a cumulative membership list for members "past and present," 1969-1999 - Minutes of House Church 5, 1978-1982
- Minutes of House Church representatives, 1980-1988
- Affiliation with Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec, 1982-1984
- House Church Discretionary Fund, 1995-1996
- Financial statements, 1977-Feb 1988, 1991-2008
- Faith and Life committee, 1992-2001
- Retreats, [1966?], 1977, 1983-1984, 1986-1988, 1990, 1997, 1999-2000 (30th anniversary)
Note: Includes tabulation of questionnaire, 2000 - Assembly division over God language, 1990-1991
- 101 David Street
Note: Includes surveys, plans, correspondence - Meal schedules and cleanup
Series 2: Informal Records
- Historical notes
- Worship materials, [19--], 1974, 1976-2006
- Special events and celebrations
Note: Includes programs for marriages, funerals, child dedications, baptisms, ordination, coming of age, birthdays, anniversaries, house blessings, divorce - News clippings
- Brochures
- Retreat for house church communities at Laurelville 1979
- Scrapbook for John and Louise Miller, 1976
- Writings and plays by members
- Response to "Boat People" survey, [2005?]
- Covenants and community life resources
Series 3: Newsletters
News and Views, Jul 1973-Mar 1974
Assembly Line, 1981 (no. 1,2,3,7)
Oikos, Apr 1974-Jul 1975, July 1978-New Year 1990
Lamplighters' Newsletter, 2010
Series 4: Reception House
- Minutes, correspondence and financial records, 1979, 1984-2007
- Evaluation by Power Analysis, Inc., 2001
- Organizational review by Sara Cardey, 2005
- Mission and job descriptions
- Information for new residents